I planned on starting a new study this week as God placed it on my heart to talk about a man's role as a father. I have been a father for only 13 years, and like most men, I notice that the older I get, the more I realize I don't know, and the more I realize a man's relationship with his children says a lot about his relationship with God.

As I drove to our secret meeting place (outside of the Starbucks at the Market Place every Monday at 10 (or so)), the idea of spending the next 6 weeks discussing fatherhood became clear and even a little bit exciting.

I decided I had been avoiding "checking" the father aspect of my life for some time now. That fact became abundantly clear when I was sharing a story with my Crown group on Sunday and one of the wive's said (in essence), "Maybe God is dealing with you in the same manner in which you deal with your kids." That stung - but I received it. 

As I continued driving, I was thinking about the guys in my group: three dads, one single no kids, one in children's ministry, all dads married, & all dads have boys. My phone rang--one of the guys was not gonna make it. More than anything, he wanted prayer for his family as a result of a challenging situation that had arisen. I prayed with him and went on to the secret spot.

Earlier that morning a brother from VBF sent me a text message. Charlie has been texting me once a week for about 4 months now. His texts always seem fitting. Interestingly, last week he texted me twice; the second time was to read Proverbs 3. I had good intentions of hitting Proverbs 3 all weekend, but I never got around to it. So, when I got to the secret spot I opened Proverbs 3 and carefully read. Here is what jumped out at me:

I dwelled on that word for a few minutes. I prayed in my heart for God's will to be done for my brother, for grace in a sticky situation, for justice to be done... One of the men's group guys showed up about that time.

I hadn't seen him in seven weeks. He had been out on the road and serving the Lord. We took some time to catch up. We talked about what is going on in our lives and I filled him in on the status of our men's group. Another member couldn't make it either, so this was a good time for the two of us to reconnect. We spent the next hour discussing life and sharing some of the decisions we are facing and what the Lord is calling us to do. We then prayed for these situations and the guys who couldn't make it, especially the one in the midst of a struggle.

Being in a small group is essential for walking a straight path.

We caught up. We prayed up. As I drove home I felt compelled to lift up my brother again - I felt like God was showing me that a lot of people are being attacked in our church. For that matter, our church is being attacked. Many of us are struggling with family, money, and aches and pains despite doing everything in accordance with God's word. Some of the struggle is real, but a lot of it is spiritual attack.

Why is this happening? I believe it is because we're the real-deal. We really are trying to connect. We really are trying to serve each other. I think the enemy is a bit ticked-off. Look, folks, we've got to be connected. We've got to stay caught up with what is going on in each other's lives. We've got to stay caught up in the Word. And we've got to stay prayed up--caught up with God.

This doesn't mean we're going to walk around like perfect little angels. It doesn't mean we're better than anyone else. It doesn't mean we're not gonna say or do something we shouldn't. But, we're to love one another - not judge one another. We can not get self-righteous in our walk with the Lord.

Here is what's cool. When all is said and done, we win. Jesus wins. The stuff in our lives, on many levels, has already been played out. We can choose to dwell on the negative or the victory. Don't let the enemy steal your joy. Don't let the enemy rob you or take away what God has given you. Stand firm in the faith. 

Connect. Stay connected. How? Get with each other, get caught up, go before the Lord, and get prayed up. He blesses the home of the righteous.

Lord willing, we'll start the fatherhood study next week.