Dad's day is coming!

I love Father's Day. It is that time of year when you get gifts from your kids that are just so precious. My kids are great at choosing me presents. I have had a Best Dad mug, a My Heart belongs to Daddy mug, men's moisturiser and some Batman pants amongst other things! Father's Day is great day to celebrate Fatherhood. We are living in a society where the role of the Father is being continuously eroded and undermined. More and more I hear and read about the fact that children and adults have never had a father present in their lives. I am reading a book on Winston Churchill at the moment. He wrote that he remembers only three significant conversations that he had with his dad in his lifetime. His dad died of a sexual disease at the age of forty five. Churchill said that as soon as his dad died he felt free from having to perform and prove himself to his Dad. Tragic. We can never underestimate the massive importance that fathers play in our lives. I sometimes watch World's Strictest Parents. It is about wild teenagers, who have turned completely rebellious and are then taken to a family in a different country for a week to sort them out. The parents of that family are very strict and lay down firm boundaries. Nearly every teenager who has been on that programme mark the moment that they became really rebellious when their parents split up and the dad left home. Now I know you can't blame everything on the father, but it is very significant. But when you think about it, satan has had a field day. Think about it: The main calling on Jesus was to reveal the Father to a people He wanted to include in His family. Now if the only way that you can relate to God as Father is through the relationship you have had with your own father, then satan will do all he can to give you a bad experience of that relationship! Most people I meet have no problems relating to Jesus and they can relate to God as being the Creator and the Almighty. But God as Father! That's when it becomes a bit more tricky. More and more people that I look after and pray with can identify their root problems being wrong identity, rejection, self worth, self-hating and many others and these often stem from a wrong view of who God is and who they are. I am passionate about my kids. No matter what they do I am proud of them and love them deeply. Now they haven't done anything to earn my love. If they were to do absolutely nothing for me, I would still love them the same. I love them because they are mine! It is the same with our Dad in heaven. But His love is far more powerful and pure and selfless than mine could ever be. If you are reading this as a believer or unbeliever then you need to get this - my Dad in Heaven loves you far beyond anything that you can possibly grasp or get your little head around. He loves you not based on what you do or don't do but based on the fact that He is Love and that's what He does. He is passionate about you. How passionate is He for you? So passionate that He sacrificed His own, very precious Son on the cross so that you could be adopted by Him and included into His awesome family. He wants to bring freedom to you. He wants to deal with stuff in your life that stops you seeing Him in all His Fatherliness. (Don't know if fatherliness is a proper word but hey-ho!). If you are reading this and you struggle with your identity as a son or daughter of our amazing Father in heaven then contact me at info@bethanycc.org.uk . To all you Dad's out there - You're GRRRREAT!