MEN: Men - In the Crosshairs

A lot of men like to hunt game and fish right? We love the thrill of the hunt or landing the big one. For me, I love deer hunting. Whitetail deer have incredible senses and hunting them can be challenging.

God created them with incredible eyesight, smell, and hearing. You do all you can so that you can get close enough to get them in your crosshairs. You wash your hunting clothes with a scent blocker so they don’t smell you. You wear camo and paint your face so that they can’t see you. You sit as still as you can high up in a tree stand so they don’t hear you.

In Your Crosshairs

You’re in the woods and you see “THE BIG ONE” walking your way. Your heart starts pumping. Your hands start shaking. Without being seen or heard you slowly pull up your firearm. You put “THE BIG ONE” in your crosshairs. You’re ready to take him out. You slowly breathe in and out. You hold your breath and slowly squeeze the trigger. BLAM! The blast breaks the silence. There’s a flash and the smell of gun smoke.

The thrill of hunting. There’s nothing like it. It’s the best high ever. Who needs drugs, right?

A lot of us love hunting for wild game, BUT did you know that there is SOMEONE hunting for you, too? There is someone who's trying to get you in his crosshairs. According to the Bible, if you are a man there is someone out there who is trying to hunt you down, destroy you and take you out.

Satan's Number One Enemy

You’re probably thinking to yourself “Who’s that?" The Bible tells us "who" in 1 Peter 5:8. It says “Be sober-minded; be watchful. Your adversary the devil prowls around like a roaring lion, seeking someone to devour.” The devil or satan is trying to hunt you down and destroy you. It doesn’t matter if you’re young or old. As men, I believe we are satan’s number one enemy here on earth.

John 10:10 says “Satan comes to steal, kill and destroy." He wants to steal, kill and destroy us as men, as husbands, as fathers of our families and leaders in our communities. The big question is “Why me?” Why would satan be after me?

Who was the first being God ever created? That’s right, Adam. And what gender was he? A man! God created Adam and each one of us in whose image? God’s image. Satan doesn’t like that.

God also created us to worship Him, but Satan wants us to worship anything and anyone but God. Remember the story in the Bible of Peter walking on water. What happened when Peter took his eyes off of Jesus? Right! He began to sink. The same with us. Satan is trying to get us to take our eyes off Jesus too so that we sink in our roles as fathers and husbands.

Spiritual Head of our Household

In Ephesians 5:23, God has called us as men to be the spiritual head of our households as Christ is the head of the church. We are called to be priests in our homes; to minister to our families. To plant seeds of blessings in the lives of our wives and our children. Even when we really don’t always feel like it.

If satan can take YOU and me out, the priest and head of the household, he can disrupt the ENTIRE family. Ever since the beginning of time when God created Adam, satan has put a big bullseye on the backs of men. He’s afraid of you because God has ordained you as a man with real power to be Godly influences in your families and communities.

The Importance of Mom and Dad

When parents get divorced, the courts usually take which parent out of the family unit? Right, usually the dad! The courts feel that mom is the nurturer so she should be the parent who keeps the kids. That is true to a degree BUT our kids need their dad too. Why?

What is the main purpose of a father, grandfather or male figure? The main purpose is to make deposits of love, security, affirmation and instruction into the hearts of our children's emotional bank account. By doing that, those deposits can grow and gain value just like money in a savings account. This allows the child to mature with a sense of security and confidence in their lives. It’s through positive words and actions of adult male leadership that families thrive.

Don’t get me wrong. I’m not a momma hater. You’ve heard the Yo momma jokes -‘Yo momma’s so fat that when God said, “Let there be light,” GOD ASKED yo momma to move out of the way.’ Bad joke! Bad, bad joke! Not good. Not honorable AT ALL. But listen to me, we need moms as much as we need dads. It’s like water and oxygen. We need air to breathe and water to drink in order to live. Both are essential and the same is true for mom’s and dad’s.

Negative Effects of Fatherlessness

As men, some of you might be thinking “Right Randy. Power to influence? Me, Power? How do you know that? The United States Census Bureau has proof. Listen to these stats on the negative effects of fatherlessness from US Dept. of Health & Human Services.

*About 50% of all children in the US end up fatherless. It’s 80-90% in urban areas.

*63% of teen suicides are from fatherless homes.

*71% of high school dropouts are fatherless.

*85% of children with behavioral problems are fatherless.

*85% of the prison population are fatherless.

*90% of all homeless and runaway children are fatherless.

Children from fatherless homes are. . .

*5 times more likely to commit suicide.

*7 times more likely to get pregnant.

*15 times more likely to have behavioral disorders.

*15 times more likely to end up in prison as a teen.

*24 times more likely to run away from home.

*AND 73 times more likely to end up killed.

Fatherlessness is destructive to both boys and girls, but each sex suffers differently. Girls who grow up deprived of their father are more likely to become depressed, more likely to do self-harm and more likely to be promiscuous. But they still have their mothers with whom they clearly identify with.

Boys do not have a comparable identification and thus suffer more from their father’s absence. They also tend to act out in a manner that’s harmful to others, which girls typically do not.

The Boy Crisis

According to Dr. Warren Farrel in his book “The Boy Crisis” the single biggest factor in school shootings these days - is “fatherlessness”. He says nearly 100% of these young men come from father deprived families. You don’t see this happening with girls AND you don’t see it in homes of boys who have involved fathers.” Click here for a book review by Dave DuBay.

Farrel also states that the absence of a father predicts the profile of the bully and the bullied; unemployed; victim of child abuse; sexual assault; domestic violence; poverty; rape; violent crime; and much more.

The Power of Involved Fathers

Now listen to these stats with fathers who are involved and the positive influence they can have on their families.

*Preschoolers with actively involved fathers have stronger verbal skills.

*Children with actively involved fathers display less behavior problems in school.

*Girls with strong relationships with their fathers do better in mathematics.

*Boys with actively involved fathers tend to get better grades and perform better on achievement tests.

*A fathers’ involvement encourages children’s exploration of the world around them and confidence in their ability to solve problems.

*Highly involved fathers contribute to increased mental dexterity in children, increased empathy, less stereotyped sex role beliefs and greater self-control.

The Spiritual Benefits of Involved Fathers

A Swiss study showed the following with regard to the power of a father attending church.

*If a mother and father attend church regularly: 33% of their children will end up attending church regularly.

*If just the mother attends church regularly and father does not: 2% of their children will end up attending church regularly.

*But, if a father attends church regularly and mother does not attend church at all: 44% of their children will end up attending church regularly.

Look at these numbers from the survey released by the Baptist Press:

*If the mother is the first to become a Christian in a household, there is a 17% probability that everyone in the household will follow.

*But If the father is the first to become a Christian in a household, there is a 93% probability that everyone in the household will follow.

These stats are real proof to the ordained power that God has given men to influence their families! Whether we want to believe it or not. These are the facts. It’s a universal law just like the law of gravity. If you jump off the roof of a building, you’re going to fall and get hurt. If you take a dad out of the family, the children are going to suffer. The influence of fathers is real.

According to theses stats, the number one criteria for being a good father is just showing up and getting involved. We don’t need to be Bible theologians or have all the answers. You want the best for your children’s lives, then get involved in their lives. Finding activities to do together (hunting, fishing, biking, etc.) can be used as powerful tools to influence a child’s life.

For information on the Father's Blessing, click here.

To learn how to honor dad by writing a tribute, click here.