ATTENTION: Men of God

ATTENTION:  Men of God (husbands, fathers)

"The most urgent domestic challenge facing the United States at the close of the twentieth century is the recreation of fatherhood as a vital social role for men."  David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America


"Experience has shown us that men who are the happiest and most content in their masculine role today are those whose fathers invested a great deal of time and energy in their lives."  David Stoop and Stephen Arterburn


"The principal danger to fatherhood today is that fathers do not have the vital sense of father power that they have had in the past.  Because of a host of pressures from society, the father has lost the confidence that he is naturally important to his children--that he has the power to affect children, guide them, help them grow.  He isn't confident that fatherhood is a basic part of being masculine and the legitimate focus of his life."  Dr. Henry Biller


"Our very survival as a people will depend on the presence or absence of masculine leadership in millions of homes."  James Dobson


"My greatest leadership role is not on the football field, it is in the home.  I am concerned about the breakdown of the family in our time and I am convinced that the answer is for men to provide better leadership in the home."  Tom Landry


"Go home and catch your children doing something right."  Adapted from The One Minute Manager


"A man who doesn't spend time with his family can never be a real man."  Don Vito Corleone


"You know, the finest line a man will walk is between success at work and success at home.  I have a motto: Like your work, love your wife."  Del Griffith


"A man realizes that he is in a unique position to give honor like no one else, and that no one can truly replace that responsibility for him.  He avoids sarcasm, put-downs, belittling words, and ways that diminish the honor of a person."  Stu Weber, Four Pillars of a Man's Heart


"The great river of fathering that leaped from the primordial mist of Eden rolls through time and into eternity.  How will you bend the course of the tributary that flows in your family?  You will affect it, you know.  Whether you work at it with all your heart and soul or close your eyes and ears and put your hands in your pockets and pretend it doesn't exist, you will channel that river in one direction or another.  That's the nature of fathering.  You can't hide from its potency and power.  Whether you like it or not, whether you accept it or not, whether you believe it or not, your influence will span generations long after you've left this earth."  Stu Weber


"I know of no man or woman, regardless of age, who doesn't still yearn for his or her father's approval and love.  I've met seventy-five- and eighty-year-old men and women whose only regret in life is that they never heard their father say, 'I love you,' or 'I'm proud of you.' "  Rick Johnson


"No man should plant his seed in a woman, impregnating her, if he is not willing to accept lifelong responsibility for the child he created.  With the power to create comes accountability.  God holds you responsible and accountable for the welfare of your family.  Maturity in a man begins not with age but with the acceptance of that responsibility."  Rick Johnson


"There are two ways to recognize power.  One is to see it at work.  The other way is to measure what happens when it is gone.  Either way, Dad is pretty potent.  Present or absent.  Positive or negative.  The power of a father is incredible. ... There isn't much of anything in life children can't face with Dad's strong hand wrapped tightly around theirs."  Stu Weber


"Men, you are the leaders of your families.  You might be reluctant to assume that role.  You might even deny that it falls to you.  Nonetheless, you are your family's de facto leader, whether you choose to believe it or not.
Leaders are always the highest-priority targets in any war.  The enemy knows that if he can kill the commander, the troops will be easier to defeat.  Cut off the head and the body dies.  The body in this case is your family---you are the head.  One way to fight back and be the leaders God created us to be is to be aware of our roles, our resposibilities, and our influence with those we lead."  Rick Johnson


"No dying man ever wishes he'd spent more time at the office.  If we're fortunate, we discover long before we're on our deathbeds the importance of our family and of passing on a legacy for the coming generations.  Our culture tends to think of legacy in terms of monetary worth.  But a true legacy is based on whether we stood for something, whether we made a difference in someone's life, and whether our lives will be remembered because of the quality of life we lived."  Rick Johnson


"A man who stands up to the winds of adversity is a man whose son admires and looks up to him."  Rick Johnson


"A man is created for challenges.  He is equipped to overcome, to run the gauntlet, to stand firm as a well-anchored corner post.  Men are the benchmark in life, society, and family.  It is part of the masculine responsibility to demonstrate strength and stability, to protect and provide for those within their sphere of influence.  This is the hallmark of manhood."  Preston Gillham, Things Only Men Know


"It is much easier to become a father than to be one."  Kent Nerburn, Letters to My Son


"Fathers and sons arrive at that relationship only by claiming that relationship: that is by paying for it.  If the relationship of father to son could really be reduced to biology, the whole earth would blaze with the glory of fathers and sons."  James Baldwin


"Men as husbands and fathers are irreplaceable.  If we abandon those roles, destruction and heartbreak follow."  Cliff Graham

Taken from The Father Effect on Twitter

"Your kids need to know you love them because of who they are not who you want them to be."


"In a world that is very critical, your kids need you to be encouraging."


"Nothing positive comes out of an environment that is nothing but negative."


"The biggest opponent in your child’s life could be you.  Be positive, encourage, & love."


"You make choices everyday.  Choose to be an engaged & involved dad today."


"Live fully in the everyday moments with your kids."


"The power of your influence as a dad is greater than you may ever know."


"The only work that truly matters is not at your job.  It's at home with your wife & kids."