Winning Back A Prodigal Heart

What kind of father do you want to be when your child stops returning calls, sets hard boundaries, or says faith was “your thing, not mine”? We take an unflinching look at prodigal seasons and map a path home using the most surprising blueprint of all: a father who runs, restores, and throws a feast.

We begin with the parable of the prodigal son in Luke 15 and then bridge it to modern family life—where shame often hides as anger, where social media rewards blame, and where politics split dinner tables. Instead of pushing harder, we shift to a posture of grace that actually works. You’ll hear why quick forgiveness accelerates healing, how to build a home culture where repentance is modeled, not demanded, and the single question that can turn a tense room into sacred ground: “Help me understand how I hurt you so I can ask for forgiveness.”

Along the way, Pastor Ed shares a powerful story of a dad and son who reconciled just days before a sudden tragedy—a reminder that tenderness and urgency belong together. We open the Scriptures that shape a father’s tone—Colossians 3 and James’ wisdom from above—showing how peaceable, gentle, and reasoned words lower defenses without watering down truth. 

If you’re a dad, mom, grandparent, or mentor longing for a breakthrough, this conversation offers clarity and courage. Expect honest guidance, real stories, and tools you can use. Subscribe, share with a parent who needs hope, and leave a review to help more families find their way from famine to feast.

p.s. Visit www.thefatherdifference.com/links for a free book download and information about personal coaching.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Mission
• 2:12 Setting The Scene In Mammoth Lakes
• 3:15 Prodigal Son: Reading And Context
• 8:45 The Father’s Heart And Grace
• 14:45 Why Kids Drift And Shame Grows
• 19:35 Boundaries, Blame, And Conviction
• 24:30 Forgiveness As Family Culture
• 28:30 Tom And John: A Healing Call
• 34:00 Scripture For Reconciliation
• 39:35 Five Steps To Win Hearts Back
• 54:00 Prayer And Encouragement
• 57:30 Coaching Invite And Giving Appeal

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:00

What kind of father do you want to be? What kind of man do you want to become for your family and for yourself? If you've ever wondered how to step into the fullness of your role as a father, husband, and man of God, then you're in the right place. Here at the Father Difference, our mission is to inspire and equip men to be the best fathers they can be. It's a powerful mission. And today, we're going to explore exactly how you can take steps toward that calling. Whether you're a father, a son, a husband, grandfather, single dad, stepfather, or just looking to grow, I believe God has something powerful for you in today's message. Whether you're tuning in live or watching us later, we are so excited to have you here. If this is what you're looking for, then subscribe so you can each week to the Father Difference Live. You can sign up below. And now your host, a husband, father, grandfather, author, and former NFL player, Pastor Ed McGlass.

SPEAKER_01: 2:14

Hey, hey, good to see you here. I'm a new location again. I am in Mammoth Lakes, California. My wife and I are up here on a little getaway. Actually, we were invited to come and help a church out. Church on a mountain has two locations in Bishops and also in Crawley Lakes. And we're just really honored to give Pastor Mike and Heather's wife a break and just support. The pastor went through a tragic loss of his dad just the same weekend that Charlie Kirk went to heaven. So we're up here, so keep praying for us. And we're broadcasting from a place up on the mountain. One of our donors helped us get into a little condo here for a week. And then my grandkids are coming up, and so we're going to be really full here in the next five days. Isn't that grand? Anyway, today we're going to talk about how to win the heart back of a of a child that you know is acting like a prodigal or is a prodigal. And it's way too uh common today. And there's a lot of hurt between dads and sons. And so I'm going to give you five things at the end of our time to kind of help you frame things that you can do. Because, you know, you know, the Bible says you know the truth and the truth will set you free. Well, it's not just knowing the truth, you got to do it. It's also the truth that you do. So today we're going to look at what is it, how do you win the heart of son back? And to do that, I'm going to frame it. Now you probably all know this story. It's one of my favorite stories in the Bible. And it's the story of the, it's the parable of the prodigal son. So if you got your Bible, turn to Luke chapter 15, starting at verse 11. Yeah, I could have put the scriptures up on the PowerPoint, but I just thought I'd read it to you. So listen to this story. You might be uh tuning in live somewhere. Uh, welcome to my friends on Instagram, uh, Rumble, Facebook. Uh, make sure that you hit the like button on any of the social media channels that you're on so you can get alerts when yours truly is doing another show. And we try to do this every Tuesday night at 5 p.m. Pacific Standard Time. And so if I keep looking over you, I have a microphone up here. And I forget it's not a camera. So if my eyes are going away from you, understand that the 69-year-old grandpa is learning about technology all the time. Okay, so chapter 15, the prodigal son story. And Jesus is teaching them, and he says, There's a man who had two sons, and the younger son said to him, Father, give me my share of the property that's coming to me. And he divided his property between them. Not many days later, the younger son gathered all he had and took a journey to a far country, and there he squandered his property and reckless living. But one of the things that you might not know, or you might know this as a fact, is that for a son to go to a father to demand his inheritance before the father has died and passed that on an inheritance, if that son is actually saying, I wish you were dead. Can I have my money now? So that's a kind of relationship. It's a it's a cut-off relationship. It's a relationship where the son has basically said, I know better, give me my inheritance. I'm going to live my life on my own terms. That sound familiar to a son in your life or somebody that you know. And so he went, and and as he had spent everything, a severe famine rose in that country, and he began to be in need. Don't you love God's timing and stories? And it's the kind of what happens to us. That's why lottery winners usually don't do very well years down the road. So he went and hired himself out to one of the citizens of that country who sent him into his fields to feed pigs. Okay, so he goes from a beloved son of a father to, I want my inheritance early, I want you dead, Dad. To now he's feeding pigs. And he was longing to be fed with the pods that the pigs ate, and no one gave him anything. So not only did he he hired him out because he ran up debt in his life, and so he's probably paying off his debt that he owes. He's not even being fed, he's in a bad way, and and look, and so he spent everything severe famine. So verse 17. But when he came to himself, that's the secret of ministering to your prodigal kids, or your kids don't want to go to church, or your kids don't want out there. When they came to himself, he said, and there's and that's that place of prayer, that's that place of steadfastness, that place of forgiveness, that place of speaking blessing, even when you're being cursed. And so when he when he, you know, there you don't know when your children are gonna turn. Matter of fact, this is a a picture of what Israel did to God. Israel was a prodigal son who ran away. You know, it's a church who's been prodigal son, who's run away. So God knows what it feels like to have a son that he loves, demand his inheritance early, and then leave. But when he came to himself, he said, How many of my father's hard servants have more than enough bread, but I perish here with hunger? I will arise. Here's his plan go to my father and say to him, I've father, I've sinned against heaven and before you, I'm no longer worthy to be called your son. So he wanted to give up his identity. Treat me as one of your hard servants. And he rose and came to his father. So he had a plan, and even in the midst of all that, trying to make up for what he did wrong, and and he said, as he's saying this to his father, and as he rose, he came to his father, but while he was still a long way off, he didn't even get his speech out. That was a pretty good speech. His father saw him and he felt compassion, and he ran and embraced him and kissed him. He restored him. And the son said to him, Father, I have sinned against heaven, and before you I'm no longer to be called your son. But the father said to his servants, Bring quickly the best robe and put it on him, and put the ring on his hand, and the shoes on the feet, and bring that fattened calf and kill it, and let us eat and celebrate. For this was my son who is dead and is alive again. He was lost and he is found, and they began to celebrate. Now there's there's more of this story with the older son, but I don't want to go there tonight. And part of it is it's just looking at the heart of the father in this story. He's sitting on his porch, believing, praying, waiting for a long time for that son. He already determined how he's gonna treat him when he comes home. He's gonna celebrate him, he's gonna bless him, he's gonna put a ring on him, he's gonna restore his inheritance, which his older brother didn't like. And that's the heart of God. And when have you noticed that when God when you finally come to God in your life and you bring your worst sin, He doesn't beat you up over it. He does this, he does this welcome home. It's like we we have this thing in us, and in the prodigal son story, the prodigal son thought if he gets out the perfect speech, then he'll be accepted to be a hired servant instead of a son. But see, God's only building sons and daughters, and he and this is such an incredible picture. I mean, it blew the mind of all of those in religious leaders who are listening to his parables, and he had a number of them. But this one was so shocking because back in that culture, if you disowned your dad, you're cut off, you're you're accursed, you're out. That's not so with God the Father. And you know why? I'm hydrating, it's really dry up here. You know why? Because when Jesus, when God sent his son to die on the cross in our place, there was no sin that wasn't covered. There wasn't a single rebellion that wasn't covered. Everything you will ever do or ever did, everything your your son would ever do in his life was already covered. And so forgiveness has already been paid for. And forgiveness is not supposed to be paid for by us, and we're not supposed to make our children pay for their forgiveness because then they're beholden to us as being like Jesus instead of offering the forgiveness that comes when children they when they come to their senses. And the first thing about this whole story, number one, is that the whole world has done this to God, and God made a way to get his kids back. They rejected Jesus, the disciples, you know, whom he poured into for three and a half years. They rejected him, they ran away, they hid. Even Peter denied him three times before the rooster crowed. Everybody falls away because the truth of the matter is that the grace that God gives in salvation is not something you can earn, it's not something you deserve, it's not something that you can work off and buy back your forgiveness. It's not a merit-based system to where you've done enough now, you now can enter in. It's a grace-based system and where God Himself knows that you and I and our children, they can't pay for the crimes they've done and come out. They can't do it. You if they end up going to prison for something and they're and and do something in violence where they get arrested, even in the midst of being in prison, there's a lot of guys who they start reading their Bible, and somewhere they discover this Jesus who forgives. And we live in we live in a world now, and you've probably been watching this, where it's pretty much an eye for an eye everywhere. It's you know the political parties, just the the wickedness that's back and forth over and over and over. And and when that gets into families, and families don't have cultures of forgiveness, it breaks our kids. And so, what I thought I'd do is I'm gonna share with you a testimony of a dad who tried his best to lead his son. His son went to college, started going crazy, you know, ran away from the church. And you know, I I I have this comment most often in our coaching time that we have on Fatherhood Academy with families, and it said, we just don't understand. Oh, look at it, isn't that cool? It's like I don't know why it does that. I'm drinking the light of Jesus. I love to I love to have comments from where you are. That would just be awesome. I love your questions as well. Um, please bring them in. And so I lost my train of thought by being being goofy. So I want to talk about this uh this incredible story of this guy who lost the heart of his son and then got it back again. You ready? So, how to win the heart of a prodigal child is a dad. Now, if you're a mom watching this, the same goes for mom. And we're gonna get to the five things for you to consider. Oh, oh, I know I was gonna say. Okay. You know, I've done a lot of coaching with families, and there's this surprise look on the faces of many parents, and they say, I don't understand it. We raised a kid in church, and you know, he was in Sunday school, he, you know, had a relationship with Jesus, and then when he got outside, he, you know, when he got out of our home, he just went crazy. And, you know, I asked them, I said, you know, I found with these kids because I interviewed them, and it's part of our coaching program. I I work with the parents, and then I work with the young person that's been separated. And so when I get to the young person, I go, you know, you know, your parents said that you had an incredible relationship with Jesus. And the kids will look at me most often and say something like, Well, you know, when I was younger, I was more into it, but you know, it was my parents' thing, and so I just I wanted, you know, they want to be in church, and so I just decided to go. And so I asked them in that conversation, well, have you ever really you know fully received Jesus for yourself? And they think about where they're at. Many of these young people have some level of addiction, and they said, Well, probably probably not. I I feel really ashamed that I've hurt my parents so bad. And I just um I I don't think I would I I can't even forgive myself. I can't imagine that they would forgive me for what I've done. And so when I coach them, I I begin to introduce them to the Jesus that they need for themselves. See, most children who go sideways, and there's some that I know who they're raised in the church to have a dynamic relationship, and here's the other category. There's those are like prodigals, and then then there's those who are like the older brother in that story, who did everything right, and they end up having opinions about and probably real frustration with the father. And there's a whole group of parents and grandparents today that have very limited access, or maybe no access to their grandchildren, because their children have been so affected by some modern psychology that slipped into the church. So they create boundaries around themselves and their kids, your grandkids, and their hearts basically saying that you're toxic. And you make them feel bad about themselves. Well, you know, part of, you know, and I've worked with numbers of families with this and kids, you know, one of the questions I asked them is so when you're around your parents, you feel bad about your lifestyle? Well, yeah. You know, I just don't want to be preached on. Do they preach to you a lot? Well, no, but I know they don't like what I do. But it's my personal choice. I said, Well, do you feel guilty at all? Well, I think I you know, I I think they're the ones who make me feel guilty. And I said, Well, could it be that maybe the Holy Spirit is the one who's making you feel guilty? And I can't tell you how many times they just sit there stunned. And you go, You think so? I said, Well, you know, when I blow it, and I blow it all uh uh, you know, every day I I'm doing things I shouldn't be doing. And that conviction that comes that produces shame is not because of what other people say about me. There there sometimes are people who don't like me or say things or like you. But when you you shift your when when you shift who is at fault to the reason why you feel terrible about yourself onto your parents because they're too Christian, or say you know, they're Republicans and you're Democrat, and you don't want to be around them. There's you know, and they're you know, I don't like Trump. And so my parents like Trump and I don't. And so they they separate. But what they want to do is they want to be their own boss of their life. And and and and of course, as our children get older, they want to make their own decisions. The problem is when we're left alone without this peace, without the peace of being fully as a fully devoted follower of Jesus, reading his word and being submitted to him in our life, then we become our own God. And we're the ones determining good and bad. And that's what's happened in our culture. That's what's happening to our kids on social media with these crazy wack-a-doodle professors out there, you know, trying to declare that they they're all were born good. And if they feel bad, somebody else is to blame. And most often it's the parents. They blame the parents or they blame the grandparents, and then they use the children to separate them. Because at the core of who they are, they don't know how to do a couple of things very well. Number one, they don't Know how to forgive the way God forgives them. They don't know how to forgive. You know, that prodigal son left his father, took the inheritance because he was mad as dead. He didn't like the rules of the family. He didn't like being told no. He didn't like, you know, the way those things go. So he went to go live on his own terms. And when his own terms didn't work, his own core identity of being his son got got challenged. And he was even willing to be a slave, to be independent. I'll just, I'll go back, I'll still do my own thing. And my own thing is I'll hire myself out to, you know, as one of my dad's workers, and I'll, because they all eat their food and I'll be okay. They settle for a level of repentance that doesn't bring healing to them. Because it, you know, in many families, and my family was the worst at this in the early years, and it's one of the things that God got after with me is I didn't know how to ask for forgiveness with my kids. And I hope you're getting this okay. It seems like the stream is hesitating a little bit. I hope it is. Send me a comment if it is. Okay. Forgive the eyes. I know. Somebody said you're not supposed to chew it. I'm swallowing you whole, so I'm good. My stomach's not on fire. So let's look at this story. So I I said a lot there, and so I want to encourage you to just pay attention to what I said earlier. Replay that because it was it's one of the main reasons why these kids taste stuck. And so, how do you fix this? And part of that is that you've got to be willing to sit on that porch like that father in that story and pray and wait for that son to come home. Well, here's the first slide I want you to see. In Proverbs 17, verse 9, I I love this proverb. Love prospers when a fault is forgiven, but dwelling on it separates close friends. The quicker you learn to forgive somebody, the faster that relationship heals. As a matter of fact, one of the core things of my wife and I is that we don't go to bed without forgiving one another. Because if if we hold a grievance against one another, it grows into something. And children, because there's because a lot of my questions when my kids were young were you know about their performance and everything, and I wasn't I wasn't very good at it at paying attention to my children when they were doing this to me. How about you? And so I, you know, I would push them and try to figure out, but I was busy, and they knew that I wasn't all that interested in finding out what I did. And so my wife taught me a lot about listening and pressing in. But the truth of that scripture is that love prospers, man, when when there's forgiveness in a home. And so, you know, as I was uh writing this today, uh I'm gonna read a story that's just a profound story. It's out of my book, The Father You've Always Wanted. Available in our bookstore on Amazon and Print on Demand. And I think there's a podcast out there too for it. And so here's a guy, my wife and I, here's the scene. We're in Hawaii on an anniversary trip for a week, and we sit down having a beautiful dinner, the sun's going down, the tropical breezes. You've if you've been there, it's awesome. And so there's a guy named Tom, and I started talking to him, and he started talking to me about two weeks before, he said, two weeks before Hurricane Katrina, his son John made his regular phone call to his mom. Since John moved out, he never had any words, many words for his father, his dad. But that night, as Tom heard the phone ring, he answered and started walking towards his wife to give the phone to her. That's when he heard his son say, Hey, dad. As Tom was told me this story, uh his tears were even then beginning to form in his eyes. And as he talked about how hard his father had been on him as a boy, he confessed to me that he had made mistakes as a father. And he was responsible for some of those that distance between him and his son, John. And so Tom got to the heart of the story. As he held his phone up to his ear and he heard his son say, John say, hey, Dad, I don't want to talk to mom tonight. I want to talk with you. You know, I love it when my children call me. They really readily call my wife all the time. But when they're calling me, they're checking in, it's such a sweet, sweet time for me. How about you, Dad? Before Tom could think or say anything in his phone call, there came a chilling question from his son, John. Hey, Dad, are you ready to bury me? Imagine having a son say that to you. Dad, if something happened to me, would you be ready to bury me? Dad, I feel like the Lord has shown me I'm not going to live very long. Tom's fingers tightened on the phone, and his son continued. I wanted to call and tell you that I love you and I want a relationship to be healed. Yeah, what are those words? How about you and your story with your children? When maybe you know somebody, you're sitting in, and you want to learn about this. You're a gal listening, and you've got a son or a daughter side that waits with you. Nothing's more powerful. At the end of the conversation, Tom asks the final question. The dad said, Hey, John, if I'm gonna get ready to bury you, can I ask you about your relationship with Jesus? Because that's a shocking statement from a son. And John replied right away, Dad, I recently gave my life back to the Lord. And you won't have to worry about me when I'm gone. That's the goal right there. You see, when when we whatever we do, and we're modeling to them, the ultimate goal with our children is to help them discover Jesus for themselves. So they have their own story. And man, I gotta tell you, when that happens, that is the sweetest day for me as a dad. Now with my grandchildren as a grandpa. Excuse me. I don't know why I have to blow my nose when it's so dry up here. But that's the sweetest thing. I mean, my the sweetest moments of my life is when my children call me and they share their heart with me. But I had to do some things to get there. Let me finish the story quickly. Tom knew at that moment that was the deepest prayers that had been answered, that had been lying dormant for so long, hope had suddenly bloomed in his heart. And that's why he was able to say what came next. Son, I'm ready to bury you. What a dad. What a statement. You notice how he's paying attention to his son, the conversation, what he's saying, wanting to understand, not yelling, not making about himself, that we do as dads so many times. Son, I'm ready to bury you. Two weeks after that conversation, my son was on his way home, Tom's telling me, when Hurricane Katrina struck, a large tree uprooted, and he here he paused and took a breath. It fell on John's car and he was killed instantly. In that silence that followed, John said something I'll I'll never forget. And I don't want you to either. God knew that something deep inside of me and my son needed to be healed before he took him home to heaven. That was an incredible dinner listening to his story, praying for them. Well, let me tell you a little bit about that couple. And I I asked them after. We were all weeping. It was such a powerful story. I said, so what do you do now? Well, you know, I did really I was really successful in business. And so um my wife and I have gone around and we've built orphans orphanages for kids in every place we can build one. Many of us outside of the country, and they go down, they fly down, they they build these places, and they help these kids who didn't have a dad in their story. And he looks at me and he says, That's my way. You know, God blessed me in business so that I could make a difference for every kid that never got a chance to reconcile with his dad. Powerful stuff. That's what happens when God works things in you, my friend. It turns it into something so much bigger than you. I'd love uh any comments as we go go on, or any questions you might have. You can go to the chat and put a question in. It's good to see you guys. I am so grateful that you guys show up on Rumble, TikTok, X. Uh, welcome to our stream, Facebook, and now Instagram. And so let's let's talk about things to learn. Here's a couple of scriptures, and then I'm gonna give you five things to focus on and give you tools that really work for me. Number one, uh Colossians 3.13 in the message. So the first thing is you've got to prepare your heart for these kids. Well, you know, you know, Paul's writing this to the church in Colossians, and he says, be even-tempered, content with second place. Boy, you know how hard that is for an ex-NFO football player to voluntarily lose authority and position with my kids by letting them win. That was so hard in the beginning. So I thought if I was competitive with them, it would be really good for them in the real world. Well, it doesn't work that way. But he writes, be even-tempered, content with second place. Now look at it, it's quick to forgive an offense. And then he goes, Let me show you how quick that's supposed to be. Forgive as quickly and completely as the master forgave you. So, how quickly did Jesus forgive you when you said, Forgive me for my sins? Or whatever you bring to him. What how is it possible that he forgives so quickly? Something happened at Calvary. When Jesus died on the cross, he he died completely and took every offense that we would ever do or anybody would do to us. That if we ask him for forgiveness for any of those things, it's already covered. Well, get this the things your kids have done against you is already covered. The things you have done to your children is already covered by what Jesus did. And it's not because you're never gonna do that again. Well, that's the hope. The more you ask for forgiveness and own it, and the more you read the word of God, the more the Holy Spirit will reshape you and tenderize your heart to grow. And I'm now 69 years old. I've been walking with Jesus since, gosh, since I was just just turning 20. That's a long time. Isn't that awesome? And he still likes me. I just so love him. And so part of that is that you know where to forgive as quickly. So if you ever have you ever said, well, I'm not ready to forgive my son yet. It's like we're waiting for a moment. If they come and ask us for forgiveness, where they do something or change or become a different person first. See, that's the way the world forgives. So they well, they don't really forgive at all now. If you if you spend any time on social media, they've made it an art, bitterness has become the paint color of the day for many disenfranchised people that aren't following Jesus. See, if you follow Jesus, one of the things that's going to happen to you is that when you ask forgiveness, and he forgives you so quickly and so powerfully in your life, is that it makes you so grateful. There's no, you just you want to forgive everybody that's hurt you. You don't want to get even. I mean, I I've coached some dads and and moms who say, you know, him first. My son is the one who left us. We did everything right. When I hear that, I go, really? So you were a perfect parent. Well, nobody's perfect. Oh, okay, good. I just thought I was gonna have to build a marble statue to you somewhere next to the Pietà in the, you know, in Rome. They laughed, and I said, So what do you mean? So what would they have to do for you to forgive them? And I can't tell you how many times I heard this. Well, they gotta never do it again. So I I said, So what if Jesus forgave you that way? And they they get a look on your face like, oh what if he said, I'm not forgiving you this time because you did that last week? Or in my case, you did that yesterday yet. And part of that is that we don't understand the power of what Jesus did on the cross. He didn't like almost die, he died in our place 100% completely. When they stuck that spear in his side, his blood wasn't pumping, it was oozing out because at heart it stopped. So he died in your place completely, so that you wouldn't have to make other people die in their place for hurting you. That's what bitterness does. They want you to die. We've seen it just the craziness of the shootings and Charlie Kirk assassination, and he believed that the only way to feel better about his life choices and what he's doing is that he wanted to kill the guy who spoke against his lifestyle. And now he's now that uh boy who is gonna spend the rest of his life in jail and he possibly lose his life is living the penalty of that sin. His only hope is for him to encounter Jesus. Now he'll probably still have to do the time for what he did, but he could know what it's like to be forgiven completely. He didn't understand who Charlie was. Didn't understand his parents were religious, they were Mormons, but he didn't fully understand that Jesus, God's only Son, died for him. And so, you know, that's why the Bible says that we should bless those who curse us, pray for those who despitefully use us, for great will your reward be in heaven. The only kind of heart that does that well is a heart that forgives. So how good are you at it? How quick are you at it? That's what that scripture says. Couple more, and then we're we're gonna get to the five quick things for you. So here is um here's one in James that I love. You know, when I'm giving advice to my children, and I'm kind of mad at them, I kind of give them it, I give them wisdom with an edge. You know what I'm saying? But the Bible says that wisdom from above is pure, then it's peaceable, it's gentle, it's open to reason, it's full of mercy, and good fruits, impartial and sincere. It really reminds me of Charlie Kirk and the way he talked to these kids, and he told them the truth, but he was kind. Right? He you know didn't want a war with them, though sometimes they came up to the stage and were screaming. He was gentle. He said, Okay, prove me wrong. Let me hear your argument. And he turned so many kids away from the abyss of hatred and revenge. And the only way to kind of live in that is that you've got to really fill your heart with God's word first for you, and so then it flows out of you towards those that you're loving. So here's five things I promise. Thanks for hanging with me. We're up at uh 43 minutes and 12 seconds, but I needed to kind of build kind of the sum of the scriptures of understanding how to be the kind of father who sits on a porch and celebrates his son when he comes home. Number one, how to win the heart of your child again. Because part of part of the challenge that you have as a dad or mom is that if your children are angry or bitter towards you, you got to win their heart back. Well, here's five things that really help me, and in our coaching time with families from all over the place, some outside of the country. The number number one application is be quick to repent to God by asking for forgiveness and and to be good at modeling forgiveness to your children. See, you you first have to receive God's mercy for yourself before you're going to be gentle enough to deal with your kids' stuff. So be quick to repent. God. Own your stuff. That's that's so important for us to do because in a land where where knowledge is so instantaneous on the internet, it's so easy to get puffed up that you're doing okay. At least not like these people, or like this homeless person. Look at this guy. What happened to him? And so we're never supposed to compare ourselves with other people. We're supposed to compare ourselves to Jesus. And if we're sinning at any level, we need to be quick to repent. Well, guess what you do when you sew that in your private life? You sew that into your children that are lost to. So it goes to dad, so it goes to house. Number two, build a culture of forgiveness in your family by modeling it to your children. So here's the question that has been so powerful for me, for my children. And I wish I could tell you I authored this. No, this was dropped into me by Jesus in one of those moments where I was really angry and I wanted to nuke my kids. And I asked this question help me understand how I hurt you so I can ask for forgiveness. I remember when I first asked this, where it hit me, my children were really misbehaving and fighting. And one thing that I just uh I tried to protect the unity of my my family and my kids. But uh what what happens is they hurt one another, they're mean to one another, and I heard them making fun of one another, kind of like the way I did. You know, we had this kind of locker room style, just kidding thing, right? You tease somebody and go, man, you know, I don't mean anything by that. Well, I heard that with my kids, and my wife said, you need to go out and handle this. And so my typical way of handling fighting between kids is having a family meeting and threatening them, pulling up some scripture and and uh telling them that to be in the McGlassen house, we do it this way. And as I'm walking out there, the the Lord reminded me kind of internally, and it was like this this understanding. Well, you've never modeled to them how to ask for forgiveness. Oh man, God is so sneaky. Oh boy, okay. So I went out there and all right, family meeting, and they went, okay, great. Gonna take an offering, dad. They're mocking me. And I said, Listen, guys, I I want to be a better dad to you. And I was listening to the way you're talking to one another, and I know that probably did some of that stuff to you. And so could you tell me? Here's that question I asked. I I said, you know, help me understand how I hurt you so that I can ask for forgiveness. I'd write that in the front of my Bible with your kids. And all of a sudden my daughters started crying first, and they said, Really, Dad? And Edward and Lucas and Josh was a little guy. And around the table they went telling me the things that I was doing. It was really hurting them. And it was it's probably the first of many I'm so grateful for really honest moments with my kids where they shared with me my flaws in fathering them in a way that hit me. And and I in with each one of them, as you your children do that, you say, Will you forgive me for whatever they mention? Don't say, Well, I'm sorry, don't say I had a bad day. So if you do that, basically, that's how they're gonna do forgiveness. And sorry means I don't like it that I got caught in this. And so I'm sorry, I was having a bad day. So, in other words, dad, having a bad day is okay for you just to be a jerk, right? Of course not. So build a culture of forgiveness in your family that you gotta model it to that, to your kids. Number three, ask the father to show you what he's doing with your children. This is a great follow-up question. You know, it's you say it's present with them, it's they'll let you. You it never occurred to me, you know, you know, until later on in my days of being a father, that God wanted me to partner with him with my children. Maybe you're you're fathering some kids outside of your family, and you know, that's such a powerful thing. And uh so grateful for all my friends on Instagram, Rumble, TikTok, keep keep responding. So grateful that you're here. But you know, when when you when you begin to understand that God's working on your kids the same way he's working on you, and you pray, show me what you're doing with my kids so I can partner with you. Instead of the old way that we do as fathers is, well, I know the truth. If you know the truth, it'll set you free, and I'm gonna I'm gonna teach my children the Bible, whether they want it or not, and I'm gonna raise them in this home, and they're gonna do what I say. And so when you when you build a house that has all this structure but no heart, you're gonna lose the heart of your kids. And sure, they're gonna act right in front of you at church. But when they get out with their friends, they have private lives. And so what you want to do is you want to father them in such a way to where their private life matches their life in front of everybody else as you're walking with the Lord. To do that, you gotta have their heart. So you gotta stay present, you gotta ask questions, but ask God what you're doing so I can partner with you. Two more. Learn to ask good questions, not preach great sermons. Oh, this was hard for me. Learn to ask great questions. Oh not preach great sermons. You know, I I've learned this. Questions will help you determine your next steps. I've learned something. I'm I'm 69. I don't tell me I look like it. But I've learned that you know, one of the one of the the lost arts of building relationships with people is asking questions so you find out where other people are at. Because it's like you're people are so quick, even when you're sharing the gospel message of calling people to repent and receive Jesus as their personal savior. So a person that's not in church, who doesn't know Christ, who's never heard the gospel, he's looking at you like you're from the moon. Because they they care more about well, what do you think about me? What do you think about the way I live? I need some help with some stuff that I don't know about. And so when we begin to discover what's really going on with our children, and they let you in, and you're a trusted confident, boy, that's one of the most powerful places for me and my kids. And when my kids are telling me, I'm great, I'm fine, I'm fine, dad. It's like I hear the 007 music, and I I begin to press in and get with my kids as quickly as possible, and I ask questions and I and I keep spending time and I'm loving. What if they, you know, one question here is well, what if they don't want to talk to you? Well, I write them letters. Well, what if they send letters back? I keep writing them. See, one of the things that happens is when you don't ever pursue them. When you get off that porch and just figure, I'm just gonna hand them over to the Lord. And there are times when those children are so tweaked out that that might be a good step. But for the most part, for the most of us, your children are paying attention to how you're reaching out to them. Here's a question how would you like me to connect with you in this next season? That's that's helped me, you know, my kids, because sometimes I get a little bit too preachy, and I mean, you know, for crying out loud, kids, don't you like to know dad's done this for for 45 years and you know, preached in all these places, and so for so they don't care about all that. They just care about dad, do you feel me? Do you understand what I need from you as a dad? Because when you get that, boy, God, though their heart will begin to shift. And number five, the last one. Okay, get on that porch, get a rocking chair, like in the story of the prodigal son, and get out there and pray out loud every day till your kid comes home. Jesus wouldn't have told that story unless that story worked. It wasn't just an allegory about another thing. There's a lot of applications, but it's a real life story for us, and it was a real life story for God who lost his children in the Garden of Eden. And Jesus bought them back on the cross, paid their ransom, so he could adopt all of us and make his sons and daughters. I'm so grateful that uh you showed up tonight and I'll be praying for uh church on the mountain where I'm gonna be the next couple weeks, and and uh Pastor Mike and Heather pray for them as well. They're amazing, amazing saints. And and I want to pray for you before we get off here tonight. Father, I um I pray for my friends, I pray for their stories, that I pray for the things they are struggling in. I pray for their families and their relationship with their children. And I pray, Lord, that they would they would learn how to win the heart of their children back. And Lord, uh, whatever hit them tonight, and those things that I've shared, those things from you that that hit them, I pray, Lord, they would put them in the practice and and not get discouraged. And that you would heal their relationship with their children and bring their kids home. No matter how broken they are, no matter how devastated they are and sin or lostness or or crazy uh gender dysphoria or other places, I pray you would heal them and bring them home. You told us this story, Jesus, because you want us to do it in every family, too. And I ask you to bless my brothers and my sisters that are watching from all over the globe and those who will listen, that you would heal their families in profound ways, the same way you healed them. And so we give your kids tonight, and we're gonna we're gonna get the ring ready, we're gonna get the robe ready, we're gonna fatten up that pig and get them ready for the for the barbecue to throw a party when our prodigals come home. Just like you threw a party for us in Jesus' name. Amen. Bless you guys. Thanks for being here, hanging with me. And uh, I'm so grateful to share with you tonight. Get a bounce. Got another group of men we're gonna meet with in our Fatherhood Academy. If you're interested in doing in finding out more, go to my website, and uh, and uh we actually have some coaching program. Now, and let me take you if you need some prayer, let me see. I'm gonna I'm gonna direct you here. Let me find the right. You know, I have a number of dads that are getting a hold of me right now and grandpas because of their families. If you're if you're in need of uh some coaching time, you can connect with me. If you go to my website, that link is on the website, and the website is the fatherdifference.com. If you go there, sign up for a free 15-minute coaching. Let's see if we we can work together. Maybe I can help you. We you'll be a good fit, and I'd I'd love for you to discover some of the things that God's done in my life. Because if he can turn my life around, you got hope, brother. Anyway, bless you, and remember it's never too late for God to do amazing things. Um, they'll bless you from Mammoth, California.

SPEAKER_00: 58:27

Dear friends, imagine a world where every father feels equipped to lead with faith, love, and purpose. A world where families thrive and communities grow stronger because of devoted, Christ-centered fathers.

SPEAKER_01: 58:42

You know, beloved, that is the vision that God's put in my heart for every single family. You know, he is on the move, I believe. He promises in Malachi that before the great and coming day of the Lord, he's gonna do something profound. He's gonna turn the hearts of fathers back towards their children. So the hearts of their children will turn back to their father. That's what God is doing. I mean, dad's daily who want to learn to be better fathers. Yet many have never been shown how. Too many families are being fractured to bitterness, and with parents and grandparents even being canceled. That's why we're launching an online community to quit and to be the fathers that God has called them to be. It's more than a program, it's a part of a a movement that God is already doing to reshape fatherhood. It's a sacred calling rooted in the teachings of Christ. And we're calling this the Fatherhood Academy, where men will embark on a journey of healing and spiritual restoration that helps them transform their family relationship. And to make this vision a reality, would you consider partnering with us financially as we continue to reach and disciple every man, dad, and grandpa that comes our way? Your donation will help create a ripple across the neighborhoods, communities, you know, and ultimately our nature, anchoring each child who's division and the unwavering love and guidance of a devoted dad.

SPEAKER_00: 1:00:33

Will you partner with us? Your gift, whether a one-time donation or ongoing monthly support, will help to transform lives. Together, we can equip fathers and grandfathers to lead with faith and create a brighter, hope filled future for generations to come. Click the link to donate today. Thank you for believing in this mission and joining us on this transformative journey.