Becoming A Father Led By Grace

What if the strongest thing a father can do is admit he needs help—and then ask God for it? We dive into a raw, practical journey from performance to grace.

You’ll hear five practical ways God equips fathers: facing temptation with honesty, moving from hero to beloved son, approaching God with confidence, boasting in weakness so Christ’s power rests on you, and imparting blessing that forms a child’s identity. We also address cultural headwinds that sideline dads and why grace-centered fatherhood is the quiet revolution every neighborhood needs. 

If you’re a dad, granddad, stepfather, or a man who wants to lead with faith and love, this conversation offers a clear path forward. Subscribe to stay connected. If this helped you, share it with a father who needs courage today and leave a review so more families can find hope.

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

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Transcript

Big Questions For Fathers And Men

SPEAKER_00 0:01

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 this later, we are so excited to have you here. If this is what you're looking for, then subscribe so you can tune in 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.

Identity, Coaching, And Culture

Learning From Your Father And Gaps

Mercy, Grace, And Real Fatherhood

Seeing The Father Through Jesus

Culture’s View Of Dads And Hope

Turning Hearts Of Fathers And Children

Five Ways God Equips Dads

Humility: From Hero To Beloved Son

Draw Near To The Throne Of Grace

Power Made Perfect In Weakness

Blessing Of The Father And Identity

Fatherhood In A Challenging Culture

Invitation To The Fatherhood Academy

Prayer, Blessing, And Next Steps

Movement, Community, And Partnering

SPEAKER_01 1:15

Hey, welcome. Good to be with you from sunny, uh little hotter Southern California. And its uh freeways are crazy. It's the it's everybody's either, according to my wife, everybody's either going to the beach or coming from the beach. It's like when the sun really comes out here in California, everybody is is looking for sand. Well, welcome today. Welcome to the Father Difference. And we're going to talk today about really understanding this whole concept of how God equips to be great fathers. I mean, that that's part, that's his job. That's not something we can do. And I meet dads all the time. And I promise you, last week I was going to get into part two of what we were talking about. And we're going to review two scriptures before we get into today's uh show. And one of the things is I would love comments or questions. If you're where you're coming from, what your questions are, good to see you guys on different, we're on every platform right now, which is great. And but at the same time, what I care about the most is you feeling as a dad or as a father that you have support and you're being equipped to be the best dad you can be. And I know this that in now that the National League is starting, and I'm I'm wearing my Rams jersey today. Uh, everything rises and falls in the National Football League on coaching. Of course, there's great players, but coaching really determines the difference that you're going to make. And when you got a great coach, it changes the team. When you have players running a team, it doesn't go so good. Doesn't go so good. So, hey, uh uh Mark, oh, from London, dad of two years old, always looking to be better. Welcome from London. I I have fond memories from your great country. Went there years ago with John Wimber, and uh, you know, I have friends with Nikki Silla, Pastor Nikki Silla, and and so many people in Holy Trinity Prompton, and really care about the English dad. I'm so glad you're here. Welcome. Make sure you throw any comments. You got a you got a two-year-old. Well, I gotta tell you, you got a two-year-old, you're kind of working with one eye open. They're amazing, though. They're they're 50% of you and 50% of your wife or your partner. And so, you know, yours is a good half, right? That's what we like to say as guys. And so one of the ways that uh, you know, becoming the kind of dad that you really, really long to be, you really want to be. It really starts out in our learning from our own fathers. And if they were present and great and affirming and knew how to be great dads, that really does affect us. But when they're aloof or working all the time or not sure about themselves as men or as fathers, that affects the family. That affects the kids. Because that sense of identity, and this is one of those incredible mysteries that I love, is that God's put that peace inside of you, dad, to make an incredible difference in the life of your son's identity and how he sees himself to be. Oh, I got one of these owis on here. My grandkids made me put on this special band-aid. This isn't a superhero one. So, anyway, if you're wondering what that fuzzy thing was, you know, my wife would have probably cut that off. So, if you're a guy, you know what this is. It's an owie pad, if you've got any kids at all. And so learning how to be that kind of dad. What do you do if your dad's not there or not present and you're kind of stuck? And in last week, I talked about a couple of things I want to share with you. And, you know, you know, I let me just read this. I wrote this today thinking about you guys. Imagine a dad standing on the edge of a vast ocean, waves of doubt crashing around him, wondering if he has what it takes to guide his family through life storms. I mean, a lot of guys that way. That was me in my early days as a father. But then a gentle voice whispers from the heavens, come to me, receive my mercy, and find the grace to do what seems impossible. That's kind of the heart of our talk today. Is that when we learn how to come to Christ, receive his mercy, and find the grace we need to do the what seems impossible. Because so much of fathering comes right out of some of the most exhausting times that we have after working all day, then we're with the kids, or now I'm with my grandkids a lot. I I happen to have a whole bunch of them, 14. They're amazing. I absolutely love them to death. But I I've never been, I've never taken harder naps than after trying to babysit more than five to ten at a time. Because they're all over the place. And guess what? They all have pieces of me. And a result of that, you know, I can't blame my wife for their bad behavior. I know myself. And I also write, say the heart of today's message uh is a former NFL lineman in the National Football League. And so I've had my share of ups and downs on the field. Well, you know, I got stronger and faster, and and I could make that that time playing professional football a little bit more uh predictive, but not like children. But I've learned that fatherhood isn't about superhuman strength. It's kind of the opposite. It's all about learning how to receive what you don't have and leaning into the father's mercy, love, and grace. And here, here's the truth about all this is that if you think you have what it takes, you're gonna make some of your biggest mistakes. And so if you're like me and you're one of those guys out there who's blown it more times than he's got it right, you're in the perfect place. And and by the way, I don't think that God makes perfect fathers. Because he is a perfect father. And when we learn to lean into him for the strength that we need, it can change our whole family story. So let's get into what we're going to talk about today. So here's the next picture. So last week we talked about two scriptures. Jesus said, I am the way, the truth, the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. So the way to the Father comes through Christ. And he then makes this incredible statement: anyone who has seen me has seen the Father. And I shared this with you last week. Is that there's probably nothing more powerful in my life as a dad than when somebody meets one of my sons and says, Oh, I by the way, I met your son or I met your daughter, and they're extraordinary. And you know what? They remind me a lot of you. Oh man, that's just such a good day. I've had those opposite conversations where I get called into the school because my son or my daughter did something and they need to talk to me about it. One of those moments, one of the most hysterical moments of being a dad, is I got a call one day from Human Services. Now, in England, I don't know what they call them there in England, but human services, when they call, they you know, they can challenge your parental rights if they think that you've been abusing your children. And so anyway, my my son Josh was always the the last one up every morning, didn't want to get to school. And so one morning he was late, and I said, Look, if you're not in the car in five minutes with with clean clothes on and everything, you're gonna walk to school. And so he thought I was just playing with him, and so he missed the ride, and I made him walk to school, and he was pissed. So he goes to school and he tells his tale to the teacher, you know, and I get this guidance counselor, I mean, I get this person from social workers calling me and going, Hello, is this Mr. McGlassen? And I said, Yeah. Well, I have your son here, and he's reporting that you have been abusing him with a golf club. And I started laughing. I said, Yeah, really. Yeah, he said that's not a laughing matter. I said, ma'am, you know who I am, you know what I do. She goes, What's that? I I teach fathers how to be great fathers. My son Josh, now I want you to ask him again because he's right there. He was late for school, and I told him I would make him walk to school, which by the way, is less than a mile from our house if he didn't get his new clothes on and get to school and get in a car. And so she asked him right there in the room, and he he cops to it, and I mean, oh, and so she she I said, and so I began to share with her about how we help dads become great dads, and she just wanted my book, she wanted to meet me, she wanted me to pray for her, all out of this thing. And Josh, of course, got home and I looked at him and I said, Well, you realize that these guys have legal authority to try to take you out of my family. Sorry, Dad. What a learning moment for Joshua. So last week we talked about that this whole idea about really fathering your children in a way where God people see God the Father in your life as a man and the way you father your children. See, that was the distinguishing mark on Christ. He was the way to the Father, the truth about him, he was the life in the Father. No one had ever met anybody who walked and lived the life that Jesus did. And the other promise that we have in Malachi, and I believe this is happening right now. It happened to me. It's happening all over the world. And that is that the promise here in Malachi is that he's going to turn the hearts of fathers back to their children and the hearts of children back to their fathers. Least I come and strike the land with decree of utter destruction. And I share with you last week is that it's it's if you look at the way the media, the movies, the wack-a-doodles out there, you know, in the nurse news services, the way they report and treat fathers for this last 10 years, it's not about them lifting up fathers, right? It's not about them speaking life in the dads. But they they've demonized them and accused them of so many things. But there's one person that is completely committed to making you a great dad. And that's God the Father. Matter of fact, he's got a hat he wears, and it's make fathers great again. I love this hat, by the way. I get so many reactions both ways. I get some people that, you know, they flip me off until they read it. I was taking my grandkids the other day out to a toy store. We were walking in public, and this guy sees my hat, assuming that I'm, you know, I'm talking about Trump, and stopped his car, slammed his brakes on, and starts giving me the double middle finger. And I look at him, and my grandkids are like, what's going on with this guy? And I said, Can you read? And I pointed to my hat, and he goes, Oh, I'm so sorry. You know, there's a pill for that. There's a pill for that. See, I think this is what God's doing before the great and coming day of the Lord. He's gonna do that. That's not a political statement, though the red hat does speak to a certain person who's president of our United States. But I think God's trying to make He wants to make fathers great again. Because I'm gonna tell you why. When that's not in a culture, you have a destroyed culture. I bet you my friend there, Mark, in in England, will be able to testify the breakdown of the family in England has destroyed the culture of young people and the craziness on the streets and all that. Now look at the same United States. It's it's all over the world. Matter of fact, my book, The Difference of Father Makes, is now being read in 233 countries. And I am so grateful. We've been giving that away. If you've not gotten your copy, matter of fact, you can get it right here from our website. Let me let me pull that up for you. If you go to my website, you'll see thefatherdifference.com. You can get a free download of my best-selling book, The Difference of Father Make, right to your Kindle, your phone. It's a PDF as well. You can actually print it out. It's my gift to you. Just go to thefatherdifference.com. See, that's why we're giving that away. Because I really believe that at the heart of what God's doing on the earth, and we're starting to see it with our young people. It's he's turning the hearts of fathers back to children. And you know, the way he does that is he he he turns the heart of those fathers. He does something in their life that's so significant that their children, it's an irresistible coming to their dad. That's what we do at the Father Difference Ministry. When God the Father makes a difference in you, you'll make that same difference in the life of your children. And you won't repeat some of those patterns that were given to you. And so here, you know, I shared this last week, and it's the application that started this whole messaging from God to me and Him actually fathering my life. Is I remember reading this and saying, God, would you turn my heart towards my children? Because I came to an understanding that I love my kids, but I didn't know how to be a father. And you had to make babies and didn't know how to be a father. And so the secret is something happens when we learned how to receive from God the Father ourselves. And when you do that, and you see the way he fathered his son, the that moment and that grace that he gives us, and we're gonna share about that today. We'll turn your heart to your kids. It's powerful. Let's get into what we're gonna talk about. Here's five ways God equips deaths, okay? Number one, facing temptation. You go, well, why why is that one of them? Because God, Jesus really gets it. See, one of the things is when we blow it and we sin, our first instinct is that, oh no, I've blown it and I I cut myself out of the story of my family first. Because I don't feel like I have anything to give. But the Bible says it so clearly to us. It says that we do not have a high priest who is unable to sympathize with our weaknesses. Imagine imagine this. Maybe you know this, maybe you don't. Jesus was tempted with every possible temptation the devil had to throw at him, all of the ones that come our ways, too. Jesus, God knows what it feels like to be tempted and to be pushed away. But it says, But but one who in every respect has been tempted as we are, yet without sin. Jesus defeated sin to give us hope. So when we come to him with our stuff, when we come to him with our temptation, it's it will get set free knowing that with him and us we can say no to those things that we used to be a prisoner of. And say, How does that apply to our children? Well, some of the most powerful times with my kids has been when they realize that dad gets tempted with the same things too. And as you're building this life, you know, you got a one of our friends has got a little son, you know, he's still watching you. He's still watching you. He's watching how you handle this, you know. You know, you're you got a little two-year-old running around, and mom and dad are having a fight, and somebody goes first, and the dad in front of the son. So if you fight in front of your kids, you gotta ask for forgiveness in front of your kids. Powerful lesson. Powerful lesson. When you do that, you're you're building in a whole understanding of how powerful forgiveness is, because when you go in front of your children, which I've had to do too many times to cow. And when they watch me go to jail and say, you know, that was really mean what I just said. Would you forgive me? Oh my goodness. That brings in more of the hope, hope to my kids. That when they blow it, there's a way for them to get healed too. See, at the end of the day, you're you're the captain of the boat, your kids are on the boat, and the way you turn that boat and lead that ship and towards that storm, they're watching everything. They're they're they're watching the way you handle. That bow to your family, the the way you're handling that. And if you try to project strength all the time, you will communicate to them that when they're weak, they're unlovable. And um my favorite son that calls me every every time. Hey Eddie Mac, I'm online live with the guys. Good to hear good to see you. Call me right at 522. Love you, son. Talk to you soon. Bye. You know, I always pick up the phone for my wife and my kids. So if that, you know, you just I've I've become interruptible. Now let me tell you, that's something God's done in my heart. Because I realize that my life matters more when they succeed than it does when I do. You know, all the trophies I've gotten and MVPs and football and all this stuff. And I did wrestling, I've done a lot of sports and things. They don't really matter unless my kids get it. They get to experience what it's like to get wins in their own story in their own life. Or the quickest way to make them the ultimate winner or how God is shaping them is to be quick to own your stuff and go to them and say, man, would you forgive dad? That changed my family. See, in different to father makes, one of the things I write about is that if you really want to unleash the potential in your kids, and when we use words like that, people are waiting for the rah-a-superhuman, you know, thing. You know, I even write. You want them to stand on your shoulders and uh soar to unfathomable heights. I use those words on purpose. And everybody's waiting for do these three things and they will get scholarships to college, never be in debt, never have a problem, never sin, walk in holiness, you know, walk on water. I mean, the images of what the way we project on our children our dreams for them of being better than us. But it's not about all that kind of stuff. It's when you teach them how God has turned your failure into a stepping stone of his grave. If you teach him that, you you'll change that child will change the world. Okay, here's here's uh, you know, one of my favorite new quotes is from Martin Luther, the the great reformer, a wild man, translated the Bible so we could have it. One of those who went, you know, Tyndall as well, incredible history that that came, the King James Bible. People getting to read the scriptures that were, you know, translated into Latin that only the highest scholarly people or priests could read. And and yet the thing that God uh I I think when we we we arrive in heaven we're we're gonna be our conversations gonna be all around the amazing love of God and how He took, you know you know, I love this incredible Englishman, amazing grace, how sweet the sound that saved a wretch like me. I once was lost, but now I'm found. I was blind, but now I see verse four. After when we've been there ten thousand years, bright shining as the sun, we've no less days to sing God's praise than when we first begun. And if you think about people who have uh who've learned to transcend that broken place in your life by bringing it to God so He could put them back together is such a profound testimony. So, and and my friend Mark here, so learning lessons for failure, but trying in the first place to win. Of course, of course, we're always trying to win in the first place. But we we we're flawed, we're human. We're we have this tendency to make everything about us. And yet when I think about all the wins in my life compared to all the losses, I have a lot more losses than wins. But God's the one who can turn that loss into a great win. And I mean, for instance, when I share a story or I'm preaching at a conference and share about brokenness that God has turned around, and then look at the crowd and say, how many of you have experienced that same thing? I get way more people than I go, okay, can everybody come forward who's done it right from the first time? You know, hey, I asked this one time at a men's conference, a marriage conference, and I said, Is there anybody that's perfect in the crowd? Anybody, please raise your hands. And a guy in the in the very back lifts his hand sheepishly, and I'm like, You're perfect? He goes, No, I'm standing in for my wife first husband, beloved. See, we're flawed and we need God's grace and mercy. And when we step into that grace, it's a powerful thing. So here's point number two the whole the humble path from superhero to beloved son. So notice I didn't say from superhero to Mr. Zero. See, God's humility that He brings on our life is to form Christ in us so that we receive our adoptions as a beloved son, just like Christ heard those words in that river that day with John the Baptist. God doesn't break us down, so we're, you know, you know, the first time I started, you know, you know, I began to understand this. I was watching the movie Robin Hood, which is another English story. And remember Friar Truck, you know, Fire Truck Truck, he was as big as a truck. You know, he was they were humiliating him and making him pull the the wine cart with Kevin Costner, and and he's pulling it, you know, and he's you know, they're they're trying to make him yield, and he won't yield. And finally he yields, you know, and he he looks up to heaven and says, Thank you, Lord, for you know teaching me humility. So the definition of humility in the world is I win, you lose. And that's not God's view of humility. God's view of humility is when we lose and when when we think we lose by yielding to him, we actually gain the Son and become who he's called us to be. God's view of humility is the calling that he's put on you in your life and the difference you make. Which, by the way, you can't do unless you're receiving from him. Look at all of the heroes of the Bible. None of them started out with with you know with great works, they all were flawed, they all were broken. Even Adam and Eve, his very first creation, had one rule in the Garden of Eden, and they broke it. Because man apart from God will always turn to himself, and that and being flawed will break us. And so, what does God do? He turns that around. And so have this mind in you that, and and here's the example that was in Christ, Jesus Christ, who though he was in the form of God, he did not count equality with God a thing to be grasped, but he emptied himself, being takes on the form of a servant, and being found and being born in you know, in the form taking on the form of a servant, being born in the likeness of men. Can you imagine the creator of the universe? That's what the scripture says that Jesus was. He humbled himself and allowed the creation, he spoke into existence to rise up and crucify him on the cross. But the Bible says there, he he he even learned, it goes on, he learned obedience from the things that he suffered. And so he lived in this relationship where he was following the father all the time. He didn't come to be the superhero leader, he came to follow his father. And when the father was working and wanted something to happen, Jesus partnered with the father. And boy, that person he prayed for got healed. Bartimaeus. Even Jesus asked him, What do you want me to do for you, the blind beggar? He's listening to what the father's saying. And you know, the Lord, the God the Father leads him into this prayer and this even this question of Bartimaeus, I want to see, and Jesus just says one word, see. He's when we partner with God, we see God's kingdom come with great power. When we partner with him as a father, and we're receiving and not looking to ourselves, but we're living in that place of humility, that place where we know that if we don't receive it, we're gonna crash and burn. And by the way, that is the truth. That's that's how it works. I mean, I saw this in the National Football League. We come from college, we're like at the height of a college player. We think we got all that stuff, and then we show up, and these cagey veterans who've been there who have been our heroes on TV, and we meet them, we we end up getting pancaked, or you get picked up and put on your back, and you realize you're not all that. You have to learn a whole new way of playing football at another level. Every level, every graduation, you move from hero to zero in the world's eyes, and you're starting again. And yet, God's end is to not make you a zero. God's end is to make you just like his son. Man, wait a minute. When I learned that, it changed how I sought the Lord because I realized he always had my best at his in his heart. Here's number three, draw near. The throne of grace awaits you. You can have as much grace as you want, but you have to you have to be willing to bring your weakness and your brokenness to him to get more. Let us draw then draw with confidence to the throne of grace that we might receive mercy and find grace to help in time of need. Boy, isn't that a perfect verse for someone who gets married? How many of you woke up with a different woman that you then than you went to bed with? I'm not saying you have multiple women, I'm just saying your wife is a certain way one day, and then you go to bed, kiss her goodnight, you wake up the next morning, an entirely new person shows up. Oh my gosh, I thought I had brain damage. I was like, I kept belowing it. And I was like, Lord help me. I even saw Mel Gibson's movie, what women want, thinking if maybe if I electrocuted myself, like he talked about in that movie, then I could understand my wife. But what I found, a simple, simple thing, that if I draw near to the throne of grace and I bring, Lord, I don't know how to love my wife right now, I don't know how to meet her the way I need to meet her. Would you show me what you're doing with my wife? That prayer changed my marriage. Instead of me trying to fashion her into somebody I felt safe with emotionally. By the way, when you have girls, you're never gonna feel safe emotionally. Listen, my friend, I got 10 granddaughters. I mean, they're they're amazing, and all of them think that they're my boss. Even the littlest tiny one, Gigi. I'm with her today, and I'm asking her to to finish, you know, I made her a waffle and a hot dog, and and they're eating it, and and I'm just talking with her, and and when I when I came, when she saw me, she just ran by me, and I said, you know, you know, Papa really wants a hug. And she looks at me and she rolls her eyes and she runs away. Because he's like, you gotta you gotta chase me. It became a game now. Let's go find Gigi. And it's like even at even at two years old, she's just completely got me. Just an incredible. No, and then there the balloons showed up again. And so, how do we draw near to well, it it says to draw with confidence because of what Christ has done, and that grace you you draw there so that you can receive the mercy that you have and find the grace you need. And I and and and it's it's an incredible picture when you begin to understand that the more grace you receive, the better dead you're gonna be. Here's another scripture in point. Here's you know, point number four the breakthrough, receiving mercy and finding grace. He said to me, My grace is sufficient for you, for my power is made perfect in weakness. Therefore, I will boast all the more gladly in my weaknesses, so that the power of Christ might rest in me. I don't I don't think that Paul is just going around and talking about all his sins out loud, but he's boasting before the Lord that he doesn't have the supernatural power in him to do what God has called him to do. So when he's boasting in his weaknesses, he's he's boasting that he can't do this without the Lord. And Father, you're the one who has everything for me. And I when we understand God's grace, and I and I put a definition here for you, is my my best friend in heaven, James Rile, wrote this. And I I love this definition of grace. You should write this down in your Bible. Grace is the empowering presence of God that enables you to be who he has called you to be, and to do what he has called you to do. Isn't that good? It's the empowering presence of God that that empowers you to what? That enables you to be who he's called you to be and to do what he's called you to do. And when you park your heart in those two aspects of God's grace, you're gonna become who he's called you to be as a son. And you're gonna do things that are gonna blow your mind. Because when you're done doing those, you go, that wasn't me, that was him. That is the greatest boast. And when you do that in front of your kids and they learn how to, that God is gonna help them become who he's called them to be and to do what he's called them to do. The same way he does that with daddy, it gives them great hope in the midst of the craziness of the world and the promise of these little devices that we can change the world if we get popular enough. Well, that might make you popular in the world, but it doesn't make you powerful. What makes you powerful is when you you bring that weakness in you where Lord, I can't, and and sometimes weakness can be sin. I'm not saying that all the time a weak our weakness is that when I'm when I'm trying to big ed things in my life. They called me big ed since I was a little kid. Boy, that gets me in trouble. But when I bring big ed to him and say, Lord, I'm your servant today, I can't do this without you. How do I connect to my daughter who's mad at me? My son, my other son, my other daughter, my grandkids, my wife, the ministry you've given me. And the more I pour out those kind of things to him, the more input I get back from him. And I write those things down in my journal. So that's his grace. And, you know, one of the ways I discovered this was I lost my dad when he was killed, you know, in a in a fighter pilot accident in a test plane. And so I I learned all this stuff about the father by not having a dad. I had a stepdad who did his best, but but he was a driver, and he drove himself and and everybody. I know he loved me, but his only way was, you know, you just got to push your heart down and just do it. And so there wasn't much conversation that way. And and after I was really severely broken as a dad in a lot of ways in my early days as a father, God did something in me that changed my heart. And I write about that. And I'll talk about that. And so when we talk about the blessing of the father that God has for you, that I learned to receive from myself. Here's a definition uh from my book. The blessing of the father is that moment when Jesus connects us to the love, grace, favor, and blessing of his father so that we can become the person as God has called us to be. You see that? It's when Jesus connects us to the love, grace, favor, and blessing of his father. And so those who have the son have life, those who don't have the son don't have life. That life that we talked about, even from the very first verse, is all about Christ being inside of us. And that gives gives me great hope. Great hope. And so, and so the finally living it out, living out this kind of God, you know, powered fatherhood for the impossible. Because if you're fathering your children, you know, you I mean, today in the state of California, there's a new bill that's been offered where it's really the the lefts and the wicked people's attempt to allow counselors from public school systems to take our children away from us. And you know, the we have a almost come you know, completely Democrat-controlled state and representatives, though we're we're not all Democrats here in California. And and yet they they believe, and there's some very small wicked minds, that fathers are fatherhood's obsolete, let the government be the daddy of your children. And anywhere that's in play, that culture fails. That's why Rome has gone. They did everything to remove dads out of the equation, turn them into warriors and soldiers, and demonize the church. And and highlighted abortion and it's no more. And so we live in a day right now where the more we let God do this, make fathers great again, make you the kind of father that makes a difference. And you know, I don't know if you wore this hat in England, my friend, if they would be you know, if they would attack you or not, but it's a great hat. I have them in black too. We have them in our ministry if you're interested. But see, God is able to make all grace abound to you, so that having all sufficiency in all things at all times, you may abound for every good work. That's God's promise about what grace will do for you as a man, as a father, and maybe your stepdad. Or you're a gal that's slipping in here to learn the secrets of your husband. So grateful you're here today. And so, you know, and I'm gonna kind of close with this as an imitation to one of the things that we're doing. But let's be real about about something. You know, there's a lot of great books on fatherhood, and you get advice from other dads and even nudges from your wife, they can help, but they really cannot reach the deepest places inside of you many times. Because you know, every dad that I meet, every dad that we coach carries a different set of battles. I've had the privilege and the honor of walking with men through so many different scenarios. We've watched so many dads get their kids back. After loss, divorce, just horrible problems, is because you still as a father carry something that no worldly thing can ever replace. Your voice over your children, your ability to connect to God the Father yourself so you can help impart the identity that God wants for your children will will make them will will change their life and culture more than anything else you can do. And so that's why, and you're gonna see a video of this at the end. The Fatherhood Academy that you know it's it's personal coaching, it's it's one-on-one time with yours truly and our coaches. It's grounded in scriptured and shaped by years of helping men, you know, break old patterns. By the way, yours truly has probably had them all. But so we meet you kind of where you are in your fatherhood junior, and and we'll do that heart work and help you learn how to become the father you've really wanted to be. So it really helped transform you so you can become the dad that your your family needs you to be, the challenges that you have and God desires you to be. And so all that to say, if you end up joining our Fatherhood Academy, you're gonna get a number of things. You'll get a life coaching from seasoned dads who face struggles just like you, guys who got your back like teammates on a on a great team. Maybe you played sports or soccer or football or baseball or on a team, and you've had guys that uh you know they have their back. When I get around my NFL buddies, it's like we never stop playing together. So we got practical tools, videos, podcasts, my books that will anchor you in God's word and the results. Well, right now it's pretty amazing. I mean, nine out of ten guys that are part of our academy say that their their family bonds are stronger in just eight weeks of doing some of the exercises and the lessons and learn things. So if you're interested in that, there'll be a video at the end to help you with that. All that to say, let me let me pray with you. Whoops. I got a lot of extra slides here. Father, I thank you for my friends that are watching. I thank you for my friends in England, for those in South Africa that are watching, and Australia, New Zealand, my brothers in New Zealand that I love so much, and and in France and and different parts of England and Scotland. Lord, I thank you for those that are in Switzerland and in Italy and and and Lord, I I pray that you would continue to expand this message. But more than anything, I pray for my friends that are watching that you would empower them to be the fathers they know that you want them to be. I pray, Lord, that you would dump th something so profound in them that they would never feel like they couldn't do what you've made them for. I should heal their their families, their marriages if they're struggling, or if they're a single dad, Lord, I pray you would empower them to be the best doggone father their son ever thought their dad could be. And so they can be set up to face a culture that's pretty much fatherless in most countries. Bless my brothers. I'm so grateful they showed up tonight. I pray you would bless them, and I ask you to bless them in in a profound ways. And Father, lastly, putting on the brim, make these fathers great again. Make them great. Maybe the for the first time, but use them in profound, powerful ways. And all God's men said, Amen. I'm so grateful you're here. There's a number of things. If you've not gotten my free book, you can go to my website, the father difference free book. If you're interested in checking out the Father Academy, we have that on our website as well. All you gotta do is go there and you'll see it. And for we have a special introductory fee right now for the first hundred guys that were just starting to launch. It's gonna be officially a launch in September, but you can get in on it now. Uh, it gives you access to all of our videos, coaching, and personal coaching with me every month. All that to say, I'm gonna end this stream now. Lord bless you, and remember, it's never too late for you to be the father that God has called you to be, to be the man to your woman that God's called you to be. In Jesus' name.

SPEAKER_00 50:59

God bless you. 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 51:14

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 meet dads daily who want to learn to be better fathers. Yet many have never been shown how. Too many families are being fractured through 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 nation, and create each job, their division, and the unwavering love and guidance of a devoted dad.

SPEAKER_00 53:05

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, hopefully 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.