Father to Father

by Pastor John Fredericksen

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I once read a testimonial from a father who lamented being so consumed with his career that he did not share his faith with his children. The result was that one of his sons plunged himself into a lifestyle of atheism, drug addiction, immorality, and other destructive behaviors. Some estimate that six out of ten who were raised in sound fundamental churches become 100% spiritually disengaged once they become adults.

It is amazing that only one generation after the nation of Israel was miraculously given their prosperous “promised land,” the next generation was spiritually lost. Judges 2:10 describes it this way: “…and there arose another generation after them, which knew not the Lord, nor yet the works which He had done for Israel.” How could this have happened after so many blessings and dynamic miracles?

The answer is the older generation, and the men in particular, failed that generation spiritually. When they sat in their houses with their families, walked or worked together, retired for the night, or rose for the day, they were to “teach them diligently” the things of the Lord (Deut. 6:7).

We who know the Lord must awaken to our spiritual responsibilities to bring up our children, and grandchildren, in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. With no excuses, we men need to “man up,” making this our top priority. Will you join the rank of the faithful who pass on their faith to the next generation?

To the Reader:

Some of our Two Minutes articles were written many years ago by Pastor C. R. Stam for publication in newspapers. When many of these articles were later compiled in book form, Pastor Stam wrote this word of explanation in the Preface:

"It should be borne in mind that the newspaper column, Two Minutes With the Bible, has now been published for many years, so that local, national and international events are discussed as if they occurred only recently. Rather than rewrite or date such articles, we have left them just as they were when first published. This, we felt, would add to the interest, especially since our readers understand that they first appeared as newspaper articles."

To this we would add that the same is true for the articles written by others that we continue to add, on a regular basis, to the Two Minutes library. We hope that you'll agree that while some of the references in these articles are dated, the spiritual truths taught therein are timeless.


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