.
“Take
Me Higher Up - Being Accountable
for Our Lives Before God”
Auckland
Men's Conference Highlights
by Cosmos
Misquita
Cosmos
shares some of the highlights of the
recent Men's Weekend Conference held
for the community men in the
Auckland branch of the
Lamb of the God Community in
New Zealand.
"He who sows bountifully shall reap bountifully"
(2 Corinthians 9:6). This passage from the Apostle
Paul highlights for me how the men who attended
the weekend conference were blessed and built up.
During our weekend together I could see God's
promise bearing fruit for my brothers in the Lord.
Auckland
Mens Weekend Conference
The men’s conference was based on the theme, “Take
me higher up - being accountable for our lives
before God.” During these 3 days the men had the
opportunity to pray, worship, listen, share,
reflect and have lots of fun.
We started off the evening with a party atmosphere
similar to an entrée; the momentum continued
throughout the entire weekend. It was wonderful to
see men opening up and sharing their inner lives
with like-minded brothers. Praise and worship were
Spirit-filled that helped
build a platform for each talk.
The talks given by John Tham, Tom Caballes and
Jonathan Hesp gave food for thought regarding our
roles as husbands and fathers and touched on
commitment, faithfulness, transparency, etc. Group
sharing amongst the brothers provided enough
evidence of soul searching by the transforming
power of the Holy Spirit.
The committed men in the kitchen raised the bar
and did a fantastic job of a normally daunting
task; providing physical nourishment. The upward
trajectory continued until the last day when every
action taken and word spoken was spontaneous. We
were all edified by the music team and felt they
all performed to a very high standard. Truly the
power of the Holy Spirit in action.
The conference was truly an exhilarating
experience. All praise, honor and glory be to our
Father, our Lord Jesus Christ, and the Holy
Spirit.
Some Key Points on
Family Life
.
shared during the Auckland Men's
Conference
Recognize the spiritual
battle we are in
We are in a Spiritual battle. At stake are our own
souls – and also the souls of our spouses and
children, and their children’s children. The need
of the hour is strong, mature, and responsible men
of God who can take their place in their families.
Because of what society is now, it is no longer
acceptable to be just a ‘good’ husband and father.
God is calling us to be the best husbands and
fathers we can ever be. We as husbands need to
take the role of leadership in our marriages: if
things are not working well, it is our
responsibility to make them work!
Most marriages around us break apart because men
do not take seriously their roles as husbands – or
do not know how. The key to a happy wife [and a
successful marriage] is a loving and a caring
husband!
Don't miss the opportunity
to influence before it is too late
Our window of opportunity to influence our
children is slowly fading away as time passes by.
When our children are young, they are like sponges
– they absorb what we give them. That ‘sponge’
gets firmer and firmer as time passes by and the
values, priorities and character of our children
gets formed more and more.
As our children mature, we become more like
advisers and friends to them rather than telling
them what to do. Deep down inside, children yearn
for their father’s approval. It is in-born, as God
designed it. Our roles as fathers are very
powerful – in fact, life-changing to our children.
When children do not get their father’s approval,
they seek that approval from someone else. Missing
fathers create a massive vacuum of unmet needs in
the lives of their children, which only their
fathers can fill.
God's eternal purpose for
fathers
God created fatherhood for one eternal purpose: to
reveal and represent Himself. Every human father
is called to be a physical representation of God
to His children, to reveal Himself to the next
generation. There is no other most influential
person in a child’s life than his dad. Mums are
very important and priceless in their roles, but
they were never created to be dads. Why?
Children get their identity from their dads; they
get their values from their dads; and they
learn their self-worth from their fathers.
If our fathers had not been good ones to us, we
need to forgive them and break the chain of
ungodly fathers in our line of ancestry. Our
fathers probably just did what their fathers did –
either for the good or the bad. You can break the
chains of the past generations of anger, abuse,
negligence and rejection. You do not have to
follow the footsteps of your own father if he was
not a good one. Be a chain breaker! Let us start a
new ‘line’ of godly fatherhood that can be carried
on from this generation onwards.
Five legacies to pass on to your children
There are five areas of legacy we can leave our
families behind: (1) a loving provider, (2) a
strong protector, (3) a truthful leader, (4) a
respectable authority, and (5) an intimate friend.
We need to be the spiritual leaders at home
– and it all boils down to our relationship with
God. We cannot give what we do not have. We cannot
teach what we do not practice. Our families can
smell hypocrisy from afar. We need to be credible
leaders and authority at home. We need to be
faithful to our own prayer time and lead our
families in spiritual undertakings like family
prayers, celebration of the Lord’s Day, etc.
As leaders of the family we need to swallow our
pride many times. We need to acknowledge our
shortcomings to our spouses and children and
resolve to do right.
We need to develop a ‘heart to heart’
relationship with our children. When their
hearts are open to us, the more they can receive
what we tell them. If deep inside your children
feels you love them, you have their hearts. We
need to ‘capture their hearts.’ How? By giving
them undivided attention, generous affirmation and
loving affection.
On the other hand, we lose our children’s hearts
by our absence [physical and/or mental], our
uncontrolled and unrighteous anger, unjust and
unexplained discipline, harsh criticism, lack of
compassion, favoritism and comparing one child to
another, hypocrisy, hurting, abusing or
disrespecting their moms, misunderstanding and not
truly listening, and setting unrealistic
expectations for them.
The challenge before us is to be the best husbands
and fathers we can ever be. It is not an easy
task. It takes a real man to do the job. Are you
ready to take the challenge?
[Source
of some materials are from the book The
Resolution for Men, Stephen and Alex
Kendrick and Randy Alcorn, B and H Publishing
Group, Nashville, Tennessee.].l |
