mepastormike

Over the past three days I have been in Lansing training to become a facilitator of a program called Proud Fathers and Proud Parents. It is a good program that I believe may open the door to a lot of possibilities of reaching men and helping them to become the fathers they want to be. In part of the training a video clip was used. In part of the video it showed a judge from the Flint area that asked the same question to every person that comes through his court...(along the lines of) Was your biological father in the house? Did you grow up with both parents? All that this judge sees in his court are felony cases, and he has asked this same question for years. An astonishing 99% of the men he has asked in his court did not have a father present in their home growing up.
I am grateful for the new information and training I have received over this week. I am excited to see how God will use it to touch people's lives. There is such a need for the church to be bold in it's pursuit of helping families in this day (as always). This is the direction I believe God is leading our Congregation.
Today I will be in Lansing as a part of the Leadership Livingston to tour the state capital... Field Trip!
My reading took me to Genesis, chapter 27. In this passage is a perfect example of parents working against each other, which in turn led their children to sin. It's the story of Jacob stealing Esau's blessing from their father Isaac. The mother, Rebekah, in this event was the manipulative mother. One thing I take away from this scripture is how God does not need our manipulative behavior of lying, cheating, stealing to bring about what He wants. What do I mean? Well, let's see... I have, in my lifetime, resorted to lying to bring about what I was sure was the "right thing." I thought that if I didn't manipulate the situation in my favor... I mean in the "right way" that it would not happen the way it was suppose to. What kind of thinking is this?...