The World Needs A Father

By: Lyle Simba Hall

Are you a father? I am not talking about a man who has children, any man can have children, but are you a father? This is an entirely different question.

The biggest leading problem we have in the world today is not poverty, it is not Donald Trump, it is not education, it is not the excuses, the world’s biggest problem is fatherlessness. The effect of fatherlessness touches every sphere of influence. It takes a real man to be a father.

Violent crime, drug and alcohol abuse, teen pregnancy, suicide, even poverty, all correlate more strongly to fatherlessness than to any other single factor. You look at any family, community, city, even nation, where there is crime, abuse, moral collapse, poverty, etc. is because of Fatherlessness.

At the end of the day it is the man that is responsible

• Men commit 90 % of major crimes.
• Men commit 100 % of rapes.
• Men commit 95 % of burglaries.
• Men commit 91 % of the offenses against the family.
• Men comprise 94% of drunk drivers
• Men comprise about 92% of human trafficking
• 94% of those in prison come from fatherless or dysfunctional homes
• 73% of school dropouts come from fatherless homes
• 84% of teenage suicide victims come from fatherless homes

These statistics are not just a North American issue, this is a global issue.

• 60% of children today grow up in fatherless homes
• 78% of these children live in urban cities

In the Island of Seychelles of East Africa, 94% of its children do not know their father.

Men, yes I am talking to you, I am talking to me, this should not be. I shed tears writing this to you. My heart breaks because men, we are to be held responsible, where are the men???

Maybe we don’t even know what a man is.

What is a man?

Is he someone who is strong and tall?

Is he on that is taut and talented as he plays ball?

Is he someone who is hardened and tough, never dropping his guard?

One who smokes and drinks and swears better than the other guys?

Is he the one with the biggest balls and how many women he can go to bed with?

Is he someone with a good business mind and is financially successful?

One who gets ahead of the others with his nose to the grind?

Or is he someone who tries his best, not really caring about any of the rest?

What is a man? Does anyone know?

TELL ME! Who is the prototype? To whom shall I go? For I long to know.

Quote: The Cotes of Catalonia (1235) -

“We decree that no one shall be knighted unless he is a knight’s son”.

Do we raise our son to be knights and our daughters to be queens?

Three desires that is in the heart of every man:

1. A will to obey — (let it be God’s will)

2. A work to do, (God has created us to work, work is not a curse)

3. A woman to love, (everyman desires a woman to love)

As a man I want to feel and believe that what I am doing is heroic, timeless, and meaningful”.

Many men did not have a father in their own life, maybe you have grown up in an abusive situation, maybe in a wealthy home but no dad at home, because dad worked or because dad was too busy preaching to the world. So we struggle with who we are as a man. One of my biggest fears in my ministry life is to save the world but lose my own family. Is salvation to a lost soul worth the souls of my own children? Think about it.

Two voices — To whom shall you listen:

There are two voices that speak to us all the time, the inner voice and the outer voice.

1. Inner voice speaks to us from who God has purposed and called us to be.
2. Outer voice calls us from outside, the voices of the world system, the lustful desires, titles, positions, recognitions and acceptance from others.

Geneses 1:26–28 The first purposes God spoke into man: Reflect His image, Be Fruitful, Multiply, Take Dominion. All of these are action words. It is in these where we find our identity, that deep soul cry within you is answered in these four eternal purposes.

We so often make our choices based on what the world tells us. We end up doing and even being what the world tells us to do and be. When the flesh (the spirit of the world) and its values are much stronger than the Spirit of the Lord in us, it is the flesh that wins in times of temptation. The spirit you feed the most will be the victor. Do you feed the Spirit of God in you or the spirit of the world that is in you?

Men, God has called us to be warriors, we love a good fight. God put this in our DNA. Many men have forgotten how to fight, fight for their wife and kids, for their community, fight for what is truly right, fight for the morals of their own country that they love. God is a warrior and Christ is the general of heavens armies, this is plural. Christ is no longer a baby in the manger that we all love to sing cute songs about.

In Africa where I live now 30 years, we have a saying, “A lizard can do push-ups but his tail keeps him from standing up.”

Question — What ‘tail’ keeps you from standing up? Is it oppression, money, the past, entertainment, stuff, lust, pornography? Maybe addicted to approval, work, sport, food. Maybe some of you men are addicted to ministry yet you are losing your own wife and kids, my friends this should not be. How many pastor’s kids are running wild, stop in Jesus name and say no, a real man can say no! Can you say no? A man cannot produce what he is not nor can he do Gods will the devils way.

Remember that it is God blessing us not because he loves us, he blesses us because we are making the right choices. A real man is strong enough inside to make the right choices.

“The history of a free man is never written by chance but by choice — their choice.”

Dwight D. Eisenhower

God is calling us to be exceptional. One does not become exceptional overnight; it is the continuous living on the high road, making the right choices in all areas of our lives that makes us exceptional. Who do you want to be known for???

The bible is full of stories of exceptional people, it also full of stories of ordinary men and we know the outcome of their lives. Ex. Saul and David.

We often ask if God still loves me, of course he does, but does he trust you. The answer to that question is up to you. God will only anoint what he trusts.

I end with these two scriptures –

James 1:12 “Blessed is the man who perseveres under trial, because when he has stood the test, he will receive the crown of life that God has promised to those who love him.”

James 1:25 “But the man who looks intently at the perfect law that gives freedom, and continues to do so, not forgetting what he has heard, he will be blessed in what he does.”

Blessings to all the men of this generation, let’s make a difference.

________________________

Lyle has spent 30 plus years in the missions field. He has lived in 7 different countries, visited as many as 70 and has worked with 8 different mission organizations to bring the Kingdom of God everywhere he has went. He has seen God move in the deepest swamps of Zambia to the largest city in the Philippines. Lyle and his amazing wife, Jette, are also raising four daughters to carry on their legacy as they are currently stationed in Africa. If you want to know more or support them, please visit http://frontlineperspectives.org/