"The Way of the Father" (Michael W. Smith)

TITLE: The Way of the Father: Lessons from My Dad, Truths about God
AUTHOR: Michael W. Smith
PUBLISHER: Rocklin, CA: K-Love Publishers, 2021, (208 pages).
 

It has been said that our views about God the Father are connected intricately to our relationships with our earthly fathers. Sharing intimate details about his late father, the popular musical artist and performer hail his father as his hero, devoted supporter, coach, diligent worker, his father, and how his life empowers his faith with his Heavenly Father. Smith opens up with how his father would bring his team to a Dairy Queen despite losing 30-0 in a baseball game. While some people celebrate with special treats when their team wins, his dad celebrates with the team regardless of the result. This demonstrated his dad's grace to see the team bigger than any game results. He was a deacon in Church, heading up many leadership roles from pastoral search to layperson's roles. His decision-making with regard to promotions or job opportunities always centers around God and family. Not surprisingly, he gives up promotional moments for the sake of his priorities. This is not something that a lot of people could do. Even though his dad was often tough, he had tender moments like during the aftermath of the Marshall football team air crash. Smith learns that the strength of a person is not defined by how much grit one has but how caring one is. Smith's dad checks out all the boxes. The rest of the book contains many powerful lessons about the impact of his father on him. Lessons such as:

"The Shack" Movie Review

TITLE: THE SHACK MOVIE
AUTHOR: William P Young
PRODUCER: LionsGate
CAST: The film stars Sam Worthington (Avatar, Wrath of the Titans, Clash of the Titans), Academy Award®-winner Octavia Spencer (Best Supporting Actress, 2012 –The Help; The Divergent Series film franchise), Grammy Award® Winner Tim McGraw (The Blind Side), Radha Mitchell (Olympus Has Fallen), Alice Braga (Queen of the South, Elysium), Aviv Alush (The Gordin Cell) and Graham Greene (Longmire). The screenplay by John Fusco is based on the best-selling faith-based book, “The Shack,” by William Paul Young in collaboration with Wayne Jacobsen and Brad Cummings. Stuart Hazeldine (Exam) directs the film, which is produced by the Oscar-nominated Gil Netter (Life of Pi, The Blind Side, Marley & Me) and Brad Cummings.

This movie is based on the bestselling book of the same name, written by author William Paul Young. You can read the brief synopsis from the official resource page here. That would help readers who have not read the book to get a gist of the story.

I watched the preview on Wednesday evening, thanks to the gracious invitation of Graf-Martin Communications. Right from the start, we were asked to be prepared to shed tears. A Kleenex box was also provided for those who needed it. We were shown a brief video from one of the show's advocates, followed by a 2 hours and 12 minutes of heart-gripping story telling about God, the struggle of man with the issue of pain and suffering. and many theological matters that the Christian would be familiar with. Some of the themes include:

• Justice and Love
• Pain and Suffering
• The Trinity
• The Persons of the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit
• Freedom and grace
• Forgiveness
• Family
• Tragedy and Grace
• New creation
• Visions of heaven
• Wisdom 
• Human limitations
• ... and many more

"A Passion for the Fatherless" (Daniel J. Bennett)

TITLE: A Passion for the Fatherless: Developing a God-Centered Ministry to Orphans
AUTHOR: Daniel J. Bennett
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Kregel Academic, 2014, (240 pages).

Experts estimate the number of orphans globally stands at 163 million. In the United States alone, there are 425,000 of which 115,000 are waiting to be adopted. We may shudder at the numbers or be horrified at the huge quantity of fatherless. What about our compassion? Is it not God's will for us to care for the poor, the weak, the vulnerable, widows and orphans? Bennett believes that it is not only what God wanted the Church to do, it is also a very powerful "apologetic" when believers stand together to support the fatherless. Whether it is fostering, adopting, mentoring, or simply supporting, the transformation can go much more. Not only will orphans be reached and cared for, the ones who reached out will also be transformed.

Daniel J. Bennett is Senior Pastor of Bethany Community Church in central Illinois whose passion for orphans accelerated after his stint as a Family Pastor in 2005. He has adopted a child too. He notes how people caring for foster children are able to open up conversations about God as well. He describes his convictions as follows.

"My compassion for orphans flow from the fact that I know God and know that he passionately cares for the fatherless. I love orphans because I love God. If I did not have this theological understanding, my passion for orphans would be commendable but ultimately worthless." (19)

"NIV Busy Dad's Bible"

TITLE: NIV Busy Dad's Bible: Daily Inspiration Even If You Only Have One Minute
AUTHOR: NIV Translators and the Zondervan publishing team.
PUBLISHER: Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2011, (1216 pages).

A Bible passage per day. A 'thought-starter' per week. This publication tries to inculcate a conscientious desire to study, to pray, and to read the Bible. As the main publisher of the widely used New International Version of the Holy Bible, Zondervan has continued to provide many variants of study helps to accompany the Bible. Targeting age groups, interest groups, and now, family groups, this Bible contains 52 "thought-starters" to help busy men who are also dads to get through their day, and at the same time, to keep a biblical idea in mind for the day/week. The devotional thoughts cover about 13 different topics relevant for the typical dad. The topics include theological ones, learning who God is, to the nature of man and sin. It includes social matters such as relationship, what it means to be a father, marriage, and others. It also highlights the building up of character, a quality that is critical to leadership in the family and in society. Other topics include stewardship, trust, guilt and forgiveness, and many more. Carved into 10-minutes and 5-minutes plans, the topics are arranged in such a way as to encourage busy dads to pick up a thought and go.

My Thoughts

I am normally a little skeptical about Bibles designed around the conveniences of people, instead of people intentionally reading and studying the Bible as a discipline. It makes me wonder, if God is so important, why are we only trying to allocate a few minutes per day for God?  It turns the Word of God into some kind of a tool to fit into the schedule of a busy person, instead of the person trying to mold himself according to the Word of God. The premise of such a help book is thus flawed. Having said that, I understand why the publishers have produced such a help-Bible. It is basically to encourage Bible literacy. It aims to help dads and busy people to at least make time for Bible reading, thinking, praying to God. A little reading or praying is better than no praying or reading. Moreover, the NIV Bible is largely left intact, without any colourful boxes or distracting images that may take attention away from the words. The title of the book is rather unfortunate. It is still an NIV Bible. Perhaps, the words "Busy Dad's" can be relegated to the sidelines so that readers will know it is still a Bible after all. An "NIV Bible (with help-notes for busy dads)" sound like a more appropriate title.

The NIV used is still based on the 1984 version instead of the recent 2011 version. This is still the most popular and most accepted versions among all the NIV variants.

My rating below is on the study helps in this book.

Rating: 4 stars of 5.

conrade

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This book is provided to me free by Zondervan and NetGalley without any obligation for a positive review. All opinions offered above are mine unless otherwise stated or implied.

"Five Secrets Great Dads Know" (Paul Coughlin)

TITLE: Five Secrets Great Dads Know
AUTHOR: Paul Coughlin
PUBLISHER: Minneapolis, MN: Bethany House Publishers, 2010, (64 pages).

In preparation for Father's Day tomorrow, here is a brief review of one little book that is packed with wisdom. It is suitable for the busy person who does not have much time to read. The author, a father of three talks about the importance for fathers to manifest and to cultivate character traits in their children. He starts the book by emphasizing the need for fathers to know their role, that is unique and different from mothers. Men and women differ physically, emotionally, psychologically, and behave in distinct ways. Raising good kids who are active, innovative, confident, courageous, virtuous, are some of the values great dads will take responsibility in. The book is arranged in "five secrets."

#1 - Great Dads are Good Guys, not Nice Guys

Here Coughlin confesses that at the beginning, he thinks that a good Christian is a "Christian Nice Guy" (CNG). By focusing on things that one should or should not do, men have largely missed the point. One needs to be intentional about being a "Christian Good Guy" (CGG). This means courage, love, and discipline. It means being able to see the world for what it is, not to be worldly, but to know the contraints of the world. Otherwise, children grow up soft, immature, and incapable of facing the tough real world. Masculinity means assertiveness, and not mere aggressiveness.  It means respectful treatment of all, not rude questioning of everything. Great dads cultivate good self-control and self-worth.

#2 - Great Dads Have 'Thumos'

The Greek word "Thumos" is not either head or heart. It means the convergence of the head and the heart that leads to action.  It means courageous faith.

Thumos (Greek): Courageous faith. Guts (blue collar definition). A vital capacity for life: an expression, a movement, an action, and living that's right here and right now. A container of spiritual heat and spiritual juice. A pugnacious yet playful drive; an attribute that separates the men from the males." (27)

With thumos, men can shake off fear and stand up in courage, willing to make sacrifices when necessary, maintaining fortitude in perseverance, and always mindful of others.

#3 - Great Dads Love and Protect Their Kids

It is important not to abandon our children. It is equally important not to make them feel abandoned. This means being present for the children. It means protecting them.  It means helping kids grow up well. It means affirming them with brave and loving words. Lead them well and pave the way.

#4 - Great Dads Give Their Kids Wings

This means gradually moving their children from dependence to independence. Great dads do not aim at quick and easy fixes, but enable their kids to have a long term, resilient, and to tough it out when necessary. This may even mean that at times, kids are allowed to fail, and learn to be gracious about it all. Let not fear drive development. Instead, let courage and love lead the way. Coughlin reminds us the difference between protection and over-protection. The former allows children to take risks and accept any result. The latter prevents kids from facing their own troubles.

#5 - Great Dads Raise Confident, Adventurous Kids

This means training children to grow up to confront fear without shirking back, danger without being afraid, uncertainty and intimidation without losing one's sense of worth. Courage is more caught than taught. Great dads will live out the values of courage, virtues of honour, dignity, and humility. Going on adventures can develop children's confidence and courage.

These five secrets are not rocket science knowledge. They are everyday values that children need. I am aware that some dads offer up excuses like, "I have never been brought up well, so how can I be a great dad?"

The answer is, the moment you know, you have the opportunity to do something about it. What has happened in our past need not enslave us in our present and future. Let God help us be great dads. Let God free us from the tyranny of the past. Let God equip us to be the best dads we can be.

Happy Father's Day to all fathers!


conrade

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This review is based on my personal copy of the book, a Kindle version.