Thanking My Heavenly Father for My Earthly Father
I love to watch superhero films: Batman, Captain America, Thor (my favorite) . . . the list goes on. Superman has always seemed the most powerful of them all, as he, according to the old TV show was, 'faster than a speeding bullet, more powerful than a locomotive, able to leap tall buildings in a single bound,' (plus fire comes out of his eyes).
Remember the words, 'Look! Up in the sky. It's a bird. It's a plane. It's Superman!' The problem, of course, is Superman isn’t a real person.
But there is a 'Superman' in real life. He's called Dad. Not just any dad. I am talking about a dad who stays married to his wife and raises his children to follow God and be responsible—a dad who is a godly role model and leader in the home.
That, to me, is a Superman and I’m praising God this week that God gave me a Super Dad.
Without my earthly dad, I’m not sure where I’d be right now.
I seriously doubt I’d be a pastor of such a wonderful church, and I doubt I’d have any semblance of the man I am today.
Dads are vitally important, in fact, consider these alarming statistics:
• Fatherless children are 100–200% more likely to have emotional and behavioral problems.?
• A child who comes from a fatherless home is 68% more likely to use drugs or alcohol, more likely to become sexually active at an early age, and three times more likely to commit a violent crime.
• 63% of teenagers who attempt suicide live in fatherless homes.
• 90% of all homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes.
• 85% of all youths sitting in prisons grew up in a fatherless home.
• Fatherless daughters are 53% more likely to marry as teenagers, are 111% more likely to have children as teenagers, and are 164% more likely to have an out-ofwedlock birth.
James Merritt once said, 'The most endangered species in America is not the Spotted Owl or the Snail Darter, but the responsible Father.'
So, you can understand why I say fathers who are present are like superheroes!
If you are a man standing by your wife and children today, may I say on behalf of a grateful country, thank you! It gives me hope for the future.
Pastor Tanner