Independence Day: The Civil War Continues

to living as godly fathers. I am not suggesting that you will attain perfection, but I want to urge you to at least struggle in that direction. I have done a brief study of six fatherly attributes for you to think about and pray over, things that I hope will empower you to be a great dad to your children:

Maturity: A father should manifest spiritual and sexual maturity (wisdom) through his masculinity. Twice, the Apostle

John summarizes fatherhood with these words: “I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning” (1 John 2:13, 14).

Marriage: The father’s role is to prepare his children for marriage by demonstrating what a healthy marriage looks like. The long-range goal of marriage is the biblical reason given for a son’s leaving home (Genesis 2:24).

Messenger: Fathers are to be in lifelong communication with their Heavenly Father, spouse, and children as the God-ordained authority in the home (Proverbs 4).

Modeling: Fathers are to set a positive example of spiritual headship and servant-leadership in the home for children to follow, imitate, and emulate. The Apostle Paul was a good spiritual father who urged young Christians to follow his example (1 Corinthians 4:14–16).

Mercy: The authority of authentic fathers is never hard, harsh, autocratic, or dictatorial. His fatherly leadership is that of a servant to his wife and children (Psalm 103:13).

Ministry: God calls every father to be a full-time minister— not just the preachers, pastors, evangelists, and missionaries.

Just as Jesus was always doing His Father’s work, so should we (John 5:17).

These, then, are some of the major characteristics of a father as revealed in the Bible. The restoration of authentic fatherhood is the greatest need in our world today. There can be no more high, holy, or humbling calling!

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Independence Day—July 4

Every kingdom divided against itself will be ruined, and every city or household divided against itself will not stand. Matthew 12:25

Patriotic Fourth of July greetings in the dual love of God and country! As we celebrate, let us remember that the Bible is very clear: Christians are to be the best citizens possible of the country in which God has sovereignly placed them. We have the dual roles of submitting to and praying for those in spiritual and political authority over us (Romans 13:1–7; Titus 3:1; 1 Peter 2:13–14). But as many of our brethren in non-democratic countries know, it is not always easy to submit to pagan and prejudiced governmental authorities who are unjust, incompetent, corrupt, and self-serving.

The Founding Fathers of America had a different political vision for their young country. It would be a republic that was based on the revolutionary principle of “government of the people, by the people, for the people.” The government would be voted in by free elections where every citizen had the privilege of the ballot box. America could be a place where the lowliest citizen could rise to the highest positions of political power.

Wisely, the Founding Fathers clearly understood that this new political dream could only succeed if it were based upon morality, equality, freedom, individual rights, private ownership of property, and the fair and equal rule of law. Both the spiritual laws and legislated laws must be based on the principles of the Judeo-Christian faith. America’s greatness would be determined by her goodness and godliness. If she ceased to be good, she would cease to be great.

The first big test for this fledgling new democracy was the Revolutionary War for independence from Great Britain. After much bloodshed that tested the resolve of the colonists, freedom and in-

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