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Welcome to the Raising Up Fathers Podcast. We are here to champion men to thrive in their four main roles: son, husband, father, and brother.
Through testimonies and best practices. Our goal is to help you look a little more like Jesus in the areas that matter the most. Our vision is to raise up ten thousand fathers in the name of Jesus. You can find out more at raisingupfathers.com
If what you heard today encouraged you, please share it with a friend.
Welcome to the Raising Up Fathers podcast. We are here to champion men to thrive in their four main roles as son, husband, father, and brother. Through testimonies and best practices, our goal is to help you look a little bit more like Jesus in the areas that matter the most. Our vision is to raise up 10,000 fathers in the name of Jesus. You can find out more at raisingupfathers.com.
Speaker 2:On today's episode of the 10,000 fathers podcast, we hear from Brett Henry from the ten thousand fathers summit in Colorado Springs. Our man Brett shares a raw, holy, and deeply practical sharing that sticks with you long after the audio ends. At the center of his sharing, it's the simple confrontational idea that attention is the currency of fatherhood. He talks about panin, the Hebrew word for attention and all of its many meanings. He talks about what you give your face to, you give your life to.
Speaker 2:In a world that is consistently bidding for your attention, your phone, there's work, noise, distraction, all these things. This conversation is a callback to the power of presence, to turn your face towards God, towards your life, towards your kids, and toward your brothers. If you're tired, distracted, or carrying the weight of fatherhood and wondering how to do it well, this sharing by Brett Henry is for you. Enjoy it. Share it with a friend.
Speaker 2:Thanks for tuning in.
Speaker 3:Hello. So I'm about to let it in. Promise. So the Lord told me for tonight not to be overly prescriptive. He reminded me that I'm actually in a company of very ill new fathers.
Speaker 3:And so it was a call for me tonight to just remind us of some things and to call us up higher. So that's what we're be doing. I mean, So, Cody, thank you so much for the instruction. I think it's kind of weird language, but it's true of me that fatherhood for me is like akin to my, this is my Super Bowl. You know, I think I've done a lot of things, but there's nothing that, thankful this was given from God, but there's nothing that hear about.
Speaker 3:And so I've been far, far from perfect, far from perfect today, but I've just really, let's say, pursued it. Like it was my main, you know, like this is my main. And so I'm really honored that Sangamon has asked me to share tonight. I'm really excited to share tonight. If anybody was in here for the panel was really amazing.
Speaker 3:There's a lot of really practical wisdom that was shared by Michael Perlman Eric and Tom Spo. So tonight's going to be a little bit less practical, but my desire is that it actually provokes more radical change if I gave you guys a descriptive list of what your opinions look like. And most of the message I hear is for peers who have children in my age bracket. It's just two year above. Feel like that's really the way the Lord's given me a heartfelt.
Speaker 3:And yeah, whatever way, just to bless the older dads who've already run your race and need strength to end up free that it does and your dads being married or don't have kids in, I think, better also to to you through as well. And then the last thing is, I remember speaking in this room a couple years ago, and I'm gonna do one thing that I did, kind of one takeaway from you last time I was speaking, but it can get really of irritable quiet in here. So I am asking for, like, you know, some responsive feedback. What? The other like, it'll get my energy levels up.
Speaker 3:No. Okay. So, like, I know you get jokes for days. Yeah. This yeah.
Speaker 3:I want all like, it's not gonna distract me. It's I and I I think I beat it. Yeah. Right. What you think?
Speaker 3:Only worse, first. Alright. For real, though, I I won't have any. And we're also I'm gonna need some help because I want to be able to interact with them on the script or so. If I need like, I need like 10 of y'all to read some scripts or whatever.
Speaker 3:The first person said, somebody needs to go ahead and climb it. Don't rush to, okay, I'll just pick you. Do you know? Yes. Oh yeah, thank you, Bradley.
Speaker 3:96.1. You wanna say that song? Yeah. My god. Psalm twenty seven eight.
Speaker 3:Alright. Who wants to that? Right here. Samwise. Psalm four six.
Speaker 3:Who's over here? Benjamin. Exodus thirty three fourteen. Yeah. Genesis three ten.
Speaker 3:Mhmm. The next one is did I do the s s 30 year old? Yeah. Genesis thirty two thirty. Oh, let's see.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Genesis 31.
Speaker 1:Which
Speaker 3:because we can hold some extra on Thomas. First grade means 13 as well. In the six. Yes. Riley.
Speaker 3:Right? Has Zach called you out, like, four times? I don't know you. Deuteronomy thirty one seventeen. Did I already get revelation point to you?
Speaker 3:I have notes. Really? Jesse? You? Yeah.
Speaker 3:Revelation twenty two four. And there's a noise. Second Corinthians three eighteen. Yep. Awesome.
Speaker 3:So you're ready to read it and I forget about you. Just find my time to go ahead and shout it out. Alright. Here we go. Attention is the currency of fatherhood.
Speaker 3:New day one more time. The Lord whispered this to my spirit last week. So this is the new period I've been making. Attention is the currency of faller. What you give your face to, you give your life to.
Speaker 3:For that, I have chosen not. What you give your face to, you give your life to. Let's get it. So I wanna welcome you to the slow burn of Yeah. Where there are no tricks, no shortcuts, there's no AI tool or accident that can do the work for You can't outsource Folderhead to anyone else.
Speaker 3:It takes time, way more time than you could possibly have been uncomfortably so. But if you're not willing to risk the unusual, most of will be ordinary. Wow. The average. If you're not willing to risk the unusual, you'll settle for the ordinary.
Speaker 3:It'll be the average. And in fatherhood, attention is the currency that transmits identity. You must, in fatherhood, embrace the secretly beautiful, earth shattering, hell shaking power consistency. Amen. Comfort is a slow death, distraction is a feat.
Speaker 3:Yeah. But fatherhood is the slow burn that we talk. Yeah. And what he gave your face to, he gave your life to me. Steve Allen said that life is too short to live small dreams.
Speaker 3:So my dream is fatherhood. Steve also said that God is great in each one of us and the world needs to see us fully embrace who God has called us to be. It's already been mentioned. The world needs you. Your community needs you.
Speaker 3:Of course, brothers and your wife needs you. Your children need you to show up and to show up fully alive, fully present. You say this phrase many times tonight because I I can bit this in the message in and of itself. But what do you give your face to and your wife to? It's not a metaphor.
Speaker 3:It's not a productivity hack. Mhmm. It's the way that God designed our souls to work. Your attention is not neutral. It's not unlimited.
Speaker 3:And it's the most valuable statement I've shared. Everyone wants it. Your employer or your employees, your phone, your own restless minds, the algorithms, the advertisers, views, everyone wants your attention. But there's someone who wants to blame them all alone, and he is watching to see if he gets it. But the father is not the only one that's longing for your attention.
Speaker 3:Your wife and your children are too. Thankfully, you're in a room full of men who traveled across the country in pursuit of father's attention. And we came because those of us who carry the role of fatherhood came because we also carry the weight of fatherhood. And that weight is heavy and consequential. Ial.
Speaker 3:It is light and death as then it beat many. And the weight doesn't go away and it can't be carried away. Amen. So Paul, the namesake of some possible solution, Paul said that even if you have 10,000 teachers, I say very Pete Pollard's. 10,000 teachers.
Speaker 3:That's a lot of teachers. 10,000 interpretations, 10,000 voices, 10,000 podcasts, 10,000 books, 10,000 conferences, 10,000 curricula, 10,000 experts, but few fathers. Teachers get information, fathers beat themselves. Come on. Come on.
Speaker 3:Say it again. Who was once? Teachers give information. Fathers give to themselves. Teachers can be very easily replaced.
Speaker 3:Fathers cannot. Teachers can instruct from a distance, but a father has to turn his face toward a child in the family. We know we are not perfect fathers when we complete terrible negativity. But in this age, trailing out is no longer the hereto. In this age of fatality and in this generation are children.
Speaker 3:Attention is a war. Yeah. It's a war. A war is being fought. Okay.
Speaker 3:The attention certainly of ourselves and absolutely about our children. So you're here because you've chosen you fathers who are here have chosen that fatherhood is working out for. No. What? Alright.
Speaker 3:A little bit on mute. So I'm I I can use the phrase I have shown you phrase in the last year because I've been in a season Tom's poem says, vocational wandering wilderness. I think this is the exact phrase. Is that right, Tessus? Yep.
Speaker 3:So I haven't gotten paid through any of my businesses for the last year. So I just have been a vocational hauler. And I love the first minute of the second shift. That's like, I'm going to lose. It adds language to something that's so And in the context of when you read phrases like that, then you can rally around.
Speaker 3:So I like that one a lot. I can see his shirt. I'm so grateful for Zach's value of merchandise. Really good branding on it. There's a reason that beloved dude to those doesn't get to touch the things that Yeah.
Speaker 3:So vocational father. So I started using this great, but, like, don't believe I I I this is me. I'm a I'm a vocational father. So my my goal in my call field is to set the pace and generation that is coming behind me. You know, like the Ballon Boys and David Blaylock and the guys I love with who were my who I love and who are just the years younger than me.
Speaker 3:Michael gave me a head start, and I was a little bit ahead of Cody then. So I want to set the pace with you guys so that you can keep running mess. Eric, So you made a format really, there's a little stuck with me about thinking about your target. And I really liked the way that you worded that. Like, if you're not thinking about, you know, your target and it was in context of fatherhood.
Speaker 3:So like when you're old, working from the end of line, when you're old, what do you want that to look like? Because it's not gonna happen accidentally. And the best chance you have of reaching this to be a very intentional follower. So what is that what is that target? Visualize it.
Speaker 3:And for me, I know exactly what it is. I live on a little bit of land. I have I know to have my sixth child. I want to have a an ocean of grandchildren running across my land on Prison, Missouri. When they and I would visit me, who are dealing with their own stuff in life, they can come and sit and know they have a safe place.
Speaker 3:Where I can sit and not have to say anything. Smoke my pipe and I'll just smile and look at my, you know, my legacy coming up in the ward in a gen in another generation coming with. That is my that is my only target. I would say the the second one is I'm not even gonna talk about it. That that is that is that is my target.
Speaker 3:And it and I know for a fact it will not happen. Accidentally. I will not accidentally get some of going. That's good. So while I can't control the outcome, I do believe that it greatly increases problem of the I those big dreams becoming reality.
Speaker 3:I know. So two years ago, I stood sat up here and shared about my family culture, what it was to be in here, brutally practical one. So, but I did want to just for like, especially for the young guys who don't know me, like, just get a small glimpse of this concept of building a family culture. Okay? We all have a giant family culture at Messiah, right?
Speaker 3:But individually, we're created differently with different streaks, different revelations rewarding, different passions of different hobbies. So we should, I believe your children should be able to communicate what your family values are and their family culture is. They need to be able to communicate it. So every year, interview our children and ask them what it means to be a Henry. So this is the 2026 version.
Speaker 3:You separate them so that their answers can influence each other and not work once again. Right? So they write down. This is what my 12 year old son said, almost 12 year old son said. This is what it means to be in here.
Speaker 3:Loyal, courageous, smart, athletic, holy spirit filled, humorous, loving, creative, good listeners, leader. That's my first sports song. Zero influencing them all. No prompting. He's not on the way.
Speaker 3:He needs speed. Barely needs you. Hey. My second son Nash, who's nine, and he's a man of few words, but he loves it very deeply. He's my athlete.
Speaker 3:So you must do four things this year. Don't give up to big family. Work hard, persevere, encourage me. My daughter, I also have a picture of her. She's my only daughter and is my second cheer.
Speaker 3:So this is what Elsa just said, so she's a little worried. Some kids are scared to talk to their other and their emails, but Henry's aren't like that. Confidence feels special to be honored. Speak nicely to other people and not just to your best friends and to all the friends that you have. Integris, this is for the definition of it.
Speaker 3:It doesn't matter if someone is looking or not, you choose to do the right thing. To try to be the most like God. Selfless, kind, grateful, prefer other people first, and obedient. My four year old son, Pearson. Pearson that believes this is the number one thing, fun.
Speaker 3:Pearson's my golden boy. He's supposed to be jelly, pray for him, that steep memorial and that really blessed him. Fun, play, friends, how you feel. That's that's the legal game actually. How you feel, peaceful, be aware, love, helpful, patient.
Speaker 3:And then my two year old, who's the Kingston, he's the Crown Mayor, he's a total jokester. He pointed to Pearson and said, Him. Well, he says, Dude. And then he looked at Elzada and said, you because we were asking him at this point, okay, my tier. We're asking him, can you say, what is it that you can put in here?
Speaker 3:Like, him, you. And then he pointed to to Elzada and said, you tell him. And then he said, Pretty. But he wasn't meaning pretty. He was trying to say and figure out integrity.
Speaker 3:And then I texted Zach later that day because he said something about Steve. And I was like, Steve, who's Steve? And he said, Zach. I was like, what in the world? He was at the memorial.
Speaker 3:He's paying attention, I guess. So yeah, that was the really the only budget I wanted to get, know, review gun by the new cuts. If there's one of the things I do that I would encourage you guys to use, tavathing, those are actually the can you get fried chicken? Alright. Come on.
Speaker 3:Zach, I was thinking in line with when he was looking at marriage, was thinking, our wives are very different. And so I was personalizing, like, how can I I'm so intentional when I get home, less than cheery and used to quit? If I took Jerry out to an expensive dinner, it would not be wrong. I don't want her to take neither of you. But I was thinking about it, and my wife is so simple.
Speaker 3:And I was just thinking, been What has she communicated to you that after the ground match, the data is self intimacy for her? And it has been the intentionality. To her, the attractive list and the SEC a lot of that's come from the intentionality that I've had in front of me. So that's and I'm like, I to continue to tend to guard it directly, but also like, it fires me up because I know she's blotching. And like that really ministers to her already.
Speaker 3:She was gonna stay at home, but she's very good about edifying. So, all right. So I want to dive into this concept of attention a little bit deeper. There's a word in deeper that's used over 2,100 times testament. Translated goes 100 ways into English.
Speaker 3:And most of you probably have not heard of this word, but you know the temptations. So the word in your word is panin, P A N I N, panin. Panin means inside of your face, attention, countenance, favor, before, like, skinning before, thought. Surface is a really radical word because every time you see Oh, did I mention presence? Every time you see in the Old Testament the word presence, smoking about God, the literal word is face.
Speaker 3:So, panin, panin al panin, face to face. So there's this fundamental, and is The Lord has I mentioned I really wanna be deeply depicting maleness, that I have, in the last couple of years, really sacrificed the scanders that I have for detention with my gender. And the chief offender for me in my own home is the iPhone. I had started to And the hoarder has asked me to do some really radical things and I had a meeting with the family before I came and they're all on board. The kids are like, are cheering because we are making radical changes with the iPhones, the power that it's had over myself and my wife to that has resulted in us giving partial attention to our children and sometimes no attention.
Speaker 3:And I processed some of this with some of my bread is just like, because this is really fresh for me. And I'm realizing there are some things that take our attention that are in the context of the hustle that are really good, really edifying. Because we were kind of comparing contrast to like, what about a book? And we read a And lot in our there's something different when it comes to a handheld device, a smart phone, because it has an ability to lock your attention in a way that nothing else like a book or anything naturally be engaging with can lock your attention. You know what I'm talking about?
Speaker 3:Like, how many times have you been in your home looking at doing something that's not arduous in many ways, right? You're reading news, you're checking a score to a sports game and your son or your daughter is talking to you and you cannot register them. And they might say your name eight times and you do not register. Yeah. Mean, that is not the standard that I have set for myself.
Speaker 3:And I have allowed this device to have that kind of power. And so in this study of Pavim, which I'm gonna get into, the theology of biblical attention, I have failed my family in this way. I have accidentally taught them that what I'm doing on my phone is more important when I'm in the home than what they're telling me, than what they're desiring. And ultimately, they're desiring my attention. Yeah.
Speaker 3:But I have given it to other things. Yeah. Yeah. Teach me, Lord, to number my days. Yes.
Speaker 3:My son is almost 12. That's 75%. I'm 37. 75% of my lifetime presence with him is gone. Now I have been a good father, but I, there's so much more for you guys.
Speaker 3:And there's so much more for y'all. I'm getting, I'm getting, putting a carpet from the horse, but the challenge, like this is the challenge. What is distracting you that is not from the Lord, from your wife and children? Yeah. Specifically your children.
Speaker 3:Because your wife is, even though she needs it, right? She needs your face. She needs your attention. She needs your presence. She needs your counselors.
Speaker 3:But she's, you know, our wives are pretty durable. They're not in their brains are not developing. Right? They have a lot more understanding patients making filters, you know, how they feel about it. And they can communicate it a lot more easily too.
Speaker 3:Hey, get off the ground. Your children, they're like, for us who have young children, their brains are still growing up. Yeah. What does it say to them when they prompt, prompt, prompt, prompt, prompt and get nothing? You know, they're going to doing something else.
Speaker 4:Yeah.
Speaker 3:We missed an opportunity. And what is more important to us, Paula? I mean, we chose to be Paula. That is the most important thing to us. But the conveniences and the comforts of the world that portal into our home through these devices have stolen from us.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Is. Come on. One of the first ones I said was that, I don't know what King Price probably is. Jim Rohn quote, If you're not willing to risk the unusual, you to settle for the average.
Speaker 3:And so for me, I'm definitely a bit risky and unusual. And the changes that Jerry and I've already made in regards to the iPhone, it's not just like, you know, I think for a lot of us, this probably resonates, right? You talked about it. You talked about it with your bros. You talked about it with your wives.
Speaker 3:You're like, but, know, so you gotta check, you gotta check this, know, work. He's texting me the the new the weather, like, it's so easy and you want to make a change. Right? Like how many how many conversations have maybe this is just me, but, like, I feel like everybody I'm talking to is kinda like, no. I'm looking at her light pump.
Speaker 3:You know? Maybe I'm, like, might wanna make a change this year. And I think I I feel I believe that if that is you and this is something that the Lord is already concerning you, do it. Come on. Come on.
Speaker 3:Amen. Just do it.
Speaker 4:And
Speaker 3:you're gonna have to answer to certain people who have been have had their their norm has been being able to contact you at certain hours. Right? Yeah. Like, it may be work related. It may be friend related.
Speaker 3:Like, that's okay. Have the conversation. They're gonna it's like they're they're calling you and think you're weird. I mean, you're we're we're supposed to hate it, but, like, we're even gonna have that conversation. Like, we can at least be a little weird.
Speaker 3:The things that you need to do to achieve what we could not otherwise have. Yes. It's a time right now. Let's go ahead and just do this. Come on.
Speaker 3:Right? Like, hold me, like, my whole family's on hold me accountable. Hold me accountable. Yeah. Yeah.
Speaker 3:Then Michael, that. Yeah. This I'm serious, man. This is not like I don't make this these decisions lightly. And I've, like, considered I mean, I bought a white phone, like, light phone one.
Speaker 3:I bought pumps phone, which is a dumb phone from Switzerland. I bought a a Freedom Factory phones, which is a they're, like, crypto light OS. So I bought all these phones, like, because I wanted to do this. Yeah. And that, but the Lord is convicting me now.
Speaker 3:Are you gonna do it? Like, let's just do it. And it is special. Like, if you, if you don't have any kids, this is not a message for you, but if you have young kids, let's do it. Like, I'm I'm serious.
Speaker 3:Get the fuck get the smartphone out, like, the time window at least where you need to be interacting with your children. I'm giving you. Sorry. That was that was alright. Back to this word, honey.
Speaker 3:And then if you guys love the word of fraud, you should go study this word. Like, all of us who have been through Don Quito, St. Anil, Michal Nagali's ministry, we love Hebrew words that have, like, multiple meanings that are not translated into big, stronger words. There's something really special about that. And so shalom is one of those words.
Speaker 3:It means transgressiveness and peace and prosperity. Has all these amazing translations. So when you say it, it's like you're saying a whole in a paradigm word. Well, a name has way more and it deals directly with the face of the father shining on us. So in ancient Hebrew, the word for face is beneath.
Speaker 3:It appears over 2,000 times in scripture, but it never just means face. It means presence, tension, countenance, favor, surface, reward, and many others. That is, in fact, there's no end to this tomorrow. But Pani is, I think, the summary of the beginning of pani is it's both directional and substantive. So presence, attention, is the direction of your inner orientation.
Speaker 3:There's not even a way an adequate way to describe this word. It's the direction and the it's the direction of your inner orientation and the inner orientation itself. Mhmm. Mhmm. So it's I'm looking at you right now.
Speaker 3:Right? You have my attention, but you can also read everything about my inner orientation. It's all over my face. So I'm communicating I'm like, I'm communicating so much more to you when I turn my attention toward you. Then it's just so much more than just I just like you're looking at my face.
Speaker 3:You can see my emotional state. You can see my emotional state is countenance. You can see my intention. You can see the level of my attendees. You can see my visible expression.
Speaker 3:There's this like, you know, it's really like, it's a very spiritual thing to lock on, to lock eyes. I used to, I said this earlier, but my kids are so amazing and we travel a lot with them and we get asked a lot and we do missions in The Middle East. Of our conversations about the Lord, oh Jesus, are because our kids are doing abnormal things like having conversations with adults about the same day. Being kind to each other and just keep your crap together. It's like 11PM.
Speaker 3:So they're doing abnormal things. And then that opens every door for conversation, for conversations with people who don't use to explain to them what's going on right here. But I have always responded with when people ask. The first thing I'll say is eye contact. And and I'm usually so sorry.
Speaker 3:I'm mistaken, but Charity hates Charity hates when I say that. She wants me to start with the Lord, but I I kinda like to draw I like it when people kinda draw it out of me a little bit. So I'm hoping to ask me. Like engaging with the culture that we do missions in is Israel, so I like when they engage me on a mental level first. And so, you know, like, what what do you mean by my concept?
Speaker 3:And Charity and I just prioritized a little long before the Lord ever gave us this revelation of attention. We prioritized eye contact. And we just really like, oh, it seems like it can only be a good thing. So we and we would get down on their level with our kids. Most of my parents had holes in knees and we would get down.
Speaker 3:We did so much life early on, on our knees, face to face with our children, making eye contact, not even understanding this biblical and spiritual significance of what we're doing. So face, the word being is Hebrew language has there's just it's impossible in the context of all the scriptures that it's referencing. It's impossible to reduce it to just about the same old name. When you turn your face to someone, you bless them, and you withdraw your face to withdraw your life. So this is the biblical model, not the word model himself.
Speaker 3:When the Lord turns his face, represented judgment. And when he turned his face toward me, he represented life. Yeah. That's 2,100 plus times this word is in the Old Testament. There is a brief word for face that is very similar, but it's only used up being like 80 times.
Speaker 3:Put that up in stock, the word study on it. Over 2,100 times. This is a very significant word. A father's face turned towards children is how they first learned from God's presence. Our attention tells our kids that they exist, that they matter, and that everything used to be okay.
Speaker 3:The first recorded interaction that deals with face is you can probably guess it, but it's an adamant at the top. The Lord asked Adam, where are you? Adam knew that his relationship with the Lord had been fractured, and so he hid his face. This is what Shane does. It makes us hide our face from the post.
Speaker 3:It commences a step we're no longer worthy of being seen. But this is where fathering recovers what was lost, keeping away nothing. Because the father returns his face toward his child. Even after failure, I say especially after failure, restores what shame I tried to graduate. So shame, it causes us to hide our face from the fallout.
Speaker 3:Of course, told her it does the same thing. Just got my daughter. A few weeks ago, she did miked her suit. And so she put it in the trash bin. The only thing our kids see up in the table for is table rusting.
Speaker 3:Tensile bears in this bunny, like verbally. And she had dumped enough people. She'd do the restroom. Somehow she took the bowl, dumped it in the was very obedient daughter. She went and dumped her bowl, sleeping trash in the bathroom.
Speaker 3:And we were calling for her. And we were like, wait, everybody's like, where's bumps in that? And we were calling for her and my wife was in there and she was acting like she was rolling the toilet paper back out. She knew as soon as she did that that was not okay. That that was not allowed in my family because we have a very simple thing to be valued.
Speaker 3:Anyone who makes the food you're going to eat And you're going to be great. Yeah. It's not that hard. Even if it's not good. We can say it's not good.
Speaker 3:It's okay. Jared is very receptive to that, but you're going to eat it. So I was in there playing 40 and she hit her face mask. It was so abnormal and staggering to us that she would both do it and then immediately feel like she wasn't even, couldn't even come back into the room because maybe she knew we would be able to tell that she had done something. Of course we wouldn't be able to tell, but So this is what Shane does.
Speaker 3:It makes us hide our face. He convinces us that we're no longer worthy of being seen. And this is where fathering is able to recover what was lost because a father who turns his face toward his child, especially after failure, restores what chained track of rapture. I have like 10 pages in that song. May have to see it out.
Speaker 3:It's such an amazing word to study, but to kind of summarize it, I think the most glorious part of it is two Corinthians four:six. The light of the knowledge of God's glory is displayed in these events. The light of the knowledge of God's glory is displayed in the face of Jesus. He said, if you see me, you'll see me fonder than me. The incarnate face of God was in Jesus.
Speaker 3:That is wild. That is so wild. So I wanna kinda talk about this in practice for a minute. But I'm gonna give a shout out real quick to Cody Weeks, who is a phenomenal artist. You know the weeks.art or field.art.
Speaker 3:You can see the sculptures. They have Cody's I have two of one of his sculptures, my favorite one. And it's the I I don't know what it's called, but I call it the faces of battle. And it's this incredible four sided face, like four different faces of Adam, four different countenances of Adam. And it has always spoken to me.
Speaker 3:As soon as I saw it, I was like, I have to have this. This is such an amazing picture of how we can what happens when we turn face away and we turn our face back. And there's one of the sides of the sculpture. Adam is looking up at God with this amazing, wonder, and curiosity. And then there's two more on the other side, but then the final one, the face of the sculpture, he's turned his face away from God.
Speaker 3:And you can, that sculpture, you can feel the weight of what Adam must have felt in both beholding on opposite of hearing, beholding the internal of this space. And praise God that that face that was hidden from Adam was turned by what us in praise. He was in this
Speaker 4:place. Yes.
Speaker 3:You have access to the face of God. Come on. And that's the position you should be, caller. Turning your attention to the following. Being to face Jesus.
Speaker 3:Becoming transformed by his countenance and then turning for your child, your children, and letting that light shine And I think we're on about this and dive into our questions in the gray side. This was last week. I'm working, I have an office in the garage that I work out of normal one or two days a week. So I was working from home as this snowstorm and Alan was coming and I had some stuff here. Of course, I work from home.
Speaker 3:My kids know that when I'm in the office, if they want to run-in and tell me something, the door's open so they can come at any time. If they run-in and I have my handout like this, it means I'm on call. My daughter came in and she wanted to show something. I'm on a zoom call and she was like, pretty important. I'm trying to get hired for something.
Speaker 3:So I put my hand out and she stood there, she waited for about five minutes. The call got off. I turned my face toward her. She's glowing. She waited because if I had been my phone and she had dragged my attention and I missed the chance, I would have missed the chance.
Speaker 3:She waited. We had the communication already established. And then she was like, I want to show you what me and Pearson just built. So I walk inside and there's this amazing pillow obstacle course all over our king. And she's like, Watch this.
Speaker 3:So Pearson's in there. He's just glowing. He does, he likes everything else in the light. So he's standing against the wall. She's like, watch this.
Speaker 3:So she runs, jumps over pillow, pillow, pillow, runs around something, ducks under something, jumps over something, and then comes back and touches the wall. So she had built an obstacle course, Pearson. I was and I'm like, that was that's so amazing. So then Pearson does it. I'm like, no.
Speaker 3:That's so amazing. Do want me to tie you? And they're like, no. I'm not trying to. And I was like, Well, how do you know who wins?
Speaker 3:And Elle's gonna look at me. She has this like real pensive look when she's like trying to figure out, oh, I'm standing inside. She's trying to figure out like how she should respond. She looks at me and she's like And I was like, how do you know she's gonna win? Or how do you know who wins?
Speaker 3:And she just kinda looks at me and I was like, is it who knocks over the pillows gets negative points? And she's just like looking at me and she's like, no, it's just for fun. And I realized that's all I'm like, was trying to, you know, immediately go and see like, how would I do this? What do I want out of this? And also at end of the they just wanted to shine attention.
Speaker 3:They just wanted me to come watch them and have fun. And I was so It was such a beautiful moment. I'm so grateful that it happens like in this little kind of swirl I'm in with attention and the attention conquered it. But I'm so grateful that the Lord is, it was just like a really sweet, fun, like, what I think they need is really good education. What I think they need is really the best food.
Speaker 3:What I think they need is to learn the lesson I think they need is all of these things. And it's not that these things are bad, but what they really, really do is life. Mhmm. Mhmm. Mhmm.
Speaker 3:Coming straight out. Yeah. And if you have young kids, be great. Just like, let's just keep doing it. Okay?
Speaker 3:Yes. Y'all have young kids? Yeah. Don't let this don't let this thing steal from us. Yeah.
Speaker 3:The boss. It's a new day. Mhmm. Figure it out. Figure out the box.
Speaker 3:Figure out where to put it and stick to it. Neat. Man, I love you guys. Alright. So That's on '27.
Speaker 3:Was. You have said, seek letter base. My heart says to you, to your face. Psalm four six. There are many who say, who will show us any good?
Speaker 3:Lord, lift up the light of your face upon us. Exodus thirty three fourteen. Exodus 11. Exodus thirty three eleven is it talks about Moses speaking face to face with God as a man speaks to a friend. One, absolutely no.
Speaker 3:Corinthians thirteen twelve. Now we see both poor reflection and set a mirror. Then we shall see face to face. Now I know it apart, then I shall know fuller even to find the holy grail. Revelation twenty two four.
Speaker 3:They didn't see his face, and his nail will be on in full hands. Do you remember first book of the Red Sea? No longer will there be anything that curse, but the throne god of the lamb will be in it, and his servants will worship. And then we'll try. Yes.
Speaker 4:They will see his face,
Speaker 3:and his name will be only in four minutes. This is what he was what you see in the face of. This is the and this is the blessing that we have been to the children. And they give it to our children. Which ones?
Speaker 3:Has?
Speaker 5:Second Corinthians three verse 18. And we all with unveiled face, beholding the glory of the Lord are being transformed into the same image from one degree of glory to another For this comes from the Lord who is the spirit.
Speaker 3:Peter, I eat very
Speaker 4:well, 17. Then my anger will be sent against him on that day. And I will ascend as a high organization with them. And then we could see them looking to the. So they will say on that day, she said, because they're talking.
Speaker 4:And all the messages and other side.
Speaker 3:Hello. Alright. So here's the here's the small group questions. What is stealing your onion on your children? It's and this is simply it's you know, I don't know what word.
Speaker 3:I'm not talking about the things that are are given by god. What we're thinking about. I'm talking about the stealing. It's not supposed to Question number two. This is all the other question.
Speaker 3:What are you willing to sacrifice or change to build a counter cultural culture of radical presence in your home. And just a reminder that small changes played out consistently over time have generational effects. Yeah. The best is good. Small changes that are played out consistently over time What are you willing to sacrifice or change?
Speaker 3:What are you willing to sacrifice to build a countercultural culture of radical presence in the economy? This certainly applies to the as well. We'll review the stairs. We'll give the space to change the things that we can change.
Speaker 4:Yes,
Speaker 3:Lord, for for those of us all who are taken are not the desire of our heart. I pray that you would turn Come on. Our hearts to our children. Okay. Yes.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Yes. Yes. Yes. Go.
Speaker 3:We need your powers. Jesus. In Jesus' name. Name. The we're gonna break, but the slow burn of fatherhood, you know, it's like the small changes that the small things But it is so worth it.
Speaker 3:And I want to share a little briefly that because that is slogan on the front of the skirts. At Steve's Memorial, someone that's been important to a lot of us who have run together in Middle Tennessee for a while, came out to the memorial. And this is someone who has seen a lot, done a lot in the ministry world, addition to the world, actively used for prayer, who's really cared before the Lord, that desire to see America, America's heart turned back to the Father. And he has carried all of these really big things before the Lord. He carried things like abortion and mobilized millions of people to pray, fast, and seek out space for all of these different things.
Speaker 3:And he was at these memorial, these things illegal. And he Sam asked him to if you haven't if you if you're, like if you haven't watched the memorial, by the way, Steve Allen, he will it will request you to watch it. Yep. I'm sure they're because they're on the planet. But if you haven't watched it, it will make a lot of what we're talking about.
Speaker 3:Make I'm looking, you know, like, putting things in context that Lou god that was asked to do the the blessing, and I think he gave language to what we already feel on the significance of fatherhood. But for those of us who do bear a burden for our nation and desire for America to turn to God? Yes. Fatherhood, the slow burn of fatherhood, not the sexy mega church conferences, not all of the big flashy stuff that we're used to, but the daily grind of fatherhood is is the hope Yes. For America.
Speaker 3:Yeah. Come on. That's good. Slow the revelation that God gave to Lou because he you know, was like foreign to him. And he he, you know, he kind of was funny.
Speaker 3:He self deprecates a little bit, like, how do I miss this? But he saw it and, you know, really in in what Zach shared and it hit him, like, of all the things that I've seen and all of the things I've done to work to turn America at the heart of our nation back to the father, How did I miss this? Because this one is this one's the one that happens when nobody else is looking. Not public. Yeah.
Speaker 3:It's the private. Yeah. And the word is it's this is not a this is not a correction, but if you read the words of Jesus, they're very difficult. They're very hard. Like, some of you might think that he abolished the law of Moses.
Speaker 3:He actually made it way hard. You've heard don't murder. Yeah. Twenty ten commandments converted. Well, I tell you if you even look at your brother with murderous intent in your heart or anger or hatred, you have murder.
Speaker 3:That's a lot harder than don't murder. Who made it harder? And and he was very Jesus was very, very serious. He did not mince words about how we should pray, when we should pray. And a lot of the movements that we have all been part of and been hurt by were in direct contradiction to the words of Jesus and the mock of Jesus.
Speaker 3:And you know what's not? Fatherhood. Yeah. In your home Come on. Putting in the word Come on.
Speaker 3:Every day That's it. And not growing weary, having brothers to champion you and a wife to champion you is not in contradiction to the teachings of Jesus. And it's the fundamental layer that, you know, the family unit is what makes up this nation. Amen. Come on.
Speaker 3:This is a a word of the Lord for our generation. I'm telling you, like, I'm a millennial, but this is what God has given us to steward Yes. Our families. Come on. And that's what we're about.
Speaker 3:That's what everybody here that's what sets us apart. And it's and it's not easy, but it's worth it. Yes. So And best. Mostly will be a ramble.
Speaker 1:Thank you so much for tuning in to the Raising Up Fathers podcast. Be sure to grab a friend or two and sign up for next year's summit. If this podcast encouraged you today, please share it with a friend. To learn more about 10,000 fathers, visit our website at raisingupfathers.com. Thank you.