Well, good morning. Had a wonderful time last night sharing and I'm just really grateful to be here. I'm very grateful to Tom and Lee and their family for their hospitality and their invite and very grateful to the men and women of God who are who are here with us today. Overwhelmed a little bit by Brother Clarence though. I'm, Clarence is one of those preachers where you have to recover from his preaching and I'm still in record and you know what it's it's it's equal opportunity as well because he's recovering I went back there and put my hand on his shoulder and he's like dripping with sweat so he's he worked hard for us and aren't you glad for good preachers and faithful men in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ.
I'm just very grateful for him and his wife and and and his children. My assignment just for a few moments here this this morning is to approach the topic, the importance of fathers or the importance of men in the church. This entire gathering is about restoring biblical fatherhood and of course all fathers are men. And there's been a lot of talk about the home and the church and the home and the church and the home and so I would like to just for a few moments address the the church very specifically and I say that with a little bit of trepidation maybe not in this room so much as maybe other venues that I might approach this subject in, because pretty much I wrote a book recently and in that book I said this, I said everything that has to do with manhood and womanhood is controversial and in the text of scripture that you and I will look at here in a few moments, all of them are just, from a preacher's perspective, they're just fraught with peril. I mean, there is just a lot that goes on in people's minds when some of them are read.
And yet therein, there is such beauty. There's such beauty in these passages that I think we need to recover in order to restore biblical manhood and biblical fatherhood. Not only is the role of men important in the home, but I'd like to present to you the idea that the role of men is extremely important in the church. And I would go as far to say that the role of men is critical in the church of the Lord Jesus Christ. And there's a few reasons for that.
And I hope to make my point as it relates to those reasons, but I'll give you those reasons upfront. Men and fathers are the ones that make up the overseers or the elders in the church. Now in some venues I'm already at a disadvantage even stating that truth, maybe not so much here. Number two, men and fathers are called to lead prayer in the church. You can see where this is going and and hence I'm always a little nervous talking on this topic but it's it's needed and it's it's part of the recovery of biblical fatherhood and manhood.
Number three, men and fathers are called to lovingly teach their wives. A passage of scripture that almost no one reads, we're actually going to read here in a few moments, so pray for me. Right? And then number four, Men and fathers are, as we've already been taught so expertly by Brother Clarence, men and fathers are called to disciple their children. And so I'll just, he's already said everything that needs to be said there, but I'll just emphasize it briefly one more time.
And so what I'd like to present to you as a proposition is that men fathers if they're not in their place if We don't understand what the Bible actually teaches about manhood and about fatherhood Since that's our topic for this weekend. Then we have poor leadership or no leadership in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ. We have prayers prayed in a way that God has not commanded. We have wives that aren't being discipled by their husbands, And then we have a situation where the discipleship of children becomes much more difficult because mom gets the entire burden. And so this is really a big deal.
It extends from the home to the church and the church to the home. And So the role of a man, yeah, it's critical. It's absolutely critical. And so like I said, accordingly, the texts that I'd like to read to you, we're gonna read four. Maybe we'll stand for the first one here in a moment, just out of respect, and then the other three will remain seated but the four texts of scripture that I'd like to lay out for your consideration and offer a few a few comments on each of those those texts as I said they are subject to What I have written in my notes here, I was trying to figure out where to say it.
Extraordinary amounts of controversy. They are, and there's a reason for that, quite frankly, because think of it this way. If you are God's enemy, You know, if you're the devil, if you're unclean spirits, if you're demons, if you're principalities, if you're powers and you know, based upon the word of God, that God has bestowed tremendous influence into into fathers from the Garden of Eden forward. And if you know that there's this power, there's this spiritual influence that he brings to the table both in the home and in the church, and he does so, of course, lovingly and humbly, but he still brings those influences to the table, what would you do? If you're an enemy of God and you know that you can pretty much throw a monkey wrench in the entire thing if you take out dads, well, what would you do?
Well, you'd do your best to take out dads. You'd go to every length possible to attack, to malign, to misrepresent, to make misunderstood manhood and fatherhood, and you do it with a vengeance, and you do it as Brother Clarence mentioned to us, you do it generationally. You'd attack it in the home, you'd attack it in the church, You'd make the very idea of those two institutions being father-led anathema to much of the culture if you could. And friends, that is precisely where we are. In many, many venues, again, thankfully, maybe not this one, but in many, many situations and circumstances, the whole idea that we are lifting up a loving and tender, father-led home and loving and tender, but strong father-led and men-led churches.
I mean, right there is enough for most people to get up and walk out. And I've been in those environments where I have just read a couple of the passages of Scripture that I'm going to read to you today, and literally I'm counting the people that have gotten up and walked out of the door. That's the level of misunderstanding, and I would go as far as to say deception that we are dealing with when it comes to this whole issue of fatherhood and men. And so the importance of men in the church, I'd like to start with Titus chapter one. And so if you'll grab your Bibles and stand with me quickly in Titus one.
Titus chapter one is where I'd quickly like to go and then and we'll read this passage we'll pray one more time and then I'll offer a few comments and then we'll proceed to three other passages and then I'll I'll take my I'll take my seat Titus chapter 1 we're reading from verse 5 I too have the King James Titus chapter 1 verse 5 says for this cause I left thee in Crete, "'that thou shouldest set in order the things "'that are wanting and ordain elders in every city "'as I had appointed thee. "'If any, be blameless, the husband of one wife, having faithful children not accused of riot or unruly, For a bishop must be blameless as the steward of God, not self-willed, not soon angry, not given to wine, no striker, not given to filthy lucre, but a lover of hospitality, a lover of good men, sober, jest, holy, temperate, holding fast the faithful word as he hath been taught that he may be able by sound doctrine, both to exhort and to convince the gainsayers. For there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake." Father, Thank you for the reading of Holy Scripture.
Thank you that your word by itself has power to change us. Thank you, Lord, for the teaching of your spirit in this place through your men servants. We pray God that you'd open up our ears. We pray, master, that you'd protect the speaker from error. We pray, oh Lord, that in all these things, you and you alone would be glorified.
We need you. We desperately need you. We acknowledge our need for you. Now teach us, oh Lord, thy will be done. In Jesus' name, Amen.
Amen. Please take your seats. In our discussion of the importance of fathers in the church, we might consider the influence and example of elders. I heard Bodhi Bakham teach one time that, and as a matter of fact, I think he was at my church when he taught this but I had the privilege to host him a few years ago and he was teaching from Titus 2 and he was saying how there's this wonderful list for what ladies should be taught in Titus 2 and but where is the list for men and he made this very strong and exegetical point that the list is actually in Titus 1, that the qualifications for an elder are what every man should strive for, and I honestly believe that that's true. And so as we look then quickly at these qualifications, I think it's very appropriate.
For example, Peter says in his epistle in 1 Peter 5 in verses one through three, he says, the elders which are among you, I exhort whom I also am an elder and a witness of the sufferings of Christ, and also a partaker of the glory that shall be revealed. Feed the flock of God, which is among you, taking the oversight thereof, not by constraint, but willingly, not for filthy lucre, but of a ready mind, neither as being lords over God's heritage but being in samples in the King James, but it being examples to the flock. Elders are examples to the flock. And I would simply like to state for your consideration, maybe even cast a little bit of vision, what would it be like to have a church full of men who are striving to conduct themselves as elders? For example, in our text, elders are to be blameless, right?
They are to conduct themselves with the highest standards of integrity. They are to strive, in the context of being blameless, they are to strive for a good testimony inside and outside of the church. What if, by the grace of God, as we look at the important roles of men in the church, the example that is set by the elders in the church kind of flows and feeds its way into the entire congregation of men so that, you know, when I grew up, there was the preacher and then there was everybody else and there was this very hard wall between clergy and not clergy. But what if we cultivate an environment where indeed all of our men, even from young boys, strive to be blameless? What if they strive to be the husbands of one wife, literally in the Greek, one woman men?
What would happen to the age-old stereotype about, at least in my community, about men being dogs and so forth, if we would raise up another generation of men who thought differently about manhood and from a young age were trained to think like a one woman man that I will find by the grace of God this one woman and Devote my life to her and be willing to suffer and die for her and be willing to be priest and prophet, to provide for her, to work however long I have to work and however hard I have to work so that she feels honored and protected and cared for so that the buck stops with me so that I will not allow my family to go down, but I'll go dig ditches if I have to say amen somebody. This is a passion, I'm passionate about this because I've seen so much damage in our community and particularly in the black community, But in communities where men aren't trained to think this way well, I submit to you that this can be cultivated in our churches If we are intentional about it if if we kind of did away with the mindset that that that These principles are just for select men.
Yes, select men rise to the eldership, but these principles, this idea of being blameless, of being a one-woman man should be for every man. I'll go on. What would it be like if it just wasn't the elder who felt like he was accountable to be a good teacher of his wife and children and to rule his own household well, but rather we taught all men that they were supposed to manage their own households with dignity and honor and love and steadfastness. What if he considered himself as the elder of his house, literally, right? Whether he had a title in the church or not.
If he was a good leader in his home, because these principles, which by the way, have a large influence on the ministry of the church. I'll get to that in a moment. But what if we had more men who thought of themselves in this manner or more men who are trained to be humble and not arrogant or self will, as we see kind of outlined in both Timothy and Titus. In other words, he strove to have a good report both inside the church and outside the church. What if he was a strong man but not violent?
What if he was a lover of hospitality as opposed to a strict and staunch individual? What if he was not given to wine? So we began to see the lessening of problems with drug use and alcoholism because these principles Have been brought to bear in the Church of the Lord Jesus Christ not just for a select group of men But for all men what if I mean as Bodhi said in my church Do you want just the elders to be strong in sound doctrine or should all men be strong in sound doctrine? How many of you vote all men should be strong? And all women, quite frankly, but all men should be strong and sound doctrine.
Well, certainly, how can you lead your family forward in all the wonderful things that Clarence laid out for us if, in fact, he isn't being trained to be strong and sound doctrine? And then what if not just the elders, but what if all men saw that they had a responsibility to be protectors of the church? This text lays out, and for those who would lead in the Church of Jesus Christ, it lays out something very interesting here, and I think very serious. If we look at it, it says in verse 10, for there are many unruly and vain talkers and deceivers, especially they of the circumcision, whose mouths must be stopped, who subvert whole houses, teaching things which they ought not for filthy lucre's sake. Friends, I know that there's a responsibility that rests on the elder to root this kind of thing out because the damage is immense.
Whole households Can be taken out by people who are saying and doing things that they ought not to do in the church of the lord Jesus christ, but I'll just throw this out for your consideration How would our churches function if the elders were backed up by deacons who were backed up by all men in the church? Who were very serious about protecting the integrity of the Lord's house. Amen. Somebody, I mean, I know as a pastor, I know how I feel when I have a man comes to me who he may not have a title per se, uh, but he comes to me and says, hey, I saw this the other day, brother. And a couple of brothers and I, we went and took care of it.
And we went over to the brother's house, and we took some food. And we sat down, and we opened up the word to him. And we went through this doctrine, and we went through that doctrine, and we pulled out some apologetics material. And then we prayed with him. And then we called a fast with him together.
And I just want you to know I wanted to be on your radar I want you to know it looks like we've contained it and that family is gonna be okay I want to jump up and shout and spin around and say hallelujah I'm thinking wow okay I don't have to go you dealt with that brother oh my goodness Thank you for letting me know now, of course as a pastor I'm going to watch it and I'm going to see how I can serve and see how I can help but oh my goodness friends The ministry of a man in the church when he begins to see himself As an elder in training right Or at least the elder in his home the leader of his home and he takes these principles And he puts them down on the inside. He says okay Lord this isn't just for my pastor This is this this is not just for my my brother deacon But all of us ought to think in this manner All of us should want to be blameless. All of us should want to be just a one woman man All of us should want to be leaders in our home and serve our wives with tenderness and with care All of us should be striving to be more humble before the Lord.
One of my favorite YouTube preachers says, what is the essence of of walking with God? And the essence is threefold, humility, humility, and humility. I love that. And it's just so appropriate if you have strong men, but yet They're humble. You have men who aren't ashamed of their strength, but they're not violent.
They're not given to brawling and fighting. And so their strength is turned towards good and godly things. Lovers, again, of hospitality. I'm just saying it again on purpose. Lovers again of hospitality.
What would it be like if not just the elder, but every man opened up, he was willing to open up his house and be a blessing to those who were lost or who were hurting or who were in need. Friends, this is a part of the ministry of men in the church. This is a part of the importance of men in the church. I made a point last night that one of the reasons why we struggle attracting men in church situations and retaining men in church situations because we treat them like women. And I'm not going to go into all of that, but one of the things that men need is a good, firm, and strong, and consistent, and sustained challenge.
And the word of God lays it out for us pretty precisely. There's a lot, there are big things as Clarence said, it requires the power of God to get this done. But I'm telling you our churches would literally transform if men saw themselves in this manner. Amen? Okay, so I want to just, those are just quick comments.
You can, you've probably heard that before. I think I stole, that's something else I stole from Scott but anyway I honestly do believe that that that particular aspect of a man seeing himself like an elder or striving to the qualifications of an elder is a good and godly thing that would radically transform our churches. Let me take you to another passage of scripture because I have three more and I want to make sure that I'm careful with time. Go with me now to 1 Timothy chapter two. That one may not be so controversial, but I promise you the next two are.
Go with me to 1 Timothy chapter two. And I'm going to read verses 8 through 10. First Timothy chapter 2 verses 8 through 10. I will therefore that men pray everywhere, lifting up holy hands without wrath and doubting, In like manner also that women adorn themselves in modest apparel with shame, faceness, and sobriety, not with broided hair or gold or pearls or costly array, but which becometh women professing godliness with good works. Now where I'm from those last two verses people have torn them out of their Bibles.
They somewhat tolerate the verse 8. But if we can push past the cultural controversy just for a moment, I submit that these verses in context paint a wonderful picture of a father-led church wherein men participate in the leading of the ministry of the church, including prayer. Now again, that may not be so controversial in this particular environment, but for the church proper, this is like earth-shattering news, at least in 2017, that men are not supposed to just laze around in the back. They're not supposed to half show up but they're actually called not just the elder and deacon but the men of the church are called to be prepared at any time to declare a word from the Lord, to read a passage of, when I say word from the Lord, I mean, read a passage of scripture or to to be available to lead prayer in the congregation as those elders and those deacons have have laid out in the in the in that particular organization, that particular body of Christ. This is big because a man then needs to, when he shows up to church, he needs to be ready to lead.
Not only should he have a well-ordered home life that he's working on and serving and blessing his children and so forth, but not only should he be there to move chairs around and to set up sound and so forth, but if he had it, what would it, my point is, what would it be like if we had so trained men in this process of restoring biblical manhood and biblical fatherhood that men showed up on a Sunday morning ready to participate in the ministry of the church. How many of you brothers, that's a whole different preparation mindset on Sunday morning. Where you just don't know whether or not you I mean you might you might have been told you might be a brother you may not be An elder but you know that elder may say hey, you know, I want you to I want you to lead us in prayer I want you to take the whole congregation before the throne of God is what he's asking you to do I want you to be I want you to have Your heart so tuned into the things of God that and so what does that guy do?
Okay. Well, oh goodness. He's praying He's fasted. He's crying out Clarence told me he had two hours of sleep last night because he had to come up here to preach today There's a there's a preparation. There's a bit of spiritual anxiety.
There's a there's a there's a getting before god. That's not just for the elder. That's not just for the deacon, but that's for every man Because he paul says here that he wants men To be prepared to pray in every place in the original language here There are two words in the new testament that might be translated men One word means mankind in general. Whereas the other means men in contrast to women and it's that second word That's used here in our text Paul says I want men to be prepared to pray now again the controversial part is he obviously gives women a different set of circumstances here and a different thing that they need to be focused on and thinking about and that's really a In our day where we have women chief apostles and women pastors and did I just say that I did can y'all edit that out I'm staying enough trouble back in Virginia but no no maybe not right in our day where this is more more common than not it's it's pretty controversial to Say that it looks as if men ought to be prepared to lead In the ministry of the church in accordance with the wishes of that team of elders and so forth But friends I'm not even trying to to to bring up controversy I'm, just saying look at the power of a man's ministry as it relates to the church.
Yes, he leads at home, and yes, he prays at home. But boy, I tell you, there's something about this whole idea that men should come to church prepared to participate in the ministry of the church when called upon. I'm grateful that it's not a one-man band in church and I'm grateful that it just doesn't, it's just not the team of elders or deacons. I'm grateful that men have a responsibility as well to help this thing along in the public meeting of the Lord's church particularly on the Lord's day And I throw that out to you for consideration What would our churches look like and how might the world be impacted if we had armies of praying men. Listen, think of it from think of it from the standpoint of a witness.
What would it be like if families came into your church visiting and Everywhere they looked they were praying men and praying women but praying men Everywhere they looked they had men on their faces Men at the steps men in the back with their heads on the wall, crying out to God in times of prayer and they were unashamed. That's another one with men. They weren't afraid to be seen praying and calling on the Lord. And what if it was obvious that every man in that church had to prepare himself to pray and to lead us and to help us and to share? There's a controversial passage of scripture that we'll read next I'd like to take you to.
Go with me to 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Corinthians chapter, there it is, 1 Corinthians chapter 14. 1 Corinthians chapter 14. Now I wanna read a little bit here. My focus will be on verses 34 and 35, but I want you to see this principle that I'm talking about and I won't go into much detail here but even as I read it you'll feel the tension right.
Look at verse, we'll start at verse, oh boy, so much here. Let's go to verse 26. And brethren, when you come together, every one of you have a psalm, have a doctrine. Now, let me back up. How is it then brethren?
Not just how is it then elder? Or how is it then deacon? How is it then brethren in 1st Corinthians 1426 when you come together every one of you have a song, half a doctrine. Half a tongue, half a revelation. Half an interpretation.
Let all things be done unto edifying. If any man speak in an unknown tongue, let it be by two or at the most by three that by course and and that by course and let one interpret. But if there be no interpreter, let him keep silence in the church and let him speak to himself and to God. Let the prophets speak two or three and let the others judge. If anything be revealed to another that sitteth by, let the first hold his peace.
For ye may all prophesy, note the word all, one by one, that all may learn and that all may be comforted, for the spirits of the prophets are subject to the prophets. For God is not the author of confusion, but of peace, as in all the churches of the saints. Let your women keep silence in the churches. It is not permitted unto them to speak, but they are commanded to be under obedience as also sayeth the law. And if they will learn anything, let them ask who?
Let them ask their husbands at home, for it is a shame for a woman to speak in the church. Amen. Just look at all the smiles in the room. I do this, I'm gifted for it I tell you just quit producing a frown. But the truth of the matter is, I see embedded in these passages the beautiful ministry of male headship, and that's my focus as I read them to you today.
I know we don't read these verses very often, they sound strange in our hearing even, but controversy concerning the perpetuity of spiritual gifts aside, there is something wonderful going on here that we miss because of all of the hoopla that surrounds the passages. Earlier again in this text in verse 26, Paul says when you come together, brethren, every one of you, every one of you, what would it be like if every one of the men in our church were prepared at any moment to lead as the Lord has ordained. Verse 31 says, for ye all may prophesy. I wanna focus on the all part of this particular verse. What would it be like if we involved the gifted men in our services in some way or another to speak words of comfort and edification to us?
See, there's something here beautiful, I think, that is missing that carries a significance that is kind of overlooked in our church circles in our day. And the responsibility, I mean, can you imagine walking in a New Testament church knowing that that particular day, you may have to be a part of that service and help this congregation overcome this or overcome that or or be comforted in an area. I don't think this is a small matter because most of our men are spectators. They, We pat them on the back for just showing up. And maybe that's how it starts, but should it always be that way, or should we be asking men to rise to a higher level?
And it goes on. It seems that Men and fathers played a critical role in the ministry of the church, at least in the New Testament. We've already seen that men are called to teach in their homes and so forth, and also as elders. But a father and a man was involved both in the home and the church in a significant level. At home he washes the feet of his wife with the word of the living God.
He brings his children up in the fear and admonition of the Lord. But in the church, he also participates, or at least needs to be prepared to participate in the worship done right, overseen by elders and deacons. I believe this would bring a tremendous richness and accountability to our churches. How opposite this is from our standard circumstances where men are, if they're there, they're disinterested, They're passive, if not, again, totally absent. Just think hard about this for a moment, because there's going to be some different spectrums of thought on the orthopraxy that's mentioned in these verses, and that's cool.
But can we get some of the undergirding principles that men were doing this and they were and they were all They were all participating. They all came prepared to sing. They all came prepared to to minister in some God honoring God honoring way. I love the verses and our focus here very quickly though, because I'm running out of time. Verses 14, or chapter 14, verses 34 through 35, the admonition for women to be silent in the churches might be one of the most hated passages of scripture in the entire New Testament, except for maybe 1 Corinthians chapter 11.
That might have the actual title. But I see something so beautiful here that is always missed. OK, yes, let your women keep silence in the churches. It's not permitted to them to speak the edict of man and obedience as the altar state of the law. Look at verse 35.
But if they will learn anything, let them ask their husbands at home. Oh my goodness, don't miss how precious this is because you're mad at verse 34. This is just fantastic. And every time, again, I get little beads of sweat when I read these verses because, again, they are the most unpopular of the unpopular. But God, if we believe that God sent his son to die for our sins and that his word is good for us, that his commandments are not burdensome, then what's going on here?
Well, think about it. Men are supposed to be prepared in the ministry of the church to pray, to share a word of encouragement or exhortation to lead as they have been exhorted and directed, perhaps, by their elders. But it doesn't stop there. Because of the exhortation concerning the ladies who aren't given this privilege of standing up necessarily in the church. So she might have a question, but she has to be willed.
She has to turn to a man who's prepared and says, you know what, I heard that, but I have some questions. And so he has to now say, OK, I have this responsibility to answer these questions and to feed her and to serve her and to make sure that she completely understands what was preached today. So I have to be on my face praying. I have to build my library. I can't say, I don't know what he was talking about.
I have to read the same books my pastors are reading. I have to ask questions. I have to dig in because of what I've this responsibility that I've been given Okay, if God is saying she can't teach or she can't say this or that in the in the Lord's Day service She has to be she has to have some outlet for continuing to learn and grow because she's creating the image of God So she turns to her husband and he needs to be ready Friends, there's something beautiful here going on, something powerful here going on that we never even get to. When a man understands this, Yeah, it changes his idea about his ministry in the church from spectator to not only active participant, but to somebody who is hungry for the Word of God for several reasons, for his own sanctification, but also because he knows that at any moment, I mean my wife has done this to me, all right so what was that again on such and such and such and I'm like okay and I got that that's it when she opens her mouth and asked me that I have to go I'd be ready to stop everything I'm doing and go okay sweetie here's what I'm thinking and we go to this one We go into this wonderful process of interacting over the word of God in our home.
It's beautiful. It's beautiful. Satan has taken this, managed to take 1 Corinthians 14 and just make it a flashpoint churchwide. And I'm telling you, underneath all the controversy, there's such beauty as it relates to the ministry of a man. I don't think I did it justice in the time that I had.
But nevertheless, consider what it would be like in the ministry of men in the church if in fact he was prepared to literally be this untitled elder in the church who was paying attention, who actively listened, who served, who prayed, who was prepared to go home and continue the sermon if necessary to make sure that his wife and children understood everything that was communicated via word, song, and sacrament in that service. That's a different kind of manhood, amen? And then the last one very quickly, because our brother Clarence covered it with, again, such expertise. Ephesians 6, 4, and you, fathers, provoke not your children to wrath, but bring them up in the nurture and admonition of the Lord. That would be Ephesians chapter 6, verse 4.
Much has been said about it. Perhaps more will be said about it, but I'll simply make this point and then I'll close. What would happen in our churches if fathers were intimately involved in the discipleship of their children at home? And since that's already been said, let me just do it by way of exhortation instead of reteaching it Do family worship with your families? Make sure that not too many days go by when you when you don't pray with your families, in other words, try to make sure that you're praying with your families consistently.
Clarence said this as well, Brother Clarence said this as well, let them hear you praying. Let them hear you crying out to God. Look for those, look for teachable moments, times where you could bring your children along with you and teach them and serve them in that way. Bring them to church and serve alongside them. Let them see you.
And you're passionate in worship serving the Lord. One of my favorite things in our worship service is when I'm, even sometimes even when I'm preaching, I have my little ones there with me. Sometimes they're with their mother. Sometimes they're with me because I have to go right up and preach. But I love having them with me because as the songs are being, you know, as the songs are going forward, I love, I kind of look over to see what they're doing and every once in a while they're kind of sitting around kind of doing nothing and I, so our daddy becomes cheerleader at that point.
Okay, come on, stand up with me. All right, let's see the words that are on the screen. You guys can read now. No excuses. Here we go.
And I want them to see they're dead, passionate about worshipping God. Because whether we like it or not, fathers, there's an impartation to our children. They look and they see and they observe what we're doing. And we lead them by way of example. So just very quickly, boy, I tell you, if we did, and Ephesians 6, 4, again, is a lot more can be said, but it's already been said, so I'll stop there.
But what would happen if we took these four passages of scripture, Titus 1, and 1 Timothy 2, and 1 Corinthians 14, and Ephesians 6, and we just kind of tied them together as a template for a man's ministry in the church. At a minimum, his preparation would change, his passion would change. Lots of good things would happen. I believe we'd see some attendance differences with men, some passion differences with men, some offerings differences with men, some strengthening of families that went beyond the service. I believe our outreach to men would be stronger, because all of a sudden now the church takes on the spiritual tone that it was designed to.
And men who visited would see that. That's been a consistent testimony at my church. I had a brother stand up and tell me this in a men's meeting not that long ago. He said, I'm here because this was the first church I've ever been to in my adult life that seemed like men were men. And I went, wow.
And I was very blessed by that. There will be less foolishness going on. There would be an accountability one to another as I know the men are holding me accountable for what I say and do even as an elder. And so brothers and sisters, let me make this clear unless there's any controversy. Both men and women make up the body of Christ, both are joint heirs in Christ, both are made in the image of God, but both have specific and very beautiful roles that kind of weave the mosaic that is the body of Christ unto the glory and the sweet smelling aroma unto God.
If we can somehow, by the grace of God, make our way back to a more simple, more faith-filled, childlike reading of and obedience to Scripture. Instead of the culturally influenced fast and loose, I feel led to disobey the word of God thing we got going now, I believe some wonderful things might just happen. And my prayer is that the Lord would help us to hold the precepts and the principles and the patterns of Scripture, hold them in our hearts as beautiful and instead of fighting against them or allowing our flesh to dictate, we would simply take them as the loving words of a loving God to the people that he gave his life for. God bless you. Thank you for your time and attention.