*THE FATHERING LIFE CYCLE* Fathers must recognize when their roles change. They do not remain fathers at the same stage or level all the time. They rise. They peak. They plateau. Then they decline. It’s at this point where there opens a crucial window of baton passing, not ego wars. The greatness of an individual is in their gene rations, their generations. If you want to know if a man is great, look at how his genes have been rationed. It is in his sons. When he says I am going to bless your generations, it is the rationing of genes. What do his grandkids look like? Through Him then, let us continually offer up a sacrifice of praise to God, that is, the fruit of lips that give thanks to His name. Hebrews 13:15 The Bible says we must offer to Him the sacrifice of praise, the fruit of our lips giving thanks unto Him. Not your lips, but the fruit of your lips. What have your lips produced that gives thanks? That is the sign of the sacrifice. Anybody can say, ‘Thank ya. Thank ya.’ But can your grandchildren, what you produced, give praise unto God? That is the fruit of your lips giving praise. We have to understand the change of roles for fathers. *MOSES, AN EXAMPLE OF ROLE CHANGES FOR FATHERS* Look again at Moses. If you look at his life there are constant role changes. He understood them and how to release them. Chapter 17 of Exodus narrates a role change where Joshua now is named and fights, and where the record of writing is listed. Other leaders came into play like Hur. In chapter 18 there are captains of thousands, hundreds, fifties, tens; this is a role change. In Numbers 14 Moses said, ‘I can’t bear these people alone.’ Hello! God gave you Hur and Aaron in chapter 17 of Exodus. He gave you captains of fifties that are princes among the children and you’re saying ‘I can’t bear these people alone.’ Moses referred to a level of incompetence that he reached, so he needed God to impart strength into Israel. God did this by anointing 70 elders. It is another tier, another level, and Moses recognizes his change of role. We have to recognize that. Our performance has to change. At some point the general has to move from being a general ‘down here’ to being a general that is ‘up here,’ looking at the battle from an aerial view. Go there. Do this. I am a centurion, but I know authority. You do this. You go there. The fathers have to recognize their change of role. You don’t have to pastor that church for 150,000 years! But we do, because we do not know our role. When we think about some of the dynamics as to why men do that, the bottom line is it has to do with money. It has to do with a lack of financing in other areas because we do not have sons and support systems; and, also that money thing is so sweet. *WHEN SONS BECOME FATHERS* When a son becomes a father, at some point he will have his own sound, his own seed, and his own style. And if he does not have a father who recognizes that, that father will throw javelins at the son during courses over dinner. As the hors d’oeuvres are being served the father is sharpening his javelin. When the son pushes his plate aside and waits for the main course, here comes a javelin. The son, then, is not learning how to build a generation. He is being trained in how to dodge javelins. Thus, in the company of sons we have javelin dodgers instead of generational nation builders. Read this carefully. If you are a pastor, then you have somebody sitting in your church right now that will preach better than you, that has greater revelation than you, that has greater authority than you, that is going to get more money than you, will have a better looking wife than you, is going to have the sunset, the white horse, the broadcast, the microphone, the t-shirt, and the website better than yours. Get over it! It is a compliment that God would trust you with somebody that is greater than you in your church! Say this aloud, “Change of role.” The sons will manufacture their own brand. They will manufacture their own scent, their own footprint, and their own hunting patterns. It will be theirs, and belong to them. Fathers must train their children to recognize their own footprint while acknowledging that what worked for them may be very different from the sons. Oh yes, fathers need to raise sons with a bigger bear print, a louder roar and understand that it is an absolute compliment. Say this aloud, “Father give me sons. Give me great sons.” https://chat.whatsapp.com/ElKaNjH1oHz6UF5yulS7b2 https://chat.whatsapp.com/ExCD9jKcKnR8wQUJqC1mSj