You can scroll down past this section and read part one if you have not already.

2. Personal Commitment to Church. Heb. 10:25 speaks of "Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together..." A wife or a child should never have to ask this question, "Are we going to Church today?" Dad as spiritual provider you are responsible to see that you family is in regular attendance of a local Church. What do I mean regular attendance? I mean whenever they meet. Sunday morning, Sunday night, Wednesday night, special meetings. Now I know that everyone has to miss church sometimes but non attendance should be the exception not the rule. I've heard all the excused and so have you. "I'm to tired to get up. Sunday is my only day off. It interferes with our family time. There's nothing for the children. The kids don't want to go-(There's a good one. Who is the authority in you home anyway? Isaiah, speaking prophetically says, "children are their oppressors, and women rule over them.") You know what the truth is? It is that Dad is not personally committed and without that commitment it will require a miracle of God to build that commitment in you children.

A couple of months ago I sat down with a dad who professes to be a Christian but who seldom attends church and shared these things with him. I said, "You know that without exposing your kids to the truth of God's Word they are probably going to go the way of the world." I said, "you know that one day you are going to regret not taking the initiative to lead your family spiritually and you are going to come to me and ask, 'what can I do? My kids are in trouble and they are in rebellion', and I'm going to have to say, "I'm sorry but it may be too late". And he said you're right, you're right. But he has never gotten back in Church. Dads listen to me. One day God is going to require of you and of me an accounting for our families commitment to the Church. You say, "well I don't have to take my family to church, I'll just teach them to love Jesus at home". The Bible says that Christ loved the Church and gave himself for it. And you can't love Jesus with out loving what Jesus loved. We must love the Church.

3. Personal Commitment to Coaching. Spiritual Coaching. Spiritual training in the home. Eph. 6:4 "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord." Before I go any further let me clear up a misconception. Just because children are reared in a home where, parents are saved, provided for materially, tithe, pray, Bible is read, does not mean spiritual training is taking place. There must be a specific emphasis on training. If not there is little chance the children will grow up loving God.

Now you may ask, "Why are you dealing with that under the heading of spiritual provision? Listen carefully, this is very important. It is because to be effective, training must be done in a spiritual context. There are all sorts of people trying to teach what I call a "secular morality". The world says "Just say no!" to drugs and sex. Do you know why it doesn't work? Because is carries no power to enforce it. You can know right from wrong but that doesn't motivate you to make right choices. If it did you'd never sin. But morality without spirituality is an allusion. There's no such thing. The difference in spiritual training is the Spirit of God that energizes us and provides the power to live rightly and to make right choices.

Now notice quickly 5 areas of spiritual training. Let me give you some key words to help you remember.

a. Example. We must be a Christlike example. You see a child does what his father says until he's about 15 then he does what his father does. Dad's, your kids will adopt your values. And not feigned values. They'll see through a facade of spirituality in a heartbeat. They live with you and they know what's important to you. One dad said, "I'm no model father but I try to live my life so that when someone tells my son he reminds them of me, he'll stick out his chest instead of his tongue". It's a child's innate desire to win the approval of his parents and this is what they'll think, "If he does it, then he must approve, so I'll do it too."

b. Educate. We must teach the principles God's word. Deut. 6: 6-7 "These commandments that I give you today are to be upon your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up." God says teach the principles of God's Word to your children. Dad, can you name on biblical principle that you have taught your children in the last 30 days? Could you lead your child to faith in Christ? You are responsible to teach spiritual principles like how to know God's will, and how to choose a mate, and manage money, and just how to be courteous. You have been given the responsibility to teach the values that will shape your children's lives. And you can do it anywhere - at home or away from home. In the house or in the car. I shared with some of you an opportunity that I had with one of my kids just the other day as we got away together and were sleeping out under the stars by a trout stream. We talked about what the Bible teaches about wisdom. A week or so ago I sat across the table at a restaurant with another of my kids and talked about the sufficiency of Christ in our lives. Take those opportunities, make those opportunities to instill the principles of God's Word into your kids.

c. Enforce. We are to discipline our children. Prov. 23:13 "Do not withhold discipline from a child; if you punish him with the rod, he will not die." Prov. 13:24 "He who spares the rod hates his son, but he who loves him is careful to discipline him." Now I understand the problem of child abuse and there is no excuse for a man to brutalize a child. But understand that is a perversion and not a definition of biblical discipline. Godly discipline doesn't leave scars but it does leave and impression.

The reason it is important to discipline children is because it prepares them for life. There will never be a time when they are not required to be subject to someone's authority... And the reason many people can't stay out of trouble in school or keep a job or generally get along in life is because not been taught to respect authority. And that starts at home. Proper discipline including corporal punishment is not only essential it is healthy. Prov. 19:18 "Discipline your son, for in that there is hope; do not be a willing party to his death." Prov. 29:15 "The rod of correction imparts wisdom, but a child left to himself disgraces his mother." Discipline in the home prepares a child to function in the world.

d. Employ. We must train our children through work. Even little children can learn responsibility through chores. We are living in an age when many young people think that the world owes them a living. But it's not necessarily their fault. They've not been taught the value of work, or the value of possessions or privileges that have to be earned because everything has been given to them. I've told my children I wish I could afford to give them everything they want but it really doesn't make any difference because I wouldn't if I could. Because it wouldn't be fair to them. They need to learn a work ethic in order to get along in the world and its a lot harder to learn it all of the sudden when you find yourself out on your own than to learn it gradually as you grow up.

e. Entertain. We must train our families through fun. You need to learn to be fun. Let down your hair so to speak. Learn to enjoy your family. For some dads that's easy. Some have to work at it. And sometimes it's difficult if you have several children because they all may have different like and dislikes but with a little effort you can find some common ground and interests and enjoy having fun together. I remember setting down at the dinner table one time and one of my kids ended there prayer like this. "Lord please make us a family that laughs". A newspaper had a contest in which kids wrote in with a sentence of paragraph that said why "My Pop's Tops" One little boy wrote, "We have such good fun with my dad that I wisht I'd known him sooner." Dad, let me ask you a question that has been shaping how I parent for a long time. Are you fun to live with? If not then a major element is missing in the spiritual training of you family.