"Who's Your Daddy?"... A Call to Youth Ministry

This phrase is often reduced to a phrase communicating dominance. However, I want to seriously ask you this question, "Who is YOUR Daddy?"

Mal 4:5-6 MKJV Behold, I am sending you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of Jehovah. (6) And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the sons, and the heart of the sons to their fathers, that I not come and strike the earth with utter destruction.

These are the last words recorded in the Old Testament. Final words are always vital. Many people believe that they are the most important words. Jesus' words ended with the Great Commission. The Old Testament ends with Malachi's final words. Unfortunately, most believers are unfamiliar with the words of Malachi. Ultimately spoken to encourage, these words give a firm warning. If the hearts of father's and mother's are not returned to their children, we will be cursed. Let's see how we measure up. The statistics are not promising...

1) 43% of US children live without their father [US Department of Census]

2) 90% of homeless and runaway children are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]

3) 80% of rapists motivated with displaced anger come from fatherless homes. [Criminal Justice & Behaviour, Vol 14, pp. 403-26]

4) 71% of pregnant teenagers lack a father. [U.S. Department of Health and Human Services press release]

5) 63% of youth suicides are from fatherless homes. [US D.H.H.S., Bureau of the Census]

6) 85% of children who exhibit behavioral disorders come from fatherless homes. [Center for Disease Control]

7) 90% of adolescent repeat arsonists live with only their mother. [Wray Herbert, “Dousing the Kindlers,” Psychology Today]

8) 71% of high school dropouts come from fatherless homes. [National Principals Association Report on the State of High Schools]

9) 75% of adolescent patients in chemical abuse centers come from fatherless homes. [Rainbows for all God’s Children]

10) 70% of juveniles in state operated institutions have no father. [US Department of Justice, Special Report]

11) 85% of youths in prisons grew up in a fatherless home. [Fulton County Georgia jail populations, Texas Department of Corrections]

Good night... this is depressing! If this doesn't reflect a curse, I do not know what does. The writing is on the wall. The word is true. It is being played out in the lives of our young people. But it is not limited to the natural realm, natural problems are symptomatic of the spirit realm. Not only are we facing an epidemic lack of natural fathers, but spiritual parents are also in severe shortage. The result is generations of young people who are ethically challenged, doctrinally ignorant, and egotistically immature.

Several years ago, the youth network was involved in a prayer meeting and the Spirit of the Lord gave one of our young ladies a word from the Scriptures. And ever since, it has echoed deeply in my soul. The passage was Psalms 144:11-15. Although, I had read the passage in the past, it exploded in my heart this night. A key to spiritual growth and blessing in the house of God is our sons and daughters.

Psalms 144:12 NKJV That our sons may be as plants grown up in their youth; That our daughters may be as pillars, Sculptured in palace style.

God is longing for MATURE sons and VIRTUOUS daughters. This should be the heart of every intergenerational youth ministry. You may not be able to do anything about those who went before you, but you can do something about what you are going to do. It's time to draw the line in the sand and break the curse. The question is: who is willing to become a "Daddy"?

Keep watching the blog as this idea is unpacked!