HOW TO BE A WORLD CLASS FATHER

Let's face it! Without a Father there is no life! All of creation is in existence because of a Father! Now, I know that we can have a debate till Kingdom come about creation and evolution...but common sense will tell you that life is generated from a Father.

The greatest crisis in the world today is the crisis of Fatherhood. We have absentee fathers by their droves. We also do have millions of fathers who are present but have no idea of how to be a world class father.

In Life Signatures, fatherhood is not a preserve of the male gender. A father is the source of vision. A father has life-giving potential inside of him. Naturally, fathers do not struggle to father a child. It is in them. In Life Signatures however, fatherhood does not not flow naturally, it flows with immense intentionality!

Pastor Alfred Kariuki

Today's post is brought to us by a great son, a great father of two, husband and missionary. I have known Alfred Kariuki Wamai for more than a decade now. He has inspired me so greatly, especially when he left Kenya to go to Zambia and father a Church which for now is in the process of fathering many more! Pastor Alfred is an ardent Chelsea Fan. You can find him on Facebook, Twitter, or at his Blog. He shares with us this powerful article on 'How to Be a World Class Father'. Enjoy.

How To Be A World Class Father

By Pastor Alfred Kariuki

Like a regrettable minority in my generation, I am privileged to have come from a very stable family. My Dad and Mum have been married for 47 years and are blessed with 6 children and 9 grandchildren. I admire and honor my father greatly and have learnt and continue to learn many life lessons from him. 

Pastor Alfie's Parents

In my mid-twenties, like the proverbial prodigal son, after a brief stint on the wild side, I returned home to my heavenly Father and experienced His radical and extravagant love for me. He placed me in the able company of my spiritual father, whom God has used and continues to use to shape me into the man I am today. I am eternally grateful for my heritage.

Besides drawing from the exemplary lives of my natural father and my spiritual father, I have also picked up an unusual characteristic from the life of Abraham, our father of faith, that I would like to share with you today as we look at "How To Be A World Class Father."

Pastor Alfie with his Spiritual Father, Pastor Don Matheny

In Genesis 26:18 we read that Isaac reopened the wells that had been dug in the time of his father Abraham, which the Philistines had stopped up after Abraham died, and he gave them the same names his father had given them. In his lifetime, Abraham had dug four wells: Esek, Sitnah,Rehoboth and Shibah. 

The rainy season in Israel, upon which the various storage systems depend, commences at the end of October and ends in the beginning of May. In Jerusalem, the average rainfall in forty one years up to 1901 was 25.81 inches, falling in an average number of fifty six days. Great efforts were made to supplement the natural water supply by the digging of wells and cisterns, which are numerous all over Israel. Wells were often of great depth. 

Job's well at Jerusalem, which is very old, is 125 ft. deep. Abraham was a pioneer in many ways and therefore had to dig his own wells to get his own water for himself, his family and his numerous livestock. Wells were usually a source of great strife. After Abraham died, the Philistines blocked the openings of the wells by throwing in sand and stones. They even changed the original names of the wells.

With his family and a friend

At the danger of going on a rabbit trail, have you noticed that life is like that? The world is full of 'Philistines' who will throw sand and stones and block the wells that you have worked so hard to dig. Sometimes they want to change the name of the wells you have dug. You have worked hard and have come to your "Rehoboth" meaning that the LORD has given you room to flourish in your chosen field. 

The Philistines however, change the name of your breakthrough well and instead of recognizing that the Lord is with you, attribute your success to witchcraft, or corruption or something similarly bizarre! Abraham, the father of faith, was willing to fight for his wells because he was the one who had dug them in the first place. 

The Pastor and his Wife.

The willingness to fight for your dream qualifies you for its achievement! Abimelech tried to snatch Beersheba from him but he made sure that they reached a covenant. Abraham did not wait for someone else to dig a well, then go, and beg for water. He did not wait to inherit someone‘s well. He dug his own!One life lesson I have learnt from Abraham on how to be a world class father is that, for the sake of my children, I need to dig my own 'well' and quit waiting on people to do everything for me. 

Put another way, I need to get my own water! In John 5:5, we read of a man who had been an invalid for thirty-eight years. When Jesus saw him lying there and learned that he had been in this condition for a long time, He asked him, "Do you want to get well?" "Sir," the invalid replied, "I have no one to help me into the pool when the water is stirred. While I am trying to get in, someone else goes down ahead of me."

Fathers, for the sake of your children and the legacy you shall leave behind, it is time to take your destiny into your own hands and 'dig your own well' until you get your own water. Dig until you get what works for you. Taking your destiny into your own hands is just a decision away. You need to decide, "I will not be pushed around". I will not be pushed around by 'Philistines' or by circumstances. I am going to dig my own well. I am going to create my own stage. After all Proverbs 13:22 admonishes us that a good man leaves an inheritance to his children's children. 

Alfred Kariuki is the Senior Pastor of Nelspruit Lighthouse Church and Founder of Arise Africa Ministries International. He has been in full time ministry since 1996 and in that time he has preached and ministered in more than 10 nations around the world. He has planted four churches within Southern Africa and is also committed to community development as a way of spreading the love and Gospel of Jesus Christ. Pastor Alfred resides with his wife, Edith and their two children, Shani and Shangwe, in the city of Nelspruit, South Africa.