The Dual Role: Heavenly and Earthly Fathers

SPEAKER 01 : 0:00

The Crawford Stand. Father’s Day 2025 is this weekend, giving Don Crawford, president of Crawford Broadcasting Company, an opportunity this week to focus on what fatherhood means.

SPEAKER 02 : 0:15

Two kinds of fathers are there. The one is heavenly, the other earthly. The Lord of glory, the carpenter of Nazareth, said the following, I and the Father are one. I and the Father are one. What a claim! Blasphemy by a human being if it were not true. Blasphemy. But they were one, and the carpenter from Nazareth told us in unequivocal terms that the creator of this universe and our earth… was indeed, among so many other things, a Father. Amazing, amazing. A Father to Him, and a Father to us. For otherwise, this Creator would be completely unknown, incapable of being known by us, but He is. And the Supreme Creator loves us and cares for us. To me, that is a thought incomprehensible were it not for Him, for the Lord. Our Lord Jesus Christ took something remote, obscure, and unfathomable and made it known, personal, deeply meaningful, and loving so that we, we the creatures of His creation, could understand who we are and why we are. and what we should believe. We are to understand and believe, said Jesus, that there is for us an eternal Father, and not merely a cosmic Creator. We are known as individuals, as sons, and as daughters by this Father, and we are not mere specks in the universe or dust in the wind. We have meaning. We are in fact sons and daughters of this Father. Never forget that. having claimed our inheritance as such through the Son, the Son, Jesus Christ. Hard to comprehend, is it not? Except for the fact that it just happens to be true. We are also told that God the Father is love. God is love. And that love is the essence of God, and so it is available to us. Very much available to us. Love is the greatest, says the Scriptures, more so than faith and hope. And to know that God is love incarnate is just incredible, absolutely incredible. I marvel at the truth of that revelation every day of my life. And we who are fathers should love the very same way. Even as the Eternal Father loves us, so should we love our children. If a Heavenly Father loves unconditionally, so an earthly father should do the same, hard as it may be at times. Love the child unconditionally. The highest attributes of any earthly father are the embracing, heartfelt, and unconditional loving openness to the child, even as the father loves the child, because… Love, and especially that love, never fails. But there is another side of love from our Heavenly Father. We think of it, we humans do, as a tough love. That is, love at work which is ready to discipline, to discipline. Are you, as Father, ready to do that? Love indeed may be meek, and warm, and gentle, and forgiving, and kind, and open, and it should be. But love must also be tough, demanding, disciplined, and concerned for all things which are right. The right. For there are indeed prodigal sons and daughters who go astray. As such, they honor not the Heavenly Father nor the earthly. Discipline is required, and that discipline should be firm and straight. The rod was used in the old days to accomplish discipline and to carry out punishment, but the rod has been taken away. You do not hit a child. And perhaps if you do things right, you shouldn’t need to do that. Discipline today is more on the order of depriving the child of opportunities and pleasures, or requiring the child to make up for the wrong and do what is right. Sometimes it works, and sometimes it doesn’t. But fathers cannot spare the rod however the rod is determined, for that is a fatherly duty. There are different kinds of rods which must be employed today. No child can grow without discipline, for there is nothing worse, nothing worse for a father than a child spoiled and bent upon his own way. Demanding standards, the terms and conditions of sonship, are a father’s duty, duty which cannot be delegated or ignored. And the Scriptures make it perfectly clear. Whom the father loves, he chastens. Let me repeat that. Whom the Father loves, says the Scriptures, He chastens. Love requires discipline. Chastening is real love at work. By their fruits, loving discipline at work, ye shall know the Father’s and who the Father truly is. The integrity of the Father is critical. Dads must do what they say, and dads must say what they mean. The father must live by the same standards he requires of the child. The father must be consistent in character, live a life with values and without hypocrisy. Nothing is harder for a child to accept than lectures about right and wrong from a father who lives by neither, so that a father does not have to explain or justify the demands. The father does not have to negotiate with the child and in the course of discipline ask the child if what the father wants and what is right is okay. Okay with the child? For it matters not if the child agrees with the father. If a child respects a loving father, that’s all that’s required. So many families seem to have so little respect for each other and rapidly become dysfunctional. Respect is critical in a vital and dynamic family relationship. But a true father, a real father, is head of household. The father is the head of the household, or he should be. He is the one in charge, so says the Scriptures. But he is kind and loving and considerate and respectful, above all, respectful of all, including and especially the wife, the mother. But he is still head of the household nonetheless. And if he does not discharge those duties, the household breaks down. But again, the father has earned that right by the way he lives. When the son is old and ready for his own life, the ways of the father will be his, and the son in turn will perpetuate and carry on those values for his family. It is so very important for the father to incorporate the son into his life. Incorporate the son into a father’s life. To train up the child is to involve the child in the life, the career, the work of the father. So many sons carry on, inherit, and follow the father, and nowadays daughters as well, a good thing. Father and son or daughter work together, learn together, and the father teaches in practical ways. What the father holds dear and in which he has invested his life becomes part of the child. a very practical and worthy training for that child. The child can learn the way of business, of work, of industry, so that like the father, the child can be a workman or workwoman forever. Worthy of his or her hire. That may be one of the highest duties of a father working out fatherhood, don’t you think? That kind of fatherly guidance is so very important, and it is the duty of the father to invest the time, the time so hard today, and the effort, the real qualitative professional effort to train up that child in the way of the Heavenly Father and God. the way of the earthly father, and the very same with hobbies and fun. There are games, trips, sports, theater, dining, and all manners of wonderful vacation which must be shared by father and child. They just must. Life is difficult, and even as there are the demands of work, there must be the pleasures of play, to laugh together, to have fun together, as well as to cry together. To enjoy the joys of this world, as God has indicated, is our right. It’s our right to be joyful. It’s our right to have fun. It’s our right to imbibe and enjoy the pleasures of this life. Lasting moments are created in fun and play. Father and child are intimate, or they should be. Their dialogue, their caring for each other should be totally open and totally transparent. Nothing, nothing, nothing should be hidden. The child should have the confidence, the absolute confidence and the trust in the father to openly reveal, to discuss hurts, to ask questions, to confess doubt, to challenge beliefs and otherwise make certain that the father fully, fully understands precisely who the child is and what the child thinks and what the child believes, and to respect all of that. For the child develops independently and individually a special and unique creation by God, and not merely as the earthly father would have him or her to be— And that’s a good, good thing. The answers to questions should come first from the father, not from peers or school, but from dad, from good old dad. The son should want to talk to father first and be assured that he knows what the father thinks. They cannot always agree, but father and son can always be open and honest with each other, and they must. That seems so lacking today. There is little communication, virtually no dialogue. Fathers preach and lecture, but seldom practice one of the most important attributes of good fathering, listening. Listening. Really listening. Patiently allowing the child to open the heart, to question, to express love and anger, and to know as a child the father will listen and respect. I personally believe that that is the most important duty of a father. That more than anything, that more than anything builds character and confidence in the child. Fathers are friends. They are friends and confidants. The father in the mind of the child is the first go-to, the first go-to. Let me take my problems to dad. If not, the child seeks father surrogates and substitutes. Today’s education can often occur without traditional moral values or the standards of old. No third-party education is a substitute for a father’s education. Children who are fatherless in actuality or spiritually seek comfort and guidance and acceptance from their peers, which can often be secular and even with immoral influences. father shouldn’t like that. Children are ready to learn and adapt, to be accepted in so many ways different from what the father might believe or want for the child. The conduct of the child can then become permissive, even unlawful, as standards of morality are worn down and compromised. That fatherless child, the fatherless child, the derelict of duty, the child goes a different way, and the father has forsaken the most important duty of fatherhood, training up the child. If you, dad, if you have a child, if you are a biological father, then you must, you must, you must be a spiritual, loving father, as God would have it. Don’t send a child to church. Take him. Worship with him, love together, you and him, love together, the Lord of glory. Study scripture together and pray together. Talk, talk about spiritual things, for the child is even more interested in what the father thinks and believes than perhaps even a pastor, and certainly should have more time to accomplish that. Take time for the child’s school, for school events, for sports. Be there. Be there lovingly and with respect for the child growing to adult. Nothing but nothing means more than a father being there, being there. That child is you, Dad. That child is you. You cannot ignore or deny you, Dad. The child wants you more than anything else. There once came to you that very little bundle of joy, your very own son, your very own daughter, you in every way. You are privileged to be a father of that child, and he or she should be a clear priority, a first priority for you. There will never be better earthly love. Nothing comes close than the love of a father for his child. However strong the bond, and even if the father-child bond is broken, in some deep primal way love is always there or at least the hope of that love there is no child or father however old or hardened who does not feel that way what a joy what a privilege to be a father even as an adult well-educated perhaps successful and father himself A son will always seek out a father, so will a daughter. For fellowship, for advice, for comfort and caring and for love, that never changes. Even in death, he the father being dead, he yet speaketh. All he was and all they were together lives on. It is eternal, even as the love of God is eternal. The words, the deeds, the loving deeds will never be forgotten.” The understanding, the trust, and the respect between father and child will never die. Never. And perhaps a father’s proudest moment is when the child, the adult, is ready, is ready for the world, and leaves the father and becomes his own man. That is a biblical requirement, and at that time, the father should be proud, very proud of the investment he has made in the child. For a father can think back and reminisce and remember all of those things which forged the bond, the training, the education, and the growth of the child, an investment far more valuable than anything financial. That very wonderful person, says dad, that’s my son. That’s my daughter. That is my daughter of whom I am so very proud. He or she was worth everything I gave. The loving bond between father and child will sustain and motivate and guide the child for a lifetime. It is the earthly component of the Heavenly Father. Ah, what a privilege! What a privilege it is to be a father. So I and my company, the Crawford Broadcasting Company, salute fathers, real fathers, who love, educate, grow, and train up their children in the way in which they should go. You are special, dads like that. Very special. And it is what the world needs now. The world needs real fathers now more than ever. And what is so wonderful is that it is never too late to be a father, no matter what has gone before. It’s never, ever too late. Fathering may ebb and flow, but the opportunity is always there. It’s always there. Never quit. Never give up on fathering. Go for it. So enjoy your day, Dad. Father’s Day can show love and respect for Dad one day. But real fathers are honored by their children every day. For the most priceless thing any child can have is… A loving father.

SPEAKER 01 : 17:16

Mr. Crawford is a father. Would you encourage him with your email this week to let him know that you appreciate his daily visits here on the Crawford Stand? His email address is stand at Crawford Media Group dot net. When you write, be sure to tell Mr. Crawford on what station you hear the stand. That email address again is stand at CrawfordMediaGroup.net. When you want to review what you hear, go to our website, CrawfordMediaGroup.net. The Crawford Stand is a public affairs presentation of Crawford Broadcasting Company and this station. Serving God and country, I’m Bill McCormick.