DADs…at the end of every NASCAR race you will see two unique traditions:
First the winner of the race is usually handed the checkered flag to hold as a banner outside his window as he or she takes a victory lap…then the winning driver typically does a burn out…spinning their car in circles…while creating a cloud of smoke and  black marks from the tires on the track!   
 
Clearly a predictable finish for anybody that has watched more than one NASCAR race!
 
Yet each celebration is a little different. Each victory so sweet. Each driver in the back of his or her mind knowing that this victory came with a price and are sure not to take this moment for granted! Some realize... I am sure…that another victory is never guaranteed and may never come again!
 
DADs…as Christians and drivers in Gods race… the great news is this…we can go to victory lane everyday…knowing that God holds our winnings in his hands…
 
In 1 Corinthians 15:57  Pauls writes:
But thanks be to God, who gives us the victory through our Lord Jesus Christ!
 
DADs…this Thanksgiving Day…consider how you will celebrate your victories and countless blessings that God has given you? How will you reflect and give thanks to God for the victory with your family?
Remember with God… we work from the victory…not for the victory!
 
DADs…“get in the game”…
Today is game day…and so is every day…
God gives you! So…C’mon men…Suit Up!

God is so good…for some reason…God made me think about the word dabble…I do not know why…guess HE wanted me to look at the things in my life that I just dabble in…I thought to myself…I’m a dabbler!

Are you a Dabbler? 

Dabbler:

1. One who engages in an activity superficially or without serious intent, one that dabbles: 

2. one not deeply engaged in or concerned with something 

3. a duck (as a mallard or shoveler) that feeds by dabbling

“Walks like a duck…quacks like a duck…looks like a duck…a dabbler”

• Do you dabble in things? What do you dabble in?

• When I was a coached…we called a dabbler…a half-stepper…

• half-stepper - Somebody who doesn't quite finish his work, or tries to take a lot of shortcuts that cheapens the quality of the work. Another term for "slacker" (actually is a slang military word).

e.g., You don't want Springer on your team. He's a half-stepper.

• Usually what happens to a half-stepper is that he goes half speed…and when a half-stepper goes half speed…then they often get hurt!

• I do not know about you but it is easier for me to identify what I do not dabble in versus what I do…ie: I am not a dabbler when it comes to my college football! I am all out…however my passion for college football is not eternal…

• I wish I could say that I was always all out with my walk and my Christianity!  

• Son…motivated me recently! Reading Revelation. Started asking questions!

• I started reading!   

(Apostle John…letters of warning…receives the vision of the Risen Lord…relays…to the seven churches in Asia) The churches were full of dabblers…

The letters recognize their efforts…but follows up with a “yea but.”

• By the way if you study the letters…we want to be like Philadelphia…still focused…still vibrant for the Lord. 

To the 7th church:

• Revelation 3:14-21:  

"The Amen, the faithful and true Witness, the Originator of God's creation says: 15 I know your works, that you are neither cold nor hot. 

• DABBLERS!

I wish that you were cold or hot. 16 So, because you are lukewarm, and neither hot nor cold, I am going to vomit you out of My mouth. 

• DABBLERS!

17 Because you say, 'I'm rich; I have become wealthy, and need nothing,' and you don't know that you are wretched, pitiful, poor, blind, and naked,

• Dabblers…do not even know that they are foolish…self-absorbed!

18 I advise you to buy from Me gold refined in the fire so that you may be rich, and white clothes so that you may be dressed and your shameful nakedness not be exposed, and ointment to spread on your eyes so that you may see. 19 As many as I love, I rebuke and discipline. 

• NO NEED FOR DABBLERS!

• Commit to Christ vs. the world! 

So be committed and repent. 20 Listen! I stand at the door and knock. If anyone hears My voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and have dinner with him, and he with Me.  

21 The victor: I will give him the right to sit with Me on My throne, just as I also won the victory and sat down with My Father on His throne. 

• TO THE NON-DABBLERS GOES THE SPOILS!

• Biggest obstacle to Christianity is not the nonbelievers…but the Christians that are dabblers…lukewarm and passive

• If you were a Weekly football picks…would they pick you to win the game? 

• Why do we dabble in our Humility…our Obedience…our Prayer Life…those things Eternal…being the DAD God has called us to be?

James 5:12

Now above all, my brothers, do not swear, either by heaven or by earth or by oath. Your yes must be your yes, and your no must be no, so that you won’t fall under judgment”

SUIT UP DADS!

Don’t be a dabbler in the things that matter the most!

WHAT IS A DAD? 

Daily as the morning sun
Daily as the early cartoon fun
Daily as the day is long
Daily as our love is strong
Daily is what dad's do
Daily means changing diapers too
Daily as the morning star
Daily means dad's are never far
Active in his children's play
Active in making art and things of clay
Active and ready to always play ball
Active in driving his kids to the mall
Active in catching them when they fall
Active and willing to pick them up after a midnight call
Devotion to raise them up just right
Devotion to never let them go and hold them tight
Devotion to always to love their mom
Devotion to remind them that Gods got them in His palm
D – AILY
A – CTIVE
D – EVOTION…DAD!
If you want to know more about what a DAD is...join us here at the SuitupMInistries.org and check out all the great content and events for Dads!
Let's suit up and be the DAD God has called us to be!
Jeff Springer

6 And he shall turn the heart of the fathers to the children, and the heart of the children to their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.
Malachi 4:6  (KJV)

I often wonder why God inspired Malachi to write these words? I also wonder why it is the final 
verse in the Old Testament before 400 years of silence?

I wonder if God thought He would give us 400 years to get our act together…or else?

I think maybe God was describing a  world distracted...where households void of the spiritual leadership 
from the dad, becomes the norm and where chaos would prevail.

So I ask the question, “What if there were no dads?" No grandads, no uncles, no DAD figures? 
A world void of men, biological fathers or not, totally extinct from any paternal responsibilities?

Picture this world…What if...
No dads in the hospital passing out bubble gum cigars upon the birth of their child, no dads sharing diaper duty, loading the car seats, no dads to tuck their kids in bed at night.

What if…
no dads available for “donuts for dads” at school, no dads to escort daughters to the father-daughter dance or none to accompany their son’s a father-son camp out.

What if…
no dads in the stands for their kids games, none to be seen present, to fill the auditoriums for piano recitals. No dads to pick up kids after last night events. No dads to design and build a train track in the garage.

What if…
no dads to be there for graduations, birthdays, celebrations. No dads to give away their daughters one day... No dads to one day become grandads. No words to be spoken by children at funerals about a legacy left behind.

What if there were no more dads? 
A world full of men, where the only expectation placed upon them was to simply 
produce more children. 

Men, we are so close to this very bleak picture.  We are in a crisis. Our families are in a crisis.
If we lose our dads…we lose our families. 
If we lose our families, we lose our country.

The numbers are staggering and statistics show:
- 65 percent of all our children are growing up without a father in the home. 
- One third of our babies live in poverty.
- When a child grows up without a father, they are 20 times more likely to end up in prison. 

Poverty and fatherlessness is without a doubt a contributing factor to current societal issues. 
Data shows the number of unmarried women giving birth is in an upward spiral. 
 In 2008, 41 percent of births involved unmarried women compared with 28 percent in 1990. 
This information shows the digression of the family unit, and the decreased level of commitment among men 
to engage in as the husband and father to their family. 
Currently, an estimated 24.7 million children (33%) live without their dad.
The epidemic is not only evident in the unwed partners, but divorce contributes as well to the troubling effect upon children. Children of divorce without enough dad contact are prone to have poor social skills; to struggle with the five D’s (depression, drugs, drinking, discipline and delinquency); be suicidal; be less able to concentrate;  and to be aggressive but not assertive.

Raising DADs…is the motivation and drive behind DAD U. 
I know most of you reading this are strive every day fulfilling the God given blessings of being a DAD.

To God be the glory!

DADs...
“Get in the game”…Today is game day and so is every day…God gives you! 
So…C’mon men...
Suit Up!