| Review – Fathering
Like the Father |
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Becoming the Dad God Wants You To Be
Authors: Kenneth Gangel and Jeffrey Gangel
Publisher: Baker Books
Review by Tom Gilbert
This book (Fathering Like the Father by Kenneth Gangel
and Jeffrey Gangel/Baker Book House Company) takes an
interesting approach. The authors are a father/son team,
so they can speak both from personal experience as well
as from the timeless directions in the Bible.
I like how each chapter starts with an attribute,
Scripture text and Biblical characters as a way of
setting the stage for each area of discussion. There
is a good exposition of the particular chapter subject,
plus some personal insight from each author (they are
both Dads in addition to being father and son), and
the questions for discussion and father/child dialogue
tips allow you to apply the lessons to your family
situations.
The Scriptures relate many stories about fathers and
about God’s relationship to his people. A loving
God, “Abba” as Jesus tells us to call him,
treats his followers like a caring parent. Legalism
and strict discipline is not the true revelation of
God’s ways of dealing with us. We need to focus
less on the rules and more on the lessons.
However, in the Bible we see many who were harsh and
difficult with their children. Saul, the first king
of Israel is a prime example. His jealousy of David
overshadowed his love for his own son, Jonathan. The
situation was aggravated because of Jonathan’s
great love for his friend, David.
Look, too, at Jacob. He had many sons, twelve, but
he showed favoritism and that led to bitter envy and
outright betrayal by Joseph’s siblings. God worked
it out to good in the end with Joseph’s position
of authority in Egypt making it possible to provide
famine relief for his brothers and father, but it was
a long, tough lesson for all to learn.
God’s sense of humor is evident and we’re
reminded what an essential ingredient it is for fathering.
Abraham doubled over in laughter when God told him
that he and Sarah would become parents as a very old
couple. Another example given is how God provided food
for the grumbling Israelites as they wandered the desert
those forty years. Fresh tasty manna each day, but
it would go bad if they tried to hoard it. When they
grew tired of manna and demanded meat he sent those
huge flocks of quail. God is extravagant, loving…and
fun!
We all crave the love that comes from real attention
by our dads. To be a good father means sacrificing
many of your wishes to fulfill the proper role of leader,
protector, teacher, disciplinarian and loving friend.
Finding the proper balance (and inspiration!) to fill
this role is extremely challenging. Because the Bible
has so many examples it can be very instructive. The
Gangel father/son team skillfully uses the stories
of various fathers in the pages of the Bible to illustrate
good and bad ways of being a father. It’s not
so much a precise formula as a group of guiding principles
drawn from Scripture combined with their personal experience.
All of us should strive to be the very best person
we can, growing in love and service. The Bible is life’s
instruction manual and God has given fathers the beautiful
pattern of proper parenting. Fathering Like the
Father is a book that successfully gathers scripture lessons
on truth, mercy, humor, communication, discipline,
love and many other areas all Dads (all people) need
direction in.
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Scripture taken from the Holy
Bible, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®.Copyright ©
1973, 1978, 1984 International Bible Society. All rights
reserved throughout the world. Used by permission of International
Bible Society.
NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION® and NIV® are registered
trademarks of International Bible Society. Use of either
trademark for the offering of goods or services requires
the prior written consent of International Bible Society.
Scripture quotations marked (NLT) are taken from the Holy
Bible, New Living Translation, copyright ©1996. Used
by permission of Tyndale House Publishers, Inc., Wheaton,
IL 60189, USA. All rights reserved.
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