Scriptures: Joshua 24:14-15, Matthew 12:30, 1 Samuel 3:12-13

It is true that sons do not always live up to their father’s expectations, but we face a different problem in America today. Father’s are failing to meet up to the expectations and the needs of their children. Over the course of history we can see how, by God-given design, men have been leaders in science, industry, research, and religion. Without question, men are a constructive force in society. But we now know they can also be perhaps the most destructive force in society. Fatherlessness is the albatross around America’s neck, pulling her to her knees. Satan has a master plan to destroy America. His number one target is the home. Because he knows as the home goes so goes the nation. The foundation of any nation is the family, and if you destroy the family you destroy the nation.

Because the father is the head of the family, and if you cut off the head you always kill the body. In this message, Dr. Merritt communicates that it is the father that determines the decisions of a family; it is the father that determines the direction of a family; and it is the father that ultimately determines the destiny of a family.

"One of the greatest things a father can do for his children is to teach them how to have proper priorities. You teach them by going to church that God is important. You teach them by reading the Bible to them that the Word of God is important. You teach them by praying with them and for them that fellowship with God is important. You teach them by keeping your lips clean from what goes into them and what comes out of them that living holy lives for God is important. Joshua led his family because he loved his family. Dad, the mark of a father’s love is a father’s leadership. If you don’t lead your family you don’t really love your family. The life of the family never rises above the leadership of the father." --Dr. Merritt

Keywords: home, Christ, godly, Christ, America, house, build, spotted owl, snail darter, biological father, Daniel Patrick Moynihan, Lyndon Johnson, David Blankenhorn, Fatherless America, Los Angeles Times, Samuel S. Leibowitz, Yogi Berra