Happy New year DAD!

DADs…as we turn the calendar to 2020, I ask you, "Do you have a huddle?”
And if you do, “Who is in your huddle?"
Is it filled with people of integrity holding you accountable or do you surround yourself with those that might lead you astray?
 
DADs for your sake and for your family’s sake, again I ask, "Do you have a huddle?"
Most successful leaders will share, intentional men of substance include people in their huddle that will celebrate their walk with Christ and spiritual journey.
 
Even Jesus had a huddle. Jesus’ huddle was His disciples. All men with different backgrounds…but all sharing in Christ’s mission.  
 
 John 6:3 So Jesus went up a mountain and sat down there with His disciples.
 
DADs…you see Jesus understood the importance of not only having a huddle…but also spending time with them as well.
 
If you don’t have a huddle…ask God to give you one…then huddle up today. 
In 2020 your huddle can keep you focused and remind you to press on towards the goals enlarging His territory and being the DAD God has called you to be!

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

Merry Christmas DAD!
As the madness of unwrapping and eating and family calms down, consider this:
DADs…there is nothing like the rush of finishing a race and cooling down after a great run. Maybe I like cooling down because it means that I am done with my workout…but I think more than anything else…it represents accomplishment.
 
When I am in the cooling down phase of a run or work out…I find myself reflecting on the work out itself…and it never fails…the harder the workout…the better the feeling!
 
What I have found is that the feeling of accomplishment carries over into other parts of my life. Physically working out helps me see the blessings of each day.
 
Even beyond a physical work out is the importance of spiritual fitness. Reaching the cooling down phase with God usually means that you have just experienced a mountain top or life changing experience…and cooling down in the spiritual sense is the time to bow down and give thanks to God for the blessings of the day.
 
Romans 14:1
For it is written: As I live, says the Lord, every knee will bow to Me, and every tongue will give praise to God.
 
When was the last time you found time…to cool down and give praises to God?
DADs…as you find yourself between Christmas day and a New Year…make time to "cool down” daily, giving thanks for the countless blessings you have already received...and for all the plans God has in store for you in 2019!
 
DADs…“get in the game”
Today is game day…
and so is every day…
God gives you! So…
C’mon men…Suit Up! 

DADs…the one thing I quickly learned the first 5K race I ever ran was that the adrenaline would kick in at the start of the race and as the runners all first took off...
 
I would find myself getting caught up in the others pace. Instead of trusting the pace that I had practiced for weeks during my work outs.
 
The funny thing that happened was that as I got back on my pace…I slowly but surely passed many of those that had sprinted past me at the start.
 
With God… it is the same. To be in flow with God’s pace is so important…and God’s pace is different for each of us. 
With God it is not a sprint…but a marathon.
1 Corinthians 9:24
Do you not know that in a race all the runners run, but only one gets the prize? 
Run in such a way as to get the prize.
 
What is important to God is not how we start the race…or even how fast our pace is…but that we are always moving forward…and that we actually finish the race that counts!    
DADs…this Christmas season sure to pace yourself…and remember to  "Run in such a way as to get the prize."
 
DADs…“get in the game”…
Today is game day…and so is every day…
God gives you! So…C’mon men…Suit Up!

I want to remind you today that you are a masterpiece and you have immeasurable worth! Maybe, you don't feel that way today. I hope if you don't that will change after reading.

Dads you need affirmation!
Definition of AFFIRM - 1a: validate, confirm, to approve!

I want to share three affirmations with every DAD today. God placed these in my heart to first speak them as I was writing my graduation speech for the class of 2013…There was a time that I shared these affirmations every single day… 

Gentlemen…here is a secret about ladies… Women need to be affirmed that they…are precious…beautiful… and honored. I am still working on doing a better job with that after 37 years of marriage.
Men we need affirmation too. We need to know that we are good enough…that we have what it takes…that we are essential!
DADS need affirmation.

Acknowledge the people today that cross your path and offer a high five in the air and remind them they are a Masterpiece! 

Maybe it’s been awhile since you have been AFFIRMED. Today you will be.

Affirmation #1: You are valuable- No one is like you. He made you precious and unique when your life challenges you to give more effort than you think is possible, in the storms, in the darkness, in the quietness and in the loneliness.

When you question your self-worth remember that you are PRICELESS, you are VALUABLE, because you are a child of God.

Luke 12:6-7 - "6 Are not five sparrows sold for two pennies? And not one of them is forgotten before God. 7 Why even the hairs of your head are all numbered. Fear not; you are of more value than many sparrows."

Ephesians 1:5-6 - "He predestined us to be adopted through Jesus Christ for Himself, according to His favor and will, to the praise of His glorious grace that He favored us within the Beloved".

 WE ARE FAVORED!

“Favored” - regarded or treated with preference or partiality: 2.enjoying special advantages; privileged:

I remember the day like it was yesterday. I was in 4th grade at recess playing kickball and I was the last one picked! I still remember that feeling. Why? Something changed in 5th grade, I moved to Texas. I was the new kid but something changed! I got faster. I became the favorite. I WAS NEVER PICKED LAST! 
16 years ago, when we first moved to Magnolia it was all new, new jobs, new schools, long drive every day. I was at the high school, Kay worked at the junior high, two schedules, two cars, daughter with me, son with wife. My wife came home one day and said she saw my son eating at the table at lunch by himself! It broke my heart and it breaks my heart every time I see kids alone even today.
Here is the Good news. You are in! You are always on Gods team, never the last one picked, always in His starting line up, always measure up, always fast enough, always smart enough, precious and beautiful. You are always invited to His table! DADS you will NEVER EAT ALONE!

God knows every hair on your head and he knew you before you were even born. You are valuable!

Affirmation #2 - You are complete - You are not lacking anything. You are good enough and you have what it takes. So many times, over my 34 years in education I have had students in my office that feel like they have been discarded, discounted, and unworthy of success or recognition because they do not see their completeness. 
Three years ago, a college football player went missing. Six foot eight, 280 pounds of fun-loving young man. Everybody loved him, but because of his feeling of being inadequate he took his own life. His body was found in a dumpster. It was later discovered he text his mom at 1 AM saying, "I am sorry that I am such an embarrassment."

Definition of complete…*HAVING ALL THE NECESSARY PARTS; NOT LACKING ANYTHING; NOT LIMITED IN ANY WAY! 

Genesis 1:31 "And God, saw everything that he had made, and behold, it was very good." 

Colossians 2:10 "...and you are complete in Him, who is the head of all principality and power."

We often measure our completeness by what the world tells us is complete, a new car, new job, new wife, new family, many friends and popularity. God has a plan. He has given you what you need. The world will tell you something else but you were designed by Him. My passion as a coach, teacher, principal, men’s minister, and now the founder of Suit Up Ministries has been to help others maximize their completeness. Your job is to simply accept your completeness in Christ and to utilize it! To maximize it.
WE WILL NEVER MEASURE UP TO THE WORLDS STANDARDS!

You are NOT an embarrassment…You are valuable...you are complete…

Affirmation #3- You are loved!

Romans 8:35-39 - "Who can separate us from the love of Christ? Can affliction or anguish or persecution or famine or nakedness or danger or sword? In all these things, we are more than victorious through Him who loved us. For I am persuaded that not even death or life, angels or rulers, things present or things to come, hostile powers, height or depth, or any other created thing will have the power to separate us from the love of God that is in Christ Jesus our Lord!"

John 3:16 “For God loved the world in this way: He gave His One and Only Son, so that everyone who believes in Him will not perish but have eternal life." 

I love football. In football, the ball does not always bounce the right way. In life it’s the same way. No matter how the ball bounces, God loves you. He created you and He loves you! I hope you have heard these words;  "I love you". I hope you have shared those words with others. Speak those words into other’s lives. Live those words into other’s lives with your actions. You are NOT an embarrassment. 

You are valuable...you are complete...you are loved...

Live today with confidence, knowing that God loves you and He paid the ultimate price for you and for me. My challenge today to you is when you write your notes to your loved ones tell them how precious they are. Let’s change lives starting today.

Let’s prepare our hearts STARTING TODAY!

DADS...You are a masterpiece and you have unlimited immeasurable worth. 
You matter and your wife and your children need you!
To God be the glory.
Suiting Up,
Jeff Springer

Paul writes in I Corinthians 1:26 , “For consider your calling, brethren, that there were not many wise according to the flesh, not many mighty, not many noble.”

Paul commands the Corinthians to consider or contemplate their calling.  The word “calling” refers to their position in the world when they first believed in Christ.  This issue of calling is important to Paul. He believes that in order to become a Christian you must respond to God’s call.
Likewise, if you are a Christian today, it is because you have answered God’s call.

DADS, have you forgotten your calling? Memory can be a blessing or a curse. In our spiritual life, it can be very healthy to remember what life was like before we met Jesus. If you remember where you started, you’ll appreciate much more the grace God that has offered you to where you are today.
 
Do you remember where you came from?
 Do you recall what you were doing when God saved you from yourself? 
 
A preacher I listened to recently told a story about how he met with an 8-year-old boy in his congregation to talk to him about his baptism. He asked him how he became a Christian. He told him that God called him. He said, “Excuse me?” The preacher was used to hearing a lot of things, but this isn’t one of them. As he probed further it became clear that, like Samuel, this little 8-year-old boy heard the Lord calling him. Because of God’s call, this young boy believed in the One who was calling him.
This is exactly what God does. He calls men, women, and children to Himself.

DADS…God is calling you to be the DAD! A DAD for the Lord!

How do we “practice” this calling?
In Ephesians 4:2 we receive great instructions...
"Be completely humble and gentle; be patient, bearing with one another in love."

DADS are His representatives, to be the light here on earth
How do we demonstrate this calling? Practice this calling? 

What is the natural outcry or fruit of the spirit? Service.
Our acts of service that are within the calling are those things that unite us.
Our acts of service that are within the calling allow us to see the different gifts we each bring to the table to further His Kingdom.
What often gets in the way of acknowledging other’s gifts and keeps us from service is the “danger of the single story.” The single story creates stereotypes, preconceived ideas based on our premise.
 
Paul continues in Ephesians 4:3-4 "Make every effort to keep the unity of the Spirit through the bond of peace." 
Paul again was being proactive. He is saying…these are the things that we must do as Christians so that we remain united in this body.
"There is one body and one Spirit, just as you were called to one hope when you were called;"

DADS heeding this calling can be evident in your “Daily-Active-Devotion” to your kids and family.

I Corinthians 15:58 - NIV
"Therefore, my dear brothers, stand firm. Let nothing move you. Always give yourselves fully to the work of the Lord, because you know that your labor in the Lord is not in vain."

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!

“This is the day the Lord has made; we will rejoice and be glad in it. 
Psalm 118:24 
This is the day the Lord has made!

DADs…each day is a rich and precious gift from God, with new grace and new opportunities.

This month I am officiating one funeral and two weddings. Quite the reminder of the importance of each day God gives us.

In all three of these events, many will gather. 
They will gather to celebrate a great life lived, and celebrate two couples unions, as they begin their new lives together.  

Why do we wait for the major life events to acknowledge the beauty and the sorrow of each day?

Why do we wait to give thanks for the countless blessings, hold others close in their pain, and speak the words to those we love, in "all the days between" the milestones of our lives?

In Hebrews 3:13 it reads:
But encourage one another daily, as long as it is called "Today," so that none of you may be hardened by sin's deceitfulness.

DADs…do not withhold blessings. Encourage others in your family and those that you lead. 

Don’t wait for funerals and weddings to speak the words and acknowledge the blessings of each day.

Do not wait till tomorrow. Encourage, love and rejoice even in "all the days between!"
Celebrate today!

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!