The Importance of a Godly Man

So most of you know that i am working at a family camp this summer. And we just finished our first week long Family Camp. It was wonderful. We felt the Spirit of God present, and God showed up in powerful, powerful ways.
We had seven families come up this week. 14 adults and 30ish kids. Several of the dads we're pretty new believers. Several couples were struggling... a lot. Close to divorce and on the edge of giving up. Some burdened by the pains of the world so much, they came simply seeking to get away from life for a week... so we prayed. We prayed that God would show up and transform these marriages and families. That the love we have for Christ, and as a community of believers, would rub off on the families, to serve and love and encourage them. As the week went on, i could see a change. As they opened up to each other, they began to spend more time with each other. Eating together, hiking together, sitting together, hours on end, in the lodge talking about things that matter! It was extraordinary. God was on the move.
Friday nite is our long nite. Couples are encouraged to share what the Lord has done over the week; in their lives personally, in their marriage, and in their families. I wasn't present in the session but what i heard was radical. God showed up in these marriages. And this is what i saw.
God created the man to lead, to be the head of the family. Not just to lead, but to be the head of his family as Christ is the head of the Church. He was created to be passionate about the glory of Christ, to love and know his word, and to dedicate his life to further the kingdom of God. What i saw this week, and I'm sure will continue to be impressed upon me this summer, is that the husband was created to lead his family. Though it sounds simple, and redundant... i saw the transformation and power of a man working it our practically in his family. As couples were sharing what the Lord had done this week, i realized that the movement of God in the life of the man toward Christlikeness, leads it's family toward true life in Christ. One man confessed his dark sin from years ago and repented. Acknowledging that his sin had damaged his marriage and his family, he begged his fellow believers to hold him accountable to his desire to move his family into the center of the will of God. Freedom came to him. Unity to the marriage and purpose for his family. God broke his bonds of complacency and hardness to sin. One man finally felt the call of God to his family to missions, a promise that his wife had clung to for years. The Lord removed the shingles from his eyes, softened his heart to the AIDS problem in Africa, and he heeded the call of God to mission for his life, and the life of his family. The obedience of the husband encouraged the heart of his wife and moved his family forward into the will of God.
A Godly man, as head of a family, and to lead his wife, is crucial.
In a marriage. A wife desires him for direction. For unity of purpose. She needs him for protection. That he would love his bride as Christ has loved, and continues to love HIs. Such a marriage is radical to the world, and its love is contagious.
In the family. A family needs the dad for direction. For unity of purpose and focus of direction. He points them either towards Christ or distracts them from Him. The power of a family, to do the will of God, starts with the calling of God on the man to lead his family toward Christlikeness and servitude.
I have seen a picture of how a Godly man effects the life of a family. It starts with his personal relationship with Christ. Trickles down into the passion and unity in a marriage. Then trickles down into the family. Loving their kids, pointing them toward Christ. That the family unit would be able to be used by God to further his kingdom. That the kingdom of God would advance because the world would see a radical difference in how the family loves. How each member loves Christ, how the couple loves and sacrifices for each other, how the couple loves their family, and then how the family, as a whole, love others. That Christ would be glorified and his kingdom come.

I'm not married. As most of you know. haha... hope that didn't shock anyone! : )
But, I am dedicated to living my life for the kingdom purposes of God. To adore Christ and magnify him to my world. Nothing less than that. I don't particularly need a man to do that. But, if and when God brings me to the place of marriage, to uniting myself to another person, i want him to have that same focus. And nothing less. I have seen the power that comes when a man is following hard after Christ, who desires to love his wife and lead his family in that same goal. I think that is what God created the family to be.
No wonder it works so stinkin' well!