{"id":300640,"date":"2004-06-18T11:00:00","date_gmt":"2004-06-18T15:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/%series%\/anchoring-your-family-through-discipline\/"},"modified":"2024-12-06T19:46:05","modified_gmt":"2024-12-07T00:46:05","slug":"anchoring-your-family-through-discipline","status":"publish","type":"podcast","link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/anchoring-your-family-through-discipline\/","title":{"rendered":"Anchoring Your Family Through Discipline"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">&#8220;God can use every man to anchor his family.&#8221; So says Steve Farrar, a best-selling author and founder of Men&#8217;s Leadership Ministries, on today&#8217;s broadcast. One way of doing that, Steve explains, is through discipline. Hear Steve outline several timely principles of discipline.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Steve Farrar explains how God can use every man to anchor his family.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":91,"featured_media":294104,"menu_order":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","template":"","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_seopress_robots_primary_cat":"","_seopress_titles_title":"","_seopress_titles_desc":"","_seopress_robots_index":"","inline_featured_image":false,"_uag_custom_page_level_css":"","episode_type":"audio","audio_file":"https:\/\/web.familylifetoday.com\/fl2004-06-18.mp3","podmotor_file_id":"","podmotor_episode_id":"","cover_image":"","cover_image_id":"","duration":"00:","filesize":"3.57M","filesize_raw":"3740736","date_recorded":"2004-06-18 11:00:00","explicit":"","block":""},"categories":[2837],"tags":[4727,4277],"podcast_series":[7312],"cwp_profile":[3176],"series":[2101],"class_list":["post-300640","podcast","type-podcast","status-publish","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-fathers","tag-dads","tag-fathers","podcast_series-anchoring-your-family-in-christ","cwp_profile-steve-farrar","series-familylife-today"],"acf":[],"episode_featured_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg?w=508","episode_player_image":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2023\/02\/image-scaled.jpg","download_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-download\/300640\/anchoring-your-family-through-discipline","player_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast-player\/300640\/anchoring-your-family-through-discipline","audio_player":null,"episode_data":{"playerMode":"light","subscribeUrls":{"apple_podcasts":{"key":"apple_podcasts","url":"https:\/\/podcasts.apple.com\/us\/podcast\/familylife-today\/id212174303?mt=2&app=podcast","label":"Apple Podcasts","class":"apple_podcasts","icon":"apple-podcasts.png"},"google_podcasts":{"key":"google_podcasts","url":"","label":"Google Podcasts","class":"google_podcasts","icon":"google-podcasts.png"},"spotify":{"key":"spotify","url":"https:\/\/open.spotify.com\/show\/0j5UaKdQOHQCuo1bt0ebEm","label":"Spotify","class":"spotify","icon":"spotify.png"},"youtube":{"key":"youtube","url":"","label":"YouTube","class":"youtube","icon":"youtube.png"}},"rssFeedUrl":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/feed\/podcast\/familylife-today","embedCode":"<blockquote class=\"wp-embedded-content\" data-secret=\"0sWcHSwoSG\"><a href=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/anchoring-your-family-through-discipline\/\">Anchoring Your Family Through Discipline<\/a><\/blockquote><iframe sandbox=\"allow-scripts\" security=\"restricted\" src=\"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/podcast\/familylife-today\/anchoring-your-family-through-discipline\/embed\/#?secret=0sWcHSwoSG\" width=\"500\" height=\"350\" title=\"&#8220;Anchoring Your Family Through Discipline&#8221; &#8212; FamilyLife\u00ae - A Cru Ministry\" data-secret=\"0sWcHSwoSG\" frameborder=\"0\" marginwidth=\"0\" marginheight=\"0\" scrolling=\"no\" class=\"wp-embedded-content\"><\/iframe><script>\n\/*! This file is auto-generated *\/\n!function(d,l){\"use strict\";l.querySelector&&d.addEventListener&&\"undefined\"!=typeof URL&&(d.wp=d.wp||{},d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage||(d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage=function(e){var t=e.data;if((t||t.secret||t.message||t.value)&&!\/[^a-zA-Z0-9]\/.test(t.secret)){for(var s,r,n,a=l.querySelectorAll('iframe[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),o=l.querySelectorAll('blockquote[data-secret=\"'+t.secret+'\"]'),c=new RegExp(\"^https?:$\",\"i\"),i=0;i<o.length;i++)o[i].style.display=\"none\";for(i=0;i<a.length;i++)s=a[i],e.source===s.contentWindow&&(s.removeAttribute(\"style\"),\"height\"===t.message?(1e3<(r=parseInt(t.value,10))?r=1e3:~~r<200&&(r=200),s.height=r):\"link\"===t.message&&(r=new URL(s.getAttribute(\"src\")),n=new URL(t.value),c.test(n.protocol))&&n.host===r.host&&l.activeElement===s&&(d.top.location.href=t.value))}},d.addEventListener(\"message\",d.wp.receiveEmbedMessage,!1),l.addEventListener(\"DOMContentLoaded\",function(){for(var e,t,s=l.querySelectorAll(\"iframe.wp-embedded-content\"),r=0;r<s.length;r++)(t=(e=s[r]).getAttribute(\"data-secret\"))||(t=Math.random().toString(36).substring(2,12),e.src+=\"#?secret=\"+t,e.setAttribute(\"data-secret\",t)),e.contentWindow.postMessage({message:\"ready\",secret:t},\"*\")},!1)))}(window,document);\n\/\/# sourceURL=https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-includes\/js\/wp-embed.min.js\n<\/script>\n"},"uagb_featured_image_src":{"full":["https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/wp-content\/uploads\/sites\/1001\/2024\/09\/FLT-Podcast-Cover-2-508x508-3.jpg",508,508,false]},"uagb_author_info":{"display_name":"kfairris@familylife.com","author_link":"https:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/author\/kfairrisfamilylife-com\/"},"uagb_comment_info":0,"uagb_excerpt":"Steve Farrar explains how God can use every man to anchor his family.","meta_box":{"show_notes":"","transcript_url":"https:\/\/transcript.familylifetoday.com\/fl2004-06-18.pdf","transcript_content":"<p>\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad\u00ad<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0The choices you're making today as a husband and as a father affect more than just your family.\u00a0 Here is Steve Farrar.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0Just as a father can have an impact, a positive impact for 100 years on his children and grandchildren by following Christ today, so we can have also devastating impacts by making foolish decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0This is FamilyLife Today for Friday, June 18th.\u00a0 Our host is the president of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I'm Bob Lepine.\u00a0 There is reason to think twice and even pray twice about the decisions you make as a dad today.<\/p>\n<p>And welcome to FamilyLife Today, thanks for joining us on the Friday edition.\u00a0 We've been talking this week about \u2013 actually, I thought when we started that we were going to be talking about how you can be a TV anchor man, you know, \"Anchor Man?\"\u00a0 But that's not really the theme of this book, is it?<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0And it's not relay men, running the anchor leg of a relay race \u2013 although that would fit for the theme we're talking about here.\u00a0 We're talking about a book that is challenging men to be the anchors; that is, the anchor to the bottom of the ocean in the middle of the storm of life.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0To keep the family from drifting and crashing against the shoreline.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0I'll tell you, there's a lot of current today tugging against families, and we're here every day on FamilyLife Today trying to help our listeners live the Christian life, hammer out biblical values in their marriages and families, and we've got a great resource here on the broadcast today \u2013 Steve Farrar.\u00a0 Steve, welcome back to FamilyLife Today.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0Thanks, Dennis, Bob, good to be with you.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0Steve is married to Mary; lives near Denton, Texas, up in North Texas; undoubtedly is a Cowboy fan; has two sons \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0\u2026 actually, a '49er fan.\u00a0 You know, Dennis, I'm from California.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0Let's not start this rivalry on the air, right?<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0Oh, my goodness.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0But I did some studies with the Cowboys, so I've got to keep that under wraps.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0Well, it's out now.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0It is, isn't it?<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0It's out now.\u00a0 Some of the Cowboys listen to our broadcast, I'll bet you.\u00a0 You may be out in your Bible study here.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0That's right, my ministry may be over there.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0That's right.\u00a0 Well, you have authored a book called \"Anchor Man,\" which is subtitled, \"How a Father Can Anchor His Family in Christ for the Next 100 Years.\"\u00a0 And you've got a chapter in here around this whole theme of anchor man.\u00a0 It's chapter two \u2013 you say it takes more than sperm for a man to be a father.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0I said that?<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0Yeah, you did.\u00a0 That's the title of Chapter Two, Steve.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0It's amazing my wife would let me do that.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0You've always been kind of gutsy, but you're right.\u00a0 You're talking about how a father is more than a label, isn't it?<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0Yeah, it really is and, you know, with the technology we have today, that's all some guys contribute to the fathering process, unfortunately.\u00a0 But it's much more than that, and there is the involvement, and we've been talking the last couple of days about coaching and how dads disciple their kid by coaching them and giving all these tips.\u00a0 But just as a father can have an impact, a positive impact, for 100 years on his children and grandchildren by following Christ today, so we can have also devastating impacts by making foolish decisions.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0This chapter is really at the core about commitment.\u00a0 And if a man doesn't fulfill that commitment at home with his wife and with his family, the results of that, as you've just said, can impact not just one generation but up to four generations.\u00a0 And in your book you share a letter from a very articulate 16-year-old young lady that was written to her father.\u00a0 And I want you to set up the letter, if you would, for our listeners, giving them a little background here about why she wrote that letter.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0This letter is written from a 16-year-old daughter to a dad.\u00a0 She's trying to reason with him because he has gotten involved with another woman; believes he's in love with her; wants to divorce his wife; leave his kids, get a new life, get a new start; and she is grieving.\u00a0 She's doing all that she can do to get into the heart of her dad and to convince him of the damage that he is doing.\u00a0 It's one of the most gripping things I've ever come across in my life.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0You're saying here in your book that this father went to church; was a solid citizen; been married for 19 years.\u00a0 He wasn't a bum; wasn\u2019t a decadent street person.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0And here's the thing \u2013 we know guys like this.\u00a0 We live \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0\u2026 they're in our churches, they're in our neighborhoods and, I've got to tell you, gentlemen, these guys make me angry.\u00a0 Let me say this \u2013 the guy that's listening to this right now \u2013 and let me just talk straight.\u00a0 If you're horsing around, if there is some gal \u2013 if there is something that's happening in your life that nobody knows about, it hasn't gotten sexual yet, but it's emotional, and you're fooling around, I want you to hear this letter, because the thing I would say to you is that God is trying to speak to you.\u00a0 He's trying to get your attention, because he doesn't want you to do to your life and to your family what this guy has done to his family.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0This letter is pretty lengthy, and, Bob, as you read it, I'm going to ask Steve to make some comments along the way, because there are several points in here where \u2013 well, you're just feeling so many things.\u00a0 I know we're going to want to comment as you read this letter.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0Yeah, let me read it.\u00a0 She begins by writing, \"Daddy, I know that you were a really good football player.\u00a0 I can just picture the fans cheering for you.\u00a0 I would have been cheering, too, if I were there.\u00a0 What our family is going through now is kind of like a ball game.\u00a0 This is the most important game, it's the championship game, and everything rests on its outcome.\u00a0 You're the captain of our team and Tommy,\" and that's her 14-year-old brother \u2013 \"Tommy is on the team.\u00a0 I'm cheering for you on the sidelines, and Mom and Ashley are the other cheerleaders.\u00a0 We're cheering for you, believing and trusting that you'll do your best to not let us down.\u00a0 You've already done so much for us.\"<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0You know, it's interesting, as you read that, Bob, you can picture in this young lady's heart, she's got a special spot for this team that's been formed around her father.\u00a0 She's recognizing it and its importance in her life, her brother's life, her mother's life.\u00a0 This is a treasure, this is the ultimate trophy we're talking about here.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0Yes, she goes on to write \u2013 \"We have such a great team.\u00a0 We have tons of fans that love our team, they respect us and look up to us, they're always there for us, cheering us on.\u00a0 Daddy, then something terrible happens in this game.\"<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0Bob, let me stop you right there.\u00a0 When she said, \"We have such a great team.\u00a0 We have tons of fans that love our team, they respect us and look up to us.\"\u00a0 Here is a little 16-year-old gal, and she knows \u2013 what she's saying is, \"Dad, our family has had a positive impact on other kids, on other families up to now.\u00a0 But we're in deep danger of losing that, Dad.\u00a0 We're in deep danger of \u2013 all you've worked to do you are in danger of losing.\"<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0Yes, undoubtedly she's grown up with a lot of friends at school who have grown up in single-parent families.\u00a0 Six out of 10 children today are going to spend part of their first 18 years of their lives with only one parent.\u00a0 That's what she's talking about here.\u00a0 This marriage that's been intact, this family, this team, that hasn't gone down to defeat has been that point of courage and strength for her.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0Exactly.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0She goes on to write \u2013 \"Daddy, then something terrible happens in the game.\u00a0 When the play is run, there's a terrible collision of both teams on the sideline.\u00a0 We all got knocked down.\u00a0 It surprised us so badly.\u00a0 Many people were hurt.\u00a0 The players were slow getting up.\u00a0 The crowd was yelling, all the cheerleaders were still down.\u00a0 Ashley, my sister, has a broken leg.\u00a0 She's just lying there, still in shock.\u00a0 She didn't understand how this could happen to her wonderful team.\u00a0 We'd just been playing such a wonderful game.\u00a0 I was hit in the stomach.\u00a0 I can't catch my breath to call for help.\u00a0 I want to so badly, though.\u00a0 Not being able to catch my breath makes my heart hurt.\u00a0 The pain is piercing all over my body.\u00a0 Mom is hurt really bad.\u00a0 She was crushed by one of the players.\u00a0 Several ribs were broken.\u00a0 One of them punctured her lungs and almost pierced her heart.\u00a0 You can barely tell if she's alive.\u00a0 She's taken the worst hit of us all.\"<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0You know, it's interesting to listen to the words of this teenager express the anguish of the soul around the watching of the breakup of her home, of her family.\u00a0 She's expressing here, as best she can, what's taking place in her little heart, and what's taking place in her mom and in her sister.\u00a0 And you know what?\u00a0 It's not pretty.<\/p>\n<p>If we could look at what's happening through the eyes of the father, he would be writing a letter about freedom and pleasure and happiness.\u00a0 But you know what?\u00a0 What's left on the sidelines is what she is describing.\u00a0 It's anguish, it's grief, it's hurt, it's anger.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0\"He's doing his own thing.\u00a0 He's finding himself.\"\u00a0 That's what our culture would say.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0Well, listen to what she writes about him, she says, \"When the teams went back into the huddle, something very strange happened to you, Dad.\u00a0 It seems like you've hit your head really badly.\u00a0 I think you have a concussion.\u00a0 You're confused.\u00a0 You can't see very well.\u00a0 You're walking around dazed.\u00a0 We are all watching you walk back to the huddle but, Daddy, you're going to the wrong huddle.\u00a0 You're walking to the wrong team.\u00a0 Tommy is yelling for you.\u00a0 He says, 'Daddy, here we are, over here.'\u00a0 All your fans are screaming at you.\u00a0 They're saying 'Eric, come back to your team.\u00a0 You have to come back or we'll lose the game.'\u00a0 Ashley cries, 'Daddy, can't you hear us?\u00a0 We need you on our team so badly.'<\/p>\n<p>You must not hear us because you went to the other team.\u00a0 You start to do better for a while.\u00a0 Our team doesn't know what to do without you, and Tommy is trying so hard, but he still needs you to coach him on the plays.\u00a0 Someone from our team says, 'Where's your Dad?\u00a0 Doesn't he know he's on the wrong team?'\u00a0 We don't know what to do without him.\u00a0 I'm looking for help everywhere.\u00a0 I can't help Mom or Ashley on my own, because I'm hurt so badly myself.\u00a0 I see an ambulance, but I don't know who has the keys.\u00a0 We're still on the field.\u00a0 We're cold and lonely, and Mom is hurt so bad.\u00a0 Why doesn't help come?\u00a0 Daddy, we need help for you, because we're confused, and you've gone to the wrong team.<\/p>\n<p>We need help for Tommy who is lost without you there to know what calls he should make.\u00a0 We need help for Ashley, who can't understand what happened to her wonderful team.\u00a0 We need help for me.\u00a0 I'm so sad I don't have a reason to cheer without you.\u00a0 We need help for Mom who may die because all she has ever worked for in her life is this team.\u00a0 She has put everything into it and, now, all of a sudden, she's robbed of it.\u00a0 She has no reason to go on living.\u00a0 That's why I pray for help.\u00a0 Where could the help be?\u00a0 Daddy, you're the only one who can help.\u00a0 You have the keys to the ambulance.\u00a0 You're the only one who can pick us up off the field and nurse us back to health.\u00a0 Can't you realize that?\u00a0 We need you.<\/p>\n<p>I know you're hurt, Daddy.\u00a0 We want to help you because we love you so much.\u00a0 We want you back on our team.\u00a0 Please, Daddy, I'm begging you.\u00a0 We can all help each other.\u00a0 That's what a family is for.\u00a0 It's half-time.\u00a0 You have to make your decision soon.\u00a0 You have to know that you can't play for both teams.\u00a0 It won't work.\u00a0 Which team are you going to be the captain of?\u00a0 The team you created that loves you more than anything or the team that confused you and made you think you were on the right team?<\/p>\n<p>I wish I could do something to help you make the right decision.\u00a0 I would even die to save my Daddy.\u00a0 I'm praying for you because I love you.\u00a0 Please do what it takes to come home and stay with us.\u00a0 Your daughter, Me.\"<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0As I was listening to this, the thing that was in my mind is \u2013 someone's heart has just been touched.\u00a0 Someone the enemy is trying to con.\u00a0 There's a guy, there is perhaps a woman, that's on the verge of going into an affair that's on the verge of making a huge mistake, yet it's on this day that the Holy Spirit has chosen that this be aired and that this letter be read.\u00a0 My friend, He is trying to get through to you, and He is trying to get your attention to save your life and to save the life of your family so that this doesn't happen to you.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0The Apostle James said, \"To him who knows what to do and does not do it, to him it is sin.\"\u00a0 I've read a lot of letters.\u00a0 I don't think I've ever read a letter that articulated how a child feels in the middle of a family breakup like this one.\u00a0 And if you're that man right now, or that woman that Steve was speaking to just a few moments ago, before you run on to your appointment, to work, to that next duty that you have at home, the best thing you could do is to pull off to the side of the road and to repent \u2013 flat-out turn from sin, change your attitude toward that circumstance, that person, that choice you are about to make \u2013 turn to Jesus Christ and say to Him, \"Forgive me.\u00a0 I repent.\u00a0 I turn from that.\"\u00a0 And then the next thing you need to do is you need to get a cell phone, you need to get a regular phone, and whoever that other person is, if they are aware of this relationship, and they are a party to it, you need to call them and say to them, \"This is over.\u00a0 It's done.\"<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0And, \"I won't meet with you to discuss it.\u00a0 It's over now.\u00a0 Period.\u00a0 Finished.\"<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0And then find a pastor \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0\u2026 there you go \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0\u2026 go to church \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0\u2026 there you go \u2026<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0\u2026 or someone you're accountable to \u2013 a godly Christian \u2013 confess it to them and talk about your game plan of how you're going to go about telling your spouse.\u00a0 I wouldn't suggest just rolling into home at the end of the day and dropping a bombshell on your spouse without having clearly talked about it and discussed it with a wise, godly counselor, who could be there to help you put the pieces back together as they must be put back together after you burn the bridge to this other person.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0The thing that strikes me about this letter is that this 16-year-old daughter is basically saying to her dad, she's saying, \"Dad, you're killing us, you're killing us.\u00a0 You're literally ending life as we know it.\"<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0This is where a dad is making the 100-year choice, Steve.\u00a0 He's deciding whether he's going to mark his family for Christ for the next 100 years, by repenting and by turning back to Christ himself and leading his family in that direction, or whether he's going to follow sin and mark his family in that direction.\u00a0 And you've seen, close to home, you've seen dads who have made the wrong decision, and you've seen it long enough that you've seen the impact on the children, right?<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0I think of a little girl that was friends with my daughter, and several years ago her dad got involved with some gal in the church \u2013 leaves his wife, leaves the four kids.\u00a0 I watched her go through that phase where she would only dress in black.\u00a0 I watched her when she would only wear black nail polish and black lipstick.\u00a0 That little girl now is in an Ivy League school.\u00a0 Why is she in that school?\u00a0 Academics has become her life, a career has become her life, because as she told my daughter, \"I will never be in a position again where I am dependent on a man ever.\"\u00a0 Because the most important guy in her life let her down.\u00a0 And, again, to the guy that's driving down the road and listening to this and playing with sin and pondering this \u2013 Dennis alluded to this earlier \u2013 the enemy is a liar.\u00a0 Whatever you think you're going to get out of this, whatever benefit you think, whatever positives you think will accrue into your life, I want to tell you something \u2013 the best the enemy can offer you is dog food.\u00a0 The best he can offer you is Alpo, and he's telling you it's prime rib?\u00a0 I'm telling you it's Purina Dog Chow, and you're going to vomit it up, and you're going to live to regret it.<\/p>\n<p>The Holy Spirit, Dennis, I'm telling you, I can sense it in this room \u2013 the Holy Spirit is trying to get through to somebody here through this broadcast today and, my friend, this is no time to play games.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0It isn't, and you need to make the right choice.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0Right now.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0Right now.\u00a0 Don't wait until tonight, because you'll chicken out.\u00a0 I've watched guys do this, and they're playing tiddley winks with the enemy of your soul, and there is a lot at stake in your choice.\u00a0 Generations to come are going to know the reality of your choice for good or the reality of your choice for evil.<\/p>\n<p>(song \"Generations\")<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0That is Sara Groves who is reminding us of, really, what we've been talking about this whole week that we can pass on a curse or a blessing to those we'll never know, and which do we want to do?\u00a0 A curse or a blessing?\u00a0 You know, I think the answer is pretty clear, right?\u00a0 And if we want to pass on a blessing, then we need to be anchoring our own hearts in the Word of God and following the counsel of guys like Steve Farrar, his book \"Anchor Man.\"\u00a0 We've got it in our FamilyLife Resource Center.\u00a0 We've got the book that you wrote, Dennis, \"Growing a Spiritually Strong Family,\" and this week we're encouraging listeners to get both books and spend time reading them this summer and set out a strategy for how you're going to anchor your family in Christ for the next several generations.<\/p>\n<p>If you order both books together, we'll throw in at no additional cost either the cassette audio or the CD audio from this week's worth of programs.\u00a0 Just ask for the free audio when you call to order both the book \"Anchor Man\" and the book \"Growing a Spiritually Strong Family.\"\u00a0 The toll-free number is 1-800-FLTODAY.\u00a0 That's 1-800-F-as-in-family, L-as-in-life, and then the word TODAY or you can order online at FamilyLife.com and you'll see the \u2013 you order both books, and the audio is right there with it at no additional cost.<\/p>\n<p>Again, our website is FamilyLife.com, and if you're calling, the toll-free number is 1-800-FLTODAY.\u00a0 Dennis?<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0Well, it's been a challenging time here today talking about the need for men to make a commitment and, Steve Farrar, I want to thank you for being on the broadcast.\u00a0 You've made a great impact on men this week.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0Well, thanks, Dennis.\u00a0 Thanks for having me.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0You know, today we've talked about the need for men to fulfill their commitment \u2013 a commitment for good or a commitment to choose evil.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0Being an anchor man.<\/p>\n<p>Dennis:\u00a0That's right, and what kind of legacy we're going to leave and, you know, I've never forgotten the true story of a man who was bathing in a river in a foreign country, and he looked upstream, and he saw a beautiful woman who was naked.\u00a0 She was far enough away he couldn't truly make anything out but the silhouette of her figure, and so he was tempted, and he began to move upstream.\u00a0 And as he wrote about this, he wrote about the temptation in his soul and how he was caving in to his lust.\u00a0 And he got closer and closer and closer and finally got close enough where she turned to him, and he realized she had leprosy.\u00a0 And at that point, he was so jarred by the reality of what he was about to choose, he immediately turned and moved away.\u00a0 That's what sin is.\u00a0 The silhouette is not the same as reality.\u00a0 Sin will destroy your life, your soul, your legacy.\u00a0 If you're going to be an anchor man, you've got to be an anchor for what is good, and I've got to believe right now, Steve, there are men who need you to pray for them, because they have already decided \u2013 they've pulled off the side of the road, they are maybe weeping about what they have already chosen.\u00a0 But they need your prayer today to choose good instead of evil.<\/p>\n<p>Steve:\u00a0Father, we pray for all of us that you might give us eyes to see what we normally wouldn't see.\u00a0 Give us the wisdom to see the leprosy.\u00a0 Give us the wisdom to see that what it looks like from afar is not that at all when we get up close.\u00a0 And the problem with leaving a relationship, thinking it will make us happy, is that we have to take ourself into that new relationship, and our biggest problem is not our spouse, our biggest problem is not somebody else, our biggest problem is us.<\/p>\n<p>I pray for every guy, I pray for every woman.\u00a0 I pray for the guy that, right now, is overwhelmed by his sense of conviction that comes from your Holy Spirit.\u00a0 Give him the courage to do what's right.\u00a0 Give him the courage to stop right now.\u00a0 Give him the courage to look down the road six months, a year, 10 years, 100 years, and see what the consequences of this act will bring into his life and the life of his family.\u00a0 I pray that You will save him.\u00a0 I pray that You won't let him be distracted.\u00a0 I pray that You will help him to make the right choice.\u00a0 And years down the line and for all of eternity, he will be forever thankful to You for intervening in his life.\u00a0 Do the work Lord Jesus right now that none of us can do.\u00a0 Do the work that only You can do and save his family from destruction.\u00a0 We ask in Your name, amen.<\/p>\n<p>Bob:\u00a0FamilyLife Today is a production of FamilyLife of Little Rock, Arkansas, a ministry of Campus Crusade for Christ.<\/p>\n<p>________________________________________________________________<\/p>\n<p>We are so happy to provide these transcripts to you.\u00a0 However, there is a cost to transcribe, create, and produce them for our website.\u00a0 If you\u2019ve benefited from the broadcast transcripts, would\u00a0\u00a0 you consider <a href=\"http:\/\/wp-stage.familylife.com\/www\/site\/c.dnJHKLNnFoG\/b.3782043\/k.384D\/Support_Us.htm\">donating today<\/a> to help defray the costs?<\/p>\n<p>Copyright \u00a9 FamilyLife.\u00a0 All rights reserved.<\/p>\n<p><a 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