A Son is Given

Isaiah 9:6 "For unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given: and the government shall be upon his shoulder: and his name shall be called Wonderful, Counsellor, The mighty God, The everlasting Father, The Prince of Peace."

Christmas starts with a son being given. Interesting. Christ is that son. Sent to the world, you and me, with the sole purpose to die and save the world.

For 25 years, I’ve been building men and raising sons. Spiritual sons. Yes, I have 3 natural sons and many men have natural daughters as well, that we raise and/or take care of. But I’d like you to consider that Jesus only had spiritual sons, none in the natural. Paul only had spiritual sons, no natural sons. Obviously, we see that our natural children need a father's time, talent, and treasure, but what about the spiritual sons? How many do you have today? If this pattern was the one of Jesus and Paul, should it not be ours as well? Discipleship should produce spiritual sons and daughters that focus on winning the world! So again, how many do you have? Are we investing in the Kingdom of God?

I’ve had the pleasure to know Jose Lopez and his wife Kathryn of Piura, Peru for close to 20 years now. The same can be said for Carven Izaks and Juanita in Namibia, Africa and Robert and Yolanda Burdett of Katy, Texas. All for 20 years or more. I have many other relationships that I consider paternal but these are the longest. Jose and Kathryn have spent the past 8 months in Texas at Jordan Ranch mostly because the airlines weren’t flying into Peru. During their time, we were able to strengthen our relationship. There is a lot to be said about consistency. I watched as Jose began to walk on the road daily and pray, something I’ve been doing for years. He told me he needed a breakthrough and decided to commit to prayer daily. The next thing I know, he’s also fasting for 40 days, all solid foods. I saw a distinctive change in Jose over the 8 months they were here. A change in focus and maturity.

Jose interpreted our book, The Alpha Male into Spanish and he used this task to increase relationships over zoom with his team in South America. The results are that the men who helped Jose with the interpretation, grew deeper in that they reread the book and understood the principles better. Today, Jose mentors some 130 pastors in South America each week. These 130 pastors have the potential to become sons and have grandsons! I have to believe this is what Jesus and Paul had in mind, more importantly, what God had in mind.  Let's face it, in the natural realm we are limited to how many sons we can sire. In the spiritual realm, we are unlimited. It’s high time we begin to take the mandate seriously, go into all the world and make disciples, sons (Matt 28:19)!

Until a man reaches a certain revelation in his life, it’s difficult to help him achieve eternal goals and results. Until a man begins to realize that there is more to life than money, women, fame, etc., and turn his focus toward Heaven and the eternal realm, he remains only a boy. My goal has always been to lead men toward eternal objectives. Usually, a pigpen of sorts (see prodigal son) is where we find most men coming to themselves. This happens at different times in different lives, but there are distinct signs that a man is ready to be effectively fathered. Please never say that I said, "God creates pigpens to teach us!" No! The world and satan do that very well. They don’t need God's help for that. But just like the prodigal son, the father is waiting to receive him on his way home. “My son who was dead, now is alive,” is what the father said in Luke 15. Question: Did the son die? Nope! So what was the father saying? He was saying that the son could now be productive, a seed bearer for something valuable, significant because his attitude changed in the pigpen!

Now every pigpen is different and some men need two or three before they really get serious, but the point is, the sooner the sons begin submitting their will to the fathers, the sooner the impartation of strength and wisdom can begin!

I’m so proud of José and what I’ve seen in these last 8 months. He is the personification of a spiritual son.  He is on his way back to Piura now and he will definitely increase! In this time of the year when we reflect on the gift of God, the son, would you sow a gift into the Lopez and their 3 children as they return to change the lives of a country? Our lifestyle in the US is a real blessing from God. Look at His goodness in your life and ask Him what you should do for the Lopez and Peru. Then do it. Don’t wait.

Go to our website gfwatkins.org and designate funds for Peru. 100% will go straight to them.

Merry Christmas! Let's build men and raise sons!

Keep pressing,
GFW