SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Father.
SPEAKER_00: Worthy is your name.
SPEAKER_00: And we pray today that your name will be glorified here on earth as it is in heaven.
SPEAKER_00: Thank you, Jesus, for revealing yourself.
SPEAKER_00: For revealing yourself through the Holy Spirit and through your word.
SPEAKER_00: Speak to our hearts, Lord.
SPEAKER_00: We pray in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Good morning, One Church in Dover.
SPEAKER_00: I've been here once before, and that was in the room out there.
SPEAKER_00: I never entered the rest of the church.
SPEAKER_00: It was I was only out there for a meeting.
SPEAKER_00: Well, it's good to be here.
SPEAKER_00: Thanks, God, and team, for inviting and for also daring to bring on uh Dane on your stage.
SPEAKER_00: First, let me just share shortly about myself so you just know a little bit.
SPEAKER_00: First and foremost, I have a family, and uh it it's very big because I have five kids.
SPEAKER_00: So and uh yeah, more have come since then.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but uh it's um yeah, I'm very blessed with uh one wife and five kids and uh in-laws, three of them, and six grandchildren at the moment.
SPEAKER_00: Um so as you can see, that's a full-time job in itself, and um yeah, it seems to for me to get hard hard for to get rid of them because they keep moving into my house because we have place for that.
SPEAKER_00: So, anyways, we love that.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and we are placed in uh Herning, where Scott, you've been there.
SPEAKER_00: Uh where I've been pastoring a church there for uh 30 years now.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we call it Open Church, and um yeah, it's um it's part of also the Apostolic Network that you're part of here in the UK.
SPEAKER_00: And uh and we just built a new building.
SPEAKER_00: We just moved into a new building five years ago, and uh we inaugurated that building.
SPEAKER_00: You can see it here, that's our uh auditorium.
SPEAKER_00: Uh a bit dark, but uh so it's a 500 cedar uh in the middle of our city.
SPEAKER_00: Uh it's absolutely amazing, a gift from God, and um and we we just seen growth and uh transformation.
SPEAKER_00: It's been quite a thing to rebuild all that thing.
SPEAKER_00: You saw it?
SPEAKER_00: It was an old factory thing, but we it's really, really beautiful now.
SPEAKER_00: So we spent uh some years doing that, and we also saw God do some, to be honest, financial miracles uh on our way there.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and we thank him uh from the bottom of our hearts.
SPEAKER_00: Uh then since five years, I've also been uh spearheading uh a transformation of this Bible college, X Academy.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, it was, as God said, a very influential Bible college, but about 15 years ago it it went into a downward uh spiral, and to be honest, it lost students and influence, not just in Denmark, but in Europe.
SPEAKER_00: And um when I came over, it was just about to close down when I took over.
SPEAKER_00: It was just about to close down, so it was like, okay, do we have one last shot uh in our gun?
SPEAKER_00: And I became that shot.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I I felt like God said that I should do it, so I changed a bit the thing in the church.
SPEAKER_00: So I was less in the church.
SPEAKER_00: I'm still leading the team there, uh, but I'm less in the church, and then I'm four days a week at this place.
SPEAKER_00: And God has just done amazing things, and and we have changed that, and now we're just in a very, very good place again.
SPEAKER_00: It's like a full-time.
SPEAKER_00: Uh you stay there, you live there, you eat there, and then you're in duty or what can I say, ministry involvement in local churches uh on Fridays and on Sundays.
SPEAKER_00: And uh and now we have uh almost 100 students, then we had 15, so it totally changed, and uh and and it's uh an amazing atmosphere to be part of, to be honest.
SPEAKER_00: Uh we see Europe is opening up again, and people are there now from 23 different nations, and we speak your language, English.
SPEAKER_00: Tada.
SPEAKER_00: What's not to like?
SPEAKER_00: You should be there.
SPEAKER_00: Why don't we have any students from this church?
SPEAKER_00: I know why you don't know about it, that's why.
SPEAKER_00: But now you do, and now you can put it on your you know scanner and say, Well, that could be an idea.
SPEAKER_00: I'll tell you, man, it's very close to here, and it will transform your life.
SPEAKER_00: If you are young, if you're a bit old, it doesn't matter.
SPEAKER_00: We have all ages at our Bible college, but mostly mostly young people, of course.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I'll just show a short video, okay?
SPEAKER_00: Uh so you can see, see, see a little bit about the place.
SPEAKER_03: Since I came to X Academy, my life has changed dramatically.
SPEAKER_03: I came here with a lot of baggage, addiction, loneliness, and a general sense of not being good enough.
SPEAKER_03: But now I'm leaving this place with a new identity and with a confidence that I am free and that God has so much more for me.
SPEAKER_03: So I came to this place worried for how my life would turn out.
SPEAKER_03: But now I leave more excited than ever for what God has for me.
SPEAKER_01: When I came to the school, I was dealing with depression and anxiety.
SPEAKER_01: And I didn't think that I was good enough to go to Bible college.
SPEAKER_01: But God told me my heart to come, and He has already worked a lot in me.
SPEAKER_01: We started producing the songs that we wrote.
SPEAKER_01: The first time I listened to the songs, altogether, something really happened in me.
SPEAKER_01: I started realizing that it was not just a random moment.
SPEAKER_01: I realized after all the challenges I've been through and the process of healing, I mean that God really used that song to bring closure.
SPEAKER_01: And since that moment, I can feel that a change has happened in my life.
SPEAKER_02: Before I enrolled here at X Academy, I was already quite involved in my local ministry and I was working full-time.
SPEAKER_02: I always knew deep down that I want to be more involved in ministry and also wanted to grow in that area.
SPEAKER_02: I never thought I could just interrupt my life to do Bible school.
SPEAKER_02: But exactly that would turn out to be one of the best decisions of my life.
SPEAKER_02: Here at X, I could get rid of so many misconceptions I had about God and myself.
SPEAKER_02: Replace them with good theology, a healthy, confident self-image, and a clearer understanding of what he has called me to do.
SPEAKER_02: I know that whatever it is I'll be doing after my time here, I will do better because I've been equipped to carry my faith into every sphere of life, whether that be business, church, or study.
SPEAKER_02: I highly encourage every Christian to set aside at least a year of your life, to do Bible school, and to allow God to shape you into who He created you to be in this world.
SPEAKER_00: Alright, so come and speak to me afterwards, uh, and I can tell you more about uh this if you're interested.
SPEAKER_00: We have a new core course starting up in August, the 15th of August.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: I was told it was Father's Day in UK today, so I decided to speak about that.
SPEAKER_00: I decided to speak to fathers, okay, and and how fathers actually is called to create legacy.
SPEAKER_00: When I speak to fathers, I also speak to men because not all are fathers.
SPEAKER_00: How many is fathers in this room?
SPEAKER_00: How many is men in this room?
SPEAKER_00: How many don't know if you're a man or something else?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: In Ephesians uh chapter 3 and verse 14, we read this for this reason I kneel before the Father from whom every family in heaven and on earth derives its name.
SPEAKER_00: Now Paul speaks about something that comes from God, something that originates in God, and and the expression of fatherhood is something that shows who God is.
SPEAKER_00: It's not to say that motherhood doesn't have that in it as well, but but it's very obvious that the fatherhood side of things seems very important when we read the Bible.
SPEAKER_00: Uh fatherhood is not just a social construction, it's a divine construction.
SPEAKER_00: When fathers function well, uh somehow the kids get a glimpse of who God is.
SPEAKER_00: So so I want to speak about that today, but I will not just speak to fathers, I will speak to men, so don't close your ears.
SPEAKER_00: I'm not a father, okay, I'm not listening.
SPEAKER_00: Don't do that.
SPEAKER_00: I'm speaking to men, I'm speaking to leaders.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: And I want today to encourage you to step in to the things that God has called you to be in.
SPEAKER_00: When when fatherhood weakens, which is is happening in our society, some call it a fatherless society, uh, it has deep consequences.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I read a few statistics, uh, one of them showed that in 1950, around 5% of children in families, in homes in America grew up with only one parent.
SPEAKER_00: The same number in 2015 was almost around 50%.
SPEAKER_00: So you can see there's a tremendous development of fatherlessness in our nations.
SPEAKER_00: I I guess it's the same in UK, uh and and I can see at least it's it's basically the same in in Denmark.
SPEAKER_00: In uh in America, 90% of those imprisoned are men.
SPEAKER_00: Out of those men that are imprisoned, most almost all of them grew up without a father in the home.
SPEAKER_00: So I know that you know uh service and and statistics doesn't show everything, but it is interesting.
SPEAKER_00: And it it is valuable, I think, for us uh to look at.
SPEAKER_00: And what is God actually saying?
SPEAKER_00: He's saying fatherhood matters.
SPEAKER_00: And I and I think there's a strategy, if we can say like this, from hell almost, from the opponent of God, from Satan himself.
SPEAKER_00: If he can destroy families, if he can destroy families, he can destroy the society.
SPEAKER_00: If he can destroy fathers, he can destroy families.
SPEAKER_00: So it's if fathers is not stepping up, if men is not is not stepping up and becoming men after God's heart, then something would be lost in our churches and in our society.
SPEAKER_00: So so let me speak a little bit about that.
SPEAKER_00: Uh four things I will say shortly about fathers that uh shows that fathers, or what can I say, speak about the calling of fathers in the likeness of God.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: First of all, fathers connect.
SPEAKER_00: They connect emotionally and they are present.
SPEAKER_00: God was so so much a father that he sent his son down to earth to tell us how loved we were.
SPEAKER_00: He did everything possible to make sure that we knew that he's there, he's present, and he is emotionally interested in our lives.
SPEAKER_00: In Malachi 4, 6, we read that that God will turn the hearts of the fathers to the children and the hearts of the children to their fathers, otherwise I will come and strike the land with a curse.
SPEAKER_00: So so if the heart of the fathers are not turned to the sons, and and it's it doesn't start with the sons, it starts with the fathers.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: If hearts are not turned towards the sons, then the heart of the sons cannot turn be turned toward the fathers, and the result of that will be cursed.
SPEAKER_00: It can be cursed in our families, it can be cursed in our churches, and it can be a curse in our uh society.
SPEAKER_00: So God will not turn our hands, the hands of the fathers, he will turn the hearts of the fathers.
SPEAKER_00: So he's speaking to our hearts, and he really wants us to understand also as leaders that it starts with heart.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, it starts with relationship.
SPEAKER_00: Every significant ministry flows out of a significant relationship.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's how we see it in our part of the world.
SPEAKER_00: If you if you want to build something that becomes good and blessed and strong, it starts with relationship.
SPEAKER_00: And men and fathers, they need to do that.
SPEAKER_00: They need to not be afraid of the emotional part, because emotions is not weakness, right?
SPEAKER_00: To be emotional is not to be weak, to be emotional is to be healthy and mature.
SPEAKER_00: So handling emotions and and being emotionally present in a family, for example, that shows uh uh uh maturity and it shows that you as a man are healed.
SPEAKER_00: If you're struggling with this, maybe there's something that God wants to heal in your heart.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe even today, listening to what I say, maybe you hear something and say, Well, I I need God to help me with this.
SPEAKER_00: I I need to change some things in my life and in my home.
SPEAKER_00: You see, church and family is not a business.
SPEAKER_00: It's not a business.
SPEAKER_00: That's why it it's not just numbers and correctness, it's it's heart above everything else.
SPEAKER_00: Amen?
SPEAKER_00: So uh so children actually don't remember what you bought them or what title or job you had.
SPEAKER_00: If you ask children, what does your father do?
SPEAKER_00: Many of them say, I I actually don't know.
SPEAKER_00: Because it's not so important for them what you do.
SPEAKER_00: What is important for them is how you saw them, how you see them, how you listen to them, how you're present emotionally in their lives.
SPEAKER_00: I can tell you from my own story in my own life that my father is a good was a good father and um and he was uh he was a praying father, he was a Christian, uh, and he prayed for me, I knew that.
SPEAKER_00: But he was emotionally not able to connect with me as her his son.
SPEAKER_00: And and and and I'm I I can my father's not here anymore, he died a few years ago.
SPEAKER_00: But I can tell you this, I love my father, but there was something that I I think that I didn't get as a child growing up, that I should have had, and that would have brought me into a stronger sense of resting or being at peace with myself, not needing to prove things, as I sometimes try to do when I was younger.
SPEAKER_00: So so that thing I didn't receive from my dad, from my father, and uh and I can see in our churches we become very uh um oriented around pre um um uh what is what is that called?
SPEAKER_00: Uh doing things, you know, uh showing things, and often it's because we are not resting in the fact that I know I'm already loved by my dad.
SPEAKER_00: I'm okay.
SPEAKER_00: No matter what.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, I can be a success today, I can be a failure today.
SPEAKER_00: It doesn't matter because the one that really matters in my life, he thinks I'm great.
SPEAKER_00: Right?
SPEAKER_00: He thinks I'm great.
SPEAKER_00: That's enough, that's enough for me.
SPEAKER_00: I want to do my best, but if I'm not, and and nobody can do that, we can do our best, but we are not a success all the time, right?
SPEAKER_00: But that's okay.
SPEAKER_00: You're still loved, you're still on your way.
SPEAKER_00: So first first thing, and I think is this about fatherhood, they connect.
SPEAKER_00: The second thing is this fathers take responsibility, they take responsibility for uh protecting, for providing, uh, but also for leading in uh in the family.
SPEAKER_00: And this is the thing I I'm speaking about as well in Denmark right now.
SPEAKER_00: We need to get the man out of the men cave.
SPEAKER_00: Is there any women here in the room?
SPEAKER_00: And they shouted, Hallelujah! And uh and the guy said, No, oh no.
SPEAKER_00: You see, sometimes as men we hide in our caves.
SPEAKER_00: Because if we cannot be a success, it's easier to hide, right?
SPEAKER_00: We don't want to be confronted with the fact that we don't feel like a success, and it seems like the women are taking over in our homes, right?
SPEAKER_00: But God did not intend it to become like to be like that, and there's something lacking in the homes.
SPEAKER_00: It's not, of course, that the mothers are not important, they are crazy important, but but but they cannot fulfill the job of a father.
SPEAKER_00: I'm sorry to say, I know we live in a society where people are saying that stuff, but it's not possible.
SPEAKER_00: We need fathers to be fathers.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, I need men to be men, come on.
SPEAKER_00: I need you to stand up, rise up, and shine.
SPEAKER_00: Are you here?
SPEAKER_00: I heard a few women say yes, I didn't hear any guys.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, guys, come on, guys, come on, show up.
SPEAKER_00: You you we need we need to lead, we need to provide, we need to protect, we need to make sure that we take responsibility for what enters our homes and what does not enter our homes.
SPEAKER_00: And why can I speak about this?
SPEAKER_00: Because when I was younger, I was not good at that.
SPEAKER_00: I left that to my wife because she was good at it, I've thought.
SPEAKER_00: And when she wanted to speak with me about, you know, I don't think they should see this on television.
SPEAKER_00: Uh and I was more like, well, you know, I was tired because I was working a lot, and I just wanted to relax.
SPEAKER_00: I didn't want any, you know, uh disturbance.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to, you know, I'm back home.
SPEAKER_00: I want to relax, right?
SPEAKER_00: I just want to sit down and have a good time.
SPEAKER_00: So, so so I think many men are like that.
SPEAKER_00: When you're home, you're like, oh, okay, I just want to have some good food and just relax.
SPEAKER_00: I don't I don't want all the noise.
SPEAKER_00: So, so and because of that, we end up hiding in our caves.
SPEAKER_00: So we go to our computer or we do this or that, and and we end up doing unhealthy stuff on that computer.
SPEAKER_00: You some end up looking on porn too much.
SPEAKER_00: I mean, one time is too much, but I mean but it becomes an addiction because you hide, because you run away, because you don't feel like you're good enough, because you're not feeling like you're the man you're supposed to be, or you end up drinking too much.
SPEAKER_00: That you can do one, that's okay, or two, I don't know, I don't in my opinion, or you end up doing other unhealthy things, but it's it's a way of hiding yourself.
SPEAKER_00: So so we need to get men out of the box and stand up in the homes and take spiritual responsibility.
SPEAKER_00: When when in Deuteronomy chapter six and verse four, it says like this uh actually these verses were uh something that the Israelites were saying both uh mornings and evenings.
SPEAKER_00: Everybody.
SPEAKER_00: So in in all homes, when they were praying, when Jesus went out to pray in the morning, he would be quoting this scripture.
SPEAKER_00: Okay?
SPEAKER_00: And it says, Listen, O Israel, the Lord our God, the Lord alone.
SPEAKER_00: You must love the Lord your God with all your heart, all your soul, and all your strength.
SPEAKER_00: And you must commit yourself wholeheartedly to these commands that I give you today.
SPEAKER_00: Repeat them again and again to your children.
SPEAKER_00: Talk about them when you're at home and when you are on the road, when you are going to bed and when you're getting up.
SPEAKER_00: So it's about creating a spiritual environment in your home where you as a father actually take responsibility for that.
SPEAKER_00: You don't leave it to your wife.
SPEAKER_00: Most guys there like this, if their wife says, uh, could we pray?
SPEAKER_00: They're like, Well, yeah, uh, I'll pray.
SPEAKER_00: But but if guys, guys, fathers, if you can't pray with your wife, you don't create security in the home.
SPEAKER_00: And then you go to a meeting, a board meeting in the church, then you can pray, oh yes.
SPEAKER_00: Here you can pray, but at home you can't.
SPEAKER_00: And and I don't know what it is, but it's it's something that that we need to deal with.
SPEAKER_00: And men needs to to take charge when it comes to the spiritual environment in our in our in our homes.
SPEAKER_00: I'm just saying.
SPEAKER_00: Any any women that agrees?
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So it's not about pushing anyone out.
SPEAKER_00: It's about finding our role and our unity.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about who is strongest.
SPEAKER_00: It's not about who has the most, you know, leadership ability.
SPEAKER_00: Is it the man or the wife?
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes the wife has way more leadership ability than the husband.
SPEAKER_00: And you, as a wife, you need to lift up your husband if that's the case.
SPEAKER_00: Make sure he becomes a man after God's own heart.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So this is important to bring kingdom of God thinking into your home.
SPEAKER_00: Does anyone come into your home and are reminded?
SPEAKER_00: Does your children come out of their rooms in the morning?
SPEAKER_00: Are they reminded?
SPEAKER_00: Is there anything in the house that reminds them about God?
SPEAKER_00: That He's the most important thing in our lives?
SPEAKER_00: Is there anything that reminds them about our faith?
SPEAKER_00: Is there anything that speaks that that reminds them around the table about us believing in a living God?
SPEAKER_00: How does it look?
SPEAKER_00: Maybe it looked great, maybe it just it's really functioning for you.
SPEAKER_00: That's amazing.
SPEAKER_00: But I can see in Denmark at least, it's not functioning well for a lot of people.
SPEAKER_00: And I think there's a time now, God is bringing back the fathers.
SPEAKER_00: Joshua, he said, you can decide who you want to serve.
SPEAKER_00: You can decide that today.
SPEAKER_00: But for me and my family, we will serve the Lord.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: So fathers need to protect and set boundaries to provide and to pray and to set direction and the atmosphere in the home.
SPEAKER_00: Any guys here?
SPEAKER_00: Any fathers here that I'm talking to that know what I'm talking about?
SPEAKER_00: Alright, okay.
SPEAKER_00: The rest of you, you're like, you're in a process right now, okay?
SPEAKER_00: That's fine.
SPEAKER_00: That's that's room for that.
SPEAKER_00: All right.
SPEAKER_00: The third thing is this fathers empower and show the way.
SPEAKER_00: Fathers empower and show the way.
SPEAKER_00: They make the next generation stronger.
SPEAKER_00: You know, you know, children, they borrow courage from dads, from parents.
SPEAKER_00: They see what you do and they don't have it, but because you do it, they can do it themselves.
SPEAKER_00: And as we go on, they learn things.
SPEAKER_00: I I mean, I mean, if if if things are run mainly by women, there will be safeguarding and security around everything.
SPEAKER_00: There will be uh safe floors, uh rubber, uh something something under every chair to make sure that nobody falls off the chair and hit themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Uh there would there will be no climbing in trees.
SPEAKER_00: No climbing in trees, no trying dad's car before you are fit twelve twenty-five.
SPEAKER_00: But when when when when masculinity steps in, it's it's risk taking, right?
SPEAKER_00: It's risk taking.
SPEAKER_00: It's it's it's okay, you can climb that tree.
SPEAKER_00: I can see it looks a bit dangerous, but you probably don't die if you fall down.
SPEAKER_00: You maybe break an arm, but I mean, and and then I'll have you, but I mean, uh you you will learn something from that.
SPEAKER_00: Often, often that masculinity part is more risk taking, and we need the risk-taking masculinity to be released in our homes, but also in our churches.
SPEAKER_00: Hello, hello, we we do it too safe, we don't take enough risk.
SPEAKER_00: I know Scott is different, I know he loves to take risks.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, but but but you see, we really need to, for us to become the churches that God wants us to be, we need to step out.
SPEAKER_00: We need the guys to step up and and show courage.
SPEAKER_00: Do things that you wouldn't do if you if if if if you I mean if you would like do what everybody else is doing.
SPEAKER_00: Follow the call of your life, follow the purpose of your life.
SPEAKER_00: And it's not like you should do stupid things, that's not what I'm talking about, but I am talking about being risk takers.
SPEAKER_00: Because fathers they empower and they show the way, they foster courage by saying, saying, You can do this, I believe in you.
SPEAKER_00: I believe in you, you can do this, you will be better than me.
SPEAKER_00: I believe in you.
SPEAKER_00: That needs to come from fathers, both in their daughters, by the way, and in their sons.
SPEAKER_00: It's not just fathers and sons, it's also fathers and daughters.
SPEAKER_00: Paul, he said, even though you have 10,000 guardians in Christ, you do not have many fathers.
SPEAKER_00: Therefore, I urge you to imitate me.
SPEAKER_00: I urge you to imitate me.
SPEAKER_00: You can have thousands of guardians, but you do not have many fathers.
SPEAKER_00: Fathers, they will empower you, and they will show the way.
SPEAKER_00: They will say, Hey, look, we do it like this.
SPEAKER_00: You climb that tree like this, I will do it myself.
SPEAKER_00: I will show you how you do it.
SPEAKER_00: They show the way, okay?
SPEAKER_00: And they make men conquerors again.
SPEAKER_00: Uh a little bit of Viking spirit, maybe.
SPEAKER_00: I know the Vikings came to uh UK.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe that's a bad story over here.
SPEAKER_00: So in Denmark, it's a great story.
SPEAKER_00: We took over everything.
SPEAKER_00: Now we're just a tiny bit, little bit of country.
SPEAKER_00: But then we were warriors, okay.
SPEAKER_00: So we're trying to speak to that spirit.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah.
SPEAKER_00: Uh but but I think maybe the culture in many ways looks alike.
SPEAKER_00: You know, UK, Danish, there's many things in the way we think that is very much alike.
SPEAKER_00: And we need to grow out of that limitations that we often end up in.
SPEAKER_00: Follow my example, he says later, as I follow the example of Christ.
SPEAKER_00: Um, David prepared for Solomon, right?
SPEAKER_00: Uh Moses prepared for Joshua.
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh, Paul prepared for uh Timothy.
SPEAKER_00: There's always somebody going ahead and prepare the way for somebody that comes afterwards.
SPEAKER_00: And and and and it's really important, I think, that we show the way, uh, that we go and we show courage.
SPEAKER_00: When I when I took over X Academy, it was uh it was a big thing.
SPEAKER_00: Uh, and I didn't do it to show anything, you know.
SPEAKER_00: I I did it because I felt God spoke about it to my heart.
SPEAKER_00: But I can see the result of it was that the younger guys in my team, they had to pioneer themselves.
SPEAKER_00: Because when I was not as present in the team anymore as it was before, they needed to step up.
SPEAKER_00: And and by me doing what I did, and they saw the risk in it, they were inspired to step up themselves.
SPEAKER_00: So, so when you do something that God has called you to do, you do you need to use faith, right?
SPEAKER_00: It takes faith, let's say, uh, I don't know, do you do you believe in tithing in this church?
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, okay, so let's talk about that.
SPEAKER_00: So it takes faith to give 10% of your income to the church.
SPEAKER_00: So in our church, we don't, you cannot, you can be a member without being a tither.
SPEAKER_00: But we we we speak about the principle of tithing.
SPEAKER_00: But when it comes to my leaders, I say you it's not just a principle, it's a percent.
SPEAKER_00: It's 10% of your gross income.
SPEAKER_00: Why do we why do we say that?
SPEAKER_00: Because it takes faith.
SPEAKER_00: And if leaders don't have faith, how in the world shall we build the church of God on earth?
SPEAKER_00: It cannot happen.
SPEAKER_00: So we need to be courageous, step out, and even with our financial things, step out and say, okay, I commit myself to this church also on this in this place.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, the last thing, my time is out.
SPEAKER_00: And I know Scott is watching me on his watch.
SPEAKER_00: Fathers trust and release without disconnecting.
SPEAKER_00: Without disconnecting, okay.
SPEAKER_00: So they they connect, they take responsibility, they empower and show the way, and then they trust and they release.
SPEAKER_00: But they do it without disconnecting.
SPEAKER_00: And I think that's one of the problems in many generational transformations that takes place in many churches.
SPEAKER_00: It's that, oh, okay, people stay so long because they want to go stay on on some pension that people are so tired of them, but they can't get rid of them that when they finally leave, it's almost like a very abrupt trans transition.
SPEAKER_00: But I don't think any transition should be abrupt.
SPEAKER_00: But it takes it takes humility and wisdom in the fathers, but it also takes wisdom and humility in the sons for transitions to happen in a good way.
SPEAKER_00: Um we uh I I think uh I think healthy fathers understand that the goal is not dependency, that they are dependent on me, that you couldn't live without me.
SPEAKER_00: So so I'm doing my best to make sure that my church could not live without me.
SPEAKER_00: You know, the feeling I get of being wanted and needed is uh a nice feeling.
SPEAKER_00: So so if you are an unhealthy leader, you could definitely strive for that.
SPEAKER_00: It's not that it's wrong to be needed and wanted and have the feeling of, oh, that's good, but it's just you cannot you cannot serve that feeling.
SPEAKER_00: You cannot you cannot serve because you want that feeling and you want that confirmation, because then you're unhealthy.
SPEAKER_00: So fathers are able to see something in their sons and call it forward and release it and believe in it and say, hey, I want you to take the batter now and run with the things.
SPEAKER_00: And and and and and if you are a father and a son, that's usually not a problem, but in church it's usually different.
SPEAKER_00: So in our church in Henning, which has been growing as well, um, and where I I I didn't leave the church, I still live in the town, still the lead pastor, but uh but but but a younger group of people took over.
SPEAKER_00: We have like five of them, I think.
SPEAKER_00: And and and I I feel now in my spirit like I'm 63 years old, okay.
SPEAKER_00: Oh you're oh I thought you were 43.
SPEAKER_00: No, it's my gray hair, sorry.
SPEAKER_00: Uh uh.
SPEAKER_00: I'm 63 years old, so in Denmark you're 67, then you go on uh your you know pension, what do you say?
SPEAKER_00: Pension?
SPEAKER_00: Retirement, yes.
SPEAKER_00: Uh I I don't I I'm not sure I will retire because I still have a lot of energy, so I'm I'm good to go.
SPEAKER_00: But there's something I have to retire from.
SPEAKER_00: Does that make sense?
SPEAKER_00: And not necessarily when I reach the age of 67, but when it's the right timing.
SPEAKER_00: And I have to trust God that He leads me.
SPEAKER_00: I cannot look at my retirement age and say, okay, that's when you get rid of me.
SPEAKER_00: I have to look at from a kingdom of God perspective and say, when would a father let go?
SPEAKER_00: Because if I'm the boss, I'm the leader of people, of a business, then I will stay until 67.
SPEAKER_00: But if I'm a father, I will not.
SPEAKER_00: Because when I see the gift and when I see the next generation are ready to take over, I should actually bring myself and the team into a position where they can take over and I can get another role to play.
SPEAKER_00: Because as a father, I will not disconnect with the sons, but I will have another role, and there will be another one leading.
SPEAKER_00: And I'm in that process at the moment in our church, to be honest, in Henning.
SPEAKER_00: Within the next year, I know that don't tell them.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, this is online?
SPEAKER_00: Is it online?
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay.
SPEAKER_00: I don't I hope they don't see this.
SPEAKER_00: But I know within the next year I have to let go.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Not let go, like, okay, then you can do it.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah.
SPEAKER_00: You think you're so good.
SPEAKER_00: Some of them think they're so good.
SPEAKER_00: Oh, okay, right.
SPEAKER_00: So that's not the way to do, okay, let's see what you can do.
SPEAKER_00: I'm I'm standing here doing nothing.
SPEAKER_00: That's not the fatherly way.
SPEAKER_00: Do you get it?
SPEAKER_00: The father will say, Okay, okay, try it out, try it out.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: But I'm still here.
SPEAKER_00: If you need me, whatever you need, I'm still here and supporting you.
SPEAKER_00: Come on, I believe in you.
SPEAKER_00: You can do this.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, I still got energy.
SPEAKER_00: I still want to help.
SPEAKER_00: But but but letting go of leadership, it takes courage, to be honest.
SPEAKER_00: And and I can be honest with you, can I be honest with you?
SPEAKER_00: I guess I can.
SPEAKER_00: It's the first time we meet, so it has been a bit difficult for me.
SPEAKER_00: Yeah, yeah, because there's something you also lose.
SPEAKER_00: I've been a pastor for 30 years in that church.
SPEAKER_00: There's something you lose, let go of, right?
SPEAKER_00: But I know it's right.
SPEAKER_00: In my heart, I know it's right.
SPEAKER_00: And God spoke to me.
SPEAKER_00: He said, Don't look at it as a leader, look at it as a father.
SPEAKER_00: Even those are not your sons and daughters.
SPEAKER_00: Look at them as though they were.
SPEAKER_00: What would you do?
SPEAKER_00: And it changed the completely the perspective.
SPEAKER_00: Suddenly I understood, of course.
SPEAKER_00: That's how it's supposed to be, right?
SPEAKER_00: So fathers trust and release their children.
SPEAKER_00: And uh I will end with that.
SPEAKER_00: Um so so uh so I so I believe that that that God will stir up fathers, and I will just bring us into a prayer now.
SPEAKER_00: I believe that God is stirring up fathers, men.
SPEAKER_00: Amen.
SPEAKER_00: Because churches need that, and families need that.
SPEAKER_00: I just want to pray now a prayer that that that God will bring fathers and men into an understanding of their calling.
SPEAKER_00: That you're not good because of what you do, you're already loved, right?
SPEAKER_00: And uh and and God has a purpose for your life, and he wants you to step into that purpose.
SPEAKER_00: So, so actually, because it's Father's Day.
SPEAKER_00: I don't know if you do it here.
SPEAKER_00: I actually know you don't do it here because I asked God.
SPEAKER_00: You don't celebrate fathers as such in in the church, right?
SPEAKER_00: No.
SPEAKER_00: So, but I want to celebrate fathers now, okay.
SPEAKER_00: You ready with that?
SPEAKER_00: Where are the fathers in the house?
SPEAKER_00: Lift up your hand.
SPEAKER_00: If that means if you're who are fathers, if you have kids, you're a father, okay.
SPEAKER_00: So that's you.
SPEAKER_00: Raise it high, lift it high.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, right.
SPEAKER_00: These are the fathers.
SPEAKER_00: Keep it there, keep it there, keep it up.
SPEAKER_00: You can keep it up, you're a man.
SPEAKER_00: All right, okay, keep it here.
SPEAKER_00: So, fathers need to be blessed, need to be supported, need to be encouraged.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, they need to hear from their wives.
SPEAKER_00: Hey, I love you, you're great.
SPEAKER_00: I I love being with you and working with you.
SPEAKER_00: I want I want you to take the lead of things.
SPEAKER_00: They need to hear you.
SPEAKER_00: You maybe you think they don't need to hear it, but they do need it.
SPEAKER_00: They need encouragement.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: So today we'll we'll pray for the fathers.
SPEAKER_00: And we'll bless them.
SPEAKER_00: If you're sitting beside be beside a father, maybe you're married to that that man, that's fine.
SPEAKER_00: Put your hand on him.
SPEAKER_00: Maybe you're not, still, you can put your hand on him.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, fathers, wherever you they are in the room, just hold your hands there.
SPEAKER_00: Let somebody beside you.
SPEAKER_00: We need somebody over here to put hands on the fathers.
SPEAKER_00: There's father there, there's a father there.
SPEAKER_00: Okay, you can put your hands on the father.
SPEAKER_00: Come, come on, be active.
SPEAKER_00: Yes, you can do it.
SPEAKER_00: It's not, it's not, it's okay.
SPEAKER_00: It's fine.
SPEAKER_00: Okay.
SPEAKER_00: Does all fathers have a hand on themselves?
SPEAKER_00: You don't.
SPEAKER_00: You you keep it, you you stay in a in a group in a cave over here.
SPEAKER_00: You have a cave, you have a thing going on there.
SPEAKER_00: Great.
SPEAKER_00: All right, Father.
SPEAKER_00: Father, we pray.
SPEAKER_00: I pray today for the fathers in this house.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that you will restore fatherhood.
SPEAKER_00: I pray that you will store the restore connection, emotionally connection, that that things that have been broken down would be restored, and there will come a new peace into the hearts of the fathers and the sons in the name of Jesus.
SPEAKER_00: I thank you, Father, that you will restore what was broken even in homes and families, even in marriages that were somehow split apart.
SPEAKER_00: I pray for healing to take place right now.
SPEAKER_00: And I pray for fathers to step into their spiritual inheritance and calling in their homes and in this church and in the society.
SPEAKER_00: In the name of Jesus, we thank you, Father, for what you're doing.
SPEAKER_00: Now, all men, if you can lift your hand.
SPEAKER_00: All men.
SPEAKER_00: Not male, yes, all males.
SPEAKER_00: Now all females.
SPEAKER_00: If you could see a man and just put your hand on on that person just nicely.
SPEAKER_00: Then, Father, we also pray for the men today.
SPEAKER_00: This is Father's Day in uh in this nation.
SPEAKER_00: But we today I just want to pray for the men.
SPEAKER_00: That you will make a new season of of masculinity and a release of masculinity, not not the masculinity that is pushing himself through and and and and demanding authority and stuff like that.
SPEAKER_00: Not that kind of masculinity, but the masculinity that connects emotionally, the masculinity that that takes responsibility, the masculinity that empowers and and shows the way, the masculinity that that trusts and releases people around him.
SPEAKER_00: That masculinity, I pray today that you release that over this church and over every guy that is lifting his hand right now, every man that is lifting his hand right now.
SPEAKER_00: Father, bless him in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.
SPEAKER_00: And all the people said, Amen.
SPEAKER_00: My time is out.