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Finding Freedom as Children of a Perfect Father

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FATHER TO THE FATHERLESS
Today, one in four children grow up in a home without a father (National Fatherhood Initiative). Many are left heartbroken and angry. The idea of a good God or a heavenly Father is hard to understand when the term ‘father’ brings about feelings of abandonment. Louie Giglio explains, “I know the father concept can send us spinning in any number of ways. For some, it’s an immediate hurdle, a barrier one hundred feet high. When you hear that God is a Father you may instantly say, ‘No thank you. I don’t want any of that.’” But the purpose of Louie’s book is to change that. “That’s the big hope of this book—that when I say God, you will think Father. That’s the image that will come to mind. Yes, I want you to think holy. And mighty. And glorious. But, all in the context of Father,” he shares.

Louie examines the six most common types of fathers and the effect they have on their children. For example, the absent father creates a void or hole--leaving you with a loss of protection or sense of security.  The abusive father chips away at your dignity and destroys your self-worth. The passive father is paralyzed--doesn’t take initiative, responsibility, and offers no guidance. Even though he’s there, it’s like he’s not. The performance-based father makes life a grind. If you don’t earn his love by achieving great things, he withholds love, making you feel that you will never be good enough. The antagonistic father is always giving you a run for your money by putting you on the defensive. He’s a hostile presence that points out your flaws. Finally, the empowering father is kind, strong, and encouraging. He’s not perfect, but he always does his best to love his family and has no problem letting you know how much he loves you. Some dads can be hybrids of more than one type and while no dad is perfect, these influences can leave some with a twisted view of what God must be like as a Father. Louie explains, “All of us have different experiences with our dads. But what unites us is the need that’s woven into our souls—the need to be loved, and treasured, and noticed, and accepted by our father. No matter how defiantly we may try to dismiss the craving that’s in our hearts for a father’s blessing, we still need it.”

TWO FAMILY TREES
Regardless of the family tree you were born into, when you accept God the Father and His gift Jesus into your heart, you become born again. Being adopted into the family of God, means becoming part of a new family tree—one where you are no longer forsaken. “His love is like a torrent, relentless and unending, unconditional and pure, gently roaring His blessing over your life… From now on you are called beloved daughter. Beloved son. You will no longer face life from a deficit. You will face life with a sense of adequacy, knowing you have an abundant waterfall above you, the blessing constantly filling you with all you need,” shares Louie.

Louie grew up with a good dad that loved him, but he was a non-practicing Catholic and his mom was a born again Christian. It wasn’t until Louie’s father became very ill that he confessed that he never truly felt loved by anyone, let alone God. This left Louie reeling. “That day I saw my dad in a way Id’ never seen him before. Though my dad was in his sixties, I saw him as a little boy standing in a doorway watching the people he was counting on most vanish from his life. Louie’s grandfather had died when his dad was young, and he was shifted from house to house. Interestingly enough, Louie’s father became a graphic designer and designed the Chick-fil-A logo that remains today.

PASSION CITY CHURCH
Passion City Church began with a stirring in the hearts of Louie and Shelley Giglio for the local church. Born out of the Passion Movement (a decades-old movement among the collegiate generation), they sought to plant a local community of faith impacted and informed by the DNA of Passion. With a small team of people, that vision took flight in 2008, as small gatherings began in homes throughout Atlanta. The desire was to foster a family of believers connected by a common faith, on a mission in the city and in the world to amplify the name of Jesus. The first
gathering was held on February 15, 2009, in Atlanta at The Tabernacle. From there, God faithfully provided various locations all over the city of Atlanta, until their first permanent gathering site at 515 Garson Drive.

Louie and Shelly lead the teams at Passion City Church, sixsteprecords, and the Passion Global Institute. Louie is the Visionary Architect and Director of the Passion Movement, comprised of Passion Conferences, Passion City Church, Passion Publishing and sixstepsrecords, and the founder of Passion Global Institute. Shelley is the Chief Strategist, Director of Label Operations and Artist Management for sixstepsrecords, co-founder of the Passion Movement, and leads The GROVE, a gathering for the girls of Atlanta.

PASSION CONFERENCES
Louie and Shelley together founded Passion Conferences in 1997, uniting college-aged people in events around the globe. In January, Passion 2017 gathered more than 55,000 students in Atlanta’s Georgia Dome in one of the largest collegiate gatherings in history. Some of the speakers included includedChristine Caine, Beth Moore, John Piper, and Levi Lusko. Worship was led by Passion Band, Chris Tomlin, Crowder, Matt Redman, Christy Nockels and Hillsong UNITED. The students participated in an endeavor to "Make History Together" by coming together to sponsor more than 7,000 children through Compassion International, fulfilling all sponsorships in El Salvador, Rwanda, Tanzania and Indonesia as well as hundreds in Bolivia.

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The 700 Club is a live television program that airs each weekday. It is produced before a studio audience at the broadcast facilities of The Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN) in Virginia Beach, Virginia. On the air continuously since 1966, it is one of the longest-running programs in broadcast history. The program is hosted by Pat Robertson, Terry Meeuwsen, and Gordon Robertson, with news anchor John Jessup. The 700 Club is a mix of news and commentary, interviews, feature stories, and Christian ministry. The 700 Club can be seen in 96 percent of the homes in the U.S. and is carried on