What is moving in faith and family.

A question is making the rounds among Christians: when, if ever, is it fine to cancel Sunday worship? Most agree the weekly gathering matters. The disagreement starts with the exceptions. A blizzard? A big football game? A week off for tired church staff? And is an online service really church, or just a way to watch it?

We will not settle every case here, but a man should notice something. Your household is watching how you answer. Your children learn what matters by what gets rescheduled. If a game or a lazy morning wins out, they do not need a lecture to get the message.

Scripture speaks plainly about the pattern. Hebrews 10:24 and 25 in the NKJV says, "And let us consider one another in order to stir up love and good works, not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as is the manner of some, but exhorting one another, and so much the more as you see the Day approaching."

Wisdom matters too. Icy roads, sickness or a family crisis are not the same as convenience. A shepherd who closes the doors for safety is different from a man who drifts away by habit. Ask yourself honestly which one you are. An online service can serve the homebound well, but it cannot put a hand on a brother's shoulder or sit beside a widow.

If you want men who will stir you up to good works and notice when you are missing, find a Launching Pad near you, which is free to attend, through this page.

A question on a popular Bible teaching podcast has drawn plenty of pushback. A young woman wrote in about a man at her church who keeps pursuing her. He insists it is God's will that they marry. She has asked him to leave her alone. John Piper answered the question, and people are now arguing over his answer.

Whatever you think of the reply, the situation should make every man look in the mirror. Saying "God told me" can be a way of ending the conversation. Nobody wants to argue with God, so the man gets to treat her no as an obstacle instead of an answer. That is not faith. That is pressure dressed up in spiritual language.

Scripture describes love plainly. In 1 Corinthians 13:5 (ESV) we read that love "does not insist on its own way." A man who believes God is leading him toward a woman can pray, speak honestly once, and then accept her answer. If God is in it, He does not need a man to wear her down. And if she is not willing, her no is a real no.

This matters for single men, but it matters for husbands and fathers too. We are teaching our sons how to take a refusal, and we are showing our daughters what to expect from a man who claims to follow Christ. If you want to talk straight with other men about how we treat women and how we handle our own desires, come find a Launching Pad, which is free to attend, and bring your questions.

A couple in the Netherlands chose to euthanize their toddler, a child with serious disabilities. Many men read that headline twice, wanting to be sure they had it right.

Start with what we can say honestly. We do not know the weight those parents carried. Caring for a medically fragile child can mean sleepless nights, deep fear and a tiredness that never lifts. A man who has not carried that should speak slowly and without scorn.

But we also have to say plainly that this was wrong. A child's worth does not come from what she can do, how long she will live or how easy she is to care for. It comes from the God who made her. David wrote in Psalm 139:14 (NKJV), "I will praise You, for I am fearfully and wonderfully made; Marvelous are Your works, And that my soul knows very well." That verse carries no exception for the weak or the sick.

For a father, this lands close to home. We are called to protect our households, and that includes the child who costs us the most. Protecting does not mean fixing everything. It means staying, asking for help and refusing to believe that a hard life is a life not worth keeping.

Some men in your church are quietly worn out by a child with great needs. Notice them. If you are that man, or you want to stand beside him, come to a Launching Pad, which is free to attend, and meet other fathers who will carry some of the load with you.

The CEO of a major chicken restaurant chain said recently that the company has never considered opening on Sundays. He said it is just too important to them. In an industry where every extra day of sales counts, that is a costly choice, and it has held for decades.

Most of us will never run a company, but every man runs something. A household, a job, a small business, a crew. The pressure to give the seventh day to more work is real, and it usually sounds reasonable. One more email. One more project. One more shift to get ahead.

Scripture treats rest as both a gift and a command. "Remember the Sabbath day, to keep it holy" (Exodus 20:8, ESV). Jesus said, "The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath" (Mark 2:27, ESV). Rest is not laziness. It is a plain statement that God provides and that we are not the ones holding the world together.

Your children notice what you protect. If your calendar bends around work every week but never around worship, they learn what matters most. If you set apart a day, they learn something else, and your wife gets a husband who is actually present.

Decide this week what your day of rest will protect, then say no to whatever threatens it. If you want other men beside you as you hold that line, a Launching Pad is free to attend and a good place to start.

Andy Stanley has announced that he is transitioning out of his roles as senior pastor of North Point Ministries and lead pastor of North Point Community Church, after thirty one years. We do not know more than that, and we should not guess at the rest. But the news raises a question every man who leads something should ask himself.

Do you know how you will leave?

Most of us think about getting a position. Few of us think about letting one go. Yet whether you lead a church, a business, a small group or a household, a day comes when the seat passes to someone else. A man who grips his role too tightly can leave a mess behind him. A man who prepares others while he still has strength leaves something that lasts.

Paul told Timothy to entrust what he had heard to faithful men who would be able to teach others also (2 Timothy 2:2, ESV). Notice the shape of that. It is a handoff, and it keeps going past the next man.

Fathers, this is your story too. You are not just running a home for a season. You are preparing sons and daughters to carry the faith into homes of their own.

Ask yourself who you are training right now, and what you want to be true of your work when someone else carries it. If you would like to talk that over with other men who are asking the same thing, find a Launching Pad near you, which is free to attend.

A recent Christian article makes a point many fathers need to hear: the Jesus who is seated in heaven is good news for parents.

Scripture says the Son sat down at the right hand of the Majesty on high after he made purification for sins. That is in Hebrews 1:3. A man sits when the work is finished and the throne is already occupied. Jesus put it this way in Matthew 28:18 (NKJV): "All authority has been given to Me in heaven and on earth."

Most fathers carry a quiet fear. We worry that one bad decision, one missed bedtime prayer or one angry word will ruin our kids. So we try to act as their savior, their protector and their guarantee. That load was never ours. We are stewards, not sovereigns.

This does not excuse laziness. A father still leads, teaches, repents and shows up. But he does it from rest, not panic. He can tell his son the truth about his own failures because the king on the throne has not failed. He can pray over a wayward child, knowing the one who rules is also the one who loves that child more than he does.

Your kids do not need a perfect dad. They need a dad who points them to a Lord who reigns. If you want other men to walk that out with you, find a Launching Pad near you through this free gathering for men.