Roland Warren - Bad Dads of the Bible: 8 Mistakes Every Good Dad Can Avoid

This book is filled with practical help every dad will appreciate.

Dale OShields, Senior Pastor, Church of the Redeemer, Gaithersburg, MD

Roland is an extraordinary individual who overcame a less than desirable family background to be a dynamic husband and father. His personal life, knowledge of the Scriptures, and leadership at National Fatherhood Initiative have contributed to making Bad Dads of the Bible an extraordinary book!

Matt Bennett, Founder and President of Christian Union

A great read. Roland Warren has thirty years working on Dads. He gives great insight on life with dads and life without dads. You will love the book but be appalled by the problems without dads. Pass the book on. Each of us can be a part of the solutions. Kudos to Roland for this eye-opener.

Red McCombs, Owner, McCombs Enterprises; Co-Founder, Clear Channel Communications; Former Owner San Antonio Spurs, Denver Nuggets, and Minnesota Vikings

As an eyewitness to the poverty and despair of millions in America and around the world, I can say with conviction that a remarkable proportion of the worlds social problems can be traced to a single cause: the dysfunction of men as fathers, husbands, and leaders. Roland Warren has a big idea in this book: help men become better fathers and we can not only change our country, but can also change the world.

Richard Stearns, President of World Vision US and author of Unfinished

Roland Warrens personal and professional experience gives him a unique perspective on the influence fathers wield in their childrens lives whether for good or for bad. His insight into the lives of dads talked about in Scripture makes this book a mustread for anyone who wants to hand down a dynamic, healthy legacy to their children.

Jim Liske, CEO, Prison Fellowship Ministries

There are few men in our nation who are more tuned in to the present demands of fatherhood. Roland serves every dad with his keen insights from Scripture on how to avoid costly mistakes and instead build a godly legacy through rich relationships with our precious children.

Brian Doyle, President, Iron Sharpens Iron

The greatest regrets men experience come from broken family relationships when God-designed streams of living water become tepid swamps. Roland Warren knows how to help dads get out of the swamp, back to where the good water flows clean and pure. Invite Bad Dads of the Bible to help you find the better you!

Wes Yoder, Author of Bond of Brothers: Connecting with Other Men beyond Work, Weather and Sports

ZONDERVAN

Bad Dads of the Bible

Copyright 2013 by Roland C. Warren

ePub Edition December 2013: ISBN 978-0-310-33717-1

Requests for information should be addressed to:

Zondervan, Grand Rapids, Michigan 49530

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Warren, Roland C.

Bad dads of the Bible : 8 lessons every good dad can learn from them / Roland C. Warren. 1st [edition].

pages cm

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN 978-0-310-33716-4 (softcover)

1. Fathers in the Bible. 2. Bible. Old Testament Criticism, interpretation, etc. 3. Fatherhood Religious aspects Christianity. I. Title.

BS579.F3W37 2014

248.8'421 dc23 2013020618

All Scripture quotations, unless otherwise indicated, are taken from The Holy Bible, New International Version, NIV. Copyright 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

Scripture quotations marked KJV are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

Scripture quotations marked MSG are taken from The Message. Copyright by Eugene H. Peterson 1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 2000, 2001, 2002. Used by permission of NavPress Publishing Group.

Scripture quotations marked ESV are taken from The Holy Bible, English Standard Version, copyright 2001 by Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Any Internet addresses (websites, blogs, etc.) and telephone numbers in this book are offered as a resource. They are not intended in any way to be or imply an endorsement by Zondervan, nor does Zondervan vouch for the content of these sites and numbers for the life of this book.

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted in any form or by any means electronic, mechanical, photocopy, recording, or any other except for brief quotations in printed reviews, without the prior permission of the publisher.

Cover design: Tim Green/ Faceout Studio
Interior design: Matthew Van Zomeren

Printed in the United States of America

13 14 15 16 17 18 19 20 /DCI/ 20 19 18 17 16 15 14 13 12 11 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1

To my dearest wife, Yvette,
who gave me the gift of fatherhood,
and to my sons, Jamin and Justin,
who give me more joy than they will ever know.

To my mother, Angie Cohen.
Thank you for being there.

In loving memory of Jeffrey Jay Young
(1961 2012).
A good dad.

CONTENTS

by Jamin Warren

Acknowledgments

10. 6 THINGS A DAD MUST DO TO BE A GOOD FATHER

WHEN MY DAD ASKED ME to write this foreword, I initially demurred. Find someone famous, I told him. You need to sell books, and given your network, Im sure you could tap someone with considerable esteem to write on your behalf. He responded with a chuckle, as he usually does, then said, Theres no one better to write about your father than you. So here we are.

For most of my life I was a churchgoer, and as most people who attend services each Sunday, you tend to hear the same stories over and over again. The exploits of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and David are not new fodder, and scores of theologians and pastors have pored over the texts to find new ways to explain them. There is nothing new under the sun, as they say. So when my father said that he was going to explore the great men of the Bible in their roles as fathers, I was struck by how original the concept was.

There is a tendency to read history of any kind as a litany of great things men and women have done. As a result, we tend to sugarcoat the indiscretions and ultimate failings of even those we hold in great esteem. My father pulls no such punches with Bad Dads of the Bible. What youll find is a complicated and, at times, troubling picture of the great men of the Bible. I believe his intent is not to overshadow what tremendous virtues they might have had, but rather to make them relatable characters whose foibles and shortcomings reflect the nature of man.

Recently, my father floated the idea of congruence to me. In geometry, two shapes are congruent if they are the same size and shape. He used that as an analogy to relay the idea that a mans public and private life should match. So often great men leave their home life behind as they pursue fame and fortune. There is certainly meaning in leaving ones mark on the world, but so often, it is at great personal cost to their families and friends. Moreover, the effects are multigenerational, leaving the residue of pain and disappointment on future men and women.

I am so fortunate to have a father who views the act of fathering as a trade, as something to be learned and developed over time. Reading the draft of Bad Dads of the Bible was so moving, reminding me of all the little things my father did asking about my day, playing video games with me, hugging me for no reason that were part of a larger daddying system. Even more fortunate is that now you, the reader, can learn much to enrich your own life and improve your skill as a father.