Congratulations to all our Fathers this morning. Believe it or not, God thinks Fathers are important. God will never allow a test tube to replace Father’s. Father’s are absolutely essential in God’s overall plan of providing an inheritance for His Son. We are in a Cultural War men, one which relegates the Father to the role of bumbling idiot. God sees each one of us a Fighters, Infantry Soldiers in the Battle for the Inheritance for His Son, Jesus Christ. "Wish You Were Here" Kendall Phelps will never forget the morning two years ago when a picture popped up on his computer in his Silver Lake, Kansas, high school classroom. There stood Chris, his oldest son, in desert camouflage in front of a bombed-out building in Baghdad. He was holding a sign written on the back of a discarded MRE carton: "DAD, WISH YOU WERE HERE. SEMPER FI!" Kendall, a retired Marine, rushed across the street to the elementary school where his wife, Sherma, teaches fourth grade. She had already received the same photo via e-mail and, in a spasm of giddy relief, was printing out copies to post at the church and all over town. Chris had not been heard from since just after the start of Operation Iraqi Freedom a month earlier. Kendall's elation that his son was all right momentarily erased his disappointment over not being in Baghdad himself. "Kendall is a Marine and a dad," explains Sherma. "He could not stand it that he was not over there with Chris, fighting side by side, protecting his son." This past winter, against all odds, Master Gunnery Sgt. Kendall Phelps, 58, and Maj. Christopher Phelps, 35, deployed to Iraq together for a seven-month tour in the newly formed 5th Civil Affairs Group based in Fallujah. Ever since the five Sullivan brothers from Waterloo, Iowa, tragically died when their cruiser was sunk in World War II, the U.S. military has been reluctant to deploy immediate family members in the same company. No one can remember a Marine father and son serving together. The mission of the 5th Civil Affairs Group is to facilitate the reconstruction of Al Anbar province, an area riddled with suicide bombers and insurgents. Chris, a team leader, is working with the Iraqi police, firefighters and contractors on rebuilding the infrastructure. His dad will use his 30 years of teaching experience to help establish new schools. They both know it won't be easy. "It will be hot and nerve-racking and people are going to die," says Chris. "My buddies say civil affairs is the most dangerous job in the Marine Corps right now. But I also think it's going to be gratifying to get that grid system up and water pumping." "When I asked him why," says Chris, "he said, 'I want to make a difference. I'm a Marine.' For me, there were no more questions. I understood. As a Marine, you feel your time is never over." Christian Fathers, God Needs You to Make a Difference. Only This Difference will impact ETERNITY: An Army brat was boasting about his father to a Marine brat. "My dad is an engineer. He can do everything. Do you know the Alps?" "Yes," said the Marine brat. "My dad has built them." Then the Marine kid spoke: "And do you know the Dead Sea?" "Yes." "My dad killed it!" The Fathers of Israel were Fighters. They were fighting to take possession of a land they could call their own. After centuries of wandering, being enslaved, they wanted to provide their families with a permanent home, a place they could settle down and start spreading roots. Their Fathers Witnessed Mighty Miracles Their fathers before them had witnessed a mighty miracle in the parting of the red sea and the destruction of Pharoah’s army. They had witnessed the victory over the Amalekites. They had seen God miraculously provide manna from heaven, water from a rock. Yet their fathers failed to give their hearts and minds to the awesom God who worked these mighty acts. In fact their fathers all perished in the wilderness, as God told them they would. Now the sons were fathers, and these fathers too were witnessing mighty acts of the awesome God known as Jehovah. They witnessed the mighty miracle of the parting of the Jordan River. They witnessed the walls of a mighty city fall down with just the blowing of Rams horns and shouting of God’s people. They shared in the foolish defeat at Ai, and then the mighty victory over both Ai and Bethel. JOSHUA HAS NOW LED THESE FIGHTING FATHERS TO THE VALLEY OF DECISION BY NOW THE MESSAGE WAS RINGING LOUD AND CLEAR IN THEIR HEARTS AND MINDS. THEY MUST MAKE A DECISION, A DECISION THAT WAS TO MARK THE REST OF THEIR LIVES, A DECISION THAT WAS TO MARK THE LIVES OF THEIR CHILDREN AND GRANDCHILDREN. THEIR FATHER’S FAILED TO HAVE A HEART BELIEF IN THE TRUE GOD When it came time for their fathers to make such a decision, here is what they said:  Exodus 24:3 (NASB) Then Moses came and recounted to the people all the words of the Lord and all the ordinances; and all the people answered with one voice and said, "All the words which the