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Hi, I'm Rob West. With Father's Day approaching, we're asking a deeper question. What kind of legacy are we leaving as men, as dads, and as stewards of what God has entrusted to us? Jonathan Lewis from Fathers for Fathers is here to talk about that today. We're talking fatherhood, faith, and financial discipleship that shapes generations.
Then on to your calls at 800-525-7000. This is Faith and Finance, biblical wisdom for your financial journey.
Well, I'm delighted to have my friend Jonathan Lewis with us today. He's president of Eastport Financial Group and the founder of Fathers for Fathers. He's a great friend. Fathers for Fathers is a faith-based organization that restores hope, healing, and purpose in the lives of men, especially fathers. Jonathan, great to have you here.
It's great to be here, Rob. We've been talking about this for a long time. Yeah, I like your studio, man. You know it. I'm glad that you're on the other end of the mic today, and I'm even more excited about our topic, especially with Father's Day just around the corner.
So I want to back up, and why don't we start by just giving you a chance to share a bit about your story and how God used that story to ultimately allow you to launch the ministry? Yeah, I mean, Revelation 12, 11 says it'll know us by the blood of the Lamb and our testimony. And so, you know, 34 years ago, if you told a 15-year-old kid when he dragged his dead dad to a beach in the North Atlantic in Nova Scotia, that God would 34 years later take that story and all the brokenness that ensued in the wake of that and turn it into such a victory story with fathers to fathers, a 15-year-old kid wouldn't have believed you and probably wouldn't have cared because I was so broken up over the loss of my dad and the guilt that I carried onto that beach that day that I had not successfully been able to save him. And there was a lot of wreckage in the wake of those years, Rob. You know, I couch surfed, slept in my car, bounced around, somehow, by the grace of God, did not end up in some kind of an institution other than the Canadian Armed Forces.
That was the institution I ended up in. In and that probably saved me and taught me discipline. And fast forward to today, and all those war wounds and scars have given me a tremendous energy. To go after men and to really dig deep with them, not take a passive victim mindset answer as a brush off. And my wife would say, Jonathan is like a hot knife through butter when it comes to broken men.
And I know it's because the Holy Spirit and just the fact that I love these guys and I can see them for what they are. What does success look like, Jonathan, for dads that are listening today that they want to be successful, but it's more than that. They really want to be a faithful father.
Well, first of all, your story's not done if you're still breathing. And for some guys, they might be questioning whether they even want to do that. I can remember a period of my life where I was so low that the pain was so deep, I thought the only way to stop the pain was to end my life. And so for the guys listening, if you're out there and you're really struggling with, I don't know how to do this, I don't know how to be a dad, I don't even know how to get the energy to want to live my life or go to work, you can do it, but you can't do it alone. That's the hard rub here, guys.
Um, we are wired to want to withdraw and uh and try and do it on our own. 84% of men, Rob, out there would say they don't have one guy to talk to. Did you know that stat? No, that is disturbing. Yeah, um, and so you're not alone, but you need to reach out, you need to try and find guys.
And for the guys that have an element of their footing, and maybe you've grown up in the church, or maybe you have good groups that you're part of, I would encourage you to look for these guys, they're not hard to spot. And don't take the first 12 no's as a brush off. Lean in on them, they want to be pursued, they're just broken.
Well, we're going to continue to unpack this. There's a lot to talk about today. What does that faithful father role look like? What if you're carrying shame and regret? Where do you go from here?
What if you feel like you've missed your chance? And then let's press into the stewardship aspect of it. What does it look like to really? Articulate and model biblical financial stewardship. And that certainly includes financial stewardship, but it goes beyond that into how we model values and priorities and trust in God.
We're talking with Jonathan Lewis today. He's the president of Eastport Financial Group, but he's also the founder of Fathers for Fathers. If you want to learn more, just head to their website, fathersforfathers.org. Again, fathersforfathers.org. We'll be back much more right around the corner as we think about Father's Day coming up on Sunday.
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So glad to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. I'm Rob West. With me today, my friend Jonathan Lewis, he's the founder of Fathers for Fathers, a faith-based organization that restores hope, healing, and purpose in the lives of men, especially fathers. And Jonathan, with Father's Day right around the corner, obviously, this is something on the minds and the hearts of a lot of our listeners. And you mentioned something before the break.
You said many men carry silent shame or regret. As it relates to their role as fathers, how do you encourage dads who feel like they've failed or maybe they've missed their chance?
Well, the funny thing is, is I always remind them that their story's not over. Um You know, in our immersive study we're working on, especially for our American audience, football is. It's always a good analogy. And we basically say to guys, Hey, the day you were born, you were born onto a football field. And you can't get off the field, you can't leave the game, you got to play.
And the question is, is which team are you going to play for? And the terrible rub is you're born playing for the other team, the wrong team. Let's call it the the red and black team. But there's this invitation to come over and play for the winning team. And I think often guys suffer from passivity and victimhood, and we just get caught in our own internal dialogue where we beat ourselves down and we start rehearsing our failures.
And it's amazing how we can spend all our time in our own depreciation room, literally beating ourselves up instead of actually recognizing a lot of God-given strengths that God's given us. And so it's never too late to peel off the jersey and say, I want to play for the other team. It does require contrition, Rob. It requires. Acknowledging that you've made some mistakes and it requires a substitute.
Someone has to be willing to put on that jersey for you. And thankfully, Jesus Christ already said, I already did that. You just got to accept the offer. And so the challenge is to get in the game. And get in the game on the right side of the field.
And often that involves starting small, taking that next step. You talk about restoring purpose and responsibility. What's a small step a father can take today who's hearing you talk and saying, I want that to live more intentionally? All right.
Well, I'm going to pick on the guys that fit my profile.
So I'm a divorced dad. In the US alone, there's 24 million men who are not in their kids' lives.
So, and it is painful. I have talked to Thousands of men who are not actively engaged in their kids' lives. And you know what the common theme is, Rob? They want to be. They don't want to be an absent dad.
Um and they will start telling you all the reasons why. They can't be there, or they've messed up, or there's just no way. And what I can say emphatically, and I have faced this: God will honor you when you honor Him. And the Apostle Paul wrote a letter to Timothy. He said, You're less than a believer who doesn't provide for your own family.
So, for example, there's some hard truths here. If you're a dad who's not in your kids' lives, but you also haven't been supporting their mom, start. Yeah.
Right? Own it. If you are a man who has battled with some sin in your life and you've kept it secret, don't do it anymore. Find a guy who's a mentor, who loves you, and get clear and confess that sin to him. It's hard.
It's hard because here's the problem, and this is why you don't want to do it because then you have to do something after that. And it's called be accountable and change.
So you have to want to. Get in the fight, get in the game. But we can't keep going like this. you know, if you look at the downstream of all the issues that are going on in our society, you could pretty much trace them all back to the pandemic, and I call it a pandemic of fatherlessness. And so, guys, my plea This whole ministry is about encouraging you, not beating you up, but encouraging you to get the gloves on and get in the game.
And if you're out, get back in, right? Brush yourself off. My dad, when I was growing up, he used to say, You're fine, rub some dirt in it, which we all know is a way to stop the bleeding. There's a bit of truth there. You're fine, rub some dirt in it.
But get yourself around guys that are spiritually mature and they'll encourage you. But you got to be willing to be accountable. Yeah.
Boy, that's so good. Let's combine this with your day job. I mentioned at the outset of the program that you are the president of Eastport Financial Group.
So you counsel families entrusted with much to hold it loosely and to see that as a part of their role as a steward of God's resources, to give it generously, to invest it strategically. Combine that with this role of being intentional as a dad. What does that look like to really model financial stewardship in your legacy? Yeah, I mean, to me, stewardship is all one in the same.
So whether you're being generous. With money and not generous with love or generous with your spirit, generous with your time, then you're missing the point. And so, you know, people always hear me talk about Ephesians 5:26. Paul's imploring men and women to be mutually submitted to each other. And You know, he says to the men, love your wives as Christ loved the church, being prepared to present her on the day of judgment.
And guys will always say, Oh, yeah, well, no, I love my wife. And if there was a proverbial bullet, I would take it forward. It's like, no, that's not what he's talking about, though. Jesus died for the church. He wants you to die to your flesh.
So if you really want to be a man of God who's going to steward everything he's entrusted you with, well, it starts with your wife first. Right. Or the mother of your children. But one way or the other, you gotta steward that. And the way you steward is dying to your flesh.
I talked to a bunch of guys in a men's retreat last weekend about the appreciation room and the depreciation room of our wives. Board up the depreciation room, write the list down, light it on fire, and you should only be spending time in the appreciation room for that woman. And then from there, the stewardship trickles down. You know, make sure you're managing your finances well for your family. Make sure you're living up to the expectations.
Go to work, right? Paul said work is good. I had to say it, but the Apostle Paul said, if you don't work, you don't eat. I actually agree with that.
So it's about stepping up and stewarding everything God's entrusted us with. That's so good. I'd love for you, we're about out of time here today, but I'd love for you to pray for the dads that are listening right now on the radio.
Some of them are discouraged.
Some feel like they have failed. Others feel like they're getting it done, but there's more. And I'd love for you just to pray a blessing over them as we prepare for Father's Day this weekend. Thanks, man. Heavenly Father.
There's always some guy out there that this is meant for. He probably doesn't, maybe he doesn't listen to this channel and he's just tuned into it or whatever. And here he finds himself with some crazy guy from northeastern Canada praying for him right now. And Lord, I just pray that your Holy Spirit, through me, would touch his heart. I pray that you would challenge him in what you would like to see him do, how he would step up.
Only he knows that right now, Lord, whether it's in the area of fatherhood or his finances or. I don't know, Lord. He could be having wandering eyes, and you're convicting him right now. I pray that he would really cry out to you, and I know you'll meet him. You say that.
I pray Romans 8 over the men listening to this. At the very end of that chapter, Paul says, What can separate us from you, Lord? And he goes on to say, Nothing. Nothing can separate us. And so, Lord, draw these men in.
Let them know that even their sin. Does not separate them from your love. And I pray that they would just bring that in, and they would recognize that Jesus Christ was sent by you on the greatest rescue mission of all time. And what's scandalous, Lord, is you would have sent Jesus if it was just one guy. Amen.
Amen. Jonathan, grateful for you. Happy Father's Day, my friend. Thank you. That's Jonathan Lewis.
He's with Fathers for Fathers. If you want to learn more, head to their website, fathersforfathers.org. Again, that's fathersforfers.org. A lot of resources there that you can take advantage of. I hope you'll heed that counsel and be encouraged today as we prepare for Father's Day just a couple of days down the road.
A quick break, get back with your questions after this: 800-525-7000. I'm Rob West, and this is Faith and Finance. We'll be right back. If budgeting feels like a second job, the new Faith Phi Pro was built just for you. It learns your spending patterns, categorizes your transactions, and helps you build a budget based on your real life.
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Soundmindinvesting.org. Great to have you with us today on Faith and Finance. Let's dive into your questions today. We've got some lines open: 800-525-7000. You can call right now.
Let's go to Texas. Adam, you'll be our first caller. Go ahead. I was just wondering, I just paid off a credit card and I'm going to pay off another one by the end of the year. I was just wondering, should I stop using these cards altogether?
Or should I make a minimum purchase every month, or what should I do with that? Yeah, it's a good question. How many do you have that are active and open, even if they have a zero balance? Four.
Okay. Yeah.
I mean, so you may want to look at closing one of those and then maybe six months from now, close another. You know, generally speaking, I would say you don't need more than two. You know, if you have a business card separate from your personal and the name of your business, maybe that's your third. But I think, you know, closing those accounts over time that are unused. Especially if they have a monthly or an annual fee.
But just because that's one more account you've got to keep up with, even with a zero balance, it could be compromised. And so you still need to be reviewing it regularly. But in terms of your credit score, I love that you're debt-free. I would say, you know, having a regular charge that's a budgeted item hit that account every month, and then you pay it off is a good thing because that's going to continue to be reported to your credit file in two ways. Number one is it's going to show a low what they call credit utilization.
So let's say your balance, your limit is $10,000 and you've got a $29 charge that you, it's a budgeted item, you're planning on it. It hits that account every month. Obviously, it's just a fraction of a percent of even the total available to you. That's a good thing, but it's also going to show you as an on-time payer. Every month.
That's a good thing as well. And so I would say, you know, go ahead and close one now, perhaps close another one six months from now, and then pick one of them and then just set up an auto-recurring charge that you pay every month in full, and that's going to be a good thing for your credit file. Does that make sense? Yes, sir, it does. Thank you very much.
All right, Adam. Thanks for your call today. God bless you. Let's go to Alabama. Richard, how can I help you, sir?
Uh, yes. Uh, I used to be in the real estate business. And uh back in twenty ten I actually got out the business. I was going through my garage and doing a clean out, and I came across a cashier check for about eight thousand dollars written on the bank. And I'm wondering How do I know whether they will honor that up to get it honored?
I think it came from Esprill account because I was in the real estate business. Yeah, yeah. Yeah, the good news is the money may still exist somewhere if it was never claimed. You know, what often happens after a check like this, which is treated as stale after usually 180 days, although certified checks are a little different because the funds were guaranteed by the bank at issuance, often they will go into or classified as unclaimed funds and then get turned over to the state. through the unclaimed property process.
So I think perhaps the next step is to, first of all, contact the issuing bank. Is this a big bank or even a regional that's still in existence? Yeah.
It's BBNT. Yeah, oh, absolutely. All right.
So, yeah, I'd contact the issuing bank, tell them you've got a stale check from 2009, but it was a cashier's check or certified check or money order, and just see what the status is. If not, available directly through them, you could ask whether the funds were what's called escheated to the bank. And then you would search your state's unclaimed property website, you know, in wherever the state where the bank or the transaction occurred. And, you know, it's unlikely that it would be able to be deposited normally today, but the underlying funds may be recoverable either by contact the issuing bank or by seeing if you can locate this through the state's unclaimed property website. And if you could, if you find it in the database and you can obviously prove your identity, then.
then you could be able to get access to those funds.
Okay, so all I need to do is maybe reach out to BBN T first. And then from there uh move forward. It's a certified check, it's got their stamp. and signature and everything on it. Yep.
Yep. That would be the first step: to contact them and find out what their steps are, given that this isn't just a normal check that was written out, but this was in fact a cashier's check, which is where the funds are guaranteed by the bank.
Now, obviously, you're well beyond that period where it has gone stale.
So, the question is: what is their process for that? You may find that they've turned it over to the state. You may find that you can still get it through them. They would have to let you know that.
Okay. Okay. All right.
Thank you, man. All right.
God bless you, Richard. Thanks for being on the program today. Lord bless you.
Well, folks, we're getting toward the end of our program today. A couple of thoughts. You know, as we study here at Faith Phi, and I've certainly done this for a couple of decades now, studying the scriptures about money and possessions, you know, you like me may be, when you take a look at this, astonished by how much is in God's word on this topic. You know, Jesus returns to the topic of money repeatedly. And it begs the question: why does God give so much instruction on money and possessions?
You know, considering everything else he could have told us that we really need to know, why did the Savior of the world spend 15% of his recorded words on this one subject? And I think what you will find is that God speaks so often about money because he loves us so deeply. And because he understands something we often forget, and that is that money. is never merely money. It reveals our priorities.
It exposes our loyalties. It opens doors to worship and generosity and compassion and faith. And how we handle our possessions says much about what we believe regarding God Himself. It's ultimately a message not about guilt, but about freedom. You see, Jesus never calls us away from greed simply to leave us empty-handed.
He tells us to relinquish lesser treasures.
So we can discover greater ones. He invites us into the liberating joy of living for what lasts. Forever. You know, the world will tell you that life consists in accumulation. Jesus tells us that life consists in knowing God.
The world says happiness is found in our endless purchases. Jesus, on the other hand, says happiness is found in what he has already purchased for us. Folks, when we live our lives centered on God and his love, on his grace, on his holiness, on his truth, on his joy, we discover a richness that no amount of money could ever buy. I hope you think about that today throughout your day and find encouragement in making God your ultimate treasure. Hey, what a privilege it is to come alongside you each day to encourage you in this pursuit of knowing God more fully and managing his money as a steward of his resources.
Big thanks to my team today. Sandy, Taylor, Jim, Devin, and everybody here at FaithFy. We'll see you next time. Bye-bye. Faith and Finance is provided by Faith Buy and listeners like you.
