he nineteenth chapter of Acts recounts the healing power Paul used to help spread the gospel. It also tells the story of how seven sons of the High Priest tried to use the name of Jesus for their own personal gain. The evil spirit within the man they were trying to heal rejected their trickery and nearly killed them. The community responded by burning their books of magic and repenting of their sins in this area and others.

During worship services last Sunday, we used this example to look at the role fathers play in passing on the core values in families that are used to guide us through life. The sons of the High Priest must have missed something in the training from their father. They chose to be deceitful rather that honest. They chose human praise or fame over integrity. They chose not to submit to Christ, but rather to profit from using Him. The list goes on and on. Something went wrong somewhere. These good sons of the priest were proving to be scoundrels not fit to follow in their father's footsteps.

This picturesque example of "getting it all wrong" is a reminder to fathers and all Christian men that we need to watch what we are really saying with our life's example. Are we following Christ's command to "love God with all our heart, soul, and mind"? Or do we have another agenda somewhere below the radar? We have to require a clear standard of submission to God's will in every part of our being and then project that purity and clarity through all that we do. Sons and daughters are watching.