Last year I took my two oldest daughters, Emily and Sophia, to the Father Daughter Retreat at Calloway Gardens and enjoyed it so much that we decided to take the next two daughters Savannah and Olivia this year. Each year we have come away with a bigger vision of what it means to disciple a daughter and shepherd her into noble womanhood.
Doug Phillips spoke on The Book Every Father Needs to Write & Every Daughter Needs to Read. He included ideas for twenty chapters such as:
The Providential Story of Your Life
The Most Important Thing I Can Teach You
The Most Important Women I Know
Our Duties Toward Each Other
Becoming a Woman of Honor
The Role of Prayer in Your Life
I was challenged by the clear call to begin writing my book and possibly posting the chapters on this website as articles.
Geoff Botkins and his daughters, Anna Sophia and Elizabeth, gave very articulate and in depth messages on the value of discipling daughters and recovering Christian Civilization. He outlined five of the biggest battles of our generation:
False teaching concerning the Kingdom of God and the Gospel of Jesus Christ
Male weakness and the retreat from duty
Female weakness and the desperate desire for leadership
Confused understanding about masculinity and femininity
Disobedient and fragmented families
Geoff also shared the concepts of building a multi-generational estate and what a 200 year family vision looks like. Doug and Geoff’s two messages alone are worth the price of what I hope will eventually be a whole package of CD’s from this retreat.
You can contact Anna Sophia and Elizabeth at damsels@visionarydaughters.com
One father brough eight of his daughters with him.
Many daughters commented on how they were able to turn their hearts toward their fathers because of the time their fathers willingly took to be with them. One daugther commented, “Just knowing my father wanted to be with me has done a lot for my heart.”
We had time to explore Calloway Gardens with our daughters on Saturday afternoon.
Daughters learned to trust the voice of their father as they were led through an obstacle course.
Fathers and daughters teamed up in three-legged races to learn how to work together.
We enjoyed a Saturday afternoon tea party.
Portraits were taken to remember this special occasion.
Developing our home into a ministry center has been one of the major priorities of Anne and I from the time we were first married. The credentials of a leader in the house of God mentioned in 1 Timothy include hospitality, “A bishop then must be blameless, the husband of one wife, vigilant, sober, of good behaviour, given to hospitality, apt to teach…” This has been our family ministry and it is a compelling vision that helps us put all of our chores in proper perspective. This past week we enjoyed a Friday evening Seder dinner with four families to remember the Passover of both testaments.
The children learned what was different about this night from all other nights. We had the children ask the customary questions of Passover night and each father took turns explaining why this night was different. We were able to share testimonies of God’s deliverance in our own lives, and how God has been showing Himself strong in our families. We were able to do these things in remembrance of all God has done.
At one point in the evening we read Psalms of praise aloud and had the children shout with joy unto the Lord, as we would express our thanksgiving unto the Lord for our deliverance from the Kingdom of darkness into the Kingdom of the Son of His love. I would read a Psalm with dramatic expression and the children would follow along with even greater fervor. We noticed that even the littlest of children joined in with great enthusiasm.
Friday Evening Couples Discipleship
After dinner the older children cleaned up and the adults went into the upper room which is above our garage for Friday evening Couples Discipleship. We have been studying how to be in one accord by being of one spirit, one soul, one mind, and of one strength. When we are in one accord God demonstrates His great power. (See Acts) When brethren dwell together in unity God commands a blessing. (See Psalm 133) This is a wonderful group of couples who have chosen to be authentic and accountable to one another.
Staying in constant discipleship has allowed for Anne and I to continue to grow in wisdom, understanding and knowledge. Whenever we see an area we need to grow in we find a group of likeminded people who have the same desire to grow. We begin meeting for a time until we establish beliefs, attitudes and habits in our own life and then learn how to help others do the same.
Discipleship meets seven basic needs of the soul.
The need to know God
The need to be special to others
The need to share your heart
The need to be understood
The need to do something great
The need to achieve things that last
The need to receive recognition
Noble Family Fellowship
Noble Family Fellowship meets at a different house each week for the purpose of training other families to develop their homes into ministry centers. This Sunday we met in our home for a time of teaching in the Word, fellowship, breaking of bread, and prayers. Each father is becoming a responsible brother, coming prepared to share a word, song, or exhortation. Our goal is to keep the main thing the main thing. What is the main thing, to keep our eyes on Jesus in whom all things are being summed up. (See Ephesians 1).
Jesus gave us a mission to love God and then to love one another and then he proceeded to explain through 49 or more commands how to love. When we stay focused on the vital few things Jesus commanded us we experience authentic community and unity. Being in one accord by learning to be like-minded in the vital few things Jesus commanded will result in the same power of the first century church. We need to be on guard against letting the trivial many outweigh the vital few. We can strain at the nat while swallowing the camel.
Be exhorted, comforted, and charged in your Christian walk and as a family. Attend an Advanced Training Institute regional conference and develop the skillful art of wise living as a person, partner, parent, provider and proclaimer.
The late Dr. Shadrack Meshach Lockridge (March 7, 1913 - April 4, 2000) presented an incredible message describing our God and Who He is. Although God can't be described with just words, this is an inspiring message that makes us rejoice in our King. This will be one of the most exciting six minute messages you will ever hear.
Idaho Character Foundation Hosts Marriage Conference
Dan and Kathryn Pinkerton along with the Idaho Character Foundation sponsored a Noble Partners Marriage Conference in Post Falls, Idaho after attending one in Dallas last fall. They invited many of their friends and employees but also opened it up to couples in the Northwest. I quickly became aware of the fact that there were many couples who were considering separation or divorce and this was a last ditch effort to rescue their marriage. Some of the couples gave a testimony at the end saying, “I had no hope coming into this conference but I am leaving with enough hope to make the changes necessary to develop a noble marriage.” There were other couples who needed a breakthrough to get them to the next level of oneness in their marriage.
Breaking through into Intimacy
One couple who needed a breakthrough was Phil and Sherri Janzen. This was the first marriage conference they had attended in their twenty-two years of marriage. Sherri had been praying for just such an opportunity but Phil was preparing for the spring farm season. When it rained for three days he began to think that maybe God was trying to get his attention, and he figured he might be able to collect some money from a customer who lived close by. They drove seven hours to attend and Phil became a little restless sitting inside when he is used to the many activities of farm life.
Standing on the Rock
Phil decided to take a run during one of the breaks and found a trail that led him down into a flowing stream, a place where he could contemplate his life, his marriage and hear from God. He spotted a tree standing on the rock ledge and saw how it’s roots had traveled along the rock face to find soil into which it could find nutrients. He felt God telling him, “Stand upon the rock and drive your roots deep into My Word.” He had been experiencing a lot of frustration and anger with his business, his children and his marriage was in a desperate need of revival.
Sherri and Phil had fallen into the combat cycle of criticism, despising, defending, and withdraw. I had shown a power point, which explained the combat cycle and Phil could plainly see where his marriage was and where it was headed. God began to break through years of hardness as Phil became more and more willing to walk in the light with God, to become transparent and honest, authentic and sincere.
Confession leads to Communion and Union
Phil came back to the conference and kept to himself until I exhorted an engaged couple to maintain their purity by drawing on the power of the Holy Spirit to keep them separate during their courtship so they would then know how to draw on His power to keep them united in marriage. I mentioned that many couples allow lust to bring them together during courtship and dating and drive them apart during marriage.
After exhorting this couple Phil jumped up out of his seat and confessed that it would have been his desire to start off his marriage in this same way.
Phil continued to share what God was doing in his life that afternoon and Sherri joined him as they confessed their need for a fresh start from God. The couples prayed for Sherri and Phil and Anne sang a blessing over them.
A Fresh Start
The next morning when we had breakfast and took a walk with Sherri and Phil to see the site where he had met with God in solitude, Sherri said that they had been up late talking, repenting and preparing for a fresh start. She was so overwhelmed with emotion because all she had prayed for and all that she could not even imagine or think was beginning to happen.
Transformation of a Noble Partner
She was watching her husband transform from a normal man who comes, sees, conquers and retreats into a noble man who comes, calls, clothes and connects. Sherri watched Isaiah 66:2 come to pass in her husband’s life that night, he became broken and contrite and trembled at God’s Word. Just as God regards and draws close to such a man so do their wives and children.
I received a couple of e-mails from Sherri and Phil when I got home from this trip. Here is what Sherri wrote:
Experiencing Oneness Like Never Before
My husband and I have found a complete spiritual breakthrough and are experiencing a oneness that we have never experienced in our 22 years of marriage. We have been in ATI since 1994 and my husband is the head of our Family Support Network group that meets in Salem, OR, yet was resisting the grace of God in his life to overcome the attacks of Satan. Now, he understands his identity in Christ in such a real and meaningful way. We experienced such a time of cleansing and forgiveness on Saturday. God’s goodness is now overwhelming our whole family and me. We had the opportunity to have breakfast Sunday with Chris and Anne and went on a walk with them through the woods and God spoke so clearly to us through them and the testimony of their lives. It was wonderful to have those 2 hours with them before they had to leave. My husband and I had all day Sunday to drive home and spent so much of the time reading the Word and praying and confessing and asking God for more revelation and strength. Then this morning he called of the children together for a time of confessing a praying and the children forgiving him and us for not having the marriage that God wants for us. We have a new energy and excitement that I haven’t experienced for a long time. We praise God for his goodness and how his truth and mercy can conquer sin and evil and we can be victorious!
Making Progress 2 Weeks After the Conference
Chris,
Thank you so much for the impact that you and Anne have had on our lives. Almost 2 weeks, and we’re still doing great! We’ve had many opportunities to continue growing in Christ and growing in our oneness with each other. We have been doing spiritual warfare and it’s sometimes hard, but the victory and hope we feel is definitely worth it! God has sent other couples into our path already to minister to and Phil has had the opportunity to talk to each of the children and is making a lot of progress in relationships there as well. Thank you so much for caring about us. Your willingness to share your lives and what you have learned has been a great blessing in our lives.
God bless you,
Sherri Janzen
To find out more about a Noble Partners Marriage Conference Click Here
Posted by Chris Hogan on Apr 25, 2007
Posted by Administrator on Wednesday, February 28, 2007 at 12:08 PM
Last year I took my two oldest daughters, Emily and Sophia, to the Father Daughter Retreat at Calloway Gardens and enjoyed it so much that we decided to take the next two daughters Savannah and Olivia this year. Each year we have come away with a bigger vision of what it means to disciple a daughter and shepherd her into noble womanhood.
Doug Phillips spoke on The Book Every Father Needs to Write & Every Daughter Needs to Read. He included ideas for twenty chapters such as:
Geoff Botkins and his daughters, Anna Sophia and Elizabeth, gave very articulate and in depth messages on the value of discipling daughters and recovering Christian Civilization. He outlined five of the biggest battles of our generation:
We had time to explore Calloway Gardens with our daughters on Saturday afternoon.
Daughters learned to trust the voice of their father as they were led through an obstacle course.
Fathers and daughters teamed up in three-legged races to learn how to work together.
We enjoyed a Saturday afternoon tea party.
Learn five ways to turn your home into a ministry center.
To read more about The Seven Basic Needs You can read 
