"Fifty-one percent of all children in America right now are born out of wedlock, 51%," Vallotton, the senior associate leader of Bethel Church in Redding, California, says. "In 1950, 4% of Americans were born out of wedlock."

The results of children growing up without fathers in the home are devastating, Vallotton says, with data revealing that "75% of all inmates grew up without a father," and "63% of all youth suicides come from fatherless homes."

Vallotton also points to a rise in transgenderism and gay marriage as a side effect of fatherlessness, because "when we embrace gay marriage ... what we said is that you can have two mommies and two daddies, because mommies and daddies are interchangeable."

Vallotton joins "The Daily Signal Podcast" to share his own personal story of losing his father as a young boy and how that affected his life, and to offer a hopeful solution for how children can experience the love of a father amid a fatherless generation.

Click Here to listen to the podcast, or to read the lightly edited transcript; below is an excerpt:

Virginia Allen: Arguably the greatest crisis in this generation is that of fatherlessness. It's an issue that honestly affects every single sphere of society. Pastor Kris Vallotton's new book "Uprising: The Epic Battle for the Most Fatherless Generation in History" addresses the crisis of fatherlessness, but also offers some really practical and powerful solutions for how we can overcome these challenges. And Pastor Kris joins us now. Thank you so much for being here today.

Kris Vallotton: Thank you for having me on.

Allen: Well, Pastor Kris, I know that those who are familiar with Bethel Church in Redding, California, some of them have maybe heard your story. But if you wouldn't mind, just take a few minutes to share a little bit about your relationship with your own father, his passing, and how that affected you as a child.

Vallotton: Well, my mother got pregnant with me in 1954 out of wedlock, which, in those days, was connected to tons of shame. And my mother and father eloped. And three years later, my father drowned. So my mother was left with an 18-month-old daughter and a 3-year-old son. (Screengrab image)

And two years later, I'm giving you the quick story, two years later, my mother remarried to a very violent man who—yeah, he was violent. I can give you details, but grew up in a very violent home with an alcoholic. And she was married to him for eight years and then divorced him, and two years later, didn't learn and married another violent man. And so that's our upbringing. I moved out when I was 17.

I had an encounter with the Lord when I was 15. My mother was covered with psoriasis all over her own body. And I wasn't raised to not believe in God, there was just no really religious upbringing whatsoever, spiritual upbringing, I would really say now. When I was 15, I said out loud, "If there's a God, if you heal my mother, I'll find out who You are and serve You the rest of my life." And an audible voice said, "My name is Jesus Christ, and you have what you requested."

And the next morning, my mother woke up completely well from psoriasis. And the voice came back again, said, "My name is Jesus Christ. You said if I healed your mother, you'd serve Me. And I'm waiting." So that started my journey. And when I was 18, I actually found the Lord, and with my girlfriend, now wife, wife of 47 years.

So that's the very quick, three-minute update of my life... Subscribe for free to Breaking Christian News here

Click Here to read the rest of the transcript of this interview with Kris Vallotton.

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