Here's a men's group in Richmond, VA with lots of info and resources:
Through a variety of ministry and service experiences men will be challenged to measure their manhood against a biblical model rather than contemporary culture. Consequently, these men will become spiritually alive in Christ, investing significantly in their personal spiritual growth as well as the spiritual growth of their wives and children.
Always great to find another blog with the same heart to encourage men in their Christian walk.
Here's a great blog I just found out about that does just that. Check it out:
I'm getting ready for the new year by checking out events that I may want to go to during the course of the year...and attending a men's conference is definitely on the list.
It's been awhile since I've been to a Christian men's "stadium event" (I attended a Promise Keeper conference back in 1998), but I have great memories of doing so.
I have a neighbor who recently became a Christian and I would love to help him jump start his growth in the area of leading his family. Nothing else can do that quite like being in a large venue with hundreds of other guys who are all trying to be better men!
It looks like this organization has a great line up and plenty of dates in 2011:
So you're going to be home from work for a few days with no obligations other than spending time with the wife and kids. Great!
After the glow of the new presents wears off, you might need some ideas on some activities to do with the kids. That's where this great resource comes in handy:
As a dad, you have a lot on your plate right now, and I know that there is probably so much going on in your life that it’s hard to think straight. That’s why I have condensed the most important information you really need at your fingertips, and put it all on to one site, so that you can make the most of the special time you spend with your kids.
December marks the end of a year-long marriage mentoring relationship my wife and I entered into with a couple from church. We started out under the auspices of marriage enhancement and quickly realized we were bordering on marriage crisis.
We are so glad we took the time to let an older (more experienced) couple mentor us in this way...I can truly say it has made a difference.
Along those lines, here is a great website from Marriage Missions International dedicated to "revealing the heart of Christ within marriage". They have a ton of good articles on many different aspects of marriage.
Of particular interest to me is this short how-to on creating a mission statement for your marriage and family:
The Mission Of Your Marriage And Family
I've mentioned before that manhood rites-of-passage concepts are not the exclusive domain of Christian fathers. Here's a manhood blog & website that appears not to be Christian in nature, but often has interesting insights and links to other info.
Of particular interest to me is the page that lists "guy films"...films the author has found contain themes that tie in well with manhood discussions.
These films can be great discussion starters for groups of men, and for a group of men and adolescent males. The debrief can always add some depth to a film for young guys, and you’ll be surprised where a discussion can lead a group. While the film will suggest the best questions, sample debrief questions might include:
- What scenes in the move were the most memorable for you? How did those scenes make you feel? Why?
- What was the most exciting part of the film?
- Who was your favorite character and why?
- What did the film teach you about being a man? Do you think men are like that in real life?
With three boys in the house, it is always a struggle to keep my daughter from "falling through the cracks". I'll be honest...it's just easier to deal with boys.
Going through an old box of books the other day I found this book again. My daughter is a teen, so it's been a few years since I read it. But if I remember correctly, it is a good book.
Check it out:
Well over a year ago I posted a link to the blog pre-cursor of this resource.
Now it looks to be a full-on ministry with really great content. Of particular interest to me is the "Create a Crest" feature.
Check it out at:
I briefly browsed this website and it struck me as rather clinical and academic...but I can't argue with the content:
Fatherwork provides stories, ideas, and activities to encourage generative fathering. Harold B. Lee stated that "The most important...work you and I will ever do will be within the walls of our own homes."
Just found out about this ministry/blog. I'm totally on the same page with the great things they are doing to help men in their daily fight....
Cool thing is, they're in my "back yard"! Turns out we have lots of shared connection points.
Check them out at:
Here's a website providing engraved plaques and similar items. From a recent post on Familymanweb.com forums:
[Raising a Modern Day Knight] helped me to see the importance of raising Godly young men for the Lord as well showing me their examples of what they did for their sons so that they would remember and never forget. This token of rememberence is vital and anything you can present to him will be forever engraved with him (pun intended). This weighs heavy on my heart as I would have loved something similar from my dad. The other men I included in this ceremony for my son were just as blessed as we were also.
Some of you know that my family and I run a Christian Engraving Business. With that being said, I have some solid Marble 8x10 plaques I could engrave for you to present to your son (if interested).
There are several things I don't like about the website I'm about to share:
Throw another book on the "need to read" list:
Children have plenty of buddies. In an age when kids all around us are growing up without strong, positive guidance from their parents (who are busy, distracted, gone, or choose to be buddies instead of parents) children need someone they can look to with respect to help them build their lives.When he was thirteen years old, Truett Cathy, founder of Chick-fil-A, had such a man step into his life: a Sunday school teacher who modeled love, respect, hard work, and discipline. Cathy decided to follow that model, and today he has some 130 foster grandchildren, many of whom have broken their family’s generational cycle of neglect through the encouragement of Cathy and other adults who reached out to them.
In It’s Better to Build Boys Than Mend Men, Truett Cathy lays out a simple model for adults desiring to reach out to youth and challenges readers to allow God to work through them to change the life of a child. His book is filled with stories illustrating the principles of discipline, trust, reputation, generosity, common sense, peer pressure, and family stability.
Readers who follow their hearts into children’s lives will find that their own lives are enriched as well.
Christian men don't have the exclusive desire to be better husbands & fathers. There are quite a few non-Christian organizations devoted to mentoring and helping men to be "better men".
While I believe that apart from a relationship with Jesus Christ it is impossible to become the men we were designed to be, I can't just sweep these secular organizations under the rug...they truly have some good insight and have many of the same goals.
Ultimately while their mission might be the same (initiating men into manhood, mentoring, building community, etc), the primary belief they base their programs on is that men are fundamentally "good" and just need the support of other men to become "better".
Christians on the other hand believe we are fundamentally "bad" (ie, sinners) and that only by the saving grace of God can we become "new", and through a relationship with Him, he helps us to operate as men in this "newness".
Check out this website to see this topic from a non-Christian perspective:
Here's a cool ministry that is attempting to minister to both boys & girls, men & women. It looks like they offer both training and retreat-style camps.
I really like the "axioms" from their mission statement:
The Men Of Honor AxiomsI am a winner... I am a man of honor;
I do the right thing... because it's the right thing to do; My word is my bond.
C.H.I.P.
Character, Honesty, Integrity, Perseverance.
If there is no man... I will be the man;
Manhood and Christ-likeness are synonymous;
Being a male is a matter of birth;
Being a man is a matter of choice;
There is no greatness outside of God;
1, 2, 3... YES!The Ladies Of Honor AxiomsI am a leader... I am a Lady of Honor
My attitude... Is my choice
I do the right thing... Because it is the right thing to do
I learn to listen... Because I listen to learn
A good leader... Is a good follower
To be a Godly leader... I must follow Christ
L.I.G.H.T.
Loyalty, Integrity, Generosity, Honesty, Trustworthiness
I am not ordinary... I am extraordinary
My inner beauty... Is the jewel that shines within me
Ladies of Honor... Shine
1,2,3... YES!
Here's another aptly named Colorado-based company offering father/son adventures based around the theme of discovering Biblical manhood:
In summary, our passion is to fuel the heart-to-heart relationship between a young man and a guide, preferably his father, in order to help him successfully traverse the formative adolescent years and follow Jesus into the later stages of life.I really like the compass metaphor they use:
Our conferences and resources are designed to be a catalyst to serve the churches with the necessary ‘scaffolding’ to have their own ongoing, biblically based rite of passage initiative. Consequently, we foresee a day when a church can confidently send a young man to college or into the marketplace knowing his unique design as a man, what it takes to follow Christ, and have within him the beginning skills to navigate his faith within the culture.
This looks to be a great site for Christian guys to get authentic:
BattleZONE combines basic Christian spiritual training with a cyclical discipleship strategy designed to build and reproduce strong, effective disciples of Jesus Christ. BattleZONE Ministries helps churches develop male leadership.
Most men learn best by seeing and doing, by being mentored and coached. BattleZONE is designed to create a culture of open learning where men like you can bring real-life temptations and struggles into the open where they can be taught, shown and coached.
I'm personally not a golfer, but I understand that many men enjoy it. Here's a website that takes the love of golf and father/son bonding and puts the two together in a great way:
Father and Son Golf Adventures (FSGA) provides an awesome venue for Fathers to spend quality time with their sons doing things that they both enjoy and can contribute too. The events that FSGA organize and run are specifically designed to engage Fathers and Sons in fun and interactive activities. They are structured to allow both the Fathers and Sons to fully enjoy themselves (they are adventures) and encourages Fathers and Sons to work together and play together.
While shopping for a medieval sword for my son, I came across this great source for swords, armor, period gifts, etc from the Roman, Medieval, and the Renaissance periods.
Not only do they have a ton of great stuff for the collector, reenactor, and gift giver...but they are also Christians committed to using their business as a platform to share the gospel:
Real Armor of God.com is a Christian based business promoting the gospel message of "forgiveness of our sins against the one and only true God, through the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ."
Here's another voice in the strategic-father-blog-o-sphere. Some really interesting posts already in the three months since it started.
I've posted a bit about creating family crests in the past, so I'm especially interested in his take on a "modernized" family crest.
Check it out:
