Christian Bushido

I had a chance to watch The Last Samurai again last night. Still a great movie (even with Tom Cruise!) and definitely in my top 5 "warrior movies".

The movie develops a thread concerning Bushido, the Samurai code of honor. Here's a site that takes those concepts, ostensibly derived from Shinto and Buddhism, and puts them in a Biblical light.

This could be very useful in developing a Christian code of conduct for a a child who is interested in Asian martial arts.

Code of Bushido

Integrity

The person you are in private should match the person you are in public. That’s integrity. There are many things we as dads can do to pass this on to our kids.

How do we raise kids who possess integrity in a culture that seems to value image more than character? Like many things, integrity is more often caught than taught.

Here's a good little article on integrity and how it is passed on to our kids. I especially like the "You Might Be an Integrity Infector If" list:

You Might Be An Integrity Infector If:

• Your kids talk to you so much that you get worn out at times.
• Your kids like being with you.
• You like being with your kids.
• You and your kids joke around and laugh together a lot.
• You and your kids handle your mistakes humorously. Your kids kid you about them.
• You can talk somewhat intelligently about what’s going on in their world.
• You ask questions about what’s going on in their world.
• They ask you “why” questions. You welcome and applaud questions of any sort.
• You can handle their “why” questions without being overly threatened by them.
• They display remorse when caught in misbehavior.
• On occasion, they admit to misbehaviors even before you discover them.
• You use incidences of misbehavior to explain why correct behavior is important.
• Your kids don’t lie well. You’re able to tell when they are being dishonest.
• They’ve seen you be honest on occasions when you could have gotten away with dishonesty.
• Your kids seem to understand why you have the rules you do. They ask questions about them more than they complain about them.

Infecting Your Kids with Integrity

PureWarrior.org

Pure Warrior Ministries is dedicated to rescuing men from the grip fo secret sexual sin, and restoring and training them in Christian sexual purity. We minister through technology, educational workshops and recovery programs that communicate the saving and healing message of Jesus Christ to men and their families.

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Bible.org: Virtues Leading to Christlikeness

I've been fascinated with the concept of virtue for awhile and have done a bit of research around it as I have worked on a "Virtues Game" for my kids. I'll try to share some of the resources I've discovered in the future, but for now here is an article that helps frame the discussion of virtues in Christian terms (since it is not intrinsically a Christian distinctive).

Many of the Greeks including Aristotle and the Stoics argued that moral virtue was developed according to human achievement and that the goal in mind was personal happiness. Others argued that moral virtue was inherent, the natural disposition of the soul. But both of these ideas, while sharing some similarities with Christianity, are in fact at odds with Christianity’s essential ethical orientation. The “virtues” which the NT espouses have God’s character as their source, the Spirit as their efficient cause in the believer, Christ as their model, and love as their goal.

This article is pretty theological in nature with lots of Bible references so it might be worth printing out and reading during your normal study time rather than a quick web read.

Bible.org: Virtues Leading to Christlikeness