It's Better to Build Boys than Mend Men

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.

I'll post a review once I get a chance...

Better Dads

It is really exciting to see the "next generation" of authors beginning to write about being strategic in raising sons & daughters with a core of moral substance.

While I will always go back to the founding fathers of this genre (Robert Lewis, Steve Farrar, Stu Weber), it is nice to hear new voices too.

While I haven't yet read his books, Rick Johnson looks very promising as one of those new voices. From his website:

I believe families, communities, and our society can grow stronger when parents begin to realize the unique power and influence we have in the lives of our sons and daughters. This goal is reflected both in the books I've written and through Better Dads, a fathering skills ministry that now equips both men and women to become better parents, spouses, and leaders.

I hope to soon read his book Better Dads, Stronger Sons: How Fathers Can Guide Boys to Become Men of Character. I'll post a review as soon as possible...in the meantime here's his website:

Better Dads

Raising Men of Honor

Focus on the Family recently had Robert Lewis (author of Raising a Modern Day Knight) on the program.

Check it out:

Raising Men of Honor

Tony Dungy Retires

Tony Dungy announced he was retiring yesterday. While his achievements on the field have been substantial, in my opinion it is his achievements off the field that have had the greatest impact:

Dungy has been involved in a wide variety of charitable organizations, including the Fellowship of Christian Athletes, Athletes in Action, Mentors for Life, Big Brothers Big Sisters, Boys & Girls Clubs, the Prison Crusade Ministry, and All Pro Dad. He also works with Basket of Hope, the Black Coaches Association National Convention, Indiana Black Expo, the United Way of Central Indiana, and the American Diabetes Association.

I've read his first book "Quiet Strength" and would definitely recommend it. Apparently he has a new book out as well I hope to review sometime in the future.

Tony Dungy Retires - International Herald Tribune

Tripp Brothers

A long while ago I reviewed the book Age of Opportunity by Paul Tripp. I pulled it back off the shelf a couple of days ago to look something up and realized (anew) what a great book it is.

The teaching ministries of Paul and his brother Ted Tripp have had a significant impact our family. If you are not familiar with their work I would encourage you to take a look:

Paul Tripp Ministries

Tedd Tripp Shepherd Press

Love and Respect

I have not read the book or been to the conference, but just a glance at the website and watching a couple of the videos makes me think this might be worthwhile...kind of reminds me of a Christian version of "Men are from Mars, Women are from Venus" (which I investigated prior to becoming a Christian and have come to find out is very new-agey).


Love and Respect - Presented by Dr. Emerson E. Eggerichs

The Last Lecture

Just heard that Randy Pausch passed away. I was only faintly aware of his "The Last Lecture" stuff (I've seen clips on youtube but haven't read the book) but the idea of presenting the lessons you've learned in your life to your kids in that format definitely appealed to me...

A lot of professors give talks titled “The Last Lecture.” Professors are asked to consider their demise and to ruminate on what matters most to them. And while they speak, audiences can’t help but mull the same question: What wisdom would we impart to the world if we knew it was our last chance? If we had to vanish tomorrow, what would we want as our legacy?
When Randy Pausch, a computer science professor at Carnegie Mellon, was asked to give such a lecture, he didn’t have to imagine it as his last, since he had recently been diagnosed with terminal cancer. But the lecture he gave—“Really Achieving Your Childhood Dreams”—wasn’t about dying. It was about the importance of overcoming obstacles, of enabling the dreams of others, of seizing every moment (because “time is all you have…and you may find one day that you have less than you think”). It was a summation of everything Randy had come to believe. It was about living.

Here's more info:

The Last Lecture | Randy Pausch

Men At The Cross

Early on in my Christian walk I had the chance to attend a Promise Keepers event. Even though the organization has taken some lumps over the years and has slowly declined in popularity, I still consider attending the event an important moment in my life as a Christian man.

Now there is another organization that is drawing several speakers from Promise Keepers into a new format and new attitude: "Men at the Cross".

Some of the "heavy hitters" behind this organization include Joe White, Steve Farrar, Stu Weber, and Robert Lewis...all men that have written books that have strongly influenced me.
I'm definitely planning on attending the event in Charlotte, NC.

Check out the website for more info:

Men At The Cross

Excerpt from The Warrior Within

In keeping with the theme of the last post on dad inspiration, here are some excerpts from Pat Williams' The Warrior Within : Becoming Complete in the Four Crucial Dimensions of Manhood from leadershipnow.com. He gives lots of examples about his interaction with sports stars to drive home his points.


About half way down is the header "How to be a Perfect Dad"...something we can all identify with:

Don’t you want to be a perfect dad? Sure you do! To help you reach that goal, I’ve assembled a simple guide to flawless fatherhood. Follow these easy steps and you, too, can achieve perfection as a father.

Step 1: Forget About Being Perfect

Got that? If you did something hurtful to your kids, such as yelling at them when you shouldn’t have or missing one of their important events, then admit it and apologize sincerely. According to Pat, acknowledging mistakes actually magnifies you in your kid's eyes.

Excerpt from The Warrior Within : Becoming Complete in the Four Crucial Dimensions of Manhood - Leadershop @ LeadershipNow.com

Gut-level Honesty

I just enjoyed a two-day mini men's retreat with guest speaker Steve Farrar. I've seen him speak before and really enjoyed it. This time he challenged us men in several areas with his straight-shootin' insight.

Of particular challenge to me was the question of "personal integrity". Do I live the same when I'm alone and no one is watching as I do when I'm in public? Are all my financial dealings "above board"? Do I lie (even ever so slightly) to make things more convenient for myself? I pray God will help me in this area.

Here's a quote from Steve's website:

There’s one non-negotiable trait that you must embrace in your life and that trait is gut-level honesty. You must stay alert to the schemes of the enemy. We’re at war, and our foe is smarter and greater and wiser than we are. But Jesus is greater than he is. So let’s keep our eyes fixed upon Jesus.

Advice for Fathers

Here's an article called "Advice for Fathers" that contains some no-nonsense advice that we parents who were raised in the post-modern relativistic era need to be reminded of from time to time.

Advice for Fathers

This article is from a broader website by author/consultant James Stenson. I haven't read all the articles, but from first glance, they seem right on. I don't see any open mention of his being a Christian, but it is hard to imagine that such strong moral principles could come from anywhere else.

Stenson's Parent Leadership Web site

GodMen

I'm not sure what I think about this yet....

I first stumbled across it through my familiarity with Brad Stine, an "edgy" Christian comedian. It looks like this "movement" is gaining some steam.

Many of the key words they're using scare away some Christian men....things like "absolute honesty, transparency and openness" and "raw, and real". To be honest these intrigue me...the last thing I want to happen in my life is to "play church" just to get by.

I'll have to do some more research before I make a recommendation, but in the meantime here's the site:

GodMen - Christian men's conference

Familyman Ministries

We recently were given an RV by my folks and I am getting excited about the possibilities....especially as it relates to homeschooling. I made few Google searches and I stumbled on Todd Wilson's website. I was familiar with Todd's Family Man articles, but didn't know about the RV connection.

Anyway, his website is full of good stuff (not just RV related) "to remind dads of what's most important."

Check it out at:

Family Man Ministries

Steve Farrar

One of the "top ten" voices in the modern Christian men's movement is Steve Farrar. His best selling Point Man and more recently his book on raising boys called King Me have been incredibly influential in my own life. I had the chance to see him speak and to meet him and he is truly a "man's man" kind of guy.

Here is a link to his blog with recent articles, info on his books, his conference schedule, and links to other resources...a wealth of information:

http://stevefarrar.blogs.com/