A Son Returns Home

On Thursday, we sat at one of our favorite restaurants and afterwards went to a Starbucks to just talk. In some ways it was as if he had not been gone since last Christmas, yet at the same time there was so much to catch up on.

He had not changed. I know that we often hear that being in the war, men come back changed. Yet, Courtney had not changed. Still the same guy .......but he was more mature as a result of what he saw. Don't get me wrong.....I think he was very mature before he left but clearly he had grown because of what he had seen and done.

He came back with a greater appreciation for other cultures. This is a guy born in Italy and has traveled. It is different living with other cultures and helping restore their dignity and freedom, than just visiting.

He came back with a renewed vision that each of us can make a difference.

From a dad, here is what I know....It is so great to have him home. I felt that God has blessed us with a pretty remarkable son. Billie and I prayed that God would protect him....but more than just protect..... we wanted God to use him mightily.

Here is what I also know....

1. There are some who are reading this who have lost a loved one. I cannot explain why some come home to us and others do not. But, my heart goes out to you and I pray that God will give you a peace that "passes all understanding."

2. There are some who have loved ones currently serving in dangerous places. I will continue to wear a yellow bracelet to remind me to pray for them.

3. The world is a dangerous place and if we have nothing deemed worth fighting and even dying for we probably have nothing worth living for.

Final thought: Billie and I are so very grateful for so many who prayed for Courtney and our family. Thank you.

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How Sunday School is Failing Our Boys

This past week I received the latest email from Promise Keepers. In the recent months PK has been sending PK Man Rules with articles by Steve Sonderman and David Murrow. Both of these guys are friends and doing Kingdom work.

Steve's article was on Developing Leaders and is certainly worth a read. http://www.promisekeepers.org/home/email/pkmanrules-archive/0808_1

David Murrow wrote the second article titled, How Sunday School is Failing Our Boys. http://www.promisekeepers.org/home/email/pkmanrules-archive/0808_2

David made several good points about the need for our guys to win and spoke clearly to the issue that guys learn differently that our daughters. As a result teaching guys should be different than the techniques we use to teach our gals.

What was failed to be recognized in David's article is that we are really dealing with young men not boys.

Everything David stated was true. David has always done good research and continues to do so. This is not meant to shoot at a Christian brother or demean his writing and assessment. There is enough of that nonsense going on in the Christian community without me adding to it.

It is simply to say that there is more to to the issue. Churches and parents must consider who is defining "manhood" for our sons (womanhood for our daughters)?

If we leave this critical issue to the world, public schools and the marketing geniuses who are trying to reach our kids at earlier and earlier ages, we will lose them from more than Sunday School.

Davids' article nails the age perfectly-- "When does this winnowing start? In Sunday school. By age 13 we’ve already convinced a certain kind of boy that church is not for him."

At Age thirteen, we have a young man ----- not a boy.

Included in any conversation about the loss of our young men (and women) should be the issue of Rites of Passage into Godly adulthood. Without Rites of Passage, our sons are not leaving their faith or church-----they are just walking away from their parents' church and faith trying to find their own.

A faith of a child is the faith of their parents. An adult faith is their own. They cannot have an adult faith while still living in their parents home unless their adulthood is confirmed by their parents and the adult community of believers.

It was also great fun for me to read Davids' article because of the story of Burke Community Church. My family and I were members of BCC from 1989 to 1992. A wonderful church where we served, taught Sunday School and launched and ministry to the most unbelievable group of then 5th and 6th graders, called Children of Light.

Hats off to Steve and David for their articles this month.

for more information on Rites of Passage see A Chosen Generation at http://www.achosengeneration.org/


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