For Christians it means something different in a more personal and meaningful way than those who just know it as another Holiday…..a day off of work or school, or a day to give and receive gifts.
For some it is a day of joy, and others a day of drama, still others a day of sadness.
For some it’s football.
Whatever this day means to you…..could you pause and read a small note, a personal message.
This personal message from a friend of mine of years past, Freedom Kongvold, might help some find a reason to consider why all the “fuss” over Christmas, a day everyone in the world knows of, and many acknowledge as one of the most important days of all mankind, could be one of the most important days of your life.
This last couple weeks got me thinking about the importance of a Father in the home. First there was Father’s Day, then our daughter and grand-daughter got baptized. During our Father’s Day church service and then again at the Baptism, we were reminded of the impact parents and in particular a father has on his children.
I have heard various statistics listed different ways but they all point to the need to have a father present.
Consider these statistics:
41-43% of kids in America are being raised without a father.
Without a father there is a 700% greater chance of a pregnancy
85% of those in prison did not have a father in the home or stated another way 20 times greater chance of being in prison
Without a father present children are 9x more likely to drop out of school
Without a father present children are at a much greater risk of drug and alcohol abuse
Larry Elders makes a compelling case for the value of a father in the home. He may address specifically Black Fathers but the number of Black, White and Hispanic fathers absent from the home has increased and so have the statistics. Watch the video and write out the statistics for yourself, do some research on your own. Lower the statistics if you feel they are exaggerated, but no matter how you slice it, the facts are still the facts. Fathers absent from their children’s lives and specifically from the home matters. Children need a father in the home.
Larry Elders asks the question;
What happened to fathers?
The answer is found in a basic law of economics: If you subsidize undesirable behavior you will get more undesirable behavior. In 1949, the nation’s poverty rate was 34 percent. By 1965, it was cut in half, to 17 percent — all before President Lyndon Johnson’s so-called War on Poverty. But after that war began in 1965, poverty began to flat line. From 1965 until now, the government has spent over $20 trillion to fight poverty.
The poverty rate has remained unchanged, but the relationship between poor men and women has changed – dramatically. That’s because our generous welfare system allows women, in effect, to marry the government. And this makes it all too easy for men to abandon their traditional moral and financial responsibilities. Psychologists call such dependency “learned helplessness.”
Do you agree with Mr. Elders?
Do you feel a father in the home makes a difference?
That is the question we have to ask ourselves today with any piece of information or advice we get.
Whether the information or advice comes from a known source such as a family or friend, or from the mainstream media, the internet, or even our own physician whom we have so come to trust, we have to question is that information really true.
This short TED Talks video of Sharyl Attkisson, formerly an investigative correspondent in the Washington bureau for CBS News might be an eye opener for many.
After watching this video it made me start to wonder “What’s the Truth?”
If our own doctor can be misinformed/educated, maybe we are being misinformed or improperly educated. If Wikipedia a trusted source for so many, contradicts Actual Peer Review Medical Research according to theUS National Library of Medicine National Institutes of Health, or Philip Roth a noted author in a an Open Letter to Wikipediaposted in The New Yorker Magazine contested that according to Wikipedia, he was not a credible source on himself, you have to wonder how can we tell “What’s the Truth?”
Maybe one of the telltale signs as Ms. Attkisson suggests is when you hear someone attack an issue, and the people around that issue by saying, they are nutty, telling lies, saying it’s a myth or conspiracy, maybe you need to question those who are making the attacks. As she states “instead of questioning authority they question those who question authority”
I like the concept of going to the source. If you want to know something about someone meet the person and ask them yourself. See the behavior of those closest to them, their children, friends and associates. People tend to associate with people like themselves.
Societies have always had division among it’s citizens. America is no different. Recently over the last few years we have become increasingly divided on a number of fronts; politics, race, religion, gender, class division of the middle class, and most recently marriage.
The result of so much division has been a rapid cultural decline in America.
It’s time American Citizens take a stand, for the decline of our country hurts everyone of its people. But rather than take a stand by political party, or gender, race, etc. It’s time to take a stand on principle.
This video is one that takes a stand based on principle not politics. (Turn up your volume for max effect)
I am not a Catholic, but I applaud the Catholic Church for standing on their foundational principles. It seems we live in a day when many leaders have lost the courage of their convictions and in the case of religious leaders, many have done so in favor of protecting their tax free status or concern of government oversight (sounds like a socialist concern).
After watching this video ask yourself these few questions:
1. What basis is the foundation of my beliefs; principle or media/public opinion?
2. Do I fulfill my responsibility as an American citizen and vote?
2. Do I vote politics or principle?
3. What kind of America do I want to leave for my children or grandchildren?
This weekend we celebrate Memorial Day, originally called Decoration Day, a day of remembrance for those who have died in our nation’s service.
I challenge us all to Stand on Principle and to be that Courageous American to keep our country free. America has always had those who were Resolved to better themselves so they could have a better nation. The Founders of this great nation were men who had the courage of their convictions to put their families, their success, and their lives on the line so they could build a free nation. Will WE Stand on Principle?
In an article posted by LIFE founderOrrin Woodward on the power of Social Capital where he discusses the potential of human interaction and its relative ability to affect change is staggering. Given the fact that the world population is growing and the power of that social capital is multiplying demonstrates that possibilities are endless, IF we come together and utilize that power.
Noted economist Paul Zane Pilzer in his book Unlimited Wealth brings his discussion on the Theory of Economic Alchemy to light. Mr Pilzer has long professed that the ingenuity of the human mind creates a never ending supply of new inventions and innovation of resources that can replace those that either have been depleted due to limited supply or societal demand. This thought process of endless versus limited resources coupled with an ever expanding population gives us more possibilities to solve problems and meet the needs of growth than most can imagine. How do you view our ability to solve the myriad of challenges we face, with optimism and belief, or with doubt and concern? GOD has created us with the unique ability to imagine and then decide. Einstein said “Imagination is more important than knowledge. For knowledge is limited to all we now know and understand while imagination embraces the entire world” If we can embrace the power of Social Capital by expanding our Networks, and Norms and sharing our Values as described by Jon Tyson in Renewing Cities Through Missional Tribes perhaps change is closer than we think.
In our communities there is concern, a concern noted in every country and on every side of the political spectrum of the direction of our world cultures. Europe is financial chaos, the Middle East is in constant armed unrest, and America is facing both financial debt and class division. People destroying the very people and societies they live in and love. There is a cry for truth. We have become a world population of educated children screaming for our rights and for sane direction.
Never before has there been such a need for leadership, and truth in LIFE principles. Can we come together and harness this Social Capital for the good of all mankind? What could happen if we were to embrace the Social Capital of 7 billion people for the good of all mankind sharing truth and principle based leadership? If there was a plan to go to 1 million people in 5 years could we eventually change the world? ………..why not try?
greg johnson leadership 