It is one of my favorite movie scenes – In Braveheart, William Wallace rides up on a horse to address the troops. The men are looking across the field at an English army that greatly outnumbers them and some express an unwillingness to fight. Wallace says, “Aye, you can return to your homes and live but what kind of life will it be without freedom?” He proceeded to call out to the “Sons of Scotland!” He said, “You fight today as free men against an enemy that wants to take our freedom!”
Freedom to be sexually active without the fear of getting pregnant was a new dimension for women when “the pill” was legalized for unmarried women in the late 1960’s. There was a new freedom introduced to young men as well, freedom of responsibility. When an unexpected pregnancy did happen, instead of taking responsibility as a man, fingers were often pointed at the woman for not taking “the pill” – Memories of Adam in the Garden come to mind, “The woman You put here with me …” (Genesis 3:12)
It may be counter-cultural today to say that dads and moms are important. Each brings a very unique dimension to the parenting equation that influences a child’s ability to navigate through life. Men and women have been lured in to thinking they are mutually interchangeable but they are not. Recent research in psychology, neuroscience and epigenetics validates what has been common sense for previous generations - that moms and dads are uniquely important beyond the obvious reasons.
In her book, “Being There: Why Prioritizing Motherhood in the First Three Years Matters” psychoanalyst Erica Komisar says ...read on
The numbers reflect that game attendance is down and television viewership is off significantly. It appears the National Football League is suffering from customer pushback – the product that was simply a game between two teams expanded to a platform for political opinion. What team owners allow their employees to do on company time is up to them. In turn, continued support for the respective teams is up to the fans and what they will tolerate at game time. That is the power of the consumer.
Imagine if dads in mass decided to not tolerate something in an arena that mattered, to say, “Enough is enough!” to ...read on
The TALK is probably remembered as one of the most awkward discussions ever had with your parents. At fourteen or fifteen, the terminology used was seen as strange and the conversation was uncomfortable. In summary, sex was conveyed as dirty and dangerous so it was important to save it until marriage.
Today, statistics show that teenagers want to talk with their parents about sex but dads and moms are either too busy, do not want to “go there” or are struggling with clarity on the subject themselves. The TALK must be ...read on
“One-on-one time with my daughter? She does not even want to be in the same room with me!” But in response to a challenge presented to all the dads participating in the study, Joe agreed to at least ask his daughter out on a date. That in itself was a big step because there were about twenty men in the study that would be holding him accountable. The bottom line was that he thought she would surely say ‘No’ and he would have to face rejection again. No man likes rejection be it a high school date or a date with his daughter.
The following week, the dads provided a debrief of the one-on-one time with their kids. Joe stepped forward and said, “When I asked my daughter if she would go out ...read on
There were three significant spiritual experiences in my life twenty-plus years ago: First was the call to ministry for dads in January, 1996, that would manifest into the founding of Faithful Fathering in 2000; Second was a “Walk to Emmaus” retreat weekend in February, 1997; and then there was Promise Keepers’ “Stand in the Gap”, a sacred assembly of men on the Mall in Washington D.C., October 4th, 1997.
What kind of impact could over a million men have by ...read on
In a conversation with his pastor, the dad was challenged to read the whole Bible. Up to that point, he had stuck with man-sized books – ones that were not more than a half-inch thick. Then the pastor added, “If you do not know the Word of God, you do not know Jesus the way He wants you to know Him.” Wow! That got his attention.
He had attended church most of his life, accepted Christ as his Savior and Lord and was baptized. But ...read on
It was audition time for honors band and emotions were running high. The assignment required completing a continuous recording of all twelve scales played to tempo. She enjoyed band and had done well across the year. This particular evening, she was determined to raise the bar and play every scale flawlessly. What started out with a confident “I can do this!” mantra rolled into “I don’t know if I am good enough for honors band.” Finally, there was a frustrated scream, “I can’t do this!” She stomped upstairs and slammed her door.
He grew up in a violent alcoholic home. Evenings could get disrupted in a moment by arguments, outbursts of anger and violence. Being loud and intimidating was his takeaway on how to win an argument. She grew up in a more stable home environment where arguments were rare. If a discussion got heated, the practice was to shut it down and talk later. She saw heated discussions as disrespectful. The respective influences of their unique upbringing led to communication challenges over the first few years of marriage.
It is one of my favorite movie scenes – In Braveheart, William Wallace rides up on a horse to address the troops. The men are looking across the field at an English army that greatly outnumbers them and some express an unwillingness to fight. Wallace says, “Aye, you can return to your homes and live but what kind of life will it be without freedom?” He proceeded to call out to the “Sons of Scotland!” He said, “You fight today as free men against an enemy that wants to take our freedom!”
Freedom to be sexually active without the fear of getting pregnant was a new dimension for women when “the pill” was legalized for unmarried women in the late 1960’s. There was a new freedom introduced to young men as well, freedom of responsibility. When an unexpected pregnancy did happen, instead of taking responsibility as a man, fingers were often pointed at the woman for not taking “the pill” – Memories of Adam in the Garden come to mind, “The woman You put here with me …” (Genesis 3:12)
It may be counter-cultural today to say that dads and moms are important. Each brings a very unique dimension to the parenting equation that influences a child’s ability to navigate through life. Men and women have been lured in to thinking they are mutually interchangeable but they are not. Recent research in psychology, neuroscience and epigenetics validates what has been common sense for previous generations - that moms and dads are uniquely important beyond the obvious reasons.
The numbers reflect that game attendance is down and television viewership is off significantly. It appears the National Football League is suffering from customer pushback – the product that was simply a game between two teams expanded to a platform for political opinion. What team owners allow their employees to do on company time is up to them. In turn, continued support for the respective teams is up to the fans and what they will tolerate at game time. That is the power of the consumer.
The TALK is probably remembered as one of the most awkward discussions ever had with your parents. At fourteen or fifteen, the terminology used was seen as strange and the conversation was uncomfortable. In summary, sex was conveyed as dirty and dangerous so it was important to save it until marriage.
“One-on-one time with my daughter? She does not even want to be in the same room with me!” But in response to a challenge presented to all the dads participating in the study, Joe agreed to at least ask his daughter out on a date. That in itself was a big step because there were about twenty men in the study that would be holding him accountable. The bottom line was that he thought she would surely say ‘No’ and he would have to face rejection again. No man likes rejection be it a high school date or a date with his daughter.
There were three significant spiritual experiences in my life twenty-plus years ago: First was the call to ministry for dads in January, 1996, that would manifest into the founding of Faithful Fathering in 2000; Second was a “Walk to Emmaus” retreat weekend in February, 1997; and then there was Promise Keepers’ “Stand in the Gap”, a sacred assembly of men on the Mall in Washington D.C., October 4th, 1997.
In a conversation with his pastor, the dad was challenged to read the whole Bible. Up to that point, he had stuck with man-sized books – ones that were not more than a half-inch thick. Then the pastor added, “If you do not know the Word of God, you do not know Jesus the way He wants you to know Him.” Wow! That got his attention.
It was audition time for honors band and emotions were running high. The assignment required completing a continuous recording of all twelve scales played to tempo. She enjoyed band and had done well across the year. This particular evening, she was determined to raise the bar and play every scale flawlessly. What started out with a confident “I can do this!” mantra rolled into “I don’t know if I am good enough for honors band.” Finally, there was a frustrated scream, “I can’t do this!” She stomped upstairs and slammed her door.
He grew up in a violent alcoholic home. Evenings could get disrupted in a moment by arguments, outbursts of anger and violence. Being loud and intimidating was his takeaway on how to win an argument. She grew up in a more stable home environment where arguments were rare. If a discussion got heated, the practice was to shut it down and talk later. She saw heated discussions as disrespectful. The respective influences of their unique upbringing led to communication challenges over the first few years of marriage.
