“In Australia there is a beach where at certain times each year thousands of starfish are washed up shore. Usually at night, at high tide, a large wave will bring them in so far that the water won’t carry them back out. Then, as the sun shines on the star-fish, they slowly dry out and die.
One morning a tourist came out of his hotel for a jog at dawn. Down on the beach he noticed a little boy picking up stranded starfish and throwing them back into the sea. But there were thousands of them up and down the sore.
The man ran up to the boy and said, “I know what you’re doing, and I think I know why you’re doing it. But there are thousands of starfish here and miles of beach. Do you really think that what you are doing is going to make a difference?”
The boy said, “I don’t know. But I think it will make a differ-ence to this one.”
And he picked up another starfish and threw it into the sea.
You know, I think the Lord is searching the land for men like this little boy, men who care enough to reach out to a fatherless boy. That is the only way we can reach them, one at a time.
Boys are being washed up on the shore of life and no one is stopping to reach out to them, to save them from the grip of Satan. In the book, Lost Boys, James Garbarino says that we need to connect our boys to positive values and positive relation-ships. He hit the nail on the head when he wrote that we need to connect children and teenagers to the deeper meanings of life …” to help them answer who they are and what is life all about. It all starts with basic hope for the future.
We have the solid answers to the questions of life and we know where our boys and young men can find hope for the future. The answer is Jesus. If you don’t reach out to that boy washed up on the shore of life, who will?
WILL IT MAKE A DIFFERENCE? You bet it will.”
It will make a difference. Find mentoring resources at Squires2Knights.com
]]>The ebook gives inspiration as well as instructions for you, the parent. Cindy urges parents to embark on a deliberate process for bestowing biblical manhood and womanhood to their children. She also lists recommended resources for reading and viewing by you and your kids.
In addition, Cindy is compiling study guide ebooks for many of these resources. These study guides are tools for your kids to reenforce and better understand the material they are learning. The study guides also become a wonderful keepsake for your kids to have as a permanent record of their learning process.
Find the Keepsake Curriculum and study guide ebooks at KeepsakeCurriculum.com.
]]>A five week study of Squires to Knights - Mentoring Our Teenage Boys
This Study Guide will take you through the book Squires to Knights, guiding you through five group discussions with an optional sixth planning meeting. During these discussions you and the others will gain a better understanding of the information, inspiration and instructions found in Squires to Knights. You will hear ideas and experiences that will enhance your vision for mentoring our teenage boys. And you will have the opportunity to share your ideas and experiences with the group.
Read Squires to Knights - Mentoring Our Teenage Boys before or simultaneous to these discussion meetings. The discussion leader will read through the guide and ask the questions. Each group member should contribute the the Q & A and discussions, while the discussion leader will use the Discussion Leader’s Guide to help keep the discussion going.
We must alter the current path of family breakdown, community disconnectedness, national crisis, and faith erosion. Tomorrow’s knights are the future leaders of the family, church, community and nation. Their hope lies in a “few good men” who will raise them up; raise up a generation of men who will serve, lead and love as God purposed.
Be their hope!
]]>I’ve been asked to share the S2K Vision at a Bible seminary in Moldova. Pull out your maps, go east from Europe, across Hungary and Romania. It’s a small country - a former Soviet State - a little north west of the Black Sea.
As I am always excited when I get to talk about mentoring our teenage boys, what I am most excited about is the opportunity to film a video lesson for Manhood 201. The Moldova Bible Seminary teaches all its classes in English. And while Russian is the primary language in Moldova, everybody at the school speaks English. So in return for teaching at the school, I requested for a few men to plan a lesson to be included in the next course in the Squires2Knights Manhood Curriculum.
We make a concerted effort to change things up in this video curriculum. We want variety and diversity. So the setting for this lesson will be an historic location in Moldova with teachers speaking with strong Russian accents. I can’t wait!
]]>Over half of today’s boys will not have their biological father living at home by the time they go out on their own after high school graduation. This brings about a significant void in the lives of these young men. Without the mentorship of a father-figure, these fatherless boys will miss that important relationship with a man. Many of our boys are not becoming authentic men as a result.
One-on-one mentoring can offer the best hope of filling that void. There are men who are called into this kind of commitment. They offer these young men the hope they need as they learn authentic manhood from their mentor.
Some changes in our culture, however, have caused these one-on-one relationships to have some unique challenges today. Because of criminal acts by some mentors in the past, and in some cases, the mentees, background checks are now required. Time spent together must occur in public places. Other trusted adults must often observe or participate as a witness to avoid inappropriate acts and false accusations. One-on-one mentoring, with these new challenges, has become difficult to accomplish.
Some of these challenges are solved within the design of a group program. While background checks are still helpful, the inappropriate acts and false accusations can be avoided, if not stopped all together, by having the mentorship relationships occur in a small group setting.
Whether it’s in the Boy Scout program, Royal Rangers, team sports, church youth group or after-school programs, or a dedicated mentoring group, these important mentorship relationships can still be accomplished. But there is an added benefit of accountability as well as the advantages of group activities and discussions. In addition, fathers can participate with their own sons as they develop mentorship relationships with the fatherless boys within their circle of influence.
Take a look at the Vision-Mission-Method statements for Squires2Knights Ministries. See how we are offering ideas and resources to solve these challenges and maximize mentorship results for the next generation of men.
]]>Tony Dungy became the first black head coach to win the Super Bowl when his Colts defeated the Chicago Bears on February 4, 2007. What makes his story so pertinent to the subject of mentoring our boys is the character and faith of this man. Coach Dungy is well know for his faith in Christ and his proper priorities in life - in spite of his affiliation with professional football.
Coach Dungy offers a great story for our young male athletes. In his book Quiet Strength, he tells the story of his life, his success, and his faith. It would be a great read for a young athlete who is growing and maturing in his athletic endeavors as well as his Christian manhood.
“The competing views of success in our world often create an interesting tension. Society tends to define success in terms of accomplishments and awards, material possessions, and profit margins. In the football business, winning is the only thing that matters.
God’s Word, however, presents a different definition of success - one centered on a relationship with Jesus Christ and a love for God that allows us to love and serve others. God gives each one of us unique gifts, abilities, and passions. How well we use those qualities to have an impact on the world around us determines how “successful” we really are.
If we get caught up in chasing what the world defines as success, we can use our time and talent to do some great things. We might even become famous. But in the end, what will it mean?
What will people remember us for? Are other people’s lives better because we lived? Did we make a difference? Did we use to the fullest the gifts and abilities God gave us? Did we give our best effort, and did we do it for the right reasons?
God’s definition of success is really one of significance - the significant difference our lives can make in the lives of others. This significance doesn’t show up in win-loss records, long resumes, or the trophies gathering dust on the mantels. It’s found in the hearts and lives of those we’ve come across who are in some way better because of the way we lived.”
From Quiet Strength - The Principles, Practices, & Priorities of a Winning Life, 2007, Tyndale House Publishers, Inc.
Squires2Knights Ministries encourages these same attributes for male teenage athletes. Our resources teach principles, practices and priorities for Christ-centered manhood. For more, go to http://boysyouthsports.com/index.html
]]>The Knighthood Verses offered by Squires2Knights Ministries (S2K) teach from twelve principles about God’s design for men. Among them are “wisdom,” “Be on Your Guard” and “Act Like Men” (from which we teach the responsibility of servant leadership and provision). Had today’s men been taught to be wise with money, to guard against materialism and excessive debt and to responsibly provide for the family, community and nation, our country would not be in the financial crisis we are faced with today.
With the principles taught by S2K, men would not take their families into the mortgage debts that have causes the crash in the housing market and the mortgage banking industry. Men would not allow the companies they run to take the financial risk or to make the poor financial decisions we’ve witnessed of late. And finally, men would not allow the political direction we see with the government welfare and entitlement programs that are rewarding families and companies for the poor financial choices they’ve made.
As I have articulated so often, most of our social problems are symptoms of a single problem. For generations now, we haven’t really taught boys how to men. Tomorrow’s hope is in today’s boys. Today’s boys need changed men. They need faithful men. They need men equipped to to model, teach and mentor our boys.
Find our resources for equipping men at www.mentoringourboysbooks.com.
]]>In my book, Squires to Knights - Mentoring Our Teenage Boys I wrote a chapter titled: From Role Model to Mentor. While role models are great, it’s mentoring that really gets the job done. Role models may never interact with the kids who are watching and learning. Mentoring allows a protege to get inside the mind and heart of his mentor.
David Robinson has gone the extra mile. He is more than just a role model. He’s a mentor. He gets involved with kids beyond the P.R. video clips we see on TV. He founded a school in San Antonio and stays actively involved with the kids. But he also makes clear to the general public why he is who he is.
From How to Raise an MVP (ZondervanPublishingHouse, 1996)we learn more about this man:
“He is a role model not just because “The Admiral” is basketball’s quickest, most versatile center, but because he neither smokes nor drinks, because he preaches the virtues of church and school and the vice of sex and drugs, because he’s smart and multitalented and the ultimate success story, whether you’re talking backboards, keyboards or college boards.
In an era when so many of us turn to our sports stars only to find them sadly lacking, David Robinson is a true role model.
For all his fame and fortune, David values faith and family ahead of all else.”
And then we hear directly from the Admiral:
“Becoming a Christian has changed by basketball life because it’s given me more of a purpose and determination. When I used to play for myself and my own glory, sometimes it was so much harder to be motivated. Because at what point do you have enough money? At what point do you have enough fame? How do you get over the little aches and pains? How do you find the motivation to get up and work out and push yourself harder and harder and harder? Some people have that drive in them. But I never really had that drive. If I could do things well enough for everybody’s satisfaction, that was enough. Until people pushed me, I never went past that. But God gave me another reason to excel. He gave me something beyond what anyone on Earth has ever given me. God saw in me a perfection, a place to go I could never envision. It was like letting my father down if I didn’t reach for that. I don’t know what my potential is. I don’t know what God has in store for me, but if I don’t go get it, if I don’t push myself toward it, then I have cheated God. There’s no way, when I come before him, that I want him to ask me, “What did you do with what I gave you?” and I have to say, “I buried it in the ground.”
I have an unbelievable responsibility on the basketball floor to honor what God has given me. It’s far more than what I feel toward the fans, and it’s far more than what I feel toward the people who pay me or what I feel even toward my teammates. I have a responsibility to come out here and work, make myself better and better, and not for my glory and honor but for His. So that’s my drive. God doesn’t want wimps. He wants warriors.”
Gotta love it! “God doesn’t want wimps, he wants warriors!”
]]>I’m currently reading a book titled: How to Raise an MVP, Most Valuable Person (Ambrose and Freda Robinson, Zondervan Publishing House, 1996). It was written by the parents of David Robinson, retired super star of the San Antonio Spurs.
This is how David introduces this book and his parents:
“Families in our society today are faced with a growing number of challenges. Children are pressured daily to try or sell drugs. There is more pressure than ever before to enter into sexual relationships at an earlier age, and they confront crime and violence that are growing at alarming rates. Many parents are too busy living their own lives to make sure their children are living the right lives. Some are more preoccupied with work, hobbies, and self-improvement than with giving their children the quality time they need and deserve.
The family unit is being attached at its very foundation. But without the family, our country has no strength. As the strength of the family grows , so grows the strength of our communities and the strength of our nation. Everything starts in the home. We need to be more concerned parents. Our children need to be more attentive, caring, and disciplined.
My parents laid the foundation. If we ever went astray, they got us back on course. But they were pro-active, as well. Instead of waiting for something to happen, they were active in preventing, directing, and guiding. My dad always had a vision for who he wanted me to be. Parents have to know where they want their kids to go. That doesn’t mean making them into something they’re not, but it does mean giving the kids a direction, a purpose. The parents need a focus in raising their kids.”
I’ll share more from this book later. But I’d like to direct your attention to a webpage that promotes the use of Squires2Knights Ministries resources for youth athletic programs for boys. Check out http://boysyouthsports.com/index.html
]]>“A society that puts the rights of individuals above their responsibilities is in danger of creating a generation of children too self-absorbed to contribute to the fabric of community. Scouting resists this temptation - a temptation I believe is as old as original sin in the Garden of Eden, when man began the quest to become his won god instead of settling for the joy and security of submitting to God and living in communion with Him and His creation.”
“Ask just about any parent, and he or she will tell you that, without proper socialization, our children would gravitate toward their own nature, which is to be selfish without regard for anyone else.”
Now there is a view that is, I think, a little too profound for most of our citizens to grab hold of - or, without a faith in Christ, too contradictory to their fleshly human nature. It’s why so many in our country put their hope in a government and a judicial system that will give them anything and everything their heart desires. But they can’t see the paradox of a society of individual rights without the corresponding individual responsibilities to that society. So what has changed in the last 40 years? Governor Perry:
“It was merely assumed, in a community where parents shared the same interest of raising children to respect authority and live by established values, that other adults exercise their authority in a manner consistent with what was best for the child.”
And now so many parents expect the institutions of public education, athletic programs, or even church to instill character into their children. And when their children exhibit bad traits, they want to blame someone else. And Governor Perry points out:
“This often comes from an unwillingness to set firm rules and enforce guidelines for our children who, I believe, are crying out for established boundaries.”
So where does that leave our teenage young men?
“To grow into successful adulthood, young people need a support network. When you consider that not every child is born into the best of circumstances, the greatest hope we have is that society’s institutions such as the education system, athletic organizations, faith-based communities, or mentoring groups will somehow get to those children in a way their parents do not.”
“The ideal remains a situation in which a mother and a father spend time with their children, teaching them a sense of social responsibility and self-worth tied to selfless service. This doesn’t always happen. Some children fall through the gaps. They have no control over the world they are born into or over the values of their parents. For them, there is a need for civic-minded organizations that develop in them a sense of self-worth that they cannot get from home. Nevertheless, I don’t believe a variety of social groups should be able to override the authority of parents.”
“The wholesome activities of the Scouts, backed by sympathetic and caring adults as advisors (scoutmasters or assistant scoutmasters) means that sons of single mothers can find admirable role models as they enter the difficult years of adolescence.”
And when you consider that over half our boys are leaving home after high school graduation without their father at home and, with divorce in excess of fifty percent, over half those dads never see their kids again, ever. So you can see why I believe our boys, especially those of single mothers, need committed adult male mentors who are equipped to teach Christ-centered manhood to them through the Boy Scouts, athletic programs, school programs and church.
Once again I want to commend Texas Governor Rick Perry for his bold stance against the moral decay of our American values and his support of the Boy Scouts of America as our nation’s foremost youth program of character development and values-based leadership training (Vision Statement of BSA).
Squires2Knights Ministries offers resources to enhance any mentorship effort for teenage boys. We offer a devotional tailor-made for any organization that wants to instill a Christ-centered vision of authentic manhood to the next generation of men.
Rick Perry, On My Honor - Why the American Values of the Boy Scouts Are Worth Fighting For, Stroud & Hall Publishers, 2008.
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