Poetry For Men By Men

This is a poem by Rudyard Kipling that I read at the father and son weekend. While many may scoff at the thought of reciting poetry especially by old dead men, I think it is important that we as fathers let our sons know that poetry isn't a girl thing but a way to express yourself with words. Remember the Psalms? This poem is long but worth the read. Read it to your son. Enjoy.



If

If you can keep your head when all about you
Are losing theirs and blaming it on you;
If you can trust yourself when all men doubt you,
But make allowance for their doubting too;
If you can wait and not be tired by waiting,
Or being lied about, don't deal in lies,
Or being hated, don't give way to hating,
And yet don't look too good, nor talk too wise:

If you can dream -- and not make dreams your master;
If you can think -- and not make thoughts your aim;
If you can meet with Triumph and Disaster
And treat those two imposters just the same;
If you can bear to hear the truth you've spoken
Twisted by knaves to make a trap for fools,
Or watch the things you gave your life to, broken,
And stoop and build 'em up with worn-out tools;

If you can make one heap of all your winnings
And risk it on one turn of pitch-and-toss,
And lose, and start again at your beginnings
And never breathe a word about your loss;
If you can force your heart and nerve and sinew
To serve your turn long after they are gone,
And so hold on when there is nothing in you
Except the Will which says to them: "Hold on!"

If you can talk with crowds and keep your virtue,
Or walk with kings -- nor lose the common touch,
If neither foes nor loving friends can hurt you,
If all men count with you, but none too much;
If you can fill the unforgiving minute
With sixty seconds' worth of distance run --
Yours is the Earth and everything that's in it,
And -- which is more -- you'll be a Man, my son!

The Knights Are Coming

On September the 30th will be begin Raising a Modern day Knight at Mountain View Chapel. This is extremely exciting. For men who rarely get extremely excited with the exception of sporting events and the like might find my eagerness more than annoying. Annoyed or not my eagerness won't end. I have the opportunity to guide my son and at least nine other sons to make Godly decisions and to live first for Chris. If that doesn't make you excited I'm not sure what will.

As fathers we have a tremendous responsibility to love and guide our families. If you are a Christian there is the added "pressure" of raising Godly sons. With that said I haven't met any father who did not have some sort of expectations for his son or daughter for that matter. Therefore We are endeavoring as men and as fathers to build up our sons and each other with the guidance of Jesus Christ.

For those that have signed up I look forward to meeting with over the next several weeks. For those that can't attend this is not the last time this will occur and we will be diligently looking for ways to connect fathers to sons and men with men in the hopes of strengthening one another, our families and most importantly the Church local and worldwide.

Watch closely and look for signs of change. The Knights are coming.

RMDK

Raising a son can be a daunting task. With work and all sorts of after school activities where do you find the time to be involved one on one. Raising a son to authentic biblical manhood seems almost impossible. This means not merely quantity of time but quality of time. With that said I must remember that all things are possible with my Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ. Nothing is impossible I just need help.

The first mistake many of us make is thinking that somehow we can do this on our own. "I don't need help" we say. The effort is there many times but trying to raise a son or a daughter for that matter on your own strength is simply exhausting. What we need is a partner or partners. Who likes playing basketball alone? Most people don't even like to eat alone. Would you want to build a house by your self? Why would we want to raise our sons alone? Face it we need others whether it's sports,work or family. Everything is so much harder when you go it alone. But here's hope, you don't have to.

Raising a modern day knight is a six session study in team work. You will learn with other fathers how to purposely and strategically raise your son into an authentic man. Each session will challenge you to evaluate yourself as a father and a man and give you tools to build Godly character into your sons lives. It is worth it to do all you can to guide your son in the right path and I believe that this training series can help you do that.“The glory of sons is their fathers.” (Proverbs 17:6)

The study will be held at Mountain View Chapel every Sunday for six straight weeks from September 30 through November 4. We have an orientation meeting on September 16 at which time we will finalize the time and materials needed for the class.I have also included a link to the right on this post to the RMDK website. The site can provide you with additional information including testimonies and a word from the author of the book and video training series Raising a Modern Day Knight, Robert Lewis. I am looking forward to sitting around the round table with you and raising our sons to a noble manhood. “A wise son makes his father glad.” (Proverbs 10:1)