Growing Boys Into Godly Men

I love this picture.

Not only is it set in a beautiful place, but it is a wonderful picture of a father and son exploring the world they live in together.

If you look at the statistics, the presence or lack thereof of a father in the home during the formative years is the catalyst for either a good transition into adulthood for boys (especially, but also for girls), or later problems with many areas - their relationship to God being at the top.


As I wrote yesterday, we have invested a lot of energy, time, and love into the development of boys at New Hope. But we are still lacking in seeing the type of spiritual transformation that I know would make a life-long difference for boys as they grow into men. So I am doing what I do when God shakes my tree - praying and seeking. At this point I haven't formed even an outline of what I am looking to see created here, but I know it has to be done.

The best picture I could give at this point would combine a Creed that boys would learn and be formed by, a Code that they would live by, and a process where men would mentor boys, who as they grew would be taught to mentor others. I've asked my pastor friends, especially those who have a particular passion for men's spiritual development to help. Here's a tidbit from one program for boys in Texas called "Young Guns." (Sounds like Texas :) ) It's their credo.

Before the brotherhood and God, (1 Peter 5:9)
To strive to be men of meekness, (Matthew 5:5)
Power in the Mighty hands of our King, (1 Peter 5:6)
Above reproach, remaining, (Daniel 6:4)
Brother to Brother, (Proverbs 17:17)
Shield to Shield, (Ephesians 6:16)
Soul to Soul, (1 Samuel 18:1)
And Iron to Iron, (Proverbs 27:17)
For the body of Christ, (1 Corinthians 12:18)
And in the name of the Lamb (John 1:36, 14:13)
Amen. (Revelation 22:21)

Each of those equates to a component in the program they used to help mold boys into godly young men.

My thoughts are that this needs to be a helper for dads as they steer their boys through adolescence, and yet be able in the cases where a dad isn't present in the home to morph into something our New Hope mentors could do. The emphasis would not so much be on learning by sitting in a room, but learning by doing. Possibly have a camp experience a couple times a year to bring boys and men together and into the group.

Images of Knighthood come to mind, but I'm not sure how that resonates with today's boys.

Still praying and seeking. Any ideas, thoughts, or help - send them on.