This is extracted from the last half of the original Preface to my book
“Sheep to Shepherd”. I place it here in the BLOG so that it can be
read by those of you who are considering getting a copy of it.
“One final thing before we start. There is a much larger context underlying
this topic of Becoming a Man of Integrity and Godly Character. The men of
the families of America determined the strength of the American family for
centuries. These men taught the Behaviors in this book, and more, to their
children. When the head of the family, a man, becomes weak and ineffectual
in guiding, leading, teaching in their home, then the family becomes weak
and does not produce Men of Integrity and Godly Character. If the family,
the bedrock of our culture, our society, and our communities, and, therefore,
our nation, is weak, then those institutions will become weak. This nation was
established by our US Constitution from God through our Founding Fathers.
The building block of our nation, the family, was firmly founded upon God
Himself. God was our solid rock foundation. The accompanying diagram
depicts in simplified form how our nation looked not too long after her
founding.
(Sorry, I can’t figure how to upload this image)
A People with their Culture and Language form a Nation. That Nation is
supported, in the main, by the Pillars of Church, Education, Business and
Government. They all rest upon the Family from which all activities within
any Nation spring. The Family, in turn, rests upon the strong and firm
foundation of God Himself. Men of Integrity and Godly Character being
raised in such families and later working in Church, Education, Business,
and Government help keep the Pillars in balance with one another so that
the fundamental structure of the Nation and its People and its Culture are
not damaged. A nation founded upon God, whose people worship
Jesus, the Christ, enjoys Peace, Prosperity, and the Presence of
God in ultimate victory.
The next diagram depicts what happens when a Nation gets out of balance
and allows Government to intrude corrosively into the lives of people (and
the family) with no counterweight being provided by the Pillars of Business,
Education, or the Church.
(And again, I haven’t figured out how to upload this image.)
When the Pillars of Church, Education, and Business, begin to “allow”
Government to intrude more and more deeply into the activities of Business,
Education and the Church, secularization begins to take place. People are
enticed to turn away from the Church and God for their support and foundation.
As people begin to depend upon the Government, they also begin to depend
less on God. The Family is wedged loose from its moorings, its foundation
upon God by the idols of money, power, sex, pride (self). When that happens,
as it has in America, the men who are raised in the fracturing Family are
more and more often NOT Men of Integrity and Godly Character. A nation
founded upon idols, whose people wallow in immorality, suffers
Strife, Poverty, and the Presence of Evil in ultimate defeat!
Look around you. Do you see our nation growing weaker morally, culturally,
militarily and in the level of respect that other nations around the world hold
us? You can trace it to the weakening of the family–always. And that family
weakening is directly due to the male head of household (if he is even present)
not stepping up to his God-given responsibility to be the leader and shepherd
in his home in every way, especially in spiritual matters, and to teach these
Behaviors and others to his children.
If the majority of the People of America want to again become a Nation that
Glorifies God in all we say, think, or do, then we must begin now to rebuild
the Family from the inside out. The family Shepherd must raise his Sheep
to become Shepherds, too. Anything short of that will, in my judgment, spell
the end of America as we have known her, loved her and, for some of us, have
been willing to die for her.
This book is only a part of that new beginning. “
