If there’s one idea that I want to demonstrate, if there’s one principle I want to communicate, it’s this:
FATHERS, turn your HEARTS toward your CHILDREN.
Wherever they may be, whatever they may be doing, turn your hearts toward them – your prayers, your thoughts…. Seek out their good, and be strong for them.
And that’s what I want to do. I want to turn my heart toward my children.
Fathers, turn your hearts toward your children.
Y’know, I’ve had not just one, but a series of amazing careers: US Army soldier, military contractor, security consultant, reality TV star, goatherd….
But being a Father is my most important job. That’s what I want to be best at, what I want to be all about.
Our family had rules amongst ourselves when we were filming for Raising Wild – no sharing of each other’s secrets, no tearing each other down, no fighting on camera (we broke that one once or twice.)
What we wanted to demonstrate on TV, and what we try to live out in our ongoing life, is that we are committed to being there for each other, to having each other’s backs – no matter what.
The Bible promises that at the very end of this age, there will be a restoration of all things; and that the hearts of the fathers will be turned towards the children, and the hearts of the children towards the fathers.
Notice that the fathers take the first step.
So once again I exhort you fathers: turn your hearts toward your children. They need us during these times, whether they know it yet or not.
Everyone knows there are ancient and even pagan roots in the celebration of Christmas.
I know that and don’t care. If for one evening and one morning and one day we can commemorate that a certain, specific event split Time and announced the Kingdom to some anonymous shepherds on a hillside in Judea…if there is one day we can recognize that a person named Jesus first drew breath on his Mother’s bosom….then we all know what this day is about.
This Day is all about Jesus….about Who He is and Who He means and where we all are going and what is going to happen. Most importantly, its about The Father. It’s about Him and what His Son thought about Him…and what Jesus was willing to do.
Merry Christmas.
The Lord Bless you and Keep you. The Lord make His Face Shine upon you and Be Gracious to you. The Lord Turn His Face to you and Give you Peace.
But we fly, sail and drive to help other people in an instant.
We blow money and share it irresponsibly; but we feed billions.
We love the big things and the big ideas.
We’re sentimental to a fault.
We help out wherever we can, and we often overstay our welcome. But wherever people of the Earth encounter us, we change their lives forever, and they want to come here.
We’re a country of goodwill. We’re a country of good people.
God bless America.
God bless Americans.
And God bless you.
Each and every day…it’s a new experience. But it’s our purpose.
And if we can do something in accordance with our purpose every day, it helps propel us forward.
We all have purpose, but we think mostly in terms of generalization: You know, “I aim in this direction.” and “This is where I want to be in ten years….” Or whatever. Your daily moment-to-moment purpose is what drives your real behavior – what you want right now….
Proverbs says that a fool’s empty belly presses him on. And that’s pretty logical. Everybody will work for food.
So, find your purpose, and then everyday commit yourself to one act toward your purpose.
It will be less complicated. It will be less hard.
And you will have more courage because you know you’re doing Right.
On May 28, 2004, while I was working in Afghanistan, a bullet forever changed my life.
As part of my therapy, I was asked to write a poem showcasing the highlights of my career.
This is the result of that exercise:
The LORD is My Shepherd
I watch the Sun rise over the Mojave Desert before she begins her torture. I dig into ancient seabed with hot metal and bare hands.
I sweat and hump a rucksack up and down the mountains of Central America. I receive Baptism in her clear streams and dig deep in her earth.
I climb the Tae-bek Mountains in Korea and peer into the Demilitarized Zone. There, where the men Stand Alone.
I welcome the Rising Sun of Japan awakening in the Pacific and watch her sleep again in the Yellow Sea.
In the dark, I silently marvel at the Southern Cross in the Australian sky.
I witness paralyzed the rising and falling of machetes in Haiti amid the great screaming of the multitude. I watch from a distance Voodoo Bokers invoke Unclean Spirits and loose them into the night.
I observe the teeming crowd part like the Red Sea for the naked and shambling Zumbe’ walking out her emaciated Living Death.
She doesn’t see me.
She sees no one.
I see her and my jaw hangs open.
There, on Death’s Island, in the Heart of Darkness, the Lord carries me.
I freeze all alone in Alaska beneath Denali’s Brow and the coldness of the Moon. Death is only a few sweet minutes of sleep away. The Lord lifts me to my feet.
I ponder the Aurora Borealis as it plays over the black and white Canadian night. The Lord’s Voice tells me to “Stop” and wait for just one moment, and I am saved.
I swim the tepid and oily waters of the Persian Gulf.
I drive past the Ziggurat of Ur listening to airstrikes on the radio.
In the land of the Chaldeans
In the land of Abraham
I stand on the banks of the River Euphrates and wash my hot feet in the Tigris.
Babylon the Great is on fire.
Columns of smoke reach toward Heaven like angry fingers.
I lay down my submachine gun on the roof of the Palace of the Ruler of Babylon.
I face Jerusalem and pray like an exile The Lord delights me with visions of lambs following their gentle shepherd through the green pastures of Kurdistan.
There, East of Eden, with Nineveh on the horizon, in the belly of Assyria. His Righteous Right Hand preserves me.
Yet the Sun tortures.
I pump my legs up the Hindu Kush and gasp for breath at the footstool of the Himalayas.
I stand as ruler’s guardsman in another palace in another kingdom in another war.
The Right Hand of the Father deflects the bullet from my Mortal Vein. As He corrects it’s path, it forever corrects mine.
God dwells in that intersection of bone and metal and pain and space and time.
I plead to Him under the thin blue sky of Afghanistan and bleed into her sand.
He hears me.
He sees me.
There, where Alexander was halted. There, in the Graveyard of Armies.
I slip into coma as the Sun goes down on me and I lose her light. But in the Dark, He is there and shows me many things.
I awaken to the tearful kisses of the Wife of my youth and the embrace of my children.
I am home. The Sun also rises…
Because He lives, I live. Because He walks with me, I still walk the Earth.
The Lord is my Shepherd…I shall not want. He restores my soul…for His Name’s Sake.
Surely Goodness and Mercy shall follow me all the days of my life, and I will dwell in the House of the Lord
And I was reading in Proverbs this morning. And the verse out of Proverbs 3 just struck me over and over.
Do not be afraid of sudden terror or the desolation of the wicked when it comes. For the LORD will be your confidence and will keep your foot from being caught. When you lie down you will not be afraid and your sleep will be sweet.
I wait on the LORD. My soul waits. And in His Word I do hope. I wait for the LORD as those who watch for the morning.
So watch. And wait. Be ready. And pray. And don’t be afraid. Don’t be afraid.
Shabbat Shalom. May Peace be upon you.
I feel peaceful. I feel a little anxious. I mean if you’re not anxious you’re not taking it seriously. But I’m not afraid – “oh my gosh, what’s going to happen?” I’m going to see what’s going to happen.
When I was in Iraq and Afghanistan, myself and everyone I knew had to learn how to not think about dying tomorrow. We had to put that out of our minds. Thoughts of death and failure impeded our ability to function. It impeded our confidence and our capability and our performance.
Fast forward to today. There’s a lot of fear. There’s a lot of hurting going on. But we still have a very important job to do, even if we’re not getting paid to do it.
People are watching us. People are counting on us. And we have to perform.
So, I suggest you create something. Compose poems and songs. Write an article. Be creative. Be expressive. Make a video.
Be positive, because we’re going to get through this.
Anybody that’s on a path of Wisdom, or a path of Truth…you have to go through Proverbs to get there. Proverbs in the Bible is the gateway to Wisdom. It covers everything – economics, marriage, relationships with neighbors. It covers the Creator. Every situation you can find yourself in as a human can be covered in Proverbs.
Our lifestyle is changing before our eyes. Now is the time. Now is the time to study wisdom literature – ancient wisdom literature. Now’s the day.
So get Wisdom, and with all you’re getting get Understanding. Read Proverbs. You can read Proverbs 1 on the first day of the month, and by Proverbs 31 you would have covered a 31 day month. So it’s something that can be very habit forming in a positive way.
And don’t have any fear. No fear. There will be Light and Love and Life.
Well it’s here – it’s the end of the world as we know it.
However there’s a lot of good news. For one, people are moving closer together, even as we’re pushing farther apart, if that makes any sense.
We get so much of our stuff from foreign sources, and that’s gonna contract. The lines of communication, and the things we purchase, and how far we have to bring them to our tables and so forth…. That’s gonna get shorter too; and I think that everybody, no matter where you’re at, you can start some kind of garden. It’s one of the most rewarding things you’ll ever find – producing a food that you enjoy eating right there on your windowsill, or in your backyard, or if you have some land, out there too.
It’s mid-March. Now’s the time to be doing this anyway.
There are a lot of reasons to be hopeful. The world is changing, but that doesn’t mean it’s the end of the world.
Do the things that you’ve been wanting to do anyway.
I’ve got tremendous hope, and all we have to do is do right.
Tomorrow is going to happen. Yesterday happened. And the only thing that I had the power to change whatsoever, is just in my head and in my heart at this moment.
And I’m not afraid.
The Scriptures talk all about this. Today is the 16th, and for me that means it’s Proverbs 16 (that’s what I read. Tomorrow I’ll read Proverbs 17.) But one thing really caught me today: that if you commit your works to the LORD, your thoughts will be established.
And all of us have a lot of thoughts right now. And me, like everybody else, woke up this morning going, “okay, what’s the next bad news?” But I committed this project to the LORD, and so he helped me organize my thoughts.
And the world isn’t so dark. As a matter of fact, the world is extraordinarily bright this morning.
It’s almost Spring. And that’s good news.
Have a great Monday. It’ll be gone before you know it.
It’s Wednesday evening. This day’s almost over. And I feel compelled to offer you
a little note of encouragement.
I needed encouragement this week, and I want to share that with you.
This day’s almost over, but tomorrow’s a brand new day. And we’re all going to get up, and we’re going to do it all again. Because that’s life, and that’s what we do.
Photo Credit: Wendy Hines
Days end, and days begin.
And the most important part is in the getting up. And I think we can all do that. So have a good night. Be encouraged. There’s hope.
Notice that the fathers take the first step.
