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Plain and Simple:  Don't steal my ideas and if you want to republish them, give me some credit or a link back to my site.  Do the honest thing. 

Believe in me

Ten year-old Dalton Sherman, a fifth grader, was the opening keynote at a big beginning-of-school pep rally for the DallasIndependent School District. He was speaking to thousands of people.

I would love to meet the parents, teachers and mentors behind this remarkable young man.  The result is living proof of what is possible when a child is given proper guidance and when he believes in himself.

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yZm0BfXYvFg&color1=0xb1b1b1&color2=0xcfcfcf&hl=en&fs=1&w=425&h=344]

True Confidence: Part 4 - False Measures - Acquisitions

We continue our discussion on True Confidence (Part One, Part Two, Part Three)

False Measures of Confidence.

2. Acquisitions.

Houses, Cars, HDTV's, Computers, iPhones, Boats, Motorcycles.

Some people determine value by their valuables.  Their self worth by their net worth.

Believe me, this is one I struggle with daily.

Psychology Today did a survey of over 20,000 people and 74% said that money is how we keep score in life.

If you believe this survey represents the attitude of America, that means that 3/4 of America derives their self worth from money.  A person value is tied to their car, house, the job they have, the status and circles they entertain and the amount of money they make.

Is this what we want to teach our children?

I have lived this first hand many times.  When I was a Financial Planner, I drove a Suzuki, though I was qualified and good at my job, many people judged me competence by the car I drove.

On the other hand, a friend of mine has a Salsa colored Lamborghini and everywhere we went, people would gawk and take pictures of his car. It felt pretty good to be next to him.

But God tells us a different story in Psalm 20:7

"Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the LORD our God."

Now, don't get me wrong having nice things is fine.  My friend is a smart guy and worked hard for his car.  However, there is a fine line between having nice things and wanting those things to derive our own self worth. 

For some people their things may be clothes. 

A popular women's magazine asked it's readers what they do when they feel depressed or down?  The number one response: Go shopping. 

We all have our material weaknesses but the point is to set the example and teach our children where our real self worth is derived from. 

Proverbs 11:28 says:

"Whoever trusts in his riches will fall, but the righteous will thrive like a green leaf."  

The Deadly Viper Assassins

I am going through a bible study called the "Why" series by Jud Wilhite.I really wish I was a hip pastor with a cool church and the ability to produce podcasts, DVD's and cool websites that really catch the attention of the Gen X and younger generations, however, I am not and all I have is this little blog to rant on.

After a quick Google search, I found Jud's other projects, and this one caught my eye in particular.

Deadly Viper is an initiative dedicated to beginning a strategicconversation on the issues of radical integrity and radical grace. Ourfocus is to develop leaders who will have intentional, transparent, andhonest conversations about key character issues.

Deadly Viper is a movement designed to help leaders finish strong and live a life with no regrets.

Their books, tools and DVD's are humorous and straight to the point.  Character is a huge issue within the Legacy Dad framework and every tool we can get to better understand, model and teach this to our children is essential.

Just for that reason, I have a special for all our Legacy Dad readers.  A FREE FULL version of the mp3 audiobook for Deadly Viper. - Sorry, Offer has ended.

Just follow this banner and get the download.  If you are like me, always busy, I like to listen to audiobooks while I jog or go to the gym.  Free ones are even better.

If you like the free audiobook, think about buying the book itself or heading over to their website and showing some support.

The Deadly Viper has 3 main contributors which include Mike Foster, Jud Wilhite, and Anne Jackson.

Mike Foster is the Senior Creative Principal at PlainJoeStudios and serves as President of Ethur, a non-profit organizationdeveloping initiatives that promote social and cultural change.

Jud Wilhite is senior pastor of Central Christian Church, apioneering and creative community of faith in the Las Vegas area. Morethan 12,000 people attend Central campuses each weekend. He is theprimary teacher and communicator of Central's mission, vision, andvalues.

Anne Jackson serves on staff at Cross Point and is the author of Mad Church Disease (Zondervan 2009).

Wordless Wednesday: Prayer for Equality

True Confidence: Part 3 - False Measures - Appearance

We continue our discussion on True Confidence (Part One, Part Two)

False Measures of Confidence. 

There are many sticks we use to measure confidence falsely so I have summarized a few of the most popular ones.

1. Appearance.

Some people get their value or self worth from what they see in the mirror, especially when we are young.  We value people's opinion of our physical appearance and try hard to improve and maintain that physical appearance. We pay vast amounts of money for plastic surgery, get our photos airbrushed and try to emulate the celebrities we see on TV.  Little do we know that those celebrities spend hours with professional hairdressers and makeup artists before they ever leave the house in the morning.

On a personal note, when I was younger, I worked as a contract manager for a top model management company.  The models and actors I worked with were some of the shallowest people I have ever met and they truly believed that their self worth was in their appearance.  I didn't last long in that industry.

Ask people at a Health Club if they are there to look better or for their health? 

We spend billions of dollars chasing the illusion of beauty.

If women woke up tomorrow and were satisfied with their appearance, we would have a bigger economic crash than the current sub prime mortgage crisis! 

All joking aside, the Bible says that beauty is fleeting, why would we put our confidence in something that does not last? 

And even if we were blessed with the right genes to make us physically attractive, who are we to boast?

1 Corinthians 4:7 says

"For who makes you different from anyone else? What do you have that youdid not receive? And if you did receive it, why do you boast as thoughyou did not?"

Teachable Moments

In Proverbs and in James we read about being quick to listen and slow to speak.  As Fathers, this lesson becomes even more important.  In Ephesians 6:4 we read, "Fathers, do not exasperate your children; instead, bring them up in the training and instruction of the Lord."(NIV).  As we bring up our children in the ways of the Lord, we have to continually walk the way of a Spiritual Leader, first in our home and then in the Church and our communities.  Our wives and our children can testify to how Godly of a man that we are by the way we treat them.  A man that I respect very well, both in Christian and in business standards, once shared a story with me about one of his children.  I have to say that I could not have handled it the way that he handled it, but through prayer and faith I might have had a shot.  When he ended the story he said, "Don't be quick to anger and to discipline, instead, look for the teachable moments in life.  Because those will be the ones that they remember."  His son is a leader of the church and of his family as a Godly man.  As men we are constantly looking for the easy way to do things, solve things, invent things, etc., but with our children and our wives we have to quickly learn that it is an investment.  It is not just "quality" time, rather it's "quantity" that make the quality we desire.  Instead of reaching for the paddle or being quick to anger, look for those teachable moments in life when you can take a walk with them and show them that this is our Father's world.

Wordless Wednesday: Possible Faith