Treyvon Martin and the Dysfunction of the Black Family---last chapter

The final installment in this series comes at the end of a summer in which I actually felt the enemy breathing down my neck.  He attacked me on all fronts and I became his punching bag.  Brothers and sisters, I know the word tells me to 'count it all joy,' but I failed miserably.  I became angry, bitter, and I even questioned my creator----and I know better.  I questioned his promises, and purpose for me.  I even asked him to send the chariot for me.  But, here I am; wiser and more prepared for the next time.  What I have learned is that, His grace really is sufficient.  And having that promise securely planted in my heart is worth all of the trouble.

During my exile, I was able to watch and digest some of the Zimmerman trial.  I, like many of you, was obviously outraged that there was no consequences for a young, unarmed (a rock does not fit the definition of an arm unless you are David and use a slingshot),boy being killed.  But we know our justice system is flawed.  In the days and weeks that followed I hoped that we would go into a huddle as a people and really talk about it-------but we didn't.  Not really.  This leads into my topic.

Martin was, like too many black boys, a trouble-making, pants sagging, weed smoking, wanna be thug.  He was suspended from school, which is why he was not in his home town at the time of the incident and he was out hanging late at night.  Those are facts.  You put all of those facts together and it equals a lack of a strong father.

I said it.  Any boy who has been suspended from school should be at home with no TV, no cell phone, no video game, on lock down. I'm not saying Zimmerman was not guilty.  I'm saying, if Martin had a better father, he would have never been out there to begin with.

The final, and most important problem with our community is that we are fatherless.  It hurts me to write it. I I hope it hurts you to read it, because without fathers, we cannot prosper.  Fathers are God's representatives in the home.  They are the ones through which God speaks, and to whom God speaks about the function and direction of the family.  The protection and blessings of a family, biblically speaking, come through the father.

In the 23rd Psalm, we see what a good father will do.  He leads us beside quiet waters, he makes us lie down in green pastures, his rod and staff comfort us.  A fathers job is to provide, protect, lead, and sacrifice for the greater good of the family.  We are missing that in our homes.  We are missing that in our churches.  We are missing fathers who will do those things.  Instead, we have 30, 40, 50 year old boys who have not had the men called out in them yet.  Some cannot hold a job, some cannot settle down with 1 woman, some are unstable because they are double-minded, some are too busy playing video games, or trying to buy Jordan sneakers and tire rims to be good fathers.

Brothers and sisters, we will not know the fullness of God's blessings until we begin to create men who will be good fathers.  Pray for every male in your family today and everyday.  Pray for the ones incarcerated, pray for the ones in college, the ones in the streets.  Pray for them, and tell them you are praying for them.  Invite them to church.  God can turn anyone into what He wants them to be, but that person has to die to self first.  Bring your men to God, and let Him make us the fathers, and husbands he wants us to be.