When Jesus met Peter he said to him "You are Simon the son of John, you will be called Cephas (Peter). Jesus, knowing all things, saw Simon, a man of impulse and indiscretion, as he could and would become, a man fully devoted to Him and the one whom God would use to establish the early church. As fathers with children, we have the same opportunity Jesus did with Peter. With the Word of God as our
guide, we can identify the God given gifts our kids have been given, and not only speak into our kids blessing, but also serve as a nurturer to those gifts. As men in the world, we deal with lots of confusing information about the meaning of manhood. We tend to believe our intellect, our athletic ability, our wealth, and our ability to get the woman define us as men. But this is not so. God sees us totally differently, and by design, our manhood and identity is rooted solely in Him. We must know our identity and roles as men in this world, and learn to impart those principles into our children. When we look at Jesus's ministry, we see his pattern for reaching the lost and undiscipled. He would often get away from the busy-ness of the world to a place of solitude to be with His Father. He would pray and seek guidance and adore and praise God at the same time. After those quiet times in the wilderness, Jesus would come back and do His missional work, teaching, healing, leading and commissioning His followers to do just as He had done. In Jesus's days, the discipleship community was close and deeply rooted. The young children were devoted to learning the Torah and understanding the scriptures. Many sought to learn under the Rabbi, but not just to learn from him. They wanted to be just like him in every way. The community itself saw the group as a whole as more important than then individual. It was because of this attitude toward training and community, that the early church gained so much traction. Today we as men must not think our children will somehow understand the fundamental aspects of their faith without intentional training and lifestyle modeled by the parents. In addition we must not think the individual would ever naturally choose to serve others or champion community, seeing as we have been repeatedly trained to believe "survival of the fittest", "do whatever it takes to be number one, to get to the top". Sand to Stone wraps all of these concepts up into a wilderness experience which seeks to build community, right the jaded idea of manhood, and provide father's the opportunity to be models of manhood to their sons, as they walk them along the journey. In addition to the camping experience, Sand to Stone provides training experiences for kids to utilize at home to build basic disciplines of the Christian life. The Navigators have provided the model and lead in this area, and much of what we utilize is as a result of thousands of people who have been blessed by their material. Finally, what is camping trip without adventure. The kids become proficient in basic camping and hiking, the use of equipment, and the application of survival skills. For more information, please email me at
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