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The Black Cornerempty posted: 12.06
Mike Ramey Mike Ramey
Friends, Enemies & Opportunities
by Mike Ramey,
The Manhoodline
some text

I had been watching an old World War II-based epic recently, featuring a well-known military commander who had stayed around toooo long to suit the comfort of the ‘powers that be’. He was eventually FIRED, but had the opportunity to make a great speech on his way out of the public spotlight, and uttered the immortal phrase: “Old soldiers don’t die…they just fade away.”

Being an old soldier myself, after ten years of keeping my fingers on the keys and throwing strikes, its time to fade away. This is the last column. We are putting the flag back in the box, and the bugle is blowing softly as this part of the journey ends.

The joys and sorrows I have experienced while writing this column over the years has been a true blessing from God. There are MORE brothers writing similar columns now. There are MORE brothers who are speaking out on the issues of manhood, hard work, and making the best of an opportunity. There are MORE brothers who are remembering who they are in Christ, in the brotherhood, and in the race.

It shows that my mission has been successful, and the battlefield has been conquered. I’ve been blessed to be visited by more than a few friends, a few enemies, and a host of opportunities. However, before we pull down the big top, and hose out the cages, there are still a few items on the burners that need to be examined.

No time like the present.

WE KNOW WHERE THEY ARE!
One would hope that the mainstream press (MSM) would stop publishing articles and producing electronic fodder about the ‘fatherless’ issue in America. Nevertheless, several times a year, brothers who ARE on the job as fathers have to ‘wade’ through a sea of finger pointing, guilt trips, and excuses about why some families can’t hack it in the togetherness department. In reality, families are doing better than ever. It is ‘cool’ to be a parent, no matter what the MSM tries to shove onto Page One.

Even Oprah can’t block the impact of a true brother who is on the job without excuse, no matter how far into space her message goes…but, I digress.

To those men who are on the case and manning the helm of their families as God intended, you get a tip of the hat from yours truly. It matters little what others may say on the subject, nor don’t look for too many pats on the back from the MSM. The media in this country has become feminized, and more concerned over whom is living with whom rather than who is getting married…and staying married.

The CHIEF reason why it ‘appears’ that there are fewer fathers in the land is simple to explain.
 
First, our elected leaders have done little to reduce the tax burden on those men and women who chose to do the right thing and get married BEFORE they have children. It has ALWAYS been marriage BEFORE children, and this is the right way to do things. As it has been said by one well-know preacher: “Do right, because it is right to do right, regardless of whether or not it is the right thing to do.”

Second, we have the MSM (and too many groups) who put unmarried fathers on an equal scale with married fathers, saddle the married father with a No Fault divorce system, a punitive Child Support system, and Visitation/Custody arrangements geared towards mothers (single married, or otherwise engaged) then ask why fathers won’t ‘stick around’ to raise the children they helped to create.

It seems we never hear the same MSM ‘jump’ single mothers with the same gusto.

Could it be that many of those who are working in the newsrooms and behind the cameras could best be described as “Single, Messed-Up & Female?”

Yep…I DID say it! LOL!

PUTTING THE ‘MEN’ BACK INTO ‘AMEN’:
It seems that many men will just have to ‘tough out’ the stupidity of the MSM, the feminists, and even the church as to the reason why there are social ills associated with the so-called ‘absence’ of men from just about every nook and cranny of society.

It is not that society has not been warned. From a biblical perspective, each and every time women and children are exalted above men, the society in question has a real mess going on, until order is restored. ‘Fem’ men and ‘Mascu’ women are not ideals which God created, but mankind willingly mandated.

Society is reaping the whirlwind.

It doesn’t take a genius to figure out why recruitment goals continue to be reached in the War against Terror. Our young men like to have their metal tested. If it won’t be in the school, and can’t be in the church, then it will have to be on the battlefield--a REAL battlefield.

Hear me out on this point. Young men like to be tested under the heat of battle. In the church, there USED to be upright brothers in the pulpit and the pew who were more interested in raising men with character, than BEING characters themselves. These
days, it is hard to find a church where the brothers who are in charge are actually upright men, rather than uptight men. The spirit of service, stewardship, and selflessness have disappeared from many modern churches, regardless of denomination. “The Church of
the Sagging Pants” has been birthed. I continue to run into young ministers, deacons, and even laymen who have hit the door on the way out of that church, along with the “First Church of the Feminized Man“.

Let me offer a suggestion here, as we head for a close this month.

Jesus Christ was NOT a punk!

Brother, are you sick of how your church is under performing? Is the company where you are working doing less than its best when it comes to serving the public? Is your sweetheart turning up her nose at the prospect of marriage, but is not adverse to getting
“shacked up”?

Be a man and do something about it!

There are plenty of women who would LOVE to be your wife, brother. FIND HER, and drop Jezebel right back off to her own crowd. If your company is not doing all it should, and your job is less than satisfactory, it IS time to start the search to find a new one AND
TAKE IT when you find it, or START that new company!

Lastly, if your church is not all that it should be, put the MEN back into AMEN and START your own! Don’t be a prisoner to the ignorant! If they could start them in the first century, you could start your own in the twenty-first, AMEN?

In short, you can either remain and complaint…or head out the door and go for more. Why be ‘uptight’ when you are right and ‘upright’!

Let’s close this out, with an illustration.

One of my favorite Bible men is Caleb, Joshua’s second in command. Not only did Caleb catch Joshua’s back from that first recon mission to the Promised Land, this brother was on the battlefield with Josh for several decades on down the pike.

The day came for Caleb to move on.

After the battles were fought, the troops were taught, and the land was claimed, Caleb bid goodbye to his friend and commander and set off in search of those items that were destined to be a part of his life. In short, he could have stayed with Josh and kept on being in the command structure, with plenty of recognition, money and power. OR…he could take the risk, and move on to fight his own battles and take care of his own dreams. Caleb was on the front lines for the cause of God. Now that the cause was won, it was time to take care of some unfinished business.

Caleb knew when to move on…and so do I.

See some of you over the hill, when the next project is completed.

MIKE RAMEY is the author of THE MANHOOD LINE. A syndicated, monthly column written for men from a biblical, business, and common sense perspective. It appears on fine websites around the world. Emails, Bmails and Pmails are welcomed to the following address: manhoodline@yahoo.com. Ten years (1996 to 2006) of bringing the issues, the heat, and the solutions to the brotherhood around the world!

©2006 Mike Ramey/Barnstorm Communications International.
Used by permission, BlackandChristian.com, 2006.



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