Rite of Passage the Film!!!

Wow, I haven't done a post on this blog for almost 2 years.  Time definitely flies, especially with our crazy schedules as men, the balance of family, church, work etc, etc.  Anyway our film is almost halfway done, a year overdue I might add, but thats ok.  God's plans are always on time.  Needless to say the Lord has been good, and as always so faithful.  I encourage you to go to our new link at wordpress, and the the second link is our Face Book page.  I hope you find that format enjoyable. 

http://riteofpassagethefilm.wordpress.com/

https://www.facebook.com/pages/Rite-of-Passage-the-Film/121727021224472



God Bless,

Joe Stapp

The Crucible

Well everybody, the time is fast approaching for Wil to embark on his "Crucible".  I'm still in the process of finalizing the logistics with the camera crew.  Apparently some things need to be deconflicted, having said that we're beginning to make headway.

The crucible I'm pleased to say is scheduled to begin November 14th on Sunday night at 10PM, and will run through November 20th at noon.  The time will be intense, stressful, and fun!  Wil will find out what he's made of physically, and will discover where his strength lies spiritually.  Wil, will discover that each phase has spiritual significance with regard to every man's spiritual walk and he'll be able to gage at which stage he is currently in and develop a battle plan to begin to take ground immediately for the cause of Christ.

Not only am I excited about this father son time, I'm excited that we'll be able to share it with the world.  Never to my knowledge has there ever been a documentary that intimately covers the details of a Rite of Passage, talk about unscripted reality television with a Christ centered purpose!!  I'M EXCITED!!

Let the countdown begin 91 days and counting!!

God Bless,

Joe

All Rights reserved 2010

Ken Hamm at Pensacola Christian College

Good morning everybody, last night I had the privilege of taking my sons to Pensacola Christian College to see Mr. Ken Hamm, the founder of the ministry "Answers in Genesis".  We were able to go with some very good friends of ours from church who brought some of their children as well.

Ken Hamm is an outstanding speaker on the topic of apologetics, and the timeless relevance of the book of Genesis and it's creation message.  He effectively covers how our culture has managed to slowly dismantle the

the Christian foundations that our forefathers worked so diligently to set into place, and how we as Christians haven't done very much to stem the tide of secular and humanist theories.  In fact we've helped the enemies of the faith through our complacency and the everyday distractions in life that we subscribe to.  I highly recommend that you check out his website at  http://www.answersingenesis.org/ .  I'm sure you'll find it and the resources therein to be most helpful, especially for the discipleship of your children.  Remember that Mr Hamm speaks all over the nation if you see a venue close by where he is speaking take the time to see him.

Back to last night, it was great to sit and listen with my two oldest boys to this man whom God has blessed with incredible insight.  I love it that there are men such as this that I can take my boys to that back up, support, and compliment the things that I already teach in my home.  This not only encourages me along with my continuing to learn, but it reassures my sons that "dad" isn't just conjuring the stuff that he teaches out of thin air.  It also lets them know that "dad's" not a whack job because they're hearing it from someone else in addition to me, either that or they think that I'm not the only crazy one out there.

In closing take the time to hit events like this, number one it strengthens the relationship between you and your boys and it's a great catalyst for great meaningful conversation, in addition to that it provides a great learning experience for everybody involved.

 Well, until next time take care and God bless.

Joe Stapp

All rights reserved Aug 2010

A Hard Day's Work

Good afternoon!!

I hope you all had a great weekend.  Two of the  boys and I had a pretty good day yesterday working together outside.  Mary took off to Tallahassee Florida to meet half way with her folks (they live in Fernadina Beach FL) to pick up two of our boys that had spent a week with them for their vacation.  In the mean time I had Alec, the second eldest and Isaac our youngest boy spending the day with me.

The day started off getting mom out the door with Eliana our princess to pick up the other brothers.  After she took off, me and the other two took off to "McD's" for an accelerated breakfast before the days events.  Boy was it hot, even at 0900 in the morning.  The days mission consisted of hauling fire wood for this winter, and to rebuild the firewood rack.  We went and got three truck loads full of lumber from my First Sgt's house.  In the meantime the heat index soared to 110 degrees, whew!!  It wouldn't have been so bad except for the fact that my 1989 Toyota truck has no AC, talk about brutal.  We did this across town three times.

After the second run it was pushing about 1300, (1PM for civilians) so we stopped at a new pizzaria in town to see what they were all about.  The pizza wasn't too bad, however, the AC and cold drinks took the cake, talk about relief, it was AWESOME.  The third trip commenced, and when it was done it was time to unload the lumber, clean out the truck and get to work on redoing the area where we stack all of our firewood for the winter.

Isaac my seven year old was on it, he swept out the truck, and took time to pose for a picture in the process.  He did a good job in light of the heat and the fact that he was worn out by the end of the day.  Alec was my camera man in addition to bringing allot of muscle to bear to get this job done.  Both of their work ethics far exceed that of mine when I was their age. 

It is so important to teach our kids that work is good,  yes I said good.  Too many times I hear parents tell me that I should enjoy these years when they (the kids) are eager to please and willing to be helpful, because the day will come when they won't help anymore.  

I laugh to myself and can't help but ask the question quietly "whose the parent here, and why does the child even have the option of whether or not they are helping"?  We need to train our kids to work, and to work hard.  Not working is not an option, and if we are deliberate about raising and discipling our kids, in this case our sons we are honoring God.  As you recall after God put Adam in the garden, you didn't see Adam park himself under the closest tree to lounge about in the shade.  No, God put that boy to work, just as he [God] had been toiling for several days building the universe during the creation story of Genesis.

 

I'm proud of my sons that they aren't afraid to get their hands dirty and get busy working.  They are boys and they'd rather be playing or fishing than busting their tails out in the field.  I find that it's a work in progress, same as it was for me, but I also find it to be so rewarding that when I look at my sons and I tell them how much fun I've had working with them that day, and they turn to me and grin and say "Yes sir, that was a good time today".  Even after all the sweat, crazy heat, bumps, cuts and bruises they tell me they had a good time too, that feels so good.  That's fun, "man style", though I must admit to be  honest I wish we had been fishing instead.

Well catch you guys later,

Joe

Rites of Passage; the documentary

Hey everybody! I hope everybody out there is doing well, and I hope that if you're involved in a Rite of Passage ritual that all is going especially well! God bless you on your initiative, and obedience to disciple your sons.

I have some rather interesting news for those that are following my blog (when I do my part and blog...LOL), I'm presently making arrangements to develop a documentary that will cover Wil's (my oldest boy) rite of passage to include my testimony that brought me to the realization that I had to be more than a father that was just sitting in the stands checking the blocks. I had a rather informal meeting through the Lord's providence, that should culminate into a formal meeting this coming week or next regarding this incredible voyage that the Lord put me on this time last year. My hopes and prayers are that we can catch the essence of this voyage on film, and more importantly the incredible message behind it that's the driving force that God has laid on my heart. This may be the beginning of a great ministry opportunity, we'll see what our glorious Father has in mind. Having said that please keep my in your prayers.

The past months for me (and you as well) have had numerous blessings, challenges and hiccups associated with them. My father had the joy of coming out and spending time with me and the boys. We had our 2nd annual regional Security Forces Ball here on the Gulf Coast. My wife being pregnant didn't feel pretty enough to go with me this year, and my arguments to the contrary were completely useless. Finally I figured I'd get my dad to go. He hadn't been in uniform since 1994 when he had retired from the Navy as an E-8 Senior Chief Boatswains Mate. We got dressed up and boy did he look sharp. It was real honor to stand next to him in uniform, I love my dad!! We also had the joy of going on a deep sea fishing trip in 4 to 5 foot seas, BARF!! There is a reason why I'm in the Air Force now. As you can see from the pics we did quite well, in spite of our efforts to chum the waters for shark!

After our great time and the return to the everyday grind of work I got the call that my grandmother had passed in her sleep on a Saturday afternoon. Wow, 87 years old, she went to sleep and passed on into eternity. That's the way to go.

June rolled around and my precious newly adopted baby girl of 6 months (she's actually 15 months old) decided to break her arm at the growth plate. The "Princess" slipped on a book and busted her arm as she reached back to catch herself I guess. Go figure! 14 years of rip roaring boys, who have smacked each other with swords, clubbed each other, speared each other, and forked each other, yes I said forked, but never a broken bone, not one bone. But my dear precious Princess ends up with three screws in her arm, go figure. Anyway she's doing great, she's been out of the cast for a couple of weeks and is twirling around in the living room.

Life is good, so good. In spite of loss and accidents God is faithful and continues to bless so richly.

God Bless all of you and keep the faith.

Your brother from another mother,

Joe

To Win the Hearts and Minds

Good Afternoon,

Down here in the panhandle we have a new unit coming to town, the 7th Special Forces Group. This is a great addition to the area for many reasons, but mainly for the economy, and selfishly for new playmates to train with.

When allot of people think of special forces they think of the last 9 years of warfare, and all the DA or direct action missions that they've been involved with and the association with the Hollywood films, The Green Berets, and Rambo etc... The primary mission of SF before 911 was mostly FID or Foreign Internal Defense. They would train indigenous forces how to fight, in doing this they would have to "Win the Hearts and Minds", of those people that they would be responsible for training or helping.

Hmmm...winning the hearts and minds, you know that this applies to us as Christians, and more importantly as fathers and mothers. We are in the process (hopefully) of mentoring and discipling our children, but unfortunately we are not the only ones that are trying to compete for the hearts and minds of our kids. Our culture has an insatiable appetite for young minds, and lives to devour and destroy. Therefore we must always be in pursuit for our children's hearts, we can't assume that they are absorbing our example passively through osmosis, learning is an active process. So once again we must be in pursuit of the hearts and minds of our children.

I charge you with this, that when there is a mission of great importance, a mission that requires exceptional skill sets on behalf of the operator, the US doesn't send the average soldier to get the job done, they send the best of the best, men that are best equipped to get the mission done, Special Forces. I would submit to you that when it comes to winning the hearts and minds of your children, God doesn't task the preacher, or the Sunday school teacher, or the youth group leader, he tasks the specialist, that individual that is best equipped to make a difference in the life of that child, the parents.

God Bless,

Joe Stapp

Life Happens

Good Morning Everybody!

I haven't visited in a while and I know that I am long over due for a post. So here it is.

One of the problems that I've been having lately is time, time to follow through with the numerous projects that I've got going, and still maintain my priorities. I think that this by far is the greatest weapon in the Devil's armory. If he can just keep us busy we begin to lose focus on what our priorities should be. We become overwhelmed with what I call 5 meter targets that we don't have time to engage the 25, 50, and 100 meter targets. (If this analogy doesn't make sense to you it's a military reference, you always engage the enemy that is closest to you, ie...5 meter, 10 meter, 200 meter targets etc....) It's at that time that you just have to readjust and make plan. It's the same with our personal time (Prayer, devotions, etc...) with the Lord, family time, our physical fitness and so on. If you don't have a battle plan, if you don't intentionally plan the things that are important to you, or rather the things that should be important to you they get neglected.

For me I've fallen off the horse with the Rite of Passage, some what. I take intentional time to talk to the boys about issues, and have devotions with them but I'm not being as diligent on the tracking side of the house. I've committed to take Sunday afternoons after church to check the boys progress and see how everything is coming along. This will help us stay on track and keep an intentional goal in mind.

Well I gotta run, I'm gonna try to stay in line with posting weekly, so please stay tuned for next week.

God Bless All of You!

Joe