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Well, well, well, Colton Harris-Moore (aka the Barefoot Bandit) is no longer barefoot, though allegedly he is notoriously a bandit. 

While 80,000 + fans on Facebook glamorize, idolize and celebrate this thieving teen, it is worth noting none of them will sacrificially serve time with him (or for him) in his jail cell. 

His own mother has expressed pride in her son's criminal escapades, and this is what is saddest of all to me.  Colton and his boys-behaving-badly ilk are becoming a pandemic in America.  The Christian church has for decades been warning of the ugly and deadly repercussions of rampant divorce, single-parenthood, and absentee dads.  Recently, the absentee dad has been the subject of notable studies, but the results of those studies could not be more predictable.  Let me summarize them for you:

Children, all children, but especially sons, need Dads.

Earth-shaking, isn't it?  The Creator's design for the family - one dad and one mom married for life and investing themselves fully into raising their children in the discipline and instruction of the Lord - really works. 

Colton's biological Dad abandoned him at age 2.  His step-dad died when he was 7, leaving him at the mercy (if such a word can be used of her) of his sin-sick mother.  Whatever she taught him, she surely did not emphasize the 8th Commandment.   

Now, do not get me wrong.  I am not saying single mothers (or dads) are always destined to fail.  Nor am I saying a boy in his teens (who everywhere else but the western world would be considered a grown man), does not stand accountable for his own actions.  Colton is responsible for his crimes and cannot excuse them away.  Ancient Israel tried that with God, but it did not work out well for them (see Ezekiel 18).

But dear readers, my concern is how many other Barefoot Bandits are waiting in the wings in America?  Fifty + years of ignoring and rejecting God's design for the home is just not working out well for our country.  This is especially alarming when one takes stock of the conspicuous absence of real men and real Dads in our culture. 

We are a Dad-deprived and men-deprived culture.  We are becoming a nation of boys stuffed into hairy, belching, beer-bellied bodies. 

Oh Sovereign God, raise up real men once again in Your church.  Grant to us Dads who will instruct their sons in what makes a man a man, in Your Holy eyes.  May our daughters, too, be blessed to be raised by Christ-like, sacrificially loving men who will model manhood for them day-by-day.  Turn our eyes to the Man of men, the God-Man Jesus, that we might live and move and have our being in Him.  For the sake of Your Son, Jesus, help men of Your church rise up and bless their homes with loving headship and heart-felt worship.  And give us grace to reach out in gospel love to the Colton Harris-Moore's in our own neighborhoods.  For it was for bandits, bad boys, liars and adulterers You died, precious Jesus.  And wonder of wonders, you are still saving sinners like me.  Be glorified in Your church, O Lord.  Amen.

For a much more intelligent discussion of the plight of men in America: http://www.albertmohler.com/2010/06/22/the-end-of-men-a-hard-look-at-the-future/            

To read up on the Barefoot Bandit: http://www.katu.com/news/local/63636867.html

 

 

by Keith McWhorter