Fruit is the expected by-product of the investment of time, energy, and resources. This is true whether you run a business, a home, or a ministry. God has the same expectation of us as believers to produce fruit when we use His resources. Let’s look at how this plays out in ALERT Cadets.

I expect fruit, in the form of changed lives, from the investment of resources in this ministry. Each day, I pray that God would bring an increase in the number of fathers who actively take on their God-given responsibilities to lead their families, and particularly their sons, well; to provide vision to them as to who they can become in Christ and what they are to do for the Kingdom. I also pray for the sons to give their hearts to their fathers and look to them for direction and wisdom as they grow and ultimately strike out on their own to start their own families. I identify with Paul in Colossians 1:28-29, “I…labor, striving according to His power, which mightily works within me.”

God gives or withholds time, energy, and resources to provide direction. Of the three, I track time closest; it is the one that so easily slips away never to be recovered. By energy, I refer to the creativity and human emotion associated with being a part of what God is doing in the world. As long as fruit is produced, then I, and those associated with this ministry, gain energy to continue in the battle. God provides resources in the form of physical assets, money, and people. This is the area that, frankly, concerns me least. God owns the cattle on a thousand hills, as well as all the gold and all the silver according to Psalm 50:10-11 and Haggai 2:8. He blesses His people with wealth and then directs them to share it in such a way that fruit is produced. I look for fruit production as the first key to discerning whether God is blessing a particular work. God’s work will not lack God’s resources!

What does the fruit produced look and taste like? Here are recent comments we’ve received at ALERT Cadets.

1) From at least one father per month, I hear, “Major Farr, I’ve lost the heart of my 18-year old son. Can you help me to win the hearts of my 13 and 8 year-old sons so that they don’t follow right behind him?”

2) In Mexico, as fathers heard about taking up the challenge to train their sons to be godly men, many broke down in tears, desiring to make changes in their lives.

3) Mothers send us notes of encouragement for the work being done through local ALERT Cadet units to knit the hearts of their husbands with their sons.

4) At the beginning of an ALERT Cadet camp, a father said, “I do not know my 17-year old son anymore.” By the end of the camp, the glow in the son’s eyes told a different story!

Changed lives, mended relationships, shared vision, and progress toward a specific goal are all signs of fruit. Look for the fruit in your life, the lives of your young people, and in the ministries you support with your time, energy, and resources. May God give wisdom to lead your families well!

Living by Principles – February 2008 Monthly Message from the ALERT Cadet Major

Gentlemen,

I have great joy in writing these monthly messages and trust that you find them helpful. Many have asked if they can share, forward, or post these messages. The answer is a whole-hearted yes, as long as there is no commercial purpose or gain.

Also, I would welcome your continued comments and thoughts on the topics I cover.

Here is this month’s message:

“Methods are many, principles are few. Methods often change, principles never do!”

As a young Christian, I was taught this rhyme to help me realize what things in life were worth falling on my sword over and which were merely preference preferences. The key for me was to draw out the principle in a given Scripture or situation that would not change so as to properly guide my life.

The same is true whether you are running an organization or a family. There must be principles that you decide, in advance, that you will not compromise. In a family these principles are usually developed in moral, financial, and life purpose areas. Some examples would be in the areas of alcohol, debt, choice of life-partner, and profession.

At ALERT Cadet we seek to do the same by setting down several principles by which we operate this ministry. These are our guiding lights to make decisions in the fog of day-to-day operational concerns. I do not purport that these have the weight of Scripture, but they rather serve to give guidance in knowing when to stand and when to bend.

These principles are also the filter through which we have run the 2013 ALERT Cadet strategy and which will guide us in our actions and tasks to accomplish the strategy. It is an exciting time in the world of ALERT Cadets. The ALERT Cadet leadership worked diligently during a four-day retreat in Oklahoma, at the end of January to put flesh on the strategy elements. More on the 2013 strategy and the results of this retreat next month!

The ALERT Cadet guiding principles are:

• Evaluate all decisions in light of Scriptural principles
• Focus on changing people’s lives, not on administering/developing a program
• Run at the pace of God-provided resources (people, talents, and dollars)
• Maintain a 100% volunteer (either self-supporting or donor supported), distributed organization
• Utilize best-in-class and best available technology to get the job done efficiently
• Plan for the future and allow God to direct the individual steps and timing

Let me discuss these in a bit more detail. I pray these will be useful examples for you to consider a you develop principles by which to operate your family with similar clarity.

Evaluate – Everything ALERT Cadet does must square against God’s principles as given in Scripture. If this is not the case then we must discard the idea or plan. There are certainly gray areas where sincere, believing, born-again Christians can disagree, so a multitude of counselors is essential to properly discern the Scriptures. The Cadet captains serve that role for me and this ministry.

Focus – ALERT Cadet is just a tool that God has raised up to assist fathers in the development of their sons. We develop the ALERT Cadet tool to fit the needs of fathers and families. We measure and monitor the effectiveness of the tool. We never forget why this ministry exists, and that is to serve the fathers who desire to raise godly sons.

Run – Almost anything can be accomplished in the flesh with enough manpower and money, but the fruit does not last. We desire to see ALERT Cadet grow at the speed that God provides the resources. If God brings many talented resources, then our five-year plan may be accomplished in three years. If He brings only a few resources, then it may take seven to accomplish the work. With this principle we seek to discern God’s will in the matter of program development and the rate at which we grow. We are always moving forward, but the throttle is in the Lord’s hands.

Maintain – A core principle since 2002 has been that ALERT Cadets would be a 100% volunteer ministry utilizing distributed resources. Again in this way, God has complete control over the speed and reach of the ministry by controlling the personnel available. Sue and I are self-supporting volunteers; others have received support from their churches, parents, or other parties believing in the mission and the work of ALERT Cadet. Many work from their homes to do publishing, photo editing, or website development for the ministry. Others have volunteered a week, or even a year, of their time and talents at the headquarters here in Big Sandy, Texas. I praise God for bringing along such talented folks. However, for this distributed ministry to work, we need the next principle. A side benefit is the reduced cost to operate the ministry and the ability to quickly adjust to changes in resources or contributions.

Utilize – We desire to utilize the best-in-class and best available technology to accomplish the “nuts and bolts” of ALERT Cadets. Sometimes in ministries, volunteer labor is used to do something a machine could do, because of the cost. However, this leads to volunteer burn-out and frustration, and frankly is not responsible stewardship of God provided people resources. Rather, ALERT Cadet seeks to have the technology (machines, methods, software, etc.) available to get the job done speedily and thus better serve those whom we are trying to serve! This technology allows a distributed network of people to function and actually thrive in the accomplishment of the ministry goals.

Plan – Lastly, we must make plans. We must take the time to discern God’s will in the matter of strategy to answer the question, “Where are we going and why?” We then make detailed plans and look for God to direct our steps and timing through the opening and closing of opportunities, the provision of resources, or the joy and energy given upon the accomplishment of a goal. This means that the ALERT Cadet 2013 strategy has detailed plans of “who is going to accomplish what by when” so that every day each member of the ALERT Cadet team knows what he or she needs to do. We review this every Monday morning to check our progress and ascertain if God may be moving us in a different direction so that a course correction is required.

There you have it, the six guiding principles we use to manage and develop the ministry of ALERT Cadet into a useful tool for fathers.

I encourage you to develop similar principles for your family. Principles help each family member understand what your family stands for and where your boundaries are. I think you will find that this also reduces friction between family members as it helps to set clear expectations between parents and children.

May God continue to give you wisdom as you lead your family well.

In Christ,

Roger D. Farr

ALERT Cadet Commanding Officer