IT BEGINS WITH YOU AT HOME:  Proverbs 22:6 “Train up a child in the way he should go; even when he is old, he will not depart from it.”  Ephesians 6:4 “Fathers, do not provoke your children to anger, but bring them up in the discipline and instruction of the Lord.”   Over the past three weeks, we have been shocked again by mass shootings in several cities across our nation.  The cry for “gun control” has hit fever pitch again but the root problem, as well as most all other issues our culture faces, is not more gun control.  Political candidates use these cowardly acts of evil and violence for their own political gain and expediency for which they should be ashamed.  The blame is mostly placed on mental illness, drugs, racial hatred, white supremacy, and other social ills and in some instances, these may be partially true.  But what about the violence promoted and glorified in video games, movies, and television?  Have these not altered the minds of many young people and promoted a culture of mass killings and disrespect for life itself.  While all of these things listed here are food for thought, they are not the real cause when we look at the lives of those who have done these shootings. 
 
The real cause starts with men in their homes and families where hearts are not changed and lives are not trained, given instruction, discipline, and love in the Lord.  This is the real root problem that starts with the role and responsibilities of the husband and father.  Our two verses this week would solve most of the mass shootings if lived out in the homes across America.  To train is a verb with an object to develop and form habits, thoughts, behavior, and actions through instruction and discipline.  If someone trains you to do something, they teach you the core values and skills that you need in order to do it.  The training of a child involves turning a child’s conduct away from evil and toward godliness and starting him/her in the right direction in life.  This can only be done by giving them Jesus Christ and discipling them to build God’s Word into their hearts.  With the Holy Spirit and God’s Word guiding their lives, they will have a much better chance of going in the way which they should go.  Fathers and grandfathers, this greatly neglected role and responsibility in our culture today, cannot be ignored in your family and it begins with YOU!  Remember this: “If a child does not see something of God in his earthly father, he will not likely find a Father in God.”