The From Slavery To Victory

Education Project

 

 

Restoring Men As A Critical Objective In The Work

 

By Rev. Robert Kelley

 

 

Contrary to what from a biblical perspective can only be construed as rebel voices throughout the world today, men and women are different by design! They were designed and equipped differently by God in order to fulfill roles and functions that when corrupted or abandoned, bring about destructive consequences. As much as--and in some measures, more than--any other segment of American society, the black American family is illustrative of this truth.

 

Among black Americans, the biblically ordained two parent (married, male father and female mother) family is fast being rendered a relic of the past and the key reason is the absence of the father from the home. According to then Focus On The Family  President, Dr. James Dobson, only 25% of black families have a married father and mother together in the home.  70% of all black children are born out of wed-lock.1 The fathers are missing due to abandonment and divorce. In God’s design of the family, the man is the leader, instructor, provider and protector. He is therefore, the linchpin which locks a healthy family together. 

 

Dire conclusions of social science research on the black family and  men  reveal  that while a number of children born to female run, single

 

 

 

 

run, single parent households, overcome it and thrive, a larger number do not. So many of these children are hurt and angry. Many terrorize our communities in gangs and lawlessness. They also fill America’s jails and prisons and perpetuate the cycle of fatherless households through out of wed-lock births. Due to the central role of men in the family by God’s design and the harsh prospects of the black family’s demise without them, our Ministry recognized not long after the launch of The From Slavery To Victory Education Project (FSTVEP) in June 1994, that the black male had to become the priority focus of our outreach efforts.

 

We do not excuse the irresponsible conduct of any man who creates and abandons his family. However, in the case of black American men, there are some extenuating circumstances contributing to why they are doing this that must be acknowledged and empathetically dealt with. Besides being sinners as all other men, we believe a very significant number of black males since slavery have been bound up by the ties of the negative mental and emotional legacies of slavery and continuing racism in our nation.

"The fathers are missing due to abandoment and divorce."

 

 

 

 

In Matthew 12:22-28, the Lord Jesus Christ rebuked the spiritual blindness of the Jewish religious leaders who had accused Him of casting out demons by the  power of Satan. But in light of His plundering of Satan’s house (healing the demon  possessed), the Lord pointed out He must be actually stronger and using a greater power by virtue of His success! "Or," the Lord says, "how can one enter a strong man’s house and plunder his goods, unless he first binds the strong man? And then he will plunder his house," (vs. 29, NKJV).

 

 

 

 

 

 

In applying the truth of the Lord’s rebuke of His detractors to the situation of the black family and its designated strong man, Satan has entered our homes and bound up so many with the negative mental and emotional legacies of slavery and continuing racism. While these potential strong men of God in the image of Christ are tied up in self-destructive efforts to heal and cope, the enemy plunders their goods--their lives, families and communities--with no hope of ever finally breaking the chains. But the Lord Jesus Christ is the eternal Strong Man of God whose power is infinitely superior to Satan’s. He has provided help through His Word and power to any man who would be free by trusting in Him!

 

 

 

 

In 1998 the Lord Jesus led us to formalize the priority focus of the FSTVEP on black males into a definite mission, vision and activities.  During the Summer of that  year,  activities began in earnest with the Releasing The Strong Man (RTSM) Seminar followed by a monthly publication, the Strong Man Newsletter in July 1999.  In 2001 the Strong Man Institute featuring periodic, short study courses on manhood topics was added to the growing list of ministries to the black male.  This Web Site was launched in January 2004 featuring a Strong Man Page to encourage black American men to become strong men of God in the image of Jesus Christ!

 

In fall 2005 Strong Man Ministries was launched out of offices located in the then St. Mark Baptist Church of Portland, Oregon as the full embodiment of the work of Open Door Communication Ministries, Inc. to help men.  It  offers a variety of local services in house and through a network of service providers to help willing black and other males get tangible help to change their lives.  Also, the Strong Man Minute continues as part of our Urban Radio Campaign to penetrate major American urban centers with a biblical worldview of manhood issues and can be heard on select radio stations around the nation and on the official Strong Man Ministries Web Site, The Strong Man Of God.org.

 

For instructional help, more information about Strong Man Ministries or to correspond by way of the Contact Page visit The Strong Man Of God.org.  You can also learn about and consider purchasing my book, The Strong Man Of God: Back To Basics while on the Web Site as another means of help and instruction.  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

1 Jon Walker, "Dobson To Southern Baptists, 'Stay In The Fields!'"  SBC Life, August 2001

Photos courtesy of and are used with the permission of Johnny and Rosemary McAdams.  Brother McAdams went home to be with the Lord in September 2002 and his widow in October 2015.  The photos are a memorial and continuing tribute to him as an aspiring strong man of God and she a great woman of God; both of whom I was deeply grateful to know, love and serve as their pastor.  It was brother McAdams who inspired me to adopt "Black American" as my preferred designation of all of us that are descendants of slaves in America which I do in his honor.  In a conversation about being called African American, he passionately rejected it declaring in his comedic, but serious, down to earth manner, that while he meant no disrespect, he was "from the ghetto of Cleveland, Ohio!"