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Courageous: The Movie Part 1

Courageous, a new movie by Sherwood Pictures in Albany, Georgia, is the new up and coming Christian film. Courageous is set to open in theaters on September 30. The movie is written by Stephen and Alex Kendricks, and produced by Michael Catt and Jim McBride, producers of Flywheel, Facing the Giants and Fireproof. Sherwood films are good stories, well-told, in which audiences recognize their own lives. The filmmakers weave in important spiritual truths, hoping movie watchers will leave theaters thinking about their own lives and relationships—with God and with others.

Prayer is foundational to Sherwood’s films and precedes each phase of development, production, and marketing.  Cast and crew are made up largely of volunteers who become ambassadors to the message once the movie is complete. More than 3,000 volunteers joined together to produce this film.

Where are the Fathers?

More than 24 million American children live without their biological fathers, with only 60 percent of children having seen their father in the past year. Children, who live without their biological father in their life, on average, are more likely to be poor as well as have educational, health and psychological problems, to suffer child abuse and to engage in criminal behavior, than their peer living in a home with their biological mother and father. There is truly no substitute for a father in the home. While many mothers are forced to play both the role of mother and father, there is no substitute for a father’s love, involvement and presence in the life of his children.

Fatherless homes produce:

63 percent of youth suicides (Bureau of the Census)

90 percent of all homeless and runaway children (CDC)

85 percent of all children with behavioral disorders (CDC)

85 percent of all youths in prisons (Fulton County Georgia jail populations, TX Dept of Corrections, 1992)

(All Pro Dads, 2010 Family First)

Mothers Only

According to Arlene F. Saluter, Marital Status and Living Arrangements: 1994, “Nearly one-fourth of America’s children live in mother-only families. ”

Prime Time Television

A National Fatherhood Initiative analysis found that of the 102 prime-time networks TV shows in 1998, only 15 featured a father as a central character. Of these, the majority portrayed him as uninvolved, incompetent or both. (National Center for Public Policy Research)

Poverty without Fathers

“The likelihood that a family would fall below the poverty line doubled during the first four month period of the father’s absence, increasing from 18.5 percent to 37.6 percent. ” (Duncan, Wayne Journal of Clinical and Child Psychology, 1994 Health)

Five Things You Didn’t Know Fathers Do

1.  Fathers Teach Empathy—A 26-year study published by the American Psychological Association found that children with actively involved fathers in their lives are more likely to be sensitive to the needs of others in adulthood compared to those who do not have involved fathers.

2.  Fathers Give Confidence—Fathers are more likely to challenge their children to try difficult things by taking safe and measured risks. Fathers’ more physical and active play style and slower response to help their children through frustrating situations creates greater problem-solving capacity and confidence in both boys and girls.

3.  Fathers Increase Vocabulary—Children who spend extended time with their dads during their childhoods are more likely to have larger and more complex vocabularies. A mother, being more attentive to the needs of her children, tends to talk more on the level of the child. Dads’ directions to their children tend to be longer than moms’, providing children with the opportunity to hear more words and then learn how they fit together to convey a thought.

4.  Fathers Protect Against Crime and Violence—Fathers are more likely to keep their sons out of gangs, but more importantly, fathers give boys the things that can make gang life attractive. Boys learn from their dads that they matter, and don’t feel they have to force their way into manhood. Likewise, girls with good fathers are not as likely to fall to the pressure of sexually enterprising young boys, because well-fathered girls are more confident, having already gained the love of a good man.

5.  Fathers Promote Better Treatment of Women—A good father demonstrates to both sons and daughters how a good man should treat women. This is shown by a father’s role modeling, as well as his less-than-good behavior. Research from the University of California looked at 90 different cultures to study how men’s participation in child care related to the status of women in these cultures. They found a very close connection, explaining, “Societies with significant paternal involvement in routine child care are more likely than father-absent societies to include women in public decisions and to allow women access to positions of authority. ”

(Summary of Study Findings, 2009 National Fathering Survey, © 2009 National Center for Fathering)