Confronting Life's Realistic Illusions: Can't Do It Alone

By David Gayden

Violence, drugs, teen pregnancies, suicides and other unlawful and negative activities warranted the writing of this book. It contains methods for defending ourselves against the world system as we fight for the future of our youth.

• Language: English
• Publisher: WestBow Press
• Release date: Nov 14, 2017
• ISBN: 9781973605775

David Gayden

David Gayden is the Founder and CEO of Can't Do It Alone, Inc. (CDIA, Inc.). He served 12 years in the United States Air Force's Electronic Security Command performing duties as an On the Job Training Manager and Printer Systems Operations Manager. Two of those years, he served as an Education Specialist in the Strategic Air Command. Mr. Gayden served various retail corporations as Corporate Trainer, District, Area and Regional Loss Prevention and Safety Managers for 23 years. Two of those years, he served as a State Unarmed Security Trainer for the State of Oregon. He has dedicated the last 12 years to research in the development of a program designed to change the paradigms and re-direct the paths in which many of today's youth are traveling, with special emphasis on boys and young men.

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Copyright © 2017 David Gayden.

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Scripture taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

THE HOLY BIBLE, NEW INTERNATIONAL VERSION®, NIV® Copyright © 1973, 1978, 1984, 2011 by Biblica, Inc.® Used by permission. All rights reserved worldwide.

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ISBN: 978-1-9736-0578-2 (sc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0579-9 (hc)

ISBN: 978-1-9736-0577-5 (e)

Library of Congress Control Number: 2017915361

WestBow Press rev. date: 11/14/2017

CONTENTS

Dedication

Introduction

Chapter I The Journey and the Vision

Chapter II Elements of Deception

Chapter III Do Not Underestimate the Enemy

Chapter IV How It All Began

Chapter V The War between Good and Evil

Chapter VI It Really Does Take a Village

Chapter VII Reaching, Relating & Communicating

Chapter VIII Providing Life Changing Alternatives And Setting Positive Examples

Chapter IX Stand, So as Not To Fall

Chapter X The True Meaning of Love

Chapter XI The Differences between Fear and Respect

Chapter XII The Power of Prayer

Summary

About the Author

Dedication

To God be the glory: I give thanks to God for without him, there would be no me. Without him, this book would have never been written. It is God, by way of his Holy Spirit, who gave me the vision and who has directed my path through life to prepare me for this task. It is God who inserted the right people in my life to ensure my development to be who he created me to be. It is God who loves me so much that he sacrificed the life of his only begotten son, Jesus Christ, so that I might live. There is no greater love than that.

In memory of my former pastor and spiritual mentor, Rev. Dr. Author T. Jones, who played a major role in my spiritual development: It was under his leadership that the seeds for this book and our youth program were planted. His teachings and spiritual advice to me were key to my preparation for what God had and has in stow for me. Pastor Jones always had time for me and always had a word for me from the Lord. He was a great man, and though he has been called to rest and is no longer physically present with us, I can still feel his presence in my heart and in my spirit. To his family, I thank you for sharing him with all of us whose lives he touched along the way. Special thanks to his wife, Sister Doris, and his children for your support and acceptance of this dedication to him.

To my one and only daughter, Sheila, and to my four sons, Michael, David Jr., Jabari, and Malik who inspire me to keep on keeping on. I love you all more than words could ever express.

To my family / the best family that a man could have possibly been blessed with: (The Gaydens, The Hunts, The Holmes, and The Jenkins: who have always given me unconditional love and support).

To my true friends and spiritual brothers in Christ, Fred Robinson, Mitch Billups, Gilbert Alvarado, Craig Maxwell, Richard Newton, Parnell Dickinson, James Quinn, Robert Lockridge, and Pastor Anthony White, current Senior Pastor of Bible Based Fellowship Church, who were always there for me in any way that I needed you to be. You proved yourselves to be true friends through the thick and the thin. I thank God for each of you and your friendship. I pray that God continues to bless you and your families and that he gives you the desires of your hearts.

To my cousin and my lifeguard, Jackie Hunt, who threw me a life preserver at a low point, in my life, when I was about to go under. You turned things around for me.

To two of the best friends that I’ve ever had who have been called to rest, Robert (Top) Smith and Donald (Charlie Brown) Charles. They were true friends to the end and I really miss them both.

To Elayne Hollinger, who God put in my life, at the right time to give me the love and support that I need to keep me centered, grounded, and encouraged as we, together, strive to make a difference in the lives of others as we continue to develop our personal relationships with Christ.

To all of my friends who have encouraged and inspired me along the way. You always seem to know when I need words of encouragement and you provide them.

To all of today’s and tomorrow’s youth for whom this is all about and who are the true inspiration for the program as well as this book. This is all for you.

I thank God for you all. I love you very much and there is absolutely nothing that you can do about it.

To God be the glory!

Introduction

In a world where violence, at all levels, is spiraling out of control, deception is coming from all directions, and chaos appears to be on the rise, I submit to you that everything within this world’s system is really under control and events are occurring just as planned. For the most part, we don’t see it that way because we just refuse to accept the fact of who it is that is in control. We refuse to believe that the enemy has the power to control the state of the world at such a high level. In most cases, because of deception, we don’t even recognize who the enemy actually is. Once we realize and accept the fact of who the enemy is, it will become clear as to why things are the way in which they are. The god of this world who is the father of lies and the master of deception, leads the world astray and to believe that evil is actually good. He came to steal, kill and destroy and he is being very successful in accomplishing his objectives. He is deceiving those who live in this world to do his work for him. The whole world is being led astray as a result of his deception. What makes deception so effective is the fact that those who have been deceived, have no idea of the fact that deception has taken place. Many of us are turning our backs to God and his son, Jesus, as a result of Satan’s deception. Our hearts are becoming more and more receptive to evil. The love of mankind, one for another, is diminishing and hate is taking its place. We see it every day as we witness mankind consistently killing each other in great numbers. We stand by a watch as people suffer and die of diseases and starvation mainly as a result of poverty. The youth of the world are becoming more and more corrupt, day by day. It has become so easy for young people to kill with no remorse. We are all under attack and our young are the primary targets. The future of today’s youth is at stake, which means that the future of generations to come is also at stake. We, as concerned adults, must come together, roll up our sleeves, position ourselves, and go to work in order to do something about it. The time to act it now! We can’t afford to wait any longer.

There are ten steps that have to be taken in order for us to be successful in defending the souls of the youth of today. They are: 1 = Coming to understand how the current conditions came to be. In order to do so, we must seriously examine things from a historical perspective. We are faced with challenges that were created over an extended period of time and we now find ourselves at a place where love and respect, one for another, are becoming things of the past and our youth are causing harm to others, as well as to themselves, while feeling not regrets nor guilt; 2 = Coming to understand and teaching our youth that the war in which we are engaged in is between good and evil. Satan uses worldly riches to entice his followers into taking leading roles in the corruption of the world. The love of money causes some to do anything in order to have it, regardless of who gets hurt in the process. It creates the separation between the haves and the have nots. Class warfare, racism, gang wars and religious differences are all Weapons of Mass Division, used by the enemy, to cause even more division between and within these two groups, and to cause conflicts that prevent us from working together, in harmony, for common causes. For together we stand and divided we fall. We can’t do it alone; 3 = Understanding what it truly means and accepting the fact that it really does take a village to raise a child. Villages are, in fact, currently raising our children whether we choose to accept it or not. We come to realize that fact by examining the makeup of today’s villages that are, not only made up of people, but also technology, music and music videos, and video games, etc.; 4 = Coming together, as parents, family, friends, and communities, to get a better understanding of how to reach, relate to, and communicate with the youth of today; 5 = Helping our youth to understand the true meanings of, as well as the differences between, fear and respect; 6 = Helping our youth to understand the true meaning of love because it has come to be so distorted over time; 7 = Teaching our youth to stand for something that is good, positive, and beneficial, in order to prevent them from falling for anything that is evil, negative, and destructive; 8 = Offering our youth positive life changing alternatives; 9 = Not just talking the talk, but also walking the walk and setting the positive examples for our youth to follow. We must stray away from hypocritical parenting, teaching, and preaching; 10 = Praying and teaching our youth to pray, for there is power in prayer. We need the power of God in order to receive the victory over evil, as it pertains to saving the souls of our children, as well as our own.

The purpose of writing this book is to provide information for the purpose of promoting unity for the common cause of saving the souls of our children and preserving their future in the process. It is very important that we are all on the same page and stand united in our efforts. We must not allow our differences to prevent us from working together and Confronting Life’s Realistic Illusions.

Chapter I

The Journey and the Vision

O VER THE YEARS, AS I’ve noticed continued deterioration of the moral values of our youth, I began to wonder if anything could be done to change the direction in which they are traveling. I’ve seen so many young lives just wasting away. Even though there were many youth programs out there that were, and are still, successfully providing services to help our children get on and stay on the right paths in their lives, it didn’t, and still doesn’t, seem to be enough. Something still seems to be missing. I knew that something else needed and still needs to be done. I wanted to do something, but I had no idea of what to do. I just didn’t have the answer. So I prayed about it. Every night before going to bed and every morning before starting my day, I would pray for our children. I would pray, not only for African American children, but, for all children, because they all are affected by what’s happening in the world in which we live. God and only God can help our children and through God can they change the world. However, there are forces that want to keep God out of their lives. We see what happens when God is removed from any process. It opens the door for evil to move in. What do I mean by God is removed? How do we remove an all-powerful God from anything? We remove him by not wanting him there. God is not going to force himself on us. He gives us the freedom to choose. I am at a point in my life where I no longer believe that God is real, just as I don’t believe that I have two hands and two feet. One can only believe if one doesn’t know, without a shadow of a doubt, that something is true. I know, without a shadow of a doubt, that God is real and I do believe IN him. I believe his word to be true. All things are possible through him. Our children can be saved through him. We have to reach out to him; pray to him; ask him to lead us and guide us and enable us to do all that we need to do to help our children; to teach our children; and to drive Satan out of their lives. It is not going to be easy because Satan and his demons will stand in our way. Additionally, Satan has human followers. Some of them are very rich and hold very powerful positions in society and in the world. However, it can be done. We can do all things through Christ who strengthens us.

Approximately 12 years ago, I was living in Tampa, Florida. I became a member of Bible Based Fellowship Church, under the leadership of the Rev. Dr. Arthur T. Jones, Founder and Senior Pastor. Every Sunday morning, prior to regular service, we attended Bible Discovery Hour (Sunday school). The class that I attended was an all men class that was taught by Brother Fred Robinson. We studied scriptures and discussed how to apply them in our daily lives in order to become better husbands, better fathers, better sons, better brothers, and just all around better men in our homes, our church and our communities. In June of 2007, Brother Robinson gave us the assignment to read and study from the book of Judges, Chapter 6: Verses 12 through 17 and be prepared to discuss how the scripture related to each of us on an individual basis. On the following Monday night, I began to read and study the assigned scriptures. In doing so, I realized that I needed to go back and read from the