- Ron Archer never knew his birth father,

his stepfather neglected him,and a babysitter abused him.

So, how did he riseabove his own brokenness?

And what message doeshe carry to men today?

- Dr. Ron Archer survived a traumatic

and fatherless childhood, yetwent on to become an author,

executive, speaker andchaplain in the NFL.

When men of God inspiredhim at a young age

to rise to positions of leadership,

he discovered that God doesnot call the qualified,

but qualifies the called.

Learning how importantstrong men are to the health

of a society, Dr. Archernow wants to let men know

that any man can be instrumentalin changing his nation,

community and home if heabides daily in Christ.

- Ron Archer joins us now via Skype.

Welcome back to The 700 Club.

It's good to have you with us today.

- I am so honored to be with you.

Thank you for having meback on again. Thank you.

- Well, your book, The Powerof One Man, shares your story.

You mentioned some ofthe men from your youth,

an absentee father, a stepfather

who didn't really nurture you,a babysitter who abused you.

What did those abuses doto you as a child, Ron?

- It made me feel like amannequin, where I looked the part,

I could talk the part,but I was falling apart.

There was an emptiness, there was a void,

there was a sense of nobodyness.And you're like a blind man

in a dark room chasing blackcats that simply are not there.

So, you feel absolutelyempty and void while trying

to pretend that everythingis fine. When you're abused,

you learn four things, don'ttalk, don't trust, don't feel,

and try to pretend everything's okay.

- Wow. It was so bad thateventually you actually planned

and even tried to killyourself, what happened?

- Yeah. Yeah, I was 10 years old

and I went into my mom's bedroom,

and I had been abused,I had been rejected,

I felt like my life hadno value, my thinking was,

if the next 10 years arelike the past 10 years,

I don't want any more years.And we weren't Christians,

we didn't go to church,there was no Bible study,

no praise and worship,and so I grabbed her gun

that was in her nightstand,and I put it to my brain

and wanted to blow my brain out,

but she had a safety onit and it didn't work,

and I just went to my little bedroom

and banged my head against the wall,

and I just cried out, notknowing who I was talking to,

"Help me. Help me. Help me."

And I'm here to say,there's a God who sits high,

and he looks low, and he hearsthe cries of his children,

and when you cry outfrom your heart to God

in desperation, in hunger forsalvation, God will answer.

- God did answer your prayer.And it began with another man

who changed your life,it was your neighbor.

What were some of the waysthat he helped you, Ron?

- Well, they invited me to a church camp

and for the first time Iheard about amazing grace,

and I heard about, "Greatis thy faithfulness."

You know, we weren't church people so,

to hear about the love of God,

that he loved the least ofbeings, the broken, the lost,

And I wanted that, I feltthe warmth of the loving arms

of God in my life, and I justwanted more, and so I said,

"Can I go to church withyou?" And there I met the man

that set me on my path,my pastor as a young man,

he was a Marine, he wasa scholar, and I said,

"That's what I want to be." You know what?

Men become what they behold,and I beheld this great man

of God who took me under hiswing, kept my shoes shined,

and said, "You keep your noseclean, keep your mouth shut

and follow me, you'll learn something."

And he changed my life,Pastor Eddie L. Hawkins

of the Good Shepherd BaptistChurch in Cleveland, Ohio.

- Wow, he called forth aleader in you. In your book,

Power of One Man, you mentionbiblical characters who came

from broken backgroundsand went on to greatness,

what can you tell us about some of them?

- Oh my goodness. You know,when I first came to Christ,

I thought there's no waythat I could be of any use

because, you know, all ofthese great characters,

I watched the 10commandments on TV as a kid,

and I said, "Wow, I don'tqualify." But as I began

to read about them, what I discovered was,

they were imperfect people

who reached other imperfect people,

and that was God's perfect will. I mean,

you look, when God wantedto change the world

and save it from the flood, hecalled out to one man, Noah.

When God wanted to create the Hebrew race,

he called out to one man, Abraham.

When God wanted to putJudah on the throne of...

He called David, oneyoung man at 12 years old.

When God wanted to set theHebrew people free from bondage,

he called one man, Moses.These were imperfect men.

When God wanted to sharethe gospel to the Gentiles,

the unclean, he called one manon the Damascus road, Paul,

and he said, "Saul, Saul,why persecutest thou me?"

And when God wanted to savethe world from sin and hell,

he became one man the Lord, Jesus,

and saved us from damnationif we accept him as Lord

and savior, saying oneman who says yes to God,

in spite of your failures,in spite of your past,

in spite of your struggles,

God can do an amazing workthrough you to impact your world.

- What are some practical ways

that men can help mentor other men?

- You know, my son, name isChristopher, he's a military guy

and he was in Japan, in Okinawa.

I went to go visit andhe asked me, you know,

we were talking aboutlife and I said, "Chris

what did you like mostabout our relationship?"

You know what he told me?

He said, "Pops, when you andI would just grab a football,

and just throw it back and forth,

that meant the world to me."

So we learned five things that men can do

to mentor other men,

one, be present, half thebattle is just showing up.

You ain't got to say nothing.

You don't have to be a superstar.

Your physical presence is the present.

Number two, be attentive,ask good questions.

Get in part of them, playvideo games with them,

throw the footballaround, but be attentive

because you can be presentand be disconnected.

So, you got to get into their world.

Thirdly, be affirming, the Bible says,

raise up a child, raise up a man,

not put them down and criticize them,

but speak life into them,

see what God sees in them,and tell them what you see.

Four, be consistent theworst thing we've learned

when I was working with variousleaders is if you start it

and stop it and start it and stop it,

it destroys credibility andbelief, so, be consistent.

And the most importantthing you can do as a man

to be a great mentor is first,be committed to Jesus Christ

and allow that commitmentto flow to other people

because I can't give what I don't have,

and I can't be what I am not,

so being in the presenceof the Lord, abiding.

- We're out of time, but I want to say

that you are a walking exhibit

of all the things you're talking about,

it's all here in the book,

The Power of One Man,it's available nationwide.

Thanks for being with us.