Parenting Is About Values and Numbers: Why Raising Powerful Children Is Our Urgent Assignment

Somebody recently asked me why I call myself #50PlusDad. He didn’t wait for an answer before assuming it was just a catchy phrase meme about having a child later in life. But there’s far more to it. Maybe next week I’ll write about it in full, but for now, let me say this: the name carries a sense of urgency, purpose, and clarity.

I’m 55. I had my first child just before my 52nd birthday. His name is Tieri. And when you enter fatherhood at that age, you don’t have the luxury of passivity or delay. You must be purposeful. You must be swift. You must parent with vision.

What kind of child am I raising? Not just a moral child. I am raising a powerful child. A child who understands both values and numbers. One without the other is incomplete. Values without numbers? That’s virtue without influence. Numbers without values?
That’s brilliance without conscience.

Parenting must never choose between them. The future belongs to children who possess both.

Beyond Good: Raising Powerful Children in a Power-Driven World

We have raised children who don’t smoke, don’t drink, don’t curse. But too often, we have failed to raise children who can sit at the table of power. And if they’re not at the table, they will be on the menu. Morals alone are not enough. This is not a call to abandon virtue, it is a call to complete it.

In today’s world, parenting must move beyond piety and compliance. We must raise children who can create, govern, influence, and invent. Children of moral integrity and measurable impact.

Stop Thinking Morals Alone Are Enough

“My child doesn’t lie.” Great. But can they think critically? Can they lead? Can they interpret systems, influence outcomes, or pioneer solutions? Morally upright people who are powerless cannot shift nations. In today’s world, silence is not innocence. Invisibility is not humility. It’s often irrelevance.

God Gave Us Timber, Not Furniture

God gave us raw materials, not finished products. Wood became chairs because humans imagined it. Iron became cars because someone saw beyond ore. If all our children do is avoid wrongdoing, we haven’t fulfilled our duty. We must raise creators. Reformers. Children who understand systems and are bold enough to change the broken ones.
That’s not rebellion. That’s responsibility.

Strategic Positioning Is Not Carnality

The best universities in the world aren’t admitting children based only on grades. They’re looking for leaders, builders, and thinkers. While our children memorize moral codes, others build portfolios. While we shelter them from sin, others are preparing them for society.

God is not against influence. Power without purpose is dangerous. But power with values, that’s nation-building. That’s revival.

Africa’s Real Crisis: Morality Without Influence

We raise good children, but not powerful ones. We preach righteousness, but we don’t teach value creation. We talk about integrity, but we don’t sit at the gates.

Let’s raise children who don’t just consume innovation, they create it. Who don’t just google for answers, they build the next Google. Who don’t only ask “Where can I migrate?” but say, “What can I create here?”

The future of Africa won’t be shaped in Europe or America. It will be shaped by African children who rise in wisdom and power.

Power Is Not Evil, It’s Essential

When Jesus died, it was not Peter or James who claimed His body. It was Joseph of Arimathea, a man of means and influence. Luke 8 tells us His ministry was funded by women of wealth. Influence opens doors morality alone cannot.

Let’s not raise children who are holy but helpless. Good but voiceless. Righteous but irrelevant.

From Noisemaker to Nation-Builder

I was never a class captain. I never came first in school. My name was always on the noisemakers’ list. But I had a voice. I could speak. I could think. Today, I’m recognized by the U.S. as a person of extraordinary ability, not because I was perfect, but because I showed up, built systems, and stayed faithful.

If I, with all my scars, can rise, my son must rise higher.

We Must Raise Explorers, Not Survivors

This world doesn’t reward timidity. We must raise children who think deeply, build boldly, and act strategically. Dominion is not arrogance. It is divine mandate. There is no perfect man, only those who dare to serve a purpose bigger than themselves.

Let’s raise children who understand influence as stewardship.

This Is the Best Time to Raise Powerful Children

YouTube is free. Instagram is free. LinkedIn is free. One phone. One idea. One voice, and the world can hear you. Are we teaching our children to manage screen time, or to master it?

Are we parenting from fear, or preparing them for global relevance?

This is the best time to raise powerful children. Let’s stop settling for moral children who do nothing wrong, but also do nothing great.

And if we’ve missed it in the past, let’s begin again.

Let’s raise children who can speak, build, lead, and transform.
Not just good children.

Powerful children.

Do have an INSPIRED week ahead with the family.