Smart people are helpful. Really WISE people save you from pain! Do you have one of these people in your life? They don't push advice on you like some but when they offer it you lean in and trust what they say. It is like gold - precious and valuable. Experience and insight are what makes them so trusted but the fact that they share what they know with you comes from a deep concern and love makes their wisdom unique. God - your maker, God your strong creator, and God your loving father is also t...
Feb 04, 2022•35 min
A ritual on the playground I remember easily is choosing teams to play kickball. Two "captains" would be selected for a game and they choose alternatively from an assembled group of boys hoping they won't be the last one picked! On those occasions when I was a captain I knew who I would pick first every time without fail - it was my buddy Todd. He had what every kickball team needs if they hope to win - a powerful right leg. Let's put it this way: Todd's leg had the "kick" that sent the other te...
Jan 28, 2022•42 min
Men are like icebergs - most people only see the tip. We live seen and unseen lives. We are very public about our successes or just about anything that reflects well on us. We are also very private about our struggles or just about anything that reflects poorly on us. Here's the problem - our struggles take a toll when unshared or unprocessed over time. They turn into secrets that we carry around. No one knows about them - fears, challenges, and needs that are secret go unmet because potential p...
Jan 21, 2022•48 min
When people we love have a huge need or problem that went unspoken and unresolved causing them pain or harm we say, "Why didn't you come to me?" Usually the responses range from "I didn't want to burden you" to "I was embarrassed" to "I didn't think you would understand." None of these reasons makes sense because the outcome of not expressing or sharing what's going on at the time is always worse than talking about it - this is especially true when real help was available. Fear or pride always l...
Jan 13, 2022•56 min
New Year // New Man Scriptures talk a lot about being new in Christ. New man. New mind. New spirit. New life. The most challenging part of the "new man" is the journey of intimacy and honesty. We just don’t know how to do it naturally. Today we will explore the reality of being a real man that can talk about real things. Intimacy with others, spouses, and God.
Jan 06, 2022•22 min
Dec 16, 2021•38 min
Any dad with small kids knows that his little ones are not going to understand his behavior at times. Key word? Little. They are physically not as tall as the one whose hand they are holding and, as such, can't see what he is seeing at any given time. A dad will see danger twenty yards away his "little one" cannot and gives instructions to "STOP!" A dad will be holding his toddler's hand walking in a large crowd, guiding him based on what he sees in front of him - not the other way around. A dad...
Dec 02, 2021•41 min
Ever heard the expression "fair weather fan"? It describes someone who will passionately follow a sports team but only when they are winning. One minute they are all in, high-fiving, jersey wearing, evangelists for their team. Then the season's "weather changes." Winning ways are replaced by the "struggle bus" and everyone connected to the team is on it. Discontentment and dissatisfaction sets in and separation is the result. Faithful "die hard" fans separate from the "fair weather" fans. One lo...
Nov 18, 2021•43 min
Nov 11, 2021•51 min
A police officer typically starts their shift with a briefing or roll call. It is designed to take roll, pass along critical information, and provide relevant training. Motivated officers hurry out of briefing and quickly advise dispatch they are "10-8", which is the radio code for "in service". The lazier officers hang around the station, trying to delay the time before going 10-8. You see, once you go 10-8, "in service", you have to serve. That can be very risky and a total inconvenience, espe...
Nov 04, 2021•32 min
We live in a world where we are surrounded by people in need. Just about everyone you come in contact with today needs something. Some of those needs are obvious, but others we are AFRAID to ask. We are AFRAID to ask, "how can I help." I am sure I don't have what they need, and if I do, I don't want to give it away. So, I carefully manage my interactions. I protect myself from entering that space with people where I might intentionally or accidentally identity a need. I don't make eye contact an...
Oct 28, 2021•47 min
Oct 21, 2021•43 min
FACT: Sacrifice cements friendships. Risk nothing in your relationships, receive nothing from them. It’s easier to play it safe versus go deep. It’s easier to do activities together than to practice transparency. It’s easier to be a fan of someone else than a true friend. It’s easier to laugh off mistakes than to address them. LOVING STRONG involves risking strong in any relationship. Courage and faith are required. NO risks, NO reward. Learn to take the right risks in your relationships and LOV...
Oct 14, 2021•41 min
The famous mathematician/philosopher Pascal once said, "There are two kinds of men: the righteous who think they are sinners and the sinners who think they are righteous." His point? The two different kinds of thinking lead to two different lives and sets of relationships with others. One man can connect with everybody. The other selectively connects with people like him. One man avoids certain kinds of people. The other engages those same people. One steers clear. The other draws near. One love...
Oct 07, 2021•48 min
It's called a "game changer." It is an event, idea, or experience that rocks your world in a positive (or negative) way to the point where you permanently shift the way you go about doing or thinking about something. Think about it. You discover a new power tool that transforms a potential five hour project into a one hour breeze. There is no way you are going back to the old way of doing it. It is "game changer." You discover a new digital technology that eliminates bulky hard equipment, storag...
Sep 30, 2021•44 min
Every man knows that if he is not doing relationships right, he is not doing life right. Think about it. If marriage, family, or close relationships that MATTER to you are not good ...you are not good! In fact, we get frustrated with ourselves, mad at ourselves, and then sad over repeated relationship mistakes. Been there? To boot, piling on and tempting us in these moments is the Devil who hates healthy relationships that glorify God and amplify his blessing. In fact, he wants you to be WEAK at...
Sep 23, 2021•44 min
Sep 16, 2021•47 min
Human beings are a complex ball of unfulfilled needs, wants, desires, longings and hopes. Magnifying our dilemmas is the fact that life, others, bosses, spouses, friends, or unplanned circumstances get in the way (how dare they) of us seeing all those needs, wants, desires, longings and hopes being met or realized. What to do - what to do! Do the ends justify the means? Do we want things bad enough to deceive ourselves or others with twisted logic that gets us the result we want but at the expen...
Sep 09, 2021•55 min
Sep 02, 2021•55 min
Men love the idea of "iron sharpens iron so one man sharpens another" but when the sharpening stone is pressed against their personal behavior the real battle begins. Men love competition but they do not like confrontation. No man likes to be told that the way they are believing and behaving is wrong and yet every man, the Bible says, requires loving confrontation. A buddy who is married is clearly flirting with another woman. What do you do? You notice a brother in Christ crossing the line with...
Aug 27, 2021•46 min
Aug 19, 2021•43 min
Aug 12, 2021•56 min
Aug 05, 2021•41 min
Jul 29, 2021•30 min
Jul 22, 2021•38 min
Darkness and light surround our daily lives. Light pierces darkness. Light illuminates the mysterious. Light provides safety. Light is hope. Darkness and light also surround and shape our spiritual well-being. God's man is called to avoid one and engage the other. Sin is darkness. Righteousness is light. The Bible says that God is light and advises God's man to "walk in the light." Jesus told his guys that they were "the light of the world." We are called by God to put aside sin and "put on the ...
Jul 15, 2021•43 min
Jun 24, 2021•37 min
Certain people in our lives change the environment the second they appear. Maybe it is a a brother or sister, an aunt or uncle, or a close who friend who you say that they “light up a room” or they are the “life of the party.” Things get better when they are in the mix. The Bible says that God’s man is strategically placed by God and “in the mix” of relationships or situations to make them better and glorify God. We are called to be a strong ingredient when God is cooking up a good plan in the l...
Jun 17, 2021•43 min
Jun 10, 2021•36 min
Jun 03, 2021•40 min
