If I were to sketch out for you the masculine journey in broad strokes, I believe this is how it unfolds, or better, how it was meant to unfold: Boyhood to Cowboy to Warrior to Lover to King to Sage. All in the course of about eighty years or so, give or take a…
Restoration Year: Training by Engaging
Prove yourselves doers of the word, and not merely hearers who delude themselves. — James 1:22 NASB You will be tested. Like Jesus’ desert trial, the enemy comes probing at your weak spots. But this trains you. It’s how you develop a resolute heart. You make no agreements with whatever the temptation or accusation…
In Love with Distraction
Editor’s note: Even though we are all relying heavily on our phones and computers to stay connected during these times, it is vital that we remember our devices are our tools, not our masters. In today’s excerpt from Get Your Life Back: Everyday Practices for a World Gone Mad, author John Eldredge offers practical tips…
How God the Father Initiates a Man
Desperate for Initiation A man needs to know his name. He needs to know he’s got what it takes. And I don’t mean “know” in the modernistic, rationalistic sense. I don’t mean that the thought has passed through your cerebral cortex and you’ve given it intellectual assent, the way you know about the Battle of Waterloo or the ozone…
Warrior Princesses
“Me, a princess?” “You are the legal heir.” “I never lead anyone.” “We will help you to be a princess, to rule. If you refuse to accept the throne then the kingdom will cease to exist as we know it.” —The Princess Diaries In God’s name, we must fight them! —Joan of Arc…
A Man’s Deepest Question
The story of Adam’s fall is every man’s story. It is simple and straightforward, almost mythic in its brevity and depth. And so every man comes into the world set up for a loss of heart. Then comes the story we are much more aware of — our own story. Where Adam’s story seems…
The Heart of a Man
A man’s heart reflects the man… — Proverbs 27:19 NIV WELCOME Welcome to session 1 of Wild at Heart. This first session covers chapter 1, “Wild at Heart,” and chapter 2, “The Wild One Whose Image We Bear,” of John’s book. If there are new members in your group, take a moment to introduce…
Moving Mountains: Praying With Bold Authority
In Jesus’ Name Why do we pray, “in Jesus’ name”? The phrase gets tacked onto the end of many prayers, but I think it has about as much meaning to us as “amen.” Amen does not mean, “That’s it . . . I’m done now,” the little period at the end of my prayer. Amen (ah-mane) is an…
Wild at Heart: No More Mr. Nice Guy
Adventure, with all its requisite danger and wildness, is a deeply spiritual longing written into the soul of man. The masculine heart needs a place where nothing is prefabricated, modular, nonfat, zip lock, franchised, on-line, microwavable. Where there are no deadlines, cell phones, or committee meetings. Where there is room for the soul. Where, finally,…
The Heart of a Woman
Think about the women you meet at church. They’re trying to live up to some model of femininity. What do they “teach” you about being a woman? What are they saying to us through their lives? You’d have to conclude that a godly woman is… tired. And guilty. We’re all living in the shadow of that infamous icon, “The…