We’ve got a magnet on our kitchen refrigerator that says, “If Momma ain’t happy… ain’t nobody happy.” It’s funny because we all know it’s true. If the person in charge is upset, we should pay attention. I want to make one for the church that says, “If Jesus ain’t happy…” We learn more about…
Escaping Emotional Incarceration
In the United States, the dimensions of a typical prison cell are approximately six by eight feet, encased in steel or brick walls. One solid or barred door locks the cell from the exterior. Those condemned to life inside soon lose touch with the free world outside. Sadly, there’s another prison cell that holds…
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…
Seeing Yourself as God Sees You
Do you have a photo of your spouse, significant other, or children as your phone background, eager to show them off at the first opportunity to anyone and everyone? What about your driver’s license photo? Do you delightedly show it to others? Pass it around at parties? Copy it to your online profile? Or…
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…
Hunting Down the Spiders
My family recently moved to a new home on the south side of Nashville. “New” is probably a little misleading, but what can I say? It’s new to us. Actually, it’s a 1955 ranch-style home on a corner lot in a great neighborhood. I like the corner lot because that means more people can…
Never Bring a Horse to a Tank Fight
You shall receive power when the Holy Spirit has come upon you; and you shall be witnesses to Me in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. — Jesus I stand by everything I’ve given you in the three cards we’ve laid on the table. But without the…
Win Not the Battle but the War
Editor’s note: All men have the common ground of facing some level of sexual temptation or discontent — whether married or single. In the brand new book Beyond the Battle, pastor Noah Filipiak offers up an accessible, effective, go-to resource for individual or small group use that brings freedom from sexual temptations and connects…
Losing My Voice To Find It
Editor’s Note: Mark Stuart was the front man of popular Christian rock band Audio Adrenaline at a time when the Christian music scene exploded. Advancing from garage band to global success, the group sold out stadiums all over the world, won Grammy Awards, and even celebrated an album going certified Gold. But after almost twenty…
Real Men Do Get Depressed
While many men who suffer from depression feel that somehow, and in some way, they are weak or deficient, I have found it most encouraging to reflect on great men who have suffered from depression. Many men from Scripture, including kings David and Solomon fell prey to it. While for a period of my childhood…