Fatherhood Field Notes E587: Become a Student of Your Kids to Raise Them in Love w/Zac Ernst
Got a teenage son coming of age? Check out Genesis - a Rite of Passage by Rise Up Kings - the program where Ned coaches dads and teen sons. Go to: riseupkings.com/ffn
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What if becoming a better father has less to do with learning more parenting techniques and more to do with becoming a man who is fully alive?
Zac Ernst is a husband of 22 years, father of two teenagers, entrepreneur, co-founder of ActivityPay, and founder of Pursuit, a men’s movement helping men come fully alive through community, fitness, spiritual formation, and adventure. Living in Seal Beach, California, Zac has built his life around one central conviction: the greatest adventure isn’t paddling to Catalina or riding bicycles down the California coast—it’s becoming the husband and father God created you to be.
In this conversation, Ned sits down with Zac Ernst to explore what it looks like to intentionally pursue God, your wife, your children, and your own formation as a man. From the opening minutes discussing dreams and how God still speaks today, the conversation quickly moves into entrepreneurship, margin, fatherhood, adventure, raising teenagers, discipling children, and the loneliness epidemic facing modern men.
Zac shares how building businesses wasn’t primarily about money—it was about creating enough freedom to be present at every game, school event, and important moment in his children’s lives. He explains the family values acronym “GraceFi,” why adventure slows time down with kids, and why fathers should become students of their children’s hearts instead of trying to make them into younger versions of themselves.
One of the most powerful moments comes when Zac explains the transition every Christian parent eventually faces: moving from telling children about Jesus to revealing Jesus through a life of answered prayer, faithful obedience, and authentic dependence on God.
The conversation concludes with Zac sharing the heart behind Pursuit—a nationwide movement helping men fight isolation through community, physical challenge, spiritual growth, and honest relationships.
This episode is packed with practical wisdom for fathers who want to raise resilient kids, build intentional families, and become the kind of men whose lives point people toward Jesus.
5 Questions This Episode Answers
- How do fathers build deeper relationships with teenage children?
- How do I help my kids develop their own faith instead of simply borrowing mine?
- What should fathers do when their kids don’t enjoy the same interests they do?
- How can entrepreneurship create more freedom for family life?
- How do Christian men build authentic friendships with other men?
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Check out Zac's Christian men's fitness and fellowship program Pursuit:
Join a nationwide 90-Day Challenge with Pursuit in August 2026 - or anytime!
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Check Out the Program Talked About: Genesis by Rise Up Kings
- This episode is sponsored by Genesis - a Rite of Passage by Rise Up Kings
- Order The Adventure of Fatherhood children's book here
- Check out the TEDx
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- Want to learn more about The Adventure of Fatherhood?
- www.adventureoffatherhood.com
- www.rebelandcreate.com
Each week Ned sits down with a dad and asks him to open up his field notes and share with other men who find themselves on the Adventure of Fatherhood. Don't forget to subscribe and leave a review!
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Mentioned in this episode: