Mission Focused Men for Christ

Episode Summary. The opportunities to influence our kids’ lives go by in a flash and after they are launched are rarer still. So, dads and granddads need to know how to maximize the influence we do have. This episode examines God’s two-part design of the influence we wield as spiritual leaders of our home, positional influence and relational influence. In both cases, we must overcome false worldviews that deny the way God wants us to lead our homes. For Further Prayerful Thought:How would you argue with a Christian brother who said, “My wife is better with the kids, so I leave their discipline to her?”How does the discipline approach, “Your behavior is making mommy and daddy feel angry with you” violate the principles of biblical parenting?Why do you think God makes such harsh statements about the failure to bring painful consequences for wrong behavior—you hate your child, you bring death to your child?Why is biblical leadership more about winning the hearts of followers by serving them, than it is having responsibility for making decisions?Which component of Jesus’ leadership practices with the twelve do you most need to put into practice in your leadership role? Recommended Resource Used in this Episode:Boundaries With Kids: When to Say YES, When to Say NO to Help Your Children Gain Control of their Lives,  by Henry Cloud and John TownsendFor the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)

Episode Summary. Family leadership isn’t for the half-hearted. And it is not always appreciated by our followers! What is worse is that our leadership attempts can fail, disheartening us. But as Wayne Gretzky has pointed out, “You miss 100% of the shots you don’t take.” This episode examines what leadership at home looks like, so we can give it our best shot.   For Further Prayerful Thought:What do you learn about the leadership process that you want to remember?In your own words, what is the destination of that Christian men who are leading their homes are pursuing with their family members?Why might it be argued that investing in your calling to love God with all of your heart, mind, soul, and strength while drinking in his love for you is the foundation of our mission?How can you better connect the frustrating blitzes of your life to the qualities of character God might be teaching you through them?When might you steal an hour to spend on the website What Would You Say, to get better equipped to verbalize the biblical worldviews on the issues of the day as salt and light?For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)

Episode Summary. There are so many forces in today’s culture, our own hearts, our wife’s heart, and churches today that are pushing hard against men taking leadership in their homes and churches, that daring to lead our families is tough. It isn’t for sissies. It demands courage to overcome our uncertainty about what we are doing, a thick skin to resist peer pressure, and determination to defeat our passivity. But men, we can’t let our families bear the cost of our rejection of Jesus’ call to biblical manhood. They will suffer. This episode is for those who refuse to offer Jesus a slight nod and mediocre commitment to being a godly man. It challenges men instead to say to Jesus, “I don’t care how strong the resistance is, how unequipped I feel, or how many times I fail, by God’s grace I am going to define MY role as a man in MY home BIBLICALLY and lead My wife and children according to that design as best I can for their welfare and Jesus’ honor.”  For Further Prayerful Thought: What to you is the hardest thing about a Christ-following man’s call to be the leader of his wife and kids?What most stood out to you about the “headship” of husbands in marriage?How best can you help other Christians grasp the magnificence of this design?Which parts of headship do you most want to remember and concentrate upon if you have a family?Which roots of courage to stand alone sometimes in this culture for God’s gender design have to most power to energize you?For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)

Episode Summary. In my view as a men’s ministry leader, one of the great tragedies of the church today is that we have failed to capture the hearts of men with the greatness of our mission. This episode focusses on just one aspect of a decision that every Christian who is listening to this podcast has made—choosing to be a follower of King Jesus. Disciples follow their masters’ example. They apply his teaching. They embrace his cause. This episode looks at just one facet of Jesus’ identity that has enormous implications for following him. He is the Prince of Peace who brings shalom.For Further Prayerful Thought:What steps can you take to increase the likelihood that that next year at this time you will look back and say, “I was a faithful agent of reconciliation of the kingdom. I prayed for, the building of relationships with the lost around me and for opportunities to share my faith, and seized those opportunities”?How can you better notice the inner turmoil of those around you and take a small step in pointing them to Jesus? How can you support ministries of those reaching those who have been broken by life?What caveats do you want to remember about being a peacemaker among humans?What do you think of Miles McPherson’s Third option?Why might it be important in your world to remember that Christians aren’t call just to fix spiritual things—but respond with compassion to those impacted by the brokenness of the physical world?For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)

Episode Summary. As our children and grandchildren leave their homes, we can expect them to hear the argument that they should act like adults and stop viewing the Bible’s fairy tales as anything more than morally uplifting stories like The Little Mermaid, The Lord of the Rings, or Santa Clause. Against this backdrop, we must help our children and grandchildren, before leaving home, realize that believing in Jesus is far different than believing in Santa Clause. The faulty idea that the TRUTH of what you believe DOESN'T MATTER is being shouted from the rooftops in academia today. But no one lives that way. This episode seeks to equip us all to explain the ways that belief that the child in the manger is God, himself, is rooted in solid evidence, unlike the myth of Santa. For Further Prayerful Thought:How would you answer the objection, “I can’t believe in Christianity because I can’t believe God would be so narrow minded that only one religion could be right?How would you answer Da Vinci Code fans who insist that the idea that the baby in Bethlehem’s manger was made up by a faction of Jesus’ followers? Which examples of archaeology’s validation of biblical accuracy do you most want to remember?How might Jesus’ fulfillment of so many specific prophecies be a tool to help you ask those who don’t know him to consider his claims?For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)

Episode Summary. Our culture is shaped by the interaction of various worldviews that compete for the influence to shape thinking. Ten days ago in the halls of Congress many of us saw the moral bankruptcy of a worldview that is held by many of the cultural elites, when the presidents of Harvard, MIT, and Penn would not say that the conduct code of their universities prevents students from calling for the extermination of the Jews. The worldview that has replaced the conscience of these elites is called critical theory. Christians have something far, far better to offer the world. It is an accurate lens to explain what is happening in the world. This episode examines this biblical worldview through which to view society. We do that by examining the Christmas story of the Magi. For Further Prayerful Thought:How does John’s worldview lens of 2 categories of people, those who hate the light and those who come to the light correspond to reality as you have experienced it?What truths stood out to you about Matthew’s inclusion of the story of the magi in his gospel? Why do you think it is so rare today to find a group so “driven” to want to worship Jesus?What do you most want to remember about the dark side of Christmas?For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)

Episode Summary. Is anything more beautiful, spectacular, and wonderful than God’s creation of WOMAN? I think not. She is the crowning achievement of God’s creation process. She is the one for whom a husband is to die. Yet, we live in a culture that has profoundly marred the portrait of fulfilled womanhood as God designed it to be—and it is our feminine loved ones who are suffering from it. This episode seeks to put a spotlight on 4 worldviews in our culture that MISSHAPE our loved ones’ views of womanhood in sharp contrast to God’s perfect design revealed in Scripture. We then examine this portrait in the person of Mary, the mother of Jesus, so that we who are husbands, fathers and grandfathers can help our female loved ones delight in biblical womanhood instead of being ashamed of it.For Further Prayerful Thought: Which of the 4 pollutant worldviews in our culture about womanhood concern you most? Which of the 4 pollutant worldviews in our culture have you found hardest to refute? What part of Mary’s beauty most stood out to you? What part of Peter’s portrait of womanhood, also seen in Mary, do you want to most remember to notice in your feminine lived ones so you can praise them for it?For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)

Summary: At this cultural moment Christian men face the extreme risk of abandoning our calling to godly manhood, because of the cultural pressure we feel every day. This pressure not to make distinctions between men and woman or their designed roles is squeezing many Christian men and leaders into the world’s mold and resulting unfaithfulness. But in this episode we study the example of Joseph, Jesus’ earthly dad, which is a step towards enabling us to be transformed as Romans 12:2 says, by the renewing of our minds  to set our sights on God's vision of manhood for us.For Further Prayerful Thought: Which of the 6 characteristics of Joseph do you most admire?Which of the 6 characteristics of Joseph do you think required the most spiritual might?Which of the 6 characteristics of Joseph do you most want to remember?For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)Resource Used for This Podcast:Boundaries With Kids, Henry Cloud and John TownsendLeadership is Male, David Pawson

Summary: As irritations, frustrations and trials crowd into our lives bringing out our bad attitudes, we are hit in the face with James’ almost impossible command, “Count it all joy when you meet trials of various kinds, for you know that the testing of your faith produces steadfastness” (James 1:3). “Be joyful,” says James, “because when it hurts, God is building in you the Christ-like quality of steadfastness.” This same, priceless, attribute of Christ-like character, steadfastness, is identified by Peter as one of the eight in the golden chain of Christ-like virtues we’re studying. This episode examines how on our terrible, horrible, no good, very bad days, we can exhibit the inner toughness of character that responds as Jesus would—with steadfastness, instead of giving in to lousy, self-absorbed, wrong attitudes. We then go on to examine how to build the remaining three virtues in Peter’s golden chain that go beyond steadfastness.For Further Prayerful Thought: Why does becoming like Jesus hurt?Character is not having the right attitude once in a while but consistently enough so that such an attitude is characteristic of you. How is this truth related to the quality of steadfastness?How would you answer a Christ-follower who said, “When I was a younger Christian I needed to be connected in the Body of Christ because I was so screwed up, but now that I am stronger, I’m handling things on my own okay?”As you look back upon the 3-step process for accessing divine power to build the golden chain of virtues that rest upon one another, where would you say is the biggest breakdown in your life?For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)

Summary: It is hard to image anything that would please Jesus more than hearing, “I want to be just like you.” Incredibly, the Apostle, Peter tells us in 2 Peter 1:3-8 that God has graciously given us a present—his divine power to partake of his divine, holy nature. He outlines 3 specific steps by which Christians access that divined power. The last 2 episodes examined steps 1-2. This episode examines step 3. For Further Prayerful Thought:  In this episode’s review of last week we again looked at how claiming the specific promises of God to care for our needs frees us from having to worry about them knowing they are taken care of. Why might this step be required before we can focus on Christ-like attitudes towards others?What ideas about pursuing virtue, praiseworthy character stood out to you.What do you think of the statement having the right attitude comes from looking at life from God’s point of view? What reasons for knowing the Word of God stand out to you as most important.Do you agree or disagree with this statement. Self-control is more about choosing your perspective in a given situation than about resisting cravings?   For the printed version of this message click here.For a summary of topics addressed by podcast series, click here.For FREE downloadable studies on men’s issues click here.To make an online contribution to enable others to hear about the podcast: (Click link and scroll down to bottom left)