Mission Focused Men for Christ

Episode Summary. In this episode we explore two biblical texts that help identify what a wife needs in a spiritual leader. We also identify the way the biblical covenantal view of marriage is so much richer than the consumer view of marriage that is becoming more common today. This vital understanding might be helpful to pass on to the rising generation. It will definitely help you meet your wife’s heart security, if you are the spiritual leader she needs.For Further Prayerful Thought:In your own words, how would you explain to a friend what the difference is in viewing marriage as a consumer relationship or covenantal relationship.In what secular environments might you winsomely try to show how much more sense the biblical view of marriage is than any other.Are there some burdens related to your home life that you need to help your wife carry?  Are there some questions you need to ask to better see what she is seeing on the home front or better know how to share her feeling of responsibility for her home? Resources Used for This Episode: The Meaning of Marriage: Facing the Complexities of Marriage with the Wisdom of God, by Timothy and Kathy KellerIntimacy: God’s Design for Marriage: Three Conversational Dates to Rediscover Intimacy in Your Marriage, by Gary and Sandy YagelFeedback to the Host: Pease feel free to contact me at gyagel@forgingbonds.org with push back, questions about resources, other resources or additional ideas about how to help Christ’s men better be equipped for their mission. This Week’s Past Series Highlight:  How Your Leadership Can Have Impact—At Home & ElsewhereLeading So We Impact Others For Christ S1 Episode #37 7/19/20Maximizing Our Impact In Leading Others S1 Episode #38 7/25/20The Most Neglected Step of Leadership S1 Episode #39 8/2/20 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.

Episode Summary. How does a husband romance his wife the way God designed her to be romanced? Scripture provides powerful answers. Today’s episode looks at a wife’s need for romance. Now, it’s just a guess, but I suspect you find trying to meet this need very pleasurable. But be warned. No husband and wife walk down their wedding aisle expecting their romance to fall apart, but 50% of Christian marriages fail, bringing enormous emotional devastation to spouses and children. These broken-hearted victims will tell you, “Romance isn’t easy. It is not a sprint. It is a 26K marathon.”For Further Prayerful Thought: If a husband’s sex drive is stronger than his wife’s what do you see as the challenges of helping her accept his masculine sexual hardwiring as God-created?Why does it make sense to advise husbands, “First work on meeting your wife’s need for emotional intimacy and learning to romance her well. Then try to help her see the biblical explanation of how to handle your differences in sexual desire?Which romancing insights most stood out to you? Resources Used for This Episode: Intimacy: God’s Design for Marriage: Three Conversational Dates to Rediscover Intimacy in Your Marriage, by Gary and Sandy YagelSimply Romantic Nights: Discover Intimacy in a New Light, Family Life  Feedback to the Host: Pease feel free to contact me at gyagel@forgingbonds.org with push back, questions about resources, other resources or additional ideas about how to help Christ’s men better be equipped for their mission. This Week’s Past Series Highlight:  RULING OVER OUR SEXUALITY FOR GOD’S GLORYUnderstanding Our Sex Drive Helps Us Fight for Purity S1 E #12 1/26/20Sharpening Our Understanding of Sin’s Corruption of Sex S1 E#13 2/2/20Directing Our Heart Passions to Defeat Lust S1 E #14 2/9/20Protecting Our Heart From the Enticement of Sexual Sin S1 E#15 2/16/20For 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.

Episode Summary. How would you summarize these statements made by women as to why they were divorcing their husbands?My husband is no longer my friend.The only time he pays attention to me is when he wants sex.He is never there for me, emotionally, when I need him most.I hurt all the time because I feel alone and abandoned.We’re like ships passing in the night—he goes his way and I go mine.My husband has become a stranger to me. I don’t even know who he is anymore.What these wives were starving for was emotional intimacy—being connected to their husbands at the level of the heart. Scripture makes it clear in addressing husbands that this is a primary need of a wife. No wonder these marriages failed. This episode examines the need of the heart of a wife to feel connected to her best friend and lover.  For Further Prayerful Thought: How would you explain to a husband that for his wife emotional intimacy is so important that if she isn’t feeling emotionally connected to his heart if would be like you never getting to have sex?Describe what emotional intimacy is to a wife?What are the most practical things you learned about building emotional intimacy into your relationship with your wife? Resources Used for This Episode: To Understand Each Other, Paul TournierThe Five Love Languages of Men and Women, Gary and Barbara RosbergIntimacy, Douglas Weiss Feedback to the Host: Pease feel free to contact me at gyagel@forgingbonds.org with push back, questions about resources, other resources or additional ideas about how to help Christ’s men better be equipped for their mission. This Week’s Past Series Highlight: RULING OVER OUR SEXUALITY FOR GOD’S GLORYUnderstanding Our Sex Drive Helps Us Fight for Purity S1 E #12 1/26/20Sharpening Our Understanding of Sin’s Corruption of Sex S1 E#13 2/2/20Directing Our Heart Passions to Defeat Lust S1 E #14 2/9/20Protecting Our Heart From the Enticement of Sexual Sin S1 E#15 2/16/20For 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

Episode Summary. How would you answer your teenager who said, “I think American capitalism is based on evil greed and that socialism is more biblical?” This episode examines God’s design for economic flourishing, identify the biblical principles that might be important in giving him or her an answer.For Further Prayerful Thought: How would you answer someone who said that the Bible teaches socialism, especially in the New Testament?Do you think that those you are responsible for guiding realize that between 85 and 100 million people died in the 20th century where the experiment of socialism was tried?Why might our sons and daughters be attracted to the socialist ideologies they hear about online or at universities?Resources Used for This Episode:When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself, Steve Corbett & Brian FikkertMoney, Greed and God, Jay Richards. Feedback to the Host: Pease feel free to contact me at gyagel@forgingbonds.org with push back, questions about resources, other resources or additional ideas about how to help Christ’s men better be equipped for their mission.This Week’s Past Series Highlight:  RULING OVER OUR SEXUALITY FOR GOD’S GLORYUnderstanding Our Sex Drive Helps Us Fight for Purity S1 E #12 1/26/20Sharpening Our Understanding of Sin’s Corruption of Sex S1 E#13 2/2/20Directing Our Heart Passions to Defeat Lust S1 E #14 2/9/20Protecting Our Heart From the Enticement of Sexual Sin S1 E#15 2/16/20For 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.

Episode Summary. As North American Christians, our wealth presents us with an enormous responsibility, for throughout Scripture, God’s people are commanded to show compassion to the poor. This episode presents some foundational principles for building a biblical worldview about poverty and how to alleviate it. For Further Prayerful Thought:  What are some of the thoughts that come to your mind as you think about what our responsibility is to the poor, since we live at such a high standard of living.Why is defining poverty as income inequality wrong? Why is it destructive?Since the church is best equipped to take a holistic approach to helping the poor overcome poverty, does that mean Christians should support no government help for the poor? Defend your Podcast Series Highlight:  Fatherhood Is Irreplaceable In God’s Design of Humans. Season 1 Episode 32 6/14/2020.Resources Used for This Episode:When Helping Hurts: How to Alleviate Poverty Without Hurting the Poor and Yourself, Steve Corbett & Brian Fikkert, Should We Try to Erase Economic Inequality? Colson Center, What Would You Say, Brooke McIntyre Feedback to the Host: Pease feel free to contact me at gyagel@forgingbonds.org with push back, questions about resources, other resources or additional ideas about how to help Christ’s men better be equipped for their mission.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.

Episode Summary. This episode puts the concept of tolerance that is often promoted today under the spotlight of Scripture so that we can help those we influence to think carefully about accusations of intolerance leveled at Christians in this cultural moment.For Further Prayerful Thought:  What thoughts from the podcast stimulated your thinking about how Christians project intolerance?How would you summarize the way the meaning of the word, tolerance, is being misused by many today.How would you winsomely argue against defining tolerance as accepting everyone’s truth claims as equally valid. Why is such tolerance actually unloving?  Podcast Series Highlight:   Guiding Our Loved Ones Into a Biblical Worldview:  This series begins with Season 2, Episode #46, 9/7/2021. You might say this series begins with God, and his idea of the most foundational worldview principles—because it identifies 11 worldview principles revealed from Genesis 1:1-Genesis 3. Feedback to the Host:  Feel free to email me gyagel@forgingbonds.org with push back, questions about resources, other resources or additional ideas about how to help Christ’s men better be equipped for their mission.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.Recommended Resource:  https://whatwouldyousay.org/videos/ 

Episode Summary. The rising generation of Christians is rightly concerned about the link between Christianity and the oppression of racism. The problem is that many ideologies claiming to overthrow oppression are based upon destructive, anti-biblical worldviews. As the leaders of our homes and churches, how can we guide those under our care to oppose racism passionately, but be discerning enough to reject ideologies, that are not only false but have proven to be destructive? That is our goal as we examine Critical Race Theory in this episode.For Further Prayerful Thought:  As you have seen aspects of Critical Theory being promoted in your experience, why do you think that Christians might unthinkingly buy into it?What part of Critical Theory do you think contradicts the teaching of Scripture most severely?Which principles for arguing against the Critical Theory worldview in the public arena stood out to you? What additional ideas do you have? Link to FBI Report on Ferguson Podcast Series Highlight:   Guiding Our Loved Ones Into a Biblical Worldview:  This series begins with Season 2, Episode #46, 9/7/2021. You might say this approach to worldview begins with God, and his idea of the most foundational worldview principles—because it identifies key worldview principles revealed from Genesis 1:1-Genesis 3.  The current series is topical. Feedback to the Host: Today, we begin a new feature, inviting you to email me gyagel@forgingbonds.org with push back, questions about resources, other resources or additional ideas about how to help Christ’s men better be equipped for their mission.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.

Episode Summary. Mother Teresa once made a startling statement about war and peace in our world. She said, “The greatest destroyer of peace today is abortion because it is a war against the child, and if we accept that a mother can kill even her own child, how can we tell other people not to kill one another.” As men who are created to protect our families and to exercise dominion over the culture, how can we best persuade the rising generation and those who surround us to protect human life by ending abortion? This episode gives some practical suggestions. For Further Prayerful Thought:How can you “train” to remember how to phrase wise, persuasive arguments when abortion and the pro-life movement come up in discussions around you?Which statement about abortion do you hear the most often?Which of the five winsome, persuasive arguments stood out most to you?Resource Used for this PodcastThe Image Restored, Glenn Sunshine and Timothy PadgettRestoring All Things, Warren Cole Smith, John StonestreetWhat Would You Say, Colson Center Video PowerPoints 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.

Episode Summary. As we begin a new year, barring our death this year, you might say God has deposited another 8,760 hours in our 2022 bank account. Those hours really are the measure our lives; when the bank account hits zero, the race marked out for us is over. And we do not have the option of stopping time. Every day as the globe turns on its axis, twenty-four of them are spent, leading Moses to pray, “Lord teach us to number our days that we might gain wisdom” (Ps 90:12) What is the best strategy to ensure that we spend those hours wisely? The days flash by us relentlessly and I don’t know any Christian man who wants to aimlessly watch life go by. No one wants to waste his life. This episode examines two biblical principles to prevent that from happening in 2022, which, sadly, are not followed by many believers. For Further Prayerful Thought:How would you answer the question, “Why is intentionality such a big part of Christian discipleship?”How have you been intentional this past year about accomplishing Christ’s mission for you? How might the Lord be leading you to be more intentional?What did you learn about the fourth commandment and how it has been applied and misapplied in the church over the years?Past Episode Series Highlight: Staying Focused On What is Important This Fall  S 2 #42, 8/15/2021.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.

Episode Summary. As God-designed men and warriors, we need to know how the idea that gender is a social construct is corrupting the very children singing this weekend and next about Mary, Joseph and baby Jesus. If we do nothing, many will reject God’s gender design and bring enormous pain into their lives. Mary, the mother of Jesus is a striking example of all that God designed a woman to be. We need the daughters of Christ to SEE THAT. This episode makes some suggestions about defeating transgender ideology in the public arena of ideas and then takes a close look at Mary, a paragon of godly womanhood that our daughters need to admire For Further Prayerful Thought: Why is it important for Christian men today to take a stand against the transgender ideology spreading across our schools and nation?How would you seek to be persuasive about the harm of transgenderism in the public arena of discussion?How could you do a better job of encouraging the women in your life when they demonstrate beauty of heart--especially meekness, having a quiet spirit, purity, and wanting to please God rather than men? Resources Used in this EpisodeIs Transgenderism Logical, What Would You Say Series, Colson Center.Irreversible Damage: The Transgender Craze Seducing Our Daughters, Abigail Shrier. Past Episode Series Highlight: Leadership Lessons from Jesus’ Dad S 2 #6, 12/12/2020. 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.