Spiritual Manhood

Christ saw the potential in others…. We see this truth throughout the gospels. What we witness is Christ looking at the lost and the fallen, looking at the forgotten and the marginalized, and raising them up. Edifying, strengthening and healing them he never forgot about them or ignored them. Instead he, in even some of the most extreme causes, extended a hand when no one else would, or when others thought the situation was ultimately hopeless. As Christians, as Christian men, we must be willing and able to emulate Christ. We must be willing to look past to see the potential in others. Rather than ignoring or somehow believing this isn't for us or isn't something we should worry ourselves with we must be willing to walk beside others. We must be willing to strengthen and uplift, edifying these individuals in their faith, seeing them for the wondrous creation that they are even when others seem to miss them. Join us this week on Spiritual Manhood as Wyatt and Chris talk about seeing and cultivating potential in others.

The Epistle of James warns us that the tongue can be an unruly beast that is impossible to tame. It refers to it as a small instrument that has incredible influence to the point where it can run us aground. In this it has the capacity to cause struggle, hardship and pain. Yet it isn't simply the tongue. It isn't the words that escape our lips. It is the words that can escape our fingertips as well. As Christians we are called to do better and to be better though. We are called to show discernment, wisdom and care with the words that we speak and the words that we choose, letting them reflect a life in Christ, and the deeper calling of our faith. In this, we should recognize the right place to use certain words, the right place for certain tones and ideas, and the wrong places for the, It is then that we can use our words to edify and uplift, even in the harder or harsher conversations we have to have. Join Chris and Wyatt as they return with a conversation about choosing our words with care on Spiritual Manhood.

The Spiritual Manhood Podcast is back with a new episode as we resume our roundtable discussions. This week we pick up on our discussion of leadership. The last time we met it was a discussion of what leadership looks like in the home for men. This time we are venturing out into the community to discuss what leadership looks like there. What then are the most important traits or characteristics that we can take on? What does leadership that is God pleasing look like? How do we reflect our Christina life in the wider world around us? This week join Matt, Chris, Dan and Wyatt as we consider our discussion and we begin the process of answering those questions and more.

A man's first ministry is at home, which means that he must be willing to lead at home. As Paul then instructs us in his first Epistle to Timothy the faithful man must ensure that his home is in good order and that his family is taken care of.  (1 Tim 3) In fact, all throughout Paul's Epistles we see a reoccurring theme for those who lead that recognizes that strong leadership begins with strong leadership at home. This isn't always an easy or a simply thing though, especially when we witness a society that is fundamentally opposed to male headship. It is a society and a world where seeks to wrestle the leadership of the home out of the hands of men, becoming bolder and bolder with that effort. That is why we need to spend time discussing leadership in the family, what it means and what it looks like. This week we continue our discussion of leadership by talking about leadership at home during this Spiritual Manhood Roundtable.

More and more what we are finding is that men are turning their backs on formal education structures. Last week the Wall Street Journal posted an article entitled A Generation of American Men Give Up on College: ‘I Just Feel Lost.' What this article points out is that men are, more and more, dropping out of college or university, if they even go at all. During the 2020-21 year, for example, women constituted 59.5 percent of college students, whereas men only make up 40.5 percent. Though this can be because of the cost of education, there are a host of other factors that come into play as well. What it comes down to in many instances though is that men feel themselves in a haze, unsure or unclear about what it is that they are to do or what they want to do. This has a direct impact on our society, as we find that men are finding it more difficult to grow up and take on responsibility, to live a disciplined life. It is creating a gap in leadership as men find that they take less and less of an active leadership role. How can we be surprised though? We live in a society that doesn't necessarily know what to do with men. This week join Chris and Wyatt as they discuss the education system and the struggles that are there. What are the implications of what we are seeing? What are the solutions? How do we move forward?

Often times the Christian man, in our present world, tend to shy away from the political arena, claiming that they should not be involved or that they should not get involved. To fuel this thought or this idea the argument is made it doesn't matter who is in power, or it doesn't matter who is governing, because Gods is in control. Though this is true what we have to recognize is that men of God throughout history have been involved in the political arena seeking to affect change. We see it in the fact that God ordains government in Genesis, in the story of Moses, the history of the Judges, the Kings and the exile. Even in Romans 13 as Paul tells the Christian that they must submit to the authorities placed above them we come to recognize that there is a spiritual and a religious obligation that is there. This leads the Christian man to ask what should they do? How involved should they be? Should their political thought be informed by their religious thought? Should the two be interwoven together in a tangible way? What does it mean amidst our current culture to not take that firm stand? These are the questions that we will be exploring this week on Spiritual Manhood.

Regardless of where we may trace its decline to what we come to understand is that there is an absence, a void in leadership in our society today. This is just a sad reality, and, in that sad reality, we see the deeper implications of what it means. We witness throughout our culture, woven throughout our current age as it presents a number of challenges to us, our families, the church and the wider world around us. Even as we realize, and recognize this fact, we also realize that a part of the problem is that men are not stepping up to the plate, not like they should, not like they have to. How do we know this? Because a society of strong men, with a strong understanding of male leadership would not let what is happening around us happen. They would step up and they would push back in ways we do not see like we should. How then  do we answer this problem? How do we begin the process of reclaiming strong male leadership in our society today? That's what we will be discussing as we begin a roundtable series on leadership on Spiritual Manhood.

There can be cycles and issues in our lives that we face, these challenges that seek to draw us away from God and that can be self-destructive, as well as damaging to our relationships. These can personal, familial, or societal but they have a profound effect on us, on who we are and how we live our lives. So the question then becomes how do we address them? How do we begin to address them in a meaningful ways so that we can break the cycles that grip us and don't create new ones? How do we even begin the process of recognizing them? This week, on Spiritual Manhood, join Chris and Wyatt as they begin the process of discussing the cycles in our lives, and how to grow beyond them as we seek to be the men God desires us to be.

As Christian men we need to be focused on our spiritual growth, maturing in our faith as we strive to live according to the standard which God has laid out and to be the disciple He desires us to be. This mean  working on our Spiritual Disciplines. What are Spiritual Disciplines though? Biblical practices intended to draw us closer to God, draw us closer to Christ, they help us to focus our hearts and our minds on Him and His Word, centering us on His truth. This can be difficult for men because it involves humility, setting aside our pride and our vanity, so that we are able to become the men that God intends us to be. It also means challenging many of our preconceived notions and ideas about who we are. It means letting go of ourselves as the Spirit leads us, and nothing can be a greater leap of faith for many men out there. Join Chris, Dan, Matt and Wyatt as they sit down for this Spiritual Manhood round table in order to discuss the nature and the importance of Spiritual Disciplines and Spiritual Growth.

As iron sharpens iron we are intended to sharpen one another... As men we can find it difficult to forge the relationships we need to forge. Often times what we actually do is we go off on our own, we do it ourselves, not realizing that we are at our weakest when we do. Yet, when we are off on our own, what we end up with is the reality that we are the most susceptible to the enemies attack. Considering the nature of the Spiritual Warfare we are engaged in amidst the hostile landscape of our present world and our current age, we need to realize that there is strength in numbers. This week join Chris and Wyatt as they continue their discussion about faith in times like these by talking about our obligation to our brothers in these days, and these challenges. Confronting the issue from a biblical worldview they talk about the importance of growing, and growing together this week on Spiritual Manhood.