As I write my blogs each week, I try to visualize the men who are frequent readers.  Recently, I have been having some doubts concerning the perspective I express regarding  Christian men and masculinity.  From my point of view, there is a lot of confusion and even distortion about male and female roles in the Evangelical Movement. My aim is to  find a balanced approach.  I wonder if  part of the appeal of this blog is the fact that I not only speak to the “tough” side of the masculine, but also the “tender” side.  I think the combination of my being a “heart person” and a “truth teller” inspires me to call men to  walk boldly with Jesus,  having courage to embrace the truth,  but also to be willing to go “deep.”  Soulful men is what this blog is all about.

Based on my own masculine journey, along with what I discern regarding “the men’s movement,” in the church I  contend that much more needs to be said about the “masculine soul.”  I found these words from the prophet Jeremiah an encouragement. “Use words truly and well.  Don’t stoop to cheap whining.  Then, but only then, you’ll speak for me.  Let your words change them.  Don’t change your words to suit them.  I’ll turn you into a steel wall, a thick steel wall, impregnable” (Jer. 15:20-21  – Message).  By the grace of God, I hope to grow in my articulation which is aimed at men who desire to be soulful.

I have also found  identification  with Jeremiah when he says, “The words are fire in my belly, a burning in my bones.  I’m worn out trying to hold it in.  I can’t do it any longer” (Jer. 20:9 – Message).  There is a message I believe that has been formed in my heart.  But it is difficult for me to put it into words.  I struggle at times to come up with a blog that I think is relevant for men from my perspective.  I am now going on my sixth year.  Spiritual motivated as a “truth teller,” I am highly motivated to see that the truth of God’s words rightly applied to the lives of God’s people, especially men. This is why I write.

I can across a great quote from Mike Mason that speaks to my motivation for writing.  “Howling one’s head off may actually be a more mature and realistic response to reality than the elaborate social skills of many adults.  With the latter so frightfully focused on grinning and bearing their way through life, perhaps babies are the ones to whom God has entrusted the important work of doing the crying for the whole world… ..If our gospel is not one that will stand up to the prolonged test of having absolutely no circumstantial evidence of worldly success, then it is a gospel of straw.”

I write for men who want to break out of the cultural box of maleness and the shallow expectation of be a “niece Christian guy.”  The following  principles guide my thinking.  First, our affirmation comes from our heavenly Father.  Secondly, men surrendering control in order to listen to their souls.  Thirdly, helping men deal with their pain.  Fourthly, men knowing that their strength comes through their weakness. And finally  encouraging men to stay on the journey to greater wholeness in spite of the  cultural opposition to a biblical view of men and their roles in family, church and society.