In my recent reading I came across a new word for my spiritual vocabulary – “Flourishing.”  Andy Crouch in his new book, “Strong and weak” refers to flourishing as being fully alive, “…..not just to survive, but to thrive; not just to exist, but to explore and expand.”  The men who read this blog desire to break out of…

Thank you, Mike Huckabee, for giving men this slogan  Thank you for standing up publicly for us.   Huckabee was citing The Washington Post’s findings that of the 990 people shot by police in 2015, 948 were male, 494 were white and 258 were black.  “The pure facts,” observed Huckabee, “…reveal that 94% of those killed by…

Recently, Michelle Obama hosted a “United State of Women” summit at the White House.  The schedule featured an interview with the First Lady conducted by Oprah Winfrey.  At one point, Winfrey asked  Mrs. Obama if she has any advice for men.  “Be better” the First Lady replied, and then she reiterated, “Be better at everything.” …

I enjoy those Dove Soap ads that show clips of caring Dads.  The Dove+Care ads are intended to push its line of men’s grooming products and promote fatherhood.  A Father’s Day ad shows two dads kissing and rocking an infant to sleep. “As a brand, we’re focused on the evolution of masculinity and highlighting dads’ caring…

Jon Lovett was the White House speech writer who penned those infamous words, “If you like your insurance, you can keep it.”  In 2013 Lovett gave a graduation speech at Pitzer College, in which the 30-year-old sage seemed to be warning graduates about people like himself.  “One of the greatest threats we face, simply put,…

I have not commented on the travesty of our national policy regarding transgender bathrooms.  But a blog by David Murrow over at “Church for Men” got me to thinking about men and our instinct to provide for and to protect women and children. Husbands and fathers are frustrated because the wives and daughters they love…

I do not intend this blog to be political, but I could not resist writing about the “Pajama Boy.” During the showdown over Obamacare, a PAC put out an ad now known as “Pajama Boy.”  “It showcased a young fellow in thick retro-rimmed glasses, wearing black-and-red plaid children’s pajamas, and sipping from a mug, with…

In the 1967 war, Israel wrestled control of the West Bank known as Qasr al-Yahud from Jordon. It was thought to be the traditional site where John the Baptist baptized Jesus in the Jordan River. But Israel mined the entire site on the banks of the Jordon River to ward off attacks from across the border.  In 1994 Israel signed a peace treaty…

In a recent Wed Morning Prayer Meeting, I shared about the “birth pangs” people who are involved in intercessory prayer experience.  I referred to Romans 8:22-25 from the Message: “All around us we observe a pregnant creation.  The difficult times of pain throughout the world are simply birth pangs.  But it’s not only around us; it’s within us. …

This name comes from church historian Carl R. Trueman.  “The sempiternal orgiast [is] the one who lives for the pleasure of the moment.”  Trueman goes on to say, “Once the end of human existence was identified with happiness and happiness came to be identified with pleasure and pleasure came to be identified primarily with sexual gratification,…