Zondervan Inspire

A Far More Pressing Issue

Clearly, the idea of a man taking responsibility for his family's physical needs is biblical, honorable, and loving. But I am convinced that it is also overglorified by the church today. The far more pressing issue is the tendency of fathers to pay so much attention to material needs that they overlook a family's spiritual needs.

Most Christian men are far more concerned about saving up to send their children to college than discipling them when they are living under the same roof. Jesus tells us in Mark 8:36, "What good is it for you to gain the whole world, yet forfeit your soul?" Perhaps we should come up with a New Father's Translation of the Bible that paraphrases that verse something like this: "What does it profit a man if he can afford a big house and an Ivy League education for his kids, only to have them fall away from their faith when they get to Harvard?"

From The Expeditionary Man: The Adventure a Man Wants, the Leader His Family Needs

by Rich Wagner

Any comments or testimonies today?

Everything You Do Counts

When you love and respect unconditionally, you are following God and His will for you (see Hosea 1:1-11). Ultimately, your spouse and your marriage have nothing to do with it. You are simply demonstrating your obedience and trust in the face of an unlovable wife or a disrespecting husband. Unconditional love and unconditional respect will be rewarded. I call this the Rewarded Cycle. Jesus said, "For if you love those who love you, what reward to you have?" (Matthew 5:46).

In marriage, everything you do counts, even if your spouse ignores you! This is what the Rewarded Cycle is all about: His love blesses regardless of her respect; her respect blesses regardless of his love.

From New Men's
Devotional Bible

Devotion by
Emmerson Eggerichs

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The Journey to Deep Connection

Dad talks need to be conversations, cover all kinds of topics (see Proverbs 23 for ideas), and take place frequently. As such, they can provoke laughter, tears, hugs, and high-fives. Father-son conversations should be lifelong dialogues, where short and simple parent-to-child check-ins mature into a delightful exchange between deeply connected men.

If you have a son or know some other younger man whom you can influence for God, take a cue from Solomon. This young man needs to know he can trust you with his heart. For that to happen, you need to trust him with your heart.

From New Men's Devotional Bible 

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A Man's Greatest Adventure

"You are my greatest adventure," Bob Parr tells his family in the climax of The Incredibles. That line is more than lip service for the Expeditionary Man. It is part of God's perfect design for him. When a man lives out God's expedition rather than his own, not only will he raise spiritually healthy kids and have an ever-growing marriage, but he will also experience the godly adventure for which he so desperately yearns.

From The Expeditionary Man: The Adventure a Man Wants, the Leader His Family Needs

by Rich Wagner

Any comments or testimonies today?