If I had to sum up the biggest idea on becoming a man, it is that men pursue knowing God and worship Him only. Throughout the Bible, you will find that men get in trouble when they quit knowing God and when they quit honoring Him above all else. I am so glad we did this series. Below are a few wins as well as some of the books I read in preparation for the series.
A few wins from the series:
• Men were left encouraged and challenged not beat up and defeated.
• A couple of girls mentioned that they got insight into what to pray for in a future husband.
• We had our 5th highest non-holiday attendance in the history of The Bridge Church. So much for the notion that women wouldn’t come because it doesn’t apply to them and men wouldn’t come because they don’t want to be talked at.
• We gave away three grills.
• Ottumwa campuses got to meet and hear from my friend Dale Sauls. I’m an overseer of his church in North Carolina – Life Springs Church
• We had our first live teaching happen at our Centerville campus.
• We know that this was a felt need and that we can do a series on manhood again.
• I got to eat an awesome steak that was part of the opening video.
You can view the entire series here.
Books and Resources
The Five Marks of a Man by Brian Tome – I took more notes on this book than any other. He also has a couple of podcasts that move this subject matter forward – one is titled the same as the book and the other is titled “Man Skills.“
Raising Giant Killers by Bill Johnson
Play The Man by Mark Batterson – I think this is my favorite book on raising a son. I used several principles and ideas from this book in developing my own version of a rite of passage for my son.
In A Pit With A Lion On A Snowy Day by Mark Batterson – One of my all-time favorites.
The Barbarian Way and The Way of The Warrior by Erwin McManus – The Barbarian Way is one of my all time favorite reads, and it’s short.
I Declare War by Levi Lusko
Flatirons Church has a men’s ministry podcast called Wake Up Call