Stepping Up: A Call To Courageous Manhood podcast

6:02

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 1 | Call It Courage 14:10

5 years тому14:10

14:10

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 2 | Courage in the Valley 18:31

5 years тому18:31

18:31

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 3 | Time to Step Up 17:13

5 years тому17:13

17:13

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 4 | What Robs Men of Courage 17:03

5 years тому17:03

17:03

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 5 | That Bear's Going to Maul My Son 7:58

5 years тому7:58

7:58

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 6 | What Every Boy Needs 15:33

5 years тому15:33

15:33

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 7 | Stepping Up as a Dad 14:15

5 years тому14:15

14:15

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 8 | You Can Do It 9:39

5 years тому9:39

9:39

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 9 | The Wilderness Years 11:22

5 years тому11:22

11:22

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 10 | Understanding the Landscape 12:14

5 years тому12:14

12:14

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 11 | What Every Teenage Boy Needs 17:45

5 years тому17:45

17:45

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 12 | Every Man's Battle 8:24

5 years тому8:24

8:24

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 13 | A Man of Endurance 13:32

5 years тому13:32

13:32

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

1
Chapter 14 | The Courage to Initiate 14:21

5 years тому14:21

14:21

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Manhood and Spiritual Leadership 27:31

5 years тому27:31

27:31

FamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Manhood and Spiritual Leadership Guest: Dennis Rainey From the series: Stepping Up (day 4 of 5) Bob: Being a man involves taking some risks: stepping up, being courageous, leading, initiating. Here is Dennis Rainey: Dennis: What if I failed every time I’ve initiated? Well, the easiest thing to do is nothing and to stop initiating. The reason we fail to initiate is we may have trained our wives to just jump in and do it for us because we haven’t stepped up and taken responsibility for our finances, for the spiritual well-being of our family, for the direction we’re headed as a couple. All of these demand initiative from a man who knows where he’s going. Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Thursday, March 10th. Our host is the President of FamilyLife Dennis Rainey, and I’m Bob Lepine. We’re going to begin today to unpack some of the essentials that make up biblical manhood. Welcome to FamilyLife Today ; thanks for joining us on the Thursday edition. Do you think men know what it is they’re looking for, they’re aiming for? I mean, do you think they understand what manhood looks like? Dennis: No. I don’t. In fact, I think there is so much taking place in our culture today it is like real manhood, as God designed a man to be, is an elusive goal at best. For most, they have no—they haven’t even got the foggiest idea what that looks like. Bob: Well, I remember—this will date me a little bit, but I remember trying to figure it out myself and thinking, “So, as a real man the tough John Wayne, Rambo, you don’t share your feelings; you just go out and get it done.” Is that a real man? Dennis: Don’t eat quiche. Bob: Yes. Or is a real man a sensitive, caring, kind of person who is tender and who is kind and who pays attention and listens to the heart of his wife? Is that a real man? We get such mixed messages in the culture that I think that a lot of guys are looking around going, “I want to be a man. I’m just not exactly sure what that means.” Dennis: Well, I don’t often quote from advertisers, especially advertisers that advertise jeans, as an authority; but I ran across an advertisement for Dockers jeans where I just felt like they nailed it. In fact— Bob: Now hang on. I’m wearing Dockers right now. Dennis: Are you? Bob: Okay. Yes. Dennis: Well, this is a good ad for Dockers jeans, but I want you to listen to this because this appeared in an advertisement for their jeans. You tell me if you don’t feel like they nailed it. Once upon a time, men wore the pants and wore them well. Women rarely had to open doors, and little old ladies never had to cross the street alone. Men took charge because that is what they did, but somewhere along the way the world decided it no longer needed men. Disco by disco, latte by foamy non-fat latte, men were stripped of their khakis and left stranded on the road between boyhood and androgyny; but today, there are questions are genderless society has no answers for. Now, I’m going to finish this, Bob, but can you believe this is for jeans? Now I know Dockers makes other things too— Bob: Right. Dennis: But this is advertising their jeans. They continue: The world sets idly by as cities crumble, children misbehave, and those little old ladies remain on one side of the street. For the first time since bad guys, we need heroes. We need grown-ups. We need men to put down the plastic forks, step away from the salad bar, and untie the world from the tracks of complacency. It is time for you to get your hands dirty. It is time to answer the call of manhood. It is time to wear the pants. Talk about politically incorrect. Bob: They’ve been reading your book haven’t they? Dennis: Here’s what they are saying, and again, an advertisement is not my authority. I’m about to go to Scripture, but they are picking up on the theme of Scripture that there is a lot about manhood that is all about a man taking initiative. Manhood is about initiative. 1 Corinthians 16:13-14 talks about standing firm in the faith, acting like men. Be a man, it says. 1 Kings 2 David is about to die. He charges his son, Solomon. He says, “Show yourself a man and keep the charge of the Lord your God walking in His ways, keeping His statutes, His commandments, His rules, His testimonies.” I mean, he’s calling his son up: be a man; step up, son; don’t fritter away your manhood on lesser callings. Yet, this culture is sending messages to boys that make the waters incredibly murky. If there is someone that needs to be clarifying what it means to be a real man today, it ought to be followers of Jesus Christ who are tethered to the Scripture. Bob: So, you would say that the Scriptures give us a clear picture of what mature manhood is? Dennis: Right. Bob: Okay. So, unpack it for us. Dennis: Well, first of all, let me tell you what it isn’t: it’s not passivity. It has been suggested in the Garden in Genesis chapter 3, that when the serpent came to Eve that Adam was standing there. Adam was present, but he did nothing. It has been suggested that perhaps the first sin of man was passivity. If you think about it, if initiative is the essence of manhood, could it be that the sin of arrogance and pride of doing nothing and just standing back watching may be the opposite? I think there are three reasons—actually I’m going to give you a bonus reason. Four reasons why men are passive today, they don’t take the initiative. First of all, taking the initiative is hard work, and I’m tired. It is the end of the day. I don’t feel like leading my family in a devotion at the dinner table. I don’t feel like putting the kids to bed and serving my wife by helping the kids be tucked in and praying with them. The easiest thing for me to do is to sit in my easy chair and become a giant amoeba and just do nothing. It is hard work to lead. Being a man calls us out of our passivity, out of doing nothing into engageme...…

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
A Call to Manhood 24:20

5 years тому24:20

24:20

FamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. A Call to Manhood Guest: Dennis Rainey From the series: Stepping Up (day 5 of 5) Bob: As a husband and as a dad, Dennis Rainey has not always done it right. He remembers times when he embraced his role to lead courageously. Dennis: I remember one time when our daughters came downstairs ready for church, and one of our daughters was wearing a dress that was immodest. Instead of telling her to go change I was wimpy. I didn’t engage her because I didn’t want to experience the pain of the conflict, and so I was a good man who did nothing. All of us make mistakes that we can look back on and have some regrets about, but the key is, as we look forward, how are you going to protect your family today? How are you as a man going to take responsibility and not give evil a chance to triumph in your family? Bob: This is FamilyLifeToday for Friday, March 11th. Our host is the President of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey, and I’m Bob Lepine. We’ll talk today about what it means for a man to be on the alert, to stand firm in the faith, to act like a man and to be strong, to let all that he does be done in love. And welcome to FamilyLife Today . Thanks for joining us. You think those who have been with us all this week have been kind of feeling the – smelling the testosterone as we’ve been talking about what authentic manhood ought to look like? Dennis: Calling men to step up. In fact, a call to courageous manhood is what we have been talking about. You know, here’s the thing, Bob: We watch TV. We watch a sporting event. We watch the golfers, the football players, the baseball players, basketball, doesn’t matter what season it is, and you hear somebody say, “He stepped up his game.” Bob: Yes. Dennis: We’re used to using this phrase, stepping up . It is used all the time. Now I know I am sensitive to those two words because that’s the name of a book that I just finished, that I’ve been working on for more than 10 years. But I do feel like men today need someone in their lives calling them to step up and out of boyhood and adolescence and step fully into manhood and to be the man God made them to be. Bob: Well, and we’ve already acknowledged this week that this is a theme that God seems to be stirring in our culture today. We talked about the movie that’s coming out in the fall that the folks at Sherwood Baptist have put together called Courageous. It’s around the same theme. Dennis: It is. In fact it’s interesting that so many different Christian organizations, groups, and churches are all raising the same issue. The guys at Sherwood seem to have their fingers on a pulse that I believe is something God wants to do in the church. I think this movie is going to stir individual Christians, and I hope men to step up and be courageous in their most fundamental callings in life. Bob: Give me a definition of courage. Can you do that? I mean, how do I understand what courage looks like biblically? Dennis: Well, courage is doing your duty in the face of fear. Doesn’t mean you don’t have fear. In fact, one of my favorite questions to ask at a dinner table – I think you’ve probably been at a few meals – Bob: I’ve been the victim of this question before, yes. Dennis: You get at a table that’s a round table and has four or five couples at it, or ten people at your table. You hate to bore one another with yourselves, you know. Life is too short. Let’s cut to the chase; let’s talk about some stuff of meaning, you know? So I like to ask the question, “What is the most courageous thing you’ve ever done in all your life?” It’s been interesting to look at how people have answered it. People have talked about a decision at work to push back against deceptive business practices where it could have cost them their jobs, maybe stepping away from their existing job and pursuing a dream. Others have protected an unborn life. I’ve heard young men answer this question talking about stepping up and away from pornography. But the most frequent answer to the question, “What’s the most courageous thing you’ve ever done?” usually involves the person’s father, where they stepped up and either took another job and didn’t go to work for the family company – recently I was at a dinner table and a man said “It was my decision to not go to work for my father but go to college. I was the first person in our family to go to college.” There’s something about our parents, standing up to our parents and taking a stand for what we believe God wants us to do that calls upon a bedrock of courage from a man’s life. Bob: And not to do that disrespectfully; to do it in the context of honor, but there is something about declaring, “I can navigate life apart from your guiding me.” Dennis: I actually think it is a form of a rite of passage, as you’ve said, to adulthood, where we take a stand and we go, “You know what? I’m my own person. God has a plan for me. I’m fulfilling that plan, and I will honor you, but I am going to be obedient to the God who has called me to do this thing.” Bob: What you’ve done in the book is kind of chart the trajectory a man follows from boyhood, which dads can help make more intentional for their sons by pointing them in the right direction and calling them onto the right path, and then adolescence, which is full of all kinds of traps that a young man needs to be navigated through so that he can get to mature manhood. Dennis: And one that every man needs to understand that his son desperately needs him to engage him during this period of time and not just kind of wipe his hands and say, “It’s done. He’s a teenager now; he’s 16, 17, 18 years old. My influence is over.” No it’s not. There will come a time when your influence will be lessened substantially, but until that time we’re charging men to reach down to those young men in adolescence and call them fully up to the manhood step. Step on up to what it means to be a man, and step away from, well, the lure of childishness and acting like a boy and prolonging youthfulness too long. Bob: Well, if a guy is going to call younger man to step fully up onto the platform of manhood, he’s got to be there himself, and to be there he’s got to know what it looks like. And as we’ve already said, a lot of guys just don’t know what it looks like. &...…

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Chapter 15 | The Courage to Protect 17:39

5 years тому17:39

17:39

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Chapter 16 | The Courage to Resist Temptation 9:30

5 years тому9:30

9:30

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Chapter 17 | The Courage to Believe 14:54

5 years тому14:54

14:54

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Chapter 18 | A Major League Trailblazer 15:04

5 years тому15:04

15:04

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Chapter 19 | Men Need Other Men 11:21

5 years тому11:21

11:21

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Chapter 20 | Becoming a Generational Messenger 17:02

5 years тому17:02

17:02

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Chapter 21 | Left Behind 14:10

5 years тому14:10

14:10

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Chapter 22 | Are You Done Making a Difference 16:49

5 years тому16:49

16:49

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Chapter 23 | Qualities of a Patriarch 17:53

5 years тому17:53

17:53

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Chapter 24 | Finishing Well 11:24

5 years тому11:24

11:24

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Knowing God Personally 8:17

5 years тому8:17

8:17

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Acknowledgments 6:06

5 years тому6:06

6:06

Men today are in a battle without bullets or bombs, but a battle all the same. It's a fight for our families and our future. Facing the battles of life demands courage, and courage is the ability to do the hard thing in every circumstance, despite the cost.

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Take Courage 28:30

5 years тому28:30

28:30

FamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Take Courage Guest: Dennis Rainey From the series: Stepping Up (Day 1 of 5) Bob: Dennis Rainey says there is a call going out to men all over the world—a call to be men—to be courageous. Dennis: A call to courageous manhood is all about calling men to pound their chest and say, “You know what—I refuse to do nothing about the evil that is destroying my marriage, my children, my family, and my grandchildren. I want to do something as a man.” Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Monday, March 7th. Our host is the President of FamilyLife, Dennis Rainey; and I'm Bob Lepine. Today we are looking at what the Bible has to say about what God has in mind for men being men. And welcome to FamilyLife Today . Thanks for joining us on the Monday edition. Is it okay for women to listen to what we are going to talk about? Dennis: Oh, absolutely. Oh, sure. In fact, Barbara gives a message to women called “Helping Your Man Step Up to Real Manhood.” Bob: I know, but you are going to be talking to the guys for the most part this week. This is kind of man-to-man, from-your-heart, kind of stuff. It is alright for the women to listen? Dennis: Kind of? [laughter] I think it is going to be very instructive to single women, married women, moms who are raising boys, grandmothers, and obviously to single men, husbands, dads, and grandfathers as well. We are just going to talk heart-to-heart for the need for courageous manhood today and for men to step up and really take on the mantel of true godly male leadership. Bob: This is something you have been chewing on for quite some time. Dennis: That is a nice way to put it, Bob. [laughter] Chewing on it. I have tried to write this book four times in the last ten years—actually 12 years. I have run across notes that I have had that are like fossilized relics. [laughter] I have been interrupted by health issues in our family; family crises when one of our children wasn’t doing well; Barbara had a health issue; and, of course, the recession back in 2008 and 2009—that took me off the book as I really scrambled here at FamilyLife to make sure we operated in the black, which by the grace of God we did. All o f those things took me off task, Bob; but I am glad in a way because I believe what we have come up with here will be a tool that we place in the hands of men and women, for that matter, that is going to help them be more effective in taking on the mantel of male leadership. Bob: This is your new book called Stepping Up. I think it is interesting—when you look at what the Bible has to say about being a man, there is a link to the idea of courage. That is what you have tapped into in this book. Dennis: Right, Bob. I believe, as never before, men are under attack today. More than 60 percent of college students today are women. I don’t think it is safe to be a man on many occasions. There was an article back last January in the Wall Street Journal. It was entitled, “Eek! A Male!” It was an article that talked about a man in Massachusetts who saw some smoke coming from a van. He rushed in; and as he was rescuing two small children before the van went up in smoke, the grandmother almost punched his lights out because she thought he was going to kidnap the kids. It is assumed almost that men are predators. We assume the worst about them. The article went on to say that a guy in England didn’t stop and pick up a toddler beside the road because he was afraid he would be accused of being a child molester or a kidnapper of the child. He drove on, and the toddler ended up walking off into a pond and drowned. Bob: Certainly there are men in the culture who are predatory and who do commit the kind of acts that raise the concern, but what I hear you saying is that that has had a chilling effect on men being what God has called men to be. Dennis: Right. I think for men to step up and truly lead today, it takes courage as never before. Last night, Barbara and I were watching a series. In fact, you loaned us this series about John Adams, the second president of the United States. Barbara has already read the book by David McCullough. I just look at the sheer size of that book, and it frightens me. Bob: You say, “I’ll watch the TV series.” Dennis: I’ll watch the series! [laughter] At the end of the first session, I turned to Barbara and I was just commenting on John Adams and his courage. I told her, “You know what, we know very little today as men about that kind of courage that our Founding Fathers had in establishing this nation. They put their lives on the line to gain America’s freedom.” I think we need a fresh vision of what it means to be a man and to step up and protect our wives, our families, our communities, our culture, and our nation from the evil that preys upon them. I think today—I think it is going to call upon that kind of courage that our Founding Fathers had more than 250 years ago. Bob: Do you think men today are inhibited culturally? They back off from courage because the culture doesn’t reward it? Do you think it is their passivity that is kicking in? Why aren’t men stepping up to courageous manhood? Dennis: If you look at Joshua 1, God commanded through Joshua, He commanded the nation of Israel, and specifically the men. He said, “Be courageous. Don’t be afraid.” He said it four times. You kind of wonder if the nation of Israel needed courage in the face of fear. Why would God command it four times? I think there is something within all of us which tends toward cowardice—toward passivity—toward backing away from confronting our fears and moving through them and doing something about them. For instance, the other day, Barbara and I were in New York City. We were doing some shopping in a French store, which was an unusual store. It has all kinds of gadgets for the kitchen and for families. It really had some fun stuff for $10, $20. We were looking in it, and there were two books that had an obscene word on the cover of the book. It is, in my opinion, the most vulgar term you could put on the cover of a book. There were two books there. I am going, “What is with that in this classy store?” I thought, “Nah, don’t do it.&...…

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Guiding Your Son Through Boyhood 30:15

5 years тому30:15

30:15

FamilyLife Today® Radio Transcript References to conferences, resources, or other special promotions may be obsolete. Guiding Your Son Through Boyhood Guest: Dennis Rainey From the series: Stepping Up (day 2 of 5) Dennis: You ever been lost? Really lost in the woods? Well, you know what? I got lost, and there were no markers. The land was flat, it was cold, and the sun was going down. I didn’t have a GPS on me. I didn’t have a compass. I had no way to tell where to go or how to get out of there. I admit that I was on the verge of panic. That sense of being lost is what a boy can feel growing up today without a father guiding him. Bob: This is FamilyLife Today for Tuesday, March 8th. Our host is the President of FamilyLife Dennis Rainey, and I’m Bob Lepine. We’re going to talk about what we can do to help boys get pointed on the right path and pointed in the right direction as they step up to manhood. Welcome to FamilyLife Today ; thanks for joining us on the Tuesday edition. Just wondering what’s in the water there at the Rainey house? Your wife writes this devotional for families around courage. Now, you’ve got this book for men on courageous manhood. Are they spiking you with something out there? Dennis: You know it is in the country. There is no telling. I do think Barbara and I have been preaching to one another. Do you think? Bob: I just sense a little bit of this passion in your souls to see men, women, and children kind of step up and be courageous. Dennis: Bob, I think this culture is robbing us of our courage. I think it is discouraging us. I think many are losing heart in well-doing as a result. If there has ever been a time when, frankly, men needed to be encouraged, I believe it’s today. Bob: Well, now, this is a theme that has been simmering in your heart for almost a decade, maybe longer than a decade, as you’ve been in a number of settings challenging men to step up to courageous manhood. Now, you’ve written a book that’s called Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood . You break the book down—this is interesting—into six sections to help orient guys to the progression that you’re calling them to. Dennis: We do. The first section is just all about courage. Then, each of the following five sections are about the steps: stepping up to boyhood, adolescents, manhood, mentor, and patriarch. Each of those six sections of the book begin with a story of courage. Bob: Let me ask you about boys stepping up to boyhood. It seems like boyhood is something that just kind of happens to you. It’s not something that as a boy you’re all that intentional about. In fact, you’re just kind of going through life, and the question is are you heeding direction or are you just following your own impulses? Dennis: I clipped a cartoon out of a magazine that had a picture of a five year old boy barefoot and no shirt in cutoff jeans walking down a dusty, dirty road. He had two cats that he was carrying, whose tails were tied together. He was carrying them, you know, where the tails kind of were caught in the crook of his arm. The caption on the cartoon read, “And he was bound to acquire experience rapidly.” That’s what boyhood is all about. He’s growing up through the childish years getting all this experience, but what has to happen? He has to have an older man in his life directing that experience. So, that as he grows from boyhood into adolescence, there is character there; there’s the wisdom to know the right from wrong and enough of a conscience that he can begin to turn away from evil and make right choices. Boyhood does just seem like a time when life does happen to him, but it’s a time when every boy needs a father. Bob: Tragically, we live a culture where there are a lot of boys who don’t have fathers. If a boy doesn’t have a father or someone stepping in to provide direction, to say, “Here’s where manhood is, come on follow me. Come this direction,” then, the carnal impulses take over and what you have is masculinity gone amok. Dennis: Yes. Newsweek , a few years back, ran an article called “The Trouble with Boys.” They said in that article that one of the most reliable predictors of whether a boy will succeed or fail in high school rests upon a single question, one question: does he have a man in his life to look up to? Unfortunately, in many cases, the answer is no. I ran across this quote. I’ve not been able to find out who said it, but it has a pound of wisdom in it. It says, “A boy without a father is like an explorer without a map.” That’s what a boy is. He’s starting out life, and it’s uncharted. He doesn’t have the experience to know how to deal with it. Who is he going to look to, to gain the experience he needs to know how to navigate the valleys, the danger spots, the mountains? There is a lot of life that just happens to us, but as we know, there is a lot of evil that can occur in a boy and for that matter a teenager’s life before they make it to manhood. Bob: I don’t think when I became a father for the first time that I understood the responsibility of calling sons to manhood. I don’t know that I understood that mantle being put on my shoulders. Did your dad assume that responsibility in your life? Did he understand what it was that God had called him to do, do you think? Dennis: This is one of the more fascinating stories of my life, Bob. My dad had a profound impact on my life, but I have no idea where he got the training to do it because his dad deserted him as a boy. He was in his early teenage years when his dad basically abandoned the family of eight children and kind of went his own way. I grew up in a town of thirteen hundred people—I like to say I had a big dad in a small town. My dad was big in my life because he was involved in my life. He coached my little league team. The first game we got beat twenty-two to nothing to the Early Birds. Three years later we played them for the semi-finals. If we’d won, we’d gone on to the championship of our age group. They beat us again, but it was only three to two. Now,...…

S

Stepping Up: A Call to Courageous Manhood

1
Approaching Adolescence 27:03

5 years тому27:03