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Fathers, Are You Making This 1 Huge Mistake?

Another powerful snow storm with blizzard conditions was hammering us in New Hampshire this past weekend. This was another in a series of storms that have been delivering heavy snow, wicked winds and significant snow accumulations on top of an already 2+ feet of snow.

We hunkered down in the family room around the warmth of the wood burning stove and decided to rent a movie. Ready to give up on the vast listing of non-interesting moves we came across ‘The Judge’ with Robert Downey Jr. and Robert Duvall.

Quick synopsis. Robert Downey Jr. plays Hank Palmer, a successful defense attorney in Chicago, who finds himself returning to his childhood hometown to attend his mothers funeral. Early on we see the stress fractures of his “picture perfect” life played out in a bitter divorce narrative as he walks out the door to head home.

If you go online and visit the common places for movie reviews you might skip over this movie because it got beaten up a bit by the movie critics. What do the critics know, right? I thought the movie was engaging and deeply moving and it hit a really BIG chord with me.

What chord was that?

Courage Robbers: The Top 10 Things Men Fear Most

I am amped up to be one of the group leaders for a 10 week series our Men’s Ministry group is spearheading at our church called, “Stepping Up”. I was encouraged to see 80+ men decide to take this journey with us to step up into Biblical manhood, despite the crazy snow storm that was raging on outside.

“Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” -1 Corinthians 16:13-14

After watching the inspiring session one video, which highlighted the courageous story of Red Erwin an airman of the Los Angeles B-29 Super-fortress, I met the five men assigned to my group who will be taking this journey with me. Great bunch of guys with diverse backgrounds and a ton of baggage that most men carry with them, including me. As I was going through the weekly exercises I paused at the section called ‘Courage Robbers’ because so many of us men just get paralyzed by courage robbers.

Life shrinks or expands in proportion to one’s courage.

—Anais Nin

Here is an excerpt from my book Heartstone where I share a snippet of dealing with some of my own courage robbers:

3 Super Bowl Ads That Challenged Today’s Culture

If you haven’t noticed, in today’s culture the very idea of fatherhood is under attack. The narrative highlighted by the media, movies and society throws out labels such as clueless, knucklehead, bumbling idiot, fill in the blank ________.

I don’t know about you, but I am tired of seeing these ads that leave you with a dads biggest contribution to child rearing is the narrative “yes dear” as their wives do all the work!

Superbowl 49 was an awesome game! I’m one of those Patriots fan that jumped off the couch when Butler intercepted that pass in the end zone with seconds to go, but also I noticed major brands deciding to take on fatherhood and it got noticed. During the game that was seen by more than 100 million people, these ads showcased dads as they really are; loving, caring, supportive, helpful, courageous, protective, masculine and a major part in their children’s lives. What a concept!

Each ad pulled at my heart strings, so lets take a look at each of them.

7 Things We Can Learn From Joseph When Our Life Sucks

Have you ever experienced a crisis in your life? Persecution? Being mistreated by someone? You got a raw deal? Stuck in the “life’s not fair” narrative? Life just keeps knocking you down? Or fill in the blank________!

I have walked through hardships and many tough circumstances. I completely understand that walking through any of these is not fun, but there is a nugget that most of us never pick up through these difficult times.

You will quickly discover how real your relationship with Jesus Christ is in the midst of these tough places.

Your response to any of the trials that life throws at you will reveal what’s really inside of you and it will reveal the depth of your relationship with Jesus! When we step into one of these narratives we have choices; we can trust our circumstance to the Lord or deal with them in our own strength and probably crash and burn.

We all have dreams but often the reality of our life doesn’t line up with the picture we’ve painted in our minds, right?

Do you ever have those moments where you ask God, “why me?” I know I do! I wrote an article sharing a glimpse of the trials of Corrie ten Boom and realized that a huge illusion we have about our life, is that somehow we are in complete control of it.

Let’s take a deeper dive by stepping into the story of Joseph, the Old Testament guy.

Why We Need More Sheepdogs And Less Hashtags!

My son and I went to see American Sniper with a group of band of brothers and wow what an incredible move! Not only will this movie stick with you for a while afterwards, it’s an important film portraying a true war hero that people should see. I am not on the panel for Oscar nominations or a well known movie reviewer, but American Sniper is absolutely deserving of any and all award recognition. Also, it’s a film that isn’t merely a war movie – it’s a story of courage, conviction, brotherhood and caring.

I won’t give away any spoilers but it was the first time I’ve ever experienced a silence so overpowering you could hear a pin drop at the conclusion of the film. The movie was powerful and the ending created an emotional pause as the credits flew by without the typical music — the audience was stunned to silence. Iv’e always had the utmost honor, gratitude and respect for those who serve our country but with this movie I could feel it in my heart and I could I feel it in my chest!

So, what does this have to do with sheepdogs and hashtags?

Great question, but before we dive into that here is a synopsis of American Sniper:

Fathers, Are You Making This 1 Huge Mistake?

Courage Robbers: The Top 10 Things Men Fear Most

3 Super Bowl Ads That Challenged Today’s Culture

7 Things We Can Learn From Joseph When Our Life Sucks

Why We Need More Sheepdogs And Less Hashtags!

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Never Out Of The Fight!

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