Mission Focused Men for Christ
This 20-minute weekly podcast is for Christian men who want to hear, “Well done,” from Jesus, after running the race marked out for them. Its goals are to: 1) EQUIP men to better understand from Scripture their mission, 2) ENCOURAGE men because we fail often, 3) ENERGIZE men because our spiritual tank is often on "empty," 4) EMPOWER men to stay focused on honoring Christ with their lives. The podcast presenter, Dr. Gary Yagel, is known for his practical biblical teaching and encouraging heart. A former church planter in the Presbyterian Church in America, Gary is the founder and Executive Director of Forging Bonds of B...
Overcoming Apathy in Your Followers
Episode Summary. Few of us think we have the gifts to be a great leader; yet every married man has been assigned to the leadership role in his marriage. As Paul said “the head of a wife is her husband” (1 Cor 11:13). And of course we are assigned to lead our children as fathers.
One of the biggest challenges for all leaders is motivating our followers to move in the direction we want them to go. Dwight Eisenhower, once said, “Leadership is the ability to get a person to do what you want him to do...
Romancing a Wife--Valentine's Day Prep
Episode Summary. God wants husbands and wives to drink deeply and frequently of the refreshing waters of their partner’s sexuality. But most of us whose marriages have lasted beyond the honeymoon stage have found that sustaining romantic and sexual passion has been a lot harder than we ever thought it would be, especially because our wives are NOT wired the way WE are. This episode looks for biblical clues to understanding how and why a woman’s view of romance and sex is so different than her husband’s.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
...Getting Others to Follow You
Episode Summary
How would you like to receive a letter that began, "As I met with God this morning, I was moved to tell God how deeply grateful I am to him for your influence in my life. As I look back over the years, I realized that it has been your life that has most influenced me to follow Christ. You always seemed to be available when I needed you. You understood my problems. You had just the encouraging ear I needed. I could always go to you when I was hurting inside because I...
Nehemiah Shows God's Agenda Brings God's Resources
Episode Summary:
There is no ambiguity about what Jesus told us was to consume our lives as our top priority. He says, “Seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness.” The Greek verb “to seek” means, to strive after, to desire. It is the opposite of being lackadaisical, indifferent, or nonchalant. It is pursuit that is self-motivated, intentional and passionate. The word “first” indicates that Jesus is telling us to make this pursuit the all-consuming top priority of our lives. In context, this verse is about being preoccupied. We are to be pre-occupied with spreading
Attempting Great Things for God
Episode Summary Teddy Roosevelt, our nation's 26th president was a hard charging leader. An ardent admirer once exclaimed to him, “Mr. Roosevelt, you are a great man.” In characteristic honesty he replied, “No. Teddy Roosevelt is simply a plain, ordinary man—highly motivated.” It is safe to say that his answer describes most great leaders, plain and ordinary, yet whose hearts had been captured by a compelling mission. Certainly, Nehemiah, the subject of our new series, would say that about himself. Although he would say he was a plain and ordinary man underneath, he emerges as one of...
Spiritual Leaders Protect a Child From Himself
Episode Summary: Both Solomon, and later the author of the book of Hebrews appeal to the obvious creation principle that they assume everyone knew in their era, loving fathers don’t allow their children to persist in selfish, wrong behavior; they discipline their children out of love for them. In our own day, a weird time in history when cultural voices are denying what every other culture in history has affirmed—that there are differences between fathers and mothers—it seems necessary examine this creation principle of fatherhood. It is also important because, today...
Qualities of a Leader Others Will Follow
Summary: As we return to our pre-Christmas study of I Timothy, we come to chapter three, where Paul lays out the qualifications to serve as an elder in the church. In doing so, he gives us a portrait of not only the character required for spiritual leadership, but of leadership that even the secular world acknowledges attracts followers.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
How does Paul’s insistence that fulfilling a spiritual leadership position is a “noble task” affect your perspective about such positions?How can we better remember that fulfilling the leadersh...Re-Energized to Use Prayer as a Weapon in 2026
Episode Summary: One of the habits of Jesus that is often overlooked, but extremely powerful is his habit of regularly withdrawing to a secluded place to intercede for his loved ones. This episode investigates the biblical evidence for believing Satan cannot stand against prayer made in Jesus’ name for the growth of kingdom righteousness in our own hearts and over the earth.
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Why Jesus' Title PRINCE OF PEACE Is Both Encouraging & Challenging
Episode Summary. If you are disheartened, battered, discouraged or weary from fighting the good fight because of all the heartache and spiritual bruising my hope is that this episode will give such a clear picture of the colossal triumph of Messiah Jesus—and our part in that victory, that in some small way the pain is lessened, because we GRASP the ENORMITY of our WIN.
For Further Prayerful Thought
How does Jesus’ title Prince of Peace reinforce the truth that the gospel has four chapters, creation, fall, redemption, res...Why Jesus’ Messianic Title Everlasting Father Matters Corrected
Episode Summary. In producing this episode we inadvertently uploaded a Dec 14th episode from a past December 14th, not 2025. This is the corrected version recorded two days ago. Sometimes a single word can be loaded with meaning: Mom, Dad, Darling, Champion, Failure. Single words can be so important that Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” As we continue our series on the titles of Messiah Jesus in Isaiah 9:6, both of words that make up this title are loaded with a wealth of me...
Why Jesus' Messianic Title EVERLASTING FATHER Matters
Episode Summary. Sometimes a single word can be loaded with meaning: Mom, Dad, Darling, Champion, Failure. Single words can be so important that Jesus said, “Man shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that comes from the mouth of God.” As we continue our series on the titles of Messiah Jesus in Isaiah 9:6, both of words that make up this title are loaded with a wealth of meaning, encouragement, and hope. The title is EVERLASTING FATHER.
For Further Prayerful Thought
What are the differences that a person woul...Why It Matters That Our Messiah Is the Mighty God
Episode Summary. Why did the long-awaited Messiah of Israel have to be the MIGHTY GOD—and what does that title mean for our everyday walk with Jesus today? That is the topic of today’s episode.
For Further Prayerful Thought
How would you support the idea that the overall teaching of the OT is that the real oppression of Israel was done by foreign military powers but by SIN? Why might this point to the fact that the deliverer would have to be God, himself?Paul commanded Christ-followers to abhor evil. What stoo...Delighting in Jesus The Wonderful Counselor
Episode Summary. For the next four weeks, our focus is on the first and most foundational part of our mission—deepening our love relationship with Christ. We will do this by zooming the camera in on four titles of Jesus given in the Isaiah 9 prophecy of the coming Messiah Jesus—Wonderful Counselor, Almighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace. What do these titles tell us about Jesus and what difference these descriptions of our Commander in Chief make in our everyday lives? This episode examines Jesus, the Wonderful Counselor.
For Furt...
Is Critical Theory Corrupting Our View of I.C.E. and Gender
Episode Summary: Ideas have consequences. Bad ideas have victims. This episode examines the impact of critical theory aka cultural Marxism, upon some Christians' thinking today in their view of ICE, law-enforcement, and gender roles.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
How does “cultural Marxism” sound like what you’ve heard about (economic), i.e. regular Marxism?If justice means there must be no disparities of money, ability, or power in society, why does it logically follow that the “have nots” will be hostile to the “haves?” Why might they be able to justify a revolution as M...Answering the Call to Fight
Episode Summary: As the Apostle Paul issues a direct charge to his young protégé, Timothy, the charge is not, “preach the Word,” “preach grace and not the law,” “care for those under your care,” or even “be faithful to your call.” His charge is to fight the good fight. This episode explains what Paul means by this and practically speaking how Christian men today can answer this call to fight for those under their care.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
If I am called to fight the good fight for those God has sovereignly pla...Is Devotion to God's Law Legalism?
Episode Summary: In Psalm 119:97, David cries out, “Oh how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day.” But Paul wrote to the Romans, “You are not under law but under grace,” (6:14) and to the Galatians, “If you are led by the Spirit, you are not under the law” (5:18). So, for Christians, which is it? Are we called to live free from the Law or devoted to the Law? As we continue our study of I Timothy we realize that the question of the place of the law for Chri...
Hearing "Well Done" From the Master
Episode Summary: Paul taught Timothy that genuine Christian leaders are focused not on philosophical speculation or useless theological debate but upon being faithful stewards of what God has entrusted to us. He instructed Timothy, Charge certain persons not to teach any different doctrine, nor to devote themselves to myths and endless genealogies, which promote speculations rather than the STEWARDSHIP from God that is by faith. This term, stewardship, is a very rich word, with an enormous biblical theme behind it to describe our mission as Christ-followers. In fact, Jesus taught that it is being faithful...
Authority—the Biblical vs Cultural Views
Summary
The strains of egalitarianism and cultural Marxism which identify biblical authority structures as themselves, “evil,” are infecting our loved ones, causing them to resist the rule of law. They need a biblical understanding of God-established authority in civil society, the church, and the home despite the flaws of those filling those God-designed roles. This episode reveals a surprising truth: God has ordained leadership in civil society, the church, and the home for the purpose of leaders giving their followers love.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
How would you defend the state...Overcoming The Crazy Busy Lifestyle
Episode Summary. Not only does God have a specific mission for you in 2023, which Paul summarizes in Ephesians 2:10 as good works, but that mission is so important that God specifically designed you for it—to have your specific place and responsibilities in your family, your natural gifts and vocational calling, your specific spiritual gifts with which to contribute to the Body of Christ, and your specific relationships with the lost. God has designed both ME—and THE SPECIFIC OPPORTUNITIES I WILL HAVE IN 2023 to impact my w...
How David Lost His Battle with Lust for Bathsheba
Episode Summary: Men hate to lose at anything. But these days, many Christian men, including married guys, are losing the battle with lust, looking at porn on their phone and masturbating. Strong, urgent, forceful, and impatient, the sex drive dominates the mind and body of every healthy male. These strong sexual urges start off as simply the result of hormones. But surrendering to lust repeatedly strengthens lustful cravings, sows the seeds of selfishness, and interferes with our spiritual perception. “The pure in heart,” said Jesus, “are those who see God.” We are going to repeatedly lose battle with lus...
Biblical Insight About How Spiritual Battles Are Won
Science confirms the truth we are given in Genesis 2:15—that Adam is designed to shape and protect the garden. Since Adam and Eve’s sin brought Satan, sin, and destruction into the garden, all our efforts to shape our lives and culture in righteousness are opposed by this triumvirate. We must fight, in the power of Christ, for every inch of ground. Today we examine a powerful WEAPON for this fight: prayer. But viewing prayer as a weapon for fighting is probably NOT what most men think of prayer as being for. They see prayer as p...
Using the Sword of the Spirit in Everyday Life
Summary: “The biblical context for viewing all of life’s events is called spiritual warfare—the age-old conflict between the kingdom of darkness and the kingdom of light…. Biblically and practically speaking, we are in a spiritual war. The Christian’s spiritual enemy is not in uniform, and he doesn’t meet us on an identifiable battlefield. He uses ruthless and unconventional tactics such as deceit, deflection, and disguise…. The church of Jesus Christ needs to know its enemies and his strategies. Above all, Christians need to know how to gain victory over this enemy.” (The Spiritual Warfare Answer B...
Thinking Biblically About Charlie Kirk's Impact and Murder
Episode Summary: This episode departs from our current series, Winning Spiritual Battles Because We Use Our Spiritual Weapons to seek to put a biblical lens over the event that has captivated our national thinking over the past ten days—the assassination of Charlie Kirk and his impact upon the rising generation. This episode seeks to think biblically about the cause of Charlie Kirk’s assassination and what Charlie’s remarkable impact upon millions of young men and women across America can teach us.
For Further Prayerful Though...
How the Helmet of Salvation Protects Us
Summary: This episode continues the series, Winning Spiritual Battles Because We Use Our Spiritual Weapons. As we seek to run well the race marked out for us, this calling means advancing the righteous reign of King Jesus in our own hearts, attitudes, and behavior, not to mention and shaping each sphere of life with Christ’s agenda. But it is very easy to think, “Who am I to spread righteousness anywhere? Whoever thinks that’s my job in life, doesn’t understand the corruption of MY heart and weakness of MY flesh.” But it is Ch...
Protection From Satan's Fiery Darts
Episode Summary: Christ has called you and me to follow him in his cause of defeating evil and establishing his righteous kingdom over every square inch of human hearts and lives. There is no other man who can replace you in your life, in the arenas you have been called to. If you leave your place in line, it will remain empty. You must be the hero in your own story. There is no extra or stunt man to fill in for you. Winning your spiritual battles matters. You will celebrate...
Steering Conversations to Share the Gospel
Summary
This episode continues our study of the armor of God and finishes looking at Eph 6:15, where we’re told to put on, as our shoes, the readiness of the gospel of peace. Most Christian men want to be contagious Christians. We know that sharing our faith is something our Lord wants us to do and when we do seize opportunities to talk with others about Christ the experience pumps joy and energy into our walk with Him. We also realize that if we are to lead our homes well, our wives and ki...
Myths That Make Us Fear Sharing Christ
Episode Summary. Often Christians think of evangelism like this: It is having the courage to overcome every piece of emotional intelligence we’ve learned about relationships, and intruding into the life of a co-worker, neighbor, or stranger to tell someone, who doesn’t want to hear it, the gospel message that they are a sinner in need of a savior, and then being willing to suffer rejection if we are accused of being preachy. If that is what sharing our faith looks like, who would want to do it? But this view is NOT BIBLICAL. It has major...
How Do We Put on the Breastplate of Righteousness?
Summary: Do you ever feel like our side is losing in the spiritual battle—that the powers of darkness and evil are winning? Perhaps more specific to our own lives, do you ever wonder why the Christian life is so hard, why sin so easily ensnares us, why our whole-hearted resolve on Sunday to love Jesus better by obeying him more has given way to blatant sin by Sunday night? Today we continue our series, Winning Spiritual Battles Because We Use Our Spiritual Weapons. Paul tells us that to fight evil we must put on the breastplate of...
Loving and Promoting God's Truth
Episode Summary: Is our mission today, as Christians living in America, to recover America as a Christian nation? As we process what happened in the last election and the storming of the Capitol since, Christians are divided. Eschewing passivity, many believers feel impelled to speak up on the social media to fight a movement rooted in ungodliness, which they see shaping our culture. They are appalled that younger Christian leaders either don’t seem to see this happening or seem to lack the courage to speak up about it. Other believers are horrified at the views they hea...
Praying to Defeat Evil
Summary: This episode continues the series, Winning Spiritual Battles Because We Use Our Spiritual Weapons. Every guy who reads this blog would stand at the door of his house with a shotgun to protect his family physically. But most Christian men feel inept and inadequate at fighting to protect them, spiritually. As we saw last week, Jesus told his disciples the ultimate weapon for defeating Satan is prayer. But if we are going to use this weapon effectively in spiritual battle, we need to understand it. This...
The Weapon Satan Fears Most
Summary: As we seek to run well the race marked out for us, i.e. advance the righteous reign of King Jesus in our own lives, God has ordained one, primary offensive weapon that overthrows the kingdom of darkness: PRAYER. Jesus said to Peter, “Satan has demanded to sift you as wheat, but I have prayed for you “(Luke 22:31-32). One veteran missionary writes, There is nothing on earth that Satan so fears as prayer. He cannot triumph over prevailing prayer. Satan is more afraid of your praying than of your pure life or zealous witne...
Two Nutrients Daughters' Hearts Need from Dad
Summary: In the last episode we observed that no one can nurture a child as well as his own or her own mother can. Similarly, no one can be the father to your children that you can be. Our job as fathers is to help our daughters flourish—to become all that God created them to be. This episode examines two ingredients required by every daughter’s heart for her to be able to thrive.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
In Matthew 3:17, as Jesus, God The Son Incarnate, was about to emba...The Harm of Overvaluing or Undervaluing Motherhood
Summary: In today’s world, many of our female loved ones are engaged in a very personal spiritual battle about their identity and calling as women, and how motherhood fits into that calling. This episode shows how the mistake of overvaluing motherhood will hurt them and how undervaluing motherhood can be devastating. Only the biblical worldview gets this balance right; so that is our topic today.
For Further Prayerful Thought:
How can understanding colonial culture where work took place at home, help you understand the conflict that today’s mo...Required for Becoming Godly Confident Daughters
Episode Summary: Our calling as men, to help others flourish, means helping our daughters and granddaughters build confidence in the way God created them to be female. Gender differences are profoundly related to our sense of identity. Before helping men know how to winsomely explain the biblical worldview of gender, the podcast identifies two big obstacles that routinely prevent others from being open to the biblical worldview. This episode then articulates the glory of God’s design of humans as male and female. It then suggests questions men might asked their daughters or granddaughters to open their he...
Countering the Culture's Devaluing of Marriage
Episode Summary: As we close out this Fatherhood Month series, we return to the Andrew Tate phenomenon that is impacting teen guys in our churches, with which we began this series. Tate says, “There is zero advantage to marriage for a man. If you use your mind, if you use your head instead of your heart, and you look at the advantages to getting married, there are absolutely none.” But, in fact research proves Tate completely wrong. Married men and women who have children are in fact happier, wealthier and more fulfilled than their single and childless coun...
Supporting Sisters by Celebrating Biblical Womanhood
Episode Summary: This past week, the Supreme Court upheld Tennessee’s law, which blocks all transgender medical treatments on those under 18, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries. This ruling is an encouraging sign; but it is also a reminder of the torrential flood of polluted messages coming from social media, shouting for the past twenty years that gender identity is fluid, different gender roles are unjust, and same-sex attraction is normal. This entire month our podcast focus is providing help to our boys to withstand the cultural pressure squeezing them into its false, destructive views about ma...
Showing the World God's Glorious Design of Masculinity
Episode Summary: To aim low, when it comes to our efforts to guide our sons into godly manhood is to fail them and to fail the Lord. Toxic, self-centered, masculinity is real in this world; it has harmed countless women. Its only cure is the gospel of Jesus Christ which transforms. If anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has passed away; behold, the new has come (2 Cor 5:17). Answering Jesus’ call to Christian men to show the world his power of Jesus to fix broken manhood, restoring it...
Why Recovering God's Manhood Script Matters
Episode Summary: Jesus closed his most famous message, the Sermon on the Mount, with the warning that those who ignore his words build their lives on the worst possible foundation—sand. Our sons, daughters, and grandchildren who build their marriages and families by ignoring God’s design of created gender differences and assigned gender roles build on a foundation that is bound to collapse, sand. In contrast, said Jesus, are those who build their lives on obedience to his Word, which would include God’s delineation of created gender differences in Genesis and assign...
Why is Andrew Tate Popular with Young Christian Men?
Episode Summary: Andrew Tate is a former is a kickboxing-champion-turned-social-media-influencer who has become popular among young men for his views on modern masculinity. He has over ten million followers on X. Regarding his influence on American Christian teen boys, Nancy Pearcey, author of The Toxic War on Masculinity, wrote recently on X: A former graduate student of mine now teaches at a high school, and she sent me an email saying, “All my male students are fans of Andrew Tate. They are even including quotes from Andrew Tate in the yearbook.” I asked, “Where do you teach?” She answ...
You Can’t Ignore the Holiness of God and Experience His Presence
Episode Summary: The great theologian Augustine prayed famously, “You have made us for yourself, O Lord, and our hearts are restless until they rest in You.” King David would have been the first to affirm Augustine’s observation about human nature in general and his own longings. He begins Psalm 63 with the words. You, God, are my God, earnestly I seek you; I thirst for you, my whole being longs for you. David knew that he was created to enjoy a love relationship with God. But the event from David’s life that we study in this...
