If commitment were built around feelings, even Jesus would have left you a long time ago. Your heart starts pounding and time slows down. You watch from afar as an angel moves in a graceful dance. Sure, to others she is chewing her nails or doodling in a notebook, but to you every movement is […]
Is Your Church Too Cool For Family?
Sometimes our attempts to be trendy, cool churches with the perfect Sunday morning experience backfire. I finished praying over dinner as a voice nearby chimed in. “That was a nice prayer.” I surveyed the table. The voice was a beautiful woman, late 30’s. Husband beamed across from her. Two girls, one teen, one younger — both friendly, polite. Nice family. A pastor friend of mine was walking by at the […]
Ch. 1: The Modern Day Church
Men don’t belong in church. As I sit in the cove of my back porch, watching the white pines sway and toss before me, gusts showering small, dart-like missiles in surging waves across my lawn, I huddle into my chair a little deeper. Wind howls through the trees as a siren begins to wail in […]
Ch. 2: Masculinity
If he says that one more time, I’m going over there. It was my junior year of high school. I was lounging in the back of Spanish I, while a sub covered for our teacher who was sick. Or had found something better to do than give 25 kids a verb conjugation quiz. The […]
The Breathing In Book – Ch. 15: Leader of Men
The squeeze of the trigger felt good under my finger. Sharp pops pierced the air as the sheet beyond me peppered with a tight cluster of holes. The smell of gunpowder filled my nostrils. It was a nice grouping. Here we were—Dad, the boys, and the family bolt action Henry rifle. This was no ordinary […]
Ch. 3: A Boy’s Battles
It was the week before the fourth football game of my brother Rob’s senior year. “We’re not leaving this field until the offense gains five yards!” Rob perked up. In that moment, he decided, We’re not going home. A transfer from a local school, he was lauded as an elite wrestler, but joined the football […]
Ch. 4: Femininity
When I first saw it in a gallery in L.A., I knew I had to have it. The painting, now my favorite, is titled, “Gargoyles,” by Michael Parkes. It depicts a young girl, likely coming of age as a woman, who stands atop a stone ledge facing out at blue sky that surrounds her. Beside […]
Ch. 5: The Thread
My wife can charm anything. I think it’s a superhuman power, actually. Wonder Woman had bracelets and a lasso. My wife has a sweet, disarming, infinitely less tacky, Crocodile Dundee-like power over animals. She pads up to cats and dogs, any animal, domestic or wild, and puts them in a trance. At a local mini-golf […]
Ch. 6: Breathing In and Breathing Out
I suck in shallow breaths as I tighten my grip around the stroller handles and force one foot in front of the other. It’s been a long time since I worked out, and my body barely remembers. My heels hit the pavement with impacts just strong enough to settle all my joints into position to […]
Ch. 7: Identity Crisis in Church
The other day, an epiphany occurred to my mom. We were discussing the difference between the world and the church. She remarked, “You know, we often talk about our witness and how different we are supposed to look from the culture. I think possibly the greatest witness is when strong men in the church can […]