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Unless otherwise noted, all Scripture quotations are taken from the ESV® Bible (The Holy Bible, English Standard Version®), copyright © 2001 by Crossway, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.

Scripture quotations marked (KJV) are taken from the King James Version of the Bible.

This book is dedicated to all the great men whose names are unknown and unwritten. They will never be on stage, followed on social media, or have their name in lights. But they get up every day, put on their boots, and faithfully hit the same nail. They are the foundation stones that help build my faith, and I hope this book helps you join them.

As you come to him, the living Stone—rejected by humans but chosen by God and precious to him—you also, like living stones, are being built into a spiritual house to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ.
- 1 Peter 2:4-5

INTRODUCTION

Throughout the Bible, God is repeatedly referred to as “Father.” For a long time, that image didn’t help me because my dad and I are very different. I’m over six feet, he is under six feet. I had bad grades at a low-grade college, he was on the Dean’s List at multiple Ivy League schools. He loves James Bond, I prefer Thor. He has never finished a beer, I’ll drink multiple beers in the same sitting. His job is troubleshooting nuclear reactors, I have a hard time troubleshooting my motorcycle. He has never had tobacco, I love tobacco in nearly every form.

I came to the conclusion that my dad isn’t like me and doesn’t understand me. Believing this caused distance in our relationship. And for a long time, I felt the same way about my Heavenly Father. I was driven away from God and there was a barrier in my relationship with Him because I thought He had nothing in common with me and therefore couldn’t understand me. I now know that He does understand me, and He even likes me. But not every man has come to that conclusion.

I believe it’s hard for men to get to know God because we don’t know how to spend time with Him. Much of what helps other people spend time with God doesn’t help me. Maybe that’s because I’m a man, and there isn’t much on the market written with me in mind. It’s no secret that the vast majority of churchgoers are women, and preachers consciously or unconsciously speak to their core audience. It’s well known in the publishing industry that 80 percent of books are bought by women, whether Christian or not. Even a recent book I wrote for men called The Five Marks of a Man has been purchased by more women than men. It is likely that a woman in your life bought this book for you. That’s a smart woman. Please thank her on my behalf.

I’m a fifty-three-year-old man who has been walking with God for thirty-seven years. Over that span of time, I’ve learned a lot and taken my share of punches. As I’ve aged, things that I’ve shared on the back deck or around a campfire have often proved helpful in many lives. Those lessons are recorded in this book and they come directly out of the Bible and have been verified by my life experience.

Contained in this book are sixty-six readings that will help men in their understanding of God, which will result in having more strength to lead a life that works. Not all of these devotions will be immediately applicable to every man. But I can promise you that there is something here for every man looking to operate with spiritual power in a life that is moving in the right direction. Some sections will be incredibly invigorating and others unduly offensive. I’m talking to you the way I would if you were with me on that back deck or around that campfire. If it is helpful, great. If not, set it aside.

For each reading, I’ll give you a verse, some teaching on that verse, a prayer you can pray, and then actual tactile things you can do if you want to get off your spiritual couch and get your rear into gear. It is what you do that defines your relationship with God, not what you think or feel. Jesus says that you know a tree by its fruit, not its feelings. This book is written to push, challenge, and spark you into movement. By opening these pages, you’re inviting God to push you. If you don’t want to move, you might as well put this down right now.

Still reading? Good. Most men I know want to move; they want to do things. Jesus didn’t come to hold class; He came to change the world. He came to move you and me out of the place of apathy and into a place of challenge.

Some friends and I started an unfiltered and challenging experience designed to move men to a new place spiritually. Over the last few years, I’ve spoken to and camped with fifteen thousand men from around the country at this thing called “Man Camp.” Man Camp is for a specific type of guy. There is a kind of guy who doesn’t understand “church speak,” but when spoken to directly about spiritual things, he responds. There is a kind of guy who has no room in his schedule or his mind for theological philosophies. There is a kind of guy who wants to build a fully engaged life—physically, mentally, and spiritually—instead of just having some spirituality on the side. This was the vision for Man Camp, and it is the vision for the book you are holding.

There is something special that happens when men are with men who want to move to the next level. I’ve seen a fifty-year-old man put his hand on the shoulder of twenty-year-old guy who was stressed about the future and say, “You are going to be fine. Stop wasting energy thinking about what could go wrong and put your energy into making things go right.” I saw the stress drain from his face and shoulders. We need encouraging and helpful straight talk like this which is what this book is designed to give.

I was around one campfire when a guy started whining about how his wife was cheating on him. Another guy felt a prompting from God and said, “And how many women have you had sex with outside your marriage?” He was busted, and his life turned around that night with that straight talk. He went home and moved on his new convictions. He changed the way he treated his wife. He got off the spiritual couch and got into the game.

There is a level of realness, vulnerability, and playfulness with the right guys in the right setting that is a far cry from what often happens at church-sponsored events. I want to bring that realness, vulnerability, and playfulness to your life through the words in this book. I want to do it not for the fun of hitting some taboo topics, but rather for the joy of seeing you move. Following Jesus isn’t a sedentary philosophical pursuit, it is something that requires physical engagement—you’ve gotta move.

It has been rather invigorating to write and self-publish this book without needing to have the approval of people I don’t know who are sitting in an office in some other city and have never farted around a campfire. I’m not trying to win an award. Nor am I trying to be liked with this book. I’m just trying to help you to better know the God who created you and to live with strength and success. Your God wants you to move from the static lifestyle that most of us have fallen prey to.

Too many dudes have weak and anemic spiritual lives. I want more for you. I want your life to be different. I want you to finish every section of this book with fewer cobwebs in your mind. I want your future to be better because you are closer to God and more aware of His truth. You can have more power. I’m committed to helping you get there, and you will get there if you move on what is in the pages of this devotional. Let’s get our rear in gear and start moving.

DAY 01

HEARING FROM GOD

And behold, a voice from heaven said, “This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased.”

I’ve been burned by religious people who give me a message they “heard from God.” Often the message is negative, and they overplay their hand by implying that their eardrums picked up decibels sent from heaven.

But make no mistake about it: God is a God who speaks. I wish He spoke to me and other modern men like He did to some ancient men in the Bible, with a voice from heaven. When Jesus was baptized, Matthew tells us that He heard a voice from heaven. Was this an audible sound that rang in His ears? I don’t think in this instance as there is no evidence that anyone else heard the Father’s words to Jesus.

Sometime later, Jesus was with a few of His friends on a mountaintop, and God the Father shows up again—this time even more mystically and powerfully—in the form of a bright cloud. Matthew 17:5-6 explains that “A voice from the cloud said, ‘This is my beloved Son, with whom I am well pleased; listen to him.’ When the disciples heard this, they fell on their faces and were terrified.” The frightened reaction of Jesus’ friends makes it clear that God’s voice here was audible—terrifying even.

I’ve never heard God with my eardrums, and I’m willing to bet you haven’t either. I hope we all do eventually, but in the meantime, we most certainly can hear from God. When you read scriptures that God has preserved for millennia and which have helped millions of people, you are hearing from God. When a thought “randomly” crosses your mind, one you wouldn’t normally generate and God would approve of, you are hearing from God. When you read something in this book that strikes you as important, you may be hearing from God.

There are many ways that God speaks to us, but there is only one way to encourage God to keep speaking to us: listen and respond to what He tells you by doing what He commands. And, God is a leader who doesn’t just give instructions. He gives affirmations like, “I’m pleased with you. You are doing a good job!” He also gives coaching like, “You are working too hard. Do something fun this weekend.”

There are sections in this book that will make you go, “meh.” There are other sections that will smack you in the mouth. What speaks to one man might not speak to another. God is speaking to a man who means a lot to Him. You are His son, and He wants what’s best for you, and He is telling you how to make that happen. Listen and follow through!

PRAYER

God, I want to hear from you. I don’t want a religion that is an impersonal rule book. I want a relationship which brings communication. Please help me to develop my hearing as I listen for you. Amen.

GET MOVING

1. What is one area of your life that you’d like God to speak into over the next sixty-six days? Find a spot where you can talk out loud and ask Him, in your audible voice, to speak to you.

2. You don’t have to wait to hear God’s voice to do the right thing. Think of one thing you can do today that you know God would approve of. Then go do it.

DAY 02

WHAT IS IT YOU WANT?

And Jesus said to him, “What do you want me to do for you?”

- MARK 10:51

Jesus is recorded asking this question on multiple occasions. It isn’t a trick question. It isn’t rhetorical. He asks people, and He is asking you, “What do you want me to do for you?” Talk about winning the lottery. The Son of God, who performs miracles, asks you what you want. What do you say?

You may feel uncomfortable answering that question. Maybe you feel guilty that you already have so much; why should you ask for more when there are starving people in the world? You may feel this question sets you up for a televangelist moment where I tell you that blessings are going to shower down on your life if you send in a check. But remember, it’s not me who’s asking, it’s Jesus, directly addressing you and your wants and needs.

Jesus asked this question to a man who was blind. Maybe the guy had bigger problems than his blindness and Jesus was offering to fix them. Maybe Jesus just wanted to hear him articulate his need to recover his sight. Either way, nothing was going to change in this guy’s situation until he asked Jesus.

What do you want Jesus to do for you? You are important to Him. He cares about a man like you who is hanging with this book. A man who intentionally wants to get off his rear end and aggressively move toward a more challenging and meaningful life. It is because God is doing something special in your life and He wants to do more.

So, I’ll ask you again, what do you want Jesus to do for you? I can feel emotion welling up inside of me because things are going to change as a result of what you pray next.

PRAYER

Jesus, I want you to _______________________________. Father, I ask that you say “yes” to this prayer. It is hard to believe that you want to do things for me. Help me to believe this as I ask and wait expectantly. Amen.

GET MOVING

1. Do you believe that God actually wants to do something for you? Jesus wouldn’t ask if He wasn’t serious. He genuinely knows you and cares for you.

2. Carve out two more times today where you can just stop and remind yourself that you are known by God Himself and tell Him thank you for wanting to show up in your life.

DAY 03

THE GRACE/TRUTH PARADOX

And the Word became flesh and dwelt among us, and we have seen his glory, glory as of the only Son from the Father, full of grace and truth.

- JOHN 1:14

A paradox is when two opposing concepts are united to make one powerful truth. We believe grace and truth are opposed to one another, and yet their unity brings transcendent spiritual power. Truth is about reality regardless of the pain. Grace is about second chances and letting things slide. Truth is that when you lose your balance, gravity sucks. Grace is the mattress placed under you.

Most of us either fully embrace grace or fully embrace truth. Grace people are always willing to forgive, to a fault. Truth people cut you off after one misstep. Grace people try to understand a person who has bad beliefs. Truth people just give straight talk. Grace people are okay with ambiguity. Truth people see everything fitting into a math equation.

Jesus doesn’t operate just as truth or just as grace. He fully embodies both. The truth is that I’m a sinner who deserves eternal hell. The grace of Jesus enables me not only to escape that place but to abide in a fulfilling and lasting relationship with God. There were times when Jesus gave truth and there were times when He gave grace, but He refused to be pigeonholed in one category or the other. This was one reason why His life was so significant.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

INTRODUCTION

DAY 01

HEARING FROM GOD

PRAYER

GET MOVING

DAY 02

WHAT IS IT YOU WANT?

PRAYER

GET MOVING

DAY 03

THE GRACE/TRUTH PARADOX