Committed Masculinity Podcast

COMING SOON-The Committed Masculinity Podcast

We are so excited about a new limited series podcast that we’re launching called, "Committed Masculinity". This is a limited series podcast that explores the issues and challenges facing Christian men who are serious about Jesus’ invitation to be a disciple. The podcast will review the content of each chapter of the book Committed: Biblical Masculinity and then discuss the issues on each episode with special guests. 
Episode one drops Friday, September 16! But before then, you can order a copy of the book on Amazon.com or you can join us for the official book launch on August 26 at our Men’s Summit with the Experience Community Church. Included with the ticket for the event that night will be dinner, a t shirt, and a copy of the book. So head over to experiencecc.com to signup for the men’s summit. And you can go ahead and subscribe and follow this podcast via Apple podcasts, Podbean, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.
Looking forward to some great conversations about Biblical Masculinity in the near future. See you soon!
 
Get the book on Amazon- 
https://www.amazon.com/Committed-Biblical-Masculinity-Josh-Brooker/dp/B0B8XZ65WZ/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3UFR478N1C1IA&keywords=Committed+Josh+Brooker&qid=1660159848&sprefix=committed+josh+brooker%2Caps%2C73&sr=8-1
 
Sign-up for ECC Men's Summit- https://experiencecc.com/event/7396884-2022-08-26-mens-summit-2022--committed/
 
 

Introduction: Committed Biblical Masculinity in a world full of Flakiness & Confusion (w/ Gary Rapier)

Commitment to the right things can produce incredible results.
But let’s be honest- commitment is boring. It holds us back from all the other cool things that could be out there. It stifles us. Restrains us. It’s overrated.
At least that’s the message preached to us day in and day by our culture. We want low commitment, and countless options.
 
What does it look like to be a Christian man in a world full of flakiness & confusion? Join me and special guest, Gary Rapier, as we review the introduction of the book, Committed: Biblical Masculinity. 

Chapter 1: Own Your Identity: Purpose, Performance Traps, and Sonship (w/ Allen Brooker)

Who are you? Why are you here?
So many of us as men live our lives simply existing. Every day we climb aboard the treadmill of modern life and start jogging. We go through the empty rituals of our morning routines- we shower, shave, dress, get our coffee and make the drive to our place of employment- rarely asking the bigger questions of, “why”? Rarely do we question where we’re going, why we’re going there, and how we ever got started on this meaningless journey in the first place. 
Who are we anyway? How’d did we get here? And why are we here in the first place?

Chapter 2: Accept Responsibility: Victimhood, Excuses, and the Freedom of Ownership (w/ Jeremy Smith)

When we’re born again and given God’s Spirit, His will for us is that we would be conformed into the image of His Son Jesus. That means that we’re to be men who accept responsibility, because we follow Christ- the one who modeled it perfectly for us.
To accept responsibility as Jesus did means that we reject blame-shifting, victimhood, passivity, and seeing ourselves as the consummate injured party. We are to take responsibility for ourselves, our obedience (or lack of obedience) to God’s Word, and our God given responsibility as men to be who God has called us to be. 
Some of us as men truly struggle in accepting responsibility and owning our behavior. It’s like we’re hard-wired to want to avoid it and make excuses. Why is that though?
 

Chapter 3: Pledge Your Allegiance: Halfway Hearts, Faithful Obedience, and the Most Satanic Song in Existence (w/David Young)

You can follow some rules without loving God, but you can’t truly love God without a sincere commitment to follow His commandments. Love must ALWAYS be the basis for our obedience and commitment. Love must be the basis for our allegiance. And allegiance is the proper response from a man who truly wants to honor God.

Chapter 4: Conquer your Vices: The War Within, Self-Deception, and Kryptonite (w/ Mike Lee)

Everybody has a vice- a stubborn, resistant sin that you find yourself struggling against again and again. The Bible calls it an, “easily besetting sin” (Hebrews 12:1). This is the area that for whatever reason you have a weakness towards and in which find yourself continually tempted. Superman had Kryptonite. Moses had his temper, Sampson had his sexual addiction, and Simon Peter had his big mouth and an apparent problem with impulse control.
In fact, all of us are only a few bad decisions away from giving into our vice and destroying everything we care about and hold dear. We all have that potential.
How does that happen? How does our sin nature (our flesh, the “other guy”) win and gain control in our lives, leading us to death and destruction?
 

Chapter 5: Tune your Ears to Wisdom: George Armstrong Custer & the Fragile Male Ego (w/ Ray Owens)

Proverbs 2:1-6 says,
“My son, listen to what I say, and treasure my commands. Tune your ears to wisdom, and concentrate on understanding. Cry out for insight and ask for understanding.” (NLT)
The word “wisdom” appears over 200 times in the Bible. We’re told to seek it, accept it, listen to it, and ask God for it. We’re told that wisdom is better than silver, gold, and priceless possessions. We’re told that wisdom leads to long life, riches, honor, pleasantness, and peace.
But above anything else, we’re told that, “the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom” (Proverbs 9:10).
What does that mean? It means that for us to truly have this invaluable gift of wisdom- respect, honor, and reverence for God must be at the center of our lives. When this happens, we begin to value His Word (the Bible) as the ultimate authority for every decision we make in life. We begin to live our lives with the knowledge that God sees all, knows all, and can’t be lied to or hidden from. We start truly considering the reality of eternity, understanding that someday each one of us will give an account of our lives to God.
Wisdom is best defined as the ability to see things from an eternal, God-honoring perspective and to respond appropriately. When we have God’s wisdom in our lives, we respond to life challenges, difficulties, and obstacles quite differently than the rest of the world because we’re willing to take a step back and examine our situation through the lens of what truly matters.
 

Chapter 6: Grow in Your Character: Ryan Leaf, Toxic Masculinity, and the Kind of Man I want my Daughter to Marry (w/ Greg Sowards)

What’s on the surface never tells the full story. The reality of any item, event, situation, or person’s character can rarely be assessed through a social media post, headline, or first impression. But the true character of something will eventually come to light.
Personal character might be defined as the motivation to do what’s right; or who we are when no-one else is watching. Our personal character is shaped by our value system- our standards of what we believe to be right, wrong, valuable, virtuous, harmful, helpful, or honest. As Christian men, we have the revelation of Scripture- God’s value system and standards for how we’re to live a righteous life that honors Him.
The problem is that so often our personal character as men gets shaped by other value systems besides God’s Word. Standards of masculinity from our family of origin, workplace culture, preferred media, and those in our social circles often have a greater influence on what we believe to be an acceptable lifestyle for a Christian man rather than God’s Word. This creates in us toxic distortions of masculinity and critical gaps in our personal character. Try as we might, we can’t cover up poor character with charm, success, charisma, or swagger. The true character of something (or someone) will always come to light.