Cross Training Ministries Podcast: Recent Episodes
Cross Training Ministries
No one seems to know what it means to be a man.
Joe Barnard gives us some clarity.
Here are five theses on manhood.
Need more help? Go to https://www.xtrainingministries.com/
In this final episode of this mini-series, we discuss ten rules for fighting against Satan's devices.
- Walk by the Rule of the Word of God. Make the Bible your guide and authority. Obeying God’s Word keeps you in the safest path, while abandoning it opens the door to Satan’s devices.
- Beware of Grieving the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is the one who helps you discern Satan’s snares and gives strength to escape them. Vexing the Spirit removes your best defense.
- Labor for More Heavenly Wisdom. Knowledge is not enough; you need wisdom to apply that knowledge. Wise Christians see and avoid traps that trap the unthinking.
- Resist Satan's First Motions. Do not dally with temptation. It is safe to resist immediately but dangerous to debate with sin. Eve debated and fell; Job resisted and stood.
- Labor to Be Filled with the Spirit. Satan is a powerful spirit, so you need the greater power of the Holy Spirit to be filled in your heart, not just in your head.
- Keep Humble. A humble heart is difficult to tempt. As low shrubs are protected from strong gusts that tear down tall trees, humility protects you from prideful pitfalls.
- Keep a Constant Watch. A sleepy soul is an ensnared soul. Diligently watch your heart and actions, both from within and from without, to ensure you are not caught off guard.
- Continue Your Communion with God. A soul close to God is not easily conquered. Commune with God to gain the strength to fight, even when heavily tempted.
- Do Not Engage Satan in Your Own Strength. Lean entirely upon Christ and his power, rather than your own past experiences, graces, or duties.
- Be Much in Prayer. Prayer is a shelter for your soul, a sacrifice to God, and a scourge to the devil. It is the method of escape when other ways seem blocked.
Need more help fighting sin and temptation? Get our resource Surviving the Trenches.
Men, you need to be equipped to fight back against sin and temptation. This is the second of a three episode mini-series where we are learning from puritan Thomas Brooks on how to recognize Satan's tactics and strategies of temptation.
Need more help fighting sin? Check out Joe's book Surviving the Trenches.
Men, you need to be equipped to fight back against sin and temptation. Join us as we learn from puritan Thomas Brooks on how to recognize Satan's tactics and strategies of temptation.
Need more help fighting sin? Check out Joe's book Surviving the Trenches.
We live in a time of unprecedented religious interest among men. Are you equipped to help the spiritually curious men around you get on a path of growing in Christ?
Don't leave your friends spiritually stuck. Get a copy of Joe's newest book The Road Back to God - it's a guide for men who are dissatisfied by the modern world.
Can you relate to any of the following...
- starting prayer and then getting distracted
- starting prayer and then abruptly ending it
- starting prayer and giving up because nothing seems to be happening
- starting prayer and then giving up for no reason at all
In our last episode of this series, we're going to trouble-shoot some of our common prayer problems with Richard Baxter.
The idea of preaching the gospel to yourself seems to have gained a lot of traction over the past few years. This is, however, an old tactic used by Christians throughout history to fight for a heavenly mind. Richard Baxter is chief among these.
In this episode Baxter coaches us on the work of consideration, wrestling with reason, activating the affections, preaching to yourself, and more.
A few quotes from Baxter...
- Consideration presents to the affections those things that are most important in the most affecting way.
- Consideration is but the reading over and repeating God's reasons to our hearts.
- Meditation holds reason and faith to their work, and blows the fire till it thoroughly burns. To run a few steps will not get a heat, but walking an hour may.
- If you can talk of divine things to others, why not also to your own heart?
In this episode Andy, Joe, and Evan break down Richard Baxter's definition of heavenly contemplation. They also talk about the best time (specific, frequent, seasonable), place (in private), and temper (a clear and solemn mind) for practicing this discipline.
Baxter's definition of heavenly contemplation: the set and solemn setting of all the powers of your soul in meditation upon your everlasting rest.
In Scotland, there are hills full of sheep. If you watch closely, you can see sheep doing a lot of things - but there is one thing I've never seen a sheep do: look up at the sky. You can have a brilliant sunrise in the sky, or there can be a million shining stars with a glorious full moon, but the sheep never look up - in most cases there faces are always in one position: looking down at the grass.
This is a picture of a lot of men. The Bible pulls back a curtain so that we can lift our mind to glorious realities, but so many of us never do so. We're stuffing our faces like sheep when we could be contemplating the throne of God like angels.
In this episode, Richard Baxter helps us identify the hindrances and helps of a heavenly mind.
Hindrances:
- Living in known sin
- Earthly-mindedness
- Hanging out with ungodly
- Arguing too much over secondary stuff e.g. theology and politics
- Laziness
- Talking about Christ instead of Delighting in Him
Helps:
- Genuine Convictions
- Personal Assurance
- Proximity to heaven
- Spiritual Friendship
- A Sanctified Imagination
- The Means of Grace
- Bodily Discipline
Men are passive about their thought life and emotional life. We act as if our thoughts and emotions are like the weather: beyond our reach and out of our control. This is strange. There are a lot of trustworthy Christian guides from the past that indicate that there are ways in which we can direct our mind. One of the greatest of these guides is Richard Baxter. In this series we're going to invite Baxter onto our podcast in order to learn from him how we can begin to live a heavenly life on earth.
In this episode, Baxter guides us to learn...
- how to live a heavenly life on earth
- the discipline of setting your mind on things that are above
- the benefits of setting your mind on things above
Each generation of men come with their own unique traits and worldview. How do you take a group of men, men of all ages, and lead them on a path of discipleship?
In this episode, my friend Jason Wood helps me wrestle with this question. Jason is the Pastor at Faith Presbyterian Church in Covington Louisiana, and is on the front lines of discipling men. Listen in as he shares insights about discipling men of different ages and stages of life.
What are the unique challenges and opportunities when discipling Boomers? Joe and Evan discuss strategies that work and don't work when reaching Boomer men for spiritual growth.
If you want help discipling one of your friends - no matter what generation they come from - you can get helpful resources from our website. https://www.xtrainingministries.com/
What are the unique challenges and opportunities of discipling men of Gen X? Listen to find out strategies for reaching men of Gen X for spiritual growth.
If you need help discipling your friends - no matter what generation they come from - check out our website to get resources that will help you along your journey. https://www.xtrainingministries.com/
What are the unique challenges and opportunities that come with discipling men of the Millennial generation?
Joe, Evan, and Andy discuss the unique characteristics of Millennials, and the best strategies for inspiring them toward spiritual growth.
They also discuss five hard truths that Millennials need to swallow (all taken from Richard Rohr).
- Life is hard
- You are not that important
- Your life is not about you
- You are not in control
- You are going to die
If you need help discipling a friend - no matter what generation they come from - you can get resources that will equip you for your journey at our website. https://www.xtrainingministries.com/
We're kicking off a new short series answering the question: What are the unique challenges of discipling men of each generation? In this episode we'll look at Gen Z. What are the unique traits of this generation? What are the strategies and tactics that will help you disciple Gen Z men? Listen to find out.
Also, you'll hear a new voice this episode. A true Scotsman, Andy Murray, will be joining us for this series. It should be a fun one.
If you need help discipling your friends, no matter what generation they come from - check out the resources on our website. https://www.xtrainingministries.com/
What comes to your mind when you hear the term "toxic masculinity"?
In this episode, Joe and Evan discuss Nancy Pearcey's book, and talk about the different types of masculinity that have surfaced throughout history.
Which type of masculinity is informing the way you treat your family, your work, your vision for life?
The 5 types of masculinity we discuss:
- Charles Ingalls
- Elon Musk
- Bear Grylls
- Hugh Hefner
- Homer Simpson
What is a manly man?
This week Joe and Evan read Mansfield's Book of Manly Men - and pulled out key insights for ordinary Christian men. In this conversation they answer:
- What is manliness?
- Do we see it in the Bible?
- Is it a virtue?
- What is at the core of manliness? What are optional cultural accessories?
- What are the dangers/distortions of manliness?
- How do you develop manliness?
Subscribe to our newsletter to get more resources on masculinity.
What does it mean to be a man?
This week Joe and Evan read Extreme Ownership by Jocko Willink and Leif Babin, and discuss the insights that are helpful for ordinary men.
Subscribe to our newsletter to get blog posts, book summaries, and conversation guides for all of the books covered in this series.
In this episode Joe and Evan discuss J.C. Ryle's book Thoughts for Young Men. Ryle is helpful in urging young men toward godliness. Godliness is not a extra feature of manhood. Men are made for God therefore mature men are godly men. Godliness is both the destination of the manhood journey and the road.
Check out Joe's book Surviving the Trenches for more help on the road to godliness.
Is there a pathway out of boyhood and into manhood?
This week Joe and Evan interact with Jason Craig's book Leaving Boyhood Behind. Jason says, "masculinity is a gift that is received and responded to". Learn what this means, and how it fits into Joe and Evan's ongoing journey toward a clearer definition of Biblical masculinity.
What are the differences between a boy and a man? What are the roles that boys need to be raised to fill? How can we form boys to become the men that our families, churches, and communities need?
These are the questions that Doug Wilson tries to answer in his book Future Men.
In this episode, Joe and Evan interact with Doug's book as they continue their journey to bring clarity to the question, "What does it mean to be a man?"
Have a book suggestion for us? Email evan@xtrainingministries.com
We're on a journey to bring clarity to the question: "What does it mean to be a man?" Along the way, we are going to read and interact with a variety of books that attempt to answer this question.
First up: The Masculine Mandate by Richard Phillips
This book gives us the opportunity to think about God's design for men as outlined in Genesis. We'll talk about bearing God's image, living in covenantal relationships, leadership, cultivating, and protecting.
Email your book suggestions to evan@xtrainingministries.com
During the Christmas season it’s easy to be distracted by busyness. We want to help you to break through the overwhelm of this Christmas season, and set your mind on Christ.
Download the hymn and follow along.
Looking for a guide to more meditations like this? Check out Hymn Workouts
If you've been a Christian for any length of time, then you've likely attended some sort of conference or retreat. And if you haven't, then you've at least seen them promoted online, in a podcast, or through your local church. These events have become a staple in the modern Christian life. So...what's the big deal?? Is it really worth your time and effort to attend a weekend conference?
We think so.
In this episode, Joe and Evan discuss the importance of conferences and retreats in the spiritual life of a man. We also talk about the differences between the two, and why you may need one more than the other.
Join us for one of our Cross Training Conferences in October, and experience for yourself what it's like to spend a weekend being challenged and encouraged alongside like-minded men.
Want help planning a Men's Conference in your city? Contact Evan. He can give you a framework for a weekend conference or retreat.
evan@xtrainingministries.com
Men need mentors. Every man has a critical juncture ahead of him in life - leaving home, getting married, having kids, career change, mid-life crisis - where he will need the hard won wisdom of another man who has walked with God through the challenges of life. This episode of the Cross Training podcast is all about helping you see the value of a mentor. Joe and Evan are going to show you the pathway to getting a mentor AND becoming a mentor for someone else.
Are you ready to be a mentor? Register for one of our conferences to get the training you need to become a spiritual leader.
Have you prepared your child for the challenges that lay ahead of them this school year? Join a room full of dads who learning how to be on the frontlines of training their children.
Most guys want to date their wife, but their calendar is too full, their wallet is too empty, a babysitter is too hard to find, and they’re all out of new ideas. In this episode, Joe and Evan encourage ordinary men to push past these obstacles by focusing on the three essentials for dating your wife:
- Genuine Curiosity
- Curated List
- Predetermined Rhythms
For a copy of Cross Training's guide to dating your wife, email Evan. evan@xtrainingministries.com
Modern culture is setting men up for burnout. Men are being shaped in a world where achievement is the god, and productivity is the cult. And the expectation to be a disciple-making, family-leading, neighborhood-evangelizing, church volunteer…doesn’t make it any easier.
In this episode of the Cross Training Ministries podcast, Joe and Evan walk you through 9 questions that will help you avoid burnout and keep a lifestyle where Christ comes first.
Get help at menneedhelp.org
Life Planning is like a stick of dynamite. It's undeniably useful if used in the right way, but horrifically dangerous if played around with hastily. For this reason books by life coaching gurus like Michael Hyatt and David Allen ought to include a warning label. Unless filtered through a spiritual colander they easily lead to an achievement based, self-centered lifestyle. More than one Christian man has left the straight and narrow due to having some life coach affirm the favorite lie of Satan - that the center of the universe is me.
In this episode, Joe and Evan give you 5 steps for making a Christian Life Plan.
Want more help with life planning? Check out Challenge 5 in the Decathlon - or email evan@xtrainingministries.com
Picture a guy wanting a more focused life. He hears a podcast on how to draft a plan for his life, then he sits down with a notebook and pen and begins to attempt to write a vision for himself. He takes inventory of his roles and responsibilities. He budgets his time and creates space for new things.
Will this result in focus?
Sadly, the answer might be yes. It's entirely possible that this guy will figure out a way to more strategically pursue idol worship - he will be better at serving secular gods than before.
Focus by itself is not a virtue - focus is only good if we're focused on the right things. What will help you focus on the right things? Perspective - the 5th Discipline of a Focused Mind.
In this episode, Joe and Evan guide you on the path to perspective, and show you some of the challenges along the way.
We're in a series on the Disciplines of a Focused Mind. This week we're covering the fourth discipline: prayer.
Prayer ought to focus the mind of a man, but often times prayer is a time when men are most easily distracted. In this episode, Joe and Evan talk about 6 ways to pray that won't lead you to focus, and then they give you 7 elements of prayer that help with focus and alignment.
Wouldn't it be wonderful if understanding and transformation were identical. They are not. There are lots of pastors and seminary teachers who are spiritually distracted and lifeless. How can this be? They know the meaning of 1,000 different Greek words, and they have read 100s of different books. The problem isn’t in the understanding but in the heart; they do not take the time needed to apply the truth to themselves so that it adheres and affects them.
Men, be warned: it’s possible for you to understand a doctrine or a Bible verse without that truth adhering to you in a way that changes you.
In this episode we talk about the third discipline of a focused mind: Adhesion. Listen as Joe Barnard gives you 4 steps to adhesion.
https://www.xtrainingministries.com/
Information doesn't naturally stick in the mind - the mind is a sieve and billions of bits of data pass through all of the time. Think about how terrible it would be if we had to understand and process every piece of data that we encountered. The problem with this system is that sometimes important stuff passes through the sieve. Think of reading through John 17 - this is Jesus' great prayer - you read it and walk away without anything sticking with you or transforming you. This begs a question - how do we turn the sieve of the mind into a container that holds and stores vital spiritual truth?In this episode we give you three ways to improve your understanding.Join the Focus40 Challenge
"Focus" is what CS Lewis calls a "halo word". Everybody wants focus, but no one really knows what the word is referring to. We think that focus will come naturally if we eliminate distraction. That's a joke. Cutting out distraction will no more produce focus than cutting out dessert will produce muscle. Focus is something that must be cultivated. But what do we need to be doing to strengthen focus? That's the subject matter of this podcast season. We're going to look at the disciplines of a focused mind.
Discipline One: Memorization
This is the discipline everyone wants to skip - a lot of guys want to reduce the high bar of memorization to the low bar of reflection. In this episode we give you six reasons memorization is a vital discipline for Christian men who want to be focused on Christ.
Join the Focus40 Challenge
https://www.xtrainingministries.com/
Do you want to learn what it means to be a loving dad? Look to the example of Jesus, Everlasting Father (Is 9:6).
1) Protect your family
2) Lead your family in worship
3) Teach your children to follow Jesus
Other Cross Training Christmas resources:
Blog: Help for Men Who Struggle to Make Much of the Incarnation
Video: The Incarnation Transforms Our Knowledge of God
https://www.xtrainingministries.com/
Imagine you could spend an afternoon with the 65 year old you, what do you hope to see? What do you hope to have accomplished at this point in your life?
In the last two chapters of Hudson Taylor’s autobiography we get a glimpse of what it looks like to finish strong. It should be no surprise that finishing strong has very little to do with his worldly success, but rather the legacy he leaves after a lifetime of trusting in the faithfulness of God.
This is the final week of the HeroChallenge. As you and your friends bring this spiritual exercise to a close, make sure to finish strong. Encourage one another to continue trusting God. Help your friends see what their life will look like, if they become the kind of man who believes the promises of God.
Follow along with the HeroChallenge
You’ve spent six weeks considering this question: How would my life change if I were friends with Christian hero Hudson Taylor? You are the sum of your 5 closest friends, and by now we’ve read enough of the life of Hudson Taylor to know that his presence in our friend group would challenge our faithful obedience to God.
This week we want to take that question, and scale it up: How would my church change, if Hudson Taylor became a member?In week 7 of the HeroChallenge, we want you to see yourself as the man in your church who leads with humility and trust - like Hudson Taylor would.
Join the HeroChallenge
How would you describe the ordinary Christian man? Busy, exhausted, distracted - these are all fair descriptions that capture at least a small piece of the struggles of modern man. But here’s one word that keeps coming to my mind as I look at myself and my friends…waiting. And by this I don’t mean that men are waiting on the Lord. Rather, most men are waiting on someone else to act first. Waiting on the perfect circumstances before they commit. Waiting for life to slow down, before they get serious about growing in godliness. Waiting, waiting, waiting.
Our friend Hudson Taylor was terrible at waiting. He lived with a sense of urgency. If you are friends with Hudson, you better get used to going.
In week 6 of the HeroChallenge, we want to urge you to stop waiting - it’s time to follow through. Trust in the strength of God to carry you.
Join the HeroChallenge.
How do you describe God? Does what you think about God change, when your circumstances change?
Our friend Hudson Taylor described God as the One Great Circumstance. This view of God seemed to give him confidence, bring him comfort, and spur him forward. A friend like Hudson urges us to ask the question: how would my life change if I believed God to be the One Great Circumstance?
In week 5 of the HeroChallenge, we want to challenge you to keep your mind on the One Great Circumstance. Trust Him. Know His peace.
Join us on the HeroChallenge.
When Hudson Taylor landed in China, he was greeted by danger, disappointment, and discouragement. In fact, not long after landing in Shanghai he sent his family a special Christmas present: a 5 pound cannonball - the very cannonball that almost took his life while navigating through war-torn China.
As you listen to Hudson’s stories about his early years in China, you discover that he’s is the kind of guy who can’t help but quote scripture and hymns. Cannonballs, death threats, hunger, loneliness - all produced the same result in him: recite the promises God. Hudson is the kind of friend who is always ready to remind you of God’s faithfulness.
In week 4 of the HeroChallenge, we want you to join with your friend Hudson in believing the promise that God will uphold you, strengthen you and help you - especially during times of adversity.
Join in here: HeroChallenge
Being friends with Hudson Taylor is an exercise in humility. Hudson is the kind of friend who you catch pleading with God - constantly. When he’s weak he pleads with God for physical strength to persevere. When no one else sees a way of escape, he pleads for a timely rescue. When he meets someone with a hard-heart, he pleads for their salvation.
Hudson is the kind of friend who is convinced that a man’s faith can be strengthened through complete dependence on God - and he has stories to prove it. Each story reveals the thesis of Hudson’s life: God can be trusted.
This is week three of the HeroChallenge. Follow along here: HeroChallenge
Hudson Taylor has unbelievable stories of receiving generous provision. He also has unbelievable stories of giving generously to others. Hudson’s stories scream this one truth: God is faithful to provide.This is week 2 of the HeroChallenge. You can follow along here: Week Two
This is week One of the Hudson Taylor HeroChallenge.
When you read about the early years of Hudson Taylor’s life, you get the sense that his household was full connection points to the gospel. His mother and sister kept prayer journals. His dad invited missionaries over to the house regularly. His family had a bookshelf full of Bibles and books about the Bible. All of this, by God’s grace, fostered an environment where the young and skeptical Hudson grew to become a man who believed that prayer works and God can be trusted.
Do you need help learning to trust God?
Join the HeroChallenge
It's been said that a man is the sum of his 5 closest friends. If that’s true, what would it be like to have Hudson Taylor as one of those friends? How would your life change if you began to mimic the man who left a legacy of trusting in the faithfulness of God? Let’s find out.
For the next 8 weeks we are going to challenge you to trust God with every area of your life. By adapting some of the disciplines of Hudson Taylor, you are going to become intimately familiar with the faithfulness of God.
This Hero Challenge is designed to disrupt a lifestyle of apathy and uncertainty.Over the course of this challenge, you will be exposed to eight unmissable promises of God. You will be confronted with unbelievable stories of what happens when an ordinary man trusts God. You will be challenged to pray fervently, and act boldly.
Men need help strengthening their faith, learning to rely on God at all times and in all situations - that’s what this Hero Challenge will do. Get ready!
Sign-up here: HeroChallenge
"For those who live according to the flesh set their minds on the things of the flesh, but those who live according to the Spirit set their minds on the things of the Spirit." -Romans 8:5
Habitual distraction, misdirected desire, disordered love, stupid life planning - these are the symptoms of a mind that is set on the flesh, not the spirit.
Don't you wish you had the ability - in the midst of a busy life - to keep your focus and mind on God. You can.
Listen as Joe trains us in the discipline of spiritual mindedness.
Is your daily devotional stale? Do you feel like your mind constantly distracted? Learn how to renew of life of prayer, meditation, and devotion with Hymn Workouts.
In this episode, Evan reads the introduction to the book that gives distracted men 100 spiritual exercises.
One of the main questions we get asked is how to help guys shift from being a Bible study group to becoming a band of brothers. Guys want a path. In this episode we give you one.
My notes:
- Camaraderie is a special type of friendship shared with fellow pilgrims
- Extend to men an explicit invitation into friendship, not to your next Men's event.
- If you want to move from classmates to comrades, get out of the church building. Men's Bible Study groups meet in church buildings, but friends meet any number of places.
- Want spiritual friends? Keep growing. You don’t so much seek for spiritual friends as much as you find them along the way. But you must begin to go the way.
https://www.xtrainingministries.com/
There is no way to pursue godliness in a broken world without self-control. Self-control is using all of the internal and external resources God has given us to steer our lives in the direction of godliness. Listen as Joe and Evan dispel the myths that surround self-control, and point Christian men toward the internal and external resources that promote self-control.
https://www.xtrainingministries.com/
In this episode Joe and Evan discuss one of the 5 dimensions of spiritual fitness: Competence.
Questions we answer:
- What is competence?
- Why is competence spiritually important?
- How does a lack of competence affect Christian guys?
- Where specifically do men need competence?
- What are the limits of competence?
- What does it look like for guys to pursue competence together?
Do you have clear convictions on the big questions of life? A lot of Christian men are in danger of floating through life with no clear convictions - or worse yet - convictions borrowed from the culture around them. Part of spiritual fitness is clarity - a Biblical perspective on life. In this conversation, Joe and Evan help define clarity and help guys grow in it.
My Notes:
- Clarity is a Biblical perspective on life
- Clarity protects us from a secular, me-centered mindset.
- Men need Biblical answers to fundamental questions, like: What is the purpose of life? What are the metrics of a life well-lived? What are the greatest dangers in life?
- Men need to bring their biggest questions to the Bible.
- Men should be aiming for a "point of view" in life, that is not borrowed from someone else.
Subscribe to our mailing list, and get 5 questions for guys pursuing clarity.
Get more spiritual fitness training at xtrainingministries.com
No man will make serious progress toward spiritual maturity until he is captivated by the glory of Christ.
In this episode we help guys understand what captivation is, and how they can begin to feed their captivation of Christ.
My notes:
- Captivation is a heart that is fiercely gripped by a vision of unparalleled goodness.
- Captivation of Christ is often more like a steady bubbling stream than a mountain torrent.
- If you are uninspired by Christ now, what makes you think you will be in awe of him when you see him face-to-face?
- You can begin to feed your captivation by reading biographies of Christian heroes, meditating on the person of Jesus, and pursuing friendship with other men who are captivated by Christ.
Get more training in spiritual fitness at xtrainingministries.com
You spend a lot of time at work. And when you’re not at work, you’re often thinking about work. The truth is, you are going to spend a large chunk of your life - at work.
Yet, for some Christian men there is a disconnect between work life and their faith.
I’m interested in helping you build a lifestyle of putting Christ first - and we can’t do that without evaluating your posture, your diligence, your character at work.
In this conversation with my friend Seth Stiles, we talk about faith in the workplace.
- How should Christian men think about their work?
- How can you be a Christian witness in your workplace?
- How do I work heartily without allowing work to become my identity?
Seth serves as the pastor of Adult Ministries at his church, and recently received his doctoral degree with his dissertation on faith in the workplace. You can connect with Seth and find out more about the videos and seminars he offers by emailing him: sethstiles@gmail.com
Gaming is a multi-billion dollar industry. It’s an industry that is growing in both popularity and influence, yet the response from most Christian leaders has been….silence. Christians have no idea how to talk about gaming.
Reagan Rose wants to talk about gaming. Regan is the founder of Redeeming Productivity, a ministry that helps Christians develop a biblically-grounded understanding of personal productivity.
In this episode, I ask Reagan:
- Can you be a growing Christian man and play video games?
- What are the dangers of gaming?
- What does gaming have to do with the way men steward their time and attention?
- How can men decide ahead of time what games to play and when to play them?
- How can dads help their kids develop healthy gaming habits?
If you're looking for thought-provoking, biblically-based training on gaming - get a copy of Reagan's Guide to Gaming.
Being a godly dad is challenging. If you're like most dads, you walk around most days feeling like a failure as a husband and father.
But it doesn’t have to be this way.
Author/speaker/full-time growing dad, Kent Evans, wants to help men like you. He believes that wherever you are as a father - you can turn around and live as a more confident, godly dad who leads his family - without regrets.
In this interview with Kent we talk about :
- The need for dads who are memorizing scripture.
- How the key to conversation with your kids is asking better questions.
- The role that spiritual friendship plays in being a godly dad.
- Common challenges that dads are facing.
Learn more about Kent at manhoodjourney.org
Do you feel like your prayer life is stuck in a rut? Are you the kind of guy who occasionally finds himself paralyzed by anxiety?
Trusted friend, Robert Barkerding, knows what it's like to wrestle with God in prayer. In this episode, Robert shares his story of learning to trust God’s sovereignty during the most difficult season of his life. If you’re a guy who feels stuck with a stale prayer life, then you’ll want to pick up his book The Miracle of Matthew.
If you need help building a lifestyle of putting Christ first, you can get the training you need at www.menneedhelp.org
Satan’s tool belt of lies is diverse. At times he tries to lure us into sin by waxing a shine on forbidden fruit. Other times he tries to keep us in sin by making us believe that God’s arm is too short to save and His ear too heavy to hear. He doesn’t care about how he snares us. The only thing that matters to him is that we end up tightly bound in a web of deception.
Want training on lie-detecting? Get it here: The lies of sin
Get training of fighting sin by reading Joe's book Surviving the Trenches - available in paperback, audio, and ebook.
Irritable, angry, anxious, restless, annoyed - such is the display of a man losing patience. We're all too familiar with this. But what does it look like for a man to grow in patience?
My notes:
- Patience is enduring evil, pain, or sorrow for the sake of a greater good
- Hupomone is steadfastness, constancy, endurance in the midst of suffering (Rev 13:10)
- Makrothumia is the long fuse of anger (Gal 5:22)
- Don't confuse passivity with patience
- Growing in patience requires keeping greater good in view
- Growing in patience requires believing in divine providence
If you're looking for a guide to help you put off vices and pursue virtues, join the CT12 challenge. www.menneedhelp.org
Guys don't seem to think sin is that big of a problem in their lives. If they are not trapped in porn or doing something scandalous, there is a sense that the battle against sin is more of a skirmish than a violent war. In other words: guys have lowered the bar of holiness and minimized the seriousness of sin.
The call of holiness is far weightier than men realize. Guys need to change the way they view their lives by growing in the virtue of godliness.
My notes:
- Godliness is an abiding awareness of God and desire to please God in every thought, word, and deed.
- The aim of your life is not just to be less worldy, but to be holy.
- Men need to take on the 'priestly task' of making distinctions between clean and unclean, holy and profane.
- Growing in godliness requires changing your attitude toward 'small sins' - they are disrespectful and dishonoring to God.
Practice growing in godliness today by meditating on Leviticus 10:10. Take on the difficult task of making personal distinctions between what is holy and profane.
The aim of Christianity is simple: love God and love neighbor. God shows very little interest in a lot of things like success, fun memories, personal fitness, etc. The whole of Christianity is about reshaping us into the image of God's love. But there's a problem -most guys don't spend much time trying to become more loving. We'd love to be more courageous. We'd love to be more creative. We'd love to be more antifragile. But love??
In this episode Joe and Evan guide Christian men back to their original calling: Love God above all else.
My notes:
- Charity is loving God above all things and human beings for the sake of God
- Christian love is authenticated by internal attitudes and external actions
- All of the virtues of godliness are products of love
- All of the deadly sins violate love
- Guys who want to grow in love should enroll in the school of marriage and family
Practice growing in love today by meditating on the cross. Use Hymn Workout 21 as a guide.
We're surrounded by the following messages: live for pleasure; satisfy your appetites; don't worry about tomorrow. This is the stupidity of anyone being a slave to their appetites. If we as Christian men want to counteract such slavery, we need to grow in the virtue of temperance. Self restraint and moderation give us the freedom we truly want as followers of Christ.
My notes:
- Temperance is not total abstinence.
- Temperance is the brake pedal for your appetites.
- Moderation gives us freedom to maximize higher pleasures.
- Temperance doesn't mean there aren't moments of feasting.
- Personal thresholds are a great way to practice temperance.
Here's the tool I use to get guys started with setting personal thresholds. It's a piece of the CT12 challenge - a spiritual exercise for guys who feel stuck.
We're all quitters. Sometimes this is not a big deal. You can give up on most of your New Year's resolutions without consequence. But what happens when you begin quitting on your marriage? Or your devotional life?
The virtue that enables us to overcome the desire to throw in the towel is diligence. Listen as Joe and Evan help guys who say: "It's too hard" - "I'm too tired" - "I don't care"
My notes:
- Diligence is persistent effort in spite of difficulty, tiredness, or boredom.
- If you quit everything that is difficult - there won't be anything left.
- Diligence is the virtue that conquers sloth.
- "I can plod and persevere. That is my only genius." William Carey
- When God feels absent, don't be still; run after him.
For this very reason, make every effort to supplement your faith with virtue, and virtue with knowledge, and knowledge with self-control, and self-control with steadfastness, and steadfastness with godliness, and godliness with brotherly affection, and brotherly affection with love. 2 Peter 1:5–7
Need help? www.menneedhelp.org
Chastity is not a weird medieval belt you wear - it's a virtue you pursue. If you don't understand chastity you won't understand worship, discipleship, love, holiness, or devotion.
My notes:
Chastity is discipling desire for the sake of love.
Chastity is not just what you see but how you see.
"Chaste" is a holistic approach to devotion to Christ.
Check out Hymn Workout 85 - The Passion for Purity
Get Joe's book Surviving the Trenches to learn how to fight back against lustful desires.
There is no short-cut to humility. You might be able to temporarily fake humility by pretending not to be proud; but that won't last. In this conversation, Joe and Evan uncover the misconceptions of humility, give you clarity on what true humility is, and show you how you can begin practicing humility today.
My notes:
- Humility is not merely a tool for career advancement.
- Humility isn't having a low view of oneself.
- Humility isn't weakness.
- Joe's definition of humility: Accepting the truth that before God I am nothing, and I can do nothing; therefore, I am totally dependent upon God and totally available to God.
- Pride can't grow in the soil of humility.
- With humility, you can hear the truth about yourself without being crushed.
Here are two spiritual exercises for guys who want to begin practicing humility:
Humility Hymn Workout
Hymn Workout on the Cross
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If you want to achieve your goals for 2023, you don't need to be more intentional; you need to establish better habits and routines.
Join the CT12 challenge and learn how to break the bad habits that are impeding your spiritual growth, and establish simple routines for growing in godliness.
Use the Colossians 3:17 Planning Activity as a guide for setting goals for the new year.
A special episode for the Christmas season. Hymn Workout 13 - a meditation on the incarnation. You know this hymn, but you probably haven't ever meditated on the gospel truths within it. Listen as Joe guides you through how to read, reflect, and pray your way through this well-worn Christmas hymn.
Read the hymn here.
Watch the hymn workout.
99 more spiritual exercises at www.hymnworkouts.com/
I rarely miss a meeting. This is especially true if it's a meeting with someone important - a boss, a line-manager, an important new acquaintance, etc. If there is a scheduled appointment on the calendar I almost always show up. However, I miss prayer time with God all of the time. I just decide not to show up and feel no guilt about skipping. Other stuff comes up.
How is it that I am so faithful to show up at meetings and so faithless to show up at prayer?
Guys need to set a daily meeting with God. To be more committed to prayer, we need to stop thinking of prayer as a leisurely activity and start thinking about it more like a meeting that we can't afford to miss.
You can't separate the body from discipleship. Some guys scoff at bodily discipline because they confuse effort with legalism. Other guys ignore bodily discipline because they don't want to take responsibility for their lack of self-control.
In this episode Joe and Evan give Christian men a Biblical framework for bodily discipline.
Go to www.menneedhelp.org to get our free guide on a life of simple routines, bodily discipline, and spiritual friendships.
More often than not, church services are a ho-hum experience. Sermons are not
infrequently uninspiring. The music is never to everyone’s taste. The public prayers are longwinded, abstract, and difficult to follow. So why go?
In this episode Joe and Evan talk about why men should go to church, and how they can maximize the benefits of attending church.
Every guy has a stack of books he's been given, but never read. Some guys don't have the time to read. A lot of guys don't like reading. Should Christian men feel guilty for not being readers?
In this episode Joe and Evan give ordinary Christian men 5 reasons why reading is worth the hard work.
Start your reading habit with Joe's book The Way Forward, a guide for Christian men who want to get unstuck.
How do you become a guy that has really great friends? We all want to be that guy, but most of us aren't on that path. How do you find the road to great friendship?
You need to grow in the virtues of gospel friendship.
In this episode, Joe and Evan guide you through 7 virtues of gospel friendship. You can read about each of the virtues on the Cross Training blog.
For more on the importance of spiritual friendships, check out Joe's book The Way Forward.
What's the most dangerous object you own? A knife? A gun? A chainsaw? It's your phone. What is the most likely thing to distract you from God? To keep you from paying attention to your wife and kids? Of luring you into porn? Of making you superficial and unable to focus your mind? It's your phone.We all carry a dangerous item in our pocket, and none of us feels the danger.
Men who are training in spiritual fitness cannot ignore the downward pull of their phone. You can be a Digital Jedi - training to use your phone for good. Listen as Joe and Evan guide you to become the kind of guy who has healthy phone habits.
More help at www.menneedhelp.org
NEW! Surviving the Trenches audiobook. Get the training you need to be proactive in the fight against sin.
There is no other time of day like morning in terms of freshness of mind, availability before God, and stepping out into the day on the right foot. It's nearly impossible to recover after having missed the first part of the day.
Don't miss your opportunity to start your day with God.
Redeeming the morning is one mark of being spiritually fit. Listen as Joe and Evan answer common questions about a healthy morning routine:
- Everyone talks about a quiet time with God: what is a quiet time?
- How early should I get up? How much time should I set aside in the morning?
- What do I do if I have small kids that get up early?
- Is it possible to get up too early?
- Are there other elements besides a quiet time that should be a part of my morning routine?
How should Christian men think about sleep?
Sleep is a gift from God, and a fundamental element of training in spiritual fitness.
This week on the Cross Training Ministries podcast Joe and Evan encourage you to evaluate your bedtime routine. They talk about the benefits of a healthy sleep habit, and answer common questions and objections about sleep:
- 'What if I'm a Night Owl?'
- 'Nighttime is the only time I get to myself'
- 'What if I can't get my mind to shut down?'
- 'What if I work the night shift?'
Get more coaching videos here: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLbRKBJK6OZ03SVcmj2Bk0B4ZJxvXWpjUs
Get the audiobook, Surviving the Trenches here: https://www.audible.com/pd/Surviving-the-Trenches-Audiobook/B0BBNDPQJQ?action_code=ASSGB149080119000H&share_location=pdp&shareTest=TestShare
Most guys think that memorization is for elementary school. Kids memorize, not adults. Unless there is a test, why memorize something?
The Bible paints a different picture. Memory is a practice. Memorization is a habit.
Guys who are spiritually fit memorize scripture - it's a fundamental part of their training.
Listen as Joe and Evan guide you to become the kind of guy who is always memorizing something.
https://www.menneedhelp.org/
The world around you is pushing you toward immoderate indulgence. Personal thresholds are the guardrails that keep you on the path of wisdom.
In this episode, Joe and Evan answer these questions about thresholds:
- What does the Bible say about personal thresholds?
- Do thresholds rob us of our freedom?
- Are thresholds legalistic?
- What are examples of personal thresholds?
- What do I do if I am having trouble sticking to my personal thresholds?
You can find additional resources at www.menneedhelp.org/leaders-guide
Every man has seasons in which his prayer life feels rote. You feel stuck saying the same things over and over again, with little enthusiasm or emotion. It's not that you do not know how to express how you feel (just ask the guy sitting next to you while you watch football), but when it comes to your spiritual life you cannot seem to find the words to express what you're feeling.
Christian men need help putting words to the feelings they struggle to express. In this episode of the Cross Training Ministries podcast, Joe and Evan show how meditating on a classic Christian hymn can revitalize the prayer life of men who are stuck.
https://www.hymnworkouts.com/
The theological education of most Christian men peaked when they were at Vacation Bible School. Part of the problem is that guys don't like to read books. Sure, there is a stack of books on their nightstand - but most of them remain unopened. There is an even bigger problem though: the books they have read they can't remember because they never really digested them. Men won't learn theology by sleeping their way through a 1,200 page book.
In this episode, Joe and Evan offer a simpler path to a robust theological education - meditating on classic Christian hymns.
https://www.hymnworkouts.com/
Attention is the backdoor of the human heart. Whoever wins the battle for your attention wins the battle for your heart. You can take ownership of your attention and steward it in ways that benefit your spiritual growth.
Start exercising your mind today at https://www.hymnworkouts.com/
To fight sin, you need to remember four words - detect, reflect, reject, and accept.
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There will be times when we fight resolutely against sin and yet feel no relief or freedom from its oppression. We may even feel as if ground is being relentlessly lost – that the harder we fight, the further back we are driven. Such feelings are not a reason to despair. We need to remember the inscrutability of God’s purposes as we fight sin.
https://www.survivingthetrenches.men/
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Killing sin begins with the mundane, not the extraordinary. If a man wants to snuff the coals of lust or anger, the first step is not a silent retreat, but something far simpler: sitting under a faithful ministry of the Word, committing to a local fellowship, budgeting time for spiritual friendship and communal worship, and establishing personal routines of Word and prayer.
https://www.survivingthetrenches.men/
https://www.xtrainingministries.com/
If you're going to kill sin you have to draw a circle around the whole of your life and label all of it the battlefield against sin.
https://www.survivingthetrenches.men/
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The only way to fight any one sin, is to fight all sin.
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To grow in holiness, we can't just be content with killing sinful behavior; growing virtue is as important as killing sin.
https://www.xtrainingministries.com/
In the battle against sin, we don't need to just play defense - we must learn to play even stronger offense.
https://www.survivingthetrenches.men/
Don't be passive in fighting sin. In the battle against sin, you must play strong defense.
https://www.survivingthetrenches.men/
You are dead to sin and alive to God in Christ Jesus (Romans 6:11). Understanding this gospel fact is the first step to fighting back against sin.
https://www.survivingthetrenches.men/
No one has ever given you the training you need to fight back against sinful passions - we are going to change that.
https://www.survivingthetrenches.men/
You need a friend who is a Fullback.
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You need more than one Spiritual Friend.
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You need a friend you laugh with.
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You need a friend who helps you interpret your scars.
Get to know your friends better with these Discovery Questions.
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You need a friend who sees beyond your limited vision.
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You need a friend who will log meaningful hours with you.
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You need a friend you can trust in the trenches.
Email evan@xtrainingministires.com for a free sample of Surviving the Trenches
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You need a friend who is a willing to train at the same pace as you.
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Get Joe's book The Way Forward to learn more about camaraderie among men.
You need a friend with the courage to investigate your hypocrisy.
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Get Joe's book The Way Forward to learn more about camaraderie among men.
You need a friend who is on patrol for complacency in your life.
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Join us as we explore 10 marks of a Spiritual Friend. Subscribe now and catch a vision of life outside of isolation.
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