Recently I took Clay and his best friend into the wild where we scouted for my upcoming Elk Hunt. I taught them to fish and explored the backwoods of the High Country for the first time (watch the video to see the monster trout I caught!).

It was a great day. And talking to them made me think that so many of our young men aren’t being challenged enough. They are cooped up in the city doing plenty of activities, but nothing that’s really pushing them hard like hiking a mile into the forest with lots of vertical grades at 6,200 feet of elevation. Then sitting patiently behind the glass for an hour to spot one small herd of elk.

These are the moments that build character and give young men a feeling that they won’t get in the suburbs.

All through Scripture we see countless examples of men investing in the next generation. Speaking words of life, truth, wisdom and Godliness over them. Like these words in 1 John 2:14:

I write to you, young men, because you are strong, and the word of God abides in you, and you have overcome the evil one.

How inspiring is this? John was writing to young, immature, brash men. In fact in Mark, we learned that John and his brother James were called the Sons of Thunder, which many scholars think was because they had strong, loud and passionate personalities. Luke recorded them saying this timid little statement :)

Lord, do you want us to tell fire to come down from heaven and consume them?

Men.

That’s what we have to be. And yet so many of the hard moments in life are when we aren’t living up to the standards set before us in Scripture. We get in our heads, we get too emotional, we become too passive, and we lose our sense of purpose.

James and John were rebuked by Jesus and later John speaks prophetic words over the lives of others based on the example he had seen Jesus do for Peter who was constantly putting his foot in his mouth and would later even deny him:

You are Peter, and on this rock I will build my church.

Jesus calling Peter a strong foundation when he was anything but that in the moment is a great example of what we need to be doing for the young men in our lives. Our sons and their friends deserve your attention regularly.

Challenge the young men to go hard, to strengthen their limbs and push them to the point where they’ve wrapped up a hard-working day and can’t even make it all the way home without falling asleep :)

Don’t forget to check out some of the latest drops on my official YouTube Channel. Every second watched goes a long way in helping me reach more men with the message I’m so passionate about. In this episode I head to Ross Outdoors and Scheels to get my new Mathews Arc 34 bow purchased and set up. As always, likes and subscribes are welcome!

Dropping next is a Men’s Golf Outing with the guys in our LifeGroup. It was a fun day of hitting the links and talking with the guys about their lives. This short clip from our Fearless Leader, Kyle Moule, has resonated with more than 1,000 people at the time of writing this. Let’s keep the momentum going so we can spread his message on no excuses.

Lord, give us the confidence to stand firm in who You’ve called us to be and the courage to live it out.

Teach us to seek You first in prayer and in Your Word, so our strength doesn’t come from the approval of the world, but from knowing who You are and who we are in You.

Give us the courage to do hard things, to take action when You put something in front of us, and to get back up when we fail. Help us lead our families well and intentionally raise the next generation to know You, follow You, and stand firm in their faith.

Your Word tells us, “Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong. Let all that you do be done in love.” — 1 Corinthians 16:13–14

Help us be those men this week: strong in faith, courageous in action, faithful to our families, and grounded in love.

Rooting for you always,

Joshua Brown
Chief Firestarter at Soulfire

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