The Forge Men Podcast

We are in the middle of summer and the heat is raging…oppressive even. So that inspired me to do something a little different for the next few weeks. Because it is so hot, we are going to turn up the heat on the topics here on the blog with some “HOT TAKES.” Over the next few weeks, I’m going to take one thing men have accepted without ever really examining it, and say some uncomfortable things ou...

This year marks 250 years since a group of colonists looked at the most powerful empire on earth and said, “no more.” Two hundred fifty years since the ink dried on a document declaring that men would no longer bow to a king across the ocean. But here’s something most Fourth of July celebrations skip. Some of those same colonists were quoting an older rallying cry as they made their case: “no king...

THE FORGE SUMMER CHALLENGE We are wrapping up week two of eleven of The Forge Summer Challenge. It is not too late to join the challenge and take some ground this summer. There have already been some really great wins from some of the guys participating. Here is how it works: Every Monday a new challenge drops, free for everyone. One rule: don’t do it alone. Find your wingman and tell him you’re d...

THE FORGE SUMMER CHALLENGE This past Monday we launched The Forge Summer Challenge and it has been great so far! Over the next eleven weeks we are challenging ourselves to commit to a simple, concrete action designed to get us activated in leadership and in life. The goal is that it would be simple, but not easy. Every Monday a new challenge drops, free for everyone. One rule: don’t do it alone. F...

THE FORGE SUMMER CHALLENGE Starting Monday, June 15th, we’re launching The Forge Summer Challenge. Eleven weeks. One simple, concrete action each week, designed to move what you’ve learned from your head to your hands. Simple, but not easy. Every Monday a new challenge drops, free for everyone. One rule: don’t do it alone. Find your wingman, send him this post, and tell him you’re doing it togethe...

JOIN THE FORGE SUMMER CHALLENGE Before we get into it, we are announcing the launch of something new today. The Forge Summer Challenge! All the details at the end of the post so don’t cut out early. Eleven weeks ago we started this series with the premise that maturity doesn’t just happen. It has to be built. And it gets built across every area of a man’s life. That framework is represented graphi...

This week we are wrapping up the series we have been in called The Mature Man. We have worked through five interconnected areas of a man’s life. We have covered your Walk with God, Personal Health, Relationships, and Time and Priorities. Last week we hit finances and this week we close it out with a discussion about career, and why most men are settling for a fraction of what work was always meant...

We’ve been working through the Maturity Wheel — five interconnected areas where real growth happens. This week we move into Finances and Career, starting with the hardest conversation most men never have: what is money actually for? Most men don’t ask this question. We chase money, stress about it, fight about it with our wives, lie awake thinking about it. But we rarely stop to ask: What is it su...

We are in a series called The Mature Man — working through five interconnected areas of a man’s life using the Maturity Wheel. We have covered your Walk with God, Personal Health, Relationships, and last week we began digging into the Time and Priorities section by talking about time itself. This week we stay in that section and tackle something that sits underneath time management entirely. Your...

We are in a series called The Mature Man — diving into the areas of a man’s life where real growth happens. We’ve covered your walk with God, your personal health, and your relationships. This week we step into a new section of the Wheel: Your Time and Priorities. And we’re starting off with something we all have a strange and strained relationship with…time. As a pastor, I have sat at the bedside...

We are in a series called The Mature Man where we are working through the Maturity Wheel — five interconnected areas of a man’s life — slowing down to give us a strong challenge and helpful filters. Last week we opened the Relationships section talking about the mission of marriage. This week we stay in that section and tackle the thing that makes or breaks every relationship a man will ever have....

In this Mature Man series we are working through the Maturity Wheel discussing 5 interconnected areas of a man’s life and slowing down to give us helpful filters and rails to run on to grow in those areas. This week we are moving into the “Relationships” section discussing the most consequential human relationship we will ever have. Most men have never asked the question, “What is the purpose of m...

We’ve been in a series called The Mature Man. The idea is simple: maturity doesn’t just happen. It has to be built — and it gets built across every area of a man’s life. We’ve been working through a visual of a wheel — 5 different domains that make up a whole man. This week we are continuing in the personal health section and we’re landing on something that is insanely important to becoming a matu...

If you’ve been following along in The Mature Man series, you know we don’t stay on the surface. Over the last several weeks we have been in the first section of the wheel— your Walk with God — covering how to study Scripture, why prayer feels awkward, and what real obedience looks like. This week we move into the second section of the wheel — Personal Health — and we’re starting with a topic that...

We are in a series called The Mature Man — diving deeper into five areas of a man’s life where real growth happens. The last few weeks we have looked at studying scripture, the importance of prayer and why it can feel awkward. This week we are sticking in the same zone of the growth wheel — your walk with God — but asking a harder question… Here is the truth: you can study God’s Word, build a pray...

We are in a series called The Mature Man — diving deeper into five areas of a man’s life where real growth happens. 👇 Last week we looked at how to build a life in God’s Word. This week we stay in the same area — your walk with God — and tackle the thing most men struggle with but rarely admit: prayer. Why Prayer Can Feel Awkward — And What to Do About It Most men don’t have a prayer problem. The...

I know every one of us wants to mature in our life. Some of us are focused on finances, health, or our spiritual walk. But I believe that maturity in life is not isolated to one area but is more connected than we might think. Over the coming weeks we are going to be diving in and growing in five interconnected areas of a man’s life using a visual tool that we have created at The Forge. 👇 The five...

As men, we tend to fight temptation the same way we fight everything else. We dig in. We grit our teeth. We tell ourselves we’re not going to give an inch, not going to back down, not going to let this thing beat us. White knuckle it and power through. And that sounds right, doesn’t it? Doesn’t the Bible say that? Stand firm. Act like men. Put on the full armor of God. When you have done all to st...

Somewhere along the way, most men picked up a operating belief that nobody handed them directly but everybody seemed to agree on: Real men handle things alone. You don’t burden people. You don’t show weakness. You figure it out, push through, and keep moving. And if life gets lonely in the process — well, that’s just the cost of being responsible. That’s maturity. That’s what grown men do. It soun...

We’ve spent the past three weeks building a framework: establishing true north, owning your convictions, and creating a code that governs how you live. This week, I want to shift gears. Instead of another set of principles, I want to walk you through a life. One man’s story that displays how everything we’ve been talking about actually works when faithfulness costs everything and produces nothing...

A man’s owned convictions shouldn’t be theoretical—they must be the code that governs his life. The past two weeks we’ve talked about establishing true north and owning your beliefs instead of borrowing them. This week I want to get a bit more practical so we don’t just stay in the theoretical. Let’s get started by asking this question: Do you have a code that governs how you actually live? Most m...

Direction is only as strong as the convictions that hold it. Last week, we talked about establishing a True North — the need for a fixed moral and spiritual direction when life becomes uncertain. But here’s the harder question: Is that direction actually yours? Many men live on beliefs they agree with but have never paid for. They know what’s right. They can articulate truth. But when life kicks t...

In 1914, Ernest Shackleton launched the Imperial Trans-Antarctic Expedition. The goal was simple to state and nearly impossible to accomplish: cross Antarctica by land. The expedition never made it. In early 1915, Shackleton’s ship, Endurance , became trapped in pack ice in the Weddell Sea. For months, the crew drifted helplessly as the ice tightened around the hull. By November, the pressure crus...

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how easily we talk about faith without ever really talking about surrender. Most of us are comfortable saying we trust God. We believe the right things. We know the language. We sing the songs and pray the prayers. But when you slow down and sit with it long enough, it becomes clear that belief and surrender are not the same thing. I’ve noticed this most clear...

God has given us real responsibility. He’s given us a mind to think, a will to act, and purpose to guide us. We are not meant to drift through life waiting for instructions at every turn. Decisions are part of obedience. Leadership, movement, and initiative are not optional. But that responsibility creates a tension most men live in every day. If what God has given us isn’t submitted back to Him,...