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My Americano ristretto didn’t last through the meeting and the last gulps were cold. Across the table, a discouraged dad recounted failure after failure. Finally, I just said, “Where are your kids today?” He launched into a story of how things had soured, how they all lived in different states and he hadn’t talked to them in years. “Call them,” I said. He blinked. “Just call them.” “They don’t want to talk to me,” he said. “Fathering comes down to one basic thing—showing up. Be a dad regardless of what the kids do. Call them.” He objected a few more times, and finally we shook...

I was talking and praying with a man recently about his 17 year old daughter. It seems they just couldn’t talk about things without a skirmish developing. The skirmish would negate anything he was trying to say, so a communication gap developed.I asked him a simple question, and I pass it on to you as a great tip for fathering…In the US, on a national average, dads personally and directly communicate with their kids 35 seconds a day. And, kids will spend 35 hours a week engaged in media, tv, video games. That’s 35 hours a week versus 35 seconds...

A friend went to an Alcoholics Anonymous meeting with his dad, just to show support. He happened to bring his son with him. A man in the AA meeting viewed the trio and said, “That gives me hope.” Someone asked, “What?” The man said, “Three men from the same family—the oldest one kicked the habit so the others could live free.”You as a man, and the men you minister to canbreak free. The amazing thing is, when men break free, the people around them will get their chance to be free, too.Two men in the first century illustrate this. Paul and Silas were...

For most men, we are identified by what we do with our hands…manager, fireman, sales executive, forklift driver, physical therapist, flooring installer, school principal, carpenter. One of the first things we ask when meeting another man is, “What do you do?” Then we slot that man. Our minds work better when he’s slotted. We have a point of reference. But is what you do who you really are? Culture defines a man by what he does with his hands. God defines a man by who he is in his heart. In around 450 BC, Nehemiah learned that Jerusalem lay in...

Gateway Church is one of the significant churches in the world today. Pastor Robert and his wife Debbie built this powerful and influential church out of a Bible study in their home. Read below his reflections about a pivotal point in the launch, and how CMN’s founder Ed Cole was involved in helping. At CMN we love Pastor Robert and his team. We are fans of the local church—in whatever form God shapes it culturally. Pastor Robert graciously added this amazing story below to the CMN book, Real Man. Be sure to take advantage of savings for you and your men's group this month...