"Man-Up Spiritual Oasis for Men"

Sooner or later faith must become action. To get their paralyzed friend to Jesus, four guys hauled him onto a roof, burrowed a hole and lowered him down. What should we, as Christian men, be prepared to do to bring people to the Lord?

The Professor finds both humor and faith in action in the story of the healing of a paralyzed man in a clip from our upcoming podcast.

We look deeper at Jesus' healing touch of a leprous man and how transgressive it was to a culture which believed it had moral sanction the dehumanize members of a specific group. In a lively discussion, we apply it to today's racial environment, and debate the degree even the most humble of white Christian congregations can be blinded by biases imbued and reinforced across generations. As leaders in our church, how can we best battle inherent human prejudice and build a Kingdom wherein every man and woman is seen as a child and heir of God?

In a unique gospel passage, Mark gives us a 24-hour day in the life of Jesus. We look at how the Lord balanced time he spent on his vocation, with his circle of friends, and on prayer and spiritual recharging. We look at the model it offers how to manage the pressing demands on our own time, and consider some difficult scenarios we can face when our work, family and church lives get out of balance. We also talk about exorcisms, demons and Jesus' commanding them to silence.

When a potentially life-changing opportunity comes along, will you recognize it, grab it and commit to it? The first four disciples Jesus called were work-a-day fisherman, yet they saw something in an itinerant preacher that drove them immediately to drop their nets and follow. A big struggle men face is weighing a personal decision that calls for risk--to well-being, relationships and self-image. We explore the fateful decision by Peter, Andrew, James and John to go all-in with Jesus.

In our upcoming podcast on seizing opportunities and committing to the long-term, "Judge" Michael Cropper talks about asking the Lord for help in growing his faith and but gets a difficult answer.

Davey Gibson, associate pastor of education and discipleship at Sugar Land Baptist Church, talks with Man Up's Michael Cropper about how church ministries can bring men back into the congregation as the Covid pandemic recedes.

We begin a deep dive into the first three chapters of Mark's gospel, starting with the Jesus' baptism and subsequent temptation in the wilderness. Along the way, we talk about John the Baptist's role as transitional prophet from the Old Testament to the New, and how we deal with transitions in our lives. We then look at the temptations Jesus faced and how we, like him, can meet, struggles with, and overcome challenges to our own Christian faith. Also, Sugar Land Baptist Church Associate Pastor Davey Gibson talks about men's ministries post-Covid in a Men Matter Fast Five segment.

Here's director Bill Cox talking about the difficulty some men face when moving from one phase of life to the next in our upcoming podcast on life transitions.

In our milestone 200th podcast, we talk about the listeners we each try to reach and take turns diving deeper into the various themes we return to week after week -- iron sharpens iron, lead dog needs to be fed, exercise your faith muscle, balance sheet of the soul, spoke in the wheel. What emerges is a sort of manifesto for the podcast.

Man Up Director Bill Cox talks about the type of listener he tries to reach in a preview of our landmark 200th podcast dropping next Tuesday.

As a special feature marking our 200th podcast, we've uploaded the audio clip compilation from Podcast 199. A great big thank you to the Professor, Robert Cocheu, for assembling this.

As we approach our 200th podcast, we take a break from our usual format to talk about events external of the past four years: hurricanes, floods and ice storm and a year-long pandemic, and personal: surgeries, accidents, aging parents. We talk about how they have shaped us and how even in difficulty, we can see the Spirit at work. We talk about how our faith has grown and how reading and discussing scripture each week contributes.

Paul says he has learned to be content in all circumstances. That touches off a spirited discussion as to what, exactly, contentment is. Is it on a spectrum of emotions, or something that can co-exist with grieving, suffering and misfortune? Is it a conscious choice or a gift of the Holy Spirit? And, for American Christians especially, is prosperity the greatest obstacle to contentment?

"Do not be anxious about anything," writes Paul. That's easy to say when you're not up against a pandemic, unemployment, gun violence and toxic cultural divisiveness. We all desire the "peace that surpasses all understanding," yet each day it seems less and less achievable. In this week's podcast we each talk about the ways we try to reduce the anxiety level in our lives even while acknowledging how difficult that is to do. Also, we briefly discuss a USA Today call to remove Oral Roberts University from the NCAA Tourney over its non-conforming opinion on same-sex marriage.