Every man aspires to be known & respected by his family and others. Join Noble Warriors’ Founder, Mike Young, & guests for wisdom & insights on how to follow Jesus’ example and live out Noble Manhood.
Episodes
Nov 25, 2020
Nov 25, 2020
24 min
Even though this year has been a challenge, what can you give thanks for?
It’s been a weird year, and it’s easy to be frustrated with the circumstances. But let’s take some time out this week of Thanksgiving to reflect on what we’ve learned from it and talk about where we are going next.
In The Noble Man Podcast Episode 36, The Noble Man Reflects With Gratitude, we’ll update you on some of the things we are grateful for this year at Noble Warriors like:
- The Launch of The Noble Man Podcast
- The Launch of The Noble Man Tailgate Ministry
- Let’s Build a Manger!® kits for families to keep Christ in front of Christmas
- Providing luncheons for area pastors and other opportunities that are new and available because of pandemic restrictions
- What’s in the works for next year?
Resources:
Let’s Build a Manger!® Kits Black Friday Deal!
In this Thanksgiving season, remember 1 Thessalonians 5:16–18.
“Rejoice always, pray without ceasing, give thanks in all circumstances; for this is the will of God in Christ Jesus for you.”
Click here to help build The Noble Man Podcast Studio for Giving Tuesday!
Happy Thanksgiving!
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Nov 20, 2020
Nov 20, 2020
58 min
We continue our leadership series on the Podcast with John Majors as we discuss how The Noble Man Leads His Family. John is an author at Seeds Family Worship, a ministry dedicated to helping families and churches memorize God’s Word through songs, videos, and other resources for family devotions and worship.
When it comes to leadership, John first reminds us of Mark 10:45, that Jesus came to serve and give life.
“For even the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.”
It can feel like we are behind when it comes to leading our families, but don’t lose hope. “The best time to have planted a tree was 20 years ago, the next best time is now.”
We cover everything from practical tips for family devotions and memorizing scripture together, to helping your children understand biblical sexuality and what it looks like to grow into a godly man or woman.
Some of John’s top tips:
- Pursue the Lord on your own. It’s the number one thing you can do. A great leader is first a great follower. I submit to someone higher than me; Christ is at the center.
- Love your wife well, know, serve, and love her. By observing this in your marriage, your children will learn Jesus’ love for the church.
- Get to know each child and love them.
Notice Deuteronomy 6 doesn’t start with teaching our children, it starts with allegiance to God.
Resources:
Seeds Family Worship - Full of free resources for the family including scripture memory songs.
“Songs make it effortless for kids to memorize scripture.”
Twenty Verses in 2020 – Free devotions, songs, and videos that will help you lead your family in memorizing scripture together in an engaging way.
Passport 2 Purity – Create a memorable relationship-building weekend with your preteen.
Passport to Identity – Create a memorable relationship-building weekend with your teen.
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode35
Tune in next week for a special Thanksgiving Episode, The Noble Man Reflects.
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Nov 10, 2020
Nov 10, 2020
58 min
“The pandemic has shown people where they are in their marriages.”
This month on we focus on leadership, and Keith Tully of FamilyLife is here to talk about how The Noble Man Leads His Wife. After years of struggle in his own marriage, it was at a Weekend to Remember Conference that “God came down and raised us from the dead . . . (He) gave us a love we didn’t know was possible.”
Keith and his wife Trish now serve as missionaries for FamilyLife where they help train and empower others to walk out their faith in the context of marriage and family.
“You are an image-bearer of God – a holy calling as you lead and love well. Together you can bear the fullness of his image. It’s in that oneness that we can share who He is.”
Keith walks us through some answers to questions like:
- What does it look like for a man to lead his wife?
- What changed in your life and marriage when you better understood how to lead your wife?
- What does leading your wife look like in different seasons of life?
“Love your wife, pursue Jesus, entrust her to him, keep praying for her. God will bring the breakthrough.”
Resources:
The Noble Man Conference Workshop – The Lazarus Marriage by Keith Tully
Virginia November 2020 Art of Marriage Events – Register in advance for in-person and live-streaming events.
Love Like You Mean It by Bob Lepine
Leading in Prayer:
- Oneness Prayer Challenge – A tool for leading couples through 30 days of praying with your spouse
- Vertical Marriage – 30 days of short simple prayers to help focus your marriage on Christ
Online Course/Studies:
- Art of Marriage – Resolving Conflict in Your Marriage - Mini-Course
- Art of Parenting
- Free online devotionals and resources from Family Life
And I looked and arose and said to the nobles and to the officials and to the rest of the people, “Do not be afraid of them. Remember the Lord, who is great and awesome, and fight for your brothers, your sons, your daughters, your wives, and your homes.” Nehemiah 4:14
Tune in next week for Episode 35, The Noble Man Leads His Family.
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode34
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Nov 5, 2020
Nov 5, 2020
52 min
Carlos Santiago, Writer and Content Developer for Family Life, wrote an article which captured my attention about How to Raise a Boy to be a Man. It triggered the questions many fathers of sons might have. How do I begin leading my son into godly manhood? When do I start? How young is too young? What principles do I begin with? Carlos dives into these answers, and most importantly we talk about how to begin by leading ourselves.
Leadership is developed before you get married, because to lead others, including our wives and children, we must lead ourselves first. That might be easier said than done when it comes to things like understanding your heart, asking for help, controlling your emotions, and taking responsibility. But Carlos leads us through practical examples of how to begin doing these things ourselves so that we can lead our sons.
“Manhood is under attack everywhere you go. People don’t have examples readily available, and others are getting torn down.”
If you’ve ever felt a void in what it means to be a godly leader as a man, whether personally, in culture, or even in the church, you’re not alone. I hope you’ll listen in for Carlos’ valuable insight on leading the next generation of boys into biblical manhood.
Resources:
- How to Raise a Boy to be a Man by Carlos Santiago
- Family Life – Be sure to sign up to receive helpful resources for your family.
- Your Ever After – Carlos and Tanya Santiago
- Family Life app in Google Play and the Apple Store
- YouVersion Bible app – search for plans by Carlos Santiago and Family Life
Join us next week with Keith Tulley of Family Life and Weekend to Remember, as we talk about how The Noble Man Leads His Wife.
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode33
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Oct 29, 2020
Oct 29, 2020
56 min
Mike Mehaffie and his wife Sharon have faithfully invested in young men and women for the last 44 years on the staff of Cru at North Carolina State University. In this episode, Mehaffie recalls how the ministry began on the N.C. State campus with 30 students total and has grown large enough to have 220 students in leadership positions last year.
“God is working, and we try not to mess it up.”
His incredible faith story began at age 16 when he was just too tired to change the TV channel after football practice. He saw Billy Graham on TV and wrote him a letter requesting the gospel of John.
“It started an adventure for me of walking with Christ.”
As a new believer, he didn’t know what to do, so he sought out a Bible study. He was faithful in showing up, good with people, and willing to reach out and share his faith. God used one faithful man, who recognized him as being FAT – faithful, accountable, and teachable, to disciple him for three years and encourage him in ministry.
But it is the power of prayer that resonates over every aspect of his life, marriage, and ministry.
“Little prayer equals little power, much prayer equals much power, and no prayer equals no power.”
Mehaffie’s whole life changed when he read the book of John he received from Billy Graham’s ministry. If you would like a free copy of the gospel of John from Noble Warriors, send an email to office@noblewarriors.org today.
“Jesus is the greatest model of manhood we could ever hope to look at and emulate our lives after.”
Resources:
The Transferable Concepts booklets
4 Spiritual Laws by Bill Bright
The Master Plan of Evangelism by Robert Coleman
Prayer: Experiencing Awe and Intimacy with God by Tim Keller
The Practice of the Presence of God by Brother Lawrence
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode32
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Oct 23, 2020
Oct 23, 2020
54 min
I met Bernie Ritterbush around 2005 at a National Coalition of Ministries to Men conference in Washington D.C., and as he reminds me, it was before the official launch of Noble Warriors. In this episode, we discuss the difference between discipleship and disciple-making with Bernie, who has been an intentional disciple-maker for almost 50 years. He’s worked with Christian Business Men’s Committee (now Connection), founded the Men’s Ministry Network in 1996, and he’s the creator of (re)THINK Disciplemaking: Seeing God’s Map for Becoming and Making Mature Disciples.
“The one thing that will end is our disciple-making – life on life. When we are gone, our life can’t be part of that picture anymore. The main purpose God has us on the planet is to reproduce.”
Disciple-making is the intentional process that produces a disciple. Over time, Bernie learned to reverse-engineer the discipleship process and emphasize the core competencies of what it means to walk with Jesus in obedience and humility and implement His Truth in our lives.
We want to be Jesus-followers, not just scholars.
Don’t be afraid of making a mistake; He will redeem that. Judas betrayed Jesus. Men may not turn out the way that you want, but be obedient to what the Lord wants you to do in terms of investing in other men. He grows and gives the increase.
Resources:
- (re)THINK Disciplemaking by Bernie Ritterbush
- Every Man a Warrior Navigator Series
- Find 5 Bibles we recommend and other resources from The Noble Man is a Man of the Word [Podcast Ep. 11].
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode31
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Oct 13, 2020
Oct 13, 2020
49 min
As we carry on our theme this month, I am joined by Carey Bates, my former pastor and a man who faithfully invested in me. We met Carey when we first moved to Richmond over 20 years ago.
Before Carey even knew what discipleship really was, he started a group of men studying the Bible in his dorm room. Through the mentorship in his own life, he became passionate about reproductive discipleship. It became part of his DNA and ministry to look for the guy or the group he could invest in, and it all started when a man willing to disciple him said, “Come with me.”
We often don’t feel qualified to disciple others, but Carey helps us understand that as long as we have prayer, a biblical foundation, and fellowship with other men, we’ve got what it takes to begin. He recommends many resources to help us get kicked off. While there is nothing magical about any one resource, it’s a track to run on and get you started. As you listen, I pray you gain confidence to take that first step.
When they deliver you over, do not be anxious how you are to speak or what you are to say, for what you are to say will be given to you in that hour. For it is not you who speak, but the Spirit of your Father speaking through you. Matthew 10:19-20
“We are prompted by the Holy Spirit, but we are prepared by our mind.”
Resource Recommendations:
- The Bible – Serendipity Bible, or check out Resources on Episode 11: The Noble Man is a Man of the Word
- Point Man – one of my favorites to begin with
- Master Life series – the resource Carey used when he began discipling me
- Navigator material – including The Alongsiders, 2:7, and Design for Discipleship
- Survival Kit by Ralph W. Neighbor, Jr.
- Growing Up: How to Be a Disciple Who Makes Disciples by Robby Gallaty
- Operation Timothy
- Tally Ho The Fox! (The Foundation for Building World-Visionary, World-Impacting, Reproducing Disciples) by Herb Hodges
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode30
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Oct 6, 2020
Oct 6, 2020
1hr 51 sec
Our guest this week is Dr. Ed Gomes, Director of Spiritual Development for the Flames, Liberty University's football team. He’s a man who lives out our theme this month, The Noble Man Invests in Faithful Men. You may know Dr. Gomes from The Noble Man / ISI workshops, but if this is the first time you are hearing from him, you’re going to love this guy!
He begins with his own story of coming to know Christ at the age of 17, then earning a basketball scholarship in 1974 to Liberty Baptist College, or what is now Liberty University. Two faithful men, John and Russell, invested in him, taught him the Word, and modeled faithfulness to him by the way they lived their life.
“There was something about them that seemed irresistible simply by the way they lived.” Dr. Gomes has copied what they showed him, and his heart for ministry brought him back to the school in the 90’s where he has served the Flames football team faithfully.
Dr. Gomes is a living example of a faithful man who builds up other faithful men just like Paul admonishes us in 2 Timothy 2:2, “And what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also.”
He drops great nuggets of wisdom in this episode. Listen for how he applies these and more as he serves the Flames football players year after year. “The greatest joy is seeing our young men walk with truth, taking the truth that was invested in them and investing it in others.”
And check out his awesome Shoe Shine Ministry!
Top Tips:
Every single one of us has a story. Let God take your story, so He can make it His story, so we can encourage someone else in their story.
“It’s not about having it all together, it’s about moving in the right direction.”
Pay attention to what God is trying to do in and through the local church. God has you there with purpose.
Be faithful where you are to make a difference.
Focus on how you can be a blessing and an encouragement.
We are at our best when we focus on others and are paying attention to what’s going on around us.
Instead of waiting to be blessed, take the initiative to be a blessing. Ask 'how does God want to use me to help someone else grow in their faith?'
The bottom line is about serving. It's about what He wants. It’s not about what I want.
Many times, the reason men don’t get involved is because no one asks them.
When it comes to “Training Champions for Christ,” the Liberty motto:
It starts with example.
It’s about accountability, relationship, discipleship, and passing the baton.
- Identify leaders, guys intentional about their relationship with God.
- Focus on servant leadership. Earn the right to speak into their life.
- Ask them to step up and provide greater spiritual leadership – man-to-man conversation.
Prepare them for what they’ll face ten years down the road. Look at where they're going to be when they graduate. Have a game plan academically, athletically, socially, spiritually.
Look at where they can be and not where they’re at.
“Keep conversation Christ-centered. All lives matter because that is how Jesus looks at life. Jesus unifies us, not the color of our skin. When Jesus is the focal point, we can ask each other the tough questions.”
Dr. Gomes’ Resources:
Building a Legacy Student Guide
Leaving a Legacy Leader’s Guide
Discipleship for Student Athletes
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode29
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Sep 29, 2020
Sep 29, 2020
55 min
Nate Larkin of the Samson Society shares with Mike how his life and marriage were saved when he understood the importance of being in relationship with other brothers in Christ.
He thought he was completely alone in his struggle with pornography, which eventually led him down a dark road into prostitution and a suicide plot. But by God’s grace he was finally “caught.” He wasn't aware that what he needed was healing, not forgiveness.
“I was always begging for forgiveness that was already mine because I didn’t understand the Gospel.”
Porn was just a medicator for the deep wounds in his life. He needed connection. Porn offers the illusion of connection, but in reality, it cripples us from creating emotional connections. “Lust kills love.”
Like many of us, Nate tried to fight a solo battle.
“I wanted this ‘me and Jesus’ relationship that wouldn’t require me to expose myself or connect with anyone else.”
But Nate was freed by learning we are part of a body – we can’t walk alone. Jesus called two men to follow Him, and then he called 10 more.
“For where two or three are gathered in my name, there am I among them.” Matthew 18:20
“Then the LORD God said, It is not good for man to be alone.” Genesis 2:18a
Resources:
Read Nate’s full testimony in his book, Samson and the Pirate Monks: Calling Men to Authentic Brotherhood, or listen to it on Audible.
Attend a newcomer Zoom meeting at the Samson Society, a fellowship of Christian men who are serious about authenticity, community, humility, and recovery. Meetings take place every day.
Download your free copy of Covenant Eyes’ Your Brain on Porn eBook to learn about how porn rewires the brain and kills love.
Tune in to The Noble Man Podcast next week for The Noble Man Invests in Faithful Men.
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode28
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Sep 24, 2020
Sep 24, 2020
54 min
Sign up for an exclusive offer for Noble Warriors listeners only: a 30-day FREE trial for Covenant Eyes and you’ll get complete screen protection for your entire family. Promo Code: NOBLEWARRIORS
“I get to live in freedom, and freedom feels good!”
This week on the podcast Sam Black joins us from Covenant Eyes screen accountability software. You’ve got to tune in to this one to get perspective and tips on how to protect your family online. It’s not just about building walls, it’s about community.
Protecting Our Kids: “Our relationships with our kids help porn proof them.”
- We don’t want to take away their innocence, we want to take away their ignorance.
- Shame them if you want to keep them from talking and promote compulsion.
- It’s not just a men’s issue. We need to talk to our daughters as dads.
- It’s imperative to talk to kids starting very young.
- Model accountability. They need to see the importance of having others in your life.
Behaviors to Model: “Freedom is real, and victory is intoxicating!”
- Accountability is great, but we need to help each other identify and change ritual behavior.
- Build distance between you and the behaviors and create a new habits.
- Success happens through community; it requires community to create healing.
- God makes community in the church, but you have to step into it.
- Don’t feel defeated. Decide today starts my path for victory.
Resources:
Protecting Your Family Online: A Parents How-to Guide
Hobbies and Habits: Learn how healthy hobbies and habits can help you break free from porn
Connected: How Strong Family Relationships Lead to internet-Safe Kids
Your Brain on Porn: 5 Proven Ways Pornography Warps Your Mind and 3 Biblical Ways to Renew It
40-Day Challenge – Takes you on your first 40 days of freedom from porn.
FREE SHE Virtual Recovery Summit on Oct 5-9 – Conference for women to Support, Help, and Empower.
More resources – all free!
Join us next week to hear Nate Larkin from the Samson Society, a fellowship of Christian men who are serious about authenticity, community, humility & recovery.
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode27
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Sep 15, 2020
Sep 15, 2020
49 min
“Be sure your sin will find you out.” Numbers 32:23
“I tried to hide it, but sin has repercussions in every area of life.”
This week on the podcast in The Noble Man has a Renewed Mind, you’ll hear a very raw and real testimony from Steve Etner of the The Purity Coach as he openly shares about his lifelong battle with porn, lust, and masturbation. It’s a story that affected him, his marriage, and the churches that he pastored for decades, but praise God that’s not where the story ends. Steve’s life is a living testimony to the redemptive work of Jesus Christ on the cross.
“Our Savior came to earth on a mission of redemption and reconciliation. You cannot do this on your own.”
After years of seeking help, God used a man, not a pastor or a counselor, but a man who loved the Word and pointed Steve to it daily. “He just began to open up the Word of God, and he showed me the God of the Scriptures, who was a God I never knew.” For anyone who has wrestled with the guilt of sexual sin, Steve offers scripture after scripture to dive into and memorize to renew your mind.
“You cannot change your behavior until you first change your heart.”
Above all else, guard your heart, for everything you do flows from it. Proverbs 4:23 NIV
Resources for Help:
Steve’s recommended Bible reading: 2 Cor 10:5, Psalm 23, 25, 27, and 51.
Extreme Mind Makeover by Steve Etner
Steven’s workshop, Transforming Sinful Habits into God Pleasing Life Patterns – The Noble Man Virtual Event – Richmond
If you need help now, call Steve Etner at 574-360-1141, or seek a local counselor.
Join us next week on the podcast for The Noble Man Has Made a Covenant With His Eyes.
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode26
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Sep 8, 2020
Sep 8, 2020
51 min
This week as we discuss how The Noble Man Pursues a PROVEN path to Purity, we hear from the Director of Outreach for Proven Men Ministries, Marshall Shank. Tragically, we now see evidence that the average age of first exposure to porn is 8 years old, and it’s imperative that we know how to equip our families and ourselves in this battle. Proven Men is on a mission to see a revival of sexual integrity among the entire bride of Christ. Join Mike and Marshall as they talk about creating an environment for sexual integrity in our homes.
“We’ve got a lot of work to do to guard our hearts, minds, children, and the gates of our homes.”
What is the PROVEN path?
“Freedom is found through an intimate and consistent relationship with Christ.”
Passionate for God
Repentant in spirit
Open and honest
Victorious in living
Eternal in perspective
Networked with other godly people
Resources:
ProvenMen.org – Encouragement Resources and 12-week study
Good Pictures Bad Pictures: Porn-Proofing Today’s Young Kids - Protect Young Minds
“Therefore, confess your sins to one another and pray for one another, that you may be healed. The prayer of a righteous person has great power as it is working.”
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode25
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Sep 3, 2020
Sep 3, 2020
57 min
This week on the podcast, our guest, Mike, shares his transparent testimony with us about how a childhood tragedy and a chance stumble upon pornographic magazines kicked off a decades-long battle with grief and addiction. In this authentic and sincere conversation, Mike opens up about how he believed he was alone and unique in his struggle and even felt betrayed when he attempted to seek help, but he ultimately found freedom in Christ. His story is a great reminder that The Noble Man Knows He’s in a Purity Battle, and we can be victorious.
“There truly is hope for this addiction, and there is true freedom.”
Themes to Listen For:
- You are not alone – that is a lie the enemy wants you to believe.
- Sin progresses if we don’t seek help. Addictive behavior and repetitive patterns form, and it will become more graphic, more real, and more live.
- Know your triggers. When and where are you vulnerable? Don’t stay there when you trip and stumble, share it.
- Realize we can’t do it on our own. When we live in isolation we get into stinking thinking. We need help.
- He wants us to be in community. Sometimes it just takes picking up the phone.
- The church needs safe places for men to battle.
- No matter your experience with the church, Christ will never fail you.
Resources to Help:
Every Man's Battle: Winning the War on Sexual Temptation One Victory at a Time by Fred Stoeker
Promises to Stand On:
We know that our old self was crucified with him in order that the body of sin might be brought to nothing, so that we would no longer be enslaved to sin. For one who has died has been set free from sin. (v. 6-7)
There is therefore now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus. (v. 1)
This is the message we have heard from him and proclaim to you, that God is light, and in him is no darkness at all. If we say we have fellowship with him while we walk in darkness, we lie and do not practice the truth. But if we walk in the light, as he is in the light, we have fellowship with one another, and the blood of Jesus his Son cleanses us from all sin. If we say we have no sin, we deceive ourselves, and the truth is not in us. If we confess our sins, he is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. If we say we have not sinned, we make him a liar, and his word is not in us.
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode24
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Aug 26, 2020
Aug 26, 2020
54 min
This week Mike has the privilege of introducing the Noble Warriors Board of Directors to you in Episode 23, The Noble Man Serves in the Kingdom. You’ll learn a little background on each of the men and how they became connected to the ministry. Just like in our 1 Quick Question survey this week, we asked these men how they have served in the Kingdom.
From making a joyful noise in the chorus, to serving in children’s ministry, these faithful men have served for years in the church as well as in their surrounding communities. Each of them recalls ways that other faithful men invested in their lives. Listen to their stories and be encouraged by their faithfulness.
Meet the Board of Directors:
Key Concepts:
- What is God telling you now and how are you to react?
- God is still working even in this season. Focus on what He wants you to do, and He can bless that.
- When God raises us up, it doesn’t make any difference where he puts us, we need to go to work.
- If we’re men that have been trained and appointed for some work, then you can’t sit idly by. You have to get involved, get your hands dirty, and be part of what’s going on in people’s lives.
- You’ve got to be comfortable with allowing God to do the leading and you riding shotgun.
- Don’t be afraid to expose yourself to leadership.
- It doesn’t make any difference how many men show up - never cancel. If one person shows up, give that person all you’ve got.
- God puts people in your path. Help with the practical stuff in life to help men live well and be honorable in the community.
We need to study 1 Timothy 3 to understand the qualifications for leadership in the local church, and we need to be open in areas where we need growth. If we are left to our own devices, we are going to go rogue.
We are grateful for these men who have heavily invested in the ministry and in Mike’s life. They are partners in the mission to serve churches as they equip men to walk with Christ and lead well. Noble Warriors has the tools to help in men’s ministry – just knock on the door.
Join The Noble Man Podcast in September as we dive into a key issue in men’s lives – sexual integrity. We’ll be discussing how we can walk and live in a way that honors the Lord with our sexuality and be found faithful in this area.
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode23
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Aug 21, 2020
Aug 21, 2020
55 min
Dr. LeRoy Hill, Jr. speaks wisdom on how The Noble Man Prioritizes Relationships this week on podcast. Dr. Hill is the Senior Pastor of the historic Ebenezer Baptist Church in Portsmouth, VA, established in 1865.
2 Timothy 2:1-3 launches our discussion. These verses have been a prominent theme at Noble Warriors lately, and they just so happen to be Dr. Hill’s defining verse. “I encourage all men to find themselves in a verse.”
“You then, my child, be strengthened by the grace that is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me in the presence of many witnesses entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also. Share in suffering as a good soldier of Christ Jesus.”
Becoming a “good soldier of Christ,” or you might say a Noble Warrior, involves teaching others who can teach others. In order to follow Paul’s command here we must have relationships with other guys. Listen to Dr. Hill’s own experience here on the ways he’s implemented this idea throughout his life and ministry.
Tips:
Go deep. We’re 300 miles wide but only 1 inch deep.
Create “bubbles,” a covenant relationship with 3 or 4 men who have “refrigerator rights” - the right to know my business and ask me anything.
Every Paul needs a Timothy, and every Timothy needs a Paul.
Selection is the method tap God uses to tap men. We need to model that – powered by prayer.
Humility, time, and intentionality are key.
If you’re going to have a friend, you have to learn to be a friend. Jesus modeled that.
Men need men.
Stop all the branding and be biblical.
Masculinity is not toxic, but sin is.
Men have a responsibility that holds the family, community, and church in balance.
Don’t underestimate the power of bringing your wives together.
Pastors can’t be the entire church’s best friend.
We need to have some friends that don’t look like us and have the same stories that we do.
Resources:
Canoeing the Mountains: Christian Leadership in Uncharted Territory by Tod Bolsinger
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode22
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More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
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Aug 13, 2020
Aug 13, 2020
38 min
Our guest is Pastor Steve Reynolds. He pastors Capital Baptist Church in Annandale VA and is the author of Bod4God: Twelve Weeks to Lasting Weight Loss.
Steve is a…
Son of God, Husband, Father, Grandfather, Son, Pastor, Author.
Well-being is…
- Honoring God
- Maximizing your life for God – We must be healthy to do this
- Living a balanced life in the physical, emotional, social and spiritual domains
Steve’s Healthy Life Testimony
- In first grade I weighed twice as much as the typical kid.
- I walked off the football field for the last time in November 1979 and vowed to never work out again.
- At 360 lbs. I had high blood pressure, high cholesterol and diabetes. I was a sick man.
- The Lord directed me to the Bible. I studied the word 'body' in the Bible.
- I’ve lost 130 lbs and kept it off. I’m 62 and I’m disease free.
- God healed me through the greatest health book in the world, the Bible!
- Ultimately, I did a sermon series called Bod4God.
The Movement
- This prompted a movement including a Losing to Live weight loss competition.
- Literally thousands of people have lost tons of weight.
Abundant Life
- My besetting sin, the issue I struggle with most is that I like to overeat and under exercise.
- Satan wants to steal, kill and destroy us physically. Jesus wants us to live an abundant, healthy, physical life.
- Food that is near you gets in you. Cut off the temptation at the grocery store.
Sabbath
- Do what you can do. Exercise is movement. Walking is one of the healthiest things you can do.
- God designed us to function in the rhythm of having a Sabbath… some sort of diversion.
- Twice in the Bible, Jesus pulled away from the crowds to rest, even though not everyone had been healed and not every need was met.
- Scripturally it’s a sin to not Sabbath.
- It’s helpful for us as we lead healthy homes, for us to understand how to help our families Sabbath well.
Final Thoughts/Comments
- Get Off the Couch – A Man's A.C.T.I.O.N Plan… It’s essentially a game plan for healthy living.
- Pastors struggle with health issues in large numbers. 76% are overweight.
- Bitterness is a huge health issue.
- If we change the men, we change the family. If we change the pastors, we change the church.
- Think about the force that could be unleashed for the Kingdom if God’s people were all healthy.
- Listen to last week’s podcast, The Noble Man Works for the Lord.
- Reach out to Steve through his website about launching the Losing to Live competition, or to have him speak at your events.
- Remember, Jesus said the gate to heaven is a ‘narrow gate’!
Links/Resources:
- PastorSteveReynolds.com
- Bod4God: Twelve Weeks to Lasting Weight Loss by Steve Reynolds
- Get Off the Couch: 6 Motivators to Help You Lose Weight and Start Living by Steve Reynolds
- The Healthy Renegade Pastor: Abandoning Average in Your Health and Wellness by Steve Reynolds and Nelson Searcy
- Taking God to Work: The Keys to Ultimate Success by Steve Reynolds and David L. Winters
- Barna – Five Essentials to Engage Today’s Men
- BetterMan
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode21
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Aug 6, 2020
Aug 6, 2020
50 min
“Who you work for is more important than what you do.”
This week, Mike unpacks some critical questions about work with Sebastian Traeger. Sebastian is married to Nikki, a father of four, an entrepreneur, Kingdom operative, and the author of The Gospel At Work: How Working for King Jesus Gives Purpose and Meaning to Our Jobs
Check out last week's 1 Quick Question survey results for a list of listeners' first jobs… mowing grass, delivering papers, washing dishes, pumping gas, McDonalds, bagging groceries, farm helper, construction laborer, janitor, family business…
Fathering is my favorite job…
Highlights:
- A beach mission trip became a greenhouse experience to grow my faith. Being around a group of people who were passionate about the Lord and life made a difference for me.
- Who you work for is more important than what you do. – This one idea should shape your work and life.
- All my work is unto the King! What I’m doing is much less important than who I’m working for.
- You can start teaching your children a very practical theology of work early on. Part of what it means to be made in God’s image is to actually work. The default is not sitting on a couch playing on an iPad.
- Our work can consume us and become an idol for us or we can retreat from it and become idle.
- Christians are not called to live balanced lives. We are called to live sold out lives. We’re to live life sold out for King Jesus. This is our primary assignment. All other assignments God gives us are ways for us to live out the primary assignment.
- God is the one who gives us our assignments. I don’t understand why God gives some the assignment of being unemployed or underemployed or struggling business owner. I don’t understand why some are given the assignment of a perfect fit job or flourishing business. But, God is the one who gives those assignments, for His purposes.
- What does it mean or look like to be faithful to God as an unemployed person?
- Work hard. Work smart. Trust God.
- Hard work and smart work don’t always equal success. God controls the outcomes.
Resources:
- The Gospel At Work: How Working for King Jesus Gives Purpose and Meaning to Our Jobs by Sebastian Traeger and Greg D. Gilbert
- TheGospelatWork.com
- Barna Study – Five Essentials to Engage Today’s Men
- Winning at Work and Home – Men’s Fraternity Classic
- A Man and His Work – Authentic Manhood 33:The Series
- Taking God to Work: The Keys to Ultimate Success by Steve Reynolds and David L. Winters
Join us next week for Episode 21 – The Noble Man Lives a Balanced Life
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode20
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Jul 30, 2020
Jul 30, 2020
52 min
We consistently wrestle with the question, “Who am I?”
Mike Young talks about identity this week on the podcast with Gary Freeman, Fatherhood and Family Program Manager of Care Net National. Gary walks us through his own search for identity as a man who “knew church but didn’t know Jesus.” During his years of playing college football, he came to Christ in a “Saul-to-Paul moment.” A gifted athlete, Gary had realistic hopes to join the NFL when a series of injuries took him on a different journey. He is “pro abundant life” with a passion to see lives saved, transformed, and living abundantly in Jesus Christ.
According to the Barna Journal Five Essentials to Reach Today’s Men, 80% of evangelical men say faith is the core of their identity. “We need to live that out, not just mark it on a survey.”
Questions About Identity:
What happens when my identity is ripped away?
Who is my true source - the created thing or the Creator?
Am I really going to trust God for Him to provide?
Am I striving for Christ or for myself?
Who do I really serve?
How do we use what we have to serve God?
Who is Christ in me?
Resources:
“The Role of Men in the Fight for Life” - The Noble Man workshop by Gary Freeman
The Five Essentials to Reach Today’s Men Barna study
The Kendrick Brothers' movie, Overcomer
Every Good Endeavor: Connecting Your Work to God's Work by Timothy Keller
Verses:
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode19
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More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Jul 21, 2020
Jul 21, 2020
46 min
Ok, ladies – this one’s just for you! Mike is noticeably absent in our “Ladies Only” podcast, The Noble Man is Encouraged by His Wife. Join the wives of Mike’s “Wise Guys” men's group (from Episode 15) as they discuss the power of their husbands’ small group and the positive ripple effect it has on their family.
Guys…
If you’ve ever wondered whether your wife would be ok with you joining a small group and adding one more thing to the calendar, this just might be the encouragement you need to hear.
Ladies…
If you’ve ever wondered if the extra time your man will be spending away from you to invest in small group will be worth it, don’t take my word for it. Listen to these women discuss the value of knowing their husbands have other Christian men in their lives. These are men they can be real, authentic, and open with; men who can encourage one another in the Lord and as a result, encourage one another in their marriage and family as well.
Benefits these wives discuss:
“He wants to talk more when he comes home.”
“It helps him become more attentive to me.”
“I feel more cherished.”
“He has guys to carry the load and share the burden.”
“I can be his encourager, but I’m not the only one who knows how he really feels.”
Resources that have helped these wives understand their husbands better:
- The Power of a Praying Wife by Stormie Omartian
- For Women Only by Shaunti Feldhahn (and For Men Only by Shaunti and Jeff Feldhahn)
- Wild at Heart: Discovering the Secret of a Man’s Soul by John Eldredge
- Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs by Emerson Eggerichs
Proverbs 27:17
Iron sharpens iron, and one man sharpens another.
Ecclesiastes 4:9-10
Two are better than one, because they have a good reward for their toil. For if they fall, one will lift up his fellow. But woe to him who is alone when he falls and has not another to lift him up!
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode18
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More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved
Jul 15, 2020
Jul 15, 2020
57 min
Mike Young is joined by a group of younger guys as they discuss the impact of men who have invested in their lives in this week’s podcast, The Noble Man Invests in Other Men.
As fathers, we are to be the primary disciplers in our children’s lives. As men, we need to seek to invest in younger men, come alongside them, and encourage them in their faith.
A broader perspective of discipleship includes modeling ideals and character traits such as:
- Consistency in church attendance
- Generosity
- Caring
- Availability to share time and advice
- Walking the talk
- Hospitality as a family affair
- Service
- Investing in others
- Studying the Word regularly
- Walking well with Christ
Discipleship can also happen in a moment.
“Standing in line at Walmart, we can have a spiritual conversation that encourages someone in their faith, and that’s a discipleship moment.”
“Never get to the point where you think no one is watching you. You can be a mentor and encourager to someone right behind you.”
Resources:
- The Noble Man is a Man of the Word [Podcast Ep. 11]
- MasterLife Curriculum
- Love & Respect: The Love She Most Desires; The Respect He Desperately Needs by Emerson Eggerichs
- FamilyLife’s Weekend to Remember (Use Group Name: NOBLEWARRIORS for discount)
- Point Man: How a Man Can Lead His Family by Steve Farrar
- Half Time: Moving from Success to Significance by Bob Buford
Qualifications for elders and deacons:
View Show Notes: NobleWarriors.org/Episode17
Leave a Review: If you like what you’ve been hearing, we invite you to leave us a review. Tell us what you love about this episode!
More Resources and Encouragement: NobleWarriors.org
© Copyright 2020 All rights reserved