328 | Preparing Like a Warrior, Transferring Manhood with Rituals, and Staying Energized (Stephen Mansfield)
Episode Description
Stephen Mansfield joins us in this episode to ignite your warrior mindset. As a man of God, you have a responsibility to prepare intentionally in every aspect of life, from your marriage to parenting and beyond. Stephen shares powerful examples of rituals, accountability, and prayers that can shape your life and future generations with purpose.
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Stephen Mansfield is a New York Times bestselling author, entrepreneur, and popular speaker committed to serving vital social causes. He and his wife, Beverly, split their time between Nashville, Tennessee, and Washington, D.C.
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· Warriors use every moment to prepare for impending battles, and strong men must do the same.
· If you're going to achieve the greatness you're made for, stop being passive in the face of your surrounding culture and get intentional.
· Righteous men are meant to think about the impact they'll have on the next generation.
· Manhood is transferred during rituals, where you affirm a man in that milestone moment and speak of what's coming.
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Podcast Intro: [00:00:01] Being a great father takes a massive amount of courage. Instead of being an amazing leader and a decent dad, I want to be an amazing dad and a decent leader. The oldest dad in the world gave you this assignment, which means you must be ready for it. As a dad, I get on my knees and I fight for my kids. Let us be those dads who stop the generational pass down of trauma. I want encounters with God where He teaches me what to do with my kids. I know I'm going to be an awesome dad because I'm gonna give it my all.
Stephen Mansfield: [00:00:39] When a man gets a goal, man, he starts to make the sacrifices that are necessary to achieve that goal. And that's, that's the core difference between people who are soft in the face of the culture and people who are warriors.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:00:53] Welcome back to DadAwesome. My name is Jeff Zaugg. And today, episode 328, I have Stephen Mansfield joining, and I've been looking forward to this conversation for a long time. I want a quick, invite you guys, two action steps. It's the month of May, so Mother's Day is coming in about two weeks. And for Mother's Day we have a special on the DadAwesome Store. Now, none of the products on the DadAwesome Store, the coffee mugs, the t-shirts, the hats, the other items, none of them are designed for MomAwesome. They're not designed for moms. But why not use this as an excuse, as we remind you guys, that Mother's Day is coming up to buy some DadAwesome merch. To, to rep DadAwesome to invite more dads to jump in and learn and be inspired and resourced and activated. So, I want to encourage you guys use the code momawesome to save 20%. Use the code momawesome at the DadAwesome Store and you're good to go. Also, we are reopening the application process for the DadAwesome Accelerator. So, we are nearing the end of the first round. The first ten dads, joining the six week intentional, mammoth level up the dad life. Let's go all in with our whole hearts for six weeks. Lets grow together, learn together, be inspired, be equipped. It's been a phenomenal experience for the first ten. So you'll be hearing from some of the guys in the first DadAwesome Accelerator cohort. But we're going to launch another round in July. So we're reopening the applications and there's only ten spots available. Would love to encourage you guys to send an email to awesome@dadawesome.org. Send that email to awesome@dadawesome.org. You'll get an immediate bounceback email with all the information on how to apply and how to stay in the loop about being a part of this next round this summer, DadAwesome Accelerator. All right, let's jump right in. This is my conversation, Stephen Mansfield, he's written over 30 books. The focus of this conversation is his book, released four years ago, titled Men on Fire. This conversation, oh my goodness. It's only like 25 minutes long, but it will not disappoint. So many practical ways that we can step in and be DadAwesome. So, here is episode 328 with Stephen Mansfield. But I wanted to start with this term, it comes from 1 Corinthians, you wrote about this, in your book Men on Fire. It is a Greek term, Malakos. Am I pronouncing that term right? Malakos.
Stephen Mansfield: [00:03:29] Yeah, Malakos.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:03:29] Malakos. Thank you. Can you explain what that term means, and just a little bit of why it matters for us as men?
Stephen Mansfield: [00:03:35] Yeah, it it's a very important word, and it's translated variably in some of the versions of the Bible. But mainly effeminate is the way it's translated. And, that may not be the best term, for our English. Somebody who just doesn't have a lot of hair or have a lot of muscle isn't necessarily, you know, condemned, as the Scripture might indicate. But, what it really means is to be deformed by the luxury and ease of our times. That's what it really means. And and to be deformed to the point of perversion. We all know what we're talking about. The ease, the moral influence, the way our culture shapes us. And this is what it means to be feminine. Now that by saying that I'm not putting anything on women. I'm just saying that the the scripture says that men who are so shaped by luxury and ease that they have given their lives to perversion are not equal to the kingdom of God. That's, that's literally what that verse says. And I think it's important because while I don't want to, I don't believe you can guilt men into greatness, if I want to call men to greatness. The fact is that we are all living in an age of luxury. If you are alive in this age, therefore, you have to be to be listening to me, you're living in the top 1%, perhaps the top half percent of everyone in history in terms of luxury and ease. You know, the average guy listening to me has got a home. He's not going to miss a meal. He's got technology, he's got entertainment. I mean, he's living the life of a king in terms of the ancient world. So we've got to know that we can be shaped by that. And it can, unless we push back, make us soft, in every way. It can make us weak. It can make us morally malleable. And it can cause us to tend towards perversion, again, all the porn and the excess with food and drink and drugs and whatever else we might get involved in. So it's a good, it's a good warning from Scripture, kind of a coded in a Greek word.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:05:35] And the contrast with warrior culture throughout all of history of men being, have to be prepared, because you never know when the attacks coming, have to be prepared, because it just like this is the life that everyone else has lived in generations before, where you must be ready for the unexpected. Can you explain, big picture, the difference of what warrior culture would call us into?
Stephen Mansfield: [00:05:58] Well, perhaps at the core, one is passive and the other is intentional and aggressive. Passive means, I lay back and I let my society shape me. Whatever it shows be on TV, whatever sticks in my veins. Whatever, and I'm making a political statement there. Whatever it feeds me, whatever it wants me to believe, I just accept passively. But I love the fact that in Scripture, the Christian life is often, presented as a life of a warrior or a life of battle. And because that means you've got to be an intentional. A warrior, whether they're a Seal or something else. You know, we all of kind of relate to these stories these days. They're intentional. They're trained. They know they're preparing for a future battle. They approach every meal, every hour, every, what time they wake up in the day, their workouts, their friends, what they read, how they think, everything in terms of impending battles. And that's why, by the way, Seals and Special forces, my dad was one, are so exceptional. So I tell men that if we're going to achieve the greatness they're called for it, if they're going to achieve what they're made fo,. They're going to have to stop being passive in the face of the forces of culture and our surrounding society, and start being intentional in the way that warriors are intentional. You know, I love it that just when a man starts to just work out, automatically, he starts, well I need to get up a little earlier. Well, I needed, maybe I need to drop off that 19th Oreo, you know, or maybe I only have two. Well, one glass to three glasses of wine. No, no, no. Maybe just one. Now, maybe just half. What happens? He starts to get a goal, and when a man gets a goal, man, he starts to make the sacrifices that are necessary to achieve that goal. And that's, that's the core difference between people who are soft in the face of the culture and people who are warriors. Warriors are intentional. They know there's battles coming. They are fighting for others. They're fighting battles of love for nation, for family, for righteous causes. And they are preparing themselves. And that makes them tougher, makes them more sacrificial, makes them more visionary, makes them live every moment in terms of, yeah, they're in the moment, but also in terms of what's coming.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:08:04] And I love that you have a concrete, one of the examples you shared, was actually, we should have something on the calendar that's going to stretch us, that's going to grow us, that's a commitment we've made to ourself and ideally make it beyond ourself, tell others about the commitment so that we actually and do it with brotherhood, right. But like the the thing coming, could you give some examples of times where you've put something on the calendar, maybe you've got something right now that's like, this is going to be a stretch. I'm going to have to train. I need to get in the weight room because I have this thing that, that I've committed to.
Stephen Mansfield: [00:08:33] Yeah, I have small goals going all the time. Relatively small. How long I can hold an A-frame, in yoga they called it downward dog. And I, and I literally turn to my iPhone and say, Siri, alert me in five minutes or whatever. I don't, I don't know what I've done recently, but, but it's probably not five minutes, by the way. But, and then I, how many push ups and how many of this and how many chair rails. It just, I'm that's just daily, I do those exercises daily. And then I've got on my calendar out there a hike. I've got a calendar, on a calendar out there a hunt, and that's pretty much of the wild with some experience hunters and, you know, male ego, I don't plan to look stupid. I'm not going to be there. You know, my, my friends who are aggressive military types and hunter types, they know that I'm the author. They know the guy I'm being picked up in the limo and taken to the gig and overfed. They hassel me about it mercilessly. Do you think I'm going to look stupid out there on that mountain when I missed the shot at the whatever? No. So I'm preparing, I'm working, I'm studying. I'm practicing, I'm on the range, and that's how a man thinks. So I've got a number of things out there. Some two years, few years down the road is going to take me a while to achieve them. Some later this year, some with friends here in about six weeks. I just always make sure I'm doing that because I know myself. I'm not inherently lazy, but my battle is not, primarily, I'm just talking about giving guys an example here. It's not primarily my soul. It's primarily my schedule. I am highly scheduled. I am all over the world. I am fed like a Hindu deity. My people, you know, want to take me to Morton's or take me wherever. And and I've got, I've got to have some way to counter that. Well, aggressive workouts and friends hold me accountable and telling people how much I weigh, which is embarrassing. I weigh this, and next time I weigh more, they're like, what's wrong with you, man? I'm going to beat you up, you know? And so you got to, you got to keep that built in there. That's just what warriors do. They know there's the PT test in a certain amount of time. They know there's the qualification for rank or whatever. You've just got to constantly keep that in your life. And I think that's forever. I, I, I often have said on my podcast, I've got a couple of older guys in their late 90s who are constantly competing with each other in mall walking.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:10:43] I love that.
Stephen Mansfield: [00:10:44] You know, they're they are in their late 90s, they're older guys, but they are, I mean, they write me and to keep me up on it. Because they've read my books and they heard me when I say on the podcast. I whooped him, I whooped Scott the other day, man. And by the way, the reason was he was flirting with Jenny. And so I passed him. You know, they're like 98 years old. I love all that. Everything's, everything's alive, everything's working, everything's competing, you know. And and they want to tell me about it because they want me to hold them accountable. I love all that. That's man culture for me.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:11:10] Yeah. Because the drift is, is, again, towards comfort, towards ease. The drift is not towards game on. But yet we know it's in there. It's in, it's in the little boy in us. It's in the man in us, is the I want to step up. I want to step into greater challenges. I want to beat the person next to me. I want to, I want to push them so that they push me. Part of, there's short term thinking, but then when you pan out and you've spoken so many times about legacy, you've captured stories of people through your books, of their legacy, but you also talk about all of us can look at the compounded effect if you look generationally. How are we living today and how can it affect generations to come? I've been inspired to actually, I have a spreadsheet that goes out five generations. 126 years from now with my four daughters, and, Lord willing, their four husbands, and then and then on, on and on. And it's, if if they continue, if the multiples like three kids, if they have three kids, it's like 350 that I'll have at 126 years from now, there's 350 just for me and their husbands and their spouses. If the multiples times four, it's over 600 it just from. So I have this spreadsheet that gives me a reminder of generational like the amount of lives impacted by decisions that I make. I, you brought up, though, the Canterbury Cathedral and a project that took 23 generations to build. I'd love for you to just share a little bit about the power of thinking about, am I adding to something that could really make a huge impact for generations long after I die? Could you explain kind of that thinking?
Stephen Mansfield: [00:12:39] Yeah, there's kind of a curse in Scripture spoken about Nebuchadnezzar, who received a horrible prophecy from Isaiah as to what was going to happen to the next generation. And he said, hmm, what you've said is good because I'll have peace and safety in my lifetime.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:12:53] For me.
Stephen Mansfield: [00:12:54] And he didn't think about the next generations. And so good men, righteous men, are meant to think about the impact they'll have on the next generation. By the way, not just in their family, although obviously that, but also in the broader culture. Broader society of the church and, you know, your tribe and what have you. So, I believe we need to start being intentional about that early. And when we start talking that way, especially in American managerial society, a lot of people assume that we're talking about money and legacy and insurance and things like that, and that's certainly is part of it. I'm a big believer in that is everybody who follows me knows. However, it's also about, what kind of time are you spending with your sons, your grandsons, your daughters or granddaughters? What kind of time do you spend with the young? How do you invest in them? How are you putting who knows, trips and events and milestones out there for them? What about, I spend a lot of time with Jews, so I'm familiar with the the term Bar Mitzvah. It's a boy, boy turns 13, and they make him a sign of a covenant. But I believe in Christian Bar Mitzvahs, too. Let's take a young man as he stepping into adolescence, and let's honor him and bless him and make it a milestone. And that I believe you ought to do it when he leaves high school, when he graduates high school, and, when he graduates college and when he's going to get married, those, those milestones that mark where he is and speak of the future and speak of what he's called to be. Constantly thinking in terms of destiny without turning it into some kind of pressure or driven-ness. So I'm, I'm huge on this. I have a seven year old grandson, and already, you know, he gets a quarter every time he works the word Winston Churchill into a sentence. And, we, we talk about his future, and he's already excited about the trip we're going to take when he graduates from elementary school. By the way, he's only in third grade. When he graduates from elementary school, he's going to take a trip with Papa. That's my name. And, we're going to go study something exciting that will make him a better man. He's seven years old. So I'm real intentional about this. And to travel is a big part of my life. So my grandchildren, like, where's Papa now? Where can I go with Papa? What's that going to be like? You know, we've got one grandson, this is just humorous, who figured out that I travel first class because I'm flying all the time and I'm automatically upgraded, and he's like, am I going to travel first class? That's literally, I mean, that's a humorous thing, but that's literally how my grandsons are thinking because they are aware that that you get around Papa, you're going to be talking about the future. You'll be talking about what kind of man you're going to be. You're going to be talking about what you're building, how are your workouts. It's exciting. It's thrilling. Papa is more likely to throw food and have fun and be rowdy and wrestle on the floor. But he's also talking about what you're going to be in 20 years. That builds a sense of legacy. Now, obviously, my wife and I are, you know, doing all the financial instruments and passing wealth down to the next generation and all the other stuff we ought to be doing, buying properties and making sure that we're going to pass it on and what have you. Paying for the kids college, grandkids college, you know, decades in advance. All of that stuff's important. But, it's the, it's what you build into their souls and how you think about the impact of your own life, that is the key.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:15:49] Yes. And you said, your grandson gets a quarter if he slips in Winston Churchill. So I'll slip in a Winston Churchill quote right now, maybe you can pay him the quarter forward.
Stephen Mansfield: [00:15:56] I owe you $0.25.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:15:58] Exactly. So, or no just pay it forward to your grandson.
Stephen Mansfield: [00:16:00] For a seven year old...
Jeff Zaugg: [00:16:01] Yeah.
Stephen Mansfield: [00:16:02] For a seven year old to work Winston Churchill into a sentence is a bit of a challenge.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:16:05] That's amazing. So here's me, here's me working him in. So it is a mistake to look too far ahead, only one link of the chain of destiny can be handled at a time. And just, like there's the panning out, but then there's the back into, let's be thankful for the day. What am I, how am I being developed? How am I being introspective? How am I being thankful for the season? How am I maximizing the season? How would you encourage dads with that principle?
Stephen Mansfield: [00:16:30] Yeah, I'm a big believer in that. Thank you for quoting Winston Churchill. I owe you a steak. We, I'm a big believer in the idea that we need to live each day for its own. There's a famous phrase that's been repeated in a couple of movies live every day as though it was your last, for one day, you're sure to be right. And there's a little, it's a little flippant, but it's it's intended to say, you know, carpe diem, seize the day. Live every day, live every moment to its full. Don't just be future oriented. And so even though, with a seven year old, you know, you've got to be a little future oriented, because he's already all about every day. We men need to be thinking about the moment. And I'll tell you one of the most important things I can do, with my tribe, my band of brothers and my family, is be present in the moment. What can today look like? You know, and I, and I believe in rituals. When my, and again, I'll refer to my grandsons, that's all there is to destiny. But, they really look forward to going into the back of our house. We have a courtyard back there with a fire table and just sit around the fire at night with Papa. And we may not talk, we may just look at each other, that we may talk about questions. But for men to sit around a fire and stare into it is one of the great manly rituals. Well, I built that into their lives so that we would have moments of just, not driven-ness, not workout, not activity, not not forcing it, just being. And I believe when I'm dead and they're, you know, telling their grandkids about me, if that's the way it works, that they'll, they'll talk about you know, we used to sit around the fire, whatever came to my mind I could talk to Papa about. I mean, that's that's how I think that'll go. So it's, it's a combination of the two. But I think every day is a gift. I think we live every day out and as a as another day of our destiny. And I think the kissing of the spouse and the sitting quietly and the sipping of a glass of wine, if that's what you do and, whatever, you know, the, the walk and the time reading a book and those peaceful, quiet, measured things, are just as important in building a legacy, as are the big dramatic, you know, 500 year things. And we've got we, we men are naturally given to vision. What we have to do is be given to the moment more. That takes more intentionality on most of our lives.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:18:53] I think a lot of us dads do, like, we could look back at the last five years and say, man, it's kind of a blur. It's kind of a blur. What were the actual moments that mattered most? And this African proverb that you mentioned, again in your book, Men on Fire, you said, the African proverb says, if we don't, do not initiate our boys, they will burn the village down. And then you go into, you explain a little bit of like, there should be marker moments, there should be gifts, there should be specific words. There should be a party that follows moments to like, be remembered of you've been invited into, you've been initiated into, step into the next chapter. For me and my four daughters, I can create those, but it doesn't happen without a lot of intentionality and a community. I think you brought, you also brought like that to have other men around you that care deeply for our sons and daughters. Could you elaborate a little more on why initiation and why gifts, words, celebrations, matter so much?
Stephen Mansfield: [00:19:52] Yeah, we have a tendency, and I think earlier generations, my father's generation before, have a tendency to assume that man's, that manhood is automatically transferred and, it's not automatically transferred. And I think that when a man hits a milestone in his life, other men should gather around, affirm him in that moment, but also predict and bless what's coming. Speak of what's coming. So I've already mentioned what some of those are. It can be as early as graduating elementary school, then junior high, then high school. I don't care, do them all. Do it when he's entering into adolescence. Do it when he's reached a certain milestone in adolescence that signals, I know men who say, hey, you run so far, you do certain things, you sort of projects, I'll know that you're really ready for manhood. We'll have a big ceremony and a trip, that kind of thing. And then of course, all the biggies, marriage, first child and all that kind of stuff. I'm a big believer in that. I believe in these rituals. I believe that's what people remember. And you know, this, as you know, because you've read the book, the story comes from when I was in the Middle East, and even though I was in my 30s and my son was ten, when my Arab friends realized that I was the father of a son named Jonathan, they changed my name to a Arab version of, which means that our father of the Abu John knew our father of John, and they began to dance and sing and eat and fire, and fires oozes in the air and celebrate. And, it was, I was, I was in tears. I mean, I'm glad it was nighttime because they would have seen me in tears because I, even though I was in my 30s, it was the first time I had been ritually affirmed by other men, for any stage of manhood in my life. And I realized that we've moved away from the rituals, like, again, the Bar Mitzvah and other things. So you don't want to overdo it, do one every five minutes. But, I made sure my my son, we had a big party and ritual and a blessing thing with a sword ceremony when he was 30. Did the same when he graduated college. I mean, I believe in those things. And, you know, if I knew that I was going to die in six months, I'd take the men in my life and take them on a day trip and come back and take the women in my life on a big trip. And we would, again, travel is just my my thing. And on that trip, we would talk about legacy. We would talk about our love, and we would rehearse our history. And I would give them each a gift and, quickly, the the thing that really symbolizes this for me is my high school swim team in Iowa. I wasn't on it, but they were the best in the nation. And when they asked the coach how he did it, he said jelly beans. What he had done is he had infused different color jelly beans as an award, for certain performance. And those kids kept those jelly beans, have them often put into airtight packs and plaques. And the governor of Iowa, a number of governors of Iowa had those on his or her wall years later, because they believed that swim team was what made them a champion and allowed them to win political fights. So those kinds of things, giving of a knife, a sword that hangs on the wall, they radiate in that person's life. You come into my office and you're going to see all kinds of things on the wall that people have given me. The reason I have them there is they're not really awards. I didn't do anything, but they were, they radiate the meaning that person had for me and inspire me every day. And that's what we've got to do, especially to young men. I think that's why that African proverb is so vital for our lives.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:23:05] Yeah. Wow. I mean, I just reached in my pocket. This was gifted about a year after my dad passed away by another mentor, gifted me a knife with a specific, like, I mean, I, I'm carrying it today in my pocket to remember, like that moment. So yeah, it's so powerful, just like you're saying. There's two themes that fall within these warrior prayers. Prayers that we can pray that you outline. And one of them is energy. It's something that that men in battle take very seriously is conserving. And I feel like I failed at this just a couple nights ago. My energy level was low, so I couldn't bring the care that my wife needed because I was carrying low energy. So let's start there. Just, anything on your heart to speak to dads about energy and how important bringing that is?
Stephen Mansfield: [00:23:50] Well, if we knew we had a big tournament or whatever sport in 3 or 4 days, we would start eating right. We would start hydrating right. We would start sleeping right because we knew, we would know we need energy for that moment. I think we've got to do the same for time with our wives, time tending the the honey dos of the house, and certainly the kids. I don't want them to be an afterthought. I don't want them to think about, well, I got the time the dad was exhausted, and so we just sat there and watched reruns of whatever, you know. I want them to know I had energy for them. I want to, in fact, I tell them straight up, I'm going to be whooping you when I'm 90. You better get ready. Now, that's a humorous thing. And of course, it's not true. I've got some real good athletes in my family, but the point is that they know that I don't plan to descend into the darkness. You know, drift off into that good night, as one poet said. I plan to be vital. And so, it's a matter of your physical preparation, but it's also a matter of constantly, I pray the prayers of Paul as I listed in the, in the, in the, in the book. And he prayed, he spoke of that energy that from God that works so powerfully within him. It was an energy beyond what food, sleep and water and exercise could produce. And so I asked for that and energy for that long conversation that needs to happen. But Lord have mercy, why did it have to happen at midnight? Or that that energy for, you know, I mean, I don't mean anything insulting here, but I've got people in my family I naturally feel energized by, others take a little bit more effort. They take a little bit more energy. They know that, if they were sitting in on this conversation that you go, that's me. Just because there's a slight personality difference between us and I have to lean in and go, okay, I'm following, I'm following, but I need special energy for that. And so I ask God all the time for the kind of divine energy that has me in the moment, engaged, a specific package of energy, so to speak for that individual, so that they know they are loved, thatI'm prioritizing them. I do not want anyone in my family or anyone in my, my, my social circle to say, well, man, Stephen's got time to fly to a rock ten times a year, doesn't seem to have time to sit still with us for five minutes. That is not going to be said of me. That is not the legacy I'm going to live. So I pray about those things all the time.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:26:00] Yeah. The last topic I wanted to ask you about is, is our words and David's prayer in Psalm about set a guard over my lips and just how important our words are. And this is both to our friends, to our spouse, to our kids, just in all spheres. Would you just explain your heart around the power of, of words?
Stephen Mansfield: [00:26:17] Yeah. Jesus said in John 6:63, the words I've given you are spirit and life. Meaning that the words are carriers. I literally see words on a page in my imagination as little trains, with cars that carry stuff. So when I speak words into my son's life, my daughter's life, my grandson's life, whatever my wife and everywhere in the world, I do a lot of speaking, I see those words carrying things. And, I believe that we can ignite destinies. I believe we can awaken imaginations. I believe we can light fires and souls with our words. So I don't let a day go by that I don't tell my children and my wife something that I believe about them. Even if it's just, my wife tells me about a conversation where she encouraged a friend and I said, honey you've got such a gift for for encouragement. I'm so grateful for that. That can be it. Doesn't have be dramatic. I don't, music doesn't have to be playing. Violins don't have to sound. But I've spoken into her life. I've affirmed something in her soul. And I believe that the contrary is, of course, God forbid any of us ever say to a child, you're so stupid, you'll never amount to anything. That was said to me, but thankfully I became a Christian and knew how to break those, some people call them curses or break those, that programing in my brain. And, so we've got to be careful with that, but the power of our words. But I believe our words are meant to fashion pictures of the souls of people of what they can be, who they are and how they're loved. But also to ignite forces in them. I want people to say, when I've had 15, 20 minutes with Mansfield, I'm inspired. I don't need that bragged about. I'm just saying that's what I want the reality to be, whether it's ever mentioned or not. That being around Stephen Mansfield and I'm not bragging, I'm just saying this is how I think of how I want to impact people. Man, I wanted to go achieve some stuff. I wanted to love my wife better. I hear, over hear some conversation with men, he loves her. He flirted with her and told her how great she was, just in like, 30 seconds. I want to, I want to do that. I want, I want, I think more is caught than it's taught him. So I'm a I'm a big believer in the idea that our words and our treatment of people is framing thei,r their sense of who they are and their destiny all the time. It could have a profound impact, broadly on history, but certainly on their immediate lives.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:28:27] Well, I'm very grateful for the words you shared in your heart. Your passions come through in today's conversation. Stephen, would you say just a short prayer over all the dads listening?
Stephen Mansfield: [00:28:36] I sure will. Father, we come to You in Jesus name and thank You for the men, the fathers who are listening to this. We ask You to come upon them right now. Protect their souls. Cause them to be warriors in this generation. May they take hold of that for which Christ Jesus has taken hold of them. And will You give them a Godly pattern, not just a cultural pattern or something handed down, unless it was noble, but a Godly pattern and practice for fatherhood? They want to be good men. I'm sure all of them do, or they wouldn't be listening to us now. Now show them Lord that they are unique children, with their unique roles, how they can call out destinies, inspire lives, model greatness and just all the fun and love and joy and travel and everything else they're going to do together. May we be men who raise up champions and warriors to engage the enemies and the gates for the next generation. We ask in Jesus name. Amen.
Jeff Zaugg: [00:29:42] Thank you so much for joining us for episode 328 with Stephen Mansfield. All the conversation links, the transcripts, the kind of top highlights, the quotes, it's all going to be found at dadawesome.org/podcast. And you can see right on top there episode 328 in this conversation. Stephen Mansfield, his book Men on Fire, we referenced a couple times, recommend that. He also has a podcast. He's got 30 other books and lots of resources for you. I mentioned in the Invitation, kind of the intro to this conversation, that we are opening, reopening the second round now of applications for the Dad Awesome Accelerator cohort. So that's going to kick off in July. But those applications, are already rolling in. We already have some guys on the waitlist to join us for the six week accelerator happening this summer. So that's available now. Just email awesome@dadawesome.org. And then lastly using the code momawesome on the Dad Awesome Store. You got a couple more weeks for the special Mother's Day sale, so just use the code, momawesome at dadawesome.org/store. That's it for last announcements, invitations. Guys, thank you for listening this week. Thank you for choosing this path of becoming DadAwesome. Our prayer, our goal, the drive behind this ministry is that we would be activating you, activating dads to lead with wonder. Seeing this role as a gift, a treasuring this role of being a dad, choosing to bring our whole hearts in this role. So, you're doing that by listening, but let's put some action. Let's put some action to this conversation. Let's not be dads of intent, dads that felt challenge, but let's be dads who took action. Have a great week, guys.
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· 7:42 - "Warriors are intentional. They know there's battles coming. They are fighting for others. They're fighting battles of love for nation, for family, for righteous causes. And they are preparing themselves. And that makes them tougher, makes them more sacrificial, makes them more visionary, makes them live every moment in terms of, they're in the moment, but also in terms of what's coming."
18:12 - "I think every day is a gift. I think we live every day out as another day of our destiny. And the kissing of the spouse and the sitting quietly and the sipping of a glass of wine, the walk and the time reading a book and those peaceful, quiet, measured things, are just as important in building a legacy, as are the big dramatic, 500 year things. We men are naturally given to vision. What we have to do is be given to the moment more. That takes more intentionality on most of our lives."
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