Masculinity. We can barely utter the word without adding qualifiers like: toxic, orhealthy, orbiblical, ortraditional. Alone, it is treated as a pathology: dangerous, outdated, or oppressive — something to be managed rather than modeled.
Every man I know eventually asks the same question. Usually late at night or early in the morning. When the house is quiet and the noise has finally settled. Do I have what it takes?The question lies there, burning under the surface of a man’s life.
Not long ago, it seemed like parents could send their kids off to school or a local program with a reasonable expectation that the values being reinforced—things like hard work, teamwork, respect, and responsibility—aligned with what was being taught at home. Whatever happened to those open,…
Some men walk well-worn paths. Others have to blaze the trail themselves. When Christopher first walked into his Trail Life Troop in upstate New York, there was no blueprint waiting for him. The Troop was new—still small, uncertain, and figuring things out. There were no older boys to follow, no…
Church leaders across the country are discovering that one of the most effective ways to strengthen families, disciple boys and men, and grow their church is a thriving Trail Life ministry. Around campfires, on open trails, and at weekly Troop meetings, pastors are finding a natural environment for…
At 15 years old, most boys today are hardly expected to get themselves up for school on time. But that’s not because boys are incapable of taking responsibility and being dependable. It’s because we don’t expect them to. We hesitate to trust them with real responsibility.
"Listen, my children, and you shall hear Of the midnight ride of Paul Revere…" — Henry Wadsworth Longfellow The Measure of a Man History remembers the ride. It remembers the pounding hooves, the lanterns in the Old North Church, and the midnight warning that stirred sleeping towns into action.…
