The Week In Review
May 9, 2026
One Good Thing This Week
I’ve got heroes. Always have. Men I admire. Men I’ve learned from. Men I’ve wanted to emulate. But here is what I know: the only thing better than having heroes… is being one.
My son, Clavin John, is 8, and I am definitely his hero. This week, I got to go to his school and read the children's book I wrote. Watching him sit there, smiling, proud, looking at me like I was ten feet tall… man, it did something to me.
Years from now, Calvin probably won’t remember every word I read. But he’ll remember that his dad showed up. That his dad created something. That his dad used his voice. That his dad wasn’t too busy to step into his world.
And that matters.
Long before Calvin understands theology, he’ll learn what God is like because of my presence. Because of my voice. My affection. My courage. My availability. I’m learning that discipleship is less grandeur and more presence.
Every father casts a shadow. The question is whether it becomes shade or darkness.
This week reminded me that some of the holiest moments in a man’s life don’t happen on stages, in boardrooms, or under spotlights. Sometimes they happen in tiny elementary school chairs. Reading a children’s book. High-fiving first graders. Watching your son look at you like you hung the moon.
It was a really, really good week.
Something Beautiful This Week
I recently turned 44 years old. And I got an axe. And not just any axe. This axe was hand-forged and made from Amish wood from Ohio. My brother, Knotty by Nature made it for me. Easily one of the best, and coolest, gifts anyone has ever given me.
But he gave me more than an axe. He gave me a reminder, something holy.
He reminded me that a man is meant to build, clear, protect, and provide. An axe in the hands of a good man can warm a home, clear a path, raise a shelter, and defend a family. Tools reveal purpose. Deep down, every man needs something he can build. Something he can protect. And something he can leave behind.
That’s because we were made in the image of a building, protecting, legacy-making God. The first thing God reveals about Himself in Scripture is not that He is a philosopher or politician, but a Creator. And men made in His image ache to create order from chaos, shelter from wilderness, legacy from labor.
Maybe that’s why this axe feels holy to me. It reminds me that manhood is not something you talk about. It’s something you carry. Something you build with until the master Craftsman calls you home.
No question, it is a beautiful axe.
Know someone who needs a lil' good trouble? Remember: sharing is caring…
Something Worth Imitating/Remembering
Post from Zach Homol this week. Solid gold…
If you’re a lonely dude…You need to hear this. IT IS UP TO YOU to make the move. You need to get out there, bro. Do not sit around expecting people to feel bad for you. It may temporarily feel 'good' to be acknowledged… but then you build a codependency on needing others to pull you toward anything. This is no good for you in the long run. So get out there.
Join a smaller local gym, a fitness class, or a run group. Go to church and walk right up to the connection spot and ask to get plugged into a group.
TAKE OWNERSHIP. YOU GOT THIS. MEN ARE NOT DESIGNED TO BE CODDLED
My 3 Favorite Quotes of the Week
"…the Bible begins in a garden temple and ends in a city temple and everything in between is the story of God refusing to abandon the project. He is not giving up on creation. He is not giving up on his people. He is not giving up on you. Even when you have given up on yourself." — G.K. Beale
"Maturing is realizing how many things don't require your comment." — Anonymous
"…it takes real humility to take the spotlight off yourself and shine it onto others. It takes genuine self-forgetfulness to enlist someone else to do something you could do better, for the sake of that person's, and ultimately the whole church's, growth in Christ." — Nine Marks
Something I Found Interesting This Week
I filled up my wife’s SUV and it was almost $100. Can’t remember the last time gas was this high… but hey, atleast I’m not in Cali [sorry Matt Hanson].
My Favorite Pic/Post This Week
Three men standing together. The man on the left is a BetterMan Champion who runs BetterMan studies throughout the South Carolina prison system. The man in the middle was paroled last week. That picture was taken after he raided the prison street-clothes closet. A few hours later, he moved into his halfway house… and the very first thing he did was go online, register for BetterMan, print out the workbook, and start a study in the house. It’s like Paul said in Second Epistle to Timothy 2:2, "what you have heard from me… entrust to faithful men, who will be able to teach others also."
Men discipling men.
Churches equipping men.
The Gospel moving from person to person, prison to halfway house, city to city.
This is why we do what we do… www.betterman.com
Book(s) I Read This Week
Read Please Use AI this week, incredible. Crushing, in all the right ways…
[excerpt]
"And be sure to use AI when your next child
gets married, so that you can write them
the perfect toast or poem or speech or song
because no one wants to hear your
words, the actual poorly written words
of a parent (you) who changed
hundreds of diapers for said child or fed
them in the middle of the
night from your actual body. Or cried
when they were late home because
you were positive they were dead. We don’t
want those words—we’d prefer the sterile
words of a machine that never lived, never
had an original thought, never felt
the pain of miscarriage or broken
relationships or the joy of a friendship restored
or of seeing spring’s first
robin dancing on frost."
Song(s) I Listened To This Week
Neil Diamond is a master poet & storyteller. Not to mention an American treasure who still speaks to the human heart. His latest album, Wild at Heart, dropped yesterday. Will be on repeat all weekend.
Love'n Shine On…
And one for your bride…
What God Taught Me This Week
"For where jealousy and selfish ambition exist, there will be disorder and every vile practice." — James 3:16
I am learning that there is a difference between selfish ambition and holy striving. Selfish ambition says, "I must rise, even if others have to fall." Holy striving says, "I want to grow so I can better serve, better build, and better bless."
One is rooted in ego. The other is rooted in stewardship.
Selfish ambition uses people like ladders. It climbs on shoulders. It manipulates. It flatters. It competes. It secretly rejoices when others fail because their failure creates space for its advancement.
Holy striving is different. It wants progress, excellence, growth, discipline, mastery, and impact—but not at the expense of others. It wants to become more useful. More faithful. More capable for the good of others and the glory of God.
The ambitious man wants the title. The godly man wants the responsibility.
The ambitious man wants applause. The godly man wants fruit.
The ambitious man is driven by comparison. The godly man is driven by calling.
Selfish ambition is dangerous. Scripture places it beside envy, disorder, and "every vile practice" [v16]. That’s because ambition laced with ego eventually consumes the man carrying it. What starts as striving ends in destruction.
This week, God has been purging me of selfish ambition. He is teaching me that I can lead without needing to be worshipped. And honestly, that kind of freedom feels holy. I am learning to build without needing credit. To serve without needing applause. To labor without needing recognition. To decrease so Christ might increase.
I am learning that maturity is not losing your drive, it’s finally surrendering your drive to God. I still feel the temptation to ask, "How high can I climb?" But more and more, another question is taking its place: "How faithful can I become?"
And that question is changing everything.
Looking to connect in person? Here are some places I’ll be in the next few weeks:
The Forge, Nashville, TN, May 21, 2026
Central Mississippi Men’s Gathering, Jackson, MS, May 23, 2026
Pastors Conference & SBC Annual Convention, Orlando, FL, June 7-10
Brothers, my pledge to you…
"You will never suffer at my hands. I will never say nor do anything knowingly to hurt you. If you're down and I can lift you up, I'll do that. I will always, in every circumstance, seek to help and support you. If you need something and I have it, I'll give it to you. No matter what I find out about you, no matter what happens in the future, either good or bad, my commitment to you will never change."
For the King,
—Harp
"You ain't even axe for it, but you received it..." lol. Neil Diamond for the win! Love ya Bro.
Tesla Y. Striving to be holy.