Fatherhood, Faith, And Finding Your Calling

What kind of man are you becoming—and what story are your children learning from your life? We dive into the heart of fatherhood and identity, asking tougher questions than titles and paychecks can answer. Drawing from Scripture and lived experience, we explore how God shapes ordinary men into husbands and fathers who love with courage, lead with humility, and build homes that heal.

We start by challenging the world’s scoreboard. Paul’s reminder that God chooses the “low” and the “weak” flips the script on performance culture. Instead of chasing validation, we talk about receiving a calling that’s bigger than our capacity—like loving a wife for a lifetime and showing consistent, patient presence with our kids. That kind of life isn’t powered by hustle alone; it’s fueled by grace. Jesus’ conversation with Nicodemus reframes everything: being born again isn’t religious branding, it’s a new birth into a Spirit-led life where identity is gifted, not earned.

If this journey resonates, subscribe for weekly conversations designed to equip your heart and your home. Share this episode with a dad who needs hope, and leave a review with one step you’re taking this week to lead with faith and love.

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Chapters

• 0:00 Welcome And Mission For Fathers
• 2:34 Identity, Culture, And Family Models
• 6:20 Calling Over Credentials In Scripture
• 11:50 Born Again And The Kingdom Life
• 20:12 The Sweet Spot: Purpose Beyond Success
• 24:35 Turning Wounds Into Calling
• 30:48 Nicodemus, New Birth, And Power
• 37:10 A Football Injury And A Miracle
• 44:30 Receiving Grace To Lead At Home
• 50:30 Prayer For New Beginnings
• 53:50 Resources, Coaching, And Community
• 57:30 Vision, Movement, And Partner Invitation

Transcript

SPEAKER_00: 1:06

What kind of father do you want to be? What kind of man do you want to become for your family and for yourself? If you've ever wondered how to step into the fullness of your role as a father, husband, and man of God, then you're in the right place. Here at the Father Difference, our mission is to inspire and equip men to be the best fathers they can be. It's a powerful mission. And today, we're going to explore exactly how you can take steps toward that calling. Whether you're a father, a son, a husband, grandfather, single dad, stepfather, or just looking to grow, I believe God has something powerful for you in today's message. Whether you're tuning in live or watching this later, we are so excited to have you here. If this is what you're looking for, then subscribe so you can tune in each week to the Father Difference Live. You can sign up below. And now your host, a husband, father, grandfather, author, and former NFL player, Pastor Ed McGlass.

SPEAKER_02: 2:33

Great times for men just like you, and excited to share with you tonight and talk to you about the subject of let me bring it up here for you. What does it mean to be the man that God has called you to be? What does it mean to be the man that God just called to be? And we're going to look at that tonight. We're going to, I'm going to share a little bit about my story. And a lot of what we we're going to talk about tonight really comes out of some of the things that we do in our Fatherhood Academy. If you're not used to Fatherhood Academy, one of our video courses is how to become the husband and father your family needs. We're going to actually take some understanding out of one of the chapters, and it's really about fulfilling your calling as a man, husband, father in your life. And it's so crucial to understand because how we see our calling, how we see ourselves begins to create a model for our children. And how many of you know that your kids are following the way you do your life, right, Dad? And and those kind of things. And yet today, one of the things, let me, I'm going to turn off my cell phone ringer because inevitably one of my kids will call me. Forget that actually doing a live show tonight, which I absolutely love. But so many of our young people today, they're not clear about who they are. So their understanding comes from, you know, you know, what they do for a living, or it comes from what they didn't get, or the world tries to convince them, they have to be the one to brand their own personal identity. They need to find themselves without parents, without moms, dads, grandmas, grandpas. And so anytime your identity is separated away from the family that God has called you to be a part of and learn from, and goes towards the world or goes towards the craziness of some of the stuff in the culture, how do you kind of uh reset your whole family? We got Thanksgiving month coming up here. You're gonna be with your kids, and it's such a great time to reconnect. It's such a great time to build more relationships. But for a lot of us, and a lot of guys that are watching, they feel like they've blown it too far. Well, I got to tell you one great truth. It's never too late for you to be the father that God has called you to be, to be the man that God's called you to be and to fulfill the calling of your life. Because when you're really clear about who God has made you to be, that's so empowering for you as a man that it sets your entire life and foundation of how you see yourself for the rest of your life. And not only that, it helps your children, it helps them discover who God has called them to be to, and then how they're gonna do that live. So we're gonna get right into our lesson tonight that we're learning. I would love your questions. I'd love to hear about where you're from. So shout out if you're uh here on Rumble, TikTok, and or X, Facebook, my two Facebook pages. I would love to hear from you. It's I'm so grateful for all of you who follow us, who support us, and who are right alongside of me building families that make a difference. Okay, you ready? Let's jump right into this and opening kind of scripture. So when Jesus is calling his disciples, you know, and Paul's writing about this in 2 Corinthians. I just love this verse, and he says, for consider your calling, for consider it, brethren, because not many of you were you know wise according to worldly standards. He chose a bunch of fishermen to carry his message, and the sons of thunder, which are, I think, you know, a funny way of kind of looking at it, they're like a a camel motorcycle gang. So it's imagine. So you had fishermen, we had a tax collector that nobody liked named Matthew. We had, you know, all these different players around Jesus. And so he's, you know, Paul is resetting the stage of understanding that the secret of you fulfilling God's calling in your life is the way you learn how to receive who God has called you to be. But notice what it says here. I I just love this verse. Uh, and and I mean, I can say I'm not wise according to the world standards, you know. Not many of you were powerful, not many were noble birth, right? Because the argument of the day back in Jesus' day is that the privileged and the rich, they're the ones who rule the world. And it's interesting how, you know, I just think it's comical to put a microphone in front of a person who gets paid a lot of money to act like other people that have an opinion about how to change the world. And because they're they're in Hollywood, they're seen as some kind of wise person, or because or they're beautiful, or they're, you know, they got money as though they really have anything to say. But God chose what is foolish in the world's eyes, right, to the world, to shame the wise. Boy, isn't that true? Oh, God does it. God chose what is weak in the world to shame the strong. Because up to this point in history, uh and Jesus coming on the scene, God wants to write something in you and me and every man that's out there. He wants to write this broken place in us where we count ourselves out, or even in the church, we don't think we're special people because we're not maybe a preacher or we're full-time in the ministry, or it's amazing how we measure ourselves against other men instead of measuring ourselves on who God has called us to be. Because it doesn't take much faith in your life for you to talk yourself out of what God's made you for. But it seems to take great faith in your life for you to step into the role that God has called you for that you don't feel you have the capacity to do. You know what I'm saying? Like to love a girl for the rest of your life, marry a girl, love her, serve her, lay down your life for her. Matter of fact, the standard, just like Christ loved the church, Paul writes to Timothy, you know, husbands, love your wife as Christ love the church. Now, how many know that's an impossible thing to do for any man in the world? Somebody raise your hand. Amen. I see your comments. Absolutely. It's it's an impossible thing to do without God, because we don't have the capacity in our life to really not make everything about us. But we all have the same capacity to focus in on our calling, our destiny, or maybe just our depression, or our just checking out in our life, because the Bible says if you compare yourself to another person, well, you're always going to find somebody that you're way behind and you're gonna feel discouraged, or you're gonna find people where you're way ahead, that's gonna cause pride. And God resists the proud, but gives grace to the humble. He goes on here in this verse and says, For God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things that are not, to bring to nothing the things that are. And here's the reason why. So that no human being may boast, may boast in the presence of God. So there's not going to be anybody in heaven who says, I did it my way, I did it my way, and so God's called us to a life that's impossible for us to fulfill unless we learn to receive everything from him, and that causes us to stay in this place of great gratitude, but it also requires us to live by faith because we gotta step towards the things that God's called us to, even though we don't think we have the capacity to handle it, and that that's the kind of faith that pleases God. Matter of fact, it says in in Hebrews 11, it's without faith, it's impossible to please God. But you gotta believe that He is and that He's a rewarder of those who diligently seek Him. God rewards us when we live in that place. I just love that verse. And so God's after doing something in this day and age with you and me as a father or as a son or a father, a young man, or an older man, or a dad, or a grandpa, because he's not finished with us, and there's something incredibly empowering when you learn how to receive that for yourself and live in that grace. I don't think there's anything more empowering at all. It I think it's what they might, you know, what they call the sweet spot of life, is finding what you're for and what you're doing. Most of the time, it's talking about our victories, it's talking about our natural giftings and even our supernatural giftings in the Lord to where it's a place of the highest level of success. It's Michael Jordan who you know knocks down six three-pointers in one game. It's Caitlin Clark doing eight three-pointers in one game. Is she amazing? I mean to tell you, I I love women's basketball when she's playing because she's just so good at giving the ball away. She's just she's just so gifted. And it and you love that. It's why we love sports. It's why we, you know, you know, some of you might be watching the Dodger game out of your left eye and hanging out with me tonight. Well, I gotta admit, I got the Dodger game on over here just in case something happens. Because I'm I, you know, I'm wearing blue, I'm supporting them, and I fell in love with baseball after watching the game last night. I think the greatest baseball game I've ever seen or ever heard about, of just the back and forth, the tenacity. And these guys pouring out 18 innings, finally coming up with a late with a very with Freeman who went to the same high school my son did, and there he is, you know, knocking a home run over 7th field fence. And we all would say that is the sweet spot of baseball. But what feels bigger than that? What what could you do in your life that's bigger than all those kind of things? It's really discovering who God has made you to be. And then you live that out with all that you got, trusting in him to produce in you what you lack so that you can give the gift that he put in you back to him and a gift to Jesus on that final day when you stand before him. I don't know if there's anything more powerful than that because the the thing that he's made you for is is so empowering and so connected to everything in your life. And when one of the greatest, it's the only God worked this way, is that even the hard things you've gone through, God has turned into something he can use in your life. For instance, in my own story, you all know, if you've hung around me at all, that my dad was killed in action. So I never had a moment with my dad. And yet I have a ministry now that reaches people who've either lost their father or didn't have a very good dad. And I helped them connect to God the Father in a way that empowers them to be the man, husband, father that they've always wanted to be, and grandpa. And God, that whole ministry in my own life, that calling in my own life came out of the tragic loss of my father. See, only God can turn something that the devil meant for evil to turn it into something he uses for good. And that's that's the amazing thing about walking with Jesus. That's the amazing thing about you know following him is that he never wastes a hurt. He he he can use it all for his glory. Just think about your ability to share Christ with people that are broken when you're really in touch with how broken you were before you met him. And not only were you you really broken before you you met him, and it empowers you and connects you to that person who's looking at you who feels really disconnected too. And so that's God's way. God's way is always around, you know, you know, He's He's got us, He's backing us up. And I am so grateful for that. Hey, I just want to see uh do a little shout out. I got friends showing up on TikTok, X, Zoom, Facebook. Welcome. I'd love to find out where you're from. I got an oil worker here, I got I got other people that you know have ministry and things that God's doing. And I'm just so grateful. Just make sure you give me a shout out. I'd love to hear from you. And if you have a comment or a question, post a comment, and I'll do my best to answer that for you tonight as we look at these scriptures. Okay, back to the scriptures. So the first thing we looked at is that God chose what is low and despised things to bring to nothing the things that that are and so then no human being may boast uh boast in the presence of God. And so you can't sing Elvis' song, I did it my way. Because if you if you're in Christ, he's gonna do it his way. Amen. Okay, let's look at this picture here in the scripture. You know, Jesus is talking to Nicodemus, who came to him one night in John chapter three, comes to him and says, Well, listen, we know that that no one can do what you do unless God is with him. So Nicodemus had just seen Jesus overturned the the money uh changer uh tables. And the reason why he did that is that he made it so the Gentiles wouldn't have enough money to be able to have an offering. So the whole temple system was set up for the wealthy, and the wealthiest people were the religious people because they got all the offerings, and and so they made a way for rich people to be able to pay their way into heaven. Sound familiar? And yet the Gentiles, they they were sort of cut out. And when Jesus saw that, he made a he made a whip out of of something and overturned the money changers because they were charging, you know, percentages way higher so that that the poor couldn't really get in. And Jesus, you know, here's Nicodemus, who's a you know, he's a young fair, he's a Pharisee, and he sees all these kind of things. He's a teacher of the law, he's a student of the law, and he sees Jesus apply the scriptures with great power and tenacity and flipping the tables over, causing the ruckus and confronting the temple system. And so in the midst of all that, he comes and says, We know that you know he's he's questioning because Jesus has just confronted the the major industry of the Jewish temple there in Jerusalem. And and and that is the all the offerings and and just the money changers and the whole system. And Jesus said said, My father's house should be what be called a the house of prayer. It's more than just a building, it it was this house that he came to save in all of our lives. And so, in the midst of all those things, you know, Jesus goes on and and he and he says to Nicodemus, Truly, truly, I say to you, unless one is born again, he cannot see the kingdom of God. And Nicodemus says, How can a man be born when he is old? Can he enter a second time into his mother's womb and be born? And Jesus answered him, Truly I say to you, right? What does he say? Unless one is born of water and spirit, he cannot enter the kingdom of God. And so Jesus is talking about a kingdom that his father is bringing, a kingdom where there's power, a kingdom where there's supernatural healing that comes from God, a kingdom where the poor are loved and taken care of, a kingdom where people he came to bring. Reign over the reign of the devil on the earth, over all the corruption on the earth. Jesus came to bring a brand new reign ultimately through his church. And the economy of his church is built on the foundation of the teaching of the apostles and prophets, the word of God, the whole Bible. It's built on the power of the Holy Spirit. And it's built on the sacrifices of people like you and me who have given our lives to the Lord in weakness, to things he's called us to do that are too big for us to do, that he might fill us and empower us to do it anyway. And it's one of the great pictures of scripture. And but he calls us about being born again. In other words, the life that God has got for you and God has called me to do is impossible to do without being born again by his spirit. You might have a better life by going to church and showing up and being a good, you know, church person or trying to be better. But the truth of the matter is that God has made a life for you and me where we need a supernatural transformation to be able to enter this life and discover who He's really made us to be. And that is such a powerful thing for you and I to discover. Because in it, it it changes our entire life and it begins to unlock God's purposes for the way he's made you, and he's made me, even through the hard things we go through, even through all the stuff that we deal with in our life. God has made you and I for his pleasure, the Bible says. And he's made us for his spirit upon our life that enables us and equips us into the things that he's called us to. And I would just say it this way: if you know your calling on your life is something that God is asking you to do that you can't possibly do with your human strength. Like love your wife consistently. Isn't that an impossible thing? How many of you would raise your hand and go, there's no way that I can be a good husband without God's spirit on my life? I need to see hands. I got hands going up all over the world, right? Because it's an impossible thing for God for a man who's completely self-focused to begin to understand the heart of a woman and to give us life to loving her, to give us life, to blessing her, to being the kind of husband that loves her the way Christ loved the church. That's an impossible thing altogether. But imagine being able to do it by God's spirit and understanding that part of your calling as a man is also in the way you love the girls in your life. And how God will meet you when you bring what you got, even if it's not much, and he'll fill you with the much. How many have known that about loving your wife? That, you know, in their times I'll wake up the next morning with my bride, and I look at her, and we start talking, and I'm wondering where the girl went that I went to sleep with the night before. She might be going through a hard time. She might be going through, and and the worst thing you can do is try to change her because then you will get in what? Trouble. Absolute trouble. Because we need to be empathetic, which is hard for an old football player like me. And we need to learn how to listen and to be there in the life of her and our sons and daughters, if we have them, in a way that really does make a difference. And I love the way this verse goes on. And he talks about, you know, you must be born again. That which is born of the flesh is flesh. That which is born of the spirit is spirit. Do not marvel that I say, you must be born again. And then he talks about what this life is like. The wind blows where it witches, and you hear its sound, but you know where it comes from and where it goes. So it is with everyone who is born of the spirit. And see, you and I have been called by God to be born of the Holy Spirit in our life, which He causes us to be born again. It's it's a the ultimate new beginning where we receive this new birth in our life from God that enables us to have the ultimate do-over with the potential in our life of living a life of faith where we got to receive that every single day. And that and that's that's really what God's called you for and called me for. Because what kind of what kind of life would it be if it's just about your personal talents and your gifts, and you take all the credit for it all the time? Can you imagine how you know imagine how self-focused that is and how you know broken that is in your own life to where everything you do is just based on natural talent. And so who do you celebrate when you break through yourself? Or you celebrate through a reason that's made you successful. I mean, remember years ago, Ted Turner, the uh I would say probably infamous mogul, you know, really struggled with family, wives, etc., was asked to do a baccalaureate, and he was in the in front of a group of well-wishing college students, and and he said, The secret of life is in my briefcase. And he he he opens his briefcase, and everybody was curious because they all wanted to know what the secret of getting becoming multi-rich and and to have all these uh companies, and he pulls out a rolled-up paper of a Fortune 500 magazine, and he goes, Here's the secret of my success, and then he unrolls it, and everybody sees it's a picture of him on the cover. Oh, there's got a little uh little fireworks there, and on the cover it's Ted Turner, a man of the year, and then he rolls it up, he holds it up to the ceiling, and he screams, is that enough yet, Dad? And then he shares something very telling. He said, My father told me that I was worthless, I would never make any money, and I was a bum, and I've spent my life trying to prove him wrong. It's amazing how people will take a a a capacity that he had for a lot of things and make it all about him. And what's the legacy that comes out of him?

SPEAKER_01: 29:55

Well, you can tell in the in the eyes of his wife, in the eyes of his children, and his grandchildren and the amazing lot potential life that they have.

SPEAKER_02: 30:10

And I mean it's I I meet families all the time and and work with families in our Fatherhood Academy that you know the their grandparents are now the you know, they're trying to refather their children and their grandchildren because they were so focused on being successful earlier in their story. And sometimes grandparents have done it right all the way through, and the enemy grabs a hold of that mom or dad, and then it's and it's a battle. Because the devil wants to do everything in your life and my life to get us to make everything about us is men. Because something's really powerful when you have great strength and you lay down that strength for the sake of receiving from God. That's called meekness in the Bible. Jesus was God Himself who created the heavens and earth, but he laid down his right to be God so that he could receive. Oh, there's one of my buddies, Jeff. Good to see you, my friend. He's a brilliant friend. And I think we're gonna have an opportunity when we come out to do Kurt Cameron's show there in Nashville in three weeks from now to talk about what we're talking about tonight and what happens to a man when he, you know, really discovers what what God has really called him to be. What he's called him to be. There's nothing more powerful than that in your life. You could win all the trophies in life, you can win all the awards, but when you when you are confused with Jesus as you get older, isn't that the greatest compliment in someone, you know, looking at you and and saying, you know, are you Jesus? And you go, well, actually, he lives in me. But what just happened to you didn't come out of my own strength. What happened in your life came through him. And so that's what the scripture means. And and part of a part of the nuance of the scripture that is written here in John chapter 3, verse 6, it's that you notice that the wind blows where it wishes, like the Holy Spirit. He's leading us, he's he's moving us. And you might hear its sound, but you don't know where it comes from or where it's going. So is everyone who is born of the Spirit of God. Because if we could just kind of add it as an upgrade to our already perfect selves, that's that's not going to end well for you. And so the secret of our life is in receiving. Their secret in our life is all about becoming that man that God has called us to be. That's what I talk about in my book here. That by the way, that my friend Jeff, who's actually online, really helped me edit and and get this thing done. It's a video course, it's part of our fatherhood academy. And if you're thinking, boy, I would, I really want to learn how to be everything that God's called me to be, to be able to receive, like Jesus demonstrated in his life. I want to know the father in my own life so I can be the best husband and father I can be. Well, this course is designed for you. It actually how to become the husband and father your family needs. And so this is a part of our Fatherhood Academy. You can even get this book online. There's a video course that we have online that we'd love to share with you. And it's a fantastic tool to help you discover and learn how to receive his men. Matter of fact, my buddy Jeff had a small group up in the Seattle area that went through this with these guys. And uh, one of his comments, he goes, it's just fantastic. Well, we know because Jeff and I, we worked really hard on this, and we know that God put this together. And for the purpose of even a day like this, and now I'm gonna be with Kirk Cameron in a couple weeks to talk about this on TBN, on his show, to get this to every single guy we can possibly get it to around the world. So keep praying for us. Oh, let's get back. I digress just a little bit because when I see my friends, I just got to shout them out. Good to see you, Benjamin. There's a bunch of you online here, too many to count over all these social media platforms. Okay, so how do we we take this step to understand all this? And and then Jesus said, For God so loved the world, one of the most famous verses that encapsulates everything, right? That he gave his only son, that whoever would believe in him should not perish, but have eternal life. That was the verse that changed my heart. That's the encounter that I had when I was a football player in college with a scholarship, with a dream to play in the National Football League, and a single play from a young rookie diving for a fumble that had come from the quarterback and and the running back right between my legs. He dove through my left knee. I heard my I heard my ligaments pop, my knee collapsed, down I went, and the next thing I knew it, they told me not to eat anything after 12 o'clock to keep my knee in ice. The doctors told me I would need major reconstructive surgery. And man, my I th I thought that my life was was over.

SPEAKER_01: 36:21

I remember going to my room and on my crutches and being totally by myself and weeping.

SPEAKER_02: 36:36

Because that the strategy of the devil over your life is that he wants to try to steal away the calling that God has your life for. He wants to he doesn't have foreknowledge like Jesus does. But he knows when when when he sees things in us, knowing how Jesus works. And so at the midst of you know, him and his his limited understanding of God's plans for you and me, he took away the one thing that was core to who I was, and that was to be a football player, wear a jersey like this one day. As a matter of fact, my step my father was killed in action. So I my dad was I lost my dad just before I was born. And yet his personal dream before he ended up going to the Naval Academy that he would play pro football one day. And guess what? He hurt his knee, his left knee. Just like his son, years later, you know, years later, in a dorm room in Kiel Cauley dormitory, at Young Sansei University. And and I I came to the end of I had no resources. I wasn't a kid who went to church. I I was angry, and this guy comes into my room and looks at me and knocks on my door. Never met him before, and he goes, Hi, my name's Bill Romanowski. No, not the linebacker for the San Francisco 49ers, but a campus minister, and he said, I heard what happened today, and I came to pray for you. And I remember when he when he walked into my dorm room, invited him in, and with ice bags around my left knee, I was angry and I was hurt. And it's like, what kind of God is this that allowed my dad to be killed in action, and now his son, here I am, probably never gonna play again. And without answering all that, he just read that verse that you have on the screen, for God so loved the world. He so loved you, he so loved me. I mean, imagine the kind of love that would send your only son to die in the place of somebody who might not receive him.

SPEAKER_01: 39:36

He might walk away.

SPEAKER_02: 39:47

That whoever believes in him should not perish but have everlasting life. And when he read those words to me, all I can tell you is that you know, when the Bible says that faith comes by hearing and hearing the word of God, how many of you have been in a situation where you are just kind of at the end of your rope, nowhere to go, and your only way to turn to Jesus, and somehow in the midst of turning to Him, the resurrected Messiah meets you and empowers you for one more day. It might be just staying in a place of forgiveness, it might be standing when you're going through health things, and it might be wrestling in the midst of company things or or people things. It might be your own identity that you're in the midst of the struggle of. And yet he spoke that verse. And when I heard it, it you know, faith comes by hearing, it says in the Bible, and and hearing the words about Christ. I knew that Jesus was real. I wasn't a church kid, never was raised in a church, but that scripture just went into my soul, and I knew it was true. And he and he looks at me and he says, Would you like to be born again? And I mean, I didn't, I didn't, I never heard born again, you know, and it's like, you know what? How can a man, you know, when he's older, go back into his mother's womb and be born again? He was talking about this supernatural transaction that happens when we give God the stuff that kills us, our sin. When we ask for forgiveness, he grabs that sin that he already paid for on the cross and exchanges it with this supernatural visitation into our life, where the very core of who we are changes because of his spirit. And so I said, How does this work? He said, When Jesus died on the cross, Ed, he died as though he were you. Maybe you're watching tonight, and it's been a long time since you've been close to the Lord, or you're in a big, big battle right now for yourself or your family, and you're just you're just at the end of your rope. And and and Jesus died for that in your own life. And I looked at Bill and I said, Bill, how do I, you know, what do I need to do? How do I get born again? Well, the Bible says that if you confess Jesus as Lord and you believe in your heart that God has raised him from the dead, the book of Romans, verse 10, you shall be saved. With the mouth, one confesses resulted in salvation. You know, there's something that happens when there's this transaction when you finally say, I can't save myself. And there I was in Kilcauley dormitory in gosh, 1977, many, many moons ago. And uh and a kid whose whole life was about playing football seemed to be over because of a a knee injury that the doctor said was very serious. And I I had nothing else to lose. And I said, I said yes, I prayed a simple prayer. Maybe you've never done that yourself. Maybe you have never just received Jesus for yourself. I meet people all the time. I was just up in in the mammoth mountain areas and had you know about 30, 30, 35 young junior high and high school kids. And I looked at him and I said, How many of you have received Jesus in your life? Because because that's what your family's about. That's what your mom and dad wanted you to do, and every hand goes up. And I said, So I'm gonna ask you another question. How many of you have received Jesus because you know that you are way too broken to fix yourself and you need him? How many want to receive him for yourself? It's not about becoming a part of the Christian religion. Jesus never called us to become part of the Christian religion. Matter of fact, the church called themselves Christian. Jesus called you and I to be born again. And the first part of this lesson of what it means to be the man that God's called you to be is that you must be born again. Because the calling of God in your life is way too powerful and big for you to do with your human strength. You just can't do it. Because if you could, you just take credit for it. And you write a book about how amazing you are. And so the truth of the matter, right there in Kilkali dormitory, and it was close to about 11 o'clock at night. I prayed a simple prayer, Jesus, I give in. Would you forgive me for all the sin that I've done against you? I confessed it. I don't think I've ever up to that point, I don't think I ever really confessed my weakness in front of anyone. And we're good at posturing ourselves, but the most powerful thing we can do is to bring our brokenness to God to ask for help that we can't do something. Because that it may it gives us an opportunity to becoming altogether powerful in Christ because He'll come into those places that are broken. And so I asked Him to forgive me. And all I can do, the only way I can describe this is that I feel like this waterfall of mercy got poured out all over me.

SPEAKER_01: 46:20

And I just was weeping. I never felt anything like that.

SPEAKER_02: 46:26

It was it was like the perfect love of God. It was so much bigger than my pain, it was so much bigger than all my stuff.

SPEAKER_01: 46:39

And it was this forgiveness.

SPEAKER_02: 46:48

And I just I was getting the ultimate do over. And then Bill looks at me and says, Can I pray for your knee? And I said, Sure. Never been prayed for before. No one had ever laid a hand on me and prayed for me. I wasn't part of a Christian church growing up. And he put his hand on my my ice bag and and prayed, the most unanointed prayer I've ever heard. You know, we think that that our prayers need to be impressive for God to move. And so the religious part of us once is, oh, Father God, maker of heaven and earth, bring your resources. This is a big one. Oh Lord, I mean, who's that about? It's about the prayer, not the prayee, you know, and he just prayed a real simple prayer, partly because his own theology, being a Presbyterian, didn't have a lot of room for the supernatural work of miracles of God. He'd never prayed for anybody to be healed before. And he said, Heal Ed's knee in Jesus' name. How was it? Well, I didn't feel anything because my knee was frozen, and the next morning they woke me up, and I had the most amazing sleep that night. Oh, there was tossing and turning. I mean, just what does this all mean? I'm the first person that I know that was born again in my family history, and and I remember them taking me and picking me up with the with the van. My niece still got the brace on it with ice, the melted ice bags, and off I go into surgery with the garment that doesn't tie in the back all the way on a normal-sized guy. And I'm out in the hallway after an orthogram test, and the doctor comes out, and Dr. uh Vuxta, who is our team physician, orthopedic surgeon at Young South State University Hospital, and he's just shaking his head and he goes, Ed, I just don't understand. Here's our tests from yesterday when we brought you in here, and here they are today. It looks like somehow your your ligaments that were been torn have been reattached.

SPEAKER_01: 49:23

And I couldn't believe my ears.

SPEAKER_02: 49:27

And I jumped off that grurney on my leg, and it was a little stiff on the first walk, and then it was perfect.

SPEAKER_01: 49:41

And I was just worshiping to touch my God. I'd been born again.

SPEAKER_02: 49:53

And that moment in my life empowered something inside of me, just like it does in your life. When you let go of and when you really take your own hands off of your life and off of other people, by the way. One of the secrets of leading your children into this is not being the ones who make them change or protect them so that they don't ever sin. Because the problem is just like you without Christ, we can't say no, we're gonna always blow it. And in Romans 5.8 says, you know, we're all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God, Romans 4.23. And for the wages of sin is death, but the free gift of God is eternal life in Jesus Christ, Romans 6.23. So all of us have sinned and fallen short of God's standard in our life. And when we bring that broken place in us to Him and say, Lord, I I need your spirit to change my life. I need you to make me into a different kind of man, you've then taken the most powerful step towards becoming the man, husband, and father that God's called you to be. And without it, I don't think you have much hope. Because every place that I've tried to big Ed my life, it's been. But every place I've learned to receive, it's changed my life. Maybe you're watching tonight and you're saying, Man, Ed, I want more of that in my life. Or maybe you've never asked Jesus in your life. And so I want to pray with you right now. The same prayer that I prayed many, many years ago. And maybe your family's in disrepair, and you're you need to, you really, you got drawn in here through one of our advertisements or our posts, and you really want to be that father, you want to be that husband, or maybe you're divorced, you want to know how to love your ex and your kids and and be the best father and grandpa you can be. Whatever your situation is tonight, you know, you must be born again. And how often do we need to receive that over and over and over again? Because it's a great reminder to us that the power to change and build the life that God has called us for, we can't do it with our own strength. It's not that we don't plan, it doesn't not that we don't work hard, and not that we don't give all that we have, but there's a part of our life that needs a supernatural presence of God inside of us to change us and equip us and make us into the men, husbands, and fathers called us to be. So if you want some more of that, let's just pray together. I'd be an honor tonight. Whether you're praying for the first time or the 20th time, maybe you feel stuck, maybe you're in a place where you need to come back. Just pray this with me. Just say, Jesus, right now I give my life to you again. I ask you, Lord, to forgive me for all the places where I am trying to be in control. I bring you my fear, I bring you my brokenness, I bring you my procrastination, I bring you all those things, Lord, that I I hate about myself, Lord, that I'm trying to change so I can give something better back to you. But Jesus says, I want it all. And so, Lord, I ask you to forgive me for my sin. Just say that out loud, Father, forgive me for my sin. I want to be born again by the Spirit of God. I want to be made new and be renewed. I want to know what it feels like to be free. I want to know what it feels like to be free and to be empowered by you, and ultimately to be fathered by you so I can be the father you've called me to be, and the grandpa, and the man. And I give you these things in the name of Jesus.

SPEAKER_01: 54:24

I pray. Amen. It's just so good to be with you and to pray with you.

SPEAKER_02: 54:34

So many guys from so many different channels are on tonight. I'm so grateful that you're here. But I know that God's drawn you here because you're you're hungry for something. And we want to we want to serve you. We want to help you discover what it's like to be the man, husband, and father. And I share with this earlier, but we have an amazing series in our fatherhood academy called How to Become the Husband and Father Your Family Needs. And we're really proud of this work. And there's an there's there's podcasts for men. There's a actually a podcast for your wives, difference a mother makes there. There's shows, all of our social media, lots of resources, and it's all there to help equip you to be the man that God has ultimately called you to be. That's our commitment to you. That's what our coaching is all about. I have an online coaching program that not only helps you, but you get you get time with yours truly and our coaches that we're raising up. Eventually, we're going to have those in five different countries to really help reach the men that are there that are hungry and want to learn how to be the best husbands and fathers they can be. I have a little short video that we play at the end. We'll we'll just kind of describe that. Oh, it's good to see you, Justin. Justin Carlton's one of our amazing coaches, lives back on the East Coast, where he's made the move back there. Just incredible, godly father, man, husband, and just a great friend. And so if you're interested, hang out and just uh see what our offers are at the end. We have another things that would, if you want to know more about who we are and what we're doing, go to my website, thefatherdifference.com. You can get a free devotional there that comes to your inbox every single day. You we have studies, we have books, we got resources, and we got a whole new upgrade to our Fatherhood Academy that's going to be available in the next two weeks. We're really excited about. And so if you're interested, uh go to my website, sign up, and uh would love to hear from you. You got a prayer request, you can send that in as well. We're just here for you. All that to say, I'm so grateful that you showed up tonight. So check out this little end of our thing. We're at the end of the year, and so your donations really do matter a lot to help us expand and reach more men. One of the exciting things, just you know, how God does something that blows your mind. Well, my book, The Difference a Father Makes, which I wrote, my very first book that wrote, is now being downloaded in over 322 different countries and providences around the world. It blows my mind. It's it's just everywhere. I don't think we're in North Korea yet, I'm hoping. So it's being downloaded in China. It's, I mean, it's just really cool how God gets that little book that I wrote that has this promise of hope for every man to be the father they've always wanted to be. It's called The Difference a Father Makes. If you've not got it, got a copy yet, and there's a free copy on our website for you. We'd love for you to have it. All that to say, enjoy this outro. I'll see you next week. Uh, send in your questions. Would love to hear from you and know how we can best serve you.

SPEAKER_00: 58:24

Here we go. Dear friends, imagine a world where every father feels equipped to lead with faith, love, and purpose. A world where families thrive and communities grow stronger because of devoted, Christ-centered fathers.

SPEAKER_02: 58:40

You know, beloved, that is the vision that God's put in my heart for every single family. You know, he is on the move, I believe. He promises in Malachi that before the great and coming day of the Lord, he's gonna do something profound. He's gonna turn the hearts of fathers back towards their children. So the hearts of their children will turn back to their father. That's what God is doing. I meet dads daily who want to learn to be better fathers. Yet many have never been shown how. Too many families are being fractured through bitterness and with parents and grandparents even being canceled. That's why we're launching an online community to quit and to be the fathers that God has called them to be. It's more than a program, it's a part of a movement that God is already doing to reshape fatherhood. It's a sacred calling rooted in the teachings of Christ. And we're calling this the Fatherhood Academy, where men will embark on a journey of healing and spiritual restoration that helps them transform their family relationship. And to make this vision a reality, would you consider partnering with us financially as we continue to reach and disciple every man, dad, and grandpa that comes our way? Your donation will help create a ripple across the neighborhoods, communities, you know, and ultimately our nature, anchoring each child, their division, and the unwavering love and guidance of a devoted dad.

SPEAKER_00: 1:00:30

Will you partner with us? Your gift, whether a one-time donation or ongoing monthly support, will help to transform lives. Together, we can equip fathers and grandfathers to lead with faith and create a brighter, hope filled future for generations to come. Click the link to donate today. Thank you for believing in this mission and joining us on this transformative journey.