Episode 1 - From Pharaoh’s Pride to David’s Faith: Rethinking Manhood through Scripture and Culture

What makes a man—really? Not the truck, the watch, the six-pack, or the cold stare in the ad. We probe the tension between culture’s version of masculinity and Scripture’s call to a different kind of strength—one built on obedience, humility, courage, and sacrificial love. From Pharaoh’s hardened pride to Moses’ reluctant surrender, and from Goliath’s armour to David’s sling, we map how identity shapes action and why trust in God reframes what bravery looks like in real life.

We get honest about the three core temptations that stalk men—lust of the flesh, lust of the eyes, and the pride of life—and we trace how they get packaged through media and marketing. Then we rebuild from the ground up: created in God’s image, made new in Christ, and invited to lead with love at home, work diligently without worshipping our work, and practise quiet faithfulness that forges public courage. You’ll hear personal stories of chasing status, facing fear, and learning to surrender, plus practical steps for fighting modern Goliaths with a steady heart—boundaries around lust, confessional friendships, Scripture before screens, and choosing one small obedience every day.

If you’re hungry for an identity that doesn’t collapse when the ad ends or the applause fades, this conversation offers a better way. Bring a notebook, note the passages, and sit with the question: are you living like Pharaoh or like Moses? like Goliath or like David? Subscribe, share this with a friend who needs it, and leave a review to help more men find a truer measure of strength.

Transcript

Setting The Question Of Manhood

Craig 0:23

Welcome to episode one of the Brotherhood Podcast today. We are going to talk about identity in Christ. What it means to be a biblical man. What we want to think about is what I want to ask you guys as listeners is what do you think it means to be a man in today's world? And uh Colton and I will kind of discuss that as well right now. So just be thinking of that as we uh talk this out too. So I know uh we did some research here this last week on uh what the world um portrays manlyhood to be, like in

Culture’s Script: Ads And Archetypes

Craig 1:05

advertisements and and things like that, movies and stuff like that. So I know Colton's got some uh some examples of that that he'd like to share, and I have some as well. I'll probably I got a pretty funny one too, so definitely listen for it. You'll know. Um yeah, Colton, if you wanna if you want to kind of chat about what you found, and and then we'll kind of just go back and forth and just have a conversation here about it and and see where it takes us.

Colton 1:37

Yeah, absolutely. So for me, like the very first thing that comes to my mind as a man when I think about a man is somebody who is you know strong-willed, somebody who is um just strong all around, you know, someone who's not afraid to say what they think. Um that's kind of the first thing that comes to my mind as a man, and uh, which is kind of funny because I feel like I've actually with my fitness journey, I think that's a big part of where that whole desire came from, is just this picture in my head of like just this mighty looking person, right? And uh, and that's kind of how I pictured a man. And so for a long time, I think I I chased after that with my fitness too, and it actually got to a pretty unhealthy point. Um, you know, it's not how the Bible teaches it, right? Fitness is healthy for sure, but for me it got it got pretty out of hand. So um that's to me kind of what I think like physical appearance. Uh when it comes to personality, I'd say probably for me, I would I would say a man is loving somebody who's hardworking, somebody who cares about his family, uh, who's willing to put himself last, right? And uh the world teaches us otherwise, right? I I think a lot about commercials, like even growing up, I remember sp actually very specifically this um commercial. I think it was back in 2008. Uh I'm I'm a big Ford guy, so uh they had a commercial come on about this pickup truck, but the guy like narrating the whole commercial, you know, he's got a deep voice and he's talking about this truck, and it's like they kind of give you the impression that you're only a man if you buy this pickup, right? It's gotta be that specific truck, you know, gotta be a diesel, this and that. And um it just gives you the impression that that's that's what a man is, right? You look at these commercials too about uh watches or cologne, um these guys, you know, they put on a Rolex, right? And everybody's looking at you, and it's like, oh man, okay, that's that must be what a man is. Somebody who's you know got all the bells and whistles, the nice watches and the necklaces and all the jewelry and and nice suits, and somebody who's successful. Um and the world kind of teaches us that that's what a man is, and so I think for me personally, like I said, I I started chasing a lot of that, but it's very unhealthy, and that's not what the Bible calls us to as men, right? There's um there's a lot of qualities the Bible calls us to that the world I think likes to push to the side and ignore, and they tell us that we can be selfish, you know. If it feels good, do it. And I'll tell you right now, that's as a Christian, that's that's not the right way to go about it. Um we actually had the opportunity to ask a couple people some questions about what they think a man is as well, and it's interesting because a lot of them um actually line up with what the Bible teaches, too. So uh some of what they had said is, you know, they think a man is somebody who works hard, you know, provides for the family, somebody who takes their role as a man, so that, you know, in a marriage, the wife can take her role as the wife, as the mother. She can be at home taking care of the family, um, taking care of the house while the man is out working. And so that was actually a big one that we got an answer from a couple people we had asked that question, right? A couple other ones were uh just being loving, right? Know how to show love, uh know how to be love. And as a man, too, sometimes I find it's hard to know how to accept love, especially from Jesus, because it is unconditional, right? But it's uh it's a perfect example of what we are meant to be, loving others and and showing other people love, right? Um, so for me, I mean that's kind of my opinion as a man and a couple people we've talked to, that is kind of what they had said as well. Um I don't know about you, Craig, but like when it comes to like the first thing that pops in your mind about what a man is, what what do you think or what's the first picture that pops in your head?

Craig 6:19

Yeah, I think um I think it's very similar to what you had said. Um I also I I didn't struggle with like I mean you can tell the difference in the way we look. I didn't struggle with trying to make my appearance look like Arnold Schwarzenegger or anything like that. I mean, I I did kind of struggle with that, like I don't look like those guys and whatever, but I didn't care enough to to make it an obsession kind of thing. Right um a lot of what I have struggled with is striving for like business or monetary success. And um like that's some of the things too, like with the watches and stuff like that. You think, oh man, you need this fifty thousand dollar watch to be a man, or you need to own a Lamborghini or uh, you know, a big mansion in Beverly Hills or whatever these things are, right? And uh that's yeah, those are definitely worldly things that um that we don't need. And uh sometimes like some of those things might be nice, but I I mean I've as I've grown older I've also realized that um a lot of that stuff is meaningless, right? So um and like for ads and stuff like that, what I found I did um I'll just kind of look at my notes here while we while I chat about it, if I'm looking off to the side. Uh there was uh there was a study

Chasing Success, Image, And Status

Craig 7:55

done in the UK. It was like a mini documentary thing on uh men in advertisements. And so you see the the men in advertisements are like muscular, they've got a six-pack, they're emotionless and expressionless, they've got that like angry face on all the time, they're sullen, um, they look successful, they have fancy things, uh, they're always in control. Um some of the examples that were given were like James Bond from 007 and Thomas Shelby from Peaky Blinders and the guys from Mad Men and things like that, and like soccer players too, Cristiano Ronaldo. Uh he's fit and he's got a six back and he in ads and stuff like that, he's always got his shirt off and um always looks sullen and dominant and stuff like that.

Colton 8:48

When it comes to that for you, Craig, like because you were saying with the business stuff, like that's kind of what you started chasing. So do you find that that's kind of like your immediate picture in your head when when you think of a man as somebody who's successful in a business? Like, do you find that um your vision of a man is kind of like what you've been sort of, I guess, chasing in a sense?

Craig 9:12

I think that would be true. Like, and uh from what I hear from you in conversations, I think that's probably true for everyone, I'd say, is that what we think is a man in our minds is kind of what we chase after and what we uh try to obtain the most, right?

Colton 9:33

Yeah, well, and it's easy too, like when the world feeds into what you know what they think a man is, it's easy because it's all around us, right? You have your phone, um, computers, iPads, and when you're seeing those advertisements, you are uh not just that, but you know, books, magazines. You walk through the grocery store and there's always a fitness magazine or something on the side, right? And like you said, it's uh it's always some big jack guy, you know, on the front of it, right? Some guy with a six-pack, he's really cut and it's like, oh man, I I gotta look like that if I'm gonna be a man, right? But like I said before, that's that can very, very, very easily get uh taken out of proportion, and you can uh you can really get out of hand with that if as a Christian if you don't watch and don't align it with what the Bible says and what God teaches about about what a man is, right?

Craig 10:32

I agree. Um the I guess I could I could share some of the other ads, but um well I'll just share one more. I'll share the funny one. So I did share this with Colton uh in preparation. We were kind of talking about how we were gonna put this together. But uh so this is called uh rules of a man, and I'll let you guys kind of guess as I go on what these rules are and what the commercial is for, and I don't think you're gonna guess it by the end, and but I'll give it to you at the end. The last rule does give it away. So number one, never talk about sports while you're watching sports. Number two, always use the most powerful tool for the job. Number three, your closet is your business and your business only. Number three, uh you can fix anything with duct tape. Number four, don't pay more than five dollars for a haircut. Number five, uh hasn't you haven't made a mistake when a part is left over. It just never existed. Uh number six, I think we're at any attempt at facial hair must be applauded literally. So if you got a little bit of stubble, congratulations.

Colton 11:54

Kind of like me. We're trying to keep up with you, Craig, but uh I mean good luck. I have about ten years to go to get there.

Craig 12:02

Yeah. Um, and then the last rule of being a man is you must never eat a bacon sandwich without the bold flavor of HP sauce. Oh yeah. So true. If you want to be a man, you gotta put HP sauce on your sandwich. But anyway, so I thought that one was kind of humorous, but um, yeah, there's other ones that are you know, like fragrance ads and stuff like that, like axe commercials or whatever, they're spraying, you know, they're spraying their body spray all over the place, and then all these half-naked women come out of the woodworks chasing them and and stuff like that. So, you know, if you want to be a man and attract attractive women, you gotta smell a certain way and look a certain way and stuff like that. So I think that's the negative side of the advertising um that we're seeing and and uh and what the world thinks uh a man should look like.

Colton 12:56

So um yeah, I would agree. I think oftentimes too, like there's I think it's kind of like cartoons in a way, right? Where you watch it as a kid, but there's all these like little hidden messages everywhere that you don't catch the first time you watch it. Then you end up watching it ten years down

The Three Temptations Shaping Men

Colton 13:16

the road, and you catch all these little these little hints or these little messages that are in you know in the cartoon. It's like, oh my goodness, I'm I can't believe we watched that as kids, right? I think it's the same with commercial like with commercials. You don't really you don't notice what they're teaching you unless you actually sit down and like look at the commercial and kind of pick it apart, right? Yeah, for example, I'll I'll give you another commercial here. Uh you might have seen this one before. It's kind of it's a little bit inappropriate, but it's a Dorito commercial, right? The guy's eating Doritos and he has some leftover on his face. Well, this girl goes jogging by, um, sees that he's eating Doritos and basically goes and like licks his face off, right? Um next day he's sitting on the park bench again. Same thing, eating Doritos, uh, spills a bunch on his pants. Same girl goes by, she turns around, and um she was gonna go lick the chips off his pants, and then you know, to add a little bit of humor, they throw uh a guy in there, right? Shoves the girl out of the way and he goes running over there, and you know, the guy on the bench kind of starts screaming and freaking out because that's not what he was wanting, but it's it's kind of sad because what that commercial is teaching you is like as a man, if you're gonna eat Doritos, then you can get the girl sort of a thing, right? And it's weird because a lot of what the world teaches you is is all about how to get women, how to get like sex and and all this stuff, and it's just it's kind of unhealthy well, not kind of it is unhealthy, and it's a scary thing because our kids are growing up with this, right? I mean, think about when we were kids, the commercials we watch till now, they're getting pretty bad, and and the messages they're portraying for us are they are not biblical in in my mind. In my opinion, it is not something you want to live by.

Craig 15:21

No. I d I definitely agree. Yeah, and that I mean, as uh inappropriate as your example was, it really does show that um like if you do any kind of digging, you do any kind of watching of TV, you're gonna see the sexualization of um of women of uh and the the desire that they're placing I guess they're feeding off of the sexual desire that we're given as men uh to sell their products, uh which is a dirty move as far as I'm concerned. But um I mean it it works, right? Um the so yeah, like we were saying, culture defines manhood by strength, money, dominance, sexual conquests, like we just talked about, success and uh status. So with that, um I heard this week that the the enemy really only has three things that he can throw at us uh for temptation and everything everything that we struggle with kind of stems off of these three things. So number one is lust of the flesh, which is the desire to feel. So think about your drugs, your alcohol, your pornography, and and sexual temptations and things like that. We've got lust of the eyes, number two is the desire to have. So um the Bible calls this covetousness, uh,

Identity Reframed In Christ

Craig 16:56

wanting what your neighbor has. You know, you see Colton talked about trucks. So you see your buddy with a a nicer truck, or or even even in the church, uh, a friend at church drives a new vehicle and they're they're happy to get a new vehicle, and you're like, oh man, what I wouldn't give to have a new vehicle like they do, right? That kind of thing. And then number three, you have pride of life, which is that status and the the title. You're chasing after a title, you're chasing after success, um, monetary success, you're looking for authority over people, um you're looking for to look better to others around you, basically. So, um, yeah, those are the three things I think um well I heard this on a on a podcast, preparing for this podcast. So um kind of uh kind of a uh weird um I don't know what you call that. It's uh what's that show called? It's Twilight Zone. A Twilight Zone kind of deal. A podcast within a podcast within a podcast. Anyway, so yeah. Um I like do you have any comments about those things?

Colton 18:14

Um it's funny because I th like when you're talking about lust, uh I've heard this actually a lot. That lust and and pornography and that kind of stuff is the only um I think it's the only sin that's like against your body, right? Yeah as a man.

Craig 18:38

And uh against your you you're sitting against yourself. Like if you're yeah um you know, I don't know who's gonna listen to this, but if you're if you're masturbating, if you're you're looking at pornography, stuff like that. Um that it like you're sitting against your your own flesh as well. Like you said, yeah. Yeah for sure.

Colton 19:01

Well, and it just it teaches us as men, uh you know, the Bible is pretty clear on how we're to treat our wives, how we're to treat women, and and that's wrong when it comes to you know, again, some of these commercials or what the world is showing us is just it it teaches us as men to um I guess objectify women, right? We don't treat them the way they deserve, uh they just become an object to our need, to our time of need. It's just something that we look for when we need something. But you know, for myself raising three young boys, it's like, man, I I don't want my boys learning that, I don't want them to treat women like that, right? Women are they're special. God gave women to us to um to love, to provide for, to take care of, not to not to objectify and uh you know make them something that pleases you in the moment, sort of a thing, right? So yeah, lust I I think is a big one. And again, the problem is it's it's everywhere, right? You open your phone, you open your your iPad. I mean, even walking through the store, some of the pictures they have on the on the magazines and stuff are it's just asking for trouble, right? But yeah, I that's kind of my comment on that. Um what you were talking about there, Craig.

Craig 20:32

Yeah, and that's that's almost a whole topic in itself, really.

Colton 20:36

Oh, it's it could be, yeah.

Craig 20:38

Yeah, like uh like you were saying earlier uh before we hit record here, it's like starting to study for this and diving into these kind of topics, it's like, man, there is so much to this, and the scriptures full so full of answers. And especially if you have one of these honking study bibles like I do, there's scripture references upon scripture references upon scripture references, so you can just keep going and going and going down a rabbit hole. And I mean it's not a bad thing, but it it makes it kind of hard when you're you got a week to prepare for for this uh this topic, right? And then um you're gonna be uh like for myself, I was like, oh man, I am running out of time, I need to get stuff together here. But yeah, so like now that we've talked about uh what we think um a man looks like from the world's eyes, the next question is what if true manhood looks completely different in God's eyes, right? And so I'll just read here uh Genesis 127 says so God created man in his own image. In the image of God he created them, male and female, he created them. So we as men and women are created in God's image, and we have inherent value just in that. And um that's pretty cool to me. And in 2 Corinthians 5 17, it also says that if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. So in Christ, we uh through him we can get away from some of these things. I mean, we are still human, but uh with his help we can we can shift our focus towards him rather than the conquests of the world, so to speak.

Colton 22:38

Yeah, no, I a hundred percent agree with that. I

Pharaoh Versus Moses: Pride Or Surrender

Colton 22:41

um there's something actually I want to talk about a little bit too. I heard uh on my way home, I think it was on my way home from work today, actually, uh they were talking about how we're supposed to love, right? Love love your family, love your enemies, but love them to the point where you'd be willing to give your life up for them. Right? As men, I think that's kind of that's part of what we're called to as Christian men. Um you know, and and Craig, like I said, I know we were talking about this before we uh we started recording here, but even for the people listening, like one question that's been on my mind that I'd like to share with you because it's really like it's kind of changed my way of thinking the last while is if you woke up tomorrow and God told you that today was the day that you were gonna die, you're gonna meet some guy in town and he was going to take your life because of your faith in Christ, would you would you say, Okay, Lord, you know, I trust you or would you turn and run the other way? And I've really been wrestling with that question myself because I think as a Christian man that that answer should be a very clear yes. Um we get attracted to the things of the world, and you know, uh we've never been to heaven, we re can read about it, but we've never been there, so it's in a sense it's kind of a little bit of the unknown, right? Something that that we don't fully understand, right? So um, yeah, for those listening, like that's a question I've been thinking about. I wanted to share that with you and um just give you something to think about through the week here, too. Um I I think that's a question that could really draw us closer to Christ, right? I mean, Jesus gave his life for us, he didn't want to, right? You read in the Bible, he sweat, or um how did that go again? I think he sweat blood, right? He was so uh anxious about going to the cross, right? He didn't want to die.

Craig 24:52

No, yeah, and that's like I think where's it found? Uh you can look for that. But um I'm gonna take a look here, yeah. Yeah, I'll speak a little bit. The um I think I forget where I saw it, but the there's a scientific study on that, and um scientific it's scientifically proven that you like you can be stressed out so much that you sweat blood, which is absolutely insane to me. I've never been that stressed out, thankfully.

Colton 25:26

Um I yeah, I can't believe the stress that would put on a person.

Craig 25:31

No. And um to your point, what you were saying with the question if you knew that you were gonna go meet somebody today in town and and you knew that they were gonna take your life, if God was like, hey, today's the day, would you go or would you stay? Um the I forget where this is, but um what comes to mind is for me to to live is Christ and to die is gain, right? So I mean uh all the things of this world will pass away. Um but God is eternal and and whether whether you agree with it or not, the spiritual realm is eternal as well. So once you pass away from here, there's two places that you can go to spend eternity. You can spend eternity in hell, uh eternally separated from God, or you can spend eternity in heaven with God, um as co-heirs with Christ, uh to the throne, right?

Colton 26:46

Yeah, absolutely. Uh okay, I did I did find this verse here. It's Luke chapter 22, verse 44. It says, And being in anguish, he prayed more earnestly, and his sweat was like drops of blood falling to the ground. Right. So, I mean, he gave his life for us, and like I said, he he was anxious, he prayed that God would take the cup from him, but that his will would be done. And I think that's such a perfect example as men of how we are meant to be, right? If if it really came down to it and we are supposed to give our life uh for our family, um even as I'd go as far as saying, you know, the Bible says love our enemies too, right? So I'd go as far as saying giving your life for your enemies. Like, is that something we as Christians are are willing to do for Jesus, you know, for the truth? I think that's something we should be willing to do, but like I said, it's it's not always easy, right? We get attracted to the things of the world and we're like, ah, I don't want to die. You know, I have a family, I have this, I have that. But I think that's something that we really need to chew on for sure.

Craig 28:00

I think so too. Yeah, it's something we need to prepare for, especially as men. Um the you know, the Bible also says uh I think I don't know if you brought this up yet or not, but the Bible tells us as husbands to love our wives as Christ loved the church in that he died for us. Right? We should be we should definitely be willing to die for our wives and for our family, and 100% for the truth as well. And um, yeah, on that note, I'm gonna transition to um what I want to talk about now is Pharaoh versus Moses, and we're gonna look at pride versus surrender. So um I did a little bit of research on who this pharaoh character might be in a historical sense, like documented history outside of the Bible. And what I found, this this could be wrong. Uh I'm again not a scholar, not a historical scholar, not a biblical scholar, but uh the most likely pharaoh that it could have been is uh Amenhotep the second. And so he continued his father's uh military campaigns and uh is known for his athleticism. He's considered one of Egypt's most powerful warrior pharaohs. Uh this is a legacy inherited by his father because his father, who was Tutmos the Third, uh, he was also a warrior pharaoh. And uh Tutmos the Third is also a possible pharaoh in in The time of the Exodus, but Amintep II, uh his reign lines up better with the expected dates of the Exodus, which in my research is roughly in the year 1446 BC is when the Exodus would have been. Um so that that's a cool little history tidbit for you guys. Um so we'll talk about Pharaoh first, with his uh uh with his identity. So uh his identity is built on power and control and pride, right? And so in Exodus uh nine twelve, Exodus chapter nine, verse twelve says, but the Lord hardened Pharaoh's heart, and just as the Lord had predicted to Moses, Pharaoh refused to listen. Um so the Lord talking to Moses in preparation for approaching th uh Pharaoh, he he told Moses that this this was gonna happen, like Pharaoh is gonna reject you, right? And uh I thought this was really interesting. In a read the footnote for chapter nine, verse twelve. Uh God gave Pharaoh many opportunities to heed Moses' warnings, but finally God seemed to say, Alright, Pharaoh, have it your way. And Pharaoh's heart became permanently hardened. Did God intentionally harden Pharaoh's heart and overrule his free will? No. He simply confirmed that Pharaoh freely chose a life of resisting God. Similarly, after a lifetime of resisting God, you may find it impossible to turn to him. Don't wait until just the right time before turning to God. Do it now while you still have a chance. If you continually ignore God's voice, eventually you will be unable to hear it at all. So I thought that was a really good uh footnote there in the study Bible, and then with that came to my mind Romans one twenty-four to twenty five, which Colton can now read.

Colton 32:21

Yeah, all right. Therefore God gave them over in the sinful desires of their hearts to sexual impurity for the degrading of their bodies with one another. They exchanged the truth about God for a lie, and worshipped and served created things rather than the Creator, who is forever praised. Amen.

Craig 32:38

So with that, um Pharaoh was against God, and so God gave him over to his um being against the Lord and and worshiping other gods and living for himself, and so God just said, Okay, you can you can do you and and I'll do me. So here we go with the plagues kind of thing. Um so the the ten plagues I found out were after they line up with ten Egyptian gods of that day as well. So in the study notes as well for in the in the study bible here it talks about the the ten gods and the ten plagues. So as each

David And Goliath: Confidence Reimagined

Craig 33:40

gloomy plague descended upon the land, the Egyptian people realized how powerless their own gods were to stop it. Happy, the god of the Nile River, could not prevent the waters from turning to blood. Hathor, the crafty cow goddess, was helpless as Egyptian livestock died in droves. Amen Re, the sun god, and chief of the Egyptian gods, could not stop an eerie darkness from covering the land for three full days. The Egyptian gods were not personal, centering around images like the sun or the river, they were numerous, not exclusive, any and all could be worshipped. By contrast, the god of the Hebrews was one living, personal being, the only true God, and the only God who would be worshipped. God oh my, God was proving to both the Hebrews and the Egyptians that he alone was the living and all powerful God.

Colton 34:46

I think basically what we're pulling out of that, like the only thing I'd say is uh, you know, qualities that the Bible is calling us to that we've kind of covered so far, um, I think is is loyalty, right? Being loyal to God, like we said, if if he calls us to follow him, that means, you know, even if we know that that's what's gonna kill us, we need to stay loyal to God as men, right? God needs to be number one. Um, I think like what you just talked about there too, Craig, um being like having God again as your number one and just serving him, making sure that we don't have any other gods beside him, right? Our God is a jealous God, and uh he will deal with us according to our sins, right? He will discipline us as well. So I think what you said there, Craig, is just having God as your number one, right? Um also I think God calls us to be selfless as well, right? Put ourselves last, put our families first. Uh well, God first in our families, right? But putting others in front of ourselves is uh something that the Bible and God calls us to as well. So I do have a few verses here I was going to share. I think you had a little bit more you were gonna go through yet the way, Greg.

Craig 36:05

Yeah, I was uh so uh my last thing on Pharaoh is uh just a note that in Exodus one, um, you can see that he's insecure, he's threatened, he made the Israelites slaves, he commanded the midwives to kill all baby boys of the Israelites, um, and then obviously enter Moses, right? Uh he was put in a basket for fear of being killed uh by his mother, like his mother feared him being killed. Um he was found found by Pharaoh's daughter, so this pharaoh would have been the previous pharaoh to to this Amenhotep or whatever, it would have been his father because um after Moses grew up, uh he killed one of the Egyptian slave drivers, and then he ran, right? Uh and then when God called him back, it was a it was a new pharaoh. Everyone that uh was trying to kill Moses was gone at that point. So uh back to Moses as a baby, Pharaoh's daughter uh found him, right? Uh adopted and raised him. God rewarded Moses' mother for saving him in that she was able to nurse him as well, like Moses' mother took him and was able to nurse him, and then when he was able to eat uh on his own or whatever, he was big enough, then then he went to Pharaoh's daughter. And um, yeah, so th the other note I already said, like this would have been the previous pharaoh, uh, possibly Thutmos the third, um, if Amenhotep II was the Pharaoh of the Exodus. So um yeah, you can expand on what you have there as well, and then after that, then we can go into Moses, unless you want to do that now, it's up to you.

Colton 38:09

Yeah, we can go through Moses and then I'll just touch on my points at the end here. I I just had a couple different uh things, a couple different verses and stuff I was gonna just briefly touch on. Like I say, there's there's a lot to unpack here. Um definitely not gonna unpack it all in just one part uh one episode, but we're gonna do our best to touch on a few different points yet as well.

Craig 38:33

Right. Uh yeah, in the uh in the aspect of time here, I will I won't read these verses, but I will give you guys the references. So, like I said already, um let me back up a little bit here. Moses' identity uh is shaped by calling, obedience, and humility. Uh so God came to him in a burning bush to give instruction in Exodus chapter three. And at first Moses doubted that he can even do what God is asking him to do, right? And he felt unqualified. He said he wasn't well spoken, he got tongue-tied, um and he he actually pleaded with God. He said, Send anyone else. Like he did not want to go. He he thought that he was totally unqualified, and then God got frustrated and angry, and and he said to him, Well, what about your brother Aaron? We'll we'll I'll send him with you, like take him with you, he will be your mouthpiece. Tell him exactly what I told you, he's well spoken. Um that's Exodus uh 4, 14 to 16 is where I found that. And then eventually, Moses and Aaron were obedient uh and did do exactly what God asked, and obviously they were they were rewarded for that. They were able to get the Israelites out of Egypt um after the ten plagues, and we know the story. Pharaoh uh chased them with his army and and uh he died in a bath. Yeah, part of the red they yeah, the Israelites went through and then uh and and the Pharaoh and and his army and chariots all came came through there where they crossed on dry land and then God closed up the the Red Sea again and and they were all killed. And you can look this up historically, there's actual physical evidence that there's chariots at the bottom of the sea. So that's cool.

unknown 40:56

Yep.

Colton 40:57

Anyway, I always thought that was actually pretty neat. Yeah, it's so I was gonna go ahead.

Craig 41:03

Sorry, I was just gonna say, like, when I was younger, I thought, like, oh yeah, that's kind of a cool Bible story. But like as I get older and do some more research and more of this stuff comes out, and uh biblical historians are are actually excavating these things and finding physical historical evidence that does prove the Bible is true, I think you just can't um you just can't deny it.

Colton 41:29

So no, I would a hundred percent agree. I think that's a good point you touched on too. Like being obedient to Jesus and what he calls us to, that's very important. Um something that just came to mind is uh the story of Jonah and the whale, right? He didn't want to listen to God, so he didn't. He got on a boat and he was gonna go the other direction, right? But God, you know, created a big storm. He told the other sailors and the guys on the boat to throw him overboard because he knew he was a cause. He knew he wasn't listening, he was being disobedient. So they threw him overboard. He got swallowed by a big fish, as the Bible says, and he spent three days in the belly of a fish until he agreed to be obedient to God. And so I think again, that's another thing that we are called to as Christian men is to be obedient. Um, and that's a that's a really good story and and a good way to put it there too, Craig. I had a couple verses here I was gonna share, just to touch on a couple other things as Christian men that we uh that we are called to. Um again, time-wise, I don't know that I'll be able to read all of the verses I had written down here, but I'd like to touch on a few. Uh Colossians 3.19. So this one is kind of what we were talking about before, like how to treat your wife, how to love them. Uh Colossians 3.19 says, Husbands, love your wives and do not be harsh with them. Right? I think it's interesting because actually the verse before that talks about wives, submit yourselves to your husbands as is fitting in the Lord. And then it says husband, it doesn't say husbands, submit to your wives, it says husbands love your wives. I think that's interesting how they use two different words for the man and the woman, right? I think love is something that we as as men sometimes struggle with. Right. I I know sometimes I do.

Craig 43:30

I definitely do. Yeah, I can uh perfect, right? I can I can talk about these things and say that like well, why like we're doing right now, but then you know I can uh yeah later on I can you know talk to my wife harshly or or talk to my children harshly. And um I think yeah, like you said, biblically, that's not the right thing to do.

Colton 43:55

So um nope. It's actually funny. Before we started this, Brienne. So for those of you who don't know, Brienne is my wife. We were uh talking upstairs before we started recording, and she says to me, She's like, So, like you're talking about like joy and that kind of stuff, but sometimes you come home and you're not very joyful. Like, no, I know, I'm I'm not perfect, right? Ask my wife, she'll tell you I'm I'm nowhere near perfect.

Craig 44:25

Yeah, they're they're our wives are a very good litmus test uh of the kind of men we actually are. So um men if you wanna if you want to know the honest answer of what kind of man you are, don't ask our wife. No, do ask your wife. Do ask your wife. She'll tell you. No, don't ask our wives. No, don't ask our wives. Don't ask for us. Ask your own wives, and they'll tell you what kind of man you are.

Colton 44:57

Anyways, right. Um, like we said at the beginning, we're here to learn with you. That's right. Yeah, we're all imperfect.

Craig 45:04

Um where something to think about is in our lives, like we were just talking about, where do we still act like Pharaoh? Right? Where are we still trying to be in control and we're not giving that up to God, and we're we're not being humble and we're not uh following him as we should. And how can we learn to lead from surrender like Moses did? Um those are definitely some things to think about uh throughout the rest of the week. I mean, we could unpack that too, but we're um we could spend hours on this probably, so I think what we should do is move on to David versus Goliath.

Colton 45:53

Yeah, look at uh my mind a lot.

Craig 45:56

Yeah, I know it has for for you. Yeah, we've had multiple conversations. So um David had courage

Modern Goliaths And Living By Faith

Craig 46:05

rooted in faith. This will look at confidence in God versus confidence in self with David versus Goliath. Um we look at first Samuel 17. I'd like to go over Goliath first and his his confidence in his own ability and uh this first Samuel seventeen verses four to seven uh really paint a good picture of a description for him. So uh starting in verse four here, then Goliath, a Philistine champion from Goth, came out of the Philistine ranks to face the forces of Israel. He was over nine feet tall, he wore a bronze helmet and bra a bronze coat of mail weighing one hundred and twenty five pounds. He also wore bronze leg armor and he carried a bronze javelin on his shoulder. The shaft of his spear was as heavy and thick as a weaver's beam, tipped with an iron spearhead that weighed fifteen pounds, so that's just the spearhead itself was fifteen pounds. His armor bearer walked ahead of him carrying a shield. So it was a that was a big man. He would have been a big burly, like I mean, you've seen I don't know if you've seen it or not, but uh the scene in the uh I don't think it's the chosen, I think it's uh the life of David. Um yeah, like Goliath is a monster man and and uh yeah, he's a pretty big dude. So that also ties in with our uh what we talked about earlier with the the worldly description of what a man looks like. This guy's a big, tall, burly dude, right? Um that's often what the world wants us to think we need to be like and strive to be like. Um but in the next couple verses here we find we find Goliath being very ungodly. He's taunting, he's being cocky, he's super confident in his own abilities, thinking that he's gonna defeat um the whoever the Israelites send out, right? He's not afraid. So starting in verse eight, Goliath stood and shouted a taunt across to the Israelites. Why are you all coming out to fight? He called, I am the Philistine champion, but you are only the servants of Saul. Choose one man to come down here and fight me. If he kills me, then he will we will be your slaves, but if I kill him, you will be our slaves. I defy the armies of Israel today, send me the man who will fight me. When Saul and the Israelites heard this, they were terrified and deeply shaken. I think that might be what you were talking about earlier. Sh shaking in their boots.

Colton 49:40

Yeah.

Craig 49:41

Yeah, right.

Colton 49:42

That's what I was thinking about.

Craig 49:45

Yeah. Uh let's see.

Colton 49:49

It's interesting too, actually. I I wanted to touch on a point here uh later on in the in the chapter there. I think it's verse 16 here. It says, for forty days the Philistine came forward every morning and evening and took his stand. So for forty days, not a single person stood up.

Craig 50:08

No, that's right.

Colton 50:09

Like you say, they were all they were all shaking, like terrified, you know, this monster of a man, and nobody nobody would fight him. They were all afraid that they were gonna get killed from this guy.

Craig 50:21

Right. Um Yeah, that's right. I had something wrote down here, but it's not lining up with um. Oh, maybe this is it. I think I just wrote the wrong reference down. So the uh the study Bible footnote here for um chapter 17, verse nine, it says an army often avoided the high cost of battle by pitting its strongest warriors against the strongest warrior of the enemy. This avoided great bloodshed because the winner of the fight was considered the winner of the battle. Goliath had the definite advantage against David from a human standpoint, but Goliath didn't realize that in fighting David he was also fighting God. So I thought that was a good point.

Colton 51:16

Yeah. Well, and I was gonna touch on that too, like when David uh he was out tending the sheep, and then he his father calls him to go see his brothers, make sure they're doing okay, right? And uh he walks up right as Goliath stands out and he's shouting out over the over the battlefield, and David looks and says, you know, who is this that defies the army of the living God, right? He doesn't look at it as man versus man, like David's a man of God. Um God's helped him defeat the line, he's helped him defeat the bear when he was tending the sheep, right? They'd run off of the sheep, and he struck down the bear, and he struck down the lion. And and David knew the power that he had in in Jesus, that he was given through God. And uh I I just I absolutely love that verse. Like, that's my favorite part of that story. It's where he walked out and he's like, Who is this that defies the army of the living God? Like that just I think that's so cool that he can say that and he's got that much faith, right? But the thing is, he's like I said, he was tending the sheep, right? He uh I I think he'd be the last person anybody would expect to go out and and defeat this giant of a man. You know? Right. And uh the Bible kind of explains him as still being just a boy.

Craig 52:38

Right, yeah, he's just he's just a young man. And uh like his brothers even said, like when he when he went out to the when he went out to like the the battle lines, like the front lines of battle or whatever, and all the all the guys are standing there, and like you said, uh he's like asking, like, what the what's the deal? Like, why isn't every anyone fighting? And and his brothers said, like, what are you doing here? Like, why are you even here? Like you just wanted to be here at the front lines of battle, but that that's not why he came. He came to bring food for his brothers, and then he's like, Well, why isn't anyone standing up? And and who is this man that defies our God? Like, um, I have I have a couple uh verse sections here also, so um I think I might touch with these on what you kinda already said, but I'll read them anyway. Um chapter seventeen in first Samuel uh thirty two to thirty seven uh David says don't worry about this Philistine Er Yeah, David says this to Saul. I'll go fight him. Don't be ridiculous, Saul replied. There's no way you can fight this Philistine and possibly win. You're only a boy, and he's been a man of war since his youth. But David persisted. I have been taking care of my father's sheep and goats, he said, When a lion or bear comes to steal a lamb from the flock, I go after it with a club and rescue the lamb from its mouth. If the animal turns on me, I catch it by the jaw and club it to death. I have done this to both lions and bears, and I'll do it to this pagan Philistine too. For he has defied the armies of the living God, like you said, the Lord who rescued me from the claws of the lion and the bear will rescue me from this Philistine. So he's got confidence for sure. Um I mean I'll I'll talk about this a little bit later, but um he I believe he's got the confidence. Well, for one, he's seen God rescue him from the lions and the bears. He knows what the Lord is capable of. And uh in the previous chapter, uh at this point, he's already anointed as the next king, right? Um so uh he also refuses to wear Saul's armor, it's too bulky. Um so he goes out armed with five smooth stones and a sling. Um before I go there, I'm gonna go to the uh apparently that's not a thing. I won't go there. Where did I get these notes from? Who did this? Uh uh, let's see here. Um So this talks about the Lord's battle forty-three to forty-seven. Am I a dog? he roared at David, so this is talking about Goliath. Uh that you came at me with a stick and he cursed David by the name of his gods. Come over here and I'll give your flesh to the birds and wild animals, Goliath yelled. David replied to the Philistine, You come to me

Recap, Next Steps, And A Prayer

Craig 56:16

with a sword, spear, and javelin, but I come to you in the name of the Lord of heaven's armies, the god of the armies of Israel whom you have defied. Today the Lord will conquer you, and I will kill you and cut off your head, and then I will give the dead bodies of your men to the birds and wild animals, and the whole world will know that there is a God in Israel, and everyone assembled here will know that the Lord rescues his people, but not with sword and spear. This is the Lord's battle, and he will give you to us. So he's uh he's got faith that the the Lord will like relinquish them uh to them. Um this study note here says David was able to move faster than Goliath because David carried no heavy equipment or armor. David was an expert marksman with a sling, and as he advanced on Goliath he stayed out of range of Goliath's huge weapons. What made David effective, however, was more than his ability with a sling. It was his courage and his faith in God. To fight like David, we need David's kind of fearlessness. David had grown strong in his confidence by trusting God when he had encountered wild animals while guarding his father's sheep. When you face towering problems, recall how God has helped you in the past, take heart because God gives you strength, use the skills God has already given you, and move forward. So that was uh that's also a good note, I think.

Colton 58:06

Um yeah, well, and I think like again, as as men of Christ, it's important, like you said, to be faithful, right? To know who we are in Christ, to know the power that we have because of the Holy Spirit in us, and to stand firm on what we believe and the God that we serve. Right. I think as men we are we are called to trust him, right?

Craig 58:30

Right. Um the next thing I was gonna mention, I won't uh I have the verses wrote down, but I won't go to them um again for the sake of time here. Um I wanted to note and stress to you guys that I kind of alluded to this already, but we have the David of 1 Samuel chapter 17 because of his anointing in 1 Samuel 16. Um so in chapter 16, verse 7, the Lord tells um tells Samuel that he that man judges the outward appearance, God judges the heart. Um and Samuel goes through seven of Jesse's sons uh before he ran out of sons. He the Lord's like, No, that's not the one, no, that's not the one, no, that's not the one, no, that's not the one. And so Samuel says to Jesse, Is that it? Like, the Lord's saying these are not the guys, so what do we do here? And uh Jesse says, Well, there's one more, he's out tending the sheep. So Samuel says, Go fetch him, and we're not gonna sit down until he gets back. Which is kind of crazy. I don't know how far out he was, but you know, they didn't have vehicles and side by sides and stuff like that to just go off to the the the far corner of the the quarter section or whatever it was, right? Um yeah, we're pretty spoiled nowadays. Yeah, that's right. Um and then David gets there and God's like, Yes, this is the one anoint him and um in verse thirteen it says that the spirit of the Lord came upon him like powerfully came powerfully upon him. So because of that I think that's also like you can see the trend here. David probably didn't fully see it but we can see it looking back at it that like God had a plan for David. He's like this is not your time to die. You're gonna you're gonna defeat this guy and I got a plan for you. So um but that's kind of cool.

Colton 1:00:50

I think in the midst of our struggles as men we also have to just lean on our um lean on our understanding of who God is and that he's in control and he's gonna take care of us the same way he took care of David I was just saying he's always got a plan that we may not see that's that's where faith comes in right we as men just have to trust that that God will lead us and take us where we need to be exactly yeah so uh couple questions for you guys to think about is how do we fight our modern Goliath?

Craig 1:01:31

Like if we're gonna step into David's shoes of of faith and drop fear like modern Goliath I guess one is fear uh insecurity temptations um how do we do that through faith and uh just think about what what's an example in your life where you had to trust God beyond your own understanding um similar to what David did I think myself this is anytime that there's like a step out in faith question or anything like that I just think back to our mission trip to Africa originally I said yeah we're gonna do it and uh it was like the date was drawing near we had to be buying tickets and stuff like that and we did not have the funds and I had I told the guy I'm like I don't think I don't think we can do it. I don't think we're gonna be able to do it and uh so I was like I I was disappointed but I'm like I I guess it's just not gonna happen this time but the Lord told me he's like no you're going tell him you're going just trust me I've got this and so like that was the I think that was one of the first times that I really remember God truly speaking to me in a powerful way like that and and I it was a struggle but I trusted him.

Colton 1:03:01

I'm like okay Lord like I definitely cannot do this by myself so um we did a little bit more fundraising and we had we had more than enough uh to go on that trip and and he really he really did provide for us so um I don't know if you have a story like like that of uh an example where you had to trust the Lord beyond your own strength and understanding oh man uh I have a lot of stories where God has intervened in my life big time where uh I don't even know where to begin like so the last couple years we got out of operating right and and that for me was uh a big thing we weren't making a whole lot of money and you know my wife and I both we look at each other now we're like we have no idea how we made it right um I'm not gonna go too much into it because next week I think we're gonna be talking a little bit about our testimonies and so a lot of what we're talking about today is going to kind of tie into next week there um but you know even with our current job the way God really opened the door right we were at a place where like man if we don't find a job soon where we start making a little more money like we're gonna have to start selling stuff or you know things just aren't going to look very good. And uh it's really cool actually the way God opened the door. And that'll that'll be a story I I discuss with you guys next week like I say but um little teaser. Yeah it it yeah exactly something to look forward to for next week. Yeah right but yeah it it's cool to just have that faith to pray and know that God's maybe not going to answer you the way that you want him to but he will answer you. Absolutely so some of the stuff we've touched on like we said uh loyalty and selflessness um just like Jesus right the fact that he died on the cross for our sins we should be willing to do the same thing so as men I believe we're called to be selfless we are called to be protectors of our families um protectors of the people around us we are called to love as Jesus loved and we are called to be good workers and willing to sacrifice we're called to be courageous faithful right and again these aren't we're not going to cover everything all in in one episode there is a lot to unpack on what God calls us to as men but some of these are just what we've touched on like I say in the future we will dig into these a little bit more in future episodes uh we'll kind of pick them apart and uh go through them and and see what they mean on a deeper level. Yeah so that's kind of a just a bit of a recap of what we've discussed today. Like I say next week we'll be doing a bit of our testimonies that should tie in nicely with what we've talked about today. You know we'll we just think this way at least you guys kind of know who we are a little more and we can discuss the impact that biblical men had on our life. And that way it just it gives everybody a better understanding of why it's so important to raise up biblical men, especially in this day and age I I feel like the world lacks that and so that's our goal for next week we're gonna go through some of that and then we're gonna start digging into some of these qualities that the Bible calls us to as men right yeah I think and that does tie in with our whole theme of this thing right that's exactly why we're doing this is is because yeah just we'll talk about it in our testimonies but thinking back to uh some of the spiritual the male spiritual leaders in my life that were an impact and helped build a foundation for where I'm at today um I mean there's there's obviously some things that I could have done differently but in that um being willing to um being willing to do what the Lord has called us to do and also now in this next season of life being that uh spiritual mentor for other younger men or uh even laterally uh men that are similar age at every stage of life there's there's gonna be men that are further along than you um I mean the the word elder in I think in original Greek or Hebrew it actually just meant beard like it literally means beard uh and so basically if you if you can't grow a beard you shouldn't be a leader no there there's some genetic no no no you're good you you're just uh I need some development we're a work in progress yeah we're a work in progress yeah but there's uh yeah there's some there I'm sure there's some guys in your life that would love to um that would love for you to ask questions uh you know they're further along in life they're further along in their spiritual journey and and they're a little wiser than you might be so uh just humble yourself and ask those questions and also don't think that you have not had enough lived experience to we're reach down and um and mentor some younger men as well and that's where I'm at I know I had yeah um again this'll I'll touch on this in my testimony but uh there's some younger men that I have taught in the church and they're older now like one of them's graduated and they seems like they adore me but anyway their dad had told me like in this in this men's ministry for myself he's like you have a way with these younger men and not to forget that so uh that's something that's been on my mind lately as well and uh yeah we'll touch on that a little bit more in our test in our testimony side of things oops we just want to make it clear for everybody to like like Craig said our our goal here is to just teach people about Jesus you know and and if you're listening and you don't have a relationship with Jesus right now I would ask you with all my heart open the Bible read it um it is the most important decision you will ever make in your life I promise and Jesus will not let you down right I know a lot of people think you know us as Christians sometimes are are crazy for what we believe but guys this life is short and in Jesus we have hope right you read the Bible and and you start praying Jesus will reveal himself to you he's given us the Holy Spirit and he'll speak to you through his word the thing I just like I say I I ask with all my heart that you guys would at least consider um turning to God and just learning to have a relationship with him right he's he's waiting for you he loves all people doesn't matter what you've done in your life like I say this life is short and and once it's over um it's over you know the Bible speaks about two places we have to go after we pass on from this life and so I just uh again our our goal is to share the word with you guys share the love of Christ and Craig and I both are here you know if you guys have questions you want to talk like we said at the beginning we don't want to be here just for a podcast we want to be intentional right you guys need a phone call you guys need someone to talk to we're here we want to help so just let us know if there's anything you guys have on your mind uh in the meantime um again I just ask that maybe you guys you know if you don't have a Bible maybe go pick one up and start reading it and just see how God can transform your life yeah agreed um yeah that's something we do want to stress uh reach out to us if you if you want to talk if you have questions um we're definitely here to to chat and this is again this is that's the whole point of this is uh I mean as best we can it's a it's an opportunity to disciple as well like I know there's I mean it's crazy looking at the stats that uh there's there's listeners all across Alberta already with the first episode into BC and even into the states which is much farther than I had ever expected this to go especially right at the beginning uh so thank you guys for sharing and thank you guys for listening uh really appreciate that but um definitely with the guys in the c in in our community that we know uh we know you're listening and we care about you uh if you have our phone numbers text us call us if not then uh there is a text us option in the show notes so we'd love to hear from you but in closing before we get too carried away and go too long because I'm sure we could just keep going forever and ever amen but yeah in closing I want to ask you guys something uh for you to think about this week so are you living like Pharaoh or are you living like Moses?

Craig 1:13:08

Are you living like Goliath or are you living like David? And um I mean take I I should have said this at the beginning, but um go back and listen. Take notes write down the scripture references go study this for yourself you guys and and you can really see the scripture come to life and it will just it will just speak to you. It spoke to me while I was studying and uh it'll just pray pray while you study that the Lord would open your eyes uh to the two areas in your life that you can improve and then you can become a more godly man and uh that's our prayer for you guys as well as us and that's kind of why we're here.

Colton 1:13:52

So um yeah I'd like to say too with us just starting out the first couple podcasts we might be a little bit a little bit choppy and you know it's like we say this is a big learning curve for us too uh we want to learn with you guys and um hopefully over time you know our our biggest prayer is that the Holy Spirit would speak through us right this isn't um to glorify us this is to glorify God and so we want we just want to make sure that everything we're doing is is what God is calling us to do and that uh he's working through this how'd I say that we're gonna throw this in us I think yeah that sounds good something like that yeah but yeah just that God would use us to be able to reach um other people right that he'd work in us and and be able to use us in that way right so just uh yeah be patient with us while while we learn and and study for ourselves and kind of you know work out the little bumps and things that we have but um yeah just be patient with us and and uh we just continue to pray that God would lead and guide us in this and um yeah be able to bring a message that can impact all of us.

Craig 1:15:08

Amen to that um I think that's a I guess uh since you uh I guess you didn't open the podcast in prayer but you prayed for us before the podcast uh the Lord would speak through us and you you prayed for us last time so I'll uh I'll pick up the baton and I'll pray for us this time in closing I I'm like Moses I don't uh I don't have words my my tongue gets tied so be gracious that's why we have the Holy Spirit yeah that's right and editing no I was kidding yeah all right uh father I just thank you so much for the ability and the opportunity that we could even do this uh together as um brothers in Christ and and as family members as well and Lord I I just thank you for laying um a passion for for the men in our communities on our hearts and uh Lord I just pray that we would be good stewards of that uh that Colton and I would um continue to seek your will in what we do here and what we do through this podcast. And Lord I just speak I just pray that you would speak through us to the people um to the men that listen to this. And Lord I know that it it's not just men listening to uh there's women as well and Lord I pray for them too and um as they seek to try and find out what what they should be expecting in a man I pray that um pray that they would also study your word and um I pray for the men that they would study your word for themselves and and not use us as as the gospel but truly go to the word for answers um in their own time. And Lord I just thank you for the example of David's life and what you did in in his life and and through his faith in you and and his courage that you gave him and um the defeating of Goliath and just thank you for that example of the two contrasting um views the the biblical manhood of David and the worldly manhood of Goliath and I just pray that we would be more like David and um Lord as we looked at Moses and Pharaoh as well Lord help us not to chase the things of the world. Help us not to want power and and money and control and pride over you and help us to make you first in our lives and just help us to be obedient when you call us um to yourself and to your works. I just pray that uh you be with the men throughout the week um keep them safe and again I just thank you for this opportunity thank you for this podcast and just pray that you continue to work in us. Praise things in Jesus' name. Amen