Episode Transcript
Speaker 0 00:00:00 So hard times. Create strong men. Strong men create good times, and good times create weak men. And we live in that cycle of history where, where weak men have created hard times for us, and it's going to produce strong men. And it's an honor today to, uh, be with you On episode 1 0 3, I have a special guest, Warren Peterson with Significant Man. And we're gonna discuss some of the problems facing men in our culture today, and also some of the solutions. So welcome out to the Grace House podcast.
Speaker 0 00:00:34 Well, hey, Warren, welcome to, uh, to our World. It was awesome to meet you, uh, a few weeks ago. We just kind of crossed paths. Uh, Zach, our, one of our guys in our culture who, who's really eager to reach out and make new connections, found significant, man. And we really were, I don't know. It was, it, it it's fun to run across passionate people that are Oh, yeah. Advancing the kingdom of God. And you're one of those guys and we really like what you're about and you're books and you're experie experiences you offer. So it's really cool to have you on our, on our episode today, on this podcast. So, welcome. Uh, why don't you introduce yourself. Just tell us a little bit about yourself and we'll get into the show.
Speaker 2 00:01:10 Sure. Yeah. Well, thanks for having me, Brian. I'm look, looking forward to talking with you and, and Sharon, whatever, uh, whatever we can with your audience. So, as you mentioned by name's Warren, uh, I run an organization called Significant Man Ministries. And, uh, we lead live events out here in the mountains of Colorado. And I write a few books from time to time when I can. And on the personal side, married for over 30 years and have five kids from adult down to 15. And, and love living as best I can for God and for my family.
Speaker 0 00:01:42 So how long have you been serving Christ for?
Speaker 2 00:01:45 Oh, gosh, long time. <laugh>. Um, as, as far as an official, uh, official vocation, you know, officially doing this as work that officially began in 2019, I think same year as as your organization did, uh, but do been doing this kind of stuff for a very, very long time. Just, just not officially so, 20 20 19, 2019 was when this officially began as a ministry.
Speaker 0 00:02:11 Well, that's really cool. But how about you personally? How long have you been serving Christ?
Speaker 2 00:02:16 Probably high school would be, would be where I'd go back. Um, had a, had a really great friend in high school who, uh, I wasn't really enjoying church at the time. He invited me to his church and loved going to that church and, and felt, uh, a new move of the spirit that I had never felt before and kind of fell in love there and really had began then, um, fell away for a few years in my twenties as I was determined to do everything on my own and be an entrepreneur and pull myself up from my bootstraps. And I've got everything figured out and realized that doesn't work. And then, and then kind of found my way, found my way back. So, um, it's been been part of me for a long time.
Speaker 0 00:02:56 Well, that's awesome, man. Um, like I said, it's, it's really an, an awesome thing to run into men who are passionate about the kingdom of God. And I wrote on my Facebook profile today, I wrote, um, in a world full of passions via Jeremiah. You know, there is, uh, so much tension between those two and those two different worlds of like kind of doing it in a way, in a way that honors man versus honoring God. So it's really cool to run into guys like you Yeah. Who, uh, are unashamed about the kingdom of God, you know, and who goes strong after it. And so you wrote, you've got three books on your website. Mm-hmm. <affirmative>, you know, your website is, uh, significant man.com and you offer some experiences. But your book, one of your books called Becoming a Significant Man, uh, talks about one of the problems and lies that you, you define as kinda like the successful life. That, that men, men are kind of waived that. So what, what, what kind of problem do you see in our current day culture and society? What pressures are men up against? Yeah. What, what do you kind of see out there?
Speaker 2 00:03:53 So that, that issue is one that has plagued men for centuries, and it will probably continue to plague men for a while. And that is that, that we are driven by success. We're driven by achievement. And so it's so ingrained in our culture, so ingrained in our society that a man has to succeed, has to achieve. And that's how he knows he's a man, right? I've, I've got a certain bank account or a certain house, or, uh, I drive a certain car or a certain truck, and therefore I'm successful. And it doesn't work that way. But unfortunately our society, our entire culture is set up to teach boys and then young men and then men as they're becoming adults, that that's what we're supposed to do. Go earn as much money as you can, build the biggest legacy you can do as much as you can achieve, achieve, achieve.
Speaker 2 00:04:42 And then you'll have stuff figured out. Only the problem is it never works. You, you have a guy who earns a million and then he feels like, well, wait, I really need two <laugh>. And then he earns two, and he is like, I need, I need four. And then he realizes, well, wait, this other guy that I met at a club, he's got 10, right? It, it, there's never enough. We can never achieve enough to fill that hole that we feel in our souls. The only thing that fills it is, is Jesus. The only thing that fills it is following what Jesus taught, following what scripture says. That's the only thing that will, and until we make that shift, there's nothing that we can achieve. No, no amount of success is gonna make us feel okay. And that, that problem, as I mentioned, it's, it's been around for centuries and it's gonna keep going. And I think social media is making it worse where we're seeing and now, now, instead of me comparing myself to my neighbor, you know, keeping up with the Joneses across the street, I'm trying to keep up with, you know, 5,000 quote unquote friends fucking what they're doing.
Speaker 0 00:05:41 So yeah, I, I think
Speaker 2 00:05:42 I see the main problem.
Speaker 0 00:05:44 I have like 2,500 friends on Facebook and I don't even, I don't even know 2000 of 'em probably here. <laugh>. Yep. You know, it's interesting when you say that, when you paint that picture, cuz I think of, uh, the show Shark Tank mm-hmm. <affirmative>, and I know there's, I I don't remember remember the guy's name, but he's, he's uh, always talking about one of the entrepreneurs on there. He is always talking about how he, he's paranoid and how paranoia drives him to just keep on Yeah. Producing wealth, you know? And, uh, I find that, I find that pretty prevalent. I, I do have a good number of millionaire types I'm connected to, and that's one of my challenges to them is like, well dude, when's enough enough? You know, like, right, you just started three more businesses. You, you're r already running three. Like, is that like, when's enough enough?
Speaker 0 00:06:26 You know? And, um, I don't know man, that's, uh, that's a really good, I mean the, the trappings, you know, I I look at, you're right, like social media, like there's so much pressure. Like the guy who has to have a sexy enough wife, right? He's gotta have the big boat, the big car, he's gotta have the big income. It's like there's, that's, that's what social media's, a lot of ads are Dr. Driving us towards the six figure income, seven figure income via seven figure earner. And it's so enticing cuz we kind of wanna be like that. Right, right, right.
Speaker 2 00:06:53 Yeah. Like, we kind of want Yeah, it ends up very enticing because that, that is a, that's a natural driver. And men, we are achievers, we build things, we create things, we accomplish things. That's what we do. And so one of our jobs is as we learn as we go down this path, is how do we, how do we tamp that back a little bit? Or how do we at least do that with a kingdom perspective in a kingdom mindset instead of it's all about me and what I'm creating. And, and even there, sometimes we can run into a trap and I can say, well, um, the reason I want to make seven figures is so I can donate more <laugh>. Like, we'll, we'll sort of throw that out as a, as a reason, as a justification. And it's great to make a lot of money and give it away. Like, never gonna, I'm never gonna talk bad about that. You know, some guy wants to work hard and be the first, you know, 10 figure earner in the family. Cool. Go, go for it. That that's, that's, that's his own thing. I'm not, I'm not arguing against that.
Speaker 0 00:07:48 And if you wanted to donate a million dollars to significant man, you'd be fine with that. Right? <laugh>?
Speaker 2 00:07:52 That would be <laugh>. That would be, yeah. But but that can't be the driver. Right? The, the driver has to be, what's my relationship with Jesus? How am I leading my family? How am I teaching my kids? How, how am I doing at home? Because, you know, you mentioned, you know, some guys who, who earn a lot of money I do as well. And one of the things that we talk about a lot is it doesn't really matter how much money you make if stuff at home isn't right, life isn't right. So you, you can't make enough money to, to cover up a, a broken marriage. You can't make enough money to cover up, I don't know, my kids and they don't know me. Like there, there's no way that you can earn enough to cover those things up. So that has to be where we focus. That has to be the primary is is at home.
Speaker 0 00:08:37 Yeah. So I think of my experience upon Christ, and I could have been an easily seven figure type earner myself. You know, I'm an entrepreneur like you. Um, long time ago I was, you know, when I was 27, I was on my, I was on that path. And I remember when God kind of spoke to me and he was like, I didn't call you to be an entrepreneur for the marketplace. I called you to be an entrepreneur for the church culture. Mm-hmm. And that just totally opened my eyes. I was like, oh, well that, you know, what does that mean? You know? And, and I said, well, if you want me back in that arena open doors, I'm not going to look <laugh>. And, uh, he opened doors and that's what led me to where I am today from 20 years ago. But, uh, you know, there's a power in contentment.
Speaker 0 00:09:16 There's a power in trust. Um, there's a power in, you know, you're talking about becoming a significant man. So this is a problem that men are up against. And you talk about being a, uh, a husband, a good husband, a good father, and a good leader. So, yep. I, that's kind of the strategies in the framework that you present for solutions. So what, what drives your passion, man in these areas of, of, because I think you pointed out really well, like, we are wired to earn, we're wired to provide as part of our God-given, um, you know, assignments and abilities, provide, protect, you know, but, but we're all supposed, are supposed to be there for a while. So how do you offer, what's working for you, man? How are you helping guys today overcome the temptations of this, this world, this temptation we're talking
Speaker 2 00:09:59 About? So I'm, I'm gonna back up to, first, first question you had in there is kind of where, where's the passion? Where, where's this come from? So for me, going down that path of being an entrepreneurial guy and, and trying to earn as much as I can, you know, we had a, we had a big house, you know, p i I had the, the, the privilege of getting flown to Europe to give speeches, you know, and, and, and all those sorts of things. And, um, that all crashed. I don't need to go into that whole story right now, but that, that all crashed and ended up losing everything and was completely penniless and hundreds of thousands of dollars in, in debt. And I had wrapped up my identity in that being a successful entrepreneur, being, being that guy. And so my identity was com completely crushed. And, you know, I, I went through a period of severe depression that spiraled down worse to the point where I was suicidal and had my plan and said goodbye to my wife, said goodbye to my kids. They didn't know why I said goodbye. I was just saying goodbye. And, uh, wasn't able to go through with it, thankfully, <laugh>. And, and that was, that
Speaker 0 00:11:06 Was a good time to be a coward.
Speaker 2 00:11:07 Yeah. That was clearly the, the low point though, um, was that, and, and as I built my way back out of that, and I, and again, even there I sound, you know, like me, me, me, it wasn't me. That was through God's grace, right? As, as I gave my life to him. As I said, okay, you, you're in charge of my life and, and worked, you know, hard to get out of that pit. Um, I realized I needed to help other guys with this who had been going through that. Cuz I, I would help, I would help men with business coaching. Ironically, it was mostly on what not to do. Cuz I could give 'em a lot of good advice on that <laugh>. But I kept my faith to the side. We would just talk straight business. Like, let me take a look at your p and l.
Speaker 2 00:11:49 Let, let's look at some forecasting on, it was just straight, straight business conversations. And I realized, well, this isn't serving them because for me, my faith is my cornerstone, so I need to incorporate that. And, and that was really part of the big shift, uh, quite quite a while ago now, probably 15 years ago, 10, 15 years ago, um, was for faith to become much more front and center of what I do. And even, even then, um, with, with the, the first book that I wrote in, in, in this, in this part of my life, uh, becoming a significant man that was written in 2016, my faith is in there, but it's not front and center. And so, you know, as you, as, as if somebody were to follow along with the books, now, now I have a book out called Jesus Man to Man, which is literally, it couldn't be more front and center.
Speaker 2 00:12:38 That faith is the cornerstone. So my passion to, to go back to that is, is literally being on the edge of taking my own life, uh, leaving my, leaving my family, hoping in my mind that they start over and they have a better path. Wow. To realizing how horribly wrong and misguided that was, and doing whatever I can to help other men, preferably before they hit that low point. Right? That's, that's the goal is, is we don't even want to get to that low point. And, and so that was the kind of the long journey, uh, of getting, of getting there to where I was gonna do that. And for me, the way that, the way that I do that is through the small events primarily, you know, we have books and podcasts and, you know, free resources, just like what you guys have that, that people can take advantage of and they should. But for us it's a, it's an immersion event. We do, we do an event here in, in Colorado. It's, it's Wednesday through Saturday, you know, no, we're out in the mountains, no cell phone service. You're, you're entirely in it. And, and we focus completely on purpose and identity, marriage issues, parenting issues, like really, really deep, very, very real stuff. And it's meant to be a life changing event. And for most of the guys, it really is.
Speaker 0 00:13:52 Wow. So you're, that's pretty awesome. And you're, what you see in the world comes from being at the depths of it. Yep. And, and kind of rising up out of it. So what would you, what do you say to men when it comes to being a, a better husband or father? Like what, what, what are some takeaways that you put to, to that? Yep. Like what, what or the challenge that you put to it. Yeah.
Speaker 2 00:14:13 Um, well one of the primary things there is, and this applies really for all of us, but especially we'll start here at home to directly to that question, is if you can teach yourself to see your wife, to see your kids the way Jesus does, that can really change your relationship in a, in a moment, right? Sometimes things that's like a six month program or a one year program or something like that. But if you can get it in your mindset to see these people in your family that you have been entrusted with, if you can see them the same way Jesus can, and obviously that's a high ask, but it's the, it's the aspirational goal there, then, then you see your family members in a very different light. It's, it's not just your wife so to speak. It is, this is a, this is a child of God that Jesus came and for her and loved her so much that he died for her.
Speaker 2 00:15:06 And if you can look at your wife that way, and if you can look at your kids that way, it makes it so much easier to sort of let go of the little things. Let go of the petty arguments cuz who, who cares, right? You want, you wanna learn the, the right way to fold a towel. Okay, I'll fold the towel that way. Like it's, it's irrelevant in the big picture, right? So that would be one thing, and that applies to everyone in our lives, but specifically at home. That makes a big, big difference. If you can see your wife as a daughter of God, as somebody who, who Jesus loves so much that, that he died for her. And, and same applies for your kids, it can really change the, the way you act as a, as a man in your house.
Speaker 0 00:15:45 Yeah. Cuz I, uh, I'm a very passionate guy and, and, and, and, and I'm also decently impulsive. Not, not with like purchases, but just I'm passionate, I'm visionary. Yeah. Let's go, you know, I get filled up with vision, let's just go, I'm combustible, right? So, yeah. Um, so I also ha that also for me personally, it comes with like a, uh, a short fuse, right? I had a short fuse. I was quick tempered, you know, especially earlier on with the first 10 years of my marriage or whatever. Um, not as much with my wife, but once you get kids and then, I don't know, man, family's like the greatest, uh, accountability factor around, right? Yeah. It really shows you who you are, right? Because like I could preach the masses or speak to hundreds or thousands of guys at a conference or on a podcast, but they don't know what I'm like at home.
Speaker 0 00:16:30 You know, I've got, uh, I've got four daughters and so, uh, it's my, my kind of personal joke about myself a little bit is, so if my fuse grew from here to here, you know, that's double and that's about the <laugh>, that's about the growth rate I'm on. You know, it's like I've gotten a lot better. I'm really good at saying I'm sorry when I blow it. But I, I think you're right. Like one of the things I, that helps me, um, along the path that you're talking about is viewing. Cuz I have four daughters and my oldest daughter's married and, and my 18 year old daughter is, is, uh, dating and then I've got a a 15 and an 11 year old. So, but I'm looking at them like I'll do anything for them kids, you know? And, and I also look at the fact that if we're all honest, right?
Speaker 0 00:17:12 We've all messed our kids up. We, because we crashed into 'em. Yeah. We, we're not perfect people. We Right. You know, so you're, we've already traumatized our kids, whether it's big or small trauma, whatever. And, uh, so I, I look at it that way and then, but then you fast forward to your current day life and you're like, well what kind of trauma do I have? What, what am I dealing with? You know? And then you look at your wife that way, like she was a little girl at one time and what did she go through when she was being raised? You know, I don't know. I just, cuz I look at that like the guys that are gonna take over for me and take my daughters, um, in marriage, it's like, you know, I want, and they're gonna have their issues. But yeah, it, it really helps you frame it when you put it in a different light.
Speaker 0 00:17:49 You know, like sometimes, cuz my second oldest daughter is a lot like me. She's like the female version of me, which is awesome and terrible all at the same time, you know? Yeah. She'll challenge me and stand up and, and I'm like, oh my gosh, you're, you're awesome and annoying, you know, right now. But, uh, but I started looking at it like, what if I looked at her like she was six or seven or eight and in this moment she needs a father. Yep. Just needs dad. Yep. She just needs dad to help her with this thing or to do that. And I dunno, man, when I started doing that, it, it really made me way more tender, like way more honored to be involved in this tiny minute thing that I honestly can't even remember right now. You know, like whatever they were. But you're honored to be present and to be fully engaged, you know? So I bomb Pliny. I practice saying I'm sorry a lot. Um, but moving, moving forward I try to hit those targets of like, you know, let's be tender. Let's, let's be the dad they need, you know, so, uh, that's really cool man. And, and I love your experiences. You offer two of 'em a year in Denver, you know, must be hard getting people to come to Denver. <laugh>, <laugh> amounts and
Speaker 2 00:18:57 No, it's, it's not too hard. Yeah. A lot, a lot of times I'll, I'll interview a guy cuz we, we don't have an open form. So I interview everybody who's gonna attend and, and I'm like, what questions you got? He's like, your pictures sold it. I don't, I don't have any questions. That's right. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:19:11 Well, you know, in our world today, man, there's, I mean we live in a really interesting time, um, in, in American history and it's just an interesting day, you know, with all kinds of, just the, the attack on masculinity is absolutely absurd. But it's part of what the phrase I opened up with that, you know, um, hard times create strong men. And we are in hard times right now, and these hard times came from weak men. And so, uh, we're not trying to say everybody's gotta be this macho tough guy, you know, but there, but there is a subconscious warfare that you wake up to every day as a man. Yep, yep. You know, there's an onslaught from the enemy. So what, what, what's your highlights? I got your books pulled up here and you, you really came, uh, came alive when you talked about Jesus man to man <laugh>. What what, what do you love about that book or the masculinity of Jesus?
Speaker 2 00:20:03 Man, that, that book was so hard to write. So the, the beginning of that book was just going to be, uh, a devotional for men like the 900 other, you know, thousand other devotionals for men. Cause we, we need that. Just like, you know, when we were first talking at the beginning, we need more men doing this kind of work. We need more groups, we need more conferences, we need more, we need more in this world especially. And so I was writing, I was gonna write a devotional, and every time I sat down to write the devotional, it just wouldn't come out like it. It, I just couldn't, I couldn't get it out. And, and so in, in prayer, I was having this dialogue in, in my mind I'm having this dialogue with Jesus. And, and so I just started writing as if I was, was having a conversation with Jesus.
Speaker 2 00:20:49 Hmm. And it was a terrifying thing for me to do because I'm not a pastor. I don't have a, a divinity degree. Right. I haven't been to seminary. I'm just a regular guy who, who loves God, loves Jesus and wants to help other guys along the way. And so for me, I was constantly fighting that imposter syndrome of who are you to do this? Who are you to write this? And um, I I even went to my pastor's at church and, and met with, uh, the, the, the lead pastor and met with a second pastor. I said, this is what I'm doing and it feels so wrong for me. I'm writing Jesus's answer <laugh>. Like I I don't, yeah. I don't feel okay doing this. Right. <laugh>. And, and um, and he said, well, let me ask you a question. He goes, I'm up here on stage, you know, up, up upfront, uh, doing, uh, delivering the message every week. And every week I'm up there. I say, what Jesus says, do you think anyone has a problem with me doing that? And then he asked me personally, he goes, other than you who has a problem with you writing this book? <laugh>. <laugh>, that's right. And I said, well, so far it's just me,
Speaker 0 00:21:55 But it's just me.
Speaker 2 00:21:55 You know, it's just me. So really it was, uh, it was this passion project that took a long time, um, a lot of prayer in, in basically in between. Uh, like every time I would stop on the keyboard, I'd be, I'd be in prayer. Every time I'd get ready to start, I'd be in prayer. Uh, and so it's really, it's just a conversation between me. Um, it's meant to be man in general. It's not Warren. Um, so just between a man in this world and Jesus and asking Jesus real questions about real stuff and, and what would his reply be? And, um, every one of the replies is, is rooted in scripture. So, you know, e everything that I have in there as an answer, it's based on scripture. It's, it's not, uh, you know, I, I pray it's not just Warren's opinion. It's it's rooted in, it's rooted in scripture. And then there's some questions in there for guys if they want to use it like, uh, like a study or, or like a devotional.
Speaker 0 00:22:51 Yeah. Um, you, you, you were saying earlier when you were talking about becoming a significant man, you were, you brought up the idea of not having it as faith-based or faith, um, as represented as hardcore or strong as you wanted mm-hmm. <affirmative>. Yep. Wanted to be and then came Jesus man to man. And that's cool how you're, how you came about there. What would you say to a man today, um, you know, whatever vocation he finds himself in, what would you, what do you tell a man about being bold in their faith and their witness? How do you inspire them to do
Speaker 2 00:23:21 That? Yeah, it, that's a, that's such a tough question, especially in this world of cancel culture where, where people are afraid to, to really say anything. Like, I don't wanna say the wrong thing. I don't want to get, you know, kicked off social media or potentially lose my job. Um, I, I, you know, I don't want that to happen just cuz I might say the wrong thing or do the wrong thing. Yeah. And it's a, it's a blunt answer, but dude, if you lose your job for Jesus, that's one of the best things you could have done. If, if you, if you get kicked off of social media for Jesus, that's one of the best things you could have done. Like, how where would we be as a, as a body of Christ as Christians if we didn't have anything Paul wrote because he was afraid that people might cancel him. So he didn't write anything. So we've got nothing.
Speaker 0 00:24:09 He was in jail writing though. He was already canceled.
Speaker 2 00:24:11 Yeah, exactly. Right. Right. So instead he goes, no, I got, I got beaten with rods, I got shipwrecked and I'm ha I'm and, and I have this peace and I have this joy and I have this contentment because all of that I'm doing for Jesus. And, and that almost goes back to the opening question about success. We, we have such a drive towards success. We're like, well, if I lose my job then my 401k might be smaller. If, if I lose my job, we might not be able to do a vacation next year. Like,
Speaker 0 00:24:40 I can't play golf on that to
Speaker 2 00:24:41 Paul. Yeah. Tell that to Paul. Tell, tell that to Jesus that, you know, I, I couldn't, I couldn't, um, I couldn't say what I wanted to say about Jesus because I was worried about next year's vacation. So I, I know that's blunt, but it's the truth. We have to just be willing to stand up and say, I love Jesus. This is why, this is who Jesus is. Share the gospel doesn't mean you know that you're at, you're at your meeting at work and, and you're gonna start talking about the, the monthly budget and you say, I'd like to begin by discussing the gospel of John. Right. Like, it doesn't mean that, but don't hide it. Don't hide it. Right. Let it be part of who you are in a proud way.
Speaker 0 00:25:21 Yeah. It's interesting when you bring up, like you bring up church culture, uh, that's where, you know, I don't want to go into this deep <laugh> discussion on this, but just to keep, cuz I am a pastor. I, I was an evangelist for a decade and then God called me to, you know, plant a church and all that kind of stuff. And, and then he is been using me in some, some of the brothers in my life to create grey ops. So b but being in the church culture, the church terrain, um, there's a lot of pressure on the church to succeed and grow all the time. Yeah. It's more about growth than it is about peop maturing people. It's about growing a crowd. And it is so wicked. And I work out with this guy, um, I train him and he, he was like, he know, you know, he knows I'm a pastor obviously, and he's like, how you doing man?
Speaker 0 00:26:13 How, how, how's your life going for you this week? And I was like, uh, I mean, it's a great week cuz you know, like today, April 5th is Passover, so there's a lot to celebrate. We're having a big meal tonight together. And I mean, you're a good Friday resurrection. You know, all this kind of stuff's powerful, but I just feel like at large it, I I carry a burden. I I carry a weight at large for the church at large in general. Not that I'm better, dear God, I I bomb all the time. I, I know that. But some of the targets out there that churches are going after, just I know they grieve the heart of God and then I'm not God. And I know he's gonna judge it all. And I know Paul said some men preach to gospel for this reason and that reason.
Speaker 0 00:26:52 And so I'm trying to balance it all myself and be, uh, I don't know, but I I bring that up because it's confusing for people. Yeah. When the church is confused on her doctrine and her stances and when the church is confused. Uh, I believe the problem that we face in our American history is started at the threshold of the church. Yeah. You know, the pulpit broke down. Um, the, the men of God caved and you know, the problem you described in the very beginning is men of God are chasing after that for their churches. Significance. Bigger, more big car, big house, big this, big that, you know, as if Jesus, like, if I have a million dollar income or I drive a, a pimp out Bentley or something like, like somehow I'm like a Abraham, you know, and I Right. You know, anyway, I don't, I like, I this is a whole nother podcast, but
Speaker 2 00:27:39 <laugh>. Right, right, right. Yeah.
Speaker 0 00:27:41 But the church is really not, hasn't really helped. And I, you know, you're a parachurch ministry and, uh, it's probably interesting to help your guys find local churches, you know, I mean, not if that's something that you're passionate about or we
Speaker 2 00:27:54 Do, we do talk about it because one of the, one of the great things, uh, about sort of being outside the church, so to speak outside the official church is that we, we end up with a lot of really just awesome, awesome guys from all walks of life. And we do end up with conversations with the guys because many of them don't read the Bible. Um, many of them haven't been to church in a little while. And so we do have that conversation about how do you, how do you even find a church? And one of the things that I'm really big on for people if they're looking for a church is I'm big on it being a direct bible teaching church. Um, and, and so, you know, I tell people, Hey, watch, almost every church has stuff online now. So, you know, watch some of the messages, watch some of the sermons.
Speaker 2 00:28:43 And is the bible the foundation? Is that the foundation of the service? Or is it what so many churches in America are now, which are just personal development seminars to pump you up? And maybe we'll mention one verse and, and those really feel good. And sometimes you get, you know, the thousands of people in the, in the crowd there and you know, you have a great concert before the message is delivered and, and all that kind of stuff. Uh, which is great. But for me, the Bible needs to be the focal point of the service and the, and that needs to be the focal point that, that that is being used for the message. So that, that's one of my recommendations to guys if they're, if they're looking for a church and they're trying to find a church, which is, which to me is important, I'm not one of those who thinks that, you know, well, I have my Bible at home and that's good enough. No, I think you need church. I think you need the community. Um, my recommendation is just find one where the Bible is the foundation and it's, and it's taught in the church.
Speaker 0 00:29:40 Yeah, that's right. Do not forsake the gatherings. You know, it's, it's a, it's part of the commands in the New Testament. But, um, yeah, that's good, man. The, what you were describing made my heart hurt, you know, the, the, the non-biblical version, I mean, that's an iBod <laugh> kind of style and, um, but anyway, we'll, we'll let that one slide. <laugh>
Speaker 0 00:30:01 <laugh>. Um, but very passionate, you know, cuz uh, you know, I'm glad that you're out there. I'm glad that you exist. Uh, you know, I'm, I'm passionate about what you're passionate about. Dietrich Bon Hoffer said, Christ forbids a man come and die. And I, it, it feels like that's what you do with these guys on these on these weekends, right? It's like, come die, come alive, um, in Christ and, and helping them look in the mirror of the word of God. So, um, I don't know, do you got any closing thoughts? Otherwise I'll pray for you and we can close out.
Speaker 2 00:30:31 Um, just would, would love to share with guys, uh, as you're listening, um, make sure that, that you actually choose to get involved somewhere. So it, it's, it's one thing to consume content and we live in this world where it's easy to just consume content. That's true. But, but really act on it. You know, find, find a, a group that, that you can connect with. Find some guys that you can connect with on a regular basis. Find a community that you can be involved in on a regular basis. That's really, really important. Yeah. You know, big, big events like what we do are great, but that they're not necessarily for everybody, you know, and, and they're one time, you know that you go to it, you need something regular. You need something that you can have that brotherhood around you on a regular basis. So that's really important. So make sure you guys have that in your life.
Speaker 0 00:31:21 That's right. Well, hey man, thanks for taking your time to be with us today. We'll be, uh, following you and helping you, uh, maybe get some, some guys on your experiences. And thank you. Look forward to, uh, connecting with you. I know sometime I'm gonna be on your podcast and Yeah, that'll be fun too. So it will,
Speaker 0 00:31:38 Well, hey man, I'm gonna pray for you and then, uh, thanks too. We'll close out episode 1 0 3, man. So father, we just left a warrant to you. God, we lift up significant man. I thank you for Warren's heart. I thank you for his story. I thank you, father that you reached down and saved his life at that point in time when he was at the very bottom in the depths of the pain. And so, Lord, I I pray that you would give him favor, give him and his team favor, father, to reach men. And I love how Warren says it. Like we need a lot of different things going on. We need an increase of just resources and conferences just to get out there to help men in this broken down timeframe in our, in our human history. So what I, we just pray for significant man, God, that you would open doors for it and that you would lead God direct, you'd bring funds, you would increase, uh, funding. Give him favor. In Jesus' name. Amen. Thank you. Well, thanks for listening to the Grey House Podcast. It's been great. I've been with Warren Peterson significant man.com. Go check him out. I'll be in the notes below for this episode. And as we always say, until next time, live upright.
