Many men have battles on the outside, but it's the battles on the inside that keep us from fully discovering our destiny in Christ Jesus. It's only when men bring their battles to the cross that we open our souls up for a spiritual awakening.

Listen to this motivational talk by Ryan Walter at our men's conference back in 2005. Ryan spent 17 seasons in the NHL as a player, team captain and coach, and became one of the most recognized names in hockey.  In this podcast episode, Ryan draws from the personal experiences of his past hockey life, shares how God helped him fight his battles in life and encourages men to fully surrender their lives to Jesus.

Ryan Walter is a former NHL hockey player and Stanley Cup Champion with the Montreal Canadiens who played 15 seasons in the National Hockey League. He was also an assistant coach with the Vancouver Canucks, head coach of the Canadian National Women's hockey team and a hockey broadcaster. Ryan is a motivational speaker, author and leadership expert, using his experiences in hockey to relate to business and success.

We are surrounded by people, especially during this social media era, yet we still feel lonely. How can we deal with loneliness as adult men? After 2 years of social distancing, our friendships are definitely taking a toll.

God is relational – in fact, Jesus is a man of hospitality. He invited and welcomed people, particularly the outsiders, to eat and drink with him. Jesus asked a lot of questions, taught them the truth with grace and forgiveness. He created a “safe space” for people to share openly and confessed without fear, and he was incredibly patient with them.

In this episode, Steven McCready talks about the challenges men face when it comes to conforming to close friendships. He reminds us of the root and harsh reality of loneliness and the gift and grace of friendship from Jesus Christ.  Steven encourages men to grow their relationship with God, then take the initiative and be intentional with friendships in your life.

In his letter to the Roman church, the apostle Paul wrote  "I do not understand what I do. For what I want to do I do not do, but what I hate I do." (Romans 7:15)

Like Paul, many men find themselves in similar battles with sin. Have you ever felt like there’s a sin you just can’t conquer? Like there are certain things you keep doing over and over again but you don’t know why?

David Bowden, co-founder of Spoken Gospel and author of Rewire Your Heart: Replace Your Desire for Sin with Desire For God, reminded us that our hearts are wired to pursue our desires, and the only way to overcome sin is not saying "no" to sinful desires, but saying "yes" to God. 

Listen to this episode and learn the first steps you should take to rewire your hearts and win the battle with sin. 

• David Bowden's book: Rewire Your Heart: Replace Your Desire for Sin with Desire For God
• Spoken Gospel: spokengospel.com

The one common element in almost every man is that they feel exhausted. COVID blurred lines between work and home, the pressure to survive and pay bills, or to achieve the next promotion are consistently pressuring men to keep going.

We’ve been taught the Bible verses like Matthew 11:28-30, where Jesus invites everyone who feels weary and burdened to come to him and he will give us rest. This sounds great in theory, but are there ways for men to experience this rest for our souls in reality? With more access to various digital devices, how can a man intentionally connect with God each day without it feeling like a burden and just one more thing to do?

Listen to this podcast with Ken Shingematsu, the author of Survival Guide for the Soul: How to Flourish Spiritually in a World, as he reminds us of the importance of spiritual practices and how we can receive complete rest in this demanding world by experiencing a deeper relationship with Christ.

• Ken’s book: Survival Guide for the Soul
• Ken’s book: God in My Everything
• Tenth Church: tenth.ca

In this episode, we invited Rev. Bill Allan and David Wells to join us in a panel of discussion on the future for Canadian churches and Christian leaders.

Rev. Bill Allan is the President of the Associated Gospel Churches, an association representing over 150 churches, congregations and ministries across Canada.

And David Wells is the General Superintendent for the Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada (PAOC). It is a fellowship of more than 1,100 churches across English- and French-speaking Canada.

Together with our president, Dean Brenton, we discussed the following questions:

• (3:38) Tell us a little about your work and your fellowship.
• (8:00) What was most instrumental in you stepping into a national leadership role?
• (13:40) With all your responsibility and concern for the health of your churches and pastors, how have you stayed healthy as leaders through these months of the pandemic?
• (18:30) What has surprised or disappointed you the most during this pandemic?
• (22:45) Do you see any new opportunities for the church to engage with the culture?
• (27:53) In a time when we should have been more united, instead, it has felt like we have never been more divided. What is the importance of unity in the church, and why is it important for the future of the church?
• (33:27) As it pertains to the church, what could men be praying for?
• (36:50) In addition to praying, what are some practical ways men could be agents of peace and blessing in their family, community, and church?

• The Pentecostal Assemblies of Canada: paoc.org
• Associated Gospel Churches: agcofcanada.com

Many of us thrive to be "the best dad ever" and in the process of doing that, we can loose track of what God says about parenthood. We may even turn parenthood into an idol just like we can with our work or money.

In this podcast, we invited Jim Jackson, co-founder of Connected Families, to teach us how to encourage our children, set boundaries and how to discipline our children in a loving and godly way. Together with Kirk Giles and Mauricio Rosa, they discuss their own experiences with their fathers and the struggles they face now as dads. Jim also reminds us that the greatest gift that we can give to our kids is not the stuff we do with them but rather what we do with Jesus. 

Listen to this podcast and be encouraged that God is our perfect father, and he is with you in every season of fatherhood. 

• Jim & Lynne Jackson's book: Discipline That Connects With Your Child's Heart: Building Faith, Wisdom, and Character in the Messes of Daily Life
• Connected Families: connectedfamilies.org

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Between social upheavals around the world and a global pandemic, most of us can agree the last few years have been a bit… different.

Many people find themselves firmly taking sides without much consideration for their brother on the “other side of the fence.” Yet a lot of this isn’t that new to El Vow, who grew up as a first-generation American in the South.

Vow sat down with us to talk about his journey with discrimination, the pandemic, and division within the church.

During our conversation we were so struck by the heart of what El Vow had to say, speaking from his own unique experience. You may disagree with his views, that’s okay! Listen and hear his heart – only by understanding each other can we learn to accept and love our neighbour.

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We live in an uncertain world where it is so easy for us to get distracted and become dismissive of our faith. So many of us seem to take Jesus for granted and go on with our lives without even thinking that Jesus is here. 

In this episode, Steve Brown, the President of Arrow Leadership Ministries and author of a new book Jesus Centered, sat down with us and teach us how and why it is important to think “Jesus Centered” instead of “Jesus First”. He also shared a glimpse of some of his own stories about his father’s near-death experience, his mother’s alcoholism and prescription abuse issue, and his wife’s breast cancer diagnoses. None of those moments were easy, but Brown can proudly tell you that it was much easier and breathable when Jesus is the middle grinding with you. 

Listen to this podcast and learn how to invite Jesus into every aspect of your life. In your loneliness and powerlessness, you will find strength, peace and joy from Jesus. 

• Arrow Leadership for Christian leaders: arrowleadership.org
• Get the Book:  Jesus Centered: Focusing On Jesus In A Distracted World

The Bible indicates that God keeps some things completely to himself.  So what’s wrong with having a secret?

Steve Arterburn, founder of New Life Ministries and the author of The Secrets Men Keep: How Men Make Life & Love, examines the danger behind keeping secrets as a man, how men make their lives more difficult than it has to be and why they do it. He also emphasizes that finding a way to deal with a man’s unspoken fears and questions, is one of the most important tasks for a man.

Listen to this podcast and get the following questions answered:

1. Are all secrets sinful?
2. What are the top areas of life where men keep secrets?
3. What kind of damage do secrets create?
4. When the pain becomes so deep,  what can I do? I don’t want to hurt people around me.
5. I am ready to open up about my secrets. Where and who should I go to? Is there anyone I should not go to?

When life is good, it’s easy to say that “God is good.” But when life doesn’t go the way we planned - how do we view God? If we’re being honest, anger and resentment towards God can easily develop during difficult seasons of our faith. And for Steven Bancarz this is no exception.

Most know Steve as a charismatic Youtube character that exposes the lies of the New Age Movement and shares the truths of the Bible. After watching a few of his videos you could easily conclude that he’s got his faith figured out. But like all Christians, he’s human.

Steve talked with us about a recent period of pain and disappointment, where he stopped making Youtube content, and started wrestling with God. Despite knowing God is the truth, his feelings of hurt and betrayal made him doubt if God was good or trustworthy. It was dark and lonely but as he continued to work through these feelings, God brought peace back into Steve’s life. It wasn’t overnight and it wasn’t easy. But looking back on it all he can say God is good in all seasons of life - even the ones we don’t feel are going our way.

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