Wrestling with the Inner Man

Haven't every single one of felt totally worthless at some point in our lives?

Some may feel this way constantly or have for a very long time. It is a pit of despair, a quagmire of quicksand that steals our self worth and the intrinsic value we all have as creatures made in His image.  And most of the time the Accuser is right there, whispering in our head, confirming our worst feelings in attempt to arrest any effort we could have in glorifying God.

Imagine you are a child with a severe stuttering problem.  The ridicule and shaming is cruel and relentless.  And my guest today grew up in that exact situation.

His father was a con artist and pathological liar, so he never heard the truth and was forced to move frequently as his family's welcome was worn out time after time. And with each relocation he had to suffer the humiliation all over again of the other kids making fun of his severe stuttering.

He was convinced that he was unworthy of anything good.  Things like finding a wife or having kids felt out of reach when you basically don’t talk.

But that is not the end of his story, or yours either, if you are feeling worthless these days!

My guest for this episode is Paul Stege, a humble man who is living an example of a life surrendered to God. He’s no celebrity and not famous.  He is a truck driver who has been driving the night shift for UPS between Texas' major cities for over fifteen years now.  But what a servant he has been for the Lord!  He has provided over 1.3 million bibles, FOR FREE, to people who need to be introduced to God's living word.

If there is only one episode you ever listen to of this podcast, let it be this one because of the power of his testimony!

You can reach Paul at [email protected]

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Visit www.thesavagepath.com for more on David, his book The Savage Path: A Memoir of Modern Masculinity, and the Savage Path Ministries Corp.

Father’s Day is a day when we all try to express our appreciation to our fathers, no matter how old we are. And one of the best ways to do that is to do what he has asked or trained us to do.

It should be so with our Heavenly Father as well!

And Matthew 28:19-20, which is known as “The Great Commission” issues this command as Jesus' last words to his disciples:

Therefore, go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you always, to the very end of the age.

Two episodes ago I had Dr Timothy West as my guest to discuss “Don’t Give Up on the Church” because over the last twenty-five years 40,000,000 Americans have stopped going to church, creating what has been called The Great Dechurching, the largest concentrated change in church attendance since the Civil War.

I wanted to explore this further with Tim’s longtime friend Bob Van Der Ploeg who has done some very interesting research of his own on the Jesus Model of the early church vs what most churches today are using as their model which clearly is not working very well.

Bob has been a consultant and trainer for FellowshipOne for the last 16 years and is now CEO of a new business venture called Disciple Technologies which develops tools to help churches better manage their disciple-making efforts and activities.  As a technical dude he decided to query ChatGPT on our wrestling match for this episode and we present the results with ChatGPT as our second "guest"!

I believe those experimenting or familiar with ChatGPT will find this episode quite fascinating!  Check it out for yourself and let me hear your feedback.

You can lear more about Bob's company by visiting his website at:

www.discipletechnologies.net

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Visit www.thesavagepath.com for more on David, his book The Savage Path: A Memoir of Modern Masculinity, and the Savage Path Ministries Corp.

Hey Gen Z folks!  This episode is especially for you!

Did you wake today thinking “I’m going to take on the world and chart my own course of rugged individualism?” It is the American way!

However, we often find out very quickly that it might not be God’s way for us and He seems to prevail in about…100% of these situations.

Today I am so excited to have my “listener prototype” as my guest.

Nick Hartzler is a class of ‘23 Texas A&M graduate in Agricultural Economics.

At 24 years old and now two years out of school he has been iterating through a series of experiments trying to find his true calling and vocation. Except he has recently had a major setback.  Does this sound familiar to any of my other young listeners out there??

You are the generation besieged by a pandemic among other significant path alterations.

Nick has been brave enough to accept my invitation to come on the podcast and talk about his unfinished business and more importantly how he has leaned into his faith and is trusting in the Lord as he navigates his path.

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Visit www.thesavagepath.com for more on David, his book The Savage Path: A Memoir of Modern Masculinity, and the Savage Path Ministries Corp.

The recent death of Pope Francis and the process to select a successor captures the headlines across the world as “The Vatican” iconically represents what many less vigorous believers think of as “The Church”

My guest, Dr Timothy West, works full-time as a Senior Ministry Consultant for NL Moore & Associates, a firm dedicated to guiding churches through senior leadership transitions, particularly the placement of lead pastors. Prior to this role Tim served in multiple roles as lead or founding pastor himself and also did a stint “down under” in Australia as a missionary and church planter. 

In this episode we discuss what we both feel is an extremely important problem and urge every listener out there “Don’t Give Up on the Church!” the title of this episode. 

Every serious discussion begins with a problem definition or statement. Ours is from a recent article published by BARNA titled “Men Are Not Villians: Winning the Church Back to Men”

 Here's an excerpt outlining the situation demographically:

40,000,000 Americans have stopped going to church in the past 25 years. We are experiencing what is being called the Great Dechurching, the largest concentrated change in church attendance since the end of the Civil War. In 1937, when Gallup began measuring church affiliation, 73% of Americans belonged to a house of worship. Today, it is less than 47%, the first time in history that the majority of Americans do not belong to a church. 

The Hartford Institute for Religion recently noted that the median sized Evangelical church in America had 137 people attending in 2000. By 2021, that number had shrunk to 65. What’s worse—on any given Sunday, those 65 people are largely made up of women. Men, in large scale have abandoned the Church. Today, more than ever, men are missing from the Church. 

If you're interested in hearing more about the current state and what Tim and I believe might be great remedies to improve these figures, particularly among men, give it a listen!

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Visit www.thesavagepath.com for more on David, his book The Savage Path: A Memoir of Modern Masculinity, and the Savage Path Ministries Corp.

Mother’s Day is right around the corner coming up on May 11th!

 Ahead of this day honoring mothers and families, I thought it might be a timely topic to discuss a wrestling match that none of us ever wanted to have, that of blending a family.

It’s one none of us ever wanted because it means that, for whatever reason, our first marriage has ended and with divorce rates around 50% it means that half of us could be in a position to consider blending a family at some point in the future.  We also know that divorce isn’t the only reason some marriages end.  There are many people who have lost a spouse to death.  

That was the case for my guest Chad Brignac.  Chad has over thirty years of experience in the construction industry and is a founding partner of the  John Maxwell Team. He specializes in leadership and strategic consulting. 

Influenced by his blended family journey, Chad is an advocate for compassionate leadership, intentional personal growth and development, and accountability structures. He and his wife, Jdele, have coauthored a book titled “Blend Don’t Break” which offers a forensic look backward at some of the pitfalls they encountered as they tried to build a blended family.  

This episode features rare vulnerability by a man committed to helping others who may be wrestling with blending a family.

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Visit www.thesavagepath.com for more on David, his book The Savage Path: A Memoir of Modern Masculinity, and the Savage Path Ministries Corp.

The genesis of this episode began with my utter exasperation shopping for new homeowners insurance after receiving a 100% increase in my premium over last year's rate.  As I examined the root causes of the rate hike, I realized that I just might need to re-evaluate my entire risk management mindset.

The California wildfires in January, recent floods in Kentucky and Tennessee, and the Uri Winter Storm in Texas a few years ago have put this topic front of mind for many of us.

It begs the question, "What do you place your faith in?"

My guest for this Good Friday episode is Dr Michael Sprague who is the Chaplain for the Louisiana state legislature.  Michael also is an author and wrote a book after experiencing Hurricane Katrina and it full fury living in New Orleans as it struck.  The title of his book is: "Disaster: Betting the Farm on God in Life's Storms"

We discuss the concept of brokenness vs the kingdom of me, the dangers of becoming too comfortable, and answering our calling, regardless of risks, by putting our faith in God and His plan for us.

We close with a strong message of encouragement for all of our listeners who may on their own road to Mount Moriah, as Abraham was with Jacob, remaining faithful and trusting that God will provide the ram in the thicket just in time for each of us!

Michael posts daily on both LinkedIn and Facebook and has a website at: 

www.capitolcommissionlouisiana.org

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Visit www.thesavagepath.com for more on David, his book The Savage Path: A Memoir of Modern Masculinity, and the Savage Path Ministries Corp.

The first official day of Spring was March 20th and we are entering Holy Week with Palm Sunday this weekend.  Both help us to blossom ourselves both spiritually and physically so I thought this episode should be one that promises hope and healing.

Just like Christ's death on the cross brought despair to his followers, a grim diagnosis for one's own health can also be a dark place.  It is how we respond to such bad news that demonstrates our faith or perhaps lack thereof.

My good friend Dr Austin Ruiz is a man of small physical stature, standing about five feet five inches tall but is a true GIANT in my eyes for his incredible faith and perseverance in facing not one, but two separate death defying illnesses. His story is one the should inspire all of us!

Dr Ruiz is a retired ophthalmologist from Harker Heights Texas and serves on the Brazos River Authority Board of Directors with me as a governor's appointee.

In this episode he relates his two year battle with leukemia through five treatment regimens and his wrestling match with Satan himself trying to get him to simply give up.  He called upon the Holy Spirit and was rescued by him in this spiritual warfare.

A year after his remission and full recovery from leukemia, he was hit by another very grim diagnosis, sepsis.  This battle ended up costing him both of his lower legs to amputation but he is walking today on his prosthetics and has never given up.  What an example of faith he offers us all!  This is a not to be missed show!

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Visit www.thesavagepath.com for more on David, his book The Savage Path: A Memoir of Modern Masculinity, and the Savage Path Ministries Corp.

In our last show my guest, Travis Koch, and I began our discussion about the wrestling match many parents are facing with school choice. We also discussed the book “The Anxious Generation” by Jonathan Haidt.  The subtitle of his book is “How the Great Rewiring of Childhood is Causing an Epidemic of Mental Illness.”  His primary diagnosis of the root cause was outdoor play has been replaced with screen play. 

In today’s Part 2 episode, we dig deeper into the political wrestling match taking place today in the Texas Legislature.  A House bill and a different Senate bill on school choice have both already been passed in each chamber.  Now the two versions must be hashed out in a conference committee and sent to Governor Abbott for his signature creating a new law that will take effect this fall.

Travis walks us through what the new law will likely mean to parents who have children in private schools, home schooling programs, or public schools today.  He also highlights what his new school, West Christian Prep, offers to address the concerns of boys in particular.

Another episode packed with great information to help your with your wrestling match in this arena.

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Visit www.thesavagepath.com for more on David, his book The Savage Path: A Memoir of Modern Masculinity, and the Savage Path Ministries Corp.

Parents throughout the United States experienced an unintended consequence from the COVID pandemic from 2020 to 2022: an up close look at their children's education curriculum and teaching materials.  And they were shocked!

Across the country children fell way behind and most are still struggling to catch up, especially boys, due to the culture and gender wars that have exacerbated the problems in education not only in K-12 but also in higher education with all of the DEI initiatives placing higher emphasis on labels than qualifications.

The wave of discontent, concern, and outright fear has washed across the entire nation state by state. School choice has become a major issue and many states have already passed new laws that allow parents more educational funding for options like home schooling and private schools. In Texas our Governor has made school choice a top priority and campaigned against candidates in his own party's primaries to defeat those obstructing school choice legislation in our state.

The confluence of all of these events presents a significant wrestling match for parents on school choice.  How we choose to educate our children will have far-reaching consequences and with so much disinformation out there surrounding the money issues facts are difficult to discern. Wisdom is needed.

My guest today,  retired USAF Colonel Travis Koch, has been on the show before in January of 2023 as we discussed the book Boys Adrift: The Five Factors Driving the Growing Epidemic of Unmotivated Boys and Underachieving Young Men.  At the time Travis was the Passport to Leadership Director and Head Boys Lacrosse Coach at Houston Christian High School.

Since that time he was given a dream by the Holy Spirit to start a new all boys school with an all male faculty in West Houston which is coming to fruition this fall. The school is called West Christian Prep (WCP) and will begin with grades 3-5.

In this first episode we set the stage and diagnose the problem to plot where we are today.  We close this episode with things that parents can do in their homes first to begin to correct the problem, and we are focusing on boys here.

In the next episode we will discuss the two bills in the Texas House and Senate which have already been passed (HB3 and SB2) and how they appear to be reconciling those two different versions to put a bill on the Governor's desk to sign into law this year.  And finally Travis will walk us through how West Christian Prep was created and is working on the "faces and spaces" to offer new and better choices for Texas parents.

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Visit www.thesavagepath.com for more on David, his book The Savage Path: A Memoir of Modern Masculinity, and the Savage Path Ministries Corp.

The first quarter of every new year often has a heavy focus on finances, whether it be personal or business.  

Our national debt is north of $36 trillion, an inconceivable figure!

We are all feeling the pinch of inflation as it erodes our buying power and savings.

Basically, at every level of our society from individuals, to families, to communities and even our country we have a HUGE problem.  It is our covetousness, always wanting more than we can afford.

My guest for this episode is my very own pastor, Dr Ryan Rush of Kingsland Baptist Church in Katy, Texas.

In this episode we go to scripture for wisdom about how to be content with what we have. We also discuss the warnings found in scripture about the ruin and destruction that covetousness brings.  1 John 2:16 gives the three primary tools in devil's playbook to temp us: the lust of the flesh, the lust of the eyes, and the pride of life.  We want to feel things. We want to have things. And we want to be things.

Pastor Rush offers two simple words to combat these: gratitude and generosity! 

This is one sensational episode that truly is for every person out there breathing!

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Visit www.thesavagepath.com for more on David, his book The Savage Path: A Memoir of Modern Masculinity, and the Savage Path Ministries Corp.