✝️ Training Camp for the Soul: Becoming the Man God Calls You to Be

Good morning, my brothers! Even the best NFL quarterbacks throw interceptions, but they don’t let one bad throw define them. Why? Because of their daily preparation: the film study, weight room work, and “always in the building” mentality that keeps them ready for game day. Today we explore how your daily time with Jesus works the same way: it’s the spiritual training camp that prepares you to bounce back from life's inevitable “interceptions” and keep moving forward in your walk with Christ. Let’s go!

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This week’s manly topics (5-min read):

💪 DISCIPLINE Where do professional athletes get the power they need to perform at the highest levels … and pick themselves up when they get knocked down? Training … lots and lots of training. Let’s see how we can apply this insight to our spiritual health and fitness.
📰  NEWS We look at yet more research that demonstrates creatine’s benefit … not just for your muscles but for your brain. We also discovered a free online resource you can use to become familiar with your spiritual ancestors.

DISCIPLINE
Training Camp for the Soul: Becoming the Man God Calls You to Be

I love to watch football. Never played it myself, except in friends’ backyards and local fields as a kid. So, this time of year, as NFL training camps begin and college football teams gather back on campus for their preseason camp, high school teams begin training twice each day, I get excited. My guess is that many of you do too.

When you hear about college or NFL players and you know that preseason camp isn’t their first preparation for the upcoming season. They’ve been training almost continuously since the end of the prior season. In the weight room, doing film studies from last season, working on their conditioning.

They’re doing the preparation when no one is watching so they’re ready when the whistle sounds, the season begins, and the fans cheer.

High school football programs are no different and most have year-round conditioning and weight training programs as well, before the dog days of their double sessions in August. And it’s not just football, either.

I was talking with friends a few weeks ago who have a 14-year-old son who plays hockey. He loves hockey and hopes to get a college scholarship in the future. This young man is basically either playing or working out for hockey all year, with a school team, travel team, or a community team.

He loves it and he wants to be the best he can be, so even at 14, he’s willing to pay a price, get to the rink when his friends might be sleeping or working out when he could be playing video games.

All of this got me thinking about you and me. Our competitive athletic days might possibly be behind us, but we are brought together by our mutual desire to be all the man God has called us to be.

Here’s what I want you to understand: just like those quarterbacks who've mastered the fundamentals in training camp, you're going to throw some interceptions in life. Even the best quarterbacks in the NFL throw picks. But because of their preparation (the offseason work, the film study, the “always in the building” mentality) they don’t let one bad throw define them. They get back in the huddle and keep playing.

The same is true for us. We’re going to sin. We’re going to have moments where we fall short. But if we’ve done the daily preparation, if we've built that foundation of intimacy with Christ through consistent time in His presence, we don't stay down. We keep moving forward, just like Paul encourages us:

The Foundation That Changes Everything

Are we willing and have we made the commitment to “do the hard work” of getting to know the Lord more intimately, when no one is watching at a church service on Sunday morning or a men's group during the week?

Have we made the choice, day-in, day-out to show up, by ourselves, with our Bibles, maybe a cup of coffee, a pen and a notebook, and spend time getting to know Christ? Are we reading, studying, meditating on the Word of God daily?

For many of us, this is a challenge, maybe the biggest thing holding us back from growing in Christ and living the victorious life He promises.

As I’ve mentioned in earlier articles, I get dozens of emails every week from the guys in our fraternity who share with me what the number one thing is holding them back from fulfilling God's best in their life. My guess is 40% of the answers revolve around prioritizing time with the Lord daily and knowing what to do when we're there.

But here’s the encouraging truth: this daily time isn’t about perfect performance. It’s about showing up for the training that prepares you for everything else. It’s your spiritual training camp.

Many of us know of Hudson Taylor, the great missionary who took the gospel to China in the 1800s (we mentioned him in MTM #36). In his 54 years in China, he brought 800 missionaries to China who started 125 schools and helped lead tens of thousands to Christ. Many still credit Taylor for the explosive growth of the gospel through underground churches in China today.

Taylor’s story is much bigger than the stats above. His impact didn’t just happen suddenly. It was a direct result of his daily preparation. He went to his own “training camp.”

Each day, before sunrise, Hudson Taylor would meet with the Lord. His fellow missionaries would report hearing the flick of a match and see the lighting of a candle. The candlelight would reveal Hudson Taylor steadily leaning over his small Bible, reading and praying before most had even awakened.

Why did he do it? He knew and often quoted, “You can’t be holy in a hurry.” He also said, “Tune your instrument before the concert. Don’t play through your concert and tune your instrument at the end.” He knew his power came from his time with God ... preparation first.

Taylor’s life shows the fruit of what it means to seek God first: that when you live from a place of intimacy with Christ, victory follows, impact occurs. And he learned that “first” principle from the ultimate Biblical Man, Jesus Himself:

Brothers, there it is: the perfect blueprint for our daily time with the Lord, modeled by Jesus Himself.

This single verse speaks volumes. Jesus, the Son of God, during a busy season of ministry, healing, and constant demands from people, still prioritized time with the Father. If He needed it, how much more do we?

Breaking Down the Blueprint

Let’s break it down:

1) A Special Time: First Thing in the Morning Jesus rose very early, while it was still dark. Not out of legalism, but because the demands of the day were coming and He wanted His heart aligned with the Father before anything else.

There’s something powerful about giving God the first fruits of our day, not the leftovers. It recalibrates us to Kingdom priorities before the world starts pulling at us.

2) A Solitary Place Jesus left the house and found quiet. He didn’t try to squeeze God in among distractions. He withdrew to engage. We all need a space, whether it’s a corner chair, a back porch, or even the cab of a truck before the sun’s up, where our souls can quiet and the noise can fade.

3) A Singular Focus He went to be with the Father. Not to perform, not to multitask, not to “get something out of it.” Just to listen. To commune. To be real. How different would our lives look if we started each day with that kind of focus?

Every morning, before I open my Bible, I pray a simple prayer a mentor once shared with me:

This is where transformation begins, not with trying harder, but with sitting humbly at His feet, like Jesus did, and letting the Father speak.

Your Daily Training Camp

Let's be men who meet with Him first. Let’s be men who show up, make the commitment to do the hard work of preparation when no one is watching and applauding. Let’s be like my 14-year-old friend who is willing to get up before others and do the important, not the easy.

And here’s the beautiful part: when you’ve done this daily preparation, when you’ve built this foundation of intimacy with Christ, you don’t have to be perfect. You can throw those interceptions (and you will) but you won’t stay down. You’ll get back up because your strength comes from Him, not from your performance.

The best quarterbacks don’t avoid interceptions by being perfect. They overcome them by being prepared. Their daily film study, their hours in the weight room, their commitment to being “in the building” when others aren’t, that’s what allows them to bounce back and keep leading their team.

Your daily time with Jesus is your film study. It’s your weight room. It’s your commitment to being “in the building” with God when no one else is around. And when life throws you a curveball, when you mess up, when you sin, you'll have the foundation to get back up and keep moving forward.

Will you make the advanced decision to engage in training camp each day? It's not always easy or convenient, but you'll be ready for game day: the opportunities God gives you to represent Him where He has uniquely placed you.

The season is coming. The question is: will you be ready?

THIS JUST IN
📣 NEWS FROM AROUND THE WEB

Supplementation
“… the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations.” Revelation 22:2

Your brain runs on energy, and a comprehensive review of 16 studies involving 492 adults confirms that creatine monohydrate supplementation significantly improves memory function and processing speed. Your brain cells use creatine to rapidly regenerate ATP, the cellular energy currency that powers memory formation and recall. The research showed moderate-certainty evidence for memory enhancement, with participants demonstrating faster information processing and improved attention response times. For optimal absorption, take 3-5 grams daily with a carbohydrate source like fruit juice, consume it post-workout when muscles are primed for uptake, and maintain consistent daily timing rather than cycling on and off. Courtesy Frontiers in Nutrition

Reading
“Prove all things; hold fast to that which is good.” 1 Thessalonians 5:21

The genealogical lists included in various places through the Old and New Testament challenge even the most committed disciples. For example, you finish the exciting stories of 1st and 2nd Samuel only to flip to 1 Chronicles 1 and hit this: “Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kenan, Mahalalel, Jared, Enoch, Methuselah, Lamech, Noah.” Many of us wonder, “Why is this here?” and are tempted to skip over these lists to get back to the stories. Beyond what messages may be hidden in the names and numbers, God wants us to understand where we came from … to be instructed, encouraged and, sometimes, cautioned by the examples of our spiritual ancestors. “Today in Christian History” is a fascinating online resource that introduces us to the post-Bible heroes of the faith from across the world and across time … like the 10th-century English saint, Bishop Ethelwold, who helped pick up the pieces in the wake of Viking raids. Courtesy The Christian History Institute