The Wingman, The Man-Crush, The Bromance and Friendship – The Power of Men Connecting in Healthy Ways

I have been really enjoying 1 and 2 Samuel reading recently. I have been invigorated by themes of people, leadership, connecting with God etc.

I have found that about once a week I get a “convergence moment” – when the daily readings sync and a powerful theme emerges – and an “ah ha moment” is enjoyed. I had one recently when I read about David and Jonathan .... and when David sang a song of lament when his good friend Jonathan died:

I grieve for you, Jonathan my brother; you were very dear to me. Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.
2 Samuel 1:26 (NIV)

Here is one man saying to another man... ”Your love for me was wonderful, more wonderful than that of women.“ My investigations led me to this study bible note....

David is not suggesting that marital love is inferior to that of friendship, nor do his remarks have any sexual implications. He is simply calling attention to Jonathan’s nearly inexplicable self-denying commitment to David, whom he had long recognised as the Lord’s choice to succeed his father rather than himself.

A key to David’s emergence and leadership strength was that he was surrounded by dedicated, skilled and strong men. Men are made strong by other strong men. There is a power in men connecting with and supporting other men in healthy ways.

This makes me think of several words.

The first word is “wingman.” A wingman is a pilot who supports another in a potentially dangerous flying environment. The idea behind the wingman is to add the element of mutual support to aerial combat. A wingman makes the flight both offensively and defensively more capable by increasing fire power, situational awareness, attacking an enemy threatening a comrade and most importantly the ability to employ more dynamic tactics.

This thought of man-connection and support has since the 1990’s been encapsulated in new words like “bromance” and “man-crush.”

A "bromance" is a close but non-sexual relationship between two men. "Bromance" is a combination of the words "brother" and "romance".

A "man-crush" is similar – it is when a straight man has a "crush" on another man, not sexual but kind of idolizing him. Urban Dictionary describes a man-crush as follows:

- a man having extreme admiration for another man, as though he wants to be him.
- a man who has a very close platonic friendship and/or admiration for another man.

Aristole described a concept similar to the bromance as early as 300 BCE, writing, "It is those who desire the good of their friends for the friends' sake that are most truly friends, because each loves the other for what he is, and not for any incidental quality".

So I like the spirit of words like “man-crush” – “bromance” – “wingman” – and “friendship.” They start to capture the power of men in healthy, biblical relationship. And David and Jonathan help us see that power.

I like the words of Solomon.....

He who walks with wise men will be wise....
Proverbs 13:20 (NKJV)

Let’s get to it men!

Happy Father's Day!

Sonora Dodd, of Washington, first had the idea of a "father's day." She thought of the idea for Father's Day while listening to a Mother's Day sermon in 1909.

Sonora wanted a special day to honour her father, William Smart. Smart, who was a Civil War veteran, was widowed when his wife died while giving birth to their sixth child. Mr. Smart was left to raise the newborn and his other five children by himself on a rural farm in eastern Washington state.

Happy Father's Day!

The Man Cold - Reshown

We interviewed a genuine Man Cold Survivor tonight at Saturday Night LIVE.

In case you missed it click the link here to see the media clip again.

Funny as!!!!


Happy Father's Day for tomorrow, men!!!

Saturday Night LIVE - Only 1 More Sleep

It's only 1 more sleep.

I am very excited about the Saturday Night LIVE event that we are doing this Father's Day weekend.

I have seen the run sheet for the night... and there is The Man Gift, The Man Quiz, The Man Panel, and The Man Mentor.
I am also interviewing a Man Cold Survivor... and we have a touching section called, The Man and His Kids.

It's all about honouring men and fathers and dads and grandpas and great-grandpas......

Hope to see you there - 6.45pm - USQ main auditorium at Springfield Central.

If you come early you get to see the remote-controlled car display!

PS - we have our approvals in place for the fireworks - that was fun! They go off with a bang after 8.30pm

Men Never Learn - Part 4

Here is part 4 of a great series of media clips highlighting the brilliance of men.

See you this Friday night, gents, @ Blokes in a Shed - Krypton Place, Carole Park.

Thanks Ken for the use of the "Hilton of sheds!"

Men Never Learn - Part 3

Men Never Learn - Part 2

In honour of the men this week here is the second of a series of media clips.... "men never learn."

Watch it below and enjoy.

Men Never Learn - Part 1

We have Blokes in the Shed this Friday night at 7pm. Really looking forward to it.

In honour of the men this week here is the first of a series of media clips.... "men never learn."

Thanks Alan Goode for the contribution.

The Importance of Men Connecting With God

I love the men of our church.

Here is what I sent to them recently by email . I made a call about how to best serve them this month.

It’s about this time in a quarter that we have a Blokes in the Shed session. And don’t we love the food!

Our church calendar fills up very quickly and we try and keep the ministry “menu” balanced in a month so that families are not under too much pressure.
So we only like putting 1 major church-wide opportunity per weekend
(and have 1 weekend per month where there is nothing extra church-wide on)

So I thought, “what is the most important thing that I can do for the men this month?”

And it became a “no-brainer.”

Men need encouragement and support to meet that deep desire to become all they want to be - +they want to be good providers, good fathers, good leaders and good workmates.

And one of the best ways to do that is to be connected with God’s life-giving love and resource and wisdom.
Men need to be constantly connected in a quality relationship with God.

And the people around you who love you, relate to you and depend on you will know if you are connected to God or not.
If you are feeling risky, ask them some time. Ask them to be honest.

So if you need
1. some tips about running your “engine” well
2. a God-tune up,
3. an oil change in your God-relationship
4. a heart re-bore
5. some new rubber to get some traction
6. a God-assessment under your hood to see if things are running OK in the engine-department

please respond to this email with “count me in” for this Saturday 2pm to 5pm.

When you RSVP we will tell you more details etc... and we will need to print you a very helpful manual for the workshop.

You can click here to see our video clip promo.