Tom de Petra

The concept of accountability for Christian men means many things to many people. For some men, it is primarily about marital fidelity and pornography. For others, accountability spells the awkwardness of confession and the threat of judgment or legalism. And for some, it is nothing more than a three-step plan to guard against moral failure. However, the term “moral failure” is a more complex subject and because of the sinful nature of all of us, manifests, to some degree, in all aspects of human behavior.

Many men see fatherhood through a personal, narrow lens of their own life experience. What they see is often distorted based on that experience. How many times have we heard someone say, “I won’t ever parent the way my father did.” I said that a few times. Or, “I parent the way I do because that’s the way my dad did it.”

I belong to Jesus, which is sufficient for me to handle all that the world can throw at me. I truly believe that. However, I have real struggles with much of what I see around me. The chaos in our government and in every political camp. The abuses of people and the malicious uses of power that have corrupted otherwise decent institutions. The degradation of our educational system and the twisting of history that has taken place. I get angry with the breakdown of families, not to mention the 63 million lives taken since Roe vs. Wade. It’s easy for followers of Christ to be angered by the persecution and marginalization of faith and the 24/7 attacks on truth and common sense.

Food is often the centerpiece of fun and fellowship with friends, family or coworkers. Meals anchor events of big and small proportions. People’s lives are scheduled around eating, be it consumed in solitude or among large crowds. Sometimes the very homes people live in are designed primarily around eating spaces. Without question, food and daily decisions go hand in hand.

Looking Back

“Getting in Touch with God’s Plan”

The subjects of money and finance seem at times all-consuming in the way they occupy our attention. Culture and the media celebrate wealth and accumulation and often associate it with intelligence, physical attractiveness and creativity. We cannot make it through the day without being bombarded with advice on personal finance, investments, the most favorable cash-back credit cards on the market and plenty of dubious and entrapping choices like reverse mortgages or the lottery. We live in an economy that is both global and digital, offering countless ways to create, enhance and preserve wealth. The calls for us to borrow and consume are persistent and deafening. These messages create confusion in our lives.