Desperate Men – A Call to MenistryTM
Warning: Statistics ahead! A dangerous way to begin any important message. Some of us shut down pretty quickly when numbing numbers appear on the screen or are shared from the platform. Understanding the inherent risks of doing so, I chose to present the following staggering and sobering statistics specific to men in the U.S. and ask that you wade through them with me to the other side. To help hold your attention, read each line with the following truth in mind.
Each number represents a man with a name.
You and me. Our dads, brothers, or sons. Neighbors or co-workers. Every man reading this knows at least one other man who is or was on this list, including the man in the mirror. Making these stats personal opens our minds and hearts with compassion and a desire to help. Here we go.
– CDC reports approximately 105 Americans commit suicide each day. Suicide among males is 4x higher than females. That means ~ 80 men will commit suicide today. While reading this, a strong possibility exists a desperate man took his own life. Families, the real victims, are left with unanswered questions and grief unspeakable. Another scenario is he died without hope, believing no one cares. God does.
– 11 MILLION men have alcohol, drug, pornography, and other addictions. Most men will struggle in these areas (in secret) during their lives. Some of you reading this are in that battle now.
– 1.2 MILLION men got divorced last year. We are told around 40% of those were “Christian marriages”. Some of you reading this have been there-done that.
– 2.2 MILLION men are in jail/prison, the HIGHEST number and percent in the world. 40-70% came from fatherless homes. Recidivism rate ranges from 67%-80%. That means they go back. Many sons follow.
– 400,000+ homeless men “live” in America. Many gave up and are without hope. Some were neighbors or classmates with whom you lost touch. If the market tanks (again), some of you may join them.
At this point, some readers have hit the wall with these sobering statistics that decry the condition of too many men. We long for some good news; something that gives men hope. Whether you are a man populating one of these statistical pools or a man of means struggling silently through difficult personal circumstances, I have for you Good News IF you read the right Paper. Here are three very encouraging storylines you won’t find in mainstream media:
- God still loves us no matter what we did, where we are, why we left, or how we got there.
- God’s 24/7/365 Help-line is only a prayer away. No busy signals or voice mail here.
- Hope abounds for all who are in Christ. No members only here. All are welcome. Meet at the Cross.
For more than a decade, I have been blessed with a platform for ministry to men. That “menistryTM”, as I refer to it, centers on developing biblical lessons and teaching them to men, many of whom at part of the stats above. Places of service include the Nashville Rescue Mission and Men of Valor prison ministries (two outstanding organizations), among others.
Over the years, that birthed an email ministry sending the lessons to a list of men across the country with three purposes in mind: encourage, equip, and, at times, exhort men from all walks of life. The list includes surgeons, physicians, executives and businessmen at every level of corporate life, entrepreneurs and musicians, men in prison or aftercare, men addicted to drugs, alcohol, and pornography, and those in recovery. Many different men. Many places and positions in life. One thing in common. From the C-suite to the cellblock and the mansion to the mission, 
That piercing statement is the tag line for Desperate Men, this menistry we are now amping up with the launch of a new website: www.desperatemen.org It is also the subtitle of the book and discipleship study guide I am currently writing to encourage and equip desperate men everywhere…all of us. For men who are men already among the statistics or just candidates to join them like you and me, the Holy Spirit made this clear to me: “the need is great and the time is now.”
To serve that end, God expanded my vision. Together we will take Desperate Men from a small email ministry off one man’s computer to a global platform providing resources for men, from all walks of life, using every media available: written, spoken, video, and social, now the most dominant and best way to reach young men. Personally, I would like to see this reach or touch a million men before I go Home.
After months of work, we are excited to see this website launch and how God is going to work through men like you to take this a higher level and accomplish some of the “greater things” Jesus referred to in John 14:12. Desperate Men got to this initial stage with help from a few friends and family, much like seed capital for a start-up company. I call it true “angel capital”. For my part, I have invested time and money and commit whatever time God gives me this side of Home to see this vision fulfilled.
We are at a point at which I need to humbly do what can be hardest for men, ask for help. Financially speaking, your investment makes no sense at all in terms of producing ROI and multiples as the world measures those metrics. It will produce lasting returns and multiply in the lives of many men according to the Christian Guide to Wise Investing…aka the Bible.
Please indulge my request to do the following. Launch the site and go to the Welcome menu item. Open it and watch the Welcome video. Browse the site and you will find Lessons for Men Only as well as several video lesson excerpts. I am very excited about the Encouraging Word icon. It links to short audios to encourage the hearts of men. There is also a prayer icon and link for those who need prayer for anything (John 14:14) Finally, go to the Encourage item on the Menu or Help icon and read the Why Pray and Why Give pages. (Hint re the icons: The link is the word title of the icon, not the icon itself.) We are just getting started. There is a lot more to come.
Let me close with this. If God uses the menistry of Desperate Men to help a lost man find his way to the Cross of Christ or a wayward brother find his way back; if something a man listens to or reads keeps him from walking out on his family, giving up on his marriage, or pulling the trigger, it is worth the investment of your resources and my life.
Many men have been great encouragement to me over the years to keep writing and teaching. I am very thankful for that. I hope your first visit to Desperate Men is a positive one and you find something that encourages your heart today. I also pray you will engage with me in this fight for the lives of desperate men everywhere because we are all desperate whether we admit it or not.
Your desperate brother in Christ,
www.desperatemen.org