After giving a brief and humorous history of men’s sessions at Steubenville throughout the years, Mike Gormley launched right into speaking to us about what it means to be man.

Throughout the history of civilization, the definition of what it means to be a man has undergone significant changes and shifts. In some cultures, manhood has been associated with initiation rituals, and in some cultures the definition of manhood has been conveyed to younger men by their fathers.

Sadly, legitimate initiation rituals and role modeling are often lacking in American culture; therefore, some of us are struggling, and many of us don’t really know who we are. When we don’t know who we are, we can easily become passive and weak. But this is not God’s plan for us.

Our men’s session today began with praise & worship, a game of “Nail it or Fail it” (which got everyone involved), and even some beatboxing which was done by volunteers from the crowd.

After these icebreakers, Kyle began his talk by reminding us of the story of David and Goliath. David was skilled at the using a slingshot. He had used the slingshot to ward off the prey who had attempted to kill his sheep. So, he used what he knew to fight the battle against Goliath.

Kyle challenged us all to consider what our personal Goliaths might be, including but, not limited to: low self-esteem, drugs, drinking, sexual sin, pride, selfishness, despair, laziness, and unforgiveness. Kyle didn’t list every struggle that any of us might have, but we all know what are own personal struggles are, right?

The session for men began with a rousing call to worship by Adam Bitter. He shared the story of one of his friends who has cerebral palsy and who, consequently, has trouble raising his hands in worship. Even in his weakness, Adam’s friend pushes his body to the limits out of love for God. Adam called us to be leaders in worship, to give everything we have to Him. What an awesome challenge that I think we all need.

Pete Burds began by telling us about one of his childhood heroes, pitcher Randy Johnson. Johnson once threw a 105 mph fastball that accidentally hit (and obliterated) a bird. If you dare, you can view the video here.

“The world promises you comfort, but you were not made for comfort. You were made for greatness.” — Pope Benedict XVI

Matt Regitz started his talk at this morning’s men session with an encouraging thought that spoke to the heart of every man in attendance, “When I’m done speaking, you will be able to eat lunch!” which was, of course, was greeted by outrageous applause.

But Matt didn’t spend too much time on silliness. He immediately began sharing some personal stories of recent struggles from his life and the lives of his loved ones – which caused me (and I suspect everyone in attendance) to reflect on our past and present personal struggles. This was important, because when we struggle, we can be tempted to believe that we aren’t where we are supposed to be…but that thought is a lie. God has us right where He wants us to be at this very moment; our challenge is to trust that!

What does it mean to be a man? In today’s society there is a lot of clutter surrounding what it actually means to live a genuine masculine life. It is a harsh reality that there is lot of temptation around us and these temptations have distorted the answer to this question. These struggles can often steer us away from who we were meant to be and what God has planned for us.

Jimmy reminded us that you can be close to God’s grace, but your sins against purity and chastity can deflect that grace away. He talked about his time in middle school when he was very involved in his church and a youth group, but was still struggling to have an honest relationship with God because of his daily struggles fighting temptation.