I had just concluded 40 days of prayer and fasting before this trip and I sensed in my spirit that a directional change was coming to my ministry. Suddenly, when the tires hit the tarmac it was as if a download of information came rushing to me. Jolted, surprised and almost overwhelmed, I reached for anything I could find to write down the flood of thoughts flowing into my spirit.

The initial word spoken to my spirit was, “Build a movement to resurrect authentic manhood. Do so by speaking to the deep purposes that reside within man and he will cast off those things that restrain him.”

As I wrote, more and more clarity came to me. I asked, “What are the deep purposes of man?” I immediately remembered Proverbs 20:5, “The purposes of a man’s heart are deep waters, but one who has insight draws them out.”

Instantly, the foundational principles of Fivestarman flowed out of my spirit and I realized that man has five distinct purposes that reside deep within him:

1. Man is an Adventurous Spirit;
2. He is gifted with an Entrepreneurial Drive;
3. He desires to be Gallant in Relationships;
4. Man longs to be Faithful in Character;
5. And he is driven to leave a legacy through Philanthropic Cause.

(Later study also revealed that the word for “man” in Proverbs 20:5 is not the common word “Adam” but “iysh.” Iysh means, masculine man, cultivator, virile, strong, manly-mind, gallant, priest, leader, and champion.)

Once the plane arrived at the gate, I had to switch my focus back to the consulting assignment for the next 24 hours. Amazingly, when I boarded the plane the next day the flow of inspiration immediately returned, giving me insight and strategy as to how Fivestarman was to develop.

When the plane landed in Houston, I stayed onboard while the flight attendants prepared to continue to our next destination in New Orleans. I was busy typing an outline for Fivestarman on my laptop when the flight attendants approached me. As they attempted to make small talk with me, I tried to keep my focus. Finally, I realized that I couldn’t shake them and gave them my full attention. One young lady said, “What are you working on?”

“I am writing an outline to a book.” I answered, hoping that would suffice.

“What is the book about?” she continued.

Realizing they were genuinely interested, I answered, “I am writing a book about a Fivestarman.” As I shared with them the five purposes of authentic manhood and finished by describing gallant relationships, I realized the young lady had drawn in a little too close to my comfort zone. As I leaned back away from her, I noticed tears dripping off her cheek. She desperately asked, “How do I find a man like that?”

It seemed as if she was speaking for young women everywhere, even for my own daughters. I suddenly felt the cry of our culture. A vulnerable culture, one that is missing the strength and protection that comes from authentic manhood.

“Stand at attention while I prepare you for your work…
You’re a one-man defense system against this culture.” Jeremiah 1:18-19

The echo of the original word that came to me was not to build a personal ministry but to build a movement. A movement is a series of organized activities working toward a stated goal. It requires much more activity than one person can achieve.

Over the next few weeks as I began to speak on the five passions of authentic manhood I noticed something very interesting in the posture of men. Initially, men were leaning back in their chairs with folded arms and half-sleepy eyes. As I began to share in-depth what makes a Fivestarman, they began to sit up straight. By the time I finished, those same men were leaning forward, hands on their knees, eyes focused, staring straight ahead, as if in a stance of readiness.

Solomon said, “The purposes of a man are drawn out.” I now recognize the progress of this drawing-out-process each time I speak on the five passions of authentic manhood and the process is simple:


Fivestarman is not about placing a shackle of guilt on a man, nor are we trying to make a man something that he is not, we are simply identifying who he already is and revealing it to him, giving him clear understanding to his God-given purposes.

And men are responding to this. Men can wrap their heads around this. Men want to know more. They want to be involved in this process.

This is a total change in the paradigm of communicating to men!

According to a recent study only 10 percent of churches have a viable, active and productive men’s ministry.

Most efforts toward men’s ministries are weak, anemic, and girly. We even see this with publishing companies who have all but given up trying to communicate to men. These companies excuse their failed efforts to the preposition that men do not read. I totally disagree! Men will read, but we do not read like women read. The problem is the publishing companies and most ministries have attempted to communicate to men’s feelings. That’s fine for women.

Women relate face-to-face sharing feelings.

But men relate shoulder-to-shoulder facing challenges.

Other efforts toward men’s ministry center around an angry anti-pornography strategy. This reactive strategy starts when a pastor or leader is forced to deal with some of their “good” guys facing the addictive powers of pornography. Pornography is a scourge on manhood, but it is actually a result—not the cause—of a fallen relationship with God.

We must dig deeper. We must draw from the original intent of manhood.

We don’t need another attempt at men’s ministry. We need a movement. A movement that is organic. A movement that raises the voice of authentic manhood. A movement that speaks to men who have been completely turned off by the terms “Bible Study” or “Men’s Breakfast.” We must become more strategic and communicate to the internal, God-deposit that lies within men, that spark of authentic purpose that the Spirit draws out (1 Corinthians 2:9).

We’re not going to win men by making them something that they’re not. We can’t communicate to men on the emotive level. We must communicate to men’s purposes. When a man focuses on his purposes he casts off those things that constrain him.

When you are in training physically, you change your habits, you get up earlier, work out harder and suppress or change your appetite. You know that some of your cravings are bad for you. The same goes for your spirit. When you focus on godly training, just like physical training, you will focus on growth and suppress those things that hinder your progress.

Rather than guilt men into the Church, rather than manipulate him by focusing on his wife and children, we must focus on the purposes of men, draw upon them, communicate to him in an authentic manner.

As Malachi warned in the last sentence of the Old Testament before the 400 years of silence:

 “See, I will send you the prophet Elijah before that great and dreadful day of the Lord comes. He will turn the hearts of the fathers to their children, and the hearts of the children to their fathers; or else I will come and strike the land with a curse.”

We must have a prophetic voice speak to the heart of men. We must raise the voice of authentic manhood. Now is the time for Fivestarman!

God answered by saying, “Two nations are in your womb, and two peoples from within you will be separated; one people will be stronger than the other, and the older will serve the younger.”

God spoke to the generations within her, prophesying their future.  When it came time for their birth, the twins were in contention.  The first child to arrive was covered with red hair, so they named him Esau, which means Red.  Grasping the heel of Red was Jacob, which means to grasp the heel, or figuratively means to deceive.

Red was loved by his father.  He learned to be a skillful hunter, a man who liked to be out in the field.  He was loud, and rough-hewn.

Red wasn’t a thinker.  He didn’t have vision beyond his present appetite.  This exposed a weakness, his vulnerability to be deceived.

Rebekah loved Deceiver.  She schooled his quiet nature, kept him around the tents, dressed him in designer clothes, and taught him how to cook.  She also taught him the subtle techniques of deception.

Red came home from a failed day of hunting, when Deceiver welcomed him with a contract, “Will you trade a fresh bowl of stew for your birthright?”

Red’s stomach controlled his passion, so he made hasty decisions.  Haste leads to poverty (Proverbs 21:5).  Deceiver’s passion was his legacy; he would strive for significance, even if he achieved it through evil means.

This war between the natures of man continues to jostle back and forth.  You may have the two natures within you.  You may immediately identify with Red, or you may realize that you have a secret nature that relates to Deceiver.

This imbalance can stem from how we raise our children.  When a parent favors a child, they tend to put their imprint upon that child.  Isaac related to Esau, while Rebekah was devoted to Jacob.  Even though they were raised in the same household, they were parented separately, as if they were each living in a single-parent household.

We can see the devastating effects of single-parent households every day.  I can’t tell you how many horrific stories I’ve heard, where a fatherless boy is manipulated into deception by a predator because the boy needed a “daddy” in his life.  Boys crave the love of a father.

We need the balance of both natures. We need to be in the field, hunting, fishing, hiking, riding, exploring and adventuring, and we need to be thinking long term, so that our temporary appetites don’t forfeit our futures.

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This article is an excerpt from the book Fivestarman—The Five Passions of Authentic Manhood by Neil Kennedy.  To learn more about Fivestarman or to order your copy of Fivestarman—The Five Passions of Authentic Manhood please visit www.fivestarman.com.

You are free and welcome to re-publish, re-post, and in general share this article with any and all, so long as you keep all credits and links intact. For reprint rights, please contact us at info@fivestarman.com.

You were made out of the dirt, molded from the clay, and that’s also where you are called to return.  It’s where you relate—the field of contest—whether it’s a football field, a baseball field, a golf course, or even a battlefield.  It’s on the field of contest that man clashes with other men sharpening his skills and strengthening his resolve.

Women relate face-to-face sharing feelings; men relate shoulder-to-shoulder facing challenges.  A woman tells you what she feels; a man tells you what he thinks.

The Bible says, “Iron sharpens iron, a man sharpens another man.” Iron does not sharpen with a caress but with a clash.  You become a better man by the competition.  The struggle strengthens you.

Do you always win?

No, but you become a better man.  The competition conditions you.

The field of contest has always been in the heart of a man.  Early man left the home to hunt in the field, to kill a wild beast, and to bring it home as a prize for his family.  The family celebrated his victory by cooking and feasting on his conquest.  At dinner, he was served first, because he was “The Man!”

Even though we still leave the house to enter the field of contest and return with provisions, something seems lost in translation when all we bring home is a paycheck.  The family doesn’t celebrate dad’s victories anymore.  Celebration has become expectation.  The family feels cheated if the money isn’t there when they want the latest cultural phenomenon.  The husband/father no longer receives honor for being the provider.  The dignity of vocation no longer commands respect.

“Adventure, with all its requisite danger and wildness,
is a deeply spiritual longing written into the soul of man.”

—John Eldredge

The adventurous spirit slowly dies when a man has to live his whole life refined in designer clothes.  Sometimes a man needs to get back out into the dirt and play as he did when he was a child.

So how about it, men? What do you do to get your “fingers in the dirt” and reclaim the adventurous spirit?

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This article is an excerpt from the book Fivestarman—The Five Passions of Authentic Manhood by Neil Kennedy.  To learn more about Fivestarman or to order your copy of Fivestarman—The Five Passions of Authentic Manhood please visit www.fivestarman.com.

You are free and welcome to re-publish, re-post, and in general share this article with any and all, so long as you keep all credits and links intact. For reprint rights, please contact us at info@fivestarman.com.

“It Always Looks Darkest Just Before It’s Totally Black.” – Charlie Brown

The interviews of Charlie Sheen are bizarre to say the least.  His incoherent thoughts ramble out of his cigarette infected throat – thoughts glorifying his narcissistic self, his romps with whores, his drug trips as performances – all the while pushing back on his father for judging him, attacking those who paid him $1.8 million dollars an episode for being able to read a script!

The problem with Charlie is simply this:  He is a boy that never received an education, never had a day of discipline in his life and never actually had to work (unless you call acting work.) So now as a man he is exposed to the extremes of wealth, fame, and sin, having been divorced three times and paying enormous sums of money for sex.

The amazing thing is that he is living the life that is promoted in every men’s magazine, and grunted out of every half-baked adolescent male.  This is what happens to men who live without purpose and according to the original intent of manhood.  They chase the extremes in their meaningless life – “eat, drink, for tomorrow we die.”

The media vultures hover around his decaying persona waiting for his demise, hoping for the interview to be timed just right to be his last interview.  They are complicit in his stupidity.  They are equally insane to think that he deserves the time, while the world is in turmoil and on the verge of collapse.

Manhood is more than this.  Manhood is noble, dignified, honorable, respectful, and disciplined.  Manhood needs a resurrection in our time.

Washington (CNN) – Trevor Bayne may have won the Daytona 500 on Sunday, but a small charity he name-dropped will share in the spoils of victory.

The 20-year-old NASCAR driver was racing in just his second Sprint Cup competition and is now etched in the record books as the youngest driver to win the sports’ biggest race.

“I never thought in a million years we were gonna win our first one,” Bayne told CNN Monday morning. “It’s incredible.”

During his post-race news conference, Bayne was asked how he would spend some of the $1,463,813 purse he won from the race.

“I don’t know if I will splurge. I am definitely not putting it up for retirement yet, I am going to stay around for awhile,” Bayne said.

“Hopefully this money will help us get some more races, and there are a lot of foundations and ministries that need support. Back2Back ministries in Mexico is one, and there are a lot of good organizations that need some help, and we will help them out as much as we can.”

In a sport that has ads plastered over nearly every inch of the drivers and their cars, it was a big deal for Bayne to namedrop the Christian charity.

Trevor Bayne visits with an orphan on a trip to Mexico in November.

Back2Back is an independent Christian charity working with orphans and the needy in Mexico, Nigeria and India. Bayne was introduced to the charity by Lonnie Clouse, a former chaplain for NASCAR with Motor Racing Outreach, who is now on staff with Back2Back.

“I assure you it was nothing short of miraculous.  Trever called me yesterday from the media center after the win with tears in his eyes and we prayed together over the phone,” Clouse said by phone from Monterrey, Mexico.

“This was part of God’s script and God’s plan for him.  He’s using his platform to talk about those with no voice and [about] orphan awareness.”

Motor Racing Outreach (MRO) provides weekend church services and Bible studies for NASCAR drivers and their teams who can’t get away from the track on race weekends. Clouse was MRO’s traveling chaplain for the NASCAR Nationwide series.

“Bayne was a faithful attendee at all our Nationwide Bible studies.  He would sit in the front row.  He would get up and read scripture or open in prayer, whatever we needed,” Clouse said.

Bayne traveled to Mexico to work with Clouse in November. “He was down here in Mexico staying with us and serving along side us helping with orphans,” Clouse said.

“We went and visited orphanages. He made quite an impression here. He was out playing soccer with the orphans.  We huddled them all around, and Trevor got to talk to them about what he did.  They were asking him how fast he went.  Most of them had no clue who he was and what he did,” Clouse said.

Bayne visits with an orphan on a trip to Mexico in November.

After the race Clouse gathered the orphans together and filled them in on Bayne’s big win. “It was exciting for them to hear how well he did.”

Clouse was ordained in a non-denominational church. MRO pulls chaplains from many different denominations. Clouse said Bayne is member of a church near his home but gets most of his spiritual nourishment on the road from MRO.

For the former chaplain, all those Bible studies at the race track paid off when Bayne was in the winners circle.

“He summed up the two greatest commandments, ‘Love the lord your God with all your heart’ and ‘Love your neighbor as yourself.’  He got up on that stage and he was able to articulate those things beautifully.  It was a very very proud moment for me and for MRO.”

The marketing team of Flipped has asked us to invite you to their live video chat with director Rob Reiner and actress Madeline Carroll will be featured on a live video chat this Thursday, August 26 at 7pm ET on Facebook. RSVP on Facebook: bitly.com/flippedlivechat

After Hurricane Katrina devastated New Orleans, leaving 85% of the city under water, many wondered, would the city ever come back? And with their stadium transformed into a makeshift refugee camp, forcing the Saints to play their entire 2005 season on the road, people questioned, would the Saints ever come back?

It takes a special person to turn adversity into success and despair into hope—yet that is exactly what Super Bowl MVP Drew Brees has done—and with the weight of an entire city on his shoulders. Coming Back Stronger is the ultimate comeback story, not only of one of the NFL’s top quarterbacks, but also of a city and a team that many had all but given up on. Brees’ inspiring message of hope and encouragement proves that with enough faith, determination, and heart, you can overcome any obstacle life throws your way and not only come back, but come back stronger.

Drew’s new book is now available on Amazon and other stores. (Affiliate link.)

Here also, is a great interview Drew had with ESPN recently to discuss his book. Click here to view on ESPN.

Pastor Dave Divine of The Church at Chapel Hill in Douglasville, Georgia, had an inspiring and thought-provoking message for men on Father’s Day, challenging men to step up and live the passionate life of a FivestarMan.

Filmed by Sean Mullens, it’s a humble story of a friend named  Michael and his daily ritual to find himself through surfing. Sean relates:

“I had discussed shooting the film with Michael for a few weeks and then one day he approached me and asked if I wanted to go film him getting into the water. I grabbed my camera and we shot everything in a few hours.

One interesting fact is that the place where we filmed him entering the water was the exact location he broke his neck and became disabled 30 years ago. He told me that time and time again he finds himself at that spot on earth without intention of being there… it is one of his favorite places to be.”