I don’t know how you stumbled into this, but I’m here for it. Thank you for clicking on whatever link led you here. Your attention is such a rare gift. I promise to do my best not to waste it. 

So, I’ll stop rambling. 

What am I doing here? 

This is my attempt to give an honest account of what it’s like to be a man trying to faithfully follow Jesus in the 21st century. I don’t know if that’s any harder than it was in times past, but it definitely seems like it’s not getting easier. 

There’s already great stuff out there about what it means to be a Godly man today. Pastors, speakers, theologians, and other random people on the internet talking about following Jesus, loving your wife, being a good dad, witnessing where you work, and how not to lose your soul in the process. 

There’s also a lot of trash. If you don’t know where to look you could end up in the hypermasculine, prooftexting corner of the Christian manosphere that tells you in order to be rEaL mAn Of GoD you need to have a six pack, make somewhere north of $200k, and never play video games. 

Then there’s the Christian influencer crowd, using Jesus and His Word to draw you in before selling protein powder, finance courses, or clothing they say will make you more like Jesus. 

This isn’t that. 

I’m not a theologian. I’m not a philosopher. I don’t have a six pack, but in all honesty, I’m kind of trying. I don’t have any influencer deals. 

I’m a man trying to faithfully follow Jesus in our world that constantly tells us to earn more, do more, and be more. and do it all by the strength of our own two hands. 

I don’t always do it well, following Jesus. Hence the name of this site “Sheep-ish”. Some days I do. Other days I fail miserably and need sleep to hit the reset button so I can wake up to new mercy. 

But really… why Sheep-ish? 

Why sheep at all? Aren’t we supposed to be lions and giant killers and mighty men of God? Well… yeah. But Jesus called us the sheep of His pasture. He is our shepherd and we are His sheep. 

I would love for all this to be based on strength and ability and courage. I would love to write to you like I have all those things figured out. I don’t. 

I chose the image and the title of a sheep, because it’s something I struggle with. Sheep are just supposed to follow their shepherd around, trusting that He’s leading them where they’re supposed to go. 

I’ve never done well with that idea. So, I’m using this to force myself into the truth. The truth that I’ve never been much more than a sheep. My strength is nothing compared to His. My wisdom is foolishness compared to His. I’ve never really known where I’m going on my own. But God in His infinite wisdom and grace has always been patient to lead me. 

I’ve been the one sheep He left the 99 to come get. I’ve been in the 99 watching Him save the one. But I’ve always been a sheep. I’m not glorious in and of myself. All my merit and strength comes from being connected to Him. I’m nothing without Him (even writing that now feels uncomfortable to say because I’ve been so shaped by my upbringing and our culture to believe the opposite). 

So, this is Sheep-ish. If you can relate, you’ve come to the right place. If you can’t, then there’s a ton of other content out there for you. Thank you for reading this far. 

What can you expect? 

You won’t see complex breakdowns of Greek or Hebrew. You won’t read professional cultural exegesis. I don’t have the psychological studies to back up some of the things I write. So, if I miss it here or there, just know that like the sheep I am, I’m stumbling imperfectly in the direction of a perfect God. 

But you can expect two things. 

Honesty and transparency. I’ll tell you the truth about my life, my failures, my victories and what I think I’m learning along the way. Maybe you’ll find something of use in my life. I hope that you do. There are so many other things you could be doing right now, but you’re here reading this. I’ll do my best to make it worth your time. 

Who am I? 

Nobody really. 

Just a guy with a full-time job, a wife and a kid, and something to say at 11:48pm when the house is finally quiet. 

I’m a recovering full-time minister. I worked for a church for almost a decade. I left it years back and have worked to have a real relationship with God that wasn’t attached to my paycheck. 

I’m not going to tell you my name or show you my face. The reason for that is two-fold. 

1. I believe anonymity makes it easier for me to be fully transparent with you in this context. I don’t think my wife, other members of my family, my friends or my coworkers would want people on the internet to know who they are in the context of this site. I plan on telling you the truth without any kind of polish on it in my writings. Removing personal details from the following stories seems like the fair and right thing to do. 

2. I don’t want to be a Christian influencer. I don’t know if anyone will ever read anything on this site, but on the off chance that this takes off in any way, I don’t want to be looked at as some kind of expert or authority on the subject of Christian manhood. I hope to point you back to God and His Word in everything I write, because that’s how I’m trying to live my life. 

3. BONUS: I’m also burned out on seeing people who use Jesus for personal gain. I won’t promise you that I won’t promote certain things on here, but I promise that they will be things I find truly valuable. No affiliate codes. No bait-and-switches.

If you can accept that, along with all the other stuff I wrote, then you may have found something truly valuable to your life. 

We’re almost 1,200 words into this thing now. So, if any of this resonates, I’d love it if you subscribed. 

I promise not to take your attention or information for granted. I won’t spam you with useless links or information. I’ll send you 1 maaaybe 2 emails a week if I’m feeling really ambitious. Everything you get in the email will eventually be available on the site. So, if you like what I write and want a little early access, enter that email address below. 

I hope we both come out of this looking a little more like Jesus, even if it’s just in how we talk to our wives after a long day. 

Here’s to following imperfectly. 

Here’s to absolute dependence. 

Here’s to being sheep and being proud of it.