Ask most men who they are, and they'll tell you what they do. In this episode, Michael explores what work is for and what it isn't. Work isn't a curse. God gave Adam a job in Genesis 2, before anything went wrong, and the thorns and thistles came later. Michael names the two ditches men fall into: making work an idol that swallows their marriage and family, or coasting through it doing the bare minimum. Between them runs the road of Colossians 3:23: whatever you do, work heartily, as for the Lord. He also looks at how a man's work shapes the people at home, from the wife who gets his leftover energy to the kids learning what a job is for. The episode closes with practical steps and a hard question for every husband and father: Does your family get the best of you, or the rest of you?

On Father’s Day 2021, Michael preached, then drove to the airport to do something he knew was wrong. For nine hours in the Tampa airport, one sentence wouldn’t leave him alone: Go home. He didn’t. Three weeks later, his marriage ended.

In this bonus episode, Michael shares the story behind his new book, Nevertheless: Living Faithfully with What Forgiveness Doesn’t Fix. Drawing on Nathan’s words to David in 2 Samuel 12, he explores the difference between guilt and regret, the long middle after a collapse, the danger of sentencing yourself, and the hope of the chapter after. For every man who has been forgiven and still lives with consequences, and for the man still sitting in his own airport.

Nevertheless is available from Start2Finish Books at start2finish.org. —> https://start2finish.org/shop/p/nevertheless-living-faithfully-with-what-forgiveness-doesnt-fix

Pre-order "Nevertheless: Living Faithfully with What Forgiveness Doesn’t Fix" —> https://start2finish.org/shop/p/nevertheless-living-faithfully-with-what-forgiveness-doesnt-fix

Michael distinguishes doubt from unbelief — doubt is an open door, not a closed one — and walks through the biblical heroes who wrestled with questions: Abraham laughed at God's promise, David cried out in the Psalms, John the Baptist asked from prison if Jesus was really the one, and Thomas demanded proof. He explores why doubt shows up: suffering, intellectual questions, disappointment with the church, spiritual dryness. The practical section covers what not to do (pretend, isolate, demand certainty, confuse feelings with reality) and what to actually do: bring it to God, tell someone, go back to what you know, keep showing up, and pursue the questions honestly. The episode closes with hope — doubt may be a sign your faith is growing up, not falling apart.