Hi everyone, I had the chance to chat with a good friend of mine and I wanted to share it.
Seriously, go buy this book HERE!

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JOHN: Hi Mike! Thanks for joining us today. How are you?
MIKE: Hey John, I’m doing great! Thanks for having me!
JOHN: Definitely. Can you tell us a little bit about yourself?
MIKE: Sure. I’m a full time husband, father and youth pastor in western Pennsylvania.
JOHN: For those of you who don’t know, Mike was my youth pastor at the end of my High School career. He’s a great guy with a great heart.
So Mike … you just wrote a book, right? Tell us about that.
MIKE: You meant to say your favorite youth pastor. Ever.
Yes, I just wrote a book with two friends of mine called ‘99 Things Every Guy Should Know.’ It is geared towards teenage and college age guys and it just came out a couple months ago.
JOHN: Awesome, and so all of you readers do not miss it, you can get it HERE.
Mike, you say it’s geared towards young men – what’s the message of the book? and why is it just written to men?
MIKE: From our experiences, we’ve seen a lot of great resources and ministry out there for adult women, adult men, young women but nothing really geared towards young men. This is a pretty significant issue, because guys need to know what it means to be a real man. Sadly, guys today have a limited number of men to look up to, whether it’s in the church or at home. So whether it’s a lack of Christian men as role models, a weak father figure, no father figure, etc – guys today are learning their ideas of what it looks like to be a man through our culture.
JOHN: Yeah, I completely agree. Emily and I were talking about that just yesterday, actually… about how certain negative behaviors are praised in men while shunned in women. We definitely need more positive role models.
What topics does this book specifically address?
MIKE: We’ve broken the book down into eight main themes: Relationships, Finances, Dating & Sex, Spiritual Growth & Disciplines, Leadership, Identity, Legacy and Acceptance. Most resources out there for guys (limited as they are) deal with the area of dating & sex, but the reality is that there’s so much more to being a man than just sexual purity.
JOHN: Yes. Thank you!! I am so glad there’s something else we can talk about. Don’t get me wrong … it’s important – but it’s not everything.
As I understand it, you co-wrote this book. Is that correct?
There’s a creative community here, and we are curious. How did that work?
MIKE: It was an interesting process, especially with having three of us involved. We had multiple phone, text and e-mail conversations to construct the direction we wanted to go with this book. What’s great is that all three of us are from different settings and experiences, which really helped to make this a well-rounded and applicable book in almost any setting.
JOHN: So, was it a positive experience for you?
MIKE: Definitely! I’ve known these guys for years and seriously love them. Had I not known them, it may have been a different story, but going in with relationships already established we knew each others heart for this ministry. Anytime we had a different thought on a topic, we were able to peel back any bias and get to the root of it, and that really benefited the book.
JOHN: That’s awesome. I haven’t done a co-write yet, but I am working on that. I think when a group can work on something together, there’s a much greater potential.
Thanks for talking with us today … any last words? How can people connect with you beyond this?
MIKE: When guys grow into being real men and who God has called them to be, that means that they will be better husbands, better fathers, better leaders, and so on. This is something that matters. The goal with this book is simply to help move guys in that direction. We’ve made a Website as a starting point and we’re on Twitter and Facebook.
JOHN: Awesome. Thanks Mike. And we’ll be praying for you all! Keep it up and have a great day!
MIKE: Thanks so much John! Appreciate the opportunity!
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