A large part of our role as parents entails forming the identity and character of our children by giving them the support and security they need. We do this largely by loving them—willing their good and expressing it in a way that they can understand—and affirming the goodness of their identity as children of the Father. (As I continue this...

In an interesting and passing comment in Rerum Novarum, Pope St. Leo XIII says that children “continue [a father’s] personality.”  He is not speaking about his specific and unique personality, like being melancholic or something, but in that a child does carry forward the person of his father in his ways of life and character.  Children lea...

The average father cannot easily face the challenges he intuits, because he doesn’t understand them. And it is not because he is unintelligent, but because the force that has overtaken the totality of the developed world is too often unrecognized.  We don’t realize it in the same way we don’t realize air – its total presence is such a give...

It’s an odd time to be alive. In 2017 we are connected with each other more than mankind has ever been before. We can communicate more rapidly with more people in more ways than anyone could have possibly imagined 100 years ago. You know from your own experience that social media is an omnipresent force in modern life. Most of us likely com...

When I work with couples facing sexual addiction, they often question how they should address being sexual in their marriage.  Some spouses may want to maintain their marital sex life and others may want to avoid it altogether.  While a healthy sex life is important for any marriage, when recovering from sexual addiction there is much healing nee...

The phenomenon of “men’s groups” is interesting.  Of course, as inherent problem solvers, men seek out reasons to band together for a cause.  In fact, that’s the genius of homo sapien brotherhood according to evolutionary biologists – collaboration amongst potential competitors.  Just consider the achievement of the Knights of Columbus...

People often ask me what the recovery process entails.  Especially when dealing with addiction to pornography, there is a desire to be able to recognize progress since it is such a difficult addiction.  I often describe recovery as a three-tiered process: sobriety, inner-healing, and transformation. Sobriety: Being sober means no longer usin...

In my last article, I discussed healthy intimacy in friendships. In this article, I focus on intimacy in romantic relationships. For many men, their goal in life is to get married and have a family. Finding a wife begins with knowing how to date successfully. This can be difficult for many men as pornography has damaged their ability to relate to w...

People often wonder where God is when they struggle with an addiction.  Many of the men I work with who struggle with pornography addiction have prayed fervently for God to take it away.  However, they feel their prayers have fallen on deaf ears because they continue to struggle.  Some believe that God doesn’t even care about them.  They beli...

I try once a month to take what is called a “desert day”, a day to retreat from all work and technology to be with the Lord and listen to Him, to pray for all the people who have become a part of my belonging to Christ. I spent one of those days hiking Kennesaw Mountain in North Georgia, doing equal parts wandering and taking in the scenery. At...