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Joseph M. Stowell III returned in February to a pastoral ministry after 17 years as president of Chicago's Moody Bible Institute. A gifted communicator, he's appeared regularly on the Moody network's radio broadcasts and authored several books.

Before his institute tenure, Joe pastored churches in Ohio, Indiana, and Michigan for 17 years. He's currently on the staff of Harvest Bible Chapel in suburban Chicago.

I was born male. But early in life I learned that that didn't necessarily make me a man. I realized this the first time somebody said, "Joe, be a man!" It was probably when I'd started crying or refused to eat my spinach.

Going beyond just being a male and discovering what it meant to be a "man" became more urgent as I grew through adolescence. I learned that it meant being tough and athletic, never saying I was sorry or admitting I was wrong. Real men don't cry. They woo women, work hard, and win.

Today I've reached my mid-century but find the cultural expectations of manhood as challenging and confusing as ever. There's the macho Marlboro man, the mild-mannered sensitive man, the Monday night football man, and the cunning marketplace man who cruises the corporate stream like a shark. These contrasting portraits make many of us feel, at best, insecure about our manhood or, at worst, almost ashamed of our masculinity.

Adapted from Moody magazine (5/92) by permission.

Copyright © 2005 by the author or Christianity Today International/Men of Integrity magazine. Click here for reprint information on Men of Integrity.

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Prayer for the Week

Thank You, Jesus, for modeling true manhood for me. Give me the courage and strength to fill the role You marked out.

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