The TrueManhood Podcast – Episode 1! “What TrueManhood is All About”
The FIRST episode from The TrueManhood Podcast by Dave DiNuzzo Sr!
In this episode, Dave dives in to what TrueManhood is… from the definition of the words, to the ins-and-outs of the ministry that has been serving the Church for over a decade. TrueManhood is emulating Jesus Christ (True God and TrueMan).
The files will be downloadable from iTunes very soon. Watch social media for updates. Please like and subscribe, and share with the men in your life!
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Tweet-Talk… Porn’s No Good, Ochocinco
I don’t tweet. I have a Twitter account, and my Facebook page updates are automatically put on Twitter, but as for following, tweeting, re-tweeting, etc… I haven’t gotten into it. I can see, however, from the post below, that Twitter can actually bring about some good. Here’s a status from yesterday’s (2/8/12) #4 most mentioned person, my friend, John Leyendecker.
THROWING STONES AT OCHO’S PORNOGRAPHY – read below or view on the FOCUS Equip website.
So yesterday Chad Ochocinco (his Twitter handle is: @ochocinco) responded to me (@johnleyendecker) on Twitter! Can you believe it? I mean, c’mon, the guy has 3.2 million followers and he responded to me! This was huge! My kids have his Bengals jerseys (sorry Patriots fans) both with Johnson and Ochocinco on the back. My 4 year old son’s nickname is Sojo, which he immediately turned into Sojo-Cinco. Needless to say, we are HUGE fans.
What was said was troubling, but not surprising.
Here is the thread:
It all started when a Twitter follower of Chad Ochocinco’s asked him about a pornography website.
Ochocinco responds:
@ochocinco A very interesting site, I get most of my creative ideas from there to keep HER guessing what’s next.
In response to this tweet, I tweeted:
@johnleyendecker: @ochocinco you claim to be Christian, yet look at porn? You are a joke. Be a man. Honor your God and women. Kids look up to you.
This is when Ochocinco responds directly to my tweet:
@ochocinco: I tend to back slide every now and then kind sir. RT@johnleyendecker: @ochocinco you claim to be Christian, yet look at porn?
@johnleyendecker: just hope that people realize you are backsliding, not glorifying it. Peace & grace to you!
@ochocinco: I love you to oh Holy One RT @johnleyendecker: just hope that people realize you are backsliding, not glorifying it. Peace & grace to you!
From this interaction, almost 300 people on Twitter replied to our conversation. Some defended him and some encouraged me…but they mostly defended him.
Twitter only allows 140 characters, so I wanted to tell Chad and others what I really meant:
First, I want to apologize because in my zeal I left out a key phrase that would have given better context. I meant to say “you claim to be a Christian, yet you are glorifying looking at pornography.” So for this, I ask your forgiveness.
But the rest, I have to admit, I meant. Men who look at pornography and have no remorse, regret, or even go so far as to make it seem creative as you did Chad are a joke. Not joke, funny, but as in a joke not to be taken seriously.
I appreciate your comment about backsliding. I know a lot about backsliding. I know a lot about my own brokenness being what Christ is using in me to heal others. I know very well St. Paul’s words, “I do not understand my own actions. For I do not do what I want, but I do the very thing I hate.” (Romans 7:15) I have to admit Chad, I don’t take it lightly.
You see, I’ve been in ministry for 10 years and have seen the destruction that pornography causes in men’s and women’s lives. I have friends that work to liberate women and children from the sex slave industry that is built on the foundation of pornography. I will not quote to you the statistics or the studies, you can read them all on your own, but I want to share with you my heart and extend grace to you. Maybe you don’t know how destructive porn is? Maybe to justify your own addiction, you make light of it? Or worse, maybe you talk about it because you think it’s what your fans want to hear? I’m not sure, but I want to assume the best of you.
As men we are called to be responsible. A man who follows Christ takes responsibility. There is nothing funny or cool about pornography. Women have a tremendous dignity, a dignity that should be honored and guarded by men, not exploited and degraded. We are responsible for those men and women as leaders. Chad, you are a leader. Many young men and women look up to you as an example whether you like that or not. St. Paul says, “Let no evil talk come out of your mouths, but only such as is good for edifying, as fits the occasion, that it may impart grace to those who hear.” (Ephesians 4:29)
I ask you, and remind myself of it as I ask it of you, to have the courage of your convictions. If you are trapped in bondage to pornography, ask for help. If you are embarrassed or feel guilty about some of things you have said, let’s repent and do better. Women deserve better, God deserves better, and as an adopted son of God, you deserve better too Chad. I wrote this because I care about you bro. I hope it can be an encouragement to you. If not, and you think I’m completely off-base, please resolve to pray for me. Please see that I wasn’t throwing stones at you or judging your heart, only God knows a man’s heart, but I can’t let a brother in Christ actions go unchecked, especially when it is hurting so many.
| John converted to Catholicism in 1999 after a very prodigal lifestyle. It is from this place of brokenness that he shares what Christ has done in his life. He received his degree in classics and theology from Xavier University. Working with FOCUS at Colorado State for 4 1/2 years has made him passionate for the work of the New Evangelization. Currently John and his wife of 9 years, Lisa, live in Fort Collins, Colorado, with their five children.
You can follow him on Twitter @johnleyendecker |
Good For You, Young Man
Have you heard of this story? A young man from Iowa, named Joel Northrup, declined to wrestle a young lady in the Iowa High School State Wrestling Tournament. He lost by default and the young lady he was supposed to wrestle, who won by default, moved on in the tournament. This was the first time in the 85 year history that a female wrestled in the state tournament in Iowa. This year, not only one girl, Cassy, but two girls made it. The other young lady was named Megan.
Joel said that he didn’t believe that boys should wrestle girls. I agree with him. It’s inappropriate. He said, “I have a tremendous amount of respect for Cassy and Megan and their accomplishments.” For Northrup, it doesn’t appear to be a fear thing; he’s not afraid of these girls. He was 35-4 in matches this year and has already had success in Iowa in previous years. It’s a matter of principle for him.
“Wrestling is a combat sport and it can get violent at times,” said Northrup. “As a matter of conscience and my faith I do not believe that it is appropriate for a boy to engage a girl in this manner. It is unfortunate that I have been placed in a situation not seen in most other high school sports in Iowa.”
Here’s a bit from his coach…
What does he mean by a “matter of my faith?” What does being a Christian man have to do with not wrestling a woman? (Just writing that sentence seems silly to me.) I’d say that it goes back to our creation as men. It speaks to the heart of a man. Deep inside every man is a sense of wildness, a rugged “warrior” drive and our natural inclination towards adventure. There’s nothing natural inside a man that says “I should my brute strength to pin a woman to the floor to win a tournament.” In the history of wrestling, dating back to the ancient Greeks, men and women never wrestled one another. In fact, women never wrestled at all. Females wrestling is a pretty new invention.
It’s a weird proposition, having to wrestle a girl. I should know… I wrestled two girls in middle school. Unfortunately, I didn’t have the courage that Joel had, to say “I default”. The young ladies that I wrestled in middle school were sweet girls, and pretty feminine, they also happened to like to wrestle. I’m not really sure why.
Some people would then ask, “Dave, what if your daughters came to you and said, “Daddy, I want to wrestle.”?” What would I say?
I’d say no. It’ll be a ‘no’ if they come and ask me to be a boxer. It’ll be a ‘no’ if they come and ask me to be an altar server at Mass. It would be ‘no’ to a lot of questions. It’s not authentically feminine for women to do things men are naturally inclined to do. I’ve written about this a lot – we (men and women) were created with equal dignity, but separate roles. It’s NOT a bad thing, it’s a GREAT thing! When men do what they were created for and women do what they were created for IT WORKS! If that gets all screwed up, everything falls apart.
When I write posts like these, I typically get at least one feminist email spewing hate towards me and this view point (which isn’t solely mine – but that of the Church as well). I get called all sorts of names and get blamed for being a chauvinist and hateful and harsh and intolerant and so forth. I welcome those emails because it creates good dialogue. It’s not about some notion of equality, that a woman should be able to do whatever a man can do. It’s about the notion of order. So, if you read this and disagree, let me know.
TrueMan up!
“What Do You Want Your Dash to Represent?”
I just saw this ESPN Documentary about Tim Tebow. It’s going to be on ESPN in a just a little bit (5pm Mountain Time), but if you’re not reading this right away (which most of you won’t be), I’m sure that ESPN will replay it.
It looks interesting, but I don’t have ESPN, so I won’t be able to see it right now. As I watched the trailer, I had an eerie feeling in my gut, especially when they were showing him in the stadium after a game and the band girl screamed “I touched him!” as if his “cloak” was able to heal. The trailer really depicted him as some sort of savior. Seems to be a weird mix of Tim Tebow’s dedication and determination, even against extreme odds, and an idolization of him as a super-human. Watch the trailer below and let me know if you felt the same way.
Tim Tebow is a good man. He is devoted to his walk with Christ and does great things for the community. He inspires many and is a ray of hope in our world. Good job, Tim.
He has an awesome quote in there, “what do you want your dash to represent?” This quote is important for all of us to think about. 
He was saying that each of our tombstones will have the year we were born and then will have the year we died. In between these numbers will be a dash. The dash represents the years of our life. “What do you want your dash to represent?” is really asking the question “What is your life all about?” That’s why I posted this video. It’s a great question to ask yourself. Are you a man of great integrity and character? Are you a man of virtue? A you a holy and devoted man? Are you constantly trying to get better? Are you constantly trying to grow? What sort of legacy are you leaving? If yes, your dash will represent greatness. If not, it may represent something else.
This would be a great video and topic to segment into another post about “cultural manliness”, but that’ll have to wait.
TrueMan up!
All or None
Christ requires that we are all or none. There’s no middle ground when you are a follower of Christ – a Christian. I recently heard it put like this… if life was a game of Texas Hold’em, Christ would ask us to go “all in” – that’s the only bet allowed. Why is it so hard for some people to “go all in”? Why is it so hard to let go of control and simply let God? I’ve been blessed, in regards to this situation, to have a trusting disposition. I rely fully on and I know, wholeheartedly, that He will provide all that I need and more.
Trust is a huge piece that goes into following Christ. And trust, although seemingly insignificant at times, plays a vital role in pushing all our chips into the center of the table. The Catechism tells us that Adam, the first man, lost trust in God his creator, thus, the first sin. What sort of trust level do you have in God your creator?
I know that some things are uncertain and some things are scary, but relying on God to get you through them is a vital part in following Him. We’re given amazing examples in Scripture of men who trusted – namely, Abraham. His level of trust, obedience and faith is incredible. Read his story in the Scripture and you’ll see what I mean. When it comes down to it, he chose trust over everything else and God rewarded him for it.
Man up!
