Intentional Fatherhood
Intentional Fatherhood is a podcast hosted by Brook Mosser and Justin Whitmel Earley that explores the complexities of fatherhood through a biblical lens. The show addresses eight core tensions fathers face, offering practical habits and spiritual insights to help listeners navigate their roles as husbands, disciples, and providers. Each episode provides encouragement and actionable steps rooted in faith, aiming to bring clarity and purpose to the calling of fatherhood.
Episodes
S3E9 - The Amateur: Reclaiming Joy and Pursuing Hobbies Outside of Work
This week, we explore the importance of being an amateur, and doing things simply because you love them. In a culture that pushes us to monetize every skill and maximize every minute, many men have lost touch with hobbies that exist purely for joy. But God created us not only to work, but also to create, play, and enjoy the gifts He has given us.We discuss the barriers that keep us from embracing
S3E8 - Family and Work: Is Work-Life Balance Even the Goal?
In this pivotal episode of the season, we explore the relationship between family and work, challenging the common idea of “work-life balance.” Rather than seeing work and family as competing priorities, we discuss how they are meant to be integrated and ordered rightly. The real question isn’t how to fit your family into your work, but what your work is ultimately for in light of your family.We a
S3E7 - The Hidden Life of a Father: Spiritual Disciplines That Surround and Inform Your Work Life
Many fathers carry a deep sense of responsibility to provide, achieve, and work hard, yet often wonder how their faith should shape both their work and their family life. In this episode, we explore the spiritual disciplines that surround and inform the life of work: before you leave for work, while you're at work, and when you return home.We discuss the hidden life of a father and why spiritu
S3E6 - What Makes Healthy and Unhealthy Leaders: Hard Conversations, Character + Servant Leadership
This week, we dive into leadership and why it matters for every man. Most people think of leadership as something reserved for business owners, managers, or people with authority, but the reality is that we're all leading somewhere. As fathers and husbands, the way we show up influences the people around us and shapes the culture of our homes, workplaces, and communities.In this conversation,
S3E5 - You Have Enough Time for the Life God Actually Called You To
In this episode, we continue our conversation on stewardship by looking at one of our most valuable and limited resources: time. Time is the currency of our purpose, and stewarding it well means finding the balance between laziness and anxiety. While some of us need to embrace greater ambition and intentionality, others need to embrace the gift of limitation. Rest, sleep, Sabbath, and slower rhyth
S3E4 - Stewardship of Your Money, Radical Generosity + Purposeful Simplicity
This week, we talk about money, work, providing, and vocation through the lens of biblical stewardship. Stewardship is the faithful management of what belongs to God, and Scripture reminds us that our money, time, relationships, influence, families, and opportunities are ultimately His, not ours. Jesus speaks often about greed and warns against living with an ownership mindset instead of a steward
S3E3 - The Dangerous Lie About Calling and Success
This episode wraps up our conversation on the spiritual foundation of work before we move into the practical side of vocation and calling. We explore the tension between ambition and idolatry, and how we were created to pursue meaningful things, yet how easily ambition can become self-centered. Together, we discuss how Scripture reframes ambition as something good when it’s rooted in humility, ser
S3E2 - You Don’t Find Your Calling, You Form It + Killing the Lightning Bolt Myth
In this episode, we continue our season on work and vocation by tackling one of the most misunderstood words in the Christian life: calling. The thesis is simple but disruptive: you don’t find your calling, you form it. So much of our cultural imagination around vocation runs on what we call the “lightning bolt myth,” the idea that one day clarity will strike, you’ll know exactly what you’re made
S3E1 - The Lie of “Just a Job”
+ Why Your Work Matters More Than You Think
We’re BACK with season 3, diving into work and vocation in fatherhood. We start by laying a foundation with a biblical theology of work, because work isn’t just a necessary part of life, it’s something God designed. From the very beginning, God was at work, and He invites us to join Him in it, which means our everyday jobs carry far more spiritual significance than we often realize.It’s easy to di
Tension of Work and Family Life, Carrying the Burden of Financial Stress + Confessing Sexual Sin (BONUS)
Note: This episode contains mature themes that may not be suitable for younger listeners. Please use discretion.In this bonus episode, we sit down live in San Diego to reflect on a powerful Fatherhood Retreat weekend, one marked by vulnerability, confession, and a clear movement of the Spirit. We talk about what it looks like to notice where God is already at work and simply join Him there, and we
Decoding Boys, Expectations in Marriage + Fighting Bitterness (BONUS Interview w/ Justin’s Wife, Lauren Earley)
In this bonus episode, we welcome a very special guest: Justin’s wife, Lauren, the first woman to ever appear on the Fatherhood podcast. Together, they reflect on marriage, parenting, and partnership while raising four boys, and what it looks like to raise sons into men as a united team. Lauren shares a mother’s perspective on how parenting can feel different for moms and dads, and why fathers pla
Conversation w/ Ronald Rolheiser: Restlessness, Giving Your Death Away, Dealing With Anger + the Power of Fidelity
In this episode, we sit down with Fr. Ronald Rolheiser, one of the most trusted and influential spiritual voices of our time, and someone whose work we deeply admire and return to often. A Catholic priest, theologian, and author, Fr. Rolheiser has spent more than 50 years teaching and writing about prayer, vocation, and the interior life, helping countless people understand how God meets us in ord
S2E8 - Lets talk about SEX! Reclaiming Intimacy Without Shame
Note: This episode contains mature themes that may not be suitable for younger listeners. Please use discretion.This bonus episode tackles a topic that is central to the male experience but often left unspoken: sex. Speaking directly to married men, the conversation calls them to engage sex honestly, framing it as a spiritual, physical, and powerful dimension of their lives.Beginning with Genesis
S2E7 - BONUS Interview w/ Ruslan KD: Godly Ambition, Shame Around Pursuing Work + Communicating Seasons of Busyness
In this episode, Brook sits down with Ruslan KD — YouTuber, musician, author, cultural commentator, speaker, and father — for a rich and deeply personal conversation around his new book, Godly Ambition: Unlocking the Full Potential of Your Time, Talent, and Treasure. Ruslan shares pieces of his upbringing, from a tumultuous childhood to coming to know Jesus, early marriage, becoming a father, and
S2E6: Praying Legacy, Practicing Initiation, Passing on Wisdom + The Little Things Are the Big Things
In the final episode of season two, we explore what it really means to give your death away — to live and lead in such a way that your life becomes a lasting gift to those who follow. We unpack the word legacy, not as something we build for ourselves, but as something we intentionally sow into the next generation through prayer, blessing, and everyday faithfulness.Legacy begins with prayer. Before
S2E5: Giving Your Death Away, Living in Light of Your Mortality + Moving From Fluid to Crystalized Intelligence
In this episode, we explore the provocative idea of what it means to give your death away — to truly live in light of your mortality. Drawing from the ancient Christian practice of “memento mori” — remembering your death — we talk about how only Christianity can make sense of this uncomfortable reality through the hope of resurrection and eternal life.We discuss what it means to build a legacy wit
S2E4: From Shame to Strength, Anger in Fatherhood + Practices for Giving Your Life Away
Following last week’s conversation about giving your life away, this episode dives into the everyday practices that help us live that out — even in the middle of our busy, overwhelmed lives. We’re talking about what it looks like to lean into the self-emptying way of Jesus — the way that actually leads to life to the full, both for us and for those we love.We explore what this looks like through t
S2E3: Struggling to Give Your Life Away, the Barriers That Get In the Way + Sanctification Through Suffering
In this episode, we explore what it really means to give your life away — and why it’s the natural next step after getting your life together. Our homes, marriages, and families become our modern monasteries, the sacred spaces where formation happens. God’s goal isn’t our comfort but our transformation into His likeness, a process of self-emptying modeled in Philippians 2:1–11. We suffer in order
S2E2: Name it to Heal it, Getting It Together, Disordered Desire, and Real Change Takes Time
This week, we continue last week’s conversation about getting your life together, digging into pivotal moments from young adulthood that shaped the course of our lives. In season two, we’re exploring the three movements of spiritual maturity and fatherhood: getting your life together, giving your life away, and giving your death away, sharing practical stories and real-life examples of how these s
S2E1: Getting Our Lives Together, Crucifying Desires, Being Called Up + A Life of Flourishing
Season 2 of the Intentional Fatherhood Podcast kicks off with a new framework for understanding the journey of spiritual maturity, specifically through the lens of fatherhood. This season, we’re exploring the three great movements of the spiritual life: getting our lives together, giving our lives away, and giving our deaths away.In this first episode, we dig into that first movement: getting our
S1E10 - BONUS Q&R: Substance Reliance, Phone Addiction Conflict, Failure in Spiritual Leadership, and Establishing Covenant Friendships Q+R
In this bonus Q&R episode, we tackle real and honest questions from listeners — covering everything from anxiety and reliance on substances, to conflict with our spouse around phones, to the challenge of leading spiritually at home, and choosing to parent differently than we were raised.We talk about the importance of practicing healthier rhythms instead of swinging between extremes, and how b
S1E9 - BONUS Q&R: The Secret Struggles of Fathers, Isolation, Secrecy, Confession, Authority with Love, and Balancing Work with Family
We’re back with a special Q&R episode, answering real questions from fathers navigating the tensions of parenting, faith, and calling. We talk about what to do when you feel isolated in the early years of raising kids, especially when your closest friends aren’t parents yet, and how to create the kind of community your fatherhood needs.We also dive into the power of confession — why it’s deepl
S1E8 - Finding Meaning, Art + Beauty in Fatherhood, You Were Created to Delight + Pursue Hobbies
In the final episode of season one, we explore what it means to find meaning, beauty, and art as fathers.In response to last week’s episode on work, this one turns toward the life-giving pursuits that bring us joy. This conversation is an invitation to remember that you were created to delight — that deep within each of us is a longing for beauty and a desire to pursue what lights us up from the i
S1E7 - Made to Work, Sanctification Through Your Vocation + Staying Busy But Balanced
Fatherhood is more than raising children — it’s about showing up in the world as a worker. You were created to work. Not just to earn a paycheck, but to cultivate, build, and serve others through your vocation.This week, we explore the vocational calling within our Intentional Fatherhood diagram, focusing on God’s original design for work starting in Genesis. From the very beginning, we were made
S1E6 - Marriage, Digital Hygiene, Discipline, Rhythms, and Dating Your Spouse
Feeling overwhelmed as a father? Like you’re constantly reacting instead of leading with intention? Maybe you lose your temper more than you’d like or feel like you’re just running a daycare with someone you used to date. You might even wonder if you’re failing as a dad.In this episode, we get honest about the struggles of fatherhood and explore how simple, consistent habits can shape the atmosphe
S1E5 - Your Fatherhood Needs You to Know Your Story, Facing Generational Sin, Trusting God to Bless What’s Been Broken, and Practical Steps Toward Health
Note: This episode contains mature themes that may not be suitable for younger listeners. Please use discretion.We are storied people, living within the grand narrative of the kingdom of God. And as a father, you need to know your story. Not just the highlights or heroic moments — but the whole of it. The truth is, your past shapes your present: in your work, your marriage, your friendships, and y
S1E4 - Your Fatherhood Needs Your Exercise, Eating, and Physicality to Shape a Life of Love
Believe it or not, caring for your physical body is essential to becoming the intentional father you're called to be.In this episode, we explore the deep connection between physical discipline and spiritual formation — and why your body isn’t just a shell, but an integral part of your discipleship. We push back against the gnostic idea that separates the material from the divine, grounding our
S1E3 - Habits, Rhythms, and Spiritual Disciplines for Intentional Fatherhood
Before we can be fathers to our children, we must first learn to live as sons of the Father. The truth is, it’s impossible to be a good father — let alone an intentional one — without the power and presence of the Holy Spirit.In this episode, we explore the essential role of spiritual disciplines in the life of a father. From kneeling prayer to spending what we call “luxurious wasted time in God’s
S1E2 - Why Your Fatherhood Needs Soul Friends, Confession, and Transparency
If you’re trying to live as an intentional father, you need to know this: the enemy is after you. Fatherhood is not neutral terrain — it’s a battleground. And too often, that battle drives men into vice, isolation, and quiet resignation. But there’s an antidote: covenant friendship.In this episode, we explore the transformative power of soul-level friendship — the kind that sees all of you, calls
S1E1 - Vice + Isolation: Fighting Against the Enemy in Fatherhood
Welcome to the Intentional Fatherhood Podcast, hosted by Brook Mosser and Justin Whitmel Earley!In this inaugural episode, we lay the groundwork for the season by introducing the eight core tensions fathers experience as they navigate the many roles of fatherhood. We begin with one of the most painful and universal: the pull toward isolation and the grip of harmful vices.Drawing from our own deepl
Intentional Fatherhood - Trailer
Introducing…the Intentional Fatherhood Podcast with Brook Mosser and Justin Whitmel Earley, launching Friday, June 13 with weekly episodes starting Tuesday, June 17.Fatherhood is anything but simple. It lives at the intersection of many roles — husband, disciple of Jesus, provider, embodied soul, and more. And the weight of these responsibilities (and the expectations that come with them) can feel
