*Whoever walks with the wise becomes wise, but the companion of fools will suffer harm.* (Proverbs 13:20)

Like most everyone else, I have been using several AI tools in their paid versions, attempting to determine which one or combination of tools best aligns with my needs and which company aligns most closely with my values. Increasingly, I am using Claude.

A recent Fast Company article helped solidify my decision to move toward Claude. Based on that article and my recent experience with ChatGPT, Gemini, and Claude, I offer the following perspective on why this shift matters. I realize there are many more AI tools available, but I have not had the time to explore them.

Have you ever considered that shame is a blessing and its absence a curse?

We all experience shame, and we all do our best to avoid its searing intensity. While shame is a consequence of sin, it also holds the potential for our salvation and sanctification.

“True learning and true piety go hand in hand, and Christianity embraces the whole of life—those are the great central convictions that underlie the Christian school.” — J. Gresham Machen

Choosing a school for your child is one of the most important decisions you will ever make. As a parent, you want more than a safe, academically rigorous environment. You want your child to be known, loved, and encouraged to grow, not only in knowledge but in wisdom and faith. You want them to belong to a caring Christian community, to believe deeply in the truth of God’s Word, and to become all that He created them to be, ready to face the future with confidence, faith, and purpose.

Be watchful, stand firm in the faith, act like men, be strong (1 Corinthians 16:13).

A lot of guys don’t know — they have no sense of what it means to be them, particularly. They have no idea what it means to be a man. — Washington Post

Growing Up in a Culture of Confusion

Our boys are growing up in an upside-down culture. God is dead, irrelevant, or at best a cosmic therapist. Gender is not biological; it is fluid, flexible, and anything you want it to be from moment to moment. Marriage is at best optional, at worst a patriarchal prison. It is okay to kill a human embryo, but not the dime-size blind spider. Men are told they should be more like women, and women should be more like men.

In a world increasingly hostile to biblical manhood, clarity and conviction are more vital than ever. Men must know who they were created and redeemed to be. The world offers no shortage of counterfeit images of masculinity—brash, self-indulgent, misogynistic, and shallow, or entirely emasculated.

True manhood is not found on the big screen or in the manosphere, but in Scripture, where character defines a man. The Latin word most directly related to masculinity is virtus, which encompasses qualities like courage, bravery, manliness, excellence, worth, and virtue. It’s a broader term than simply bravery, encompassing moral and character traits.

Biblical Masculinity vs Machismo

There is a difference between biblical masculinity and being macho. 

Biblical masculinity is defined by Scripture. It reflects the character of Christ and God’s design for manhood. It emphasizes servant leadership, humility, courage, faithfulness, responsibility, and sacrificial love (Ephesians 5:25; 1 Corinthians 16:13; Micah 6:8). It is characterized by serving, leading with humility and love, and developing a strong character that reflects God's image. 

Machismo or being macho is a cultural caricature. It often values dominance, aggression, emotional suppression, and pride. It is fueled by ego and social expectation rather than biblical truth. It is defined as strong or aggressive masculine pride.

Teaching Boys to Be Good Men and Good Fathers

Boys become good men by watching good men. Our sons, students, and spiritual sons need to see what biblical manhood looks like in everyday life. They need role models—not perfect models, which do not exist this side of heaven—but men who are serious about virtue and character as the foundation of biblical masculinity.

What follows are virtues essential to becoming the kind of man—father—and role model—God intends.

Have you ever walked into a room filled with the aroma of freshly baked bread or warm chocolate chip cookies? The effect is almost immediate—a welcoming sense of warmth that stirs fond memories and awakens the appetite. We often call such dishes “comfort food.” Why? Because certain foods have a unique ability to soothe us, often tied to cherished memories of people and places around shared meals.

There is another kind of comfort—one that brings tranquility and clarity to the mind and heart. It doesn’t stir hunger, but rather creativity and focus. I call it mental white space.

White space is a vital element across creative disciplines—writing, art, design, music, photography, and more. In writing, it enhances readability and gives the mind room to pause and reflect. In visual art and photography, it draws the eye to what matters. In design, it organizes and clarifies. In music, silence shapes rhythm and emotion. Though it appears empty, white space is active: it frames, highlights, and gives meaning to what surrounds it.

White space breathes.

It gives our minds and souls the space they need to rest, refocus, and ponder what matters most.

Why We Need White Space in our Leadership

Put more thought into your leisure time … when it comes to your relaxation, don’t default to whatever catches your attention at the moment, but instead dedicate some advance thinking to the question of how you want to spend your “day within a day.” 1— Cal Newport

I was recently convicted that I had been spending too much of my limited downtime watching TV. Although my schedule is full—many evenings are taken up with school functions—I had slipped into the habit of defaulting to television when I finally had a moment to rest. My justification was simple: “I deserve this time.”

Rest and relaxation are gifts from God. Jesus Himself said, “The Sabbath was made for man, not man for the Sabbath” (Mark 2:27). The Hebrew word Shabbat means “to cease,” “to end,” or “to rest.” Rest is good and necessary. But like all good gifts, it can be misused. Taken to excess, it becomes harmful. This is why moderation matters. As Proverbs 25:16 warns, “If you have found honey, eat only enough for you, lest you have your fill of it and vomit it.” Even good things, when overindulged, can do more harm than good.

That doesn’t mean every moment should be filled with work. Although Scripture exhorts us to “Walk circumspectly, not as fools, but as wise, redeeming the time, because the days are evil” (Ephesians 5:15–16, MKJV), it does not require nonstop labor. Rest is good. Leisure is necessary. The question is not whether we rest, but how. Are we using our leisure time wisely?

That question led me to take a hard look at how I was spending mine—and to a growing conviction: my wife and I weren’t stewarding our leisure well. We both felt it. We weren’t using the gift of rest in ways that nourished our souls or honored the time God has entrusted to us.

So we made a change.