Redemptive economics centers on productive economic activities that:

• Add value and contribute to human flourishing
• Reflect the materiality of God’s kingdom
• Promote God’s redemptive purposes

This fall, Throwing Mountains host Mike Hatch will launch a new podcast on redemptive economics with a goal of promoting a sustainable, kingdom-focused approach to revitalizing the Pittsburgh region through entrepreneurship. This is the introductory podcast episode. Please send us your feedback and input via the Throwing Mountains contact page or by emailing Mike.

What’s your favorite Bible translation? Does it really matter which one you choose?

Sometimes it does. In fact, the translation – or mistranslation – of a single word of the Bible can make a big difference. It may even skew your view of God in a critical area, such as restoration.

This week’s Bible passage: Job 42:10-17

Weekly Strength podcast resource: 52 Weeks of Strength for Men (ebook, paperback, study guide)

Other resources:

• Chris Bolinger’s other devotional: Daily Strength for Men
• Mike Hatch’s book: Manhood: Empowered by the Light of the Gospel
• Relational men’s discipleship programs: CLC

One of every 10 American adults struggles with an addiction to drugs or alcohol.

Dan Gregory isn’t one of them. But his son was, so Dan learned all he could about addiction treatment. What he found was a broken system with few options other than short-term outpatient programs that have a poor track record of keeping addicts clean.

So Dan created Restore Addiction Recovery, which provides a holistic, Christ-centered, year-long program that’s free of charge.

Restore opened its doors in January 2021. What’s happened since, and what’s next at this innovative treatment center?

Watch this moving video introduction to Restore.

If Jesus is the Good Shepherd, then what are we?

That’s right: we’re the sheep.

And like real sheep, we have a tendency to wander . . . even when we’re in the perfect environment, the green pasture to which our shepherd has led us.

This week’s Bible passage: Luke 15:1-10

Weekly Strength podcast resource: 52 Weeks of Strength for Men (ebook, paperback, study guide)

Other resources:

• Chris Bolinger’s other devotional: Daily Strength for Men
• Mike Hatch’s book: Manhood: Empowered by the Light of the Gospel
• Relational men’s discipleship programs: CLC

If you glance at the homepage for the ministry he co-founded, you may think it’s just another men’s study.

You’d be wrong.

When the COVID pandemic isolated men in the heart of Pittsburgh, Donnie Gray co-founded Digging Deep Ministries to provide a place where men could meet, be open, and be vulnerable to discuss real-life issues such as pain, hurt, and rejection. Four years later, DDM is a vibrant community of men – young and old, black and white – who meet together regularly to worship, eat, pray, talk, and learn how to walk with Christ on a daily basis.

Hear Donnie’s story, and the story of DDM, in this inspiring interview.

A Pittsburgh native, Donald (Donnie) Gray III emerged from a 2012 prison stint with a determination to transform his own life and the lives of others in the heart of his hometown. Today, Donnie relies on his faith in Christ to balance his ministry work, his passion for being a good husband and father, and his pursuit of a new business venture, RnD Strategies, a personal concierge/consulting company that seeks to “love and serve our customers/neighbors like Jesus Christ.”

Faced with a choice between something that is urgent and something that is important, you’re likely to do the urgent one. When you make that same choice over and over, you find that you rarely, if ever, have time for what’s truly important.

The problem isn’t a lack of time or even a lack of effort. The problem is priorities.

By setting the right priorities, you’ll pursue what’s truly important. But how do you know what that is?

This week’s Bible passage: Philippians 3:12-16

Weekly Strength resource: 52 Weeks of Strength for Men (ebook, paperback, study guide)

Other resources:

• Chris Bolinger’s other devotional: Daily Strength for Men
• Mike Hatch’s book: Manhood: Empowered by the Light of the Gospel
• Relational men’s discipleship programs: CLC

The key to sustained church growth is reaching and discipling men, says David Murrow. His first book, Why Men Hate Going to Church, has sold over 200,000 copies because it “calls the church back to men” and provides practical steps on attracting and retaining men. David’s latest initiative, the Online Preaching Coach, trains pastors on providing compelling online content, which is critical to  reaching young adults, especially young men.

This episode is highlights from two previous interviews with David:

• #3 Why Men Hate Going to Church
• #141 Your Online Preaching Coach

After you hear the highlights, be sure to check out the complete interviews. And visit DavidMurrow.com for a wealth of resources on growing your church by growing your men.

When they reached Emmaus, Cleopas and his friend asked Jesus to stay with them. But Jesus left.

40 days later, Jesus ascended to heaven, leaving all his followers behind, staring at the sky.

His leaving was the best thing for them. And for us.

It forced all of us to pursue a new mission.

This week’s Bible passage: Isaiah 40:1-11

Weekly Strength resource: 52 Weeks of Strength for Men (ebook, paperback, study guide)

Other resources:

• Chris Bolinger’s other devotional: Daily Strength for Men
• Mike Hatch’s book: Manhood: Empowered by the Light of the Gospel
• Relational men’s discipleship programs: CLC

He’s leading missions trips to deliver humanitarian aid and provide trauma medical training in some of the world’s most challenging environments, including Iraq, Ghana, and Nepal. In The States, he’s taking on the absence of young men (ages 18-35) in the church.

His headquarters: a fight club eight miles from Hershey, Pennsylvania.

At 5 Stones Fight Club – which offers boxing, mixed martial arts, wrestling, and strength training – Shane Manney uses a team atmosphere to grow trust and build a sense of belonging. Once friendships are established, relational evangelism and discipleship flow naturally.

In this interview, Shane explains why he started 5 Stones, why it’s effective, and what’s coming next.

Shane has over 20 years of experience coaching and instructing wrestling, boxing, submission grappling, and strength training. He has been an infantry machine gunner in the United States Marine Corps, a police officer, and a private security contractor and has worked in the field of drug and alcohol rehabilitation. Shane is married with three children and has a bachelor’s degree in Biblical Studies from Lancaster Bible College. Learn more at 5stonesfightclub.org.

The Bible tells us that hope, real hope, never disappoints. But what if you’re in prison, and you’ve lost all hope?

Eric Genuis has visited 1,000 prisons. To every one of them, he’s brought hope . . . in a surprising way.

This week’s Bible passage: Psalm 33:16-22

Weekly Strength resource: 52 Weeks of Strength for Men (ebook, paperback, study guide)

Other resources:

• Chris Bolinger’s other devotional: Daily Strength for Men
• Mike Hatch’s book: Manhood: Empowered by the Light of the Gospel
• Relational men’s discipleship programs: CLC