Intentional Guy

Michael Chestnut
  • 5.0 (18)
  • Christianity
  • Updated Weekly

What does it take for a man to truly change? Intentional Guy Podcast explores that question through powerful conversations with men who've lived it. From addiction to freedom. From prison to purpose. From broken to rebuilt. These men surrendered their old lives and intentionally became better versions of themselves. Their stories aren't just inspiring—they're proof that no matter where you are right now, a turnaround is possible. Join us for raw, honest conversations that will challenge and encourage you.

  1. 1d ago

    Strengthen Yourself in the Lord

    Since May I've had three surgeries and complications I never told you about. The episodes you've been watching were recorded weeks, sometimes months, before you saw them. This week I'm telling you what was actually happening behind the screen, and where I found solid ground. Timestamps (estimated, confirm against final cut): 0:00 Why I'm asking for your prayers today 0:55 What you didn't know about the last three months 1:50 Randy Gladden's episode and the wilderness season 3:00 1 Samuel 30:6, David strengthens himself in the Lord 3:20 My identity was never in what I could carry 4:00 Genesis 3:15, the enemy will not win 4:20 Don't build your identity on your hardest season 4:55 Praying for me and Amber 5:05 Celebrate Recovery and where to find help 5:35 Sign off Links: More Than a Picture: Restored & Free: https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Picture-Restored-Free/dp/B0CCCMZHD3 Exposed: A Memoir: https://www.amazon.com/Exposed-Secret-Divorce-Journey-Restoration/dp/B09PHJS848 Are You Ready? A Practical Battle Plan for Christian Men: [still need you to confirm the right link, see below] Celebrate Recovery locator: https://crlocator.com/ https://www.joinpodmatch.com/intentionalguy Hashtags: #ChristianMen #MensMinistry #CelebrateRecovery #IntentionalGuy #IronSharpensIron #Prayer #FaithAndMentalHealth #Testimony Ep. 142

  2. 2d ago

    Your Worst Moment Doesn't Get to Define You

    If your identity is still wrapped around the worst moment of your life, you're carrying something you were never meant to carry. J. Randall Gladden built a life most men would call a win. Then he watched nearly everything visible get stripped away, and had to find out who he was underneath it. This conversation is about what's left of a man's identity when the business, the reputation, and the evidence of success are all gone, and where Randy found solid ground instead. J. Randall Gladden is a strategic advisor, author, and thought leader who works with leaders navigating consequential decisions, emerging opportunities, and complex challenges. Beyond his advisory work is a deeply personal passion, helping people discover who God created them to be. That passion is expressed through God Powered and Young Warriors. CHAPTERS 0:00 The Hook: Are You Still Defined By Your Worst Moment 1:55 Expectation: What You Tell Yourself Becomes What You Believe 4:50 Losing Everything: Working Two Jobs Just to Survive 6:31 Gideon in the Wine Press: Called Before You Feel Ready 9:01 The Lowest Point: I Didn't See How We'd Survive 10:06 Why God Leads You Into the Wilderness 17:26 The Darkest Moment Is When He Gets Glorified 22:04 Elijah and Elisha: Don't Quit Before the Promise 23:38 63 Years Old and More Excited Than Ever 30:43 Delegated Presence: What It Means to Carry God's Image 44:17 Two Truths After the Pain 53:49 Free Resources and the Final Charge: Strengthen Yourself in the Lord Randy's book, Delegated Presence, and more of his teaching: https://www.god-powered.com/Videos--Ebooks His YouTube channel: https://www.youtube.com/@jrandallgladden Comment INHERITANCE below and let us know what stood out to you. Grab a copy of my book, Are You Ready? A Practical Battle Plan for Christian Men: https://a.co/d/07RxCWAc This episode touches a real season of loss and crisis. If it hits you, find a Celebrate Recovery group near you at crlocator.com. In Pensacola, we meet Tuesdays 6 to 8 PM at Momentum Church. Search The Intentional Guy Podcast on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, Deezer, Amazon Music, and iHeartRadio. #TheIntentionalGuy #MensMinistry #CelebrateRecovery #ChristianMen #FaithBasedPodcast And until next time, just keep being intentional. Ep. 141

  3. 6d ago ·  Bonus

    Beat Up By God, Not Abandoned By Him

    Matthew Jenkins had a full ride Army scholarship and his whole future mapped out until a rare cancer diagnosis in college took it away. He carried anger at God over that loss for years without fully knowing it. In March of 2025, that anger collided with chronic pain, job loss, and a marriage he could not save, and he reached the lowest point of his life in his driveway. What he told his mother that day became the title of his book, Beat Up By God: From Pain to Redemption. This one goes to some dark places. A future that never got to happen. Twenty three years of unprocessed anger at God. A divorce he never wanted. And a church culture that too often says just trust God, when what a man actually needs might be counseling, medication, or both. We also talk about how he got from feeling abandoned by God to trusting Him again, an unexpected kind of healing that came out of the hardest season of his life, and what he wants a man standing in that same driveway to hear. If this hits close to home, you do not have to sit with it alone. Celebrate Recovery has groups all over the country, find one at crlocator.com. In crisis right now, call or text 988. CHAPTERS 0:00 The cold open, in his own words 1:15 Welcome, fair warning, and who Matthew Jenkins is 3:09 His story: the book's raw title, and twenty years of anger at God 9:50 Grieving a future that never got to happen 11:50 Twenty three years later, and a divorce he never wanted 13:37 When "just trust God" is not enough 19:20 Depression, anxiety, and why medication is not a lack of faith 24:39 An unexpected kind of healing 28:13 What he wants a struggling man to hear 29:42 Where to find Matthew and the book Drop DRIVEWAY in the comments to let us know you were here today. If you are standing right where Matthew was, wondering if there is anything left, my book More Than a Picture: Restored & Free was written for exactly that. It is about what restoration actually looks like once the falling apart is over. Matthew Jenkins Book: Beat Up By God: From Pain to Redemption, search it on Amazon or find the link on his site Website: https://www.beatupbygod.com/ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/matthewdjenkins Celebrate Recovery: crlocator.com Crisis line: call or text 988 Search The Intentional Guy Podcast to find us wherever you listen. And until next time, just keep being intentional. Bonus

  4. Sep 10

    I Was the Emotionally Unavailable Husband

    I used to think I was a good husband. I showed up, I paid the bills, I never cheated, I never yelled. By every measure I'd been handed, I was fine. My wife would tell you different. She would tell you she was lonely in a house with me in it. Two years ago a job loss knocked something loose in me, and going quiet turned into hours in the garage, a pipe in my hand and the TV loud enough that I didn't have to hear my own thoughts. I wasn't gone. I was just not there. This week I talk about what it actually took to walk back through that door, the friends who wouldn't let me sit in that garage in peace, and the childhood wound underneath all of it that I thought I had already dealt with. Adam heard God ask him one question in the garden. Not what did you do. Just where are you. He's still asking that question. Not to condemn you. To find you. Scripture: Ephesians 5:25 and 1 Peter 3:7. This is a companion piece to my conversation with Mark Osborne of The Valiant Forge, Ep. 139, which airs the day before this one. Drop the word GARAGE in the comments so I know you were here today. If this one hit close to home, your own hiding or somebody else's, you do not have to sit with that alone. Celebrate Recovery has groups all over the country. Find one near you at crlocator.com. If you are in crisis right now, call or text 988. If you want a practical next step for actually walking this out, "Are You Ready? A Practical Battle Plan for Christian Men" is built for exactly that. Let's get coffee. Let me be your brother. Let me walk beside you. And until next time, keep being intentional. #ChristianMen #Marriage #Faith #EmotionalHealth #Recovery Subscribe: http://youtube.com/@intentionalguy Newsletter: http://intentionalguy.riverside.com/newsletter Want to be a guest: http://cal.com/michael-chestnut-hfbot2/podcast Ep. 140: I Was the Emotionally Unavailable Husband

  5. Sep 9

    Scars Prove You're Still Standing

    Fixed and saved. Here's the redo, episode number and title as the last line like we settled on with Brett's: Mark Osborne hosts The Valiant Forge, a podcast for Christian men, and long before he built that platform he watched his own father go from alcoholism to a faith that broke the pattern in their family. We talk about what that turnaround taught him, and about a season years later that looked like total success from the outside while he was quietly drifting from God underneath it, and how close it came to costing him his marriage. Mark's take is that you almost never make it through a real battle without scars, and that those scars are proof you're still standing, not proof you failed. Drop the word SCARS in the comments so I know you were here today. If anything here stirred something in you, your own dad, your own kids watching you right now, you do not have to carry that by yourself. Celebrate Recovery has groups all over the country. Find one near you at crlocator.com. If you are in crisis right now, call or text 988. If you want a practical next step for living this out day to day, "Are You Ready? A Practical Battle Plan for Christian Men" is built for exactly that. And until next time, keep being intentional. #ChristianMen #Faith #Fatherhood #Masculinity #Recovery Mark Osborne, The Valiant Forge: https://www.thevaliantforge.com/ The Valiant Forge on YouTube: https://youtube.com/@thevaliantforge Subscribe: http://youtube.com/@intentionalguy Newsletter: http://intentionalguy.riverside.com/newsletter Want to be a guest: http://cal.com/michael-chestnut-hfbot2/podcast Ep. 139: Scars Prove You're Still Standing

  6. Sep 3

    I Believe, Help My Unbelief

    Twenty years ago I went quiet with God. Not angry, just quiet. I kept showing up to church, kept saying amen, kept letting everyone believe I was fine. I wasn't. Today I talk about the kind of doubt that never gets said out loud. The kind with good manners that just sits in a man for years while he keeps doing everything right on the outside. It ties straight back into yesterday's conversation with Paul Granger, who told me something that cracked this whole thing open for me. Watch it here: https://youtu.be/LJARB2WG94Q I land on one verse I cannot put down, Mark 9:24, and three things you can actually do this week if you are running on fumes and letting people believe you are fine too. If it hits you, Celebrate Recovery meets Tuesdays 6 to 8 PM at Momentum Church in Pensacola. Elsewhere, find a group at celebraterecovery.com. This one is close to the heart of "Are You Ready? A Practical Battle Plan for Christian Men," available on Amazon: https://a.co/d/05nlVfxM Drop "still" in the comments so I know you were here. Search The Intentional Guy Podcast to find us wherever you listen. 0:00 Twenty years I couldn't pray 1:19 Doubt with good manners 2:26 What Paul Granger said to me 4:01 Mark 9 and the father's prayer 5:18 The cost of coming back honest 6:30 Three things to do this week 8:19 The challenge, and how to find us Episode 138

  7. Sep 2

    Fear Is Running Your Life and You Won't Call It an Idol

    An idol is not just a statue. It is anything that has power over your life, anything calling the shots. Paul Granger heard that from his spiritual father the morning we recorded this, and he bristled at it. Then he sat with it. Joseph forgotten in that prison. The disciples demanding the storm stop while Jesus slept. The difference between a good Christian and a good Christ follower. And the toe nudge forward, because the step does not have to be big. Scripture: Matthew 8:26, Mark 9:24, Matthew 7:13 and 14, Proverbs 3:5 and 6. CHAPTERS 00:00 Just Take the Toe Nudge Forward 01:48 Five Listeners, a Book, and What Paul Said to Me 06:51 What Everybody Else's God Story Does to You 10:00 Eight Years, No Paycheck, and a Prison Like Joseph's 14:50 God, I Don't Actually Have Confidence in You 20:00 I Don't Have to Protect God From My Story 22:12 God, That Was a Softball Moment 25:33 He Napped Through the Storm. They Demanded It Stop. 31:09 A Good Christian or a Good Christ Follower 39:00 The Narrow Gate and the Idol He Wouldn't Call an Idol 45:17 Trying to Be Perfect So God Is Proud of Me 53:19 Something in the Froth, and Where to Find Paul WHERE TO FIND PAUL Everything in one place: https://www.wheredidyouseegod.com Podcast: https://www.wheredidyouseegod.com/podcast Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/where-did-you-see-god/id1438136557 His books: https://amazon.com/author/paulgranger His newest is Something in the Froth, his first with Morgan James. He also mentioned Rejecting Hope No Longer. THE INTENTIONAL GUY PODCAST YouTube: https://youtube.com/@intentionalguy Newsletter: https://intentionalguy.riverside.com/newsletter Be a guest: https://cal.com/michael-chestnut-hfbot2/podcast MY BOOKS Are You Ready? A Practical Battle Plan for Christian Men: https://a.co/d/02cBh6uY Exposed: https://www.amazon.com/Exposed-Secret-Divorce-Journey-Restoration/dp/B09PHJS848 More Than A Picture: https://www.amazon.com/More-Than-Picture-Restored-Free/dp/B0CCCMZHD3 All of them: https://www.amazon.com/Michael-Chestnut/e/B09P9ND6MV IF THIS ONE HIT SOMETHING Find a Celebrate Recovery group near you: https://crlocator.com In crisis, call or text 988, any hour. If you are ready to stop white knuckling it, "Are You Ready?" is the plan. Link above. Drop the word STEP in the comments so I know you were here. Search The Intentional Guy Podcast to find us wherever you listen. Ep. 137

  8. Aug 27

    Grace Is Not the Opposite of Masculine

    Being punished was easy for me. Accepting grace was almost impossible. I spent years believing grace was the opposite of being a man. Then Brett Knight said something on this show that changed how I see it. In this episode: why men either reject grace as weak or hide behind it as an excuse, what years of self punishment cost me before I got healed, and what changed it. My grace is sufficient for thee, for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Second Corinthians 12:9. Drop the word STRONG in the comments if you're going to say the real thing to one man this week. I read every one. If this hit close, "Are You Ready? A Practical Battle Plan for Christian Men" is on Amazon. Companion episode: Brett Knight, criminal defense attorney and pastor, on why punishment and grace were never the same thing. [add Ep. 135 link once it airs] If this is you right now, don't sit in it alone. Find a Celebrate Recovery group near you. In crisis, call or text 988. New episodes every week. Guest interviews Wednesday, solo Thursday. Search The Intentional Guy Podcast. Subscribe: http://youtube.com/@intentionalguy Newsletter: http://intentionalguy.riverside.com/newsletter Want to be a guest: http://cal.com/michael-chestnut-hfbot2/podcast Let's get coffee. Let me be your brother. Let me walk beside you. Until next time, keep being intentional. #ChristianMen #Grace #Masculinity #PornRecovery #CelebrateRecovery #ChristianPodcast #FaithAndFamily #IntentionalLiving #MensMentalHealth #Accountability

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About

What does it take for a man to truly change? Intentional Guy Podcast explores that question through powerful conversations with men who've lived it. From addiction to freedom. From prison to purpose. From broken to rebuilt. These men surrendered their old lives and intentionally became better versions of themselves. Their stories aren't just inspiring—they're proof that no matter where you are right now, a turnaround is possible. Join us for raw, honest conversations that will challenge and encourage you.

Information

  • Creator
    Michael Chestnut
  • Years Active
    2022 - 2026
  • Episodes
    146
  • Rating
    Explicit
  • Copyright
    © 2026 Michael Chestnut
  • Show Website
    Intentional Guy