Strategic Fathering

10/08/2026

Too many men carry a quiet scorecard in their heads.

Not enough. Not doing enough. Not man enough.

Here's what I've learned: we don't earn sonship. We own it.
John says God gave us the *right* to become His children. Not a possibility if we perform well enough. A right. Given, not earned.

And sonship doesn't just fix us. It restores us, all the way back to what the Father designed us to be.

So the question changes.
It's no longer, "Am I acceptable?"
It's, "How do I become more like the One who already accepted me?"
That's a challenge worth taking on. Not to prove yourself, but because you already belong.

What would change this week if you stopped trying to earn what's already yours?
— from The Face of the Father by Jay Cookingham

09/21/2026

Episode 68 — The Things Grief Doesn’t Take
The NEXT Podcast: Moving Forward with Grief and Loss.
Grief takes a lot.
I know that.
It took my bride. It changed my family. It changed my future. It changed me.
But lately I’ve been thinking about something else…
The things grief doesn’t take.
Because grief doesn’t get everything.
It didn’t take God.
It didn’t take my identity.
It didn’t take my ability to love.
It didn’t take my voice.
It didn’t take every possibility for joy, hope, creativity, friendship, or a future.
That doesn’t mean those things aren’t difficult sometimes. They are.
But difficult to access is not the same thing as gone.
Loss is not the same thing as emptiness.
So in Episode 68 of The NEXT Podcast, I’m asking a different question:
What did grief not take?
What remains?
What is still true?
What is still alive?
What has God preserved in you?
Grief gets a chapter in our story.
But it doesn’t get the final word.
God does.

https://open.spotify.com/episode/1sqCiBeN6m6BcPYQ7azi94?si=zEgJkkgWRjSp3bIJqPhNAg

The Next Podcast: Moving Forward with Grief and Loss · Episode

09/21/2026

Grace continues to show me the potential I have in Him…despite who I am at the moment. - JC

And now I commend you to God and to the word of his grace, which is able to build you up and to give you the inheritance among all those who are sanctified. Acts 20:32

09/19/2026

"Let’s remember the example of God’s love towards us. It’s a reach down, pick you up, stand you upright, dust you off and set you in the right direction, expression of love."
- JC

“And so we know and rely on the love God has for us. God is love. Whoever lives in love lives in God, and God in him” 1 John 4:16

09/12/2026

Father,
I adore you, I praise you and I surrender all I am in grateful worship. You are the majestic one, the mighty one who saves, and the greatest love this world has ever known. You are powerful to redeem, restore and set free. You bring healing, you restore hope and you destroy the works of the enemy!

Thank you for making me alive in Christ, making me a new creation in Christ and for making me like Christ as you desposit His character in me.

To you and you alone do I give my heart, my mind, my body, my will, my emotions, and my soul... they are yours. I trust you with all of me.

I trust you with all of my areas of influence, my positions, my possesions, and all of the people in my care. My family, my friends, my community of brothers and sisters... grant me the humility, wisdom and authority to speak life into all those areas. Help me to serve them in a way that honors You.

Today I fight as one who believes your Word that says I am more than a conqueror. I fight as one who knows that greater is He that is in me than him who is in the world. I fight with prayer, I fight with worship and I fight knowing You have already won the victory!

In Jesus name... Amen!

09/06/2026

Dear Father,

Our hearts cry out to you, needing your presence to surround us...saturating us with your love. Our steps need your correction, our dreams depend on your Spirit and our plans will succeed when led by your wisdom. We lift up our praise and thankfulness for all you are, almighty God, everlasting Father and the Messiah who makes all things new. Help us to walk in surrender to you only, not to circumstances, not to fear, not to worry or doubt. Strengthen our hands for the work of your Kingdom and enlarge our hearts to love like yours!

In Jesus name we pray...Amen!

09/04/2026

Working on my grief devotional today and pulled something from a old journal entry. It was a wakeup call to me then and I felt the urge of the Holy Spirit to share it with you. Prayerfully consider the message please.

Brokenness

Guard against brokenness. There is a system of brokenness in the world, and it tries to convince people there is no hope. It wants to impose a disposable mindset where people trade transformation for deconstruction.

Transformation brings hope, deconstruction brings shame, and it masks it with pride. Shame convinces you to stay broken. Hope convinces you to grow despite your brokenness.

It is one thing to acknowledge brokenness, and another ascribe more power than God’s ability to transform… restore… renew.

You must guard against thinking your brokenness is impossible for God to work through. He makes all things new.

Shame has a sick partnership with pride and a strong one with fear. It forces you to hide and depend on your own strength to protect yourself. This keeps broken lives… broken.

Your brokenness is not a barrier to God's purpose for your life; it is a point of entry. So, turn away from the shame and fear that keeps you hidden, and choose to believe that He is powerful enough to work through it.

Humbly submitted,
Jay Cookingham

Psalm 34:18
"The Lord is near to the brokenhearted and saves the crushed in spirit."

08/30/2026

"Those in-between moments... don't rush through them, God is speaking there. If you don't take the time to totally immerse yourself in the now moments of God, you may just miss what He has for you to learn and carry into the next season of your life." - JC

Our soul waits for the Lord; he is our help and our shield. For our heart is glad in him, because we trust in his holy name. Let your steadfast love, O Lord, be upon us, even as we hope in you. Psalm 33:20-22

08/13/2026

He has shown you, O man, what is good; And what does the LORD require of you But to do justly, To love mercy, And to walk humbly with your God? MICAH 6:8

"Do justly (do what is right), love mercy (show compassion) and walk humbly (not worrying about me). Are these the weapons of a warrior? Yeah, I think they are, because God calls them good and He requires them of His sons." - JC

08/10/2026

ManUp announcement

After 14 years on the Sound of Life Radio Network, my short feature program, ManUp Moment, has ended. With a new station manager and program director stepping in, the network is shifting its programming lineup and discontinuing its short features. While transitions can sting a bit, I am deeply grateful for the years I spent serving on their board and providing content for their listeners. It’s been an incredible ride.

But this isn’t an ending; it’s a pivot.

For over a decade, I’ve kept these messages boxed into a one-to two-minute format. Now, no more guardrails! Because I’ve been repurposing this material into our own podcast feed, we are now dropping the constraints, moving past the one-minute limit, and relaunching into something brand new, deeper, and unfiltered.

New theme music (thanks to Paul Grimsland) and a longer format.

Want to know how it all began? Take a walk down memory lane and listen to the very first episode that kicked off this entire journey right here:

👉 Listen to Episode 1 https://podcastmachine.com/podcasts/14413/episodes/76260

Strap in, because the next phase of the ManUp Moments Podcast is about to begin. Stay tuned!