The Eric Metaxas Show - Dean & Evan Briggs

Episode Date: November 4, 2022

Dean Briggs has developed a fun and fascinating program called "Brave Quest" to help fathers guide their sons along the path of growing into men of integrity -- Dean's son Evan joins him in the studio for the interview.

Folks, welcome to the Eric Mataxis show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metaxus show, sponsored by Legacy Precious Metaxus. There's never been a better time to invest in precious metals. Visit legacy p.m.investments.com. That's LegacyPMinvestments.com. McTaxis show with your host, Eric Metaxus. I can't believe it's time once again. Every week for a segment we call Ask Mattaxas.

Alvin, you're going to ask the questions people have sent in, and I'm going to gamely try to answer the questions. Go. Go. Number one, I know that a judge blocked the Penguin Random House Simon and Schuster merger. Any thoughts? Not many thoughts, except that I am concerned by the constant merging of giant companies into even more giant companies. And so I think generally that's a good thing. We need more voices, more companies, more publishing houses, more media companies. because it does present a problem. These monoliths, these monopolies are not a good thing, generally speaking.

So generally I'm in favor of it. Next. Okay, next. Republicans are favored to take the House by 30%. If when this happens, what do you think will be their first action? I think the defenestration of Nancy Pelosi and why not Mitch McConnell from the parapet. Actually, I have no idea. My answer is I have no idea.

One thing I will say, folks, you better vote because this is the future. This is not just the future of America. There are so many human beings whose lives will be affected if we don't throw the bums out and elect good patriotic Americans. So please vote. That's my thought. Okay. A couple of months back, you were talking a lot about making a TV show, a lot like the old Johnny Carson Tonight Show.

Is it done? and when will we be able to take a look at it? Well, the answer is I don't know. We taped four genuinely fantastic episodes, which our team is trying to find a home for. So I am very hopeful, convinced that we will find a home. And as soon as we know, we'll let you know. But we tape those four, and the idea is, of course,

that once we find a home for them, we're going to be taping a lot more. So I think it's happening, but please stay tuned. Yeah. Hey, I know you just finished a Socrates in the City event with David Berlinski. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to be there. When is the next one? The next event is December 6th with Oz Guinness.

Oz Guinness, we would not have Socrates in the city if it were not Os Guinness. 20 plus years ago, he helped me create. it. He was really instrumental in that. So December 6th, you can go, tickets just went on sale yesterday. Go to Socratesinthecity.com. If you want to get the early bird price, this is going to be a popular one just because of who Oz is in the time of year, December 6th. So go to Socratesandum. Oh, here's an interesting question. Why does a man's head and beard hair keep growing, but not the hair on the rest of his body? That is the funniest question, Albin. I suspect you put that in there just to get me to crack up.

First of all, I have no stinking idea. That's number one. But it reminds me of, speaking of Johnny Carson, the joke that the somebody, I think Johnny Carson said, did you know that after someone dies, a man dies, for a time, his hair and his fingernails continue to grow? but the phone calls tend to taper off. Yeah, I don't have an answer for that question. That's hilarious.

I have nothing to say. That's just a goofy, goofball joke question. In your newest book, Letter to the American Church, you mentioned a few people from the past, like Bonhofer and Wilberforce, among them, who were active politically and made a big difference in their day and age. Can you point to Christians today

who are not afraid to make a difference politically? Well, by the grace of God, there are many. And they, of course, have been demonized by people who have really kind of broken theology on this issue. But there are so many. And I wouldn't really know where to begin. I could mention Abby Johnson and Lila Rose on the life issue. But there are so many, many pastors. Jack Hibbs and Rob McCoy and...

I would say Jonathan Kahn, too. I was going to say there are many of them, but I mean, it all depends on what we mean by that. But, again, I think this false idea that somehow my faith is not supposed to be political. That's just nonsensical, folks. It's like saying arbitrary-like numbers aren't supposed to go past eight.

Like, where do you get this idea from? It's kind of crazy. Good ideas, truth. bleeds into everything, or at least that's God's will. And so if our faith gives us ideas about how to love our fellow men and women and what economic policies will bless other people, people who are struggling, whatever, we've got to advocate for that. We've got to do it unapologetically. And I actually think that, you know, even this idea that, oh, but we're not supposed to name names from the pulpit, where do people get that ridiculous idea? Because you're afraid, you're going to

lose your 501c3 status. I mean, honestly, I find that just silly. We should be able to speak the truth in love about who we think will do a good job and who won't. It's just silly to me. And I think that the idea that we've all been gaslit into silence on this is a big part of the problem that we find ourselves in. Yeah, well, the founders of the country were about, what, 95% Christian or believed in a God. And they found it in an actual country. They founded an actual country. We don't know what country it was. Some people think either Mauritania or Norway.

We don't know. We're not sure. But they founded a country, which is a pretty political act. Okay. I have bought several of your books, followed you on the podcast, etc. Regarding your book on Martin Luther, I scanned the titles of the chapters and did not see any on how anti-Semitic he was in the later days of his life. many Christians believe in replacement theory because of Martin Luther. Anti-Semitism and replacement theology are just wrong.

What are your thoughts, Eric? Well, here are my thoughts. Okay. I read this question yesterday, and I happened to have my Martin Luther book close to hand, and I was able to look at it, and the person who asked this question is correct that none of the chapters is devoted to this, but a subchapter with its own head.

is devoted to this. So if you're going to write us a question, you may have to look deeper than the chapters because I devote a number of pages to this very question, and it is, of course, worth considering,

which is why I put it in the book. I felt that I had to address it. But it's complicated, and that's why I say to folks, please read what I write on it, because it is, it's often in vogue, you know, to have a certain view of things and say, oh, Martin Luther was an anti-Semitic. Well, actually, it's much more complicated.

It's at least a little more complicated than that. So, of course, I deal with it in my Martin Luther book. It is an entire subchapter section. And I think that, you know, I just hope anybody interested in that subject will read what I wrote. I took some pains to get it right, so I hope that you will be able to look into it. Yeah. Have you been following the World Series, and who might you be rooting for? I think whoever wrote that meant to say, for whom?

For whom might you be rooting? Well, let me just say this. I have a lot of friends in Houston, and I have a lot of friends in the Philly area, So I would never really publicly say who I'm rooting for or even for whom I'm rooting. I think actually I have not followed the World Series closely enough to know which team I feel ought to win. I don't know any details. I just know that a couple of nights ago they tagged the pitcher for like what, five home runs or something. It was seven.

It was kind of a- It was brutal, man. He was pretty brutal. He was throwing a lot of changeups. Well, anyway, yeah, I love baseball. Of all the sports, that's the one typically that I follow. But in the last few years, since a lot of professional sports has gone woke, I've kind of looked away a little bit.

But something tells me that that will change soon. And I'll be back following baseball as I used to. I grew up in Queens, so legally I have to be a Mets fan. Okay, when we come back, we've got something. really exciting today for fathers and sons. Dean Briggs is going to be my guest with his son, Evan, coming up right after this. In case you haven't been paying attention, the Biden administration has caused a financial crisis and they have no clue how to fix it. Oil prices have skyrocketed. And when oil prices go up, the cost of transportation and shipping spikes leading the prices of goods

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patriotmobile.com slash Eric. Patriotmobile.com slash Eric or call 972 Patriot. Get free activation with the offer code Eric special discounts available for veterans and first responders. Join our movement, make the switch today and a difference tomorrow. Patriotmobile.com slash Eric. Patriotmobile.com slash Eric or call 972 Patriot. Hey there, folks. Remember I told you in the introduction that we would be talking to a father and son team? Well, here's the team. Welcome. Let me just say the team is comprised of Dean Briggs' father, Evan Briggs' son.

Who lives in New York? I do. And I'm loving it. I just moved here in February. But you, so you're in New York. Now, Dean, I know you from Kansas City. Yes. When I was at IHOP with the whole gang of crazies.

Right. With more people tell me, like, I saw that interview with Francis Chan and Mike Bickle. And so many people saw that. So we had a wonderful week with you guys. This is just over a year ago. It was just a delight. And that's how we got to know each other. You're the author of all kinds of books and things.

The Jesus Fast with Lou Engel, Holy Cow. But you've done a new thing, and that's why we're here today, to talk about something called Brave Quest, a boy's interactive journey into manhood. So you and your wife are the parents of eight kids. This is just one of them. You're correct? One of the many. You're just one of the eight.

I just want to be clear that you're just one of the eight. They can all have the tendency to think the world revolves around. That's right. That's right. They need a good beating or some kind of discipleship or discipline, whatever it is. That's what we need fathers for. There was plenty of both in my case. But in all seriousness, you created this thing.

I mean, describe it. What is Brave Quest, a boys' interactive journey into manhood? What is this? Sure. Well, for brevity's sake, I'll just try to say, rights of passage have been a part of cultures, ancient cultures, for thousands of years. Almost every culture recognize we need a point at which to say our girls are women and our boys are men. And yet there are those rights of passage are sadly lacking for boys especially in modern society.

And so there has, there's a men's movement and a father's movement, and there have been some ideas. around how to knight your son, how to have a ceremony to kind of usher them in. But I just felt with seven sons that there was more to do there. So BraveQuest, it's a new release, but I actually wrote it many, many years ago and just hand-printed copies of it to take each of my sons through a 50-day preparatory journey. The short version is it's 50 days of this that leads up to three days of roughing it with and then we come back and conclude with this gathering of men and this kind of nighting ceremony. And the sum total of that represents the right of passage to welcome them into manhood.

Okay, so I have to ask you, you know, speaking as a father of a daughter, I mean, I'm almost glad I didn't have a son because I'd feel really guilty for not having done something like this. Because it sounds so wonderful. So where did you come up with this idea? I mean, this is a tremendously creative enterprise. It's one thing for somebody listening to this program thinking, I'd like to do that. I'm going to order a copy of Brave Quest by Dean Briggs.

But there was no Brave Quest by Dean Briggs. What got you to the point where you said, I'm going to invent this and write this? I mean, it's an amazing thing that you did this. You know, I mean, as a Christian, I have to believe that the Lord was prompting me, that God was putting an idea. That's the easy, cheap theological answer. We all know the Lord did it. And let me go out on a limb. The Lord created you.

So we know that. So there's really thousands of years of history in this idea. But you, to set yourself up that I'm going to create this thing, that's amazing. Yeah. Well, thank you. I think having four boys of my own and then I was widowed before I had turned 36. I had four boys under the age of 11. Evan is my second-born biological son.

and I remarried a young widow who had four children of her own, and she had three boys and one girl. So I found myself in the middle of my life with seven sons. And I aspired to be an invested father, an emotionally connected father, and somewhat of a cultural observer. And I could just see the trends were not in favor of young men finding their voice, finding their place, and being called to actually become men.

We've, 50 years ago, the number, the statistic was that the majority of men were married by age 22, 50 years ago. That number is not the case anymore. And we have, in our culture, increasingly found ways to infantilize our young men and delay their maturation. And so we have aged out boys that we call men. you have a 30-year-old living in their parents' basement, which sometimes is a necessity. I get that. But you have a 30-year-old,

and by virtue of their age, we say they're a man, but they haven't actually lived as a man for any of their life. So smoking weed and playing video games a whole day is not your idea of manhood. Well, if they get enough badges and call of duty, I think that counts. No, listen, of course what you're saying is right, and I have to joke because everybody knows this is true. And there's a lot of reasons I was talking with David Berlinski about this recently.

What happened in the culture, roughly in the 60s, that kind of destroyed a lot of things that were there, that were in place, even in American cultural life, and that every culture, as you said, has felt the need. I mean, you know, Jews have the bar mitzvah. Correct. But you're quite right. Native Americans, Greeks. the ancient China, all of them. Everybody. It's kind of basic stuff. Right. But so you saw that this didn't exist and you said, let me take a crack at this.

So what in the world did you come up with here? Well, so just to unpack that a little further, the physiology of a young lady naturally signals her coming of age. The menstrual cycle begins. There's a more obvious sort of of progression, physically, emotionally. Women mature, emotionally, verbally, relationally, typically several years ahead of boys. And in modern society, you might have a driver's license, you can vote, you can buy alcohol, and you lose your virginity. Those are all kind of the secular rights of passage. But again, none of them relate to maturity. They're all just the passage of time. So as a former pastor, I pastored for 11 years.

I've been in ministry for over three decades. And looking at my seven sons, I tried to ask, what can I do to put them in their own story in a way they'll engage in? A lot of boys don't like to read. They don't like to overly emote about, you know, son, tell me how you're feeling. So what's a creative way to engage them in their own story? and as a discipleship tool to prepare them for the issues they're going to face in this very, very strange world.

Increasingly strange. Once upon a time, a boy grew up with his father on the farm and he did man things. And you couldn't help but become a man because you had the response. My father-in-law was up at 5 a.m. every day driving the tractor from eight years old on because that's what farm life was like.

those things are gone. So what is a meaningful substitute? And I took the idea of the Lord of the Rings, Paul Bunyan's Pilgrim's Progress. John Bunyan's. Ha, I got you. John Bunyan was the tall-tale hero with the Blue Ox named Babe, who hit 60 home runs in I believe it was 1927. Yeah, all that to combine. John Bunyan, thank you, Pilgrim's Progress. But that idea of the metaphorical journey in a fantasy setting, which young boys do like to read, and put it with this kind of interactive journal, where they go through the stages, challenges, characters, and scenarios that they're going to face in their teen years.

Okay, so Evan, how old are you now? 26. And how old were you six years ago? Quiz. I think I'm pretty sure the answer is 20, but what do you say? No, but when did you go through this? How old were you when you went through this? It's the 50 days leading up.

to turning 13. So it was right on the brain. So on the brink of turning 13, that's the ideal I recommend. Fathers could do it anywhere from 12 to 16 for impact, but I really recommend from 12 to 13 invest in this. I love it. So have all your boys been through this now? The one exception when I remarried, my oldest stepson was already put. pushing 15 to 16.

Right. And we were in that kind of delicate dance of getting to know one. Well, sure, sure. And I didn't want to push something as intimate as this while we were building relationship. Right. I'd like to do this now. And I'm way past 13. Well, okay, so, so Evan, gosh, you went through this a long time ago. And obviously you're here.

Half your life ago. Because you approve of this crazy stuff because somehow you got something out of it. Well, yeah, and I love my crazy dad. So it's like a win-win situation. No, the journey for me was fantastic because I, as a person, am typically not pretty open. I'm a lot more reserved. So I don't like talking about a lot of stuff openly, which I'm sure is also a problem for a lot of 12-year-old boys. And it's like he said, he relates it back to a fantasy realm and a fantasy world.

So some of the questions in there are extraordinarily thought, invoking, and it's not questions like, how do you feel about this right now? It's like, who is your favorite superhero, and why would you relate to them, and why would you want to be that person? Trix you. I love this. Okay, we'll be right back. We're talking to Dean Briggs and Evan Briggs.

The book is Brave Quest, a boys' interactive journey into manhood. Brave Quest. We'll be right back. You've heard and seen the raw, uncut truth about the brave men and women, patriots that were wrongfully arrested on January 6th by the tyrannical Biden regime and corrupt E.O.J. But with your support, Jake Lang and all the January Sixers can find justice. Here is his message. Hello, my name is Jake Lang.

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The need is great. The time to donate is now. Thank you, and God bless you. Make like Mr. Milk Toast you'll get to shut out. Folks, welcome back. I'm talking to my friend, Dean Briggs, who has created. This is such a great idea. Brave Quest, a boys' interactive journey into manhood.

We're sitting here talking to Dean and his guinea pig son, Evan, who went through this, gosh, you went through this 13 years ago. So tell us, I mean, by the way, people want to find it. The website is My Bravequest.com, my bravequest.com. But what does this look like? I mean, what happens? Let me give you an example. And then you can speak to what may be impacted you.

don't want to force you as a young man to express yourself. If you just want to chop wood or just, you know, spit or whittle, or there's chainsaws, or whatever you want to do to express yourself, it doesn't have to be verbal. Just want to be very clear. Go ahead. In the book, they're going to encounter a variety of characters and challenges. So, for example, a young man needs to learn to distinguish between close friends and false friends. So they're going to meet them in the book. I'm pretty sure I skipped that one growing up. There's a place called Adverse City where they have to undergo the taskmaster and hardship, and they discover how they react to that and learn character through that.

They encounter the valley of curves where there's this seductive person called Miss Terry. And all of these things, right, this is what a boy has to learn. How do I frame my own life, understand the challenges ahead of me, that they don't actually, They don't know they're coming. So the book becomes, like you can see on the book, my name's not on it. But if you open it up, the very first page, this is the journey of blank into manhood. They're going to sign their own name and they're going to be the author of the book. So that's what makes it interactive.

Well, and along the way, every day for 50 days, it's just a two or three page reading, but it ends with an open-ended question because they find themselves in peril. in a challenge, in a difficulty. They find themselves dreaming about their future, thinking about obstacles they've overcome, and they have to actually kind of, that's the journal part of it. So it's in a fantasy world,

in a parabolic fashion, but it engages them in crafting their own life. Who do they want to be? I'm just amazed that you came up with this idea. It just sounds like an amazing idea. So you said it's 15,000. days leading up to one's 13th birthday, ideally doesn't need to be. That's the ideal.

It sounds to me like this would be fine to do at 14 or 15 or 16. Honestly, I'm just fascinated by the whole concept. But so this is new. This just came out officially. I mean, you've been doing it in your family for all these years, but you've only recently shared this with the world. Right. Just released it this month.

This month, My Bravequest.com. That's the best place for people to find it. My Bravequest.com, yes. Okay, so talk us through this. You need a very hands-on father, obviously, to do this. This is part of what's unique about this system. The book adds an anchor point for the experience of the son, but I am, if people go to My Bravequest.com and sign up, I'm going to give the fathers downloadable resources that walk

them through everything they need to do. How to build a catapult? I'm just wondering what is in there. A trebice. I don't know what that is. What is a trebicee? It's a more powerful catapult. Besides being a joke on this stupid program.

But so I encourage fathers, start early, like with all my kids. At eight years old, I said, when you turn 13, something special is going to happen. And I would remind them of that so that there's this building sense of anticipation. At 11, I give them a pocket knife. At 12, we have the sex talk. And all along, I'm telling them, Oh, they're looking forward to this. This is coming. This is coming. Listen, that's a big part of this, actually. It's the anticipation. That's wonderful. The sense that I'm going to become something. So then the book I do, I encourage 50 days before, ideally the 13th birthday. Again, you can do it 12 through 16. I shared this with another man. He said, I want to do this as an adult. I want to do this, you know, retroactively.

and see how I would respond. So then the 50 days is walking them through that. Meanwhile, the father is getting very practical tools on how to construct a three-day getaway with their son. And that's at the end of this. Right. So this culminates in a three-day getaway. Right.

Two or three days. It can be expensive if you have the means. It can be very cheap if you don't. And I tried to do something unique with each. So Evan and I went jet skiing. Another son and I went four-wheeling. and another son and I went dog sledding. Another son and I went whitewater rafting.

Don't hit the table because the audio engineers will hit me. You went dog sledding? Yeah, in Michigan. It was... I was going to say, I know you didn't do that in Kansas. Yeah, miserably cold, but it was awesome. Yeah. So the point is, me and my son, we get away and we have these experiences.

And along the way, I'm building in these micro experiences that are part of the challenge. Listen, men want to be challenged. participation trophies don't work. But isn't that interesting how true that is? I mean, if you talk about why is, you know, Islam growing in prisons, young men want challenges. They don't want to say, it's all by faith, just believe. It's like, what do I have to do?

Right. Do this. Do this. Pray five times a day. We love challenge. It's a bizarre thing. But God made us to love being challenged. And, you know, that's part of what courtship is about as well, right?

I want to win the love of someone. These ideas were once, you know, baked into the culture in various ways. And since they've evaporated, we have to recreate them. We need to put them back. And so BraveQuest does that. We're going to go to a break, but we're talking to Dean Briggs and his son, Evan Briggs, and you can go to My BraveQuest.com. In fact, I recommend that you go to My BraveQuest.com.

Just a fantastic idea. We'll be right back. With the overturn of Roe v. Wade, lots of companies are coming out saying they'll pay for employee abortion travel and expenses. Most of you've heard about some of these companies. You've decided to stop shopping or doing business there, but did you know that you most likely own stock in those companies through your 401Ks, IRAs, and other investment accounts? Folks, this is a huge problem, and we need to do something about this to send a message to Wall Street through our investments. You need to go to inspireadvisors.com slash Eric and get a free Inspire Impact Report. This biblical investment analysis will educate you on what's really in your investment accounts,

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a boys' interactive journey into manhood, and a former boy, his son, Evan, now a man, who's been through this. Does this have an explicit faith element, or is this for pretty much everybody? Because I know you're a man of faith. We are men of faith, we three, but is that something that you're going to?

This would work for anyone. It is written to undergird courage, integrity, truth, a certain generic classical. All of which are out of fashion in the modern church, ironically. So it would work for anyone, but it is especially meaningful to a believer. Yeah. Well, I just, I love it. It's kind of funny because I can see, you know, it's like when Promise Keepers was a thing in the 90s or whatever, there are always these nattering nabobs of negativism, to quote William Sapphire,

who they get nervous by the idea of men being men. And I honestly, my response is to just ignore that. I think answering, when somebody says like, you know, you're a Christian nationalist or you're a toxic mascot, you know, I just, I think the better part of wisdom with regard to that is to ignore it, rather than to answer it. It's like, look, you don't understand. You're not going to get it. Just watch.

And, you know, you can find out that Evan didn't turn into some toxic monster. But it's kind of funny that we have to deal with that today. And that's kind of why we're here, because those voices have gained a lot of purchase in the culture. And they just don't get it. Let's be honest. They don't get it. Well, there seems to be a massive disconnect. It seems like everyone has forgotten that.

a strong bad man has no reservations about the use of his strength. And so it takes a strong good man to stop a strong bad man. And so you can focus on the toxic masculinity of a strong bad man. But we need to raise strong good men. No, look, to me it goes without saying, and it's just ridiculous. And most people who live in what I like to call reality, they get that. But there are these voices, you know, against that. They're just so triggered by this. But I really, I feel that it needs to be said that often ignoring those critical voices is the best path forward because you can't answer a fool according to his folly. And I really do think that oftentimes Christians cast their pearls before swine.

We're told, Jesus tells us, don't bother. In many cases, just ignore it, pray for them, but don't engage on that level because they really have these built-in misconceptions they're not prepared to let go of. And they have to see the fruit, which may change their minds. So can I give you an example of how I just try to work this in organically? Yeah. So this, we go from the book, the 50 days of preparation, and the total brave quest experience then is the book plus the time away with dad, plus the regathering on their birthday, and we'll come home from those three days away with dad, roughing it, we'll come home,

and I will have prepared in advance. There'll be 10 guys waiting in the living room. We're going to have steak and potatoes. 10 tough ombris? Yeah, exactly. Yeah. With a spittoon? All of that.

There's a lot of gunplay? Man, that's scary. I'm scared. I didn't go through this, so I'm not prepared for that. No, but we come back and all of them have a gift. I've asked them in advance. Give a costly gift to welcome my son into manhood. and prepare something about why that gift is significant and symbolic for his journey.

And the range of gifts that was so meaningful. But along the way, not just the book, I prepare different challenges. We're talking about men need to be challenged. If they cross a line that's supposedly a write of passage into manhood, but they haven't actually been challenged along the way, it doesn't feel like they've accomplished anything. So one of the first things we would do with all my kids on the first day out, on the three-day getaway.

They've done the book. They've done the homework. But I prepared a series of challenges. You might remember this one. One of them would be, you know, we're getting gas at a gas station on the way out into the woods or whatever. And I would say, with people all around,

I wouldn't make it so public that it would be humiliating. Right. But I would say, I want you to climb on top of the car and I want you to shout out as loud as you can. I am not afraid. Right, right. So obviously they are. But they have to overcome that fear.

And it's a real simple. I just call it the loud shout challenge. They have to stand up and in, they have to be willing to face the judgment, confusion, or false perceptions of those that think, what are they doing? Right. He's acting like a fool. Whatever it is. And then when they get down, I say, I want you to think about why I had you do that. I have them think about it later in the day.

I say, now I want you to go to a quiet place in the woods. And I want you to whisper so that no one can hear. I am not afraid. Wow. This is good stuff, Dean. And then when they come back, this is great stuff. We debrief and I say, why did I have you do that? Because you have to be willing to be strong in public and be a man of conviction no matter what they think and a man of conviction in private no matter what anyone sees.

And so these little lessons just reinforce the journey for them. I thought it was going to be tough stuff like I want you to go out there and find some roadkill and make a meal and we're all going to eat it. And if anyone dies, you go back three steps. Okay, so because you're so good at this, you really are so gifted that you've created this. I mean, it feels like it wants to be a movement. Like you want people all across America to do this. Oh, what?

But it's interesting because, I mean, I could see you doing this for others besides, you know, your kids. Your kids are older, your boys. But it just feels like something that people would sign up for that. I mean, you know, if I were a dad of an 11-year-old, I'd be, you know, champing at the bit to say, well, I can't wait to do this. But it's almost like I'd want to do it with you or that you would train other people to do this. Because this is a lot for a dad to do. It's a big deal, really, in a sense. It's almost like where you want to get a bunch of dads together to do this for their collective sons.

You're right on track. I do hope it becomes a movement. We're at the very beginning. We'll see where it goes. but that's why I've collected those resources. I put the schedules, the suggested activities, I put it into a resource for fathers, the challenges, all the ideas I kind of packaged it

in an easy way for fathers to replicate. And then I'm looking at experimenting in churches with groups of dads and their sons. There's homeschool co-ops. There's just a lot of opportunities here. Definitely. Homeschool co-ops, church groups, because it is something that I think, I mean,

you're particularly, obviously gifted in creating this kind of thing. And you were saddled with these seven boys. You had to do something. But most people, it just seems like a little bit challenging. Like, wow, I don't know if I could, you know, do this all myself. Obviously, the book is designed to help. You can go to My Bravequest.com to check it out.

We'll be right back with Dean and Evan Briggs. Don't go away. My Bravequest.com. So, Evan, are you just? here as a prop. What's the story? You were involved in that. You lived this. I did. I lived through it and I survived. And you survived? I survived all the road kills. But it's just such an amazing thing that you did this. And here you're now, living in New York City, doing stuff or whatever. But what do you say to young men? You know, there are, I know that there are 11 and 12 year olds who listen to this program. It's just kind of funny. I mean, it just seems, if I were 11 or 12, I would just be dying to do this. I'd be like so psyched.

Yeah, well, it was amazing because I got to watch younger brothers go through it, older brothers go through it, and especially, I guess it's more applies to families that are larger, but when you see older brothers go through that and walk into their journey of manhood, you're so excited to be the next person and your family line that does that. So it was phenomenal for me to go through the journey. And like I kind of mentioned earlier, I was never a super open person. I was always more reserved. And I think that probably applies to a lot of 11 and 12 year old and 13 year old boys out there. So to be able to go through and walk through my own journey of. manhood and know that it was mine and I didn't have to like necessarily it just feels weird to express those emotions when you're that young so I can go through this and I can I can face challenges

and I can overcome them one of the great things about the book is it's not just like yes or no questions it's hey you in this chapter you fail miserably and so what are some things you fail at consistently in life and why why do you fail at those challenges so it makes you not only walk through things you're good at but it also makes you walk through things you're not good at in it, like getting to the other side, spending the three days with dad, and seeing all the effort that he puts into it for you and all your other brothers is phenomenal. There's a sense of overwhelming love from that. You're like, wow, this really means a lot to him that he would do for me.

It is really beautiful, I have to say, the idea, Dean, that you did this and have done this. It is beautiful. So, wait, what did you guys do on the trip? Did you go cave diving? What did you do? No, we did water skiing. Yeah, we did jet skiing. Jet skiing?

Yeah, it's awesome. What a crazy, I can't believe it. Yeah. Three days in the cabin and water skiing every day. Yeah. And then coming back and talking and campfires and all that. You got to have campfires. He brought up something that really, as a dad, when I saw my sons that had gone through it,

then be a part of the gathering of men for their younger brothers. Yes. And they're speaking as older brothers into their younger brother's lives. It was just so powerful. Evan ended up with a star named after him. That was one of the gifts he was given. That's pretty cool. You know, spears from the Maasai tribe.

What's just different cool gifts that the men? Eric, here's what's fascinating. In the gathering of men at the end that culminates it when they make this declaration of their intention to be committed as men of integrity and all that. And the men come around and pray and bless and give gifts. The men are the ones crying more than the boys, right? I would say to each of them, this is my beloved. son in whom I'm well pleased. It was my moment to make that statement over their lives. But the men are looking at this and saying, I didn't get this with my dad. And so I think there's a lot of energy

actually out there with fathers. They want to do this. They don't know what to do. Right. This is where they get all of it. My Bravequest.com. They can download the whole package, and I just hand it to them and say, here's what I did with all my boys. You can do it too. I'm really in awe of the fact that you did this on every level, and I'm thrilled, really, that you have finally made it public, so to speak, so that others can do it, because this is, it's so important. Anybody listen to this program understands, this is really important stuff you've done here, and I hope it will launch a movement because it is a, I think it's God's answer to part of the troubles we find

ourselves in and and this is a this is part of the way out a big part of the way out so uh well i can tell you there's a lot of girls that are waiting for a man to have been pushed into man i was going to say that's the kind that's the kind of man you know every father wants his daughter to find and so it's beautiful we're out of time but i'm just thrilled uh dean and evan briggs thank you for coming here and talking about this and folks uh uh Please go to My Bravequest.com. Check it out. The book is BraveQuest, Boys Interactive Journey, Intim.