The Number That Followed Me Home (true story) I didn't know God was chasing me. But He was leaving His fingerprints everywhere. The number 316 has been on every door I've walked through — literally — for as long as I can remember. I didn't notice it at first. You don't notice something when you don't have the eyes for it yet. My college home address? 316. My first house? 316. My daughter Lexi's first college apartment? Unit 316. Three doors. Three different seasons of my life. The same number on every one of them. Now, I didn't grow up in the church. I wasn't reading a Bible. I wasn't looking for signs. I was just a kid from Brooklyn trying to survive, build something, and figure out what I was made for. God wasn't on my radar. But apparently, I was on His. John 3:16. You know it. Even people who've never opened a Bible know it. I didn't, but I KNOW it now. "For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whoever believes in Him shall not perish but have eternal life." That's the whole Gospel in one sentence. And God stamped it on every threshold I crossed — decades before I knew His name. He wasn't waiting for me to find Him. He was finding me. He was leaving His signature on my life — on my front doors, on my daughter's door — saying I see you. I know where you live. I'm coming for you. On July 25, 2021, I raised my hand to Jesus. Everything changed. And when I looked back at my life — the addresses, the numbers, the doors — I didn't see coincidence anymore. I saw a Father who never stopped pursuing His son. Brothers — God's hand was on your life long before you knew whose hand it was. Look back. The fingerprints are there. He's been knocking on your door the whole time. — Patrick Iron sharpens iron. Proverbs 27:17

I read a book not too long ago called Stand Firm and Act Like Men by Jobe Martin. We did a mens group / book study that i really enjoyed. In one section of his book, he talks about the definition of love and the passage that gets read at nearly every wedding — 1 Corinthians 13:4–7. He challenges the reader to replace the word "love" with their own first name as they read through that passage. I took that to heart. Now I read it that way every single day — as a reminder that God created us to be love. There are several translations that also use the word "it" in place of "love," and I've replaced that too. So here's how it reads for me: 1 Corinthians 13:4–7 (NIV) • Patrick is patient • Patrick is kind • Patrick does not envy • Patrick does not boast • Patrick is not proud • Patrick does not dishonor others • Patrick is not self-seeking • Patrick is not easily angered • Patrick keeps no record of wrongs • Patrick does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth • Patrick always protects • Patrick always trusts • Patrick always hopes • Patrick always perseveres That's my thought for the day. If you could read yourself into 1 Corinthians 13 — and truly become what the Apostle Paul called us to be, which is love — what a wonderful world this would be. Wouldn't it?

I read the book of Proverbs Daily. On the 1st of the month, I read chapter 1, on the 2nd, chapter 2 and so on. In this methodical way, I read the wisdom it provides 12 times each year. Even though I’ve read it hundreds of times, there is always something that speaks to my soul when I need it. Here are the first 7 verses. Enjoy. The Beginning of Knowledge [1] The proverbs of Solomon, son of David, king of Israel: [2] To know wisdom and instruction, to understand words of insight, [3] to receive instruction in wise dealing, in righteousness, justice, and equity; [4] to give prudence to the simple, knowledge and discretion to the youth— [5] Let the wise hear and increase in learning, and the one who understands obtain guidance, [6] to understand a proverb and a saying, the words of the wise and their riddles. [7] The fear of the LORD is the beginning of knowledge; fools despise wisdom and instruction.

Five minutes a day. Did you ever find yourself giving your sharpest focus to deals, deadlines, other people's problems, and handing God whatever was left at the end of the day? Just leftovers. Hey, that's what I gave God for fifty-seven years. I was disciplined, early riser, hard worker, CEO. I ran my schedule like a business, and my soul got the scraps. Then, then I'd wonder why peace felt so far, why I felt hollow even when things were going right. You can't run a kingdom life on a leftover faith. Then I tested one small thing, one. Five minutes. No phone, no agenda, just scripture and silence. Not to perform, just to return. It felt awkward at first, then grounding. Then I started protecting that five minutes like a meeting with someone who actually mattered, because he does. Hey, transformation doesn't start big. It starts daily. You don't need two hours. You need five honest minutes and the guts to show up. Start there.

Transcript Battlefield of the Mind. Hey, is it just me, or does your mind run hardest at night when everything around you finally goes quiet? That's not stress. That's a war. And most men are losing it without knowing they're even in it. Unchecked thoughts build narratives. Narratives become chains. I fought that war silently for decades, replaying failures, rehearsing arguments I'd never have, catastrophizing futures that never came. I called it thinking. It was a prison I built one thought at a time. Then I learned to interrogate the thought before it took root. Is that true? Is that from God or from fear? Is that conviction or accusation? You don't win that fight with willpower. You win it with truth. I slowed down. I started choosing my response instead of drowning in my reactions. The noise didn't disappear. My authority over it changed. The most dangerous battlefield you'll ever stand on is six inches between your ears. Win there, and everything else follows.