Hello, Mighty Men of God, Joe Martin here, man-builder, award-winning speaker, author, and Tanya's

husband and Kendall and Faith's dad. Welcome to the Real Men Connect podcast where we help good men become

great men God's way. Every Wednesday, we interview some of the nation's most respected and

accomplished men of faith to find out what it really takes to become the kind of husband, father,

and spiritual leader God called and created us to be. Today is the real men check-in. The real men check-in is

just a quick way to help you start your week on the right foot in the right way. Every Monday,

I share personal insights, encouragement, and support that will move you beyond church to real change.

I keep it short, I make it fun, and then I'm done. So let's get

started. Real men don't follow the crowd. They lead one. Romans 12 says, do not conform to this

world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind so that you may prove what the will of God

is, that which is good and acceptable and perfect.

When I was in 11th grade attending North Miami Senior High School in Miami, Florida,

something happened that changed my life.

I was taking chemistry and our teacher, Mr. Wrestler, now it's not spelled like wrestling,

it's wrestler with an R, it's a German name.

He had given us an important project that was going to determine whether or not I would have to attend summer school. Now, it wasn't that the assignment was that important. It was the fact that I hadn't done well in this class academically the entire school year, so I needed to get an A on the project in order to pass his class. Now, have you ever been there before? Now, before I tell you what happened, allow me to set

the stage for this life-changing event. Even though my school was in North Miami, I didn't live in the

city of North Miami. I actually lived in Liberty City, a very dangerous inner city ghetto several

miles outside of North Miami. The only reason I was attending North Miami Senior High School,

which was in a predominantly Jewish community, was because they were integrating the schools at the time, and they wanted to diversify the schools.

So I had to ride a school bus that passed five high schools in our community before I even reached North Miami Senior High School.

Now, I only tell you this because there weren't too many students of color at my school, so I was lucky to have one or two friends I knew for my hood to be in class with me. But back to the assigned project

...