The Family Man: Who Will You Choose?

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What if the life you're building is costing you the life you actually want? Jack Campbell wakes up living the life he rejected 13 years ago. In this Men at the Movies episode, we explore how your choices shape who you become, why it's never too late to choose differently, and what it means to treasure the kingdom you already have. Faith-based film analysis for men.

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The Quotes

  • The story that has meaning is going to have hardship, but what you get out of it is real.

  • A life seems desirable because we don’t know what it took to get there.

  • How many regrets aren’t framed as regrets?

  • Unless God intervenes, we are blind to our need for salvation.

  • The quest is about the becoming on the way to the goal

 Themes

  • Identity & Becoming

    • The aim you chase determines who you become along the journey

    • Your choices don't just shape circumstances—they reveal and form your character

    • Who you're becoming matters infinitely more than what you achieve

  • Choices & Consequences

    • The decisions you make in your twenties become the life you live in your fifties

    • Small daily choices compound into the trajectory of your entire life

    • Every moment offers a chance to choose who you're becoming

  • The Interruption as Gift

    • The glimpse Jack didn't want revealed the wealth he was missing all along

    • God's interruptions expose what we can't see on our own

    • Sometimes what disrupts your plan is exactly what you need

  • Treasure vs. Achievement

    • Your kingdom is people, not possessions—who would cry if you disappeared?

    • Stop chasing what's missing and delight in the richness already in your hands

    • The Ferrari or the family—what you invest in reveals what you truly value

  • Restoration & Hope

    • God restores what the locusts have eaten (Joel 2:25)

    • Wasted years aren't the end of your story when you choose differently

    • It's never too late to start making new choices that reshape who you're becoming

  • Marriage & Family

    • Romance your spouse like you did before you were married

    • Delight in your children—see them as the amazing people they are

    • Choose "us" every single day, not just in the big moments

  • The Matthew McConaughey Question

    • Who do you want to be in 10 years? Not what you'll have—WHO you'll be

    • What do you want said at your eulogy?

    • Work backward from that vision to identify what choice you need to make today

  • Living with the Right Aim

    • Like Percival and the Holy Grail—you must become the right person along the journey

    • The goal you're chasing shapes the person you're becoming

    • Make choices today that move you toward who you want to be

Resources

  • The Lord says, “I will give you back what you lost
        to the swarming locusts, the hopping locusts,
    the stripping locusts, and the cutting locusts.
        It was I who sent this great destroying army against you.
    Once again you will have all the food you want,
        and you will praise the Lord your God,
    who does these miracles for you.
        Never again will my people be disgraced.
    Then you will know that I am among my people Israel,
        that I am the Lord your God, and there is no other.
        Never again will my people be disgraced.
    - Joel 2: 25-27 (NLT)

Questions

  • Have you lived the past 25 years keeping the most important things in mind?

  • Did I invest my time wisely?

  • What is missing from your life?

  • When have difficult conversations gone well? When have they gone sideways?

  • Who would give their left nut to have what you have?

  • What does it mean to say, “I choose us” every day?

  • What do your choices cost?

  • Where are you facing an interruption in your plans, and how can that be a new deal you’re working on?

  • Where do you feel like the source of your own salvation?

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Logo and episode templates by Ian Johnston

Audio quotes performed by Britt Mooney, Paul McDonald, and Tim Willard, taken from Epic (written by John Eldredge) and Song of Albion (written by Stephen Lawhead).

Southerly Change performed by Zane Dickinson, used under license from Shutterstock.

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Holding Up the Mirror: See Your Story the Way God Does

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The Wrath of Khan (pt 2 of 2): I Am and Always Shall Be Your Friend