Book excerpt: This collection of essays explores masculinity in an unsystematic way. We've found that the various ways we've approached masculinity tend to fall into some broad and practical categories in our writing. To be a man means to be free to be what God has already declared we are in Christ—­His saved and redeemed men. A man is free; we are free from sin, death, and the power of the devil. Being free, a man is then honored to work for his neighbor's good, knowing that his closest neighbors are those whom God has placed closest to him in his life—­his family. And just as a man speaks to and cares for his own, so also does a man need to be spoken to and cared for at times. He needs the mutual consolation of the brethren, a brotherhood. To put it simply, a man needs good friends. Over and over again, we find praise for fun, the love of good fellowship, good drink, and good smoke.