Ascent for Men

About Ascent for Men

Most men aren't failing because they're weak. They're failing because nobody told them who they're supposed to be. Ascent for Men is a weekly podcast hosted by Jesse Carstairs and Adam Tyler Free, two faith driven coaches committed to helping men stop coasting and start leading. Every week they sit down for raw, unfiltered conversations about faith, identity, marriage, fatherhood, and what it actually looks like to become the man God made you to be. No fluff. No performance. Just truth. New episodes every week. Subscribe and join the ascent.

Publisher

Jesse Carstairs, Adam Tyler Free

Category

education

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

19 May 2026

Latest episode

6 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

18 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   6 Oct 2026

   God Can't Trust You With More Until You Conquer What's Already Inside Your Four Walls

   You've been praying for a better business, a better marriage, more money, more impact. And the prayers aren't being answered. Jesse and Adam want you to sit with something uncomfortable: maybe God is looking at what you've already been given and doesn't trust you with more yet. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Free cover the dominion that most men are completely ignoring — not dominion over their business, their government, or their enemies, but dominion over themselves — and why that's the only place God says to start. They get into Luke's account of dominion and why it begins with the man, not the mission, why the Hebrew word for "tend and guard" in Genesis is a military term — and what that means for every man who thinks his home is someone else's responsibility, 1 Peter 3:7 and why being harsh with your wife is the direct reason your prayers go unanswered, why your wife doing acts of service and saying "I'm sorry" is her love language for "you're crushing it" — and why most men miss it entirely, why Jesse handwrites his wife a love note in cursive every ten days — and what it does to her, why if the zombie apocalypse kicks off tomorrow your home will be in total chaos if you haven't handled your four walls, and why God is a girl dad — and what that means for every man asking Him for more while dropping the ball with his wife. You want more. God wants to give it to you. There is one thing standing in the way and you already know what it is. New episode every Tuesday. Send this to a man whose prayers aren't being answered and won't look at why.

2. 

   15 Sept 2026

   Your Wife Is Begging You to Outman Her And You Keep Letting Her Down

   Adam posted on social media: "Your wife is begging you to outman her." Men lost their minds. The ones who got the most offended were the ones who needed it the most. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Free break down what masculine energy actually looks like in a marriage, not the performative tough guy version, but the biblical one and why so many men are walking in feminine energy without even knowing it. They cover why men raised in female-dominated households absorb feminine communication patterns and carry them straight into their marriages, how Adam's wife Jade became more direct and more masculine because Adam talked in circles and hid things and how he built that trait in her without realizing it, why Jesus spoke in parables to crowds but was razor-sharp, direct, and blunt when talking to his disciples one-on-one and what that means for how you communicate with your wife, why men who over explain, get defensive, and take everything personally are operating in feminine energy and don't know it, why your wife's trauma from before she met you is still your responsibility and why "she had a hard past" is not an excuse, how to give your wife emotional reps that start shifting the culture of your home this week, and Mark 10:45 the one verse Jesse says most men haven't memorized but need to. In your four walls, in your wife's heart, she already knows whether this episode is about you. The question is whether you're willing to find out too. New episode every Tuesday. Send this to a man whose wife is running his home.

3. 

   2 Sept 2026

   You Can't Be Righteously Angry About Child Trafficking and Watch Pornography on the Same Phone

   You post about Epstein. You share the trafficking headlines. You're angry about AI-generated child pornography being legalized. And then you open an incognito tab. Jesse and Adam are done letting that contradiction go unnamed. In this episode, they connect the dots between personal sin and cultural collapse — and make the case that the reason nothing changes out there is because most men haven't dealt with what's in here. They cover why men who watch pornography cannot be righteously angry about child trafficking — and why that hypocrisy is exactly why nobody does anything, why three generations of passive men is how you get a government that legalizes AI-generated child pornography, why Jesse doesn't put his sons on social media — and what AI is doing with the photos you post of your kids right now, why a pornography-addicted brain shows the same damage as an active heroin user, Jordan Peterson's first rule applied to the man who wants to fix the culture before he's fixed his own house, Adam's account of his grandfather, his father, and the moment he threw his hands up and told God — don't move me out of the way, and Jesse's story of a father who didn't know his own father and killed himself when Jesse was eighteen months old — and why his sons will never be able to say what Jesse grew up hearing. The curse stops with the man who picks up the Bible and doesn't put it down. That man can be you. October 19th to 22nd. Santa Rosa Beach. The next retreat. Seats are almost gone. Apply at theascentformen.com. New episode every Tuesday. Send this to a man who is angry at the world but hasn't dealt with his own four walls.

4. 

   26 Aug 2026

   We Put 10 Men in the Mountains for Four Days, Here's What Actually Happened

   They weren't planning another one for six months. They got home Thursday and by the weekend they were already building the next one. That tells you everything you need to know about how the retreat went. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Free recap the first Ascent for Men retreat, four days in the mountains, no itinerary, no junk food, no escape routes, and no man walked away the same. They cover three hours on a dock in the Tahoe Keys talking about identity in Christ and why they couldn't stop, why there was no itinerary and why that was exactly the point, the walks after every meal and the science behind why they worked, a 62 year old and a former gang unit officer getting after it in a CrossFit class together, the moment men realized their stories were not unique and why that's the most freeing thing they heard all week, how to tell the difference between God's voice and the enemy's and why one of them always makes you feel like you're not enough, the father who brought his son and what his son watched him do in that room, and why the next retreat in October is already going to have a waitlist. This is not a conference. There are no name tags and keynote speakers. It's four days of real men, real food, real Bible, and no place to hide. The next one is in Santa Rosa Beach. Seats are limited to 12. If you missed the first one, you already know what your excuse cost you. Apply at theascentformen.com. New episode every Tuesday.

5. 

   18 Aug 2026

   Stop Fighting Your Lust Problem, Fix This One Thing and It Takes Care of Itself

   You've tried to quit. You've white-knuckled it. You've made promises. You've broken them. Jesse and Adam want you to understand something: you've been fighting the wrong battle. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Free answer the question they get more than any other from men in their DMs, how do I overcome lust and be consistent in the Bible? Their answer is going to surprise you: stop focusing on the lust and focus on one thing instead. One will take care of the other. They cover why willpower alone will never beat lust and why white-knuckling it is a losing strategy every single time, Adam's account of how reading the Bible every day caused his desire for pornography to simply disappear, not through discipline, but through displacement, Jesse's story of how lust nearly destroyed his marriage before he gave his life to Christ and what actually changed, why pursuing God's heart makes lust genuinely hard to want, Peter walking on water and what happens the moment you take your eyes off Christ, the protein versus carbohydrates framework for understanding why sermons are good but scripture is non-negotiable, and why God told Adam clearly during prayer: you do your job, I'll do mine. The light of the word will shine on the dark corners you've been hiding. You don't have to drag them out yourself. You just have to open the book. New episode every Tuesday. Send this to a man who has been trying to quit and can't figure out why it's not working.

6. 

   12 Aug 2026

   Your Bible Is Clean Because You're Still Having Surface Level Conversations With God (Part 2)

   Jesse and Adam can look at your Bible and tell you everything they need to know about your walk with God. If it's clean, they already know the answer. In Part 2 of this series on reading scripture, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Free get practical, the tools, the method, and the habit that turns Bible reading from a religious checklist into a real relationship with God. They cover why your Bible should look like your kids got to it with highlighters and why a clean Bible is a warning sign not a sign of respect, the exact tools Jesse and Adam use, highlighters, pens, pencils and why Adam treats his Bible as an heirloom he is building for his son right now, Joshua 1:9 and what meditating on the word actually means versus skimming it, Matthew 7:13-23 verse by verse, the narrow gate, the bad tree, and the most alarming words Jesus ever spoke: "I never knew you," why the many Jesus warns about are not atheists, they are church-going men who did things in His name but never actually knew Him, and why your marked-up Bible is the difference between a man who knows about God and a man God actually knows. There are only two fires, brothers. One is eternity. One scorches you into refinement. Your choice starts with whether you open this book today. New episode every Tuesday. Send this to a man whose Bible still looks brand new.

7. 

   4 Aug 2026

   You're Praying to Someone You've Never Met (Part 1)

   If you skip reading the Bible and go straight to prayer, Jesse says you are talking to someone you have never actually met. That's not an insult. It's a diagnosis. In Part 1 of this two-part series, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Free break down why reading scripture every single day is not a suggestion, not a spiritual bonus, and not something you do when you feel like it. It is the connective tissue between you and God and without it, everything else you're trying to build is on sand. They cover John 4:14 and why men are dying of thirst while the living water sits on their nightstand unopened, Romans 12:2 and the neuroscience behind why renewing your mind requires daily reps just like a 500 pound squat, why you cannot counter-program a world that is programming you every hour if you are only in the Word on Easter and Christmas, why your sons are disciples of you and whether what you're showing them is worth following, Mark 10:45 and how Adam found his life's purpose in a single verse he never would have read if he hadn't picked the Bible up, and why if you skip this, your wife and your children pay the price. Part 2 is coming and that's where Jesse and Adam show you exactly how to read it, mark it, and study it so it actually changes you. Your life depends on it. So does theirs. New episode every Tuesday. Send this to a man whose Bible is still in the box.

8. 

   28 Jul 2026

   Every Area of Your Life Where You Still Have Anxiety Is an Area You Haven't Given to God

   You say you trust God. But on Saturday morning your mind is already at Monday. You're physically in the room with your kids and mentally gone. Your finances are solid on paper and you're still awake at 2am. Jesse and Adam have a name for that: unsubmitted. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Free get into what submitting to Christ actually means, not the churchy version, not the bumper sticker version, but the emptying that has to happen before God has any room to work in your life. They cover why you cannot be full of yourself and full of Christ at the same time and what it looks like to actually make room, why anxiety is not a personality trait, it's a diagnostic that tells you exactly which areas of your life you haven't surrendered, why submission is a process and not a light switch and why that's not an excuse to keep holding on, why your wife won't submit to you if you won't submit to Christ, Jesse's own process of realizing he was trying to control his wife, his finances, and his future and what changed when he let go, and the Lee Strobel story: a Yale-educated atheist who picked up the Bible to disprove it and never came back the same. Every area of your life that still has anxiety is an area that still has you in it. New episode every Tuesday. Send this to a man who says he trusts God but can't stop white-knuckling his life.

9. 

   21 Jul 2026

   Your Kids Are Watching You Not Do What You Tell Them to Do

   You tell your son to be disciplined. He watches you skip the gym. You tell your kids not to lie. They watch you make excuses. You tell your family to eat clean. You're feeding them Jolly Ranchers and Cheez-Its at church. Your audio and your video don't match. And every person in your home knows it. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Tyler Free are done being polite about it. The dad getting out of the minivan, lighting a cigarette while his kids pile out. The father yelling at his son at baseball practice about discipline while he can barely breathe sitting in his chair. The overweight pastor handing out junk food and calling it a leadership tool. Jesse and Adam have seen enough and they're naming it. They get into why your kids will follow what you do and ignore everything you say, why being physically out of shape is a theological problem, not just a health one, why the church has a fork and knife problem nobody will say out loud, Matthew 7:5 and why you don't get to tell your son to be disciplined until you are, why your business isn't working, your marriage is struggling, and your kids don't respect you and why the answer to all three is the same man, and why Jesse and Adam are not going to apologize for saying any of it. If your feelings are hurt by this episode, that's your sign. Go stand in front of a mirror long enough to be disgusted by what you see, then call us. Your life starts at that moment. New episode every Tuesday. Send this to a man whose audio and video don't match.

10. 

    15 Jul 2026

    Pornography Is Not a Small Sin, It's an Open Door You Don't Know You Left Unlocked

    You post about Epstein on Instagram. Then you open Pornhub on the same phone. Jesse and Adam are done pretending that's not happening. This is Pillar Four of the Five Pillars of Biblical Manhood and there is no soft way to say it: pornography has to stop. Not because it's embarrassing. Because it is spiritually, neurologically, and maritally destroying you and you have invited something into your home that your wife and your daughters will pay the price for. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Tyler Free get into the neuroscience of what pornography does to the male brain and why the dopamine crash after is your body telling you the truth, why the sex in your marriage feels dead and what pornography has to do with it, why men who rage about human trafficking and watch pornography on the same phone are not the righteous men they think they are, Adam's account of the moment he felt demonic presence in his home and what he knows now that he didn't know then, why November 2022 was the last time Adam watched pornography and what changed, Jesse's 75-day challenge for any man ready to find out what he's actually made of, and why the day you quit is a date worth writing down. Your daughter is growing up in the home you are building right now. Build accordingly. New episode every Tuesday. Send this to a man who thinks it's not that big of a deal.

11. 

    7 Jul 2026

    She Already Knows You're Lying, She Just Stopped Caring Enough to Say It

    You bought the gun anyway. You bought the shoes anyway. You told yourself she didn't notice. She noticed. She just stopped telling you. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Free get into the lie most men are living, not the big dramatic betrayals, but the small daily promises broken so often that your wife has quietly decided it doesn't matter what you say anymore. And that silence isn't forgiveness. It's surrender. They cover why a woman's silence on your broken word is the worst place you can be in a marriage, why lying about small purchases is the same as lying about big decisions and she knows it, why medieval knights considered breaking their word an act of treason and what that means for the man you're supposed to be, why deflecting and omitting are feminine communication patterns and what masculine honesty actually looks like, and how Adam went from hiding shoe purchases from his wife to walking into her office like a kid asking permission and why that's not weakness, that's winning. You want her respect. She wants your honesty. It turns out those are the same thing. New episode every Tuesday. Send this to a man who thinks he's been getting away with it.

12. 

    30 Jun 2026

    You'd Burn Tom Brady's Jersey for Doing What You Do to Your Wife Every Day

    You would burn Tom Brady's jersey if he stood at the podium after a bad game and blamed his offensive line, his receivers, and his coaching staff. You'd call him a bad leader. You'd be done with him. So why do you walk through your front door every night and do exactly that? In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Free get into what King David actually looked like as a man, not because he was perfect, but because of what he did when everything went sideways. No excuses. No deflection. No yeah-buts. They cover why David is the clearest biblical picture of manhood outside of Jesus, what it means to have your identity in God when the army is literally at the gate, why men who build their confidence on ego get their legs cut out the moment life hits them, the fat coach who tells his players to go the extra mile and why that's you with your kids, why "happy wife, happy life" is one of the most emasculating phrases in the English language, and why you praise accountability in athletes and punish it in yourself. You are the quarterback of your home. Right now, your team is telling you how the game is going. New episode every Tuesday. Send this to a man who blames everybody but himself.

13. 

    23 Jun 2026

    Your Kids Are a Mirror And Most Dads Won't Like What They See

    Your kids didn't become who they are on their own. You built them, for better or worse. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Tyler Free get into the parenting conversation most men avoid: that your children's behavior, confidence, emotional reactions, and standards are a direct reflection of yours. They cover why "be careful" is one of the most damaging phrases you can say to your kid, how children control emotionally weak parents and know it, why two and three year olds are the most confident humans alive and what we do to kill that, treating your children like adults and why it works, the cause-and-effect parenting framework that eliminates the need for punishment, and why if you're not buttoned up, you have no business trying to parent your kids right now. This is Part 1 of a multi-part series. Part 2 is coming and it's the one nobody in the church wants to have: why spanking is a leadership failure, and how men justify it by ripping scripture out of context. The rent is due every day, dad. New episode every Tuesday. If this hit you, send it to a man who needs it.

14. 

    16 Jun 2026

    We Put a Room Full of Christian Men on the Spot, Their Answers Were Alarming

    Jesse asked the room: if your wife and your job were gone overnight, would you know who you are? Every man said he'd be lost. Every single one. These were Christian men. Church going men. Men who thought they had a foundation. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Free break down what actually happened at the Ascent for Men Summit, the moments that hit hardest, the questions that exposed the real problem, and why the biggest takeaway wasn't what either of them expected. They get into why so many men are living in their roles instead of their identity, what Matthew 7:24 has to do with why your life keeps falling apart, why you can't love your wife and kids past what you're willing to give yourself, the difference between a man building on rock and a man who doesn't know he's on sand, and what pod coaching is, why it exists, and why it should cost you something. The summit is over. The pod is open. The work is the same either way. New episode every Tuesday. Send this to a man who would have said he'd be lost.

15. 

    8 Jun 2026

    You Don't Know Who You Are And It's Destroying Everything Around You

    Most men can't look themselves in the mirror and say "I love you." They call it hokey. The truth is they don't have the nerve because they've built their entire identity on things that can be taken away. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Tyler Free go deep into what God actually says about who you are and why most men are living under an identity handed to them by their performance, their failures, and the enemy. They break down 2 Corinthians 5:17 and Galatians 2:20 line by line, why identity rooted in your role as a husband, father, or career will eventually collapse, the difference between who you are and what you do, why the toughest men in the room are often the most terrified to look themselves in the eye, and the mirror exercise that will either set you free or expose exactly where you're broken. Your wife can't give you what you won't give yourself. Your kids can't fill it. Your job never could. This episode will either confirm who you are or force you to finally figure it out. New episode every Tuesday. If this hit you, send it to a man who needs it.

16. 

    2 Jun 2026

    Your Wife's Attitude Is a Mirror And You Won't Like What It's Reflecting

    If your wife is short-tempered, checked out, or running the house alone, look in the mirror. She didn't become that woman on her own. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Tyler Free break down the conversation most men's conferences are too soft to have: that the woman standing in front of you right now is a direct reflection of the man you've been choosing to be. Jesse tells the story of a random conversation at a homeschool event that turned into a gut-punch diagnosis of what's actually wrong in most marriages and why teaching wives to communicate better is step two when most men haven't done step one. They get into why men hand their responsibilities to their wives and then blame them for the fallout, the JaMarcus Russell analogy that every husband needs to hear, why the tone and temperature of your home is yours and yours alone, and what it actually looks like when a man earns respect instead of demanding it. You didn't get here overnight. She didn't either. But the way out starts with one man deciding to stop pointing outward. New episode every Tuesday. If this hit you, send it to a man who needs it.

17. 

    26 May 2026

    The Man Your Family Needs You to Be When It Gets Dangerous

    Your family is in the room. Do you know where the exits are? Do you know who the threat is? Most men don't and they've never even thought about it. In this episode, Jesse Carstairs and Adam Tyler Free, retired Green Beret, founder of the Brotherhood, break down what it actually means to be dangerous: spiritually prepared, mentally switched on, and physically ready to protect your family in any room you walk into. They get into situational awareness, carrying a firearm, teaching your kids about weapons without creating fear, the PACE plan every family man needs, and why laziness is the real enemy of every husband and father alive right now. This isn't theory. These are two men who live this way and they're calling you up to do the same. If you want your wife and kids to feel safe because of who you are, not in spite of it, this episode is for you. New episode every Tuesday. Subscribe so you don't miss what's coming.

18. 

    19 May 2026

    Why Most Men Are Losing (And Won't Admit It)

    Most men are showing up soft, in their marriages, in their faith, in their homes and nobody around them is telling them the truth. Jesse Carstairs and Adam Tyler Free aren't here to be polite about it. Jesse is a men's coach, host of the Lions of Faith community, and a husband and father who has built his life around a faith first standard. Adam is a retired Green Beret, founder of the Brotherhood, a community of over 7,000 men worldwide and a follower of Christ who found the Lord at his lowest point and never looked back. In this first episode, they lay out exactly why they built this show: because men are hungry for someone who tells the truth, lives what they preach, and holds a standard without apology. No fluff. No church performance Christianity. No soft answers to hard problems. If you're ready to stop being average in your marriage, your faith, your fatherhood, and your life, this is your show. New episode every Tuesday.

Reach and audience

Public platform figures. Ratings count people who left a rating, not total listeners.

Apple Podcasts (US)

5.0 / 5

8 ratings

Spotify

5.0 / 5

6 ratings

Contact Ascent for Men

Guest appearances

Does not typically book guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.

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