Sam Collier is a speaker and host at Northpoint Ministries (founded by Andy Stanley) as well as the Director of City Strategy for The reThink Group (founded by Reggie Joiner). Sam is also the host of nationally syndicated radio-podcasts "A Greater Story w/ Sam Collier" and "The Countdown w/ Sam Collier". Sam lives in Atlanta, GA with his beautiful wife and daughter!

Conversation Notes

2:12 - Introducing Sam Collier
5:23 - Sam's family and summer of his current roles and projects
8:35 - "Sometimes a story can do more for our development and direction than principles."
10:23 - Sam's backstory and the influence of his father
15:40 - Sam shares what is going well in his dad role
17:12 - God's call as a step-dad (Bonus Dad) to honor his daughter's biological father
19:00 - Supporting mom in the discipline acts of parenting
21:40 - Unlocking wonder in our kids
23:30 - The importance of intentionality in parenting
25:08 - With intentionality, something is better than nothing. But if you want to get to that next level, you need to plan.
27:35 - Sam on influence in the dad-life
28:03 - "You are being influenced by something whether you like it or not… Something is influencing you, so you might as well get intentional about it."
28:51 - Introducing 3 key areas of influence
Influence of Friends
29:05 - "Our desire to fit in often outweighs our desire to stand out. Therefore, we become what our friend group demands."
30:05 - "God created you for acceptance and community… you will always choose acceptance over being great… let's stop trying to change that principal.. embrace it and rearrange our lives to fit around that."
30:27 - "Who are you hanging around? Every great dad that I have met hangs around great dads."
Influence of Leaders
31:40 - "Not every mentor is supposed to mentor me in everything."
32:25 - "You want to control that circle. Hang around great dads as peers because they will rub off on you. Get some older dads… to be your leaders to help mentor you, so you can be everything God has called you to be."
Influence of Followers
32:45 - "Followers are the mirror into our souls and into our gifts. They help reflect back on us what God has put in us."
33:12 - Ask your followers and fans what they love about you and then turn that dial up
33:40 - Ask others what our blind-spots are, and use it to examine our parenting
35:27 - Current culture is beginning to realize the importance of parenting too
36:52 - "Only you can raise your kid."
39:23 - "I want to raise the bar and punctuate the idea that parenting and fatherhood is the most important thing you'll do outside of serving God."
39:51 - Sam's closing prayer

Resources

A Greater Story Podcast & Radio Show
Sam's Books: The Essentials & Find Your Voice
https://www.samcollier.tv/
Orange Ministry - Orange Leaders Blog

Should Christians Influence Politics? - Ep. 34