What does it take to become the dad you never had — when the dad you did have was present but never really there?

Scott Maudsley grew up as the second of four boys in southwest Michigan. His dad was a man of faith. He was in the house. He loved his kids. But when the business failed, bankruptcy hit, and the family moved into a tent on a campground just trying to survive — the emotional distance between Scott and his father only grew. By the time Scott was 18, he had lived in 14 different homes. He attended three high schools in four years — including a move from a small white farming community in Michigan to Hialeah, Miami in the middle of his senior year.

His mom left. His dad stayed. And Scott spent the next several decades learning — the hard way — what it means to be a present father to his own kids.

Today Scott is a kingdom worker, author, and founder of two movements built around one conviction: every man needs a spiritual father, and every man needs to become one.

In this conversation, Joshua Brown and Scott get into:

• What it felt like to grow up with a dad who was physically present but emotionally distant — and how that shaped Scott's identity as a man
• The bankruptcy, the tent, the 14 homes, and what financial chaos does to a family's emotional foundation
• The day his mom left — and what it was like to have a single dad for a year and a half
• The pivotal man God put in Scott's life in his thirties who forced him to go back and process all the trauma he had buried
• The single most important piece of fatherhood wisdom Scott ever received — and how it transformed the way he parented his own kids from birth to age 13
• Why age 13 is the last real window a dad has for full influence over his child — and what happens when you miss it
• How Scott wrote A Dad's Bible Journey — a study of the actual fathers in scripture, not just principles, but real stories of real dads who failed and were redeemed
• The story behind Dads on Tap — a nonprofit that partners with breweries to reach dads who would never walk into a church
• What spiritual fathering actually looks like — and why every man needs one

"There's no paycheck, no influence, no stage that I would trade for that intentionality from zero to 13."

"Forgiveness is more for you than them. I had inner peace for the first time in my life. It's just Jesus — just Jesus."

This episode is for the man who had a dad in the house but still grew up without one. For the dad who wants to do it differently but doesn't know how. And for every man who needs a spiritual father to show him the way.

🔗 Resources Mentioned:

• Spiritual Fathers (Man in the Mirror) → https://www.spiritualfathers.com
• Dads on Tap → https://www.dadsoontap.com
• A Dad's Bible Journey → Available on Amazon
• Scott Maudsley on Instagram → @ScottMaudsley
• Email Scott → scott@dadsontap.com

🎙️ Subscribe to Dudes Without Dads → https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.com
📲 Join the Movement → https://www.dudeswithoutdads.com
🎙️ Apply to Be a Guest → https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.com

New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe, share, and get this into the hands of the man who needs it most. 🎙️

fatherhood, father wound, sonship, men's ministry, christian men, healing, identity, intentional fatherhood, dudes without dads, joshua brown, eric manly, the intentional dad, generational curses, masculinity, christian podcast, faith and fatherhood, becoming a better dad, father absence

This is a Father's Day special unlike anything the Dudes Without Dads podcast has ever released.

Joshua Brown flips the script. In this live, unscripted episode, he's not the interviewer — he's the one in the chair. Alongside him is William, his half-brother. Same dad. Different moms. Two men who grew up without a father, found each other through God's providence, and are now walking out reconciliation together.

Gary Moritz steps in to steward the conversation — drawing out the pain, the truth, and the redemption that both men have lived.

In this episode you'll hear:

• Joshua's story of being reconciled to his Heavenly Father after a life-altering car crash — and then finding his earthly father and his half-brother
• William's story of being rejected by his dad at 12, blamed for his grandfather's death, and sent spiraling into drugs and the streets of North Nashville
• The difference between the dad who walks out and the dad who stays but checks out — and how both leave the same hole in a son
• What a father actually hands a son: his name, his worth, his sense of belonging
• How Men of Valor, a Nashville incarceration rehabilitation ministry, became a turning point in William's redemption
• What it means to let your work become a witness of who you worship
• Why reconciliation with the Heavenly Father is the only thing that truly fills the hole an earthly father leaves behind

"Once you get reconciled in a right relationship with your Heavenly Father, the byproduct is you want to go and help others be reconciled to their Heavenly Father as well."

"Forgiveness is more for you than them. I had inner peace for the first time in my life. It's just Jesus — just Jesus."

This episode is for every man who grew up without a father. For every man still carrying the weight of rejection. And for every man who needs to know — God was writing your story the whole time, even in the moments you couldn't see Him.

🎙️ Subscribe to Dudes Without Dads → https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.com
📲 Join the Movement → https://www.dudeswithoutdads.com
👥 Apply to Be a Guest → https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.com
👥 Men of Valor Nashville → https://www.menofvalornashville.com

New episodes every Thursday. Subscribe, share, and get this into the hands of the man who needs it most this Father's Day. 🎙️

fatherhood, father wound, sonship, men's ministry, christian men, healing, identity, intentional fatherhood, dudes without dads, joshua brown, eric manly, the intentional dad, generational curses, masculinity, christian podcast, faith and fatherhood, becoming a better dad, father absence

What do you do when your father gives you the keys to his brand new truck — and four days later takes his own life?

Cory was 30 years old, had just celebrated his birthday five days earlier, and had an 8-month-old daughter at home when his father died by suicide on May 15, 2010. In this raw and unforgettable episode, Joshua Brown sits down with his friend Cory for one of the most honest conversations the Dudes Without Dads podcast has ever had.

This isn't just a story about loss. It's a story about what happens to a son when his father was physically present his entire life — but never really there. And what it costs a man when that father disappears forever before the relationship could ever be repaired.

In this episode, Cory opens up about:

• Growing up with a dad who was in the house but emotionally absent
• Always feeling like a constant disappointment — even during baseball games his dad coached
• The moment he came home from a party to find out his dad had tried to take his life
• The lie that followed him for 15 years: "I'm not enough"
• How that lie showed up in his marriage, his fatherhood, and his pastoral ministry
• What his counselor finally told him that started to bring real healing
• Learning how to be a son to a Heavenly Father who loves you for who you are — not what you do
• The three roles every man needs: a spiritual father, brothers, and sons to pour into

This episode is for every man who lost his dad before the relationship was ever whole. It's for every man still trying to prove he's enough to someone who's no longer there. And it's for every man brave enough to finally name the pain out loud.

"Forgiveness is more for you than them. I had inner peace for the first time in my life. It's just Jesus — just Jesus."

🎙️ Subscribe to Dudes Without Dads → https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.com 📲 Join the Movement → https://www.dudeswithoutdads.com 👥 Apply to Be a Guest → https://www.DudesWithoutDadsPodcast.com

New episodes every Thursday. If this episode added value to your life — subscribe, share it, and get it into the hands of the man who needs it most.

fatherhood, father wound, sonship, men's ministry, christian men, healing, identity, intentional fatherhood, dudes without dads, joshua brown, eric manly, the intentional dad, generational curses, masculinity, christian podcast, faith and fatherhood, becoming a better dad, father absence