The most obvious thing in Robert Lewis's office is the sword. The pastor's desk and shelves of commentaries are standard issue. The large photos of his four children hugging Minnie Mouse and the family in a raft shooting the rapids are warming, but expected.

Not the sword. It demands to be examined.

A full three feet long, it looks like Excaliber, the sword Arthur pulled from the stone, thereby becoming king. "The men gave that to me," he says. "It's attached to the frame by magnets, so I can draw quickly if I need it."

We chuckle and pull our fingers back a bit.

"The men" are the Men's Fraternity, the 1,100 who gather at the church Wednesday mornings at six to hear Lewis teach on what it means to be a man. Some are members of his church, Fellowship Bible Church in Little Rock, Arkansas; many are not. Many are not yet Christians.

"We had a car dealer in town bring all his salesmen," Lewis says. "He opened the paper and saw our ad: Learn how to be a man. He said, 'We're all going to go.' And ...