JOURNEYEN Discipleship Stories

“I know there is something missing in my Christian life, but frankly, I’m a little skeptical. I don’t need another Bible study with surface level questions that rehash what we already know, but Journeymen sounds like it might be different.” That’s what Dan said when I asked him why he wanted to join a Journeymen discipleship group. Dan has been one of the most sincere and teachable men I have ever worked with. But, he needed encouragement and accountability. His story is a testament to the power of personal discipleship that keeps me out there leading guys like Dan who long for much more than just going to church. Dan had gone to church since he was young, but his faith had become routine and academic. Before joining our Journeymen group he was sort of detached from people. He said, “Like so many others, I could go listen to a sermon and go home to live the same as before. I wasn’t really accountable to anyone to apply it to my life. I felt my spiritual foundation eroding. When some storms would come into my life, I would turn to other things and lean less on the Lord.” Now Dan is in true friendships with other men who are also following Jesus. I’ve been so gratified to hear him thank God for our authentic fellowship. He recently said, “Being in this group has given me the encouragement I need to live out my faith, and it’s given me a couple friends that really do ask me if I am applying it to my life. Journeymen has really jump-started my walk with God. It’s made it more real.” As we have gotten into God’s word together, Dan has been honest, sharing, “As I got closer to God, I found that I was taking sin too casually. My prayer was to see sin as bad as God sees it and not just accept my weakness as an excuse. The more serious I saw sin, the more I wanted to resist it, and the more I was in awe of God’s grace each time He forgives me.” 

Another way I’ve seen Dan grow is in the way he has embraced his role as a “fisher of men”. When we first met, Dan had established a Friday night routine of “guys night out” with a friend after work at a local bar. He developed friendships with several regulars at the bar, but he began to realize that he was conforming more to their world than he was influencing them toward Christ. He said he didn’t feel like he was being fully himself as a follower of Jesus toward them. Dan no longer feels the need for that routine, but now he is working at ways to introduce those friends to the real Jesus. He said, “My focus used to be to get through the week and get to Friday to escape the pressures of my life. Journeymen has helped me see that bringing God into every area of my life pushes lesser things out. I thought I would miss my weekly night out, but I found that I don’t need it.” God started changing his perspective and his heart for his friends. Many of them have only stereotypical ideas or confused religious experiences with Christianity. He said, “I see them in a new light. I think, ‘How can I bring up Christ in a conversation to help them.” The great thing is that Dan is now passionate about Jesus and looking for ways to bring Jesus into every area of his life. Dan recently texted me a message that said. “Thanks for taking the personal time to listen and talk things through with me so often. I really appreciate it.” Personal, life-on-life discipleship is transforming lives and bearing fruit that reproduces. That’s the way the Lord designed it.

Alex is investing in high school students. He is not only leading and discipling students, but also leading other student leaders. I met Alex when he and his new wife Jordan joined our newlywed couples group. I quickly noticed his maturity and heart for God. He is considering full-time ministry. I invited Alex to go through my Journeymen discipleship study with some other young men. Recently he thanked me for the real fellowship. He said, “Thanks Joe. As a leader it’s hard to find this kind of encouragement and mentoring. I really appreciate it.”

Leon has been through a lot on his spiritual journey. His family attended both a dead church and a Mormon temple. They also became part of a cult called Church Universal & Triumphant. So, whether it was the powerless void of pseudo Christianity, or a female cult leader who said she was God, Leon suffered much from worldly religion. Even after becoming a new Christian, he had some pastors counsel him to go ahead and use pornography to deal with his needs during marital difficulties. So, like many of the men whom I disciple, Leon was bound by significant confusion about his walk with God. But also like so many men, Leon had a teachable heart and just needed some personal discipleship.

Through our Journeymen study and personal counsel, we began to do some re-learning. Leon said, “I had all this false teaching and then bad counsel from some pastors. I had big questions of what was and wasn’t sin, and what it really means to be in Christ. Now I feel like the shackles are off. I’m free from Satan. I can walk with the Spirit of God and be the man I want to be. Journeymen has given me a new biblical foundation for my relationship with God. I love meeting each week with the other guys as we work on our faith and character. I’m getting to know what it is to become more like Jesus, especially as I try to be a better husband. I’m learning to put my faith in action.” I’m so proud of Leon. He has been so faithful to apply all he’s been learning. His life and marriage are changed, all because you made this ministry available to him.

When I met Mark, he and some friends had been meeting each week but said they needed some structure and direction. They started using the Journeymen discipleship study and Mark said it made a real impact on their fellowship. He said, “The Journeymen study was so simple and easy to utilize, as it lends itself to group interaction. The Journeymen lessons were thought provoking and applicable to my life, and I really liked that the questions and discussion topics were so Biblically based. The Journeymen study was an easy way for our men’s group to bond more closely, hold each of us accountable to one another, and help us explore our calling to live for His cause.”

Mike grew up in a Jewish family and didn’t learn much about Jesus until adulthood. He said, “I realized Jesus was my Messiah when I read Isaiah 53. I couldn’t escape the amazing truth that this was a portrait of Jesus written hundreds of years before he was born.” Mike got married and his new faith grew slowly, but his business career skyrocketed. His fast success earned him Ernst & Young’s “Entrepreneur of the Year” award. However, Mike said, “As fast as my life seemed to shoot up, it all came crashing down.” Immediately after his award, a perfect storm of bad circumstances washed over his business and personal life. His marriage fell apart and his business went under. He is now building back his life and business, but with a new perspective and purpose.

Mike is in a Journeymen discipleship study each week with some other men, learning to live as God’s servants and ambassadors. Mike recently said, “This kind of study and authentic fellowship is what I needed. Now I am back into God’s Word regularly. It’s finally sinking in that I am God’s possession. He owns me and I am His.” I am so proud of Mike. He is leading his business, and loving others more like Jesus than ever before. He is sharing his faith, seeking God’s plan for his life, and following Jesus, the owner of the universe.

Nate is a Journeymen leader. He is passionate about making disciples. He recently said, “I chased after all that this world said would make a man happy but I came up empty. Jesus saved me from myself and gave me true significance. Now, I want to help other men live for Jesus as real men of God.” He went on to tell me, “I have been praying for God’s direction for me and I believe He wants me to help serve other men as a Journeymen leader.” Nate is doing a great job serving groups of men like this one, who meet at 6:00 am each week.

They came together from several different walks of life. Each one said Journeymen was an answer their prayers for friends who were serious about living their faith. I joined in their group a few times. I heard one of them say, “I was working on a painting project with my wife. I was about to make one of my typical ‘let me tell you how to do this the right way’ comments. Then I remembered the scripture we were studying in Journeymen last week. I stopped myself. No, God stopped me. Instead of criticizing my wife, I found myself humbly asking her if she wanted any help. She turned to me with a puzzled smile and said, ‘Looks like that new men’s group is making a difference in you.”  That’s the kind of life change we pray for. Nate is leading by example of his own passion and commitment to obey God’s Word in his personal, family and work life.