A few months back I had the privilege of sitting with a few other pastors talking with Tom Nelson of Denton Bible Church.  I had heard about his discipleship program for young men before, but did not know much of the details.  One of my passions is discipling men to be strong followers of Jesus Christ, so I was very interested to learn from Tom.  His program is called Young Guns and it is a year-long program geared towards training men from all over the country in areas of Systematic Theology, Bible Study Methods, Church History, as well as give them opportunities to serve around the church.

That got me to thinking about ways that I could begin to intentionally invest in the men around me.  Eventually, I would really love to start a similar one-year residency program, purchase a house or two for community living, etc., but since Christ Community Church is only 10 months into our weekly gatherings, I figured I’d find a guy or two to be my Guinea pig(s).

So, I started throwing out an idea to a few of the guys in the church, thinking that I might be able to trap one or two of them into participating with me.  However, I wanted to make it hard, because Tom mentioned that men need something to live up to.  I decided that I would start a Boot Camp for the men of my church that meets on Tuesday, Wednesday, and Thursday mornings from 6am to 7am.  We would study theology, bible study methods, some church history, and do some spiritual formation.

To my pleasant surprise, we had 6 men commit to be a part of this from January until May!  These guys committed to show up on time, and to pay a $5 late-fee if they show up late or a $10 no-show fee if they fail to show without prior notification.  (I’m going to use this money for our end of the year party, but don’t tell them!)  They all committed, created a covenant that they agreed upon with one another, and we have been going strong.

I’ll keep you posted on how it goes, but for now, join with me in praying that these men are blessed and continue to grow in their love for Jesus.

Leave a comment if you have any questions.