Men of Valor: A Study of Following Christ\u27s Example of Discipleship with Five Key Men in the Local Church

Problem The Tampa First Seventh-day Adventist Church is a diverse congregation with over 40 countries represented in its membership of nearly 600. There had been a steady increase of attendance and membership through transfers and conversion for several years. One of the biggest challenges that we faced at Tampa First was the discipleship of men. I have perceived in my 23 years of ministry that when the father is growing spiritually, the family unit had a greater tendency to grow with him, and the children were much more likely to stay connected to God and the church. It was imperative for me to find a way to break through the barriers of spiritual stagnation with the men at Tampa First. This project has led the way to spiritual growth and an intentional disciple-making process for these men in my congregation. Task The task of this project was to develop and implement a process of discipleship for a small group the men of the Tampa First Church where I poured myself into five key male leaders over a twelve-month period and empowered them to be disciple-makers for other men in our local congregation and in their spheres of influence. Results After the twelve-month period of discipleship, three of the five key leaders remained active in the group while others moved on for various reasons. I created a spiritual growth measuring tool I called a Life Thermometer consisting of ten questions that was given to the participants at the end of the twelve months. The results of all five participants from the Life Thermometer showed overall increases ranging from 15% up to a 48% increase with an average growth among the five men of 28%. Conclusion There was spiritual growth among all the participants and in me as the group leader over the twelve-month period. We all grew as leaders, men of God, priests in our homes, and witnesses in our spheres of influence. The principles fleshed out in this study will have a significant impact in men’s discipleship at the Tampa First Church as well as possibly impacting other churches in our region and local conference