The foundation you establish during this stride will greatly impact the success of the challenge. Plan to devote two to eight weeks to this stride, depending on the systems and team you already have in place.

1. The Plan for the Challenge stride is a great time to link arms with other ministry leaders in the church and engage them in the process. Keep them updated about what you hope to accomplish in the lives of the men and let them know how they can be a part of The Journey. Also, think of ways that you and the men can serve them in their ministries! Click here to download email templates to use with other leaders.
2. It’s a good idea to review Process One in the Helpful Tools section before you begin; this will help you assess your leadership team and recruit new leaders for the challenge, as needed.
3. Once your team is in place, click on the Deliver Content stride (Stride 4) and review the recommended Create event and Capture and Sustain resources. These suggestions make up the “Straightforward Plan” option for this challenge. If you’d like more flexibility, view the “Flexible Plan” option (found under Deliver Content) to choose your own event and resources.
4. Once you’ve decided between the Straightforward Plan and Flexible Plan, download and print both the step-by-step instructions and Project Plan Checklist for Challenge 3. The Project Plan Checklist is a summary of the instructions to keep you on track; the timelines are a guideline and can be expanded or compressed as needed.

These instructions and checklists come from the JBM Leader’s Notebook.

Straightforward Plan:

View/download the Step-by-Step Instructions for Challenge 3.

View/download the Project Plan Checklist for Challenge 3.

Flexible Plan:

View/download the Step-by-Step Instructions for Challenge 3.

View/download the Project Plan Checklist for Challenge 3.

It’s important to cast vision for all the men in your church and help them see that where you’re headed is bigger than just an event or a group. We provide two tools to help you do this: 1) Faith & Life Objectives Cards and 2) Assessment forms.

(You can also show the Challenge 3 promo video to generate interest and cast vision!)

Faith & Life Objectives Cards

The Faith & Life Objectives represent what you hope God will accomplish in the lives of the men through the current challenge. These are printed on a card that should be distributed to every man in the church BEFORE the challenge begins.

The card includes three objectives: one about what a man should know (Head), another about what he should love and believe (Heart), and another about what he should do (Hands).

Follow these steps before you begin the challenge:

1. Download the editable card here and use as-is or edit as needed (template is in Microsoft Word).
2. Have your pastor approve the Faith & Life Objectives.
3. If you don’t want to make edits, download a color, print-ready version here; just send the file to an online printer (such as GotPrint or VistaPrint) for inexpensive printing!* (Note: You may also order these from Man in the Mirror.)
4. Print them on business cards, whether you’re ordering from a printer or printing your own. If you’re doing them yourself from the Microsoft Word file, use the Avery template for business cards, 10 per sheet (Avery business card paper can be purchased from Office Depot, Staples, or a similar supply store).
5. Give a card to EVERY man in your church. (You may want to distribute and collect the Assessment form prior to this.)
   

*Using the alternative brand, The Revolution? Click here to download print-ready cards for Challenges 1-4.

Assessment Forms

The purpose of the Assessment form is to help both the leaders and the men of the church determine where they are spiritually at the start and end of the challenge. Therefore, there are two versions of the form–a pre-challenge form and a post-challenge form.

Follow these steps before you begin the challenge:

1. Download the pre-challenge version here and use as-is or feel free to edit (template is in Microsoft Word). The form should reflect the Faith & Life Objectives.
2. Have your pastor approve the pre-challenge Assessment form.
3. Print them on whatever paper you prefer–two to a page–and then cut.
4. Be sure to give a pre-challenge Assessment form to EVERY man in your church. Distribute these before the challenge begins and give guys multiple ways to easily return them.
5. Make a simple report of the results and share with the leadership team.

Follow these steps near the end of the challenge:

1. Download the post-challenge version here and use as-is or feel free to edit (template is in Microsoft Word). The form should closely correspond with the pre-challenge assessment.
2. At the end of Stride 4 (Deliver content), distribute the post-challenge Assessment forms to EVERY man in the church. Again, give guys multiple ways to easily return them.
3. Make a simple report of the results; if possible, keep the results of the men who participated in the men’s-only portions of the challenge separate from those who did not. Share with your leadership team.

No matter how well you promote or plan, there will always be a percentage of men that will not come to an event or join a small group or class. It’s critical that your team helps them participate in the challenge through whatever ways they are already engaged at your church.

Below are some ideas for including men on the fringe, as well as men who may be involved in other activities at the church besides the men’s-only and couples’-only opportunities in this challenge.

Choose one or two of the ideas below!

Disciple Every Man

• Ask your pastor to consider either doing a sermon series or devoting one Sunday to marriage. Give every couple a Marriage Prayer Card and issue the Marriage Prayer Challenge church-wide. There is a husband’s version and a wife’s version of the simple prayer, designed to be prayed daily. Cards can be ordered in packs of 50 (one card per couple) from Man in the Mirror or download and print here. Ask the pastor to send an email out reminding couples of the challenge; we recommend using excerpts from the article “Worship and The Marriage Prayer.”
• Give guys who aren’t participating in group studies the chance to be involved through individual study. Post a link on the church website or email a link to the online Man in the Mirror six-part video series The Marriage Prayer. The study can be watched for FREE by streaming or downloading from the website. Encourage men to do it with their wives if possible. For men who aren’t married, send out the link to the 40-minute video message Friends: Risks and Rewards from The Man in the Mirror bible study series. Encourage them to use the corresponding handout and discussion/reflection questions. (Click here to download a template email in Word to use with your men when sending out a video link. Modify the information in red to suit your needs and then copy and paste it into your email.)
• Email the article “How Easy is Sexual Sin?” to all the men in the church, encouraging them to focus on the questions at the end of the article—either in their small groups, with an accountability partner, or by jotting down their thoughts individually on paper. (Click here to download a template email in Word to use with your men when sending out an article or excerpt. Modify the information in red to suit your needs and then copy and paste it into your email.)
• Challenge men to enter into one-on-one accountability relationships. Focus on men who aren’t in a men’s only follow-up group. Consider offering an hour-long information session at the church, where you help men pair up at the end, as desired. Give each man an Accountability Check-up Card to review weekly with his accountability partner each week, stressing the importance of follow-through and confidentiality.
• Emphasize the concepts of the challenge to the engaged and married couples in the church that aren’t participating in the groups. Send out a link to the two-part sermon Cultivating a Healthy Marriage from Tim and Kathy Keller to the married men and women, or a link to the four-part sermon series The New Rules for Love, Sex & Dating by Andy Stanley to engaged or seriously dating men and women. Reference the Challenge 3 Faith & Life Objectives in the email.

Provide a way for men to put what they’re learning into action. Below are some ideas to involve all the men in the church in the challenge in a real, tangible way–to get them using their “hands.”

We recommend doing an activity during the Sustain Change portion of the challenge (the longer, more in-depth study near the end of the challenge).

Choose one or two of the ideas below!

Use Your “Hands”

• Ask the couples in the church to take a survey to determine their love language (assessments can be downloaded from www.5lovelanguages.com). Then, challenge each spouse to be intentional about doing something special in the other’s primary “language” every day for a week. Consider providing ideas and examples to get people thinking.
• Plan a church-wide date night. Serve dinner or dessert and show the movie Fireproof. Encourage the men to take the initiative and ask their wife “out” for the date night. Be sure to provide free childcare for couples with young children and choose a Friday or Saturday night so (most) people don’t have to work the next day. Be sure to purchase an Authorized Public Exhibition License for this movie.
• Don’t let the single or widowed women in your church feel isolated by the ways others might be participating in this challenge. Give the men in the church a way to honor and serve them at some point in the challenge. Consider a handyman morning where women can get yard work or home repairs done, or host an afternoon of free car washes and oil changes in the church parking lot. Be sure to ask any women’s ministry leaders for help in this initiative. They may be able to point you to where the needs are.
• Have some of the men’s leaders for this challenge plan a “Guys’ day out”—organize various opportunities for men with similar interests to get to know each other better. Plan a day of golf, hold a basketball or Ping-Pong tournament, go skeet shooting, meet up for a morning bicycle ride, go to a baseball game, or even just enjoy a long lunch! Be sure to emphasize to the leaders the importance of including as many men as possible across the different activities; avoid “cliques” where possible and include men who are new to the church. Remind leaders to go over the Faith & Life Objectives and give men a chance to share what God is doing in their lives. Also, if any of the outings require travel time, consider printing out the Drive Time Questions to help guys get to know each other better.

The engine that drives the content portion of each challenge is the Create-Capture-Sustain engine. We want to help you deliver content through three strategic steps:

1. Create Value and build excitement among your men and couples through a kick-off event.
2. Capture the Momentum you create by providing men/couples with the right next step BEFORE they leave the event. The suggested study is designed to be done in a follow-up group setting for both the couples and the men during this challenge.
3. Sustain Change over time by getting men and couples into relationship with others and into the regular study of God’s Word.

Note: For this challenge, we recommend offering one group study for married couples and a separate group study option for men’s-only groups. (We also recommend a third group if you prefer for engaged or seriously dating couples.)

Because of these multiple study groups, we’ve combined the Capture and Sustain portions of the Deliver Content stride in order to simplify this challenge for you.

Recommended Resources

Create Value

For this challenge, we recommend the The Marriage Prayer Challenge: An Evening for Couples event, from Man in the Mirror (two-hour event) for the couples in your church.

To kick off the men’s only groups, we recommend a men’s cookout.

Although most of the planning is done for you, you’ll need to decide:

• the dates for the two kick-off events; the men’s cookout should fall the week before the couples’ event in order for the studies to end at the same time.
• whether you want to offer a group study for engaged and seriously dating couples.

Capture Momentum

Married Couples’ Groups: For this challenge, we recommend The Marriage Prayer book by Patrick Morley and David Delk, Moody, Chapters 1-4 (in most cases, books are included with event).

Men’s-Only Groups: For this challenge, we recommend When Good Men Are Tempted book by Bill Perkins, Zondervan, Chapters 1-5.

(Optional) Engaged and Seriously Dating Couples’ Group: For this challenge, we recommend Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts book and workbook by Les and Leslie Parrott, Zondervan, Chapters 1-3 (including Assessment; see weekly plan in JBM Leader’s Notebook).

Sustain Change

Married Couples’ Groups: Continue with The Marriage Prayer book, Chapters 5-11.

Men’s-Only Groups: Continue with When Good Men Are Tempted book, Chapters 6-12.

(Optional) Engaged and Seriously Dating Couples’ Group: Continue with Saving Your Marriage Before It Starts book and workbook, Chapters 4-7 (see weekly plan in JBM Leader’s Notebook).

Looking for alternative resources and event ideas?

Click here to view the Flexible Plan for this challenge.

One of the best aspects of the Journey is the celebration that happens at the end of each challenge, as men experience transformation and new relationships! For Challenge 3, we recommend having a dessert night, open to ALL the adults in the church. Refer to your step-by-step instructions (found under the Plan stride) for details about planning  your gathering.

Be sure to rally your leadership team at this integral time and thank them for all the work they’ve done and the impact they’ve made. Share the results of the post-Challenge assessment with them, as well as your pastor.

Make it a priority to include testimonies, representing both the men’s and couples’ groups. Ask your Sustain group leaders to suggest a few men and couples to share who have particularly benefited from the challenge. In order to emphasize the all-inclusive nature of the challenge, ask at least one man or couple to share who was impacted but didn’t participate in the groups. Testimony can be shared directly by the person, read by a leader from an email/letter, or via video.

Consider giving out something to commemorate the completion of Challenge 3. On many of the options below, you can print the logo and challenge name, a slogan that you’ve adopted, etc. Note that some of them come with minimum quantity requirements, so if you’re a small church, feel free to search other sites for similar products.

Here are a few celebration “hardware” ideas:

• Order Wristbands for your men; we like to use the debossed, adult-sized ones for some of our Man in the Mirror events. You can get whatever you want on the wristbands themselves; you might choose the challenge name (“Manhood”), the program name and challenge (“The Journey: Challenge 1”), a ministry slogan (“Together on the Journey”), etc.
• Give each man a token, customized with the logo. You might have them collect one for every challenge they complete! Choose wooden or plastic tokens. (Metal ones are also available on several other websites, but most have minimum quantities greater than 2000.)
• Give every man at the gathering a dog tag with your ministry name and the challenge completed.
• Award each man with a bookmark, printed either with a Scripture that encompasses the completed challenge or the Faith & Life Objectives.
• Magnets are another option and an easy way to remind guys of what God has accomplished in their lives after the challenge ends. Print the logo and challenge name or the Faith & Life Objectives,
• Another idea for a giveaway is a window decal; this also helps your men get the word out to others in the community who might want to join your men on the next challenge. Upload one of our logos or create your own! This idea requires a larger budget so you may want to only use these for your first challenge as a way to promote the Journey–inside and outside the church; quantity discounts are available.

Click here to view a sample Celebration agenda for this challenge.

We want to join with you in celebrating what God is doing in your ministry! Email us a group picture from your Celebration gathering at jbm@maninthemirror.org.