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Journey to Biblical

Manhood

The Journey to Biblical Manhood is a framework to disciple every man in your church. It is based on the principles of the No Man Left Behind Model, Man in the Mirror’s proven leadership training.

12 Challenges

The Journey to Biblical Manhood consists of 12 Challenges that help men grow in the major areas of their lives. A challenge may last anywhere from two months to a year, depending on the resources you choose to use with your men. Most churches complete one to two challenges per year.

You may do the challenges in any order but we strongly recommend you start with 1 and 2, which are foundational to the rest of the Journey.

1. MANHOOD: MASTER THE ESSENTIALS OF BIBLICAL MANHOOD

This first challenge in The Journey is designed to provide an overview for participants. It introduces your men to the basic characteristics of a godly man. These are the same ideas they will be exploring in more detail during the rest of The Journey.

2. THE GOSPEL: BUILD A FIRM FOUNDATION IN THE FAITH

This challenge communicates the basic faith tenets every man should understand, such as the character of God, justification, sanctification, the church, the Bible, the person of Christ, and work of the Holy Spirit. It encourages men to continually seek to learn more about God and the Bible.

3. RELATIONSHIPS: BUILD GODLY RELATIONSHIPS AND MARRIAGES

This challenge helps men explore the key relationships they have. Topics include dating, marriages, brotherhood, and integrity in personal relationships.

4. FATHERING: FATHER THE HEARTS OF OUR CHILDREN/GRANDCHILDREN

Many men have no example of proper fathering; this challenge shows men what it means to be a godly father, grandfather or mentor.

5. DISCIPLINES: BECOME A SPIRITUALLY DISCIPLINED MAN

This challenge teaches men the biblical foundations of prayer, worship, fasting, meditation, and solitude. Men will learn how to incorporate these disciplines into their daily life.

6. WORK: SERVE GOD IN OUR WORK

This challenge addresses issues such as mission and calling, purpose, the true definition of success, balance and priorities. Men will be encouraged to do their work with excellence and diligence in order to demonstrate God’s character to the world.

7. MISSION: COMMIT TO A PERSONAL MINISTRY

This challenge helps men understand their giftedness and how they can contribute to Kingdom work. It also teaches them about their purpose in life and how that sense of purpose guides their priorities and behavior.

8. MONEY: USE MONEY FOR GOD’S GLORY

This challenge shows men that they are stewards of the gifts God has given them. It encourages men to be God’s money managers, avoiding or reducing consumer debt and contributing to Kingdom work.

9. INTEGRITY: LIVE AS A MAN OF INTEGRITY AND CHARACTER

This challenge helps men understand what the Bible has to say about moral, ethical and sexual purity. Men will identify key areas in their lives to establish boundaries and accountability to help them maintain integrity and witness.

10. SACRIFICE & SUFFERING: BE SHAPED BY SACRIFICE AND SUFFERING

The Bible says we are called to share in Christ’s suffering. This challenge aids in an understanding of sacrifice and suffering and how to view them from a Christian perspective.

11. LEADERSHIP: GROW IN LEADERSHIP

Some men are called to be leaders of home ministries – others of businesses. And all men are called to be leaders in their homes. This challenge encourages men to view leadership from a biblical perspective.

12. OUTREACH: SHARE JESUS' STORY

This challenge teaches men the importance of reaching out to others, while giving them the tools to share the Gospel.

Framework 

Each  of the 12 Challenges follows a 5 step Framework:

1. Plan For The Challenge

Start the Journey off strong! We’ll help you form a leadership team if needed, as well as recruit men to the vision and tasks involved in the challenge.

You’ll benefit from pre-made plans and checklists for you and the other leaders, as well as communication templates to use with other ministry leaders in the church.

2. Cast The Vision

We’ll help you cast vision at the start of each challenge for every man in the church. We’ll give you the tools to let each guy know what you hope God accomplishes in three main areas: what he knows (Head), what he believes (Heart) and what he does (Hands). We call these the Faith & Life Objectives, and you’ll communicate these to the men through downloadable cards at the start of each challenge.

3. Include ALL Your Men

Every man is on the Journey together–not just those who will come to an event or join a small group. Therefore, we provide you with ways to reach men on the fringe and disciple them right where they are. Many of these ideas and resources are FREE and downloadable–articles, video Bible studies, sermons, devotionals, activity ideas, and more.

4. Deliver Content

The heart-oriented resources we suggest for each challenge are designed to be done in a small group context. You may use our recommendations or choose your own. It’s completely up to you.

5. Celebrate!

At the end of each challenge, gather and celebrate what God has done through this leg of the Journey. Invite ALL the men in the church to this gathering. We’ll show you how to make this time resonate with your guys.

Is the Journey to Biblical Manhood (JBM) another book study, curriculum, or event?

Although JBM incorporates small group resources and events, it is not merely a curriculum or an activity; it is a flexible, sustainable, and intentional plan for a church to reach and disciple ALL its men over time. We’ll suggest heart-oriented resources and activities for the challenges to help your men go deeper with Christ and each other, but the ultimate implementation will be up to you.

JBM includes downloadable resources, detailed instructions and timelines, assessments for your men, promotional plans and videos, planning tools, graphics, and more.

How do I know if my church is ready to implement the Journey?

We recommend that three components be in place before you implement the Journey in order to be most effective: 1) a committed leadership team, 2) a vision to reach ALL the men in the church, and 3) the support of the lead pastor.

Who should be using this website?

Although JBM is for all the men in your church, this website is for the leaders responsible for planning and implementing the Journey. Only your leadership team should access this subscription-based site.

Should each of my leaders subscribe?

You may set up the subscription to be shared by the leadership team. In this case, consider using a generic Username and Password, as well as email address. Otherwise, each leader is welcome to subscribe separately.

What does the Journey involve?

The Journey is made up of 12 Challenges for your men designed to provide you with a long-term discipleship plan. There are five strides to every challenge: 1) Plan for the challenge, 2) Cast the vision, 3) Include ALL your men, 4) Deliver content, and 5) Celebrate.

Our leaders are busy. Will you help us know exactly what to do?

Yes! We provide detailed checklists, timelines, and planning tools for every challenge. We do recommend having a leadership team working on each challenge, and we provide tools to help you recruit leaders; JBM is not intended to be a one-man job. You may want to give leaders the opportunity to gracefully take a break now and then and we’ll show you how to recruit new leaders to help with whatever challenge you’re doing. Many of the tasks can be given to any committed man who has a passion to reach others; therefore, this is a great opportunity to raise up and build new, potential leaders in your church!

Our leadership training, based on the No Man Left Behind Model, is at the heart of everything we do in the Journey to Biblical Manhood. Maximize the effectiveness of JBM by taking your leaders through the No Man Left Behind training.

How long does it take to complete a challenge?

The duration of each challenge is up to you and will be determined by which resources you choose to study, how long you need for planning, how long you choose to promote your kick-off event, etc. Most churches will do one or two challenges per year.

Can I choose any challenge or is there a specific progression?

You are free to choose which challenges you do and in what order you do them. They are all self-contained so it’s completely up to you. We do suggest starting with Challenge 1: Manhood and Challenge 2: The Gospel.

Is JBM just for the men’s ministry?

No! In fact, we don’t want you to use the term “men’s ministry” at all. Every man is a part of your ministry to men; therefore we’ll show you how to engage every man in your church in the challenge. Certain challenges may also involve women and/or children, such as Challenge 3: Relationships and Challenge 4: Fathering.

I know that small groups are a big part of JBM, but we have trouble getting men in groups. Will this help?

Absolutely! We’ll show you how we’ve consistently recruited over 70% of more than 110,000 men at our events to form small groups using one simple idea! We walk you through it in your planning tools.

What about men who don’t join small groups?

You’ll cast the vision for the challenge church-wide with the tools we’ll provide. We’ll help you involve other ministries and groups in the church, and invite every man to be a part of what the church is doing. Still, we know that no matter how well you promote, build excitement, or cast vision among your men, there will always be those who won’t attend an event or join a small group. Therefore, for each challenge, we show you how to include ALL your men—even those on the fringe. Nearly all of these discipleship ideas are free to you and downloadable. We also show you how to help men put what they’re learning into action, and these activities should be open to all the men in the church.

Can I have flexibility in what events and resources we use?

We recommend a primary event and resources to use for each challenge. However, flexibility is built in every step of the way so you can customize each challenge to suit your needs. Beyond those primary recommendations, we offer multiple suggestions for resources and events from a variety of ministries and you will choose what you use. And no matter what you choose, we provide a list of free, downloadable resources to engage men outside of the men’s-only discipleship opportunities.

What is the cost for JBM?

The only costs for JBM itself are the annual subscription (one per church), which gives you access to all the downloadable components and instructions, and the JBM Leader’s Notebook (recommended, but downloadable as well). The annual subscription amount is based on church size:

Large church: $79 (more than 750 attending worship)
Medium church: $59 (more than 250 attending worship)
Small church: $29 (less than 250 attending worship)

There is also a free, monthly subscription open for churches with very limited resources. The total cost for each challenge is completely dependent on your resource and event choices, as well as the number of men in your church. To see how a small church might complete a challenge inexpensively, click here to view the Small Church Sample Plan (for Challenge 4).

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Small Church JBM

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