Men’s Discipleship
Ordinary Men provides tangible tools and resources to equip men to make disciples and impact their sphere of influence for Christ.
As men embark on this journey in OM, we know that they will draw closer to the Lord, grow meaningful relationships with others, and experience renewed vigor in their walk with Jesus for the purpose of seeing His calling fulfilled in their lives. Intimacy with Jesus births passion, which fuels our faith to make disciples. We encourage men to take ownership of their faith and become contributors, not just consumers, as they make disciples. Our model of discipleship was birthed from a group that wanted to be challenged in their faith and grow in living out these values. From the very beginning, our groups have been about high challenge and high grace.
We address the big question of how to resource those that you disciple to be disciple-makers themselves. We do this through our platform in the context of small groups by utilizing an easy-to-follow system created by and for ordinary people.
Ordinary Men on men’s discipleship movement
We are individual groups of Ordinary Men.
Together we form a much larger group that is focused on allowing the Lord to work in our lives to advance His Kingdom and Church through discipleship.
Our core values:
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We prioritize our relationship with our Lord and Savior, Jesus Christ, knowing that our identity can only be found through intimacy with Him. Everything in our Christian walk flows from our time spent with the Lord. We long to grow in intimacy with Jesus, making our faith personal. Intimacy with Jesus births passion that fuels our faith.
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Instead of individualism and isolation, we commit to sacrificing our time and schedules to invest in others, building intentional relationships anchored in the Lord. We do what we say, we make time for others, and we maintain teachable hearts. We understand that our lives matter because other’s lives depend on us.
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We commit to being disciples who make disciples, focused on putting our faith into action. We act out of calling from a place of intimacy and passion produced in time spent with God. First we sit and listen, then we go and do. While Ordinary Men groups are designed to strengthen and empower the believer, we do not exist to create a “holy huddle.” On the contrary, OM believes that as each participant becomes fully alive in their individual walk with Christ, from this place of intimacy he will be empowered to reach others around him who are lost. So while multiplication within Ordinary Men groups will be specific to believers participating in intentional discipleship, the result will, and must be, a spreading of the Gospel among the communities in which we live and the people with whom we interact daily. The ultimate goal is that each man will bring new believers into the OM process and teach them to be disciples who make disciples.
Acts 4:13 says, “When they saw the courage of Peter and John and realized that they were unschooled, ordinary men, they were astonished and they took note that these men had been with Jesus.”
Our discipleship process:
We believe that discipleship is more caught than taught. With this in mind, we model discipleship within a high challenge, high grace environment. This model is highly reproducible over many generations, and creates a clear path for multiplication of new groups.
Testimonials & Experiences
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“Growing up in the Christian faith, I always felt like I was missing some important truth about my faith. It seemed as if getting saved and being good were the objectives to strive for, but that never rang true. It wasn’t until I was able to embrace the vulnerability of being an ordinary man, unable to meet my own expectations, let alone God’s, that I found that I could start to experience God’s grace and grow in true intimacy with Jesus. God chose the ordinary men of this world so that He would be glorified. In the daily discipline of being His disciple, expressed through a spirit of hospitality, I am now able to say, "I am willing Lord, send me."
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“I feel like it opened the doors to being with other Christian men. It allows the freedom to speak your faith and engage in Christian conversations. Everyone I've met seems to be relaxed and willing to listen/talk about things most men are not willing to talk about.”
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“This last year probably saved my "life". I say that as a guy who has struggled with depression, and leading up the start of OM, I was near my lowest point. The prayer and connection with the fellas in OM, coupled with the power of the Spirit, turned my outlook around, gave me friends to rely on, and support to take on each day and succeed. I love it.
In addition, I connected with a couple guys, I'd call deep friends, at this point. Men who I didn't know before, who have joined with me, and I with them, to grow closer to Christ and each other.”
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“Through my one-year journey with OM, I was truly blessed by the relationships that grew with the dudes in my group. I was already friends with all of them and went to church with most of them, but through OM we grew closer and strengthened our relationships. I now have guys I can call and talk with, share with and pray with. I’m sure that was always there with our friendship, but through OM, and understanding how important intentional relationships are, this has become easier.”
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“OM is a life-changing group that helped me to come out of my comfort zone and become real about the man I am with the Lord. OM has helped to show me that the Lord can still use me, even though I am not a perfect man. Through OM I have learned that intimacy with the Lord is of the utmost importance, and I have built relationships with men who have helped my relationship with the Lord grow!”
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“For me, OM has given me a voice where before there was none, and slightly boosted confidence in sharing my faith with other men, not just those in my household. I found that being a part of a group, and being allowed the freedom to open up and be vulnerable, can add fuel to whatever fire is burning.
The bond forged with both groups of men so far has been one that will last a long time. There is even a felt bond with many other men who I know are OM, but weren't in one of my groups- almost a built-in trust."
Leader Testimonies
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“Before stepping up to co-lead my OM group, I recall thinking, and even sharing with other guys, that I didn’t feel qualified to lead a group. Looking back, that was bogus. As it turned out, my group wasn’t looking for me to be a Bible scholar. It mattered a lot more to them that I cared about them enough to challenge them, hold them accountable, grab coffee when life got rocky, etc.
In our last group we had four former and current pastors, a former YoungLife staffer, and several guys that are actively involved in leadership roles within their churches. However, that didn’t impede me or my co-leader from being able to “lead” them. In fact, even though these guys all likely know more of the Bible than I do, they desperately need men around them that they can be real with, and who would challenge them to pursue intimacy with Christ (which can be harder for pastors than we might think).
As a bonus, the OM material really does make it simple. It gives you a script for every session, but as your group gets more comfortable, you’ll find it becomes much more conversational, and the burden of “leading” dissipates as guys share thoughts and explore the topics together.
The truth is, God doesn’t call the qualified, He qualifies the willing. Leading other men in anything can be daunting, but if we are waiting to feel qualified, we’ll never take action. That’s my lesson learned. I hope it encourages you to step up and lead!”
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“At first, I was hesitant to lead an Ordinary Men group. I felt intimidated by the responsibility as well as the time commitment. Yet, I was encouraged by Jeremy to take ownership of my discipleship process, as well as leading others deeper in their walks with Jesus. And, candidly, if it weren’t for Jeremy and a couple of good friends challenging me to do it, I would have likely disqualified myself from leading in the first place, but that didn’t happen (thank goodness for a good mentor and good friends)!
In retrospect, taking responsibility for leading a group put rubber to the road in practicing discipleship. As I began to walk out the process (OM provides the content and guidance for leading), the sacrifice began to pay off because of the feeling of peace that came from knowing I was honoring my heart and intention to walk out the Great Commission.
I connected deeply with the core values of OM: Intimacy, Intentional Relationship, and Multiplication. Once I started “teaching” and “walking” them out in leadership, my own relationship with Jesus deepened, and the fruit of discipleship continued to transform me and my world. I grew as my group members grew… multiplication!
Ultimately, we ought to make time for the things we value, the things that matter. I’m deeply grateful for the opportunity to lead an OM group. I can say without a shadow of a doubt that it’s worth it–to God be the glory!!”
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Leading an OM group provided a great step in strengthening and growing my faith and building lasting intentional relationships with the group. The material and content provided from OM helped to facilitate productive meetings and took away much of the stresses you envision when taking on a leadership role. I would suggest that every participant of OM take advantage of the opportunity to lead, it is a long-term investment in your walk with the Lord.
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“Leading the group was easy because the OM curriculum and framework helped immensely, and the conversations ALWAYS delivered fruit. Great experience that I am far from being done with. I think it gets better every year.”
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“Just the thought of inviting someone into a group where they could see an increase of intimacy with Jesus makes it all worth it. It’s an honor to watch as men, who didn’t previously know what being a Jesus-lover can look like, become aware and alive in an active, contagious faith.
I think a big takeaway for me was the expression of loving Jesus. As a man, I often feel like I need to temper my emotions and not get too excited about certain things. Being around a group of men who have no shame in how they believe was very impactful.”
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“OM allowed me to step up as a leader for Christ and lead other christian men long with myself into a more deeper, meaningful and intimate relationship with Jesus – where so many of us don’t step up at church and lead anything.”