One of the biggest hurdles for teaching men anything is them having the right posture from the very start. Radical Mentoring does an exceptional job of helping guys get in the right posture to learn . . . to be teachable, to be humble, to be in a position to grow.

Radical Mentoring was the most influential experience of my spiritual journey. You quickly realize that everyone has a story, a struggle and that you’re not alone. It makes you want to be a better person, spouse, parent, friend, Jesus-follower, and leader!

This process equips people to help others become fully devoted lovers of Jesus Christ who in turn choose to lead with kingdom vision impacting their marriages, homes, workplaces, and communities.

I’ve been in some small groups in the past and so I had some general idea. But I think pretty quickly, you realize it’s a little different and you’re gonna be challenged a little bit more. It’s a little bit uncomfortable, to be honest, when you first step into it, but it was in a way that it really drew me in.
You’ve got guys or men who are in general walking a step ahead of you in life who have gone through a journey, who are willing to speak into your life in a way that nobody else really can.

I remember the first meeting we walked into a Radical Mentoring group. Why did I do it? I wanted to meet men. I wanted to meet men who were Christians, but part of it was I wanted to meet people who could also someday help me in my career professionally in a way.
It’s not what I do that makes me who I am, it’s who I am. And from who I am is what I do. And so that identity in Christ is really what made this group what it was for me.

I was coming to the end of my rope, you know? 35 years old, three kids, married, and deep into a career trying to find my way. I was a deeply unhappy person.
Experiencing the disconnect between, here’s this version of myself, the idealized version of myself, who I have convinced myself that I am, versus the truth of being known, who I really am. When you bridge that gap, it feels like death. I mean, it is a messy, it is a terrifying, harrowing experience. And we were talking about not being able to do it alone. You need a guide, you need friends and allies, you need brothers who have walked that road ahead of you, because only someone that has experienced it themselves can tell you, you’re not dying. You’re not dying. You’re starting to live for the first time in your life.

If you’re not in community and you don’t have people pushing back against how you feel, you just fall into that trap that Satan wants you to be in, where you feel alone and you’re not alone. There’s these other men across the table that are there for you, that are gonna go to battle for you.
Pete and John were there to remind me of, you know, who I am in Christ and who God is, that he’s my good father, he has good plans for me. You know, he is my shepherd. It’s gonna be okay.
God heals you through this process. I mean, he heals you. You bring out these broken parts. Those men are there, God’s working through those men to help heal you so that you’re a better friend, so that you’re a better husband, so that you’re a better father, so that you’re a better employee. I mean, it just permeates all areas of your life.

Radical Mentoring is a space where realness is allowed and encouraged. The mask comes off for the first time. And that’s really scary, but freeing.
If I had not stayed in that room and bellied up to the table, I don’t know where I’d be.
It sounds too hard. Too hard to what? Like, this is, okay, well, pick your hard. I mean, that’s the reality. You either choose the difficult narrow road or the chaos-filled wide stream. It may be wide open, but there’s traffic. You kind of have to pick where you’re gonna invest time or it invests itself for you. So choose wisely. That’s the, if it’s too hard, then that’s a good thing. It should challenge you.

One of the biggest things I learned in Radical was what it meant to be a spiritual leader of my family and household. And my mentor John put it to me as a spiritual leader, as a man who prays with his family and for his family, and tries to figure out what God wants him to do for and with his family, and then goes out and does it.
I think one of the things I hope my kids see from all of this is the community that I’ve built and the brotherhood and the group that we have and that we’re still meeting here over six years later, that they see that and know that that’s something that is important to me and I hope it becomes important to them.

I was coming out of a fragile, dark place. Through Radical Mentoring, I found a Christ-centered brotherhood I had never had before. I never thought my flaws, baggage, and past could be used for good, but Radical Mentoring showed me the opposite. The story I had been hiding is exactly what God wants to use. I don’t need to hide or be ashamed anymore. Now, I feel useful in God’s kingdom and right where He wants me to be.

I was coming out of a year of repentance, a year of growth, a year of healing. But one thing I realized I didn’t have was friends.
The year I went in I had zero friends, really in my life. And I came out of there with some of my best friends, came out of that group, still growing with them to get to date.

When you have a group of guys who are looking at you and you’ve literally given them the bullets to shoot you with and they go, man, thanks for sharing — that was the first time I actually experienced grace. What started with two groups of men has grown into what we now call the Growth Trilogy program at Athens Church. It’s infiltrated every part of our organization, and it’s hard to put into words the impact and value Radical Mentoring has had.