I recently had the privilege of visiting a group of men to help them kick off their study of Every Man a Warrior. It’s a discipleship program I strongly recommend. I had prepared some remarks including a letter from Len who went through the program with me a couple of years ago. Here’s some of what he said:

EMAW takes a good amount of work and discipline, but in the end it trained me to focus on my relationship with my Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, and to study the Word of God as it relates to the life of an average guy like me.  I have found that I am now a much more gentle person, as well as more at peace not only with myself but with other people…I also think that this series helped me to have more credibility as a Christian man as I go about my daily life.  I have been told that I am a better husband, father, and coworker and I feel that I am able to handle adversity better than I used to…I would encourage you guys to take a leap of faith and invest time and effort into doing this series, and I know you will be very happy that you did!

I also shared the difference between Bible study to get smarter and Bible study for life-change. The Message translation of Jesus’ parable of the wise and foolish builders captures that distinction well:

These words I speak to you are not incidental additions to your life, homeowner improvements to your standard of living. They are foundational words, words to build a life on. If you work these words into your life, you are like a smart carpenter who built his house on solid rock. Rain poured down, the river flooded, a tornado hit—but nothing moved that house. It was fixed to the rock. But if you just use my words in Bible studies and don’t work them into your life, you are like a stupid carpenter who built his house on the sandy beach… (Matthew 7.24 – 26, MSG, emphasis mine)

I closed with something I hadn’t planned to say because I hadn’t thought of it during my preparation. It seemed to resonate with the men.

Men, as I look over the 12 of you in the room, I’m reminded of something very important: “You can count the number of seeds in an apple, but you can’t count the number of apples in a seed.” I don’t see just the 12 of you. I see the thousands that you will influence. I’m not interested in “apples” only – I’m all about “apple trees.” In fact, I’m praying that you all become a whole orchard of apple trees! – Bob to a men’s group

I’ve never before used the word “orchard” when sharing that metaphor. I like it!

The gospel is bearing fruit and growing throughout the whole world… (Colossians 1.6, NIV)