In seeking to participate with the Holy Spirit’s work in making disciples, I have been involved in various evangelistic programs over the years ranging from para-church organizations to involvement in a Southern Baptist church.

All of these have been fulfilling to a degree, but several factors as set forth below have led me to consider a different approach.

1) The difficulty in pure evangelistic efforts to sustain contact and truly develop disciples active in furthering the Great Commission.

2) The lack of understanding of the foundational truths of the Gospel among active church goers.

3) A perceived indifference in the world today to the Word of God as the truth of God and the source of all true knowledge.

4) The advance in technology allows for discipleship to take place over the internet in various ways.

I have utilized several different discipleship tools but none based solely on the book of Romans. Romans is the one of Paul’s letters written to a church that he had not visited. You can conclude that what he writes in Romans is similar to the message he preached and taught when he first visited a new community. Romans consists of 16 chapters and the first 11 are doctrine and theology. We see abbreviated versions of theology in other letters such as Ephesians, Galatians, and Colossians but not presented as systematically as it is in Romans. It seems to me that this should be our guide in discipleship. Hence, Journey 828 will develop and utilize a Romans-based discipleship study guide for discipling men, women and youth.

The following are the preliminary initiatives of Journey 828:

1) Development of a Romans study guide specifically designed for discipling over the course of twelve sessions.

2) Organize and conduct neighborhood Bible studies with three Objectives:

i. Teaching

ii. Accountability

iii. Prayer

3) Training men in disciple making

4) Development of study guides on other books of the Bible and a more exhaustive study guide on Romans for more in-depth studies in homes or churches.

5) Development of a study of John for use in evangelistic Bible studies among non-believers in homes, coffee houses, parks and other non-church settings.

6) Translation of the materials into Spanish and other foreign languages.

7) Integration of those reached and discipled into Bible teaching churches where book by book, verse by verse, expository preaching is found and where members are held accountable to participation in ministry.

These initiatives may be expanded over time but are quite a challenge when viewed today. They are truly Holy Spirit inspired and the product of years of prayer, teaching and evangelistic e%orts ranging from church attenders to gang members, from degreed professionals to middle school drop outs. Likewise this ministry will span all areas of society. God is truly impartial as to church background, education, nationality, gender or race.