Real men…real discipleship
“I hadn’t heard of FIND in 2019 when Jason Barrett approached me at Rummel Creek Boot Camp about meeting with Clint. The idea of joining a men’s bible study group intrigued me. I had grown up in the Methodist Church with a mom who led our church’s youth group for 23 years. (FYI - having my mom teach sex ed at my home church when me and my friends were 15 years old was really, really embarrassing!!) But I felt like I already knew a lot about faith and discipleship before joining FIND. Boy was I wrong.
Let me explain how FIND is much, much more than a bible study group. During my sophomore year of college, I was bringing my girlfriend, Stacie, home for the first time. I had made up some excuse for her to come with me so she could meet my parents. We had only been dating six months, but she was the first girlfriend that I truly wanted a future with. Now, I had met Stacie’s parents several times. They were very kind to me. I had stayed at their home. Stacie’s dad even called me son from time to time.
On the way to my house on Highway 9, we came to the crest of a hill where I turned left. I never saw the truck that t-boned us. When I came to, Stacie had passed. In the months that followed, I was the lowest I have been in my life. In prayer, I forsook God and renounced my baptism. I asked the Holy Spirit to leave me forever. About the same time, Stacie’s dad, Tom, sued me twice, once through my insurance and once personally. He also took to calling me on the phone to remind me that I had killed his only daughter. As time passed, I got some therapy and came back to the Lord, slowly and humbly. Also, as time passed, I could expect Tom to call me out of the blue to call me a murderer. When I got a private line, Tom called my dad posing as a college friend. He tricked my dad so that he could get my number. My dad felt awful about giving out my number for the longest time.
Fast forward to FIND. I joined my small group, the Salty Dogs in March 2019. I’m a “Salty”, and I have been truly blessed getting to know and cherish the men in my group. One evening, I get a Facebook prompt that I might want to friend Stacie. See, at some point, Tom had created a Facebook page as a bit of a shrine to her. Having not had a call from Tom in some time, I did a bit of investigating and found that Tom had actually died in 2016. This sent me into a rage. Having thought I had come so far and dealt with Stacie’s passing, I still had hate in my heart for Tom. I had fantasized for a long time about giving him a piece of my mind and no small part of my fists. I wasn’t so angry for what he did to me, but because he took advantage of my dad. I mentioned this hatred and rage to Clint. After some 1:1 counsel, he also advised me to bring this up in the next Salty Dogs meeting.
So, that Friday morning, I blurted out all of my story not knowing how it would be received or what to do with my hatred. Immediately, not one but two of my Salty brothers said, you have to forgive Tom. Initially, this made me so mad. This was absolutely not what I wanted to hear. But it was absolutely what I needed to hear. It was said because my brothers give a damn about me. They love me enough to care for my soul even if it risked ruffling my feathers initially.
Knowing the TRUTH of their counsel, I went to Pastor Michael Jarboe at Memorial Drive United Methodist Church (MDUMC) to see how to forgive Tom. He said that Lent was coming up and that for Lent I would pray for Tom every day until I meant it. That was a tough Lenten season. Without FIND, without the Salty Dogs, without Clint, I might still hold hatred in my heart. Through the Holy Spirit, my small group led to significant TRANSFORMATION in my spiritual walk and emotional well being.
As I continuously work to build (rebuild) my faith, I have learned that:
● God’s love can be so hard to see because it is omnipresent. In searching for his love, we can be like fish looking for water.
● God’s essence is love. All of creation is an expression of God’s love. It’s always there, even when we attempt to run from it. It’s there especially when we attempt to run from it.
● God has super broad shoulders. They are infinite as well. We can rest all our troubles on him.
Kellie and I moved to Charlotte, NC about two years ago, but I wasn’t done with FIND. I am working the FIND model to develop small Christian Discipleship groups here. Thank goodness Clint didn’t copyright any of the materials. He actually encouraged me to leverage everything I have learned and the vast resources on the FIND website to help men grow in fellowship, discipleship, and transformation right here.”
David worships at Christ Lutheran Church in Charlotte, NC. He is married to his lovely wife Kellie, father to two amazing daughters. David graduated from the University of Oklahoma and Vanderbilt University and is a Director at KPMG.
FIND seeks to transform men through Jesus Christ in authentic, weekly Fellowship in Discipleship. Real Men…Real Discipleship
This testimonial and many others from FIND men can be found at: https://finddiscipleship.org/testimonials/
Upcoming FIND Events: https://finddiscipleship.org/calendar
• SEPTEMBER 1 - FIND Opening Day Dove Hunt, Concert & Dinner – Cibolo, TX - https://finddiscipleship.org/event/dove-hunt/
• OCTOBER 19th - FIND Annual Day of Service (ADOS) – Family Point Resources - CHRISTINA – DROP IN ADOS LINK HERE
• NOVEMBER 4th - FIND Fire Pit Night – Powder Keg
• JAN 31st - FEB 2nd 2025 - FIND Annual Retreat at Stoney Creek Ranch
• EVERY Wednesday Night - FIND Recovery at MDUMC (AA - 12 Step program)
Want to get plugged in? FIND out more by visiting our website at https://finddiscipleship.org/interest-form/ or cruise our website at www.FINDdiscipleship.org