MESSIANIC SCHOOL OF DISCIPLESHIP

God woke me up and called me powerfully when I was 16. Two of the verses he gave me personally have now become foundational to our program: Yeshua calls the twelve to be with him, so that from there he can send them forth with his message and authority (Mark 3:14). Several years later, that same group declares their ongoing dedication to spending much time with God and his Messiah in prayer and to ministering the Word (Acts 6:4). 

That was my calling. So, while many of my friends were going off to Bible College, YWAM, and similar programs, I worked part-time to pay room and board and other than that just stayed home and spent time with God. Hours and hours a day praying, immersing myself in the Scriptures, and reading the books God send my way about topics like revival history and house church ecclesiology. For months on end I fasted, eating only once a day, and at one point even did a fast that lasted over forty days. 

I still remember sitting and watching the sunrise with God one morning when he affectionately called me "Mephibosheth". I asked him why and he pointed out to me that academic credentials are how people get around in this world. He then told me that, just as Mephibosheth was crippled in both legs and needed to be carried, he wasn't going to allow me those credentials. Instead, he would be the one to carry me where I was called to go. 

All this is the background to the Messianic School of Discipleship. We're raising up leaders God's way, training men to answer the original call to follow the Messiah, spend much time with him, and be transformed from the inside out. Similar to the men of old, I had been called out to the proverbial wilderness. And now, we're inviting young men to join us in the high deserts of New Mexico to answer that same call. 

Back to our story. I've lived most of my adult life as an observant Jew, much of that in the Jewish community. But it wasn't until my late teens that Jesus revealed his Jewishness to me and drew me back to my own Jewish heritage. I still remember getting online to see if there were any schools where I could learn these things, but in the early 2000s there was very little. 

And so I struck out again on the road less travelled, giving myself a Messiah-centered crash course in Tanach, Siddur, Judaism, and related subjects. I went to synagogue, travelled to Israel, and even took the bus halfway across the country to the congregation of a well-known Messianic teacher where I stayed with an older couple and binge-listened to hundreds of his Bible teachings on cassette for six weeks.

Much of my earlier years were spent searching, in trial and error, often alone. I don't want that for other young men who may have experienced the call of God like I did. If that's you, I want you to be able to learn alongside other young men, with input from older men. Instead of having to bumble around trying to find decent resources like I had to do, I just want to give you all the best resources on a silver platter. I want to put you years ahead and see you fly. 

If any of this resonates with you please pray about joining the Messianic School of Discipleship, or starting your own local campus. Or, if you know of any young men who fit this description, please send them my way. Because I believe the time is now. Which leads me to my last story. 

Only a couple weeks ago I was pushing the stroller with my two young sons and listening to the audio Bible as we do every morning, when a quote I'd heard years ago flashed through my mind: if you want something done ask the person who's already doing too much, because they know how to get things done. It must have been a warning because, sure enough, only a couple days later God lit me up with the vision for this school, and I knew it had to be now. 

Almost nothing is more important to me than making the biggest difference I can with my short life. And in my head I've known that the way you do that is by training young men to change the world. I just thought maybe I'd do that in my 50s or 60s. But no, God says now. And so, just as a new baby pushes everything out of the way, from a mother's womb to the parents' schedule, I'm making room in my already very full schedule for this. Perhaps it's best this way because it means that, while I will be meeting with our students daily, me not being front and center in the day-to-day of the school will leave more space for the Master himself and give our community a chance take on a life of its own. 

Learn more - and if you know any young men who might be interested, send them my way!