Tommy’s Discipleship Experience

A Heart For Discipleship:

Tommy Bowman is the Directional Leader of Mission Church, a church plant in the Southwest suburbs of Chicago.  Tommy and I have been meeting for about a year now.

Tommy has a growing heart for discipleship, and seeing discipleship woven into the culture of their missional church.

It all starts with the man in the mirror.  My old leaders used to asks us, “Who’s your man?  Who’s your woman?  Who is one person you could pour into?”

I encouraged Tommy to start meeting regularly with one person.

He began to pray that God would lead someone to him.  It seemed that by our very next meeting, Tommy already had someone in mind.  The discipleship journey was underway.

In a later update, I’d like to share more of Tommy’s personal story of growth, but for now, I’d like the focus to be on the discipleship lessons Tommy learned and the natural flow of God’s activity when we pay attention to it and when we partner with God in what He is already doing in our own lives and in the lives of others around us.

Here’s what Tommy wrote about his discipleship experience…

Tommy and Scott’s Paths Merge:

“Scott walked in the doors of Mission Church at the start of this year. He looked lost. He was standing at the back doors of the gym where our church services are held. He wouldn’t walk in the gym. He said, ‘If I walk in that gym, I’ll be struck by lightning’. So, we walked around the corner and sat at a table in the cafeteria. This was the beginning of our friendship.

“Scott went on to share his past with me, especially his recent past. He was ashamed of who he was. He wouldn’t lift his eyes to look at me. He even wore a long sleeve shirt that covered up the tatoos that marked his past.

“I knew the only person who could meet him where he was at was God, so I asked him if I could pray with him.

“I remember praying, asking God just to get him through today, to the next day – through his addiction, his anger, and his relational strife with his family.

“The days to come were filled with text messages, phone calls and meet-ups in parking lots. He simply needed someone just to listen to him.

“A week had passed and he made it to another Sunday. This time, he made it inside the doors of the gym.  We pulled up chairs against the back wall.

“He left that day with a Bible and began reading the gospel of John.

“Every Sunday, he would find a seat closer and closer to the stage.

“Every conversation, I would witness a very hard and rigid shell beginning to break away as his countenance began to change.

“I invited him to play basketball with some guys from our church.

“One day after playing, he said to me ‘I’m ready, man. This has to be the time when I never turn back.’

“That day, Scott decided to follow Jesus.

Scott Get’s Baptized:

“Here’s what was read to our church before Scott was baptized:

“Hi, my name is Scott and I’m new at Mission Church.
In the past, I have always lived in darkness, ruining my and my family’s lives.
I thought I had to do it on my own.
Close to the brink of death, I made a choice to go to Mission Church.
It is to this day, my greatest blessing of all.
I made friends with some of the best people I’ve ever met in my life.
I’ve since gotten off of drugs and alcohol, my relationships with friends and family have improved, and I’ve accepted Jesus as my personal savior.
My baptism not only symbolizes my faith publicly…
but also the washing of my former shell.
I look forward to seeing, praying, and walking Jesus’ path for me.
I would just like to thank Mission Church and Jesus for showing me that I am a child of God and though things will never be easy, like Pastor Jon said, I keep peddling but I have Jesus steering.” – Scott.

Lessons On Discipleship:

“I still can’t believe that I’ve been a witness to Scott’s story in the past few months. Only God can do this. I have learned that discipleship, at its core, is listening and being willing to say “Come, hang with (follow) me“.

“Scott is indeed thankful for me and Mission Church. I’m equally thankful that God has brought Scott into my life to show me how simple discipleship can be.” – Tommy Bowman

Thank You:

Discipleship is weaving its way into MissionChurch!

Thank you for investing in people like Tommy and indirectly into Scott and perhaps into whoever Scott may eventually impact…and so on.  You are making a difference.

In His Love,
Randy