I had no idea that this meeting would change my life! I sat there with about one hundred other Christians in a house in northwest Chicago. We spent some time singing and then in small groups. The time together concluded with listening to an audio tape of Dawson Trotman, Founder of The Navigators, a para-church ministry that focused on making disciples who make disciples in the military, on the college campus, and also in communities. His message that night was titled “The Need of the Hour.” I will never forget what he said. He challenged all who attended to embrace the Great Commission (ie Matthew 28:18-20) as something for us as much as it was for that original audience of Peter, John, James, Andrew, and the others. As I sat there, I offered my life to that Commission for Jesus to do with me however he saw fit. It changed my life. Not right away but that decision eventually led us - To leave the business world and move to Dallas, TX to pursue a career in professional golf in order to try to make disciples on the PGA Tour. - To move temporarily to Orlando, FL to further those efforts where God sparked our love for the local church - To leave our focus on golf and move to Knoxville, TN to go through Navigator Staff Training to be further equipped in disciplemaking to work in order to help the local church make disciples - To go on staff at a church in Knoxville as an Associate Pastor for 8 years toward those efforts and where I started my first Sports Ministry - To plant a daughter church of the Knoxville Church in Morristown, TN where I served for 10 years and started my second Sports Ministry - To move to Charlotte, NC not having a clue what we would be doing – having burned out of the pastorate – but, through Bob Dyar and CEDE SPORTS, got involved in the broader movement of sports, rec, and fitness ministry, especially that which is done in and through local churches I had no idea at the time, but, looking back now, that night in northwest Chicago was the place where the idea of making disciples was planted that has shaped much of our life since. How about you? Where were you first exposed to this idea of making disciples who make disciples?

Posted by Bob Schindler - Community Host at 2022-02-22 13:50:51 UTC