Handcrafted

On August 16th, the 2025 Fellowship Team embarked on a unique journey at Lone Oak Retreat, their home for the next 8 months. The Fellowship is a residentially based, life-on-life, discipleship training experience. Our new Fellowship Teamers will study the Bible together and practice what Jesus teaches them as they work around Lone Oak Retreat. This hands-on approach is the beginning of a lifetime of teaching others to find their role in God’s grand story.    

Today, much of what passes for discipleship is industrialized. A film released in 2019 tells the back story of the famous 1966 Le Mans Grand Prix auto race. Ford v Ferrari explains how the American Ford Motor Company defeated Italy’s Ferrari. The two companies' car-building approaches were as different as night and day. Ferrari hand-crafted each car they produced, one at a time. No two cars were exactly alike. At the time, Ferrari was winning the grueling Le Mans auto race year after year. Winning the Grand Prix was Ferrari’s primary marketing strategy.

Ford mass-produced cars on mechanized assembly lines. In 1966, the Ford Motor Company entered the Le Mans race to knock Ferrari off the winner’s podium. Like Ferrari, the car they raced that year was hand-crafted. It won. But the car Ford raced was a bait-and-switch operation. Ford mass-produced automobiles to make them cheaper. There is nothing inherently wrong with a mass-produced automobile. But they don’t win races.  

Jesus' First Disciples
The earliest church made disciples at home and in neighborhoods. Acts 2 paints the picture of the people of The Way meeting together from house to house. They gathered to hear the Apostles teach and to pray. They enjoyed one another’s fellowship, frequently eating meals together. They shared everything they owned with those in need. At every get-together, there were plenty of open seats. Day by day, the Lord built the Church that belongs to Him.

During the early days of the Church, disciples of Jesus were not mass-produced. They were handcrafted, one person at a time. This personal touch demonstratd house by house, block by block, street by street, is what allowed Jesus’ first disciples to experience miraculous success. In less than 100 years, Jesus’ first Jewish disciples had managed to turn the entire Roman-ruled world upside down.

We are but of yesterday, and yet we have filled all the places that belong to you (Roman Empire) — cities, islands, forts, towns, exchanges; the military camps themselves, tribes, town councils, the palace, the senate, the market-place; we have left you nothing but your temples. - Tertullian (155-220 A.D.)

The world is radically different from what it was 2,000 years ago. However, something is happening worldwide, including in the United States. Many are looking back to a time when people were more important than projects, paperwork, and production lines.

Harnessing the energy of this moment, Jenifer Cortés, Rob Townley, and Caleb Stratteman have come together to explore disciple-making like they used to, one person at a time. They have already made an impact on their new neighborhood. Last week, they prayer-walked the area. Stopping at each house, they prayed for the people living there. “Bill” wondered what they were doing, so he introduced himself. The team listened to the story of his life.

“We used to have neighborhood potluck dinners. Everybody came. But the lady who organized them died,” Bill disclosed. “Do you think people would come if we invited everyone to our house,” the team asked. Excitedly, he responded. “Oh, yeah. I could even welcome them with my bagpipe!”

As we continue studying and practicing the Scriptures, we are beginning to plan a fellowship at Lone Oak Retreat. Who knows? Could we be onto something? Maybe Ferrari knew something Ford didn’t. First-century disciple-makers possibly knew something we have lost. Might we experience disciple-making like they used to, one person at a time? The potential impact of this approach fills us with hope and optimism.  

Stay tuned.