What does climbing a dangerous mountain teach you about faith, leadership, and trusting God when life gets hard?

In this episode of The Known Disciple Project Podcast, Brad Williams shares the powerful lessons he learned while climbing Mount Rainier and how that experience revealed deeper truths about discipleship, preparation, trust, and following God through uncertain seasons. This conversation is for Christian men who are carrying responsibility, leading families, building businesses, and trying to stay faithful without burning out.

Brad explains why trust is not built during moments of crisis but through daily obedience, consistency, and faithfulness when life feels ordinary. Through stories from the mountain, he reveals how leaders can stop getting too far ahead of the people they serve, how disciples can learn to follow God’s footsteps, and how preparation creates peace when storms arrive.

Whether you’re navigating business pressure, family challenges, spiritual growth, or a season where you need more peace, this episode will challenge you to rethink how you build trust and live with purpose.

Highlights:

→ You’ll learn why putting a challenge on the calendar creates commitment and forces growth instead of allowing goals to stay stuck in the “someday” category.

→ Brad shares the leadership lesson he discovered while following footsteps on Mount Rainier and explains why great leaders move at a pace others can actually follow.

→ You’ll discover why trust is built during low-stakes moments through consistency, reliability, and daily habits before it is ever tested during difficult seasons.

→ This episode explores Christian discipleship, spiritual growth, trusting God in uncertainty, and how everyday faithfulness prepares you for life’s biggest challenges.

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Are you waiting on God, or could God be waiting for you to take the next faithful step? Understanding God’s timing can be confusing, especially when you’re praying for direction, trying to hear God’s voice, or wondering whether you should take action or simply wait on the Lord.

In this episode of The Known Disciple Project, Mark Hummel explores what the Bible actually teaches about waiting on God, spiritual formation, Christian discipleship, hearing God’s voice, abiding in Christ, and taking biblical action while trusting God’s timing.

Waiting on the Lord was never meant to be passive. Scripture shows us that Christians are created for good works, called to renew their minds, commanded to follow Christ daily, and invited to remain connected to Jesus as the true vine. You cannot force spiritual growth, but you can position yourself where God can form you.

If you’ve been feeling spiritually stuck, impatient with God, unsure about your purpose, or confused about your next step, this episode will help you understand the difference between passive waiting and actively waiting on God.

Highlights:

→ Discover why being created for good works doesn’t mean earning your salvation, how Ephesians 2:10 changes the way you think about Christian purpose, why waiting on God should involve active spiritual formation, and how renewing your mind through Scripture helps you recognize God’s voice.

→ You’ll also learn what Jesus’ teaching about the vine and branches in John 15 reveals about abiding in Christ, why God, not your performance, is responsible for producing spiritual fruit, and how prayer, Scripture, Christian community, obedience, and patience can position you for God’s formation.

→ Most importantly, you’ll walk away with a practical question to ask yourself this week: Am I actively waiting on God, or am I avoiding the discomfort of faithful patience?

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If someone asked you, “Who does God say you are?” could you answer without relying on your feelings, failures, accomplishments, career, or past?

Many Christians know what the Bible teaches, yet still build their identity around fear, inconsistency, shame, failure, business struggles, relationship problems, or what other people think about them. That gap between biblical identity and the way we actually see ourselves can affect our spiritual growth, leadership, marriage, business, confidence, purpose, and even our willingness to share the gospel.

In this episode of The Known Disciple Project Podcast, Mark Hummel explores what Scripture says about your identity in Christ and how knowing who God says you are can transform the way you show up in every area of life.

Through Psalm 139, Philippians 1:6, and 1 Corinthians 12, you’ll discover that you are intimately known by God, created with purpose, given gifts to serve others, brought into His family, and part of a good work God is continuing in you.

If you’ve ever struggled with Christian identity, purpose, self-doubt, failure, spiritual growth, calling, or knowing God’s plan for your life, this episode will give you a practical place to begin.

You’ll Learn:

→ Why your identity controls how you show up. Mark explains how defining yourself by failure, inconsistency, fear, business results, or past experiences can create a gap between what you say you believe and how you actually live.

→ What Psalm 139 reveals about how deeply God knows you. You’ll explore the biblical truth that God knew you before birth, knows your thoughts and words, and is present with you wherever you go.

→ Why your life has purpose even when you’ve failed. Philippians 1:6 points to God continuing the good work He began in you, while the episode connects that work to spiritual growth, service, and your God-given mission.

→ How your gifts become an act of worship. Through 1 Corinthians 12, Mark explains the picture of one body with many gifts and challenges you to identify how your abilities can be used to love God and serve other people.

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Are you a Christian man who feels busy all the time, but still feels like your faith, marriage, family, health, and purpose are getting the leftovers? 

In this episode of The Known Disciple Project Podcast, we talk about margin, Sabbath rest, burnout, busyness, discipline, Christian leadership, spiritual growth, and what it really means to build a life that has room for God. If you are a driven man, business owner, husband, father, leader, or disciple of Jesus who keeps saying yes to good things but feels too exhausted to say yes to the best things, this conversation is for you.

Margin is the space between your load and your limits. Without it, men burn out, isolate, neglect relationships, drift from God, and lose sight of their mission. But margin is not laziness. Sabbath is not weakness. Rest is a spiritual discipline that helps you reset, hear from God, protect your priorities, and show up stronger for the people who matter most.

Highlights:

→ You’ll learn why margin matters for Christian men who are trying to lead well without burning out. 

→ Justin and Mark unpack how Sabbath rest helps men resist hustle culture, rebuild spiritual discipline, and stop living at max capacity every day.

→ You’ll hear why saying no to good opportunities can create space for better callings, stronger relationships, and deeper faith. 

→ The conversation also covers how busyness can become a form of control, why Jesus modeled solitude, and how men can start small with daily rhythms of rest.

This episode also challenges the other side of margin: passivity, laziness, and the lack of purpose many men feel when they are not pursuing a God-given mission.

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What does real grit look like for Christian men? Not the angry, isolated, “grind harder” version the world often celebrates, but biblical grit that helps you stay faithful, lead your family, resist temptation, and keep showing up when life gets hard. 

In this episode, Mark and Justin talk about the difference between grit and willpower, why anger is not the same as strength, and how men can build the kind of spiritual resilience that lasts.

If you are a Christian man trying to grow as a husband, father, leader, disciple, or friend, this conversation will challenge the way you think about toughness. You’ll hear how grit applies to your faith, your physical life, your mental discipline, your community, and your walk with God. The goal is not to become a harsh, miserable man who pushes through everything alone. The goal is to become a man who can stay on mission when opposition, temptation, exhaustion, or resistance shows up. 

Real Christian manhood requires consistency, humility, community, prayer, and the courage to keep taking the next right step.

Highlights:

→ You’ll learn the difference between grit and willpower, and why grit is needed when there is real pain, pressure, opposition, or resistance.

→ You’ll hear why worldly grit often turns men against people, while biblical grit helps men show up for people with love, strength, and purpose.

→ You’ll discover why anger can be a signal, but should not become your source of identity, motivation, or spiritual leadership.

→ You’ll learn practical ways to build grit before life gets hard through exercise, learning, prayer, scripture, consistency, and strong Christian community.

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A lot of Christian men are not losing their faith because of one huge mistake, they are drifting. Slowly. Quietly. Without even realizing it. One distracted morning turns into a missed quiet time. One missed prayer becomes a pattern. One season of isolation turns into spiritual distance, lost purpose, and a life that feels flat.

In this episode of The Known Disciple Project podcast, Mark Hummel and Justin talk about spiritual drift, biblical masculinity, Christian discipline, responsibility, prayer, Scripture, and how men can come back to God when they feel distracted, disconnected, or spiritually stuck. This conversation is for Christian men who know they were made for more, but feel pulled away by social media, busyness, chaos, isolation, lack of purpose, or passive living.

You’ll hear real examples of how drift shows up in faith, fitness, relationships, work, family, and spiritual habits. More importantly, you’ll learn how to recognize drift early, anchor yourself again, take responsibility, build small habits, sharpen your spiritual axe, and stop trying to follow Jesus alone.

Highlights:

→ You’ll learn what spiritual drift really is and why it often looks less like rebellion and more like distraction, passivity, and slowly taking your hands off the wheel.

→ Mark and Justin break down how Christian men drift from prayer, Scripture, relationships, fitness, purpose, and responsibility without noticing until they feel isolated or spiritually empty.

→ You’ll hear practical ways to rebuild your spiritual life through five-minute disciplines, Scripture reading, prayer, journaling, asking better questions, and creating protected time with God.

→ The conversation also covers why men need brotherhood, accountability, and other strong Christian men around them if they want to stay anchored and keep growing in biblical masculinity.

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Are you trying to lead before God has formed you? In this episode of The Known Disciple Project Podcast, Mark Hummel and Justin Rhodes talk about Christian leadership, spiritual formation, identity in Christ, and why great leaders must first become great followers. If you feel called to lead in your family, business, church, ministry, marriage, team, or personal life, this conversation will challenge you to slow down, stop performing, and ask the deeper question: who am I becoming?

Too many Christian leaders rush from calling to influence without allowing God to build character, humility, prayer, discipline, and self-awareness first. That shortcut often leads to burnout, ego-driven leadership, control, weak culture, and painful failure. Mark and Justin unpack biblical leadership through the lives of Jesus, Paul, Peter, David, and others, showing why formation always comes before faithful leadership. This episode is for growth-minded Christians who want to lead with conviction, follow Jesus more deeply, build healthier culture, and become the kind of leader God can trust.

You’ll learn:

→ Why leadership starts with followership.

→ How ego and performance can quietly shape the way you lead.

→ Why prayer and Scripture are essential for spiritual formation.

→ How identity work helps close the gap between who you think you are and who God says you are.

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Comfort feels safe, but it can quietly weaken your faith, your discipline, your leadership, and your ability to endure when life gets hard. In this episode of The Known Disciple Project Podcast, Mark and Justin talk about why Christian men must choose hard things on purpose, build spiritual strength, and stop living passively.

This conversation is for men of faith who know they are called to more: stronger leadership, deeper discipleship, better marriage, greater self-control, and a more disciplined walk with Jesus. If you have ever felt stuck, isolated, spiritually lazy, or comfortable when you know God is calling you higher, this episode will challenge and encourage you.

You’ll hear why doing hard things builds endurance, why accountability with other Christian men matters, how suffering can produce character and hope, and how small steps can rebuild your spiritual life. From men’s groups and Bible reading to marriage, fitness, rucking, self-control, and leadership, this episode gives a practical look at what it means to grow as a fully devoted follower of Christ.

You’ll learn:

→ How discipline prepares men for future trials

→ Why isolation makes Christian men more vulnerable

→ How to start building accountability with other men

→ Why spiritual growth often begins with simple basics like prayer, Scripture, and one small act of obedience

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If you feel ashamed of repetitive sin, spiritually stuck, or far from God, this episode is for you. In this episode, we talk about what to do when you drift away from God, how to deal with guilt and shame as a Christian, and how to come back to Christ with humility and faith. 

So many believers struggle with spiritual drift, repeated sin, loss of momentum in their walk with Jesus, and the feeling that they are not worthy to pray, worship, or even open their Bible. But the truth of the gospel is that Jesus is bigger than your drift, bigger than your guilt, and bigger than the shame that keeps telling you to hide. This episode is a practical and biblical encouragement for Christians who want to refocus on Jesus, rebuild spiritual momentum, overcome condemnation, and return to a close relationship with God. 

If you have ever wondered how to get back to God after sin, how to stop drifting spiritually, or how to follow Jesus again after falling, this conversation will remind you that grace is real, repentance matters, and the way back starts by turning your eyes toward Christ.

You’ll Learn: 

→ Why shame often pushes Christians away from God when Scripture calls us to run toward Him instead. 

→ How the prodigal son reveals the heart of the Father toward those who return after drifting. 

→ How Peter’s failure did not cancel his calling, and why your struggle does not mean you are disqualified from being used by God. 

→ Why humility, confession, accountability, and daily refocusing on Jesus are essential for overcoming repetitive sin and rebuilding a strong Christian walk.

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Where are You, God? If you’ve ever prayed, if you’ve ever felt spiritually numb, distant, or like God went silent, this episode is for you. Many disciples of Jesus hit seasons where prayer feels empty, worship feels dry, and the Bible feels like words on a page. And if you’re not careful, doubt grows into a terrifying lie: “God isn’t in my life.” But Scripture tells a different story. 

In this episode of The Known Disciple Project with Mark Hummel, we walk through biblical proof that God is always present with His people, and that His desire has always been to dwell with you. This isn’t about trying harder, performing better, or “earning” closeness with God. That performance mindset will exhaust you and keep you chasing God like He’s running away. Instead, the Bible reveals a consistent theme: God moves toward humanity. From the Garden of Eden, to the tabernacle, to the temple, to Jesus as Emmanuel, to the Holy Spirit living in you, God’s presence is covenantal. It’s His promise, not your emotional roller coaster. 

If you feel far from God, it doesn’t mean God is far. It means you’re being invited to wake up to what’s already true.

Highlights

→ You’ll learn why “feeling distant” doesn’t equal “God is distant,” and how the enemy’s greatest win is convincing you that God is absent. 

→ We’ll unpack the dangerous “performance lens” that makes you believe closeness with God depends on perfect habits, perfect prayer, or perfect obedience. 

→ You’ll see the storyline of God’s presence across Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation, so you can rebuild confidence in God’s nearness even when emotions are quiet. 

→ A practical shift: discipline doesn’t summon God; it simply orients your heart to recognize the God who’s already there.

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