The Known Disciple Project

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 ma...

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...

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 an...

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 challe...

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:...

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...

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 epi...

If you’ve ever committed your life to Jesus and still felt stuck, like your beliefs don’t match your habits, this episode is for you.  Many Christians try to grow spiritually by doing “Christian things” (Bible reading, church, prayer)… but still feel the tension of temptation, relapse, shame, and double-minded living. In James 4:7, God gives a simple but powerful blueprint for real transformation:...

If you’re grinding through life on sheer willpower, working harder, waking up earlier, chasing goals, trying to stay disciplined, but still feeling burned out, lonely, and stuck in busy work… this episode is for you. As a Christian entrepreneur (and as a disciple of Jesus), you weren’t designed to live in hustle culture and constant exhaustion. Jesus said His yoke is light, so if your life feels h...

Have you ever felt the frustrating tension between who God says you are and how you actually live? Like you know you’re a new creation, but your life still reflects old patterns, doubts, or shame? You're not alone, and you're not broken. You're a disciple in progress. In this episode of The Known Disciple Project, Mark Hummel takes us into one of the most crucial and overlooked struggles for moder...

Ever feel like you’re reading your Bible consistently… but your understanding isn’t getting deeper and your life isn’t changing the way you hoped? You’re not alone. In this episode, we’re talking about how to study Scripture (not just skim it), so God’s Word moves from your eyes → to your mind → to your heart → to your actions. Because Bible study isn’t about checking a box, it’s about spiritual f...

If you’ve ever felt fired up to change, promised God you’d be different, started reading your Bible, praying more, showing up to church… and then quietly drifted back to the same habits, this episode is for you. The problem isn’t that you don’t “want it” badly enough. The problem is that motivation fades, and when pain or inspiration disappears, your actions disappear too. In this episode of The K...

Spiritual growth can feel invisible, slow, or like it’s not happening at all. In this episode of the Known Disciple Project, we break down exactly how to know if you’re actually growing spiritually, beyond self-help, hustle, and religious performance. If you’ve ever wondered, “Am I really changing, or just checking boxes?” this one’s for you. Highlights: → Why decades of self-help and “know yourse...

Stuck in the same bad habits? It’s not laziness, it’s your brain’s safety mode. In this episode, learn how to break bad habits by rewiring your mind with neuroscience and Scripture so you can live like the disciple you’re becoming in Christ. Perfect for growth-minded Christians ready for real, sustainable change. What You’ll Learn: → A clear definition of “bad habit” (and why not all bad habits ar...

What if the one thing holding you back isn’t real at all? As growth-minded disciples of Jesus, many of us carry invisible chains, thoughts that whisper we’re not enough, not equipped, not ready. But what if those thoughts are lies? What if the very thing holding you back from your God-given calling is a belief planted by the enemy, not the truth of Scripture? In this episode of The Known Disciple...

Have you ever caught yourself in a heated argument… that never actually happened? You built a whole scene in your head, what they said, what you should have said, and walked away frustrated, victorious, or even wounded. But none of it was real. In this episode of The Known Disciple Project, we’re digging deep into the sneaky mental habit we all fall into: interpretation. Interpretations are the st...

What if the story you’re telling yourself… is completely wrong? In this eye-opening episode of The Known Disciple Project, host Mark Hummel dives into one of the sneakiest traps in both spiritual growth and everyday life: assumptions. We all make them, about people, situations, even God, and often without realizing it, they begin to shape how we see the world, ourselves, and our faith. Continuing...

Have you ever poured your heart into something, your marriage, your calling, your work, only to hear that little whisper in the back of your mind saying, “You’re not good enough”? If so, you’re not alone. That voice, that inner critic, has a way of showing up at the worst times, and for many disciples of Jesus, it becomes a barrier to living fully into our calling. In this episode of The Known Dis...

Are you really being judged, or just believing you are? We all feel it, that sting of judgment from others, whether it’s a disapproving glance at church or a quiet voice in our own heads. But what if the real weight of judgment doesn’t come from the outside… but from within? In this kickoff episode of a powerful five-part series, host Mark Hummel takes us into the heart of one of the most quietly...

Ever feel like there's never enough time, energy, or focus to grow spiritually? You’re not lazy. You’re just spent. And you're not alone. In this episode of The Known Disciple Project, Mark Hummel pulls back the curtain on one of the most common struggles among growth-minded disciples of Jesus: mental fatigue and chronic distraction. If you’ve ever said, “I want to grow, I just don’t have the band...

What if your doubts weren’t a threat to your faith, but an invitation to grow it? In this episode of The Known Disciple Project, host Mark Hummel dives deep into a topic most of us wrestle with but rarely voice: doubt. Whether it’s doubt about God, your calling, your business, or even your own worth, it can feel like a silent signal that something’s broken. But what if that’s not true? Mark unpack...

Most of us have a powerful picture of the life we want, a vision that stirs our hearts, fills us with purpose, and feels aligned with God’s call. But when it comes to turning that vision into a real, actionable plan? That’s where the wheels fall off. Sound familiar? In this episode of The Known Disciple Project, Mark Hummel tackles one of the most frustrating roadblocks for growth-minded Christian...

Why is lasting change so hard? Why do we set goals, crave transformation, and yet months later feel stuck in the same patterns? In this episode of The Known Disciple Project Podcast, host Mark Hummel tackles one of the most frustrating experiences for any growth-minded follower of Jesus: the gap between our desire to change and the reality of unchanged habits. But what if the problem isn’t lack of...

What if your biggest prayer struggle isn’t a discipline issue, but a misunderstanding of what prayer is actually for? In this episode of The Known Disciple Project, Mark Hummel dives headfirst into one of the most common spiritual frustrations: Why is prayer so hard to do consistently, even when we know it’s essential? We’re told to “pray without ceasing,” but most of us barely manage five distrac...

In this powerful episode of The Known Disciple Project Podcast, host Mark Hummel gets real about one of the most underrated but essential skills for any growth-minded follower of Jesus: the ability to rebuild momentum. Whether you’ve fallen off your morning routine, stalled in your prayer life, or just feel out of sync, this episode is packed with practical wisdom and spiritual grounding to help y...