Identity
Who are you, really?
Not who the culture, your family or even you say you are, but who God dreamed you to be. David couldn’t fight Goliath in Saul’s armor, and you can’t live your life in another man’s identity.
The BraveHeart Intensive
Partner with God, find your purpose, live a bigger story.
You were made to move the world.
To make a difference. But where do you even begin?
The BraveHeart Intensive is an immersive training process that uncovers who you really are at your core, reveals the unique God-given mission you were created to fulfill, and exposes the shadow parts of you that hold you back from living the authentic life you were made to live.
What you’ll leave with
- A clear picture of your unique core identity as a man and a follower of Jesus
- Your deepest life purpose, captured in a mission statement unique to you
- A values-based filter for deciding what to say yes and no to in your life and work
- A way to recognize and engage your shadow side so it no longer stops you
- A clear, strategic vision for the life of impact God designed you to create
Four questions every man needs answered
Michael spent years coaching pastors and leaders: good-hearted, surrendered men of God who were burned out, overwhelmed and struggling to hear God’s voice. Together they searched for why, and found four reasons. Those four became the pillars of the BraveHeart Intensive.
Mission
What are you here to do?
In the kingdom, mission flows out of identity, not the other way around. It isn’t your job title. It’s what you’re made to be up to every hour of every day, wherever you are.
Values
Where were you made to thrive?
Drop a lion in Antarctica and it might survive, but it will never thrive. Your values are the habitat God designed you for. Many men blame themselves when they’re simply in the wrong one.
Shadow mission
What could take you out?
It’s rarely the danger you know about. It’s the hidden belief quietly running your life from the shadows. We pull it into the light and look at it together.
“If you are going to know who you truly are as a man, if you are going to find a life worth living, you simply must get your heart back.”
John Eldredge
How the BraveHeart Intensive is different
- It’s not a Bible study.
- It’s not a lecture on how you need to be a better man.
- It’s not a competition to see who can be the most manly.
The BraveHeart Intensive takes you into places most men never go: the wild landscapes of your masculine soul. We go deep, because that’s where your real treasure lies, in the truth about who you are and why you’re here that you’ve been searching for your entire life.
Our leaders call themselves facilitators, because they don’t bring the answers to you. They hold the space where you have a real conversation with your Creator, and the brothers around you confirm what God is saying. There are no masks, no shields and no judgment. That is where men finally bond the way they’ve always wanted to.
What men say the BraveHeart Intensive did for them
Over the years we’ve asked the men who’ve been through the BraveHeart Intensive one question: what did it do for you? These are the seven answers we hear most.
From reactive to creative
No more living back on your heels, putting out fires and being acted on. You become the one who acts on the world around you.
Free from stuck places
The habit you’ve never kicked, the secret sin, the pattern that doesn’t reflect who God made you to be. You learn to wield the authority you have as a son of God, in the strength of the Holy Spirit.
Deeper bonds with the people you love
Your wife, your kids, your family. You get clear on who you want to be with them, and how to have the conversations that change those relationships.
Renewed passion and purpose
Every man is called by God to a specific mission. We help you name yours, and knowing it wakes your heart up.
Authentic brotherhood
No masks, no shields, no judgment. Many men leave with friendships that last a lifetime.
From surviving to thriving
When you know deeply who you are in Christ and why you’re here, you stop keeping your head above water and start riding the waves.
A deep, ongoing connection with God
The most important of all. The whole BraveHeart Intensive is a conversation between you and God, and it opens a way to keep that conversation going for the rest of your life.
Is the BraveHeart Intensive for you?
It’s extraordinarily freeing. Ask any man who’s been through it. It’s also not for the faint of heart.
- Once you know who you are and why you’re here, you can’t go back. You may find you’ve been faithfully charging up the wrong hill.
- It can change the direction of your life. It doesn’t always mean a new career, but it can.
- It takes a high degree of surrender. Old patterns don’t change with a snap of the fingers, so we help you walk it out after you go home.
- That’s why every man talks with a BraveHeart leader before he comes, and why we keep every group small.
“Our passion is to help men become unleashed in the world as their true selves in their true mission, because that is what changes the world around us.”
Watch before you apply
Hear it from Michael, in his own words: why he created the BraveHeart Intensive, what happens there, and what men take home.
The journey begins with three steps:
Apply
Complete the short online application. A BraveHeart leader will set up a phone or Zoom call to answer your questions and make sure you’re ready.
Attend
Join a small cohort of men for four days to uncover your God-given identity and mission.
Advance
Go home with a plan and support to make it stick, and keep growing with your brothers in the BraveHeart Brotherhood.
Upcoming BraveHeart Intensives
Tentative dates
BraveHeart Intensive Retreat
Atlanta, GA
- Cost to be announced · Scholarships available
- Venue to be announced
BraveHeart Intensive Retreat
Colorado Springs, CO
- Thursday 7:00 PM to Sunday 1:00 PM
- Cost to be announced · Scholarships available
- Venue to be announced
Concerned about cost? Apply for a scholarship or ask about a payment plan.
Become a BraveHeart Champion. BraveHeart is volunteer-led. A monthly gift helps the next man get to the BraveHeart Intensive.
$670 a month today · goal $2,000 a month by June 2027
$0$2,000
Bespoke BraveHeart Intensive
Bring the BraveHeart Intensive to your men’s group or leadership team.
Have a men’s ministry, a church staff or a leadership team you’d love to take through the BraveHeart Intensive? We’ll plan a retreat around your group.
- For groups of 6 to 18 men
- Led by trained BraveHeart facilitators
- Dates and location set around your group
“BraveHeart was a life-changing experience for me. I have struggled with my true identity all my life. This retreat enabled me to unlock the manacles of despair and pain that I embraced and allowed me to release them to God.”
Questions men ask
Is the BraveHeart Intensive a Bible study?
No. It is not a Bible study, a lecture on being a better man, or a contest to see who is most manly. It is a guided process with God and a small group of men that uncovers who you are at your core and the mission you were made for.
Who leads the BraveHeart Intensive?
Trained BraveHeart facilitators, every one of whom has been through the BraveHeart Intensive himself. We call them facilitators because they do not bring the answers to you. They hold the space where you have a real conversation with God, and the brothers around you help confirm what He is saying.
What do men take home from the BraveHeart Intensive?
The seven things men tell us most: a creative rather than reactive stance in life, freedom from long-standing stuck places, deeper bonds with the people they love, renewed passion and purpose, real brotherhood, a shift from surviving to thriving, and most of all a deep, ongoing connection with God.
Who is the BraveHeart Intensive for?
Any man who follows Jesus and wants to know who he really is and what God made him to do. Michael built it for good-hearted, surrendered men of God who are doing their best and still burning out, feeling overwhelmed or struggling to hear God's voice.
How do I sign up?
Complete the online application. A BraveHeart leader will set up a short screening call with you, then confirm your spot.
Is the BraveHeart Intensive always a retreat?
No. It runs as a weekend retreat, an in-person course, a virtual course, or a series of half-day workshops over several weekends. Every format works through the same four pillars: identity, mission, values and shadow mission.
Why is there a screening call?
Because the BraveHeart Intensive can change the course of your life. Before you come, a BraveHeart leader talks with you by phone or Zoom to answer your questions and make sure you are ready.
Will it change my career?
Not always, but it can. Many men discover they have been faithfully charging up the wrong hill. What changes for certain is that you will know who you are and what you are made to do.
What if the BraveHeart Intensive I want is full?
Retreats often fill with a waiting list. Join the waitlist and we will reach out when the next BraveHeart Intensive forms. New ones form every year, and more are added as the list grows.
What does it cost?
The most recent retreat was $650 for the full four days. Scholarships are available, and payment plans are available on request.
How many men attend?
Retreats are kept small, usually no more than 15 men, so every man gets real time in the circle.
You don’t have to go it alone.
Apply for the BraveHeart Intensive
Tell us a little about yourself. A BraveHeart leader will reach out to set up a short screening call, answer your questions and confirm your spot.
Leading a men’s group or a team? Ask about a bespoke BraveHeart Intensive for 6 to 18 men.