Most of us have experienced what could be called “head-focused discipleship.” It’s an approach to spiritual growth built on the formula of truth plus willpower — learn the right doctrine, try harder, do more, and maturity will follow. For many Christians, this approach has produced knowledge without transformation. We can recite the truth and still feel stuck. We can know what we’re supposed to do and still lack the power to do it. We can sit in church for years and still carry the same wounds, the same fears, the same patterns of self-protection we walked in with.
Have you ever wondered what it might look like to pursue something different — heart-focused discipleship? What would it mean to move beyond surface-level Christianity into real freedom, a secure identity, and genuine intimacy with God? What would change if our growth addressed not just our beliefs and behaviors, but the deeper places in our hearts where lasting change actually begins?
The Heart-Focused Discipleship Conference was created to answer those questions. It offers a holistic approach to spiritual growth, one that takes seriously the core issues of the heart — the wounds, the false beliefs, the defenses we’ve built over a lifetime — and shows how God’s grace and truth can reach into those places and transform them from the inside out. You’ll discover how freedom unlocks growth, how identity shapes maturity, and how authentic, grace-filled community sustains transformation over the long haul. And you won’t just walk away with insight — you’ll walk away with practical, usable tools for pursuing greater freedom, deeper intimacy with God, and a sustainable path forward in your own discipleship journey, and in the discipleship of those you lead.
Conference Sessions Overview
Session 1 – Freedom: The Key to the Heart, with Marcus Warner
Heart-focused discipleship starts here — with freedom. When we’re stuck and in bondage, the Christian life becomes exhausting rather than life-giving. Marcus Warner walks through what freedom actually is (and what it isn’t), then takes a deep dive into one of the most important and often misunderstood practices in the Christian life: forgiving those who have wounded us. You’ll come away with a clear process for forgiveness and four essential tools for experiencing greater freedom in your everyday life.
Session 2 – Identity: The Key to Maturity, with Jessie Cruickshank
Maturity isn’t about perfection — it’s about acting like yourself, even under hardship. Harvard-trained neuroscientist Jessie Cruickshank guides us through the lifelong journey of identity formation and how understanding this process can help us cultivate maturity at every age and stage of life. You’ll learn a holistic model of maturity development, explore the three identity crises nearly everyone faces on the growth journey, and gain discernment for recognizing what God may be inviting you into right now, wherever you find yourself.
Session 3 – Spirit: The Key to Intimacy, with Judy Dunagan
It’s no surprise that prayer is one of the keys to deeper intimacy with God — but many of us long for a richer prayer life and aren’t sure how to get there. Judy Dunagan, daughter of Deeper Walk’s founder Mark Bubeck, has spent decades teaching on the power of prayer. In this session, she offers practical and creative ways to revive your prayer life through praying Scripture, embracing lament, and incorporating worship. Her own stories of how praying God’s Word has shaped her life will inspire you to go further, along with practical next steps to help you get there.
Session 4 – Heart-Focused Community: Grace Changes Everything, with Robby Angle
We were never meant to walk this journey alone — but not just any community will do. Growth requires healthy, heart-focused community anchored in grace. Robby Angle helps us understand the difference between a grace-based community and a fear-based one, the power of authenticity and vulnerability in relationships, and practical steps for building the kind of community where real transformation can take root.
Session 5 – Mission: The Key to Impact, with Bobby Harrington and Marcus Warner
Listen in on a rich conversation between Marcus Warner and Bobby Harrington, a leader who has devoted his life to developing models for multiplying disciples. Together they explore why multiplication matters and how it actually happens, how to embed heart-focused discipleship into the culture of a church or ministry, and how to build ministry alignment around this approach so it spreads in a way that’s sustainable and contagious.
Session 6 – How to Bring Heart-Focused Discipleship to Your Church, with David Yarborough, Dan Allison, Marcus Warner, and Faith Lewkowicz
Deeper Walk has developed a clear pathway for implementing heart-focused discipleship in a local church setting. This closing panel session brings together several voices to help you envision what that pathway could look like in your own context — whether you’re a pastor, a ministry leader, or simply someone eager to bring this approach to your small group, family, or community.
What You Will Gain
Whether you’re a pastor, ministry leader, counselor, or simply a believer hungry for something more than head knowledge, this conference will equip you with both the theological foundation and the practical tools to pursue heart-focused discipleship — for yourself, and for those God has entrusted to your care. Come discover what it looks like to move beyond truth plus willpower, into a discipleship marked by freedom, identity, intimacy, community, and mission — a discipleship that finally reaches the heart.
