Greg’s Story: From Brokenness to Brotherhood

A Story of Grace, Redemption, and the Men God Uses Along the Way

“I share my story not because I am proud of every chapter, but because I am grateful for the One who redeemed it.”

There are parts of every man's story he would write differently if he could.

I certainly have mine.

I grew up as an only child in a broken home. My parents loved me in the ways they knew how, but my childhood left me with questions I didn't know how to answer.

Who am I?

Where do I belong?

What does it mean to become a good man?

As a boy, I remember visiting the home of a friend and seeing something that deeply affected me—a family with stability, peace, and the presence of an engaged father.

I didn't have the words for it then.

I simply knew I wanted what I saw.

Looking back, I can see that God was using even those early experiences to create a longing in me for something deeper: belonging, identity, purpose, and eventually brotherhood.

I Knew Christ, But I Wasn't Rooted

At thirteen years old, I accepted Jesus Christ as my Savior.

That decision was real.

But something was missing.

Discipleship.

I knew that I had placed my faith in Christ, but I did not have mature Christian men consistently walking beside me—teaching me how to follow Jesus, helping me understand God's Word, asking me difficult questions, and showing me what faithful Christian manhood looked like in everyday life.

As the years passed, I drifted.

I began looking for acceptance, identity, pleasure, and significance in places that could never provide them.

Some of those choices led me into habits and behaviors that I am not proud of. For a time, the things I thought represented freedom actually produced greater emptiness.

But underneath the wrong choices was something deeper.

I was searching.

Searching for identity.

Searching for acceptance.

Searching for significance.

Searching for the answer to a question I didn't yet know how to ask: What kind of man was I created to become?

THEN GOD BROUGHT CHRISTY INTO MY LIFE

God often begins changing our direction before we recognize what He is doing.

For me, one of those gifts was Christy.

We were two imperfect young people carrying our own wounds and facing circumstances neither of us had planned.

Our early years together were not easy.

But God was at work.

As Christy came to faith in Jesus Christ, something began happening in me as well. I came face-to face with the difference between simply believing certain things about Jesus and completely surrendering my life to Him.

I recommitted my life to Christ.

And this time, we weren't left to figure everything out ourselves.

A faithful pastor invested in us.

A church family embraced us.

Mature Christians walked alongside us.

They taught us.

They encouraged us.

They prayed with us.

They corrected us when necessary.

Most importantly, they showed us that following Christ was never intended to be a solitary journey.

For the first time, I began to understand discipleship.

Christy and I married and made a decision that would shape the rest of our lives: The patterns of the past did not have to determine the future.

By God's grace, we could build something different.

We could build our marriage and family upon Jesus Christ.

I often say that completely surrendering my life to Jesus Christ was the greatest decision I ever made.

Marrying Christy was the second.

GRACE DIDN'T ERASE MY STORY

Coming back to Christ didn't magically make every struggle disappear.

There were still mistakes.

There were difficult seasons.

There were failures, disappointments, responsibilities, and times when God had to deal with areas of my character.

But something fundamental had changed.

I wasn't walking alone anymore.

Christ was changing me.

My wife was beside me.

Other believers were investing in me.

And gradually I began learning something that would become foundational to The Statesman's Forum:

Men need other godly men.

Not men who pretend they have everything together.

Men who will tell the truth.

Men who will pray.

Men who will listen.

Men who will challenge one another.

Men who will encourage one another.

Men who will open God's Word together and allow it to confront the areas of life we would rather keep hidden.

That is brotherhood.

GOD CAN USE WHAT YOU THOUGHT DISQUALIFIED YOU

For more than thirty years, I worked in the construction industry.

I learned that you can make a building look impressive on the outside, but if the foundation is compromised, eventually the problems will reveal themselves.

I've discovered the same thing about men.

A man can build a career.

He can make money.

He can gain recognition.

He can appear successful.

But eventually life tests the foundation.

Marriage tests it.

Children test it.

Adversity tests it.

Success can test it.

Failure certainly tests it.

And eventually every man confronts the same question: What am I building my life upon?

Jesus Christ taught that the wise man builds upon the rock.

That truth became increasingly personal to me.

I spent much of my working life building structures.

But through marriage, family, business, ministry, failure, perseverance, and grace, God was building me.

And He wasn't finished.

He still isn't.

WHY I TELL MEN MY STORY

There was a time when I might have preferred to hide the difficult parts.

Today I see them differently.

I don't glorify my past.

I glorify the God who redeemed it.

I know what it is like to feel alone.

I know what it is like to search for identity in the wrong places.

I know what it is like to believe in Christ but lack discipleship.

I know what it is like to need another man to come alongside you.

And I know what it is like to discover that your worst chapters don't have to become the final chapter.

Jesus Christ is still in the business of redeeming men.

That doesn't mean pretending sin doesn't matter.

It means believing grace is greater.

It means repentance is real.

It means transformation is possible.

And it means God can take experiences we once considered wasted and use them to help someone else.

FROM BROKENNESS TO BROTHERHOOD

Years later, I began recognizing something in other men that I had once seen in myself.

Drifting.

Men who loved their families but weren't sure how to lead them.

Men who believed in God but had never been intentionally discipled.

Men carrying wounds they rarely discussed.

Men struggling privately while appearing successful publicly.

Men wondering whether there was supposed to be something more.

I realized I didn't need another program.

I needed brothers.

And I suspected other men did too.

That conviction eventually helped give birth to The Statesman's Forum.

It began simply—with four men gathering around a table in Georgetown, Delaware.

We opened God's Word.

We talked.

We prayed.

We challenged one another.

And we began asking the kinds of questions men need to ask.

The vision that emerged was simple:

REACH

Reach men with the Gospel of Jesus Christ.

ROOT

Root them deeply in biblical truth, character, discipleship, and brotherhood.

RELEASE

Release them into their God-given calling and responsibilities.

REPRODUCE

Equip them to invest what they have received into another man.

Reach → Root → Release → Reproduce.

That's the journey I wish I had understood when I was thirteen.

And it's the journey I now want to help make available to other men.

YOUR STORY ISN'T OVER

Maybe some part of my story sounds familiar.

Maybe you believe in Christ, but you've been drifting.

Maybe you've succeeded professionally but still wonder what all of it is ultimately for.

Maybe there are areas of your life you hope nobody ever discovers.

Maybe you're carrying regret.

Maybe you've never had another Christian man look you in the eye and ask: “How are you really doing?”

I cannot promise you that following Christ will make life easy.

It hasn't made mine easy.

But I can tell you this: Jesus Christ changes men.

I've experienced His forgiveness.

I've experienced His correction.

I've experienced His patience.

I've experienced the strength of a faithful wife, a church family, pastors, mentors, and brothers who helped me along the way.

And after all these years, I am still learning.

Still growing.

Still being challenged.

Still being discipled.

That's why The Statesman's Forum isn't a gathering for men who have arrived.

It's a brotherhood for men who are willing to keep becoming.

“The work isn't about me. If my story encourages even one man to stop drifting and start answering God's call on his life, then every difficult season was worth it. My goal isn't to build my legacy. It is to point men toward Christ and help them become the men He created them to be.” — Gregory E. Markomanolakis

Your past does not have to determine your future.

Your next chapter can begin with one step.

BEGIN YOUR JOURNEY

JOIN THE BROTHERHOOD