Grow Deeply in Relationship with Christ
Legacy Discipleship Ministries exists to help believers grow deeply in their relationship with Jesus Christ and to pass on a lasting legacy of biblical discipleship. Led by Mike and Joanne Chastain, the ministry seeks to strengthen believers through teaching, mentoring, and thoughtful engagement with the questions and ideas shaping our culture. At its core is a commitment to Scripture and to the biblical calling to make disciples.
The ministry takes shape through several areas of outreach.
Mike regularly participates in classes at a local secular college, engaging students and professors in thoughtful conversations about truth, faith, and worldview. Joanne reflects on these encounters through The Diary, offering biblical responses to the ideas and challenges often raised in those settings.
Each week, during the school year, Mike and Joanne also travel from Savannah to Charleston to disciple cadets at The Citadel. Through regular gatherings centered on God’s Word, they seek to encourage these young men in their walk with Christ and invest personally in the lives of future leaders.
Throughout the year Mike and Joanne host Discipleship Intensives for men, women, and couples. These gatherings equip believers with practical tools for studying Scripture, growing in prayer, and living faithfully as disciples of Christ.
Much of the ministry happens in simple but meaningful ways—opening the Scriptures together, sharing meals, and walking alongside believers as they grow in their faith.
Vision
Statement
Our vision is to see believers deeply rooted in Christ and His Word, faithfully discipling others, and passing on a legacy of biblical faith from one generation to the next. We believe discipleship grows best when believers open the Scriptures together, share life around the table, and invest personally in one another.”
LEGACY:
something transmitted by or received from an ancestor or predecessor or from the past
The name Legacy Discipleship Ministries reflects the biblical call to pass the truth of Christ from one generation to the next.
Throughout Scripture, God’s people are commanded not only to follow Him personally but also to teach His truth faithfully to others. A spiritual legacy is built when believers invest in the next generation—through teaching, mentoring, and living out the gospel.
Legacy Discipleship Ministries seeks to cultivate that kind of legacy by grounding believers in God’s Word, equipping them to walk closely with Christ, and encouraging them to disciple others so that the truth of the gospel continues from generation to generation.
"We will not hide them from their children, but tell to the coming generation the glorious deeds of the Lord, and his might, and the wonders that he has done." Psalm 78 :4
Mike Chastain is a reformed and evangelical theologian, apologist, and pastor at Reformation Bible Church in Savannah, Georgia, his hometown.
He has been a devoted disciple of Jesus Christ since coming to know Him as a sophomore at The Citadel, The Military College of South Carolina. Teaching men and women to know and follow the Lord Jesus Christ has been his driving motive since his conversion.
He has devoted himself to the memorizing and studying of God’s Word so that he can be a useful instrument in God’s Hand for His glory.
Mike has been instrumental in starting and running two classical and Christian schools and in starting five churches in the Northeast. He has also been on the Board of the ACCS (Association of Classical and Christian Schools)
Upon returning to Savannah, he was grieved by the fact that the colleges were abandoning any influence of a biblical worldview. He decided to join the ranks of the college students and see for himself. For seven years he has pursued two degrees in Philosophy and Women’s Studies. He comes home and tells his experiences to Joanne, his wife of forty-five years. She writes up his conversations in the “Diary of Seventy-year-old College Freshman.” Joanne and Mike enjoy each other, their eight children, seven children-in-law and seventeen grandchildren.
Joanne Chastain is a reformed and evangelical theologian, Bible teacher, counsellor and pastor’s wife She is happily married to Mike Chastain and together they have served Christ and their wonderful large and growing family.
Joanne’s philosophy has always been “Mine is not to do great things, but to create an atmosphere where great things can be done.” She has loved supporting her husband, family and church and helping them honor and glorify God.
Joanne is right by Mike's side in all of their ministry endeavors. She cooks for people in the church, teaches women and children and especially enjoys homeschooling some of her grandchildren. One of her favorite times of the year is Nana Camp when all of her grandchildren five and over spend a few days having a wonderful time with her and "Grumps."
She loves to create a warm and welcoming environment for the Men's and Ladies' Discipleship Intensives . She teaches them using their defeeds them like royalty and offers wisdom and help when needed.
When Mike told her he wanted to go to college to offer a biblical worldview in contrast to the antithesis, Joanne saw an opportunity to create the “Diary” so that others could be helped and encouraged by being a “fly-on-the-wall” in the classrooms. They are excited that the Diary will now be available right here on their website!
Biblical
"The fear of the LORD is the beginning of wisdom, and the knowledge of the Holy One is insight." Proverbs 9:10
convictions
Authority of Scripture
At Legacy Discipleship Ministries, everything begins with the conviction that the Bible is the Word of God. The Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are inspired by God, completely trustworthy, and the final authority for what we believe and how we live.
Because God has spoken through His Word, the Bible is the foundation of all our teaching and discipleship. It tells us who God is, reveals our need for salvation, and points us to the saving work of Jesus Christ. Through the Scriptures the Holy Spirit teaches, corrects, encourages, and transforms believers as they grow in their relationship with the Lord.
For this reason, opening the Bible together is central to everything we do. Whether meeting with Citadel cadets, gathering for a Discipleship Intensive, engaging conversations in the classroom, or sharing a meal around the table, our desire is always the same—to listen carefully to God’s Word and allow it to shape our lives.
We believe that when believers come to the Scriptures with humility and faith, God uses His Word to guide them, strengthen them, and help them grow in the grace and knowledge of Christ.
“All Scripture is breathed out by God and profitable for teaching, for reproof, for correction, and for training in righteousness.”
2 Timothy 3:16
How Reformed Theology Shapes Our Discipleship
Legacy Discipleship Ministries stands within the historic Reformed tradition of the Christian church. Our teaching is rooted in the authority of Scripture and is guided by the theological framework summarized in the Westminster Confession of Faith and the Westminster Larger and Shorter Catechisms. These confessional standards faithfully summarize the doctrines of Scripture and have long served the church in teaching and discipling believers.
The Authority and Sufficiency of Scripture
We believe that the Holy Scriptures of the Old and New Testaments are the inspired, inerrant, and infallible Word of God. The Bible is the final authority for all matters of faith and life and contains all that is necessary for our salvation and for living faithfully before God.
The Sovereignty and Providence of God
We believe that God is the sovereign Creator and ruler of all things. In His perfect wisdom and power He governs all events according to His eternal purposes for His glory and the good of His people.
The Sinfulness of Humanity
We believe that humanity was created in the image of God but fell into sin through the disobedience of Adam. As a result, all people are born with a sinful nature and are unable to save themselves apart from the grace of God.
Salvation by Grace Alone Through Faith Alone in Christ Alone
We believe that salvation is entirely the work of God's grace. Through the life, death, and resurrection of Jesus Christ, God has provided redemption for sinners. Those whom God calls are justified by grace alone through faith alone in Christ alone.
The Work of the Holy Spirit
We believe that the Holy Spirit applies the work of Christ to believers by bringing about new birth, granting faith and repentance, and progressively sanctifying God's people as they grow in holiness.
Covenant Grace and the Life of the Church
We believe that God gathers His people into the church, where they are nourished through the means of grace—especially the preaching of the Word, the sacraments, prayer, and fellowship. These means strengthen believers and help them grow in their knowledge of Christ.
The Perseverance of the Saints
We believe that those whom God has truly called and saved will be preserved by His grace and will persevere in faith to the end.
The Call to Discipleship
We believe that every believer is called to grow in Christ and to help others grow as well. Discipleship involves learning the Scriptures, living in obedience to Christ, encouraging one another in the faith, and entrusting the truth of the gospel to the next generation.
Confessional Foundation
Legacy Discipleship Ministries gladly affirms the Westminster Confession of Faith and Catechisms as a faithful summary of biblical doctrine. While Scripture alone is our ultimate authority, these historic confessions provide a clear and time-tested expression of the theological convictions that guide our teaching and ministry.
The True Gospel in Three Minutes
How can I be saved?
I’m glad you understand that you need to be saved from God’s wrath and curse because you, like me and
everyone else, don’t measure up to the standards He requires. The good news is that God has provided a way for you to be saved. There is nothing you can do to earn this. We must depend on God to do this for us. If you trust what He has done according to what He has said in the Bible, you will be accepted by God. This is what he has done and what you must believe.
The Situation
First, you must believe the truth that there is one, true, living, and holy God Who made you and to be in His holy
presence you must be holy, too. Since God made all things, He is the authority in all things and has clearly told us in His Word, the Bible, what He expects from us. It tells us His law which we are to obey if we are to live to please Him. Instead of obeying Him, all of us have broken His law and followed our own ideas and desires, and that is called sin.
The Problem
Sin has completely separated us from God, bringing to us spiritual death and eventually will bring physical
death. When we die (which we all will do because of our sin) we will come face to face with this true, holy and living God and be required to give an account for not keeping His law. He will rightly and justly visit His wrath and
punishment on all those who are found guilty. That is our problem. God is holy and by His nature cannot justly accept anything that is not holy into His Holy presence. Therefore, all men are condemned, for we all sin.
God’s Solution-the Work of Jesus
But God in His love made ONE WAY whereby we could be saved from His wrath and be adopted as His very
children. We needed Someone who was not sinful to give us His sinless account and to take our sinful account. To do that God sent His Son Jesus to become human. He was born of a virgin, sinless and holy, 100% God and 100% man. He is the only human to live a sinless life, keeping all of God’s commands the way we were supposed to. He became our substitute and took the punishment we deserved for our sin by suffering on the cross. He took the full measure of God’s hatred and just wrath against sin, paying the penalty for those He came to save. He died and on the third day he triumphed over death by resurrecting from the grave. He ascended into heaven where He lives today being the mediator for those who believe.
Jesus’ Mission-to be our Substitute
His mission was to be the substitute for us. If you have faith that Jesus did this for you, two things happen.
Your sins are transferred to Him and His righteousness is transferred to you. That means you are forgiven, and you are now considered holy before God only because when God sees you, He sees the righteousness of Christ that now belongs to you as His gift. You are then reconciled to God, living freely in His presence here on this earth and when you die, you will be directly in His presence in glorious peace forever in heaven.
If You Don’t Believe
If you do not embrace God’s remedy for your sin problem, you justly deserve God’s wrath and curse for breaking his law. When you die, will be judged guilty and will be cast into hell forever where you will be justly punished by God for your offenses without recourse. This is the truth.
Jesus’ Own Words
To be saved from your just punishment for sin, Jesus Himself said in John 5:24:
“Truly, truly, I say to you, whoever hears My word and believes Him who sent Me has eternal life.
He does not come into judgment but has passed from death to life.”