AgōnMost men don’t fail.
They fade.
Choose a few commitments for your heart, soul, mind, and strength, plus one for your neighbor. Give an account every evening in about a minute. Meet with the same few partners every week. And when you miss, it costs you, for a mission your cohort chooses.
- $12.30 every two weeks
- 12 weeks
- 6 men at most per cohort
Agōn is the word Paul used for a contest, a fight worth finishing (1 Timothy 6:12).
Sample names and data
Why the Agōn
Count the costInside a week
The evening check-in, the weekly call, and the leaderboard.
“Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind and with all your strength.”
Mark 12:30
“The second is this: ‘You shall love your neighbor as yourself.’”
Mark 12:31
Your 12:30+1
Every man builds a personal rule of at least 5 commitments: at least one for each of the four in Mark 12:30, plus one for the second commandment that follows it. At least two are daily. Each one is binary: on any given day, you either did it or you didn't. Most men do best with 5 to 7; a few you can keep beat a long list you can't. You'll draft yours when you join, and lock it in with your partners on your first call.
Emotions
Relationships and emotional awareness
- Journal 10 minutes: name what you felt and why
- One intentional act of love for your wife or kids
- 20 minutes of undistracted conversation, phones away
- Check on one partner by call or text
- Pure today: no pornography, accountability software on
- Weekly date night
Spirit
Your life with God
- Pray 15 minutes before you touch your phone
- Devotional Scripture reading before work
- A weekly fast, prayed through
- Memorize a verse a week
- Pray through your day before bed
- Pray by name for three people far from God
Intellect and will
Learning, and attending to the details
- Study a chapter of Scripture with written notes
- Read 20 pages of a good book
- Log every transaction and stay on budget
- A weekly money meeting with your wife
- A weekly review of your tasks and calendar
- A screen-time limit, and no social media before 9am
Body
Diet and exercise
- Work out 30+ minutes, four times a week
- Log everything you eat
- 8,000 steps a day
- Lights out by 10:30
- No alcohol, or no sugary drinks
- No eating after 8pm
Love outward
Your neighbor as yourself, aimed at a real name or place
- One intentional act of kindness outside your home
- Mentor a younger man for an hour a week
- Volunteer two hours at a named place
- Visit someone who is alone
- Practical help for a single mom or widow
- One gospel conversation or invitation a week
These are starting points, not a menu you're stuck with. Pick at least 5, or write your own, and make each one yours. Daily commitments are checked off each evening. Weekly ones (four workouts, one fast, one visit) are logged in Slack any day you do them.
See how your 12:30+1, routines, tools, partners, and cohort fit together →
New to the faith? You're welcome. Your soul commitment can start with a careful reading of a book about the Christian faith.
Not ready for a cohort? Start with the app.
The same tools our cohorts use, free for anyone on Agōn Standard: prayer lists, Scripture plans, the Daily Examen, a private journal, a verse a week, Strength routines, and your own 12:30+1 with a streak. With Agōn Premium, invite one accountability partner (they can stay on Standard), and you'll see each other's streak, nudge each other, and pray for each other. When you join a cohort, it all comes with you.
iPhone, Android, and the web. No ads. Agōn Premium ($4.99/month or $49.99/year) adds a partner and ties your tools together, and a cohort includes it. See pricing.
Give an account. Every day.
To men who will ask.
Twelve weeks is 84 days. Every evening you give an honest account of your 12:30+1, and every week you sit with the same partners and give it again, out loud. Every day you keep it is another mark. Every day you miss costs you a fine you set yourself, and it goes to a mission your cohort chooses.
You give account. Nobody has to chase you.
- Your first call is the lock-in call. Your partners help you sharpen the 12:30+1 you drafted when you joined, your cohort captain locks it in, and your daily accounts start the next day.
- Every evening, the Agōn bot sends you your 12:30+1 in Slack. For each commitment, mark it missed or rate how hard it was to keep: easy, a fight, or barely. You have until 9am the next morning, and a day you don't report counts as missed. Men usually fade before they break, so when the fight gets harder week over week, you'll get practical help before a streak ends. Your ratings stay between you and your leader. Log weekly wins, like a workout or a fast, the day you do them with
/agon week, and your cohort sees when you hit a weekly target. Then give your account to your partners in your cohort's channel. (Away from Slack? You can give account in the Agōn app too.) - Every week, you're on a 30 to 40 minute video call with the same few partners (most cohorts are 3 to 6 men), in the early morning, over lunch, or late in the evening. Each man gets about five minutes to give his account, and then the group prays for each other by name.
- On a hard day, press SOS. Every partner in your cohort gets a message asking him to pray for you or call you, and if no one answers soon, your captain and Mark hear about it. (It's your partners, not emergency services: if you're in danger, call 988 or 911.)
- Every miss costs you a small amount you choose, and it goes into a mission jar for a cause your cohort picks. Your first missed commitment each week is free.
- Every season is 12 weeks plus a rest week. Your cohort nominates causes during the first six weeks and votes in week 6. At the end of the season, the whole jar is given away.
Keep a Sabbath. Choose Saturday or Sunday (or neither) when you join: that day your dailies aren't due, your streak holds, and giving account is optional. Life happens too: if you'll be away, ask for grace days (up to 7 a season). Your streak holds while you're gone.
You're not lazy. You're carrying a lot.
Maybe you're a dad with kids who need more of you than you have left, a job that takes more than it gives, and a body that has started to argue back. Maybe you're in college or just starting out, trying to follow Jesus when it feels like no one around you is, and it's lonelier than anyone knows. The pressure is just as real either way. You still keep some commitments, and some days you keep them on fumes. Many days you just want to find a way to numb out instead of staying locked in.
Agōn is for that man, whatever his age. Not the man who has it all together, but the one who wants to finish well and knows he won't do it alone. Your cohort is a few partners who notice when you go quiet, and on the hardest days they're one tap away.
We're here to help you succeed, first and last. The streaks, the fines, and the weekly call exist for one reason: so you're still standing in week 12, and so is the man next to you. Nobody here is earning God's favor. We're men who have received it, learning to live like it, together.
That's about what you'd spend on one meal at Chick-fil-A. Make a weekly fast one of your commitments, and the program pays for itself.
A 12-week season is $73.80, billed as three payments of $24.60, four weeks apart. The rest week isn't billed. The price is a reminder of Mark 12:30.
Joining with friends? When three or more of you join together, you get your own cohort at the day and time you choose. Each of you pays the same $12.30 every two weeks, and the man who coaches your group pays nothing. How groups work.
Full-time student under 25? You pay $12.30 a month instead of every two weeks.
You can walk away with nothing owed any time through your cohort's second call. After that, you're committed to the season. If a real hardship hits mid-season, talk to Mark: he can release you from the remaining payments.
What goes in the mission jar is billed monthly with your membership, and every dollar goes to your cohort's cause. It isn't tax-deductible.
Your membership includes Agōn Premium in the app for the season and two weeks after. Compare plans.
You also get a free digital copy of Giving Account, the book this program is built on.
Cohorts start when three men commit
Each time slot holds up to six men. Once at least three have committed, the cohort picks its start date, so most cohorts land at 3 to 6 men. When a time fills, a second cohort opens at the same time.
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Don't see a time that works? Join anyway, and tell us when you're free in the note.
Men who want it to cost them something
Agōn is open to any man 17 or older. If you're 17, a parent or guardian co-signs. It isn't a group where everyone nods and nothing changes, and it isn't a contest for men who already have it together. It's for men who want to be sharpened and are willing to be helped.
There's no application. You read the commitments and count the cost. If every one is true of you, you're in: pick your call time, draft your 12:30+1, set your fines, sign the Agōn covenant, and set up payment. It takes about ten minutes. A real person reads every signup and can release anyone before the season starts, with nothing owed.
Read before you decide
From Mark's blog on accountability and the Agōn.
Questions
Who leads the calls?
Mark Sentell, a pastor and the author of Giving Account, leads the first cohorts. As the program grows, men who have finished two seasons may be invited to captain a cohort. A group that joins together can name its own coach, whom we approve; see how groups work.
What if I'm struggling?
Then you're who this is for. Missing isn't failing; hiding is. If your ratings say a commitment is turning into a grind, you'll get practical help before a streak ends. If you fall under 60% for two weeks in a row, you'll have a one-on-one pastoral call and can reset your 12:30 once a season. On a hard day, press SOS and your partners will pray or call. And for struggles bigger than a habit, members have a private page of trusted help. The goal is a man who finishes, not a bigger jar.
Do I have to report every single day?
Every day but one, if you want it that way. When you join, you can choose a Sabbath (Sunday or Saturday). On that day your dailies aren't due, your streak holds, and giving account is optional, so your whole pattern can change for a day of rest and worship. That's on top of your one free miss each week. You can change your Sabbath any time in the Agōn app.
Is what I share kept private?
What's shared in a cohort stays in the cohort. The one exception is when someone's safety is at risk.
Can I quit partway through?
Yes, but it costs you after call 2. Through the day of your cohort's second call you can walk away with nothing owed, and nothing has been charged yet. After that you're committed to the season: if you withdraw, the remaining payments are still billed on their usual dates, fines from weeks that closed before you left stay due, and nothing new is fined. If you hit a genuine hardship (a lost job, a medical or family emergency), tell Mark. He can release you from the remaining payments. Withdraw any time on the billing page; it shows exactly what you'd owe before you confirm.
I'm married (or someone else shares my finances). What should I tell them?
Tell them before you join, not after the first charge shows up. Say what it is (a few daily commitments, a one-minute account each evening, one call a week with the same few men), why you want it, and what it costs: $12.30 every two weeks, billed as three payments of $24.60, plus fines you set yourself that all go to a mission your cohort picks. Tell them you can walk away free through the second call, and that after that you're in for the 12 weeks. Then ask them to pray for you and to ask how it's going. We wrote a page you can send them.
Is there an app?
Yes. Agōn Standard is free for anyone, member or not: prayer, Scripture plans, the Daily Examen, a private journal, and your own 12:30+1. It has no ads. Agōn Premium is $4.99/month or $49.99/year, with a 7-day free trial, and adds an accountability partner, more journals, and tools that work together; your cohort membership includes it. It's in the App Store and on Google Play, and it works in any browser. When you join a cohort, your partners, your daily account, and your cohort's prayer list show up in the same app. Get the app or see pricing.
Do I need Slack?
For now, yes. It's free on your phone, and your membership covers the paid seat. Your evening prompt, your cohort channel, huddles with your partners, SOS, and the leaderboard live there today. More of it is moving into the Agōn app, where you can already give your account, see your partners, and change your settings: your 12:30+1, your Sabbath, texts, and contact info. Billing is on the website's billing page.
Can I join with friends?
Yes. Once you've joined, you can save seats for the men you're bringing, up to six men per cohort. Each gets an email with his link, and his seat is held for a week while he counts the cost. Three or more of you can start your own private cohort at the day and time you choose, with your own coach, who pays nothing. Everyone else pays the same $12.30 every two weeks. How groups work.
Is there a student rate?
Yes. If you're a full-time student 24 or younger, your membership is $12.30 a month instead of $12.30 every two weeks ($36.90 for the season). Daily commitments are fined once per missed day, not once per missed commitment, from $1.23. Weekly targets and missed calls work the same as for everyone else. Check the student box when you count the cost.
Will I need other apps?
Probably a few, and there are free options. See our recommended tools for tracking, journaling, finances, and more. Some of them have their own fees, which you pay separately from your membership.
What if I need help with my rule?
Most men draft their 12:30+1 in a few minutes from the list. If you're stuck, there's a link to book 15 minutes with Mark, and your first call exists to sharpen it anyway.
How do I pay?
Payments run through Stripe with a bank account (ACH), a card, Apple Pay, or Google Pay. Your first payment is charged the day after your cohort's second call.