Q:

Do the rings come in gold?

A:

No. As you know by now, all the rings are gifts to close friends.  We want to keep the price of this gift as reasonable as possible. Also, we don't want the situation where one man can afford to buy a "gold" ring for a friend, while another man can afford only a "silver" ring for his brother. We want all the brotherhood to wear the same ring. That being said, we offer a gold Band of Brothers' Pendant to be used as a gift to one's spouse. Offering a more "precious" metal to our precious wives seems appropriate. The pendant gift to a wife is the only piece of jewelry that we offer in gold.

Q:

How do I properly care for my ring?

A:

Your ring or pendant is solid sterling silver - and silver does tarnish. The rings are delivered to you with a satin finish. If you want the ring to keep its original satin finish, we recommend using steel wool (fine #0 or very fine #00) that can be purchased at most any hardware store to treat the ring once a week to remove any tarnish and to restore the satin look. But this is not necessary. Many people prefer the more worn look of silver that comes after a week or two of wearing the ring.

Q:

I do not know the ring size of my brother. What if I buy the the ring but it does not fit him?

A:

Of course we cannot track nor enforce whether or not a ring is purchased for the purpose of a giving it to another man, but we are requesting that all the rings are gifts - like when the father put a ring on the finger of his prodigal son. The father saw something special and unique in his son that others could not see. One of the purposes of the gift of the ring is to offer a blessing to your friend or son, because many men have not been called out as men and warriors by their fathers. This is an important part of the battle and journey - to be called out by a man who believes in you. It is then an important reminder, when we are beaten down and tired from the battle, that someone else has seen an image of Christ in us - that God created each of us to use for a very special and noble cause. Because in the heat of the battle, Satan will try to convince us that we are worthless, and that there is no need to continue the fight. If you have a group of friends, your brotherhood, we recommend sharing the idea of the band of brothers' ring with them and purchasing the rings together. Then get together and have some type of ceremony where the rings are given to each other to symbolize your covenant of friendship and to witness your mutual surrender to Christ our brother and King. As Jesus asked, "Who are my brothers?" His answer: "Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother..." (Mark 3:33, 35 NLT)

Q:

I have a greenish or dark smudge on my skin where the ring is in contact with my skin. Is this normal?

A:

Yes. Chemicals and soaps on your skin when in contact with silver can cause dark smudges on the skin. Even moist skin when in contact with silver can cause skin discoloration. This should be fine unless there is redness, itching, a rash, or other skin irritation. In such a case, you may want to discontinue wearing the ring until the irritation is gone. If the irritation does not clear up in a couple of days, then consult your doctor. We also have been told by one jeweler that a way to avoid the dark smudges is to smear some clear nail polish on the inside of the ring. We have not confirmed that this works, but it may be worth a try.

Q:

I have never been given a ring, but I want to buy one for myself and for a couple of my band of brothers. Is this allowed?

A:

Of course we cannot track nor enforce whether or not a ring is purchased for the purpose of a giving it to another man, but we are requesting that all the rings are gifts - like when the father put a ring on the finger of his prodigal son.   The father saw something special and unique in his son that others could not see.  One of the purposes of the gift of the ring is to offer a blessing to your friend or son, because many men have not been called out as men and warriors by their fathers.  This is an important part of the battle and journey - to be called out by a man who believes in you.  It is then an important reminder, when we are beaten down and tired from the battle, that someone else has seen an image of Christ in us - that God created each of us to use for a very special and noble cause.  Because in the heat of the battle, Satan will try to convince us that we are worthless, and that there is no need to continue the fight.  If you have a group of friends, your brotherhood, we recommend sharing the idea of the band of brothers' ring with them and purchasing the rings together.  Then get together and have some type of ceremony where the rings are given to each other to symbolize your covenant of friendship and to witness your mutual surrender to Christ our brother and King.  As Jesus asked, "Who are my brothers?"  His answer:  "Anyone who does the will of my Father in heaven is my brother..." (Mark 3:33, 35 NLT)

Q:

We have recently begun a men's ministry in our church and are wondering if we could use your cross symbol as part of a logo we are creating for our men's ministry?

A:

The general answer is no, but we do allow our branding to be used by "approved churches" in limited circumstances. Please read more about how we assist churches in this manner.

Q:

Who are the leaders of this ministry, and why are their resumes not displayed on this site?

A:

The Band of Brothers' ministry is lead by a group of men who desire to direct all the focus and glory on Jesus Christ our Lord and King. We agree with the words of Paul, "We don't go around preaching about ourselves; we preach Christ Jesus, the Lord. All we say about ourselves is that we are your servants because of what Jesus has done for us." (2 Cor. 4:5) So our names are not important. We want all the focus to be centered on one name - Jesus Christ!  However, we understand that we should be held accountable for the content in our site and how we lead our lives, our families, and this ministry. We do not want to distort, manipulate, or falsely represent the Word of God. Accordingly, all of the core leadership are active in a local protestant church with local church accountability. Additionally, the core leadership team has gone through an ordination process and are licensed ministers of the Gospel through Next Leadership Association. Finally, we have multiple churches and organizations to whom we are willing to submit to their authority in the event any concern or issue with this ministry cannot be resolved directly with us.