Blog
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Almost every day around the VantagePoint3 offices we hear what we call a “mustard seed way” kind of story. God initiates something without fanfare in the human heart. And, over time it grows, without applause, to be fruitful and impactful. Today I was schooled afresh in the solid, fascinating conviction from Pastor Josh Johnson with [...]
Gracious God, from whom every family in heaven and on earth is named, deliver me, I pray, from the easy habit of thinking that my spirituality is something between me and you alone. It is so difficult to accept the idea that my spiritual wholeness cannot be attained outside my life with others. Help [...]
Between last week's wonderful vacation getaway with my wife in Jamaica and this week's prepping for VP3's upcoming Life Rhythms: What Matters Most? webinar conversation, I am finding myself aware yet again of the need to pay attention to the rhythms of my life. Amidst all the stuff of life—demands and tasks, relationships and [...]
God, giver of life you alone know how our life can actually succeed. Teach us in the silence of your presence to reverence this mystery: how in the encounter with you, how under your gaze and in your word we recognize ourselves as your image and likeness. Show us how to let go of whatever [...]
My first introduction to Oak Hills Church in Folsom, California was in the early 2000s at a gathering called the Spiritual Formation Forum in Los Angeles. Several hundred, primarily church leaders like myself, were hungering for and exploring deeper ways of forming adults spiritually in Jesus’ name. I sat in on a session with Mike [...]
“A quiet move of the Holy Spirit across the globe.” Unexplainable. Remarkable. Almost without effort on our part, we are making connections with like-minded ministry leaders who are looking for a process to deepen their own leadership of companionship and lead other to do the same. Enter Michael Pratt, an Indiana-born pastor serving in Ukraine [...]
Sarah was looking for the resource that had changed her sister’s life. I have great conversations with a lot of people when they call into our offices. But this was an exemplary story: A woman from the west coast––we’ll call her Sarah––was on the line. She said, “My sister, Rose, has been a Christian all [...]
What we do at VantagePoint3 is hard to explain. Curt Patterson helps us... "I was looking for a way to impact leaders and leave a legacy in the second half of my life," says Curt. Curt was introduced to VantagePoint3 at his local church, Orchard Hill Church, in Cedar Falls, Iowa in 2003. Curt and [...]
It was 22 years ago this month that Randy Reese and I attended the International Consultation on Discipleship, a conference in Eastbourne, England. An important week in my life personally and in the life of VantagePoint3 (VP3). As I remember it, there were 400+ Christian leaders from 50+ countries, gathered to address the state of the [...]
A couple of weeks back we hosted a What Matters Most conversation on the topic of Life Transitions. This was the fifth in a series we have been hosting since last summer, centered around the craft of helping adults grow up into Christ in every way. We are so thankful for our special guests Scott [...]
God is certainly up to something good in this world, in our communities, and in our lives, but any Christian who seeks to align his or her life with this reality must not be naïve to the difficulty of the journey. Storms and setbacks will come. Jobs are lost, friends suffer, children rebel, depression, [...]
On the Iowa prairie where I live, the most humbling hobby I tend is as a beekeeper. This is my 6th year of beekeeping so you would think I would have a few things ironed out. But, instead, I am among the ranks of beekeepers with multiple years of loss, disappointment, hard work that nets […]