In his late forties, Sam began to sense that something was wrong. After a couple of decades seeking to honor God in the responsibilities of his life, a question confronted him one evening: Amidst all this stuff I am doing for God and others, does anyone really know me? This question named his unrest. Sam […]
A central feature of our culture is that we are relentlessly talked at––rarely listened to. Consequently, we have an aching hunger to be heard and noticed. Among the men and women with whom we meet, do we recognize their thirst to be heard and known and loved personally? Almost two decades after first planting the church […]
This week I want to highlight a third practice that gives shape to walking well with others as a friend or a mentor. My reflections here are again adapted from our VP3 resource entitled Walking Alongside Others: A Mentoring Guide. Practice #3 – Prayer Prayer in this mentoring context is about cultivating a deep trust in the […]
This week I want to highlight the second of three primary practices that give shape to walking well with others as a friend or a mentor. Last week I addressed the practice of listening, this week question-asking, and next week prayerfulness. My reflections here are again adapted from our VP3 resource entitled Walking Alongside Others: A […]
There are three primary practices that give shape to walking well with others as a friend or a mentor: listening, question-asking, and prayer. Over the next couple blog entries, I will briefly unpack each of these practices. My reflections here are adapted from our VP3 resource entitled, Walking Alongside Others: A Mentoring Guide. I highly recommend […]
Intentionally walking with others, helping them grow deeper in their faith, becomes transformative when we make space to notice others particularly. For it is in the conditions of lives shared, honored, noticed, and enjoyed—that is, friendship—that something of the Spirit’s nurturing grace is imparted to us and through us to others. This noticing involves expecting […]
It is quite a deal when you discover something new from something familiar. You may have driven by that section of the forest a 110 times, and yet this time you noticed that one particular tree slightly hidden but somehow on this one day more obvious than all the others. The unique color and type […]
I would like to have a dollar for every conversation I have with a friend, a facilitator of one of the VP3 processes, a pastor or leader, and even with myself, around “what are you thinking about for next steps?” Deep in the DNA of my spiritual life, and therefore the lens I see […]
19 years ago I followed a nudge to do what I could to help pastors and the leaders in local churches pay greater attention to the development of their adults. At the time I knew part of the concern was a leadership one, and so much of what I put my hand to was couched […]
The word kairos means a moment in time. It holds a different meaning than chronos, which is how we typically think of time in terms of a sequence of seconds, minutes and hours ticking along. Kairos has more to do with a right opportunity, or a ripe season, or the progression of something toward a […]
How many times have you heard yourself saying, or thinking, “I don’t think I’m going to go to (fill in the blank).” And then, you summon the energy, obedience, or heart to show up. Later you hear yourself saying, or thinking, “I’m glad I went.” What’s that all about? I think I know the answer. […]
Susan (my wife) and I decided to tag team leading a Journey group in our church. Seven strong women (Judy, Jayme, Carla, Hannah, Rebekah, Andrea, Susan) as well as Seth and myself (we felt much less strong at times) made up our group. Everyone who leads a VP3 group believes they have the best one, […]