Spiritual Formation
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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 Journey has changed the way I think about my role as pastor. I have a greater boldness about my mission and calling.” In a recent coaching call with our Sioux Falls The Journey Facilitator Retreat crew, we heard great testimonies of the impact already being felt and seen within Journey groups across South […]
I had the privilege of attending and leading a workshop at the Apprentice National Conference 2014 last week in Wichita, Kansas. The theme of this year’s conference was “Formation for Mission: Becoming the Change our World Needs”. It was a great couple of days spent with around 250 others with the same shared vision of […]
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 […]
The other night we were out for a walk in our neighborhood and noticed the early signs of the fall season. The grass felt stiffer with a few more rusted leaves to kick around, the air was cooler and smelled fresher, the horses in the pasture across the road seemed a bit more mischievous, and […]
There is a Joyce Rupp quote that litters many of my old journals and files, and over the past decade or so it has been a consistent source of encouragement and challenge to the way I look at my everyday life. When I was attempting to re-organize my office last week, after a summer of much […]
At one of our team meetings a few months ago, Emily presented a quote from Henri Nouwen’s Making All Things New as part of her devotional “Focusing Thought”. To be honest, I don’t remember what quote she read, but I do remember thinking, “I need to read the rest of that book.” Now, a few […]
We at VP3 are really excited about a recent project that has come to completion and is now available. Imago Dei to Missio Dei: An Art Experience is a compilation of watercolors and reflections which in the words of the artist/author Preston Pouteaux, “I originally created these pieces as a gift for my church family. I hoped […]
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, […]
At our core, we at VantagePoint3 strive to be a learning and praying community whose life together (i.e. our processes, service, & team) invites others to vantage points where they can discover more deeply who God is, who they are, and what God desires to do through them. This October 24-26 in Banff, Alberta, we will […]
(…not really sure how I “drew” Holy Week for the blog post…) On Palm Sunday, my pastor voiced something that I have also always felt. He talked about how he always feels a little weird celebrating Holy Week…we, essentially, celebrate the brutal torture of our Savior. I know, we actually celebrate the resurrection of […]
This past Sunday our pastor’s message was on the story of Jesus and the woman at the well from John 4. What is resonating in me this week as we head into the Easter season is…why did Jesus stop at that well and have the disciples continue on into town to buy food? […]