This weekend, January 29-30, we host our third annual Equip Retreat through Vermont Church Planting.   Forty church planters and potential church planters from across Vermont and the neighboring region are attending with Mike Breen from 3DM Movements leading our sessions.

This week I sensed God leading me to pray three specific things for this retreat.  Will you pray the following with me?

For God to remind us Jesus is worth the risks we’re taking and sacrifices we’re making.
For God to encourage us  as we share stories with other like minded guys.
For God to equip us with some practical tools for our ministry toolbox.

Thank you for your prayers and partnership.

I’m often asked by other pastors and church-planters to describe ministry in Vermont.  It often reminds me of a century ride I did on my bike a couple of summers ago.  Me and a buddy mapped our route so the pinnacle of Smugglers Notch would be the exact halfway point- which means at 42 miles in, you begin an eight mile, 1800 ft climb.  About three miles into the climb you begin feeling the stress in your thighs and calves, and your simple focus becomes spin that flywheel, spin that flywheel one pedal push at a time.  You quickly realize you have no idea how far you’ve actually traveled, because all of your normal training rides felt much easier than tackling this mountainous behemoth.  Your hope is to eventually reach the summit… you will know it when you get there and not a minute before. Continue reading →

I realize I have not updated this blog in quite a while.  As I return to the blogosphere, I want to solicit your prayers for what I believe is a potentially eternally significant event this weekend.  God gave me the opportunity to organize an equipping retreat for church-planters in the region.  We originally expected ten to twelve guys, but we had to cap the numbers at twenty-two.  All of these men are either presently leading a church-plant or sensing God leading them to plant a church in their community.  All of these men live in highly unchurched and underserved communities in Vermont, Eastern New York, and Northern New Hampshire.  Many of them feel isolated and under-equipped for the task ahead.
Please join me in praying… Continue reading →

“What do you really do?” is a question I’m asked  by someone almost every week.  People know I’m a pastor/church-planter/nonprofit director, but  they often want to know what this practically looks like beyond our momentary interactions.
You may already know about my obsession with venn diagrams which also carries over into how I structure my personal ministry focus:

Continue reading →

Last night during the NBA finals halftime show, analyst and former player Jalen Rose used two interesting terms to describe the two basketball teams’ roads to success.  Rose explained how the San Antonio Spurs were built while the Miami Heat were bought.  No one questions the success of either team as the Heat play in their third final in three years and the Spurs seek their third championship since 1999.  Both enjoy remarkable success, yet take two radically different approaches to building a winning cultue. I find some striking parallels with how we develop leadership teams (and people in general) in both established churches and church-plants.   Continue reading →

One of my great God-given passions is coaching young ministry leaders- especially young men with hearts for church-planting.  I get to invest in some amazing up and coming leaders here in VT- a group including  BCC’s Gospel Community leaders and a couple of church planters from other Vermont towns.  Continue reading →

I like sports… a lot.  I’m not so good at playing sports anymore, but I certainly enjoy watching whether it’s my alma mater’s college football team, high-light reels of Kobe, Lebron, and Durant in the NBA, or cheering on my teen neighbors playing rec ball.   I’m also intrigued by how often topics in sports intersect with following Jesus and leading others.  How scripture uses athletic metaphors from the 1st century is hardly coincidental. Continue reading →