A Mere Phone Call

It's taken me a while to figure this out.  In my early years of ministry, I was highly energized to get things done for God!  Called to shepherd God's people and bring more people into God's Kingdom, I was at times feverish in my attempts to love the church and find new ways to reach those who don't know Him yet.  My life was all about output.  And I nearly burned out!

High octane ministry with no attention to the soul of the leader leads to an eventual crash.  My body was a mess.  My soul was worse.  But I thought ministry was all about "doing" for God?

Over the years, I have come to see that God is interested in my "being" as much as my "doing." There is a time for charging full-steam ahead.  There is a time for rest as well.  God delights in our learning, in our increasing knowledge, and our active skill development.  Good leadership and ministry require these things.  And God also delights in our time with Him, in our soul maturation, in our ongoing sanctification.  Sometimes God even initiates a time-out for us to let our souls catch up with our skills.

"And David shepherded them with integrity of heart, with skillful hand he led them." 
(Psalm 78:72)

Psalm 78 is a paradigm for spiritual leadership.  Skills and soul.  Output and input.  Doing and being.
What habits in your life and leadership attend to both your doing and being?  Do you have mentors for your skill development?  Do you have mentors for your soul?  How are you paying attention to both?

Receiving coaching on a regular basis has been a blessing for me as I allow a trusted colleague to probe in my life both sides of the equation.  I also thoroughly enjoy coaching others.  It's one of my favorite aspects of my current ministry.  To help a leader deepen with Christ all the while developing skills for ministry and moving towards God's future with ever-increasing courage is a great pleasure and honor.  How powerful a mere phone call!

As Terry Walling says, "God does a greater work in you so He can do a greater work through you!" - (www.leaderbreakthru.com)

Grace and Peace,

Kirk

         

The Forgotten Ways

                             "Go and make disciples of all nations..." (Matthew 28:19)

So much of Alan Hirsch's The Forgotten Ways (2nd ed.) is depressing, challenging, and encouraging all at the same time.  As a pastor for twenty three years, I have lived the weekly cycle of preaching and programming.  How to make next Sunday as good or better than the last?  How do we improve the church's programs to reach the city?  How do we keep people entertained so we can teach the truth?  Honestly, it gets exhausting. And the little question that gets a foothold in your mind is this: are we really making a difference?

Alan Hirsch observes:  "In the modern and the postmodern situation, the church is forced into the role of being little  more than a vendor of religious goods and services. And the end users of the church's services (namely, us) easily slip into the role of discerning, individualistic consumers, devouring the religious goods and services offered by the latest and best vendor. Worship, rather than being entertaining through aesthetically engaging the hearts and minds of the hearers, now become mere entertainment that aims at giving the participants transcendent emotional highs, much like the role of the 'feelies' in Aldous Huxley's Brave New World, where people go tot he movies merely to get a buzz."

Hirsch continues: "Church-growth exponents explicitly taught us how to market and tailor the product to suit target audiences. They told us to mimic the shopping mall, apply it to the church, and create a one-stop religious shopping experience catering to our every need.  In this they were sincere and well intentioned, but they must also have been totally ignorant of the ramifications of their counsel--because in the end the medium has so easily overwhelmed the message...consumerism has actually become the driving ideology of the church's ministry...I have come to the dreaded conclusion that we simply cannot consume our way into discipleship."

Somewhere along the way in my pastoral ministry I sensed this was true.  When I took a risk and made some radical changes to my philosophy of ministry and where I would put my time, I began to see real change.  Real Christian maturity was beginning to grow!

When I ask Christian leaders how Jesus developed leaders and disciples (same thing), they mention Jesus' pattern of time spent with the disciples, the mentoring, the teaching, and the on-the-job-training.  When I ask them how Jesus would raise up leaders today, they eventually concede that despite all the technology available today, discipleship is still a life-on-life event.  Jesus would spend time with small groups of people and pour His life into them.  It's slow. It's inefficient.  And it's life-changing!

When I began to pour precious hours into walking with people slowly through excellent material (www.vantagepoint3.org), then I began to see real discipleship take place. We were beyond consumption.  We were into mission.  And these folks were beginning to change their worlds for Christ!

As Christian leaders, are you making disciples?  Or are you reinforcing our culture's ever-increasing appetite for consumption?  Whom are you walking with?  Whom are you pouring into?

Are you ready to make the shift?

Blessings,
Kirk

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Blessings,

Kirk

Living in a Different World

            With Christendom waning and God’s people becoming increasingly ineffective in gospel witness in North America, it is time to re-focus on the message that is spread.  Dallas Willard does an excellent job of casting the contemporary problem and offering the solution.

            Many evangelicals in North America have come to faith in Jesus Christ through gospel presentations such “The Romans Road” or “Steps to Peace with God.”  Each delineates the biblical realities of human sin, God’s wrath, humanity’s inability to rebuild a relationship with God, and God’s offer of reconciliation through the cross of Jesus Christ (Rom 3:23; 6:23).  Where these and many other written or oral gospel presentations have failed is the other side of the coin, after people have said “yes” to a relationship with Jesus.  Verses requiring a lifetime of obedience to Jesus due to our salvation are downplayed or ignored (John 14:23; John 15:10; Matt 28:19-20).  Yet, it is through a lifetime of obedience, submission, and active spiritual formation that spiritual authority and power is generated, the kind of power and authority that have a positive effect in our broken world.  Dallas Willard makes the astute comment:    

           For the one who makes sure to walk as close to Jesus as possible there comes the reliable                    exercise of a power that is beyond them in dealing with the problems and evils that afflict                    earthly existence. Jesus is actually looking for people he can trust with his power. He knows                that otherwise we remain largely helpless in the face of the organized and disorganized evils                around us, and that we are unable—given this chosen strategy—to promote his will for good in            this world with adequate power.” (Dallas Willard, The Great Omission)

            Jesus’ message of hope and wholeness was not only one of forgiveness of sin, but also one of newness of life.  According to Willard, “To be ‘saved’ was to be ‘delivered from the power of darkness and translated into the Kingdom of his dear Son,’ as Colossians 1:13 says.  We who are saved are to have a different order of life from that of the unsaved. We are to live in a different ‘world.’” (Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines).  The gospel as reflected throughout the entire New Testament says that new life is now available in the Kingdom of God if one trusts Jesus Christ—”trust[s] the whole person of Christ in everything he touches—which is everything" (Willard, The Great Omission).

      
           Willard continues this stream of thought,

           

We cannot have a gospel dealing only with sin. We have to have a gospel that leads us to new life in Christ, and then spirituality can be presented as a natural development of such new life.  But if we divide between justification and regeneration in such a way that the gospel is only “believe Jesus died for you sins and you will go to heaven when you die,” we are stuck with a theology that is inherently resistant to a vital spirituality (Willard, The Great Omission).

Quite simply, a gospel that solely emphasizes justification does not create disciples who will pursue becoming like Jesus.  Without truly becoming like Jesus in belief, character, and action, followers of Jesus have no witness or authority in the postmodern world.

            Willard argues persuasively that nothing in the teachings of Jesus or the early followers suggests that one can enjoy Jesus’ forgiveness and yet have nothing more to do with Him until heaven.  As Tozer says, “Salvation apart from obedience is unknown in the sacred scriptures.”   Willard has different words but the same conviction, “Grace is not opposed to effort, it is opposed to earning." (Willard, The Great Omission).

Failure to expend effort in the Christian life, failure to expend effort to practice the spiritual disciplines and become an apprentice of Jesus’ way of life, leads to moral and spiritual defeat—a destination many Christians find themselves in today.  In Willard’s words, “Only avid discipleship to Christ through the Spirit brings the inward transformation of thought, feeling, and character that ‘cleans the inside of the cup’ (Matthew 23:25) and ‘makes the tree good’ (Matthew 12:33)" (Willard, The Great Omission).

 As we prepare leaders for a church that will live on mission, they need freedom from sin, a freedom that the gospel promises, without the anemic discipleship that a gospel focused only on justification provides.  Nothing less than the future of the church and its witness in the world is at stake.

Blessings,

Kirk

Images of a Mission

The grand story of the Bible is that God is on a mission. Reggie McNeal points out to what astonishing lengths God goes to redeem his beloved and crowning achievement of his creation—people. He notes that the central acts of both the Old and New Testaments are divine interventions into human history to liberate his people from oppression and slavery—the Exodus and the Cross.

In the Old Testament, Moses takes on Pharaoh to liberate his fellow Israelites (though Moses is one of them, he is not one of them). In the New Testament Jesus takes on sin, death, and Satan to effect deliverance of captive kinsmen (though Jesus is one of us, he is not one of us.) In both cases the deliverance is not just from something but to something. The Hebrew slaves were destined for the Promised Land, a land flowing with milk and honey. Jesus promised his followers abundant life. Included in that deal is heaven (Reggie McNeal, The Present Future)

Beyond deliverance, God had a purpose for his liberated people. At Mt. Sinai, the Israelites received their assignment from God—to tell the world about Him and to convince them of His love for them. Sadly, the Israelites missed the fact that their “chosen” status was for missional purposes with a clear responsibility, not just an enjoyed position. Israel’s sin in failing to be a light to the world resulted in the world’s slavery to sin and exile from God.

In the New Testament, Peter captures the Sinai assignment and delegates it to the church, “You are a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, God’s own people, in order that you may proclaim the mighty acts of him who called you out of darkness into his marvelous light” (1 Pet 2:9).  Through Jesus Christ, the church has inherited the purposes of God for Israel and thus is responsible to broker the relationship between God and humanity.

• How does the American Church proclaim the mighty acts of God to people who are not interested in coming to church on Sunday morning? 

• How do followers of Jesus live out our missional calling in the face of a world that is not interested in the organized church?  

• If 80% of the population in the United States is not going to be reached by churches as currently constituted, how should Christians fulfill their God-given mission?

The answer is in living on mission, as God is on mission.  God wants humanity free from sin and bondage.  If the world won't come to us, we must go to the world.  We follow in the footsteps of Jesus.  We go to the people that Jesus loves.  We live as servants of the King among the hurting and point them to Jesus when the situation presents itself.  We broker the relationship between God and humanity in their world.

Church, it's time to live on mission outside the walls.

Kirk

Deep Roots

For the Church to reclaim its missional essence, it must first understand God's plan in the Abrahamic Covenant.  In Genesis 12:2-3, God promised that, through Abram (later Abraham), all the nations of the world would be blessed:

"I will make of you a great nation, and I will bless you, and make your name great, so that you will be a blessing.  I will bless those who bless you, and the one who curses you I will curse; and in you all the families of the earth shall be blessed" (Gen 12:2-3).

Following in Genesis 15, God cut a covenant with Abraham to this effect; the future nation of Israel would be a special people for a special purpose, to bring blessing to the world and represent before God the peoples of the earth.  Following on the heels of this covenant, missional churches understand that, through Christ, the church is now the true people of God (1 Pet 2:9-10); therefore, local congregations are the "local manifestations of the covenant community of the King" (Charles Van Engen, God's Missionary People).  Local churches are to represent God to the world through their communities in which they reside and to represent the lost, the hurting and broken before God.

For further insight, note how Jesus adapted this concept in his call to his disciples. The disciples were to be in the world, but they ultimately were not part of the world.  Yet, they were to go into the world and represent Jesus and His Kingdom--"As you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world" (john 17:18). Missional churches see themselves as disciples of Jesus sent into the world on behalf of God the Father, the King.  "They are God's special people who, because of God's call, emerge in human history as the covenant community of the King, a branch chapter of the kingdom of God" (Van Engen, God's Missionary People).

As I work with churches around the world, I ask the following:

• Is your church on mission? Or merely have a missions department?
• Is your church a blessing to your community?  In what way?
• If your church ceased to exist tomorrow, would the community notice or even care?

The answers reveal how missional a church really is.

Our  reFocusing Team at CRM has the Missional Pathway--an effective process to help churches become truly community-impacting churches!  It's a powerful process to help churches connect with their deep roots in God's mission in the world.  

I invite you to take a look:  The Missional Pathway Video

Perhaps we will meet one day.

Kirk

Church Growth?

When I mention the term "church growth" when talking to pastors today, I usually get one of two reactions.  Some pastors have fire in their eyes as they talk about new plans for outreach, new set design for the Sunday morning stage, and new staff additions needed to help grow their church. Other pastors grimace when thinking about the weekly grind of programming, the never ending pressure of providing programs to mollify demanding church members, and the struggles to get their church to care deeply about their community.

"Church growth" can be a lightning-rod term.  And maybe it's a bit dated.  Perhaps it's time to re-frame the conversation.  Church growth for many still implies institution.  It focuses the thinking on attendance, programs, people flow, and closing the proverbial back door.  But as some are starting to realize, folks can join our churches, get involved, stay busy, and yet still reflect very little of Jesus in their lives, not to mention the lack of personal missional engagement in their own spheres of influence.

What if we looked through a different lens?  What if we focused the conversation around making disciples instead of church growth?  Even one of the great pioneers of church growth, Peter Wagner, said this: "Notice that the Great Commission in Matthew 28:19-20 contains four action verbs: go, make disciples, baptize, and teach.  In the original Greek, three of them, go, baptize and teach, are participles or helping verbs.  Only one, make disciples, is an imperative verb.  It is clear exegetically that the goal of the Great Commission is to make disciples" (original author's emphasis, Wagner, Church Growth and the Whole Gospel).

What might happen if we re-think the paradigm?

• How might our thinking as pastors and church leaders shift if we asked questions about how to make disciples rather than just how to grow our churches?  Are they one and the same?  

• What would it look like to emphasize the conversion, growth, maturing, and replicating of disciples instead of church programming?  What might change?

• How would our churches look, feel, and behave if making disciples (learners of Jesus) who can make disciples, was the emphasis?  What would our communities be like?

I'm proud to be part of the reFocusing Team at CRM.  Our team's mission is to help pastors and churches get focused on missional engagement in their communities and teach disciples of Jesus how to make disciples who make disciples.  

If you are curious about this approach, take a look at the "reFocusing" tab at the top this this website and watch the Missional Pathway video.

Let's make disciples of Jesus together,

Kirk

The Church: From Sending to Being Sent

The church in North America is in trouble.  The church of today has been described as a mere vestige of the original movement started by Jesus and the original disciples.  Today, the church is more of an institution than a movement, driven by two complementary values: civil religion and social club. Reggie McNeal muses provocatively, "As he hung on the cross Jesus probably never thought the impact of his sacrifice would be reduced to an invitation for people to join and to support an institution." (Reggie McNeal, The Present Future).

The Christian missionary movement made great gains in the twentieth century and became a truly worldwide movement with churches established on all continents and among major cultural groups. At the same time, Christianity in North America has been declining in adherents, cultural prominence, and impact on society.  North America is truly a mission field today.  What was once a mission-sending nation has become one of the largest mission-receiving nations.

To address this challenge and reverse this trend is going to take more than just problem solving and fixes to our methods.  The issue is about identity more than technique and process.  There is a growing awareness that mission is not just one program of the church, but rather defines the church as God's sent people.  Darrell Guder sums up the situation: "Either we are defined by mission, or we reduce the scope of the gospel and the mandate of the church.  Thus our challenge is to move away from church with mission to missional church." (Darrell Guder, Missional Church)

Towards the end of Jesus' ministry on earth, He prayed about His disciples, "Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world" (John 17:18).  God is a "missionary" God and His people are necessarily a "sent" people.  Despite the fact that the North American church has become a place for programs primarily for church members, the deepest nature of the church is that of a missional, sending body that invites people to experience the forgiveness of Jesus and trains them to receive and walk in the life-transforming power of the Kingdom of God.

Lord, may it be so again!

Kirk
  

Yet Ill-Prepared

"They are the best-educated...yet ill-prepared."  His words sunk into my soul with a distinct heaviness.  This was important data.  The implications are startling.

I was sitting recently at lunch with a colleague in church ministry who has seen young spiritual leaders cross his path for over 15 years.  When I asked him what changes he has seen over the years, what major themes have emerged as he has observed young spiritual leaders over time, these were the words that thoughtfully emerged.

He described how young leaders quote all the latest pastors and authors.  They have their philosophy of ministry down.  They dress right.  The tools and techniques are in place. Their language connects with their audience....  

• But they come and go on a regular basis... 

• Few stick for the long-haul...  

• Many implode due to unresolved internal issues... 

• Few know how to listen to or operate with the power of the Holy Spirit...   

I have been positively affected by the insights of Pastor Pete Scazzero, "The overall health of any church or ministry depends primarily on the emotional and spiritual health of its leadership, In fact, the key to successful spiritual leadership has much more to do with the leader's internal life than with the leader's expertise, gifts, or experience" (Peter Scazzero, The Emotionally Healthy Church).

Jesus modeled time away from ministry to be with the Father (Mark 1:35, Luke 5:16).  Jesus' life was filled with spiritual habits that kept Him in tune with the Father and His own soul--solitude, prayer, worship, service, celebration--to name a few.

Dallas Willard explains it well:  "If we have faith in Christ, we must believe that he knew how to live. We can, through faith and grace, become like Christ by practicing the types of activities he engaged in, by arranging our whole lives around the activities he himself practiced in order to remain constantly at home in the fellowship of his Father." (Dallas Willard, The Spirit of the Disciplines)

When our spiritual leaders, young and old, engage the way of Jesus, that is, follow Jesus in the overall style of life he chose for himself, then they will have what it takes to go the distance in ministry and finish well.

May all of us as Christ-followers discover the unforced rhythms of grace that is the lifestyle of Jesus.

Kirk

Why Spiritual Formation?

Ministry and leadership flow out of being.  What we do and the manner in which we do it, flow out of who we are.  More than just what we know, our leadership and influence flows out of the character that has been formed by our lives.  Spiritual formation is the active process that attends to the nature and quality of our souls.

All human beings have been formed. The question is, in what manner and to what end?  All of one's experiences and choices give shape to one's spirit, that is to the fundamental aspect of all human beings.  Therefore, "spiritual formation" is the specific process of shaping our spirit such that it conforms to the Spirit of Christ.

My former professor, the late Dallas Willard shares some helpful definitions in his works.  "Spiritual formation in Christ is the process whereby the inmost being of the individual (the heart, will, or spirit) takes on the quality or character of Jesus himself." (Dallas Willard, The Great Omission).  

"Spiritual formation for the Christian basically refers to the Spirit-driven process of forming the inner world of the human self in such a way that it becomes like the inner being of Christ himself...in the degree to which spiritual formation in Christ is successful, the inner life of the individual becomes a natural expression or outflow of the character and teachings of Jesus." (Dallas Willard, Renovation of the Heart)

As I pursue the classic spiritual disciplines (silence, solitude, worship, prayer, bible study, scripture memorization, service--to name a few), I willingly enter a space for God to do His shaping work in my life.  I move into a place where God both scrubs and builds.  I learn and unlearn.  I am slowly and intentionally remade.   I am being transformed.  As the Spirit of God works in my life through these bodily habits, I become more loving, more full of joy, peaceful, patient, kind, generous, faithful, gentle, and self-controlled (Gal 5:22-23).  

And when I lead and influence others, there is more of Jesus and less of me in the mix.  That is a good thing.  

• What would it be like if followers of Jesus really started to resemble Jesus in their daily lives?

• What would happen if our churches and ministries were led by people who were actively seeking God's reforming work in their lives?

• What would the Church look like if its constituents were on a journey to truly become more like Jesus?

• What would our communities be like if followers of Jesus lived in the world with souls that were shaped like Jesus?

Paul said to his protege Timothy: "Train yourself in godliness, for, while physical training is of some value, godliness is valuable in every way, holding promise for both the present life and the life to come." (I Tim 4:7)

May your journey with Jesus produce much fruit!

Kirk

Mission and the Life

 "Come follow me, and I will show you how to fish for people!" -- Jesus in Matthew 4:19


Dallas Willard was one of my professors and has been one of the most important mentors in my life. His thinking about the Kingdom of God, apprenticeship to Jesus, and the nature of eternal life has made an indelible imprint on my life and ministry.

Paragraphs like the following have caused me to pause and re-think my assumptions about the Christian life:

"As disciples of Jesus, we today are a part of God' world project.  But realization of that project, it must never be forgotten, is the effect, not the life itself. The mission naturally flows from the life.  It is not an afterthought, or something we might overlook or omit as we live the life. The eternal life, from which many profound and glorious effects flow, is interactive relationship with God and with his Son, Jesus, within the abiding ambiance of the Holy Spirit.  Eternal life is the Kingdom Walk, where, in seamless unit, we 'Do justice, love kindness, and walk carefully with our God' (Mic 6:8). We learn to walk this way through apprenticeship to Jesus. His school is always in session."  (Dallas Willard, The Great Omission)

Believing is following.  Following is apprenticeship.  Apprenticeship produces new behaviors and thinking.  This new life in Jesus really is a new kind of life--it's eternal life starting now!  And from that new life flows the mission in the world--to bring others into this new kind of life.

Jesus gave His final instructions to His disciples: multiply disciples (Matthew 28:19-20).  Teach them.  Show them.  Help them experience this new kind of life so they can make other disciples.  The mission flows out of being.  As Willard puts it, "The mission flows from the life."

• Perhaps we don't make disciples because we really aren't experiencing the new life?  

• Making disciples sounds oppressive because we haven't really taken up the journey with Jesus and had Him remake our life?  

• We may have good doctrine...but do we have new life?

Churches will start multiplying disciples when their people are more than just busy with church activities and truly in Jesus' school of life.  As Willard points out, "His school is always in session."

Kirk

Something Deeper...

In our post-modern, image-based, experience-oriented culture, a statement like the this one from Richard Foster is both salient and descriptive...

"Superficiality is the curse of our age. The doctrine of instant satisfaction is a primary spiritual problem.  The desperate need today is not for a greater number of intelligent people, or gifted people, but for deep people."   (Richard Foster, Celebration of Discipline)

When the storms of life inevitably hit, can we hang onto God and His promises?  When persecution strikes a church, do the members increase their commitment to reflect Jesus in the world or do they quietly, or even quickly, scatter?  When the temptations of the world seduce Christ-followers, do we have the wisdom and the resolve and the "soul tools" to push back?

As we think about the leaders of our churches, can they take us deeper?  Are our Christian leaders deep people?

Dallas Willard asked a pointed question:

"Who among Christians today, is a disciple of Jesus, in any substantive sense of the word 'disciple'?  A disciple is a student, an apprentice--a practitioner, even if only a beginner. the New Testament literature, which must be allowed to define our terms if we are ever to get our bearing in the Way with Christ, makes this clear.  In that context, disciples of Jesus are people who do not just profess certain views as their own but apply their growing understanding of life in the Kingdom of the Heavens to every aspect of life on earth."  (Dallas Willard, The Great Omission)

I want to be a deep person in Christ.  I want to be a disciple of Jesus--in the truest sense of the word. And I know that mere church attendance and church activities will not produce a soul formed like the soul of Jesus.  As a leader, I have learned that creating and putting on the system that we call the institutional church will not necessarily make me a practitioner of the Way.  Often, it can sap my resources and make me hollow.

To be a disciple of Jesus, to be a learner of Jesus' way in the world, first requires a commitment to the journey of spiritual formation.  It requires an intention to learn Jesus' style of life and unlearn some of the habits and patterns acquired along the way.  To be  a disciple of Jesus is to change and grow.

The Apostle Paul would reflect on this process in his letter to the Galatians, "My little children, for whom I am again in the pain of childbirth until Christ is formed in you." (Gal 4:19).

• Are you ready to learn Jesus' ways and rhythms of life?  
• Are you open to letting go of deeply held commitments to managing life your way?  
• Are you ready for Jesus' style of life--"for my yoke is easy and my burden is light." (Matt 11:30)? 

Jesus said, "The time has come...The Kingdom of God has come near.  Repent and believe the good news!" (Mark 1:15)

The first step into discipleship with Jesus is repentance--turning away from one life and into another.

Repentance is a first step and a life-long commitment.  Welcome to the Kingdom!

Kirk

Welcome & Contact Info

Dear Friends (and New Friends),

Welcome to my website!

This will be a place to reflect together on the church, spiritual leadership, and the habits and practices that will help one go the distance and finish well.  I have a heart for leaders in the church.  

As a pastor for over 20 years, I know the joys and bumps along the pastoral journey.  

I know the thrill of effective servant-leadership.  And I know the despair and toxic emotional soup that comes with near burn-out.

All along, I have seen God demonstrate His unshakable faithfulness.

Some of the questions we will explore:

• What will it take for us to love God, walk with Jesus, and minister more in the Spirit?

• How do we grow into generous, loving, and servant-oriented leadership over time? 

• What is Jesus' mission in the world?

• How do we minister effectively in this rapidly changing world?

• How do we grow in our leadership for effective ministry?

• How do we think about and use money and resources for ministry? 

These are important questions. And I'm sure others will surface along the way.  

So let's explore together!  Welcome to a leadership journey.

Please remember to bookmark this page and submit your email to the mailing list on the upper right of this page - it's a great way to connect and stay in touch.   

Blessings,
- Kirk  

Contact me anytime:  Kirk@KirkMackie.com

About me:

I love the Church.  In pastoral roles that span 22 years, my experience leading, coaching, empowering, and consulting results in people coming to faith and changing their culture.  I'm passionate about developing godly leaders around the world.  Leaders emerge clear about their character and unique calling.  

My Doctor of Ministry project for Fuller Seminary integrates leadership development, spiritual formation, and how the Church lives on mission.  Currently, I am a part of the reFocusing Team at CRM.  My wife Robin and I call Fullerton, California home.

reFocusing

Mr. President

Kicking off the year with a CRM Summit Meeting in Southern California.  

Sam Metcalf is one of CRM's original founders and has served as President since 1985.  

Thanks to Sam and his team's efforts, over 500 CRM missionaries live or serve in more than 80 countries around the world today.

We share a strong passion for the missional church, spiritual leadership development, and continuously spreading the news about the kingdom.

"And this gospel of the kingdom will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come."  Matthew 24:14

This is why I joined CRM, you can learn even more by reading Sam's recently published book below.

Blessings,

-KDM.

Click here to read Beyond the Local Church

Kirk@KirkMackie.com

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