We generally go away for a weekend retreat twice a year. This fall my vision was to for the first time take with us several new people who have been slowing gathering towards us in ministry – volunteers, students, and leaders of a the “satellite” ministries that are under our umbrella. But frankly, it’s been…

This past month I lost my father to lung cancer, diagnosed less than three weeks prior. I had the privilege of speaking at the memorial service. But this was a moment I had been thinking about for an awfully long time.  Back in 2004, I got the inspiration to write a eulogy for Daddy that…

Here is a section of my recent newsletter that didn’t make the cut. My editors thought it was a little gross for most people’s tastes. So I’ve preserved it here. They say insanity is doing the same thing over and over again, but expecting a different result. So how many of us stay in our…

Although I am far from an expert, I have taken some interest in the spiritual history and destiny of St. Petersburg, just as I used to do so when serving in Richmond. Here is a document that I wrote a few years ago that I hope to expand as more people can join me in…

We held a seminar this month that almost didn’t happen, and that until the day before I didn’t even care to do. In this seminar, I didn’t teach for more than 5-10 minutes of the 8 hour day, but it was probably the most transformative seminar we have ever offered the community. Its genesis was…

It’s wonderful how God connects us with new people. In this case, through Amanda (our young missionary from IHOP), which itself had been a God connection, I was introduced to Daniel. Daniel is the son of Russian immigrants who live in Orlando. His heart is as big as any I have seen, though. His desire…

Guest post today, from our budding author, Kerith. Photos courtesy of our budding photographer, Lydia.  Across the street from my house and down a short trail, past concrete blocks and rusty reinforcement cables, nonchalantly flows the polluted creek where I spend my most treasured moments. Once I leave the courtyard of my apartment residence and…

I’m really excited about the potential of this new project we are working to launch this spring. I feel like God just plopped this down in my spirit one night while praying about how to effectively communicate what I am doing and whom I seek to partner with in the city. I realized that I…

Our whole strategy has changed and picked up speed this fall, and not because our direction has changed, but because it’s a new season – and it’s exciting. We have two goals, one internal, and one external, for this year. For us as a core team, our goal is to learn how to hear God…

This is the text of the message I gave at the wedding I performed this month in Kiev. For more on how that came about, click here. I have the joy and privilege today of bringing together in holy matrimony a tiny piece of Ukraine with a tiny piece of Russia. But I want to…