Author Archives: Brian Steenhoek

About Brian Steenhoek

I help to promote the work of VantagePoint3 to the church. I enjoy interacting with churches and church leaders to help them understand how the VantagePoint3 processes can serve as a part of their overall strategy of spiritual formation and leadership development within their own contexts.

Giving Thanks

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Thank you.

When you think about it, saying “Thank you,” is one of the first manners we encourage small children to adopt. This simple practice of remembering to thank the people around us is so basic to positive human interactions that, when absent, it is a glaring rudeness that paints the withholding party as arrogant. (Lisa Borden, Blogger @ The Conversant Life)

Far be it from us that we take this privileged position we have of serving you for granted.  Which is why, on the week of Thanksgiving here in the US, it seems appropriate for us to pause and say “Thanks.”  We are grateful for your participation and support of our work and we enjoy the ministry partnership we share with so many of you.  May you experience God’s abundance and grace where you live, work, serve and worship.   Continue reading →

Church Planter Discussion – Part 4 “Relationship”

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Discipleship/Leadership Development Requires Relationship…

(This is part of a series of entries regarding a round table discussion with church planters about multiplying disciples and leaders.)

       ”But God so ordered life that we may learn to bear one another’s burdens.  No one lives faultlessly.  All carry burdens.  No person really enjoys self-sufficiency; no one possesses enough wisdom for that!  All this says:  Help one another.  Comfort one another.  Teach one another.  Correct one another.”  (Thomas a Kempis from, The Imitation of Christ)

“Two are better than one…”  (Ecclesiastes 4:9) Continue reading →

Essential Reading

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HarperOne recently published a new book by Renovare’ titled, 25 Books Every Christian Should Read:  A Guide to the Essential Spiritual Classics.  The book was compiled by Renovare’ staff and a select Editorial Board that included Richard Foster, Dallas Willard, Phyllis Tickle, and Richard Rohr.  In the book, there is a brief historical introduction to each book, followed by a section on why they believe the book is important,  highlights of the themes of the book, and excerpts from the book itself.  It is a useful guide to some of the best Christian spiritual classics.    Continue reading →

Church Planter Discussion – Part 3 “Process”

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Discipleship/Leadership Development Requires a Process…

(This is part of a series of entries regarding a round table discussion with church planters about multiplying disciples and leaders.)

As leaders, one of the most important things we can do is to pay attention to those we influence and help them in their own development.  We may intuitively know that we need to help people in their development as disciples and leaders, but many of us feel inadequate or simply don’t know how.  We may be so busy leading, we haven’t really considered how we might ‘multiply’ ourselves as leaders. Continue reading →

Church Planter Discussion – Part 2 “Disciple”

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Not long ago, I sat down with a group of change agents who believe that our North American field is ‘ripe unto Harvest.’  And because of that missionary perspective, they are becoming the ‘Harvest Hands’ of our day.  They are people who are on the front lines of ministry, seeking to share and demonstrate the gospel in their contexts.

In the substance of our discussion, it became clear that they are leading a strategic discussion in their churches as they ponder how they can multiply more congregations of disciples, not just more churches with members. Continue reading →

Banff – 2011

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This past weekend we enjoyed the Enriching Retreat held in the beautiful  surroundings of Banff, Alberta.  The discussions were lively, the food fabulous, and the fellowship sweet as we focused on the ongoing need to develop our inner lives and to pay attention to the development of others.

It was a great weekend!

Church Planter Discussion – Part 1

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I recently joined with a group of uniquely gifted and creative pastors who are either planting a church or supervising other church planters.  They are intent on reaching people with the gospel, as well as embodying the gospel within their communities.  And from all accounts, they all are experiencing both the joy of that call, and the challenges surrounding that call.  Some are bi-vocational, while most are vocational planters/missionaries in our North American culture.

The conversation was around the idea of how their communities of faith might move into the realm of multiplying themselves into new communities of faith–in other words, planting again.  As the discussion unfolded, the issues they were facing centered around the idea of discipleship and leadership development. Continue reading →

Leadership Retreat – Camp Geneva (Holland, MI)

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This past weekend Rob and I gathered with a group of 25-30 leaders and pastors involved in the “Commissioned Pastor” process in the Great Lakes region of the Reformed Church in America.  Rob spoke on the theme of “Keeping Company with God and with Others.”  The time was filled with worship, spiritual exercises and rich conversations at the beautiful Geneva Shores Camp and Retreat Center on the shores of Lake Michigan in Holland, MI.

To all our new friends–we wish you well on your journey!

Making Introductions…Telling Stories

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As a new Team member, I want to say, “Hello” to the VP3 community!  I recently came on full-time in the area of Advancement here at VantagePoint 3.  I have the joy of telling the story of what has been happening as churches, organizations and individuals have been using and going through the VP3 processes.  Did you know that nearly 7000 individuals have been through the Emerging Journey experience alone?   And as a result of God working through these experiences, there are hundreds of stories of life change, the development of new ministries, and the raising up of ‘harvest hands’ for kingdom work.

I have my own story of change and growth.  I got connected to VP3 as a church planter and pastor, looking for a way to spiritually nurture and empower my people in our ministry context.  I found the processes deeply encouraging to me personally, and life-changing for many who I had the privilege of leading.  As a result, many were encouraged, new leaders emerged, and new ministries developed.  It provided a wonderful context for God to do a good work. Continue reading →