Author Archives: Randy Reese

About Randy Reese

I experience deep joy when I see people discover more fully who God is, who they are, and what God has called them to do. I play that out at VP3 by helping to ensure that collectively we as a team and as an organization are architecting resources and processes to help deepen and empower people in churches and other organizations. Susan is my wife, soul mate and friend…Liam is our son in whom we are simply amazed. I am originally from Canada where my vocational work was that of a journeyman electrician. When I married Susan, I began another educational journey in preparation for the ministries I am a part of today…undergraduate at University of Sioux Falls (BA), masters at Sioux Falls Seminary (MDiv), and then doctoral work at Fuller Seminary (DMiss). Besides all of that, put a good pot of coffee on and I love to sit and have good conversations.

Pause

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When the Thanksgiving holiday came around in Canada, which was usually the second weekend in October, I saw it primarily as a long weekend.  In order of importance were:  a day off school and eventually work, one extra night to stay up late and an extra morning to sleep in, for-sure church attendance that Sunday (Mom’s idea), and of course the signature turkey meal.

I remember my first American Thanksgiving in Missoula, Montana.  I took a year off from the electrical trade to travel around North America with a ministry team of college agers.  We would visit churches performing concerts, dramas, door-to-door visitation and discipleship training.  I was the sound man.  For the life of me I could not figure out why there was such a big to do by the Americans on the team regarding Thanksgiving, and why they felt so disheartened about not being able to be home with their families to celebrate what was obviously a major deal. Continue reading →

Being Led

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The Reeses decided our vacation time this summer would include time spent in one of the most beautiful parts of the homeland of Canada, Banff National Park.  Just before you get into the park along the #1 Highway you come to Canmore, Alberta.  An impressive little town with ginormous sentinel mountains surrounding the town.

One of those mountains is called Ha-Ling Peak, named after a Chinese cook for the Canadian National Railway who in 1896 was double-dog-dared for fifty bucks to plant a flag at the top of the mountain.  Those wagering the fifty bucks said he couldn’t do it in less than ten hours.  He started at 7am and was back in time for lunch, planting a large enough flag for the doubters at the local watering hole to see.  That was before any paths were cut to make it “easier” to get to the top. Continue reading →

Good Words From A Good Pastor

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Jason Koleba is the lead pastor at Cochrane Alliance Church in Cochrane, Alberta.  If you get a chance to hang out with Jason, before you reach the end of your grande coffee you get a sense that he is a person in love with Jesus and His way in the world.  In fact, a concern for unleashing the church to live more missionally is a significant part of Jason’s signature, and why he knows the importance of investing in the deepening and empowering of those who call Cochrane Alliance their home.

The following are some words of encouragement and challenge he offered to those whom he had been walking alongside over the past three years, helping them discover more deeply who God is, who they are, and what God desires to do through their lives for the Kingdom.  To be honest, I find myself prayerfully hoping for similar words and letters to be given by more pastors across North America.  The church would become an attractive community again if such “walkingalongsideness” were practiced. Continue reading →

Things May Be Different Than They Appear

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I have been re-reading the Bible.  It’s been a while since I’ve read it from ding to dong.  Usually my intake of the Word is guided by a bit of a gut check to be honest with what book of the Bible or passage I need to land on for a bit.  And I have never been disappointed in the Spirit’s way of timing what I read with the particulars of my life.  Maybe that’s part of the “living and active” thing.

I’ve been making my way through Genesis over the past several weeks.  There have been many foundational blocks laid in Genesis that our faith has been built upon, held together by the mortar of God’s Spirit.  Quite frankly, I have found myself saying to myself many times on this read through, “Holy moly. Talk about your crazy narratives and timelines!” Continue reading →

A Few Good Practices

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It is a good practice to glean what you can from those who know how to practice well.  Last week VP3 hosted a webinar called, “Best Practices in Local Church Leadership Development.”  Three panelists joined our time to share what they have learned over the years regarding an investment in the formation of those within their local communities.

Pam, Kent and Beth are seasoned at knowing how to notice the particulars of those whom they walk alongside.  All three know how to “call out” what they see dormant in peoples’ lives.  They are careful, yet direct in making appropriate and tailored prescriptions, helping people move toward a better place of maturity and a truer place of service.  Quite frankly, I was impressed with the practices they keep in this sometimes misunderstood deal of leadership development.  Their practice grows from a conviction that leadership development from a Christian perspective is first and always tethered to helping people tend to their followership to Jesus Christ.  You will benefit from listening in on what they said.  Here are some highlights… Continue reading →

A Gathering of Saints

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Last week twenty-seven of us gathered together in Sioux Falls for a retreat.  By the end of our two days together we realized we were no ordinary group of twenty-seven people.  We became a remarkable community of brothers and sisters in need of some space, perspective, words, silence and friendship.  The theme for our gathering was “A Sacred Heart.”  The hope for the gathering can be heard in David’s prayer, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and put a new and right spirit within me (Ps 51:10).

There are no shortage of things that get us entangled and snared along the way of this deal we call ministry.  This unusual gathering of saints had plenty of tangles and snares to share, but more so plenty of presence, experience and from time to time a word or two to offer. Continue reading →

Wrong or Right?

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VantagePiont3 has been around for about a dozen years.  In that time we have encountered remarkable changes in the lives of hundreds of people who have gone through one or more of our processes.  And, we have also been able to see some of the ripple effects from those changed lives upon their local church communities.  We have experienced in good measure James Houston’s wise words, “Shape the person and you shape everything else.”

This work I’m a part of at VP3 is such a good work…a deepening and empowering of peoples lives so that they might participate more fully in the ongoing Kingdom work of God.  But, it has also been a hard work and in my more honest moments I sometimes confess why something so good and consistently life changing has been a rather difficult sell.  ”What am I or we doing wrong?” is usually the question that immediately follows such honest moments. Continue reading →

Discipleship: The Critical Need in Leadership Development Today

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Today BrianSteenhoek and I facilitated a webinar called, “Discipleship:  The Critical Need in Leadership Development Today.”  It seemed to scratch an itch from the responses of those who attended.  We thought we would offer you a condensed version of some of our notes here.   Continue reading →

Invitations To Die

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To be honest, a theme I’ve noticed in my own walk lately has been dying.  Now, although it sounds silly, I must confess that even letting you in on this will make me wonder if I’ve just entered my final days…a peculiar sort of superstition.  But I have heard stories of people who said, “I’m ready to die!”  And then two days later actually die.  So, to set the record straight, although I love Jesus and look forward to meeting him I sure hope I don’t die two days from now.

What I have been wondering about is what it means for aspects of my life to die in order to bear more and better fruit.  Jesus did say, and even with a verily, “Very truly, I tell you, unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains just a single grain;  but if it dies, it bears much fruit” (John 12:24).  Lately, three “deaths” have caused me to wonder what sort of fruit I am being invited to bear… Continue reading →