My parents divorced when I was 11 years old. I can say without a doubt that AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME God placed men in my life to guide, love, discipline and encourage me. In short, God brought men in my life AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME as MENTORS. Sometimes when I didn’t even know it. God is good.
For over a decade I have been blessed to know Lynn Anderson as a friend, mentor and kingdom partner. He is passionate about Jesus, the Kingdom and helping ministers be God’s men. I along with others have been through his mentoring groups and have committed to mentoring other ministers. I am learning. God is teaching me.
Lynn’s MentorNetwork has been launched and you can see more about the mentoring partners at MentorNetwork
Presently, I am facilitating a mentoring group almost monthly in Denton,TX. We pray, laugh, share resources, dwell in the Word and of course, eat good Mexican food. Of course, we solve the world’s problems in one day but it gets messed up by the next morning. Seriously, this group of men ranging from age 26-75 blesses my life. I receive more than I give. They come from varying sizes of congregations in rural, urban and suburban settings. The group consists of church planters (these young men inspire me), former college administrator and preacher, youth minister, and preachers. The conversation is rich, honest, supportive and full of Holy surprises. Here’s a sample.
I’ll never forget eating at the little Mexican restaurant and hearing a seasoned preacher talk about his first wife’s suicide. She left him with three children to raise. There were dark nights of the soul. No one knew in our group. When the words came out of his mouth it was like the chips froze in my hand.. Silence gripped the others at the table. Here was an older brother in the Lord who was vulnerable with these young brothers. I knew he had some depth for earlier that morning we were sharing Psalms that speak to us. When it came his turn, he quoted most of the Psalm as if he had lived it. He had. God’s spirit showed up big time over chips and salsa.
This is why mentoring groups are so essential.
I want to be to give to others what has been given to me. Mentoring is a collaboration of our experiences, knowledge, a little wisdom, a lot of humility and mutual sharing.
If you know of a minister that really needs encouragement (we all do), let me know and I’ll reach out and see if God connects us AT JUST THE RIGHT TIME. Check out Mentor NETWORK.