“Daddy, when will I be a man?”

I’ve already been asked questions like this by my oldest son. I anticipate that over the years ahead I’ll have the privilege of answering this question for my boys. I hope that I will have modeled biblical masculinity for them in such a way that it will take little explanation. I fear that men and women in our culture would have a very hard time defining manhood or womanhood. Feminists have for a long time successfully fought for a society that erases the lines delineating between what makes us distinctly male or female. The results are obvious to the casual observer of our current pop-culture. Boys are waiting longer and longer to take on the responsibilities of being a man.

1/3 of guys in their 20′s and early 30′s live with their parents. That is a 100% increase in the last 20 years. Men can’t decide what they want to be when they “grow up”. Guys 18-42 years old will change jobs an average of 11 times! And when they get home from their jobs they are sick of trying to act like the man they want their peers to think they are and so they retreat into a false world where they have no real risk or responsibility or consequences. The average video game user now is 35 years old! And then when the door is shut behind them and no one is looking, men are taking the easy way out to receive sexual gratification outside of a marriage relationship. Every single second that passes, $3,000 is spent on pornography. These are sad statistics. I got these stats from a great video by Darrin Patrick. His book, Church Planter, is incredible.

While reading an article by John Piper on complementarianism I came across this interesting quote:

“The tendency today is to stress the equality of men and women by minimizing the unique significance of our maleness or femaleness. But this depreciation of male and female personhood is a great loss. It is taking a tremendous toll on generations of young men and women who do not know what it means to be a man or a woman. Confusion over the meaning of sexual personhood today is epidemic. The consequence of this confusion is not a free and happy harmony among gender-free persons relating on the basis of abstract competencies. The consequence rather is more divorce, more homosexuality, more sexual abuse, more promiscuity, more social awkwardness, and more emotional distress and suicide that come with the loss of God-given identity.” (A Vision of Biblical Complementarity, pp. 26-27, John Piper)

While the scope of consequences to our culture are shocking, the benefits of a biblical understanding of sexuality are equally pervasive. It will change your entire world view. Truth always does.

We believe that there are few men today who know how to be strong, faithful, masculine men. We have a real heart to train men. We want to begin to rediscover and redeem what it means to be a man. We believe a handful of good men who will love their wives, teach their children, lead their families, and are on fire for Jesus Christ and his mission can change a city.

For more reading on this topic check out Recovering Biblical Manhood and Womanhood by Wayne Grudem and John Piper

Why Plant a New Church in Wilmington, Vermont?

Why Plant a New Church in Wilmington, Vermont?
This is often the first question that people ask us when they find out that we are leaving all that we know and love in our home town and moving 1,000 miles away to cold weather and a place where we know no one. Let me just give you 5 reasons.

1.   Our God is a sending God:

“Go and make disciples…” (Matt. 28:19)

“For God so loved the world that he sent…” (Jn 3:16)

“Just as you sent me into the world, I am sending them into the world.” (Jn 17:18)

“Look, I am sending you out…” (Matt. 10:16)

“And he called his twelve disciples together and began sending them out two by  two…” (Mark 6:9)

2.   God’s Kingdom growth and the growth of his church are inseparable:

The Great Commission given by Jesus in Matthew 28 says: “Therefore, go and make disciples of all the nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.  Teach these new disciples to obey all the commands I have given you. And be sure of this: I am with you always, even to the end of the age.”

Making disciples results in the formation of new churches.  As we go and proclaim the gospel, new Christ followers result. New followers of Jesus gather to create communities of believers in particular geographic locations. In these communities of believers, evangelism occurs creating new disciples, new believers are baptized, and the word of God is taught.

3.   The most effective method of evangelism on the planet is church planting:

Research has proven that new churches effectively win more people to Christ than older, more established churches.

“Churches over fifteen years of age win an average of only three people to Christ per year for every one hundred church members. Churches three years to fifteen years old win an average of five people to Christ per year for every one hundred church members, but churches under three years of age win an average of ten people to Christ per year for every one hundred church members.”  (Brian McNichol)

“The average new congregation will bring 6-8 times more new people into the life of the Body of Christ than an older congregation of the same size.” (Tim Keller)

4. New England desperately needs new churches:

New England is now the least churched region of our nation.

There are roughly 14.5 million people in New England. Between 1% and 3% of those 14.5 million even attend an evangelical church. (According to Glenmary Research Center, via NETS Institute for Church Planting)

A 2009 Gallop poll placed the six states of New England in the top ten least religious states in the nation. Steeples sprinkle the landscape across New England. However most of these old churches are now either empty or are occupied by a business. 

5. Vermont is the least churched state in America:

Statistically speaking, there is no where in all of the U.S. that needs new churches more than Vermont. Children in Vermont are the least likely to be taken to a weekly church service.

When we traveled to Wilmington for our vision trip we attended the only evangelical church in the city. There were 18 adults and 3 children. Out of these 18 adults only 6 were men. Stop for just a minute and think about what I just told you. There is a city in our country where only 6 men attend an evangelical church!

The city of Wilmington is not even 1% evangelical. Anything less than 2% is considered an “unreached people group” by the Joshua Project. We are sending missionaries to remote parts of the earth that have a higher percentage of evangelicals than Vermont. (of course those people need missionaries too!)

I hope the Lord will burden your heart for these people as he has burdened ours. We need your prayers. Wilmington needs your prayers. It seems very clear to me that Jesus loves Wilmington.

Out of Ur… Part 2

Looking at Wilmington from just outside of town

By: Ben Presten

Four months had passed since the morning that God made it clear to Tiffany and me that we would one day plant a church in New England (see Tiffany’s post telling the first part of our story) We were spending every spare minute in God’s word and reading books about starting a church. My internship was going well and our faith was growing quickly. As we studied church planting we began to see a common thread throughout every story of a couple being called to start a church. Every church planter’s story included a broad calling to begin a new church, and then a specific calling to a specific city in which to begin the work. As we read of account after account, we started to realize that the Lord would clarify for us where exactly he had in mind for us to go. We had already experienced the broad calling to church planting, and now we knew we needed a specific calling to a city.

In December 2010 Tiffany and I talked and decided to begin asking the Lord in faith to call us to the specific location he wanted us to plant a church. To be honest our praying was not very fervent. Perhaps we still felt as if it would be quite some time before the Lord would answer our prayers. On December 11th my brother told me that he and his wife were committing to pray for us for the next few days. They would be praying for God to reveal to us the city to which we were called. Still thinking that God would wait until a later date I honestly didn’t think much of it.

The next day, December 12th, I was at work. I’m a firefighter and work 24 hour shifts. Evening rolled around and I was anxious to read my bible. The evenings tend to be our down time when we can start to relax and do our own thing. I retreated to my bunk to spend some time alone in the word with the Lord. I was studying Psalm 32. God’s word was especially refreshing to my soul that night. I read the first verses of Psalm 32 which spoke of the one whose sins are not counted against him.

 Blessed is the one whose transgression is forgiven,

whose sin is covered.

Blessed is the man against whom the LORD counts no iniquity,

and in whose spirit there is no deceit.    (v. 1-2)

 The chapter then goes on to talk about the importance of confessing our sins to the Lord.

I acknowledged my sin to you,

and I did not cover my iniquity;

I said, “I will confess my transgressions to the LORD,”

and you forgave the iniquity of my sin.   (v. 5)

 I began confessing my sins to the Lord and enjoying a time of great fellowship with him. I continued to read. I was stopped in my tracks as I read a verse that I believed spoke directly to our situation.

I will instruct you and teach you in the way you should go;

I will counsel you with my eye upon you.  (v. 8)

As I read it was as if a light was being shone into my heart revealing to me some real error in my thinking. I suddenly saw very clearly that I was placing a great weight upon my own shoulders. I was assuming the responsibility of hearing from the Lord about where we were to plant. The problem was that I was having to put my trust in myself instead of God. I began to thank the Lord that he would instruct us as to where we should go. I felt a great release as I laid the responsibility at the feet of Jesus believing that as long as we were truly surrendered to go where he told us to go, the Lord would see to it that we would have direction.

In that very moment, alone at my desk, head hung over my bible, the Lord spoke to me. I was not asking him to speak to me right then… I was not expecting him to speak to me right then… but he did. He didn’t speak to me in an audible voice. In fact it was clearer than an audible voice. Everything in my mind came to rest and my thoughts were stilled.

Then he spoke.

“WILMINGTON”

Wilmington? I’d never even heard of a Wilmington before.

“Lord, are you telling me where we are to go? WILMINGTON? Lord, where in the world is Wilmington?”

My eyes were closed, my head bowed, my heart racing. Then I saw very clearly a city in a valley. I was nearly in a state of shock. The God of the universe was speaking to me! He was fulfilling his promise in Psalm 32:8.

“Lord, you want me to go to a place called Wilmington in a valley?” I sat there for just a moment repeating the word “Wilmington” out loud over and over again. If anyone had walked in on me right then they would have thought I was crazy. I was very curious to find out just where this Wilmington in a valley was located. I made my way over to the offices so I could do some research. I googled “Wilmington”. A few cities named Wilmington popped up as first on the list that were not located in a valley or in New England. Then as I got to the next Wilmington on the list my stomach sank as I saw that it was located in Vermont. My mind was spinning.

I had to find out if Wilmington, Vermont was located in a valley. I clicked on one of the search results. The first sentence almost knocked me out of my chair. “The town of Wilmington, Vermont nestled in the heart of the Deerfield Valley…”  My eyes were fixed on that sentence. Now I knew where I was going. I spent the next half hour researching Wilmington, Vermont. If the story ended here it would be an incredible story… but it doesn’t end here.

It was almost time for bed, and my shift wouldn’t end until 7:00 the next morning. I called my wife and told her that the Lord had given me the name of the city where we would start a church. She was dying to know what I’d learned. However, I decided not to tell her right away. Instead I asked her if she would be willing to wait and pray and ask the Lord to reveal it to her as well. She agreed and we said our ‘goodnights’ and got off the phone. The next morning my drive home seemed to take an eternity. I was talking to the Lord about Wilmington and asking him to tell Tiffany just as he had told me.

As soon as I walked in the door I asked her if she felt like the Lord had revealed anything to her. She looked discouraged when I asked and explained that after we got off the phone she was praying and really thought that the Lord had impressed the name of a random city on her heart. Excited and hopeful she immediately looked the city up online. She was discouraged when she found that the city she believed the Lord put on her heart was not located in New England and assumed that she was just confused and had not actually heard from the Lord. Curious, I asked her what the name of the city was that she’d thought she heard. “Wilmington,” she said awkwardly, and looked at me with a look that said, “how random is that?”. I fell on my knees and tried catching my breath. I felt like someone had just hit me from behind. Tiffany stared at me with her eyes opened wide and her mouth open. “What?” she asked. “It’s Wilmington?” I could only nod as my eyes filled with tears.

I went on to explain to her that there was in fact a Wilmington in New England, and that it was a small town in southern Vermont. We tried to soak in the wonder of what had just taken place. We worshipped. We cried. We surrendered afresh to this calling to a town in a valley, 1,000 miles from home.

Please pray and ask the Lord if he wants you to partner with us in some way as we move forward in this journey to take the gospel to New England.

If you want to help stay connected to us through this blog, or contact us on facebook.

Why New England is the New American Missional Frontier

THIS is a must read. Posted by Jared Wilson, pastor of a church in Vermont.

http://theresurgence.com/2010/08/12/why-new-england-is-the-new-american-missional-frontier

Out of Ur… the call to church planting

Post by: Tiffany Presten

We have often wondered how to discern God’s calling on our lives. We know that God’s greater calling to all believers is to proclaim His name and make disciples of all nations. But what does this look like specifically for us?

God saved both Ben and myself in 2004, our junior year at the University of Georgia. We both immediately had a passion to teach and see others come to know the Lord. At Passion 2006 God told Ben that he would one day be a pastor. At the time, Ben had a paralyzing fear of public speaking, but he surrendered this to the Lord. Not long after, he had a dream in which he was preaching at a candle light service with hundreds of people seated on a hill. When he awoke he knew that this was not an ordinary dream, but that it was from the Lord. In the meantime, we both graduated, began working and got married. Ben was building houses and I was teaching. We had really good, comfortable jobs. But we couldn’t shake the sense that one day we would go into “full time” ministry. We got involved and started serving at a local church and the pastor began discipling Ben.

By early 2008 Ben expressed to his father that he would soon step down from the family business of building houses and begin to pursue pastoral ministry. Ben’s desire to preach and lead young adults was increasing. So in August we started a college and singles ministry at our church. It was really exciting and grew quickly. People came to know the Lord and several that already knew him decided to go into ministry themselves. However, this did not turn into a paid position and Ben’s convictions to provide for his family outweighed his passion for preaching. We did a lot of dreaming about moving to Athens, GA where we attended UGA and starting a church there, but no doors ever opened. We contacted people, tried to sell our house, and spent way too many hours looking for a home there! I became pregnant with our second baby boy and Ben got a job with the fire department. Daniel was born in March of 2009. In June, roughly a year after we began the college ministry Ben stepped down as the college pastor. Ben’s fire and EMS training was becoming more and more intense and we had a newborn baby at home.

Training for the fire department started in April and ended nearly 9 months later in December of 2009. In January 2010 the Lord started lighting a fire under us. We were both immersing ourselves in the Word and renewed vision started welling up inside us.  God totally set both of us on fire for him and gave us an unquenchable desire for his Word. The call and desire to pastor a church became stronger and stronger. We spoke often of what our church would look like and jotted notes of the things we saw as being crucial. We even talked of just starting a church right then in our home! We had always said we were willing to do anything for the Lord and the gospel, but during this season of life that really became true. We were ready for God to do something dramatic. It wasn’t just words anymore, the desire to live in total abandon and forsake the American dream was from the heart. I began praying for God to do something radical with us. In February we felt the Lord pulling us away from our church to pursue more training. We had felt this before, but this time it was strong and urgent. We started praying hard and specifically for the Lord to confirm this. In March we knew it was time to go; we just weren’t sure where. At this point, we knew the Lord was telling us that church planting was in our future, but we also knew we needed to be prepared by seasoned church planters. Leaving our church was very hard. We had served at this church for almost four years and were very close to the pastor. It was hard and confusing to tell someone that you need to leave, but you don’t know where you are going.

Another local church was planting a church about 20 minutes down the road from us, so we thought it made sense to get involved there. We started to visit this church and really liked the people and their passion for the Lord. But after about two months of trying to get involved we realized that we weren’t really needed. The church was very large and already had tons of people on board for the church plant. So, we were back to square one. We start praying that the Lord would show us where he wanted us, “anywhere in the world,” we would pray. We were really seeking direction. After a time of prayer and surrender together, Ben looked at me with confused eyes. He said he thought the Lord impressed a place on his heart… “Vermont”.  What?! I said, “Okay… I’m willing to do whatever but that seems random”. So we start doing a little research and found out that Vermont is the least churched state in the nation. It ranks 50th in people likely to attend church. So Vermont started to make more sense. We had both always loved the New England states because it’s beautiful and I’m a huge history nerd, but this day the Lord really started to give us compassion for these people. Still, after a full day of research we moved on. We were confused and didn’t understand what the Lord was doing in us. We decided to visit a church that is less than five minutes from our home and loved it! After the service we both had a strange sense that we could do ministry there. This was the main thing that brought us back. By now the desire for church planting was consuming and we knew we needed to be somewhere that we could serve and lead as we learned whatever it was that God wanted to teach us before he sent us out.

We met with the executive pastor, Jim, and shared our testimonies and our heart for church planting. We learned a lot about the church and discovered that we have very similar theology and methodology. But the most encouraging thing we learned  out of that meeting was that the head pastor’s vision for the church is to be a launching pad for church planters! We were sold. So, we met with the head pastor, Jonathan. We shared our testimonies with him and our background in ministry. He shared his heart and vision for the church. The meeting went on for hours. He told us of his vision to have a church planting internship at Graystone. This would raise up leadership and provide people an opportunity to be trained for full time ministry. We were fully on board. By the end of the meeting he told us that if we felt called to plant a church, Graystone was behind us! We left floating. To top it off, the next Sunday we met his wife Jennifer and she said that Jonathan had come home and told her about us and that he’s been praying for church planters and we just might be the ones he’s been praying for! We felt we were really starting to see God’s plan for us unfold and were unbelievably excited! Plans were put in place for me to be mentored by Jennifer, and for Ben to be discipled by Jonathan. We also signed up to lead a small group  wanting to serve in any way the Lord led us. Ben became the church planting intern at the church and underwent an intense church planter assessment process led by international church planting expert, John Worcester. Ben’s calling was confirmed and the training began.

On August 12th something incredible happened. I was in the kitchen and Ben called me over to the computer to read a blog on theResurgence.com. I didn’t think anything of this because it’s a blog we regularly read. As I was walking over I saw the title of the blog…  “New England”. I’m paralyzed. I can’t think or move or talk. I can’t even explain what’s happening, but I know it’s the presence of the holy spirit. I made my way to the computer and slowly sat down to begin reading the article, but I couldn’t. My eyes hadn’t left the title. My stomach was in my throat and I had the strangest feeling. I turned my head to look at Ben and  saw that he was crying. I just smiled. I started to read the article, but began to weep. The article explained that the New England states have become almost entirely pagan. Less than 3% of the population would even claim to be protestant Christians and the majority of the churches left are embracing liberal theology such as universalism and homosexuality. At this point we were both staring at the computer crying. We gained a little composure and continued reading. Then we both started laughing out of pure joy! We were both crying and laughing at the same time. It was the most surreal moment. We knew the Holy Spirit was THERE, in our midst, affecting change in our hearts! I felt the strangest mix of emotions, and it was the most joyful feeling in the world!  We both finished reading and looked at each other. We knew without a doubt that we were supposed to one day go to New England. All the memories from a couple months before came flooding back and made sense. We immediately got on our faces and submitted to the Lord. We confessed our fears and hesitations and God gave us an amazing peace and excitement and faith.

This tells the story of how God called us into the journey church planting. However there is much more to our story. Four months later, God would give us a very specific calling to a remote town in a valley. We will tell this portion of our story very soon. We hope it will be an encouragement to you!

~Tiffany

Part 2 of our story

Valley Town Church