American Dream? Or Nightmare?
March 11, 2013Dangers in Defining Church Membership
March 11, 2013Gary Kinnaman, Nothing But Grace LLC
God has given me three essential purposes in this season of my life: (1) preaching and teaching; (2) consulting and coaching—helping pastors and their churches professionally and personally; and (3) building collaborative relationships between and among key leaders. My theme for this season in my life: Getting pastors into relationships with one another, and churches together leading efforts to transform our communities.
Preaching
“Interim” Preaching. I’m continuing to serve LifePoint Church in San Tan Valley as their interim pastor. It’s a church we planted out of Word of Grace eight years ago. Please pray with me and for them as they are close to making a decision about their next pastor.
Radio ministry. I am now a regular fill-in host for Tom Brown and Koinonia on KPXQ 1360 AM in Phoenix.) March 18, 2 to 3 PM I will be talking with key pastoral leaders from City of Grace, Redemption, and Mission, who together have hired a foster care specialist to help them with an amazing collaborative effort to make a huge difference in the Arizona foster care system.
Other. LifePoint has kept me busy through the first couple months of the year, although Pastor David Friend at North Scottsdale Christian Church asked me to be part of a preaching team as they work their way through the Book of Acts in 2013. Also, the last weekend of February I was preaching for and consulting with two small churches outside of Sacramento. They want to grow and make a difference in their communities.
Sharing God’s Word at a Valentine’s dinner for homeless folks in transitional housing at Horace Steele Common just west of downtown Phoenix.
Consulting and Coaching—Helping Pastors and their Churches Professionally and Personally
Alberto Mottesi city-wide event May 31-June 1. Alberto Mottesi is perhaps the best-known Christian leader in Central and South America. Bill Bright, founder of Campus Crusade of Christ, called him “The Billy Graham of Latin America.” Others have referred to him as “Pastor to Presidents,” because of his extraordinary influence among leaders in the highest positions of political leadership. The main hallway in their ministry center is lined with dozens of photos of Dr. Mottesi praying with Latin American presidents. Alberto is a personal friend, and I’ve had the special honor of serving as Chairman of the Board of his ministry, based in Santa Ana, California.
I’m also serving on a team of Hispanic pastors led by Jose Gonzalez who, with a smile, calls himself “the Gary Kinnaman of the Hispanic community.” This is the lead team for special bilingual services with Alberto Mottesi May 31-June 1 at Grand Canyon University. We expect standing room only—and hundreds of people coming to Christ.
Jose Gonzalez wrote, “Gary is a key person in my efforts to gather Hispanic pastors. His role as a mentor and special collaborator has been of very special help.”
Alberto Mottesi in the new studio of his new program, “Your Kingdom Come.” The board of directors is standing behind him.
Cuba! I’ve been invited to participate in a unique outreach to pastors in Cuba at the end of April. Steve Johnson of LAM (Latin American Ministries based here and in Miami) wrote, “Are you interested in joining me and a few other pastors from Phoenix and Miami to see what God is doing in Cuba right now through pastoral training? We are partnering with a major independent movement of evangelical churches to provide in-depth training for hundreds of their pastors…They do not have access to the internet [in Cuba], so we are working on some fascinating new and awesome technical ideas for getting info to them…. Gary, I think your pastoral strengths could be a key to helping advance this major move of God in Cuba.”
Please pray about this—and consider a special contribution to help cover my travel expenses for this incredible opportunity.
Networking Leaders
Congressman Matt Salmon. On February 21, I facilitated a meeting with our new East Valley congressman Matt Salmon to discuss solutions to fixing our broken immigration laws. Our team included Tom Shrader and Tyler Johnson of Redemption Church, Ian Danley of Neighborhood Ministries, Tom Parker, Director of Fuller Southwest, Jose Gonzalez, and many more. I consider Congressman Salmon a friend, as he attended a leaders’ Bible study I did when I was pastor at Word of Grace. For what conservative Christians are saying about this national problem, visit www.evangelicalimmigrationtable.com.
Personal
Where we live: Morrison Ranch in Gilbert.
Yeah, we got to see our youngest grandchild, Oliver Kinnaman, at the end of February. His dad, Matt, is in the Navy in Japan, and we’ve only seen Oliver a couple times since he was born in September, 2011. Extended military families make sacrifices, too. And have I told you that our son-in-law Jeff Culver is teaching at Valor, an incredible Christian High School in Denver?
Oliver (top) and our son-in-law Jeff with his daughters Kaitlyn and Lauren—date night with dad (below).
Your Continued Financial Support
Thank you for your regular and generous financial support. We can receive tax-deductible donations directly to Nothing But Grace. We’re also set up to receive contributions through PayPal: http://v2.garykinnaman.com/?page_id=8.
