A desperate need for us to grow up
Are you sensing an urgent call to level up? To increase your level of commitment, discipline, prayer, courage, and leadership? I sure am. It’s been increasing for me exponentially for the last two years, and the urgency keeps accelerating, right through this very moment, as in the last three hours.
If you are, I invite you to read a longer-than-normal newsletter. It might take you six minutes instead of three.
John 17 fanatics around the nation
Here’s a snapshot of last week for me. I spent three days in Kansas City with a group of about 25 people around the nation who are John 17 fanatics – fully aligned with Jesus’ prayer that our harmony with Jesus’ John 17 prayer (our very-different-parts orchestrated into beautiful and deep love for one another under the perfect leadership of the one Head, Jesus Christ) is THE key strategy for how our world, city, family, and friends will come to know who Jesus is and how much God loves them.
John 17 students around Southern Arizona
Then I spent three days with the men’s John 17 weekend, which included 60 men from southern Arizona from over 25 different congregations. This is our tenth set of John 17 Weekends in Tucson… and with all caution, attempting to bridle my fleshly enthusiasm, I can confidently say to you that God is doing a new thing. The Light is brighter, more intense, more focused. It feels more like Pentecost than anything I’ve experienced in my 61 years of life. The sense I’m getting is that Holy Spirit is being poured out and released like a flood, and to try to contain or control what’s happening would be deadly - perhaps even literally.
80 women from Southern Arizona begin their 72-hour John 17 Weekend this Thursday. (If you want to observe some of the fruit of this Holy Spirit flash flood, you’re invited to hear testimonies this Sunday at 4pm at Voyager RV Resort.)
Deep darkness, brighter light
Without a drop of melodramatic hyperbole, which I can be prone to, it’s possible that World War 3 will be underway by the time you read this. The darkness could get exponentially darker any day now. But… the Light wins. We know the end of the story. I’m not minimizing the potential for unspeakable suffering. I’m just choosing to receive Jesus’ statement, “Fear not, for I have overcome the world.”
Grow up
A life in grace is the narrow road between self-reliance and self-condemnation. If you’re sensing a call to level up in your commitment, your faith, your following of Jesus, your leadership skills – join the club! Earlier this morning, I was on a zoom call with a dozen leaders from around the world (at least four continents represented) who are all connected in some way to the JC2033 global movement preparing for the 2000th anniversary of Jesus’ resurrection in 2033. We all desperately desire to level up, to grow in our leadership skills. The opening words of this zoom call were a picture of a key in a lock, accompanied by the statement, “Leadership is the key to unlocking your potential to impact the world around you.” Or at least that’s the way I recorded it in my notes.
I could easily use up an hour of your time right now unpacking the leadership training content, but with permission from Mark Williamson, our trainer from the UK, here’s a summary of what we discussed in the richest hour of leadership training I remember. Either the training was the deepest and most practical I’ve experienced, or I’m the hungriest I’ve ever been. Or, most likely… it’s a Both/And! I’m sure I was impacted at such a high level also because I had the opportunity to meet Mark and most of the people on the call when I was with them in Geneva four months ago.
Jesus Leadership Table
Prayerfully ponder that for a couple minutes, and see if God immediately shows you how practical, relevant, and desperately needed such training is for everyone who wants to up their game.
What a deal!!
Mark is offering leadership training for $95 a month (for Europeans and Americans; less on other continents, and less for JC2033 ambassadors) starting in September. The key is content-based coaching: 23 sessions of 90-120 minutes each, accompanied by 15 sessions of one-on-one coaching.
This newsletter goes to about 1400 people, almost entirely in the US, and heavily populated by Tucsonans. Here are possibilities I could imagine (and will pray about) just for us in Tucson…
I will be encouraging our key leaders from our J17 Ministries team, both staff and volunteers.
What if a couple (or more) congregations saw this as an answer to prayer for leadership training for their staff?
What if some leaders outside the nonprofit and church domains were called to this opportunity at this time?
What if God drafted an army, large or small, of Southern Arizonans hungry to learn and grow… together?
Decision time
Pray about it! Mark will answer any questions directly if you have them (mark@onerockinternational.com). If you want a deeper dive, check out their website: onerockinternational.com. I can share with you the free “teaser” training we received this morning, as well as the dates of the training. I’m certain God will keep breathing additional details into this opportunity, but Mark would like to know numbers of interested people by the end of July, as this is truly a global training community.
Let’s grow together!
Written June 24, 2025.
