NOVEMBER 2023

“Into The Wild”

Happy Thanksgiving Weekend!

Thanks for taking a moment to subscribe to my newsletter. It means a lot that you’d subscribe & I pray these words would give you hope and encouragement to move forward no matter what season you’re in. I’ll also give a brief update of what the Lord has led me to in this new season of life.

I love these long weeks where our normal schedule gets thrown out the window. Bedtimes for kids don’t seem to exist and beyond the good food, we have time to reflect and be thankful.

I wonder if this is true for you, but in these moments when we have time to rest, you find yourself becoming aware something is going on in your world but you can’t quite put it into words.

This place of not being able to fully describe what you’re experiencing or despite your best efforts you’re not able to control certain situations, conversations, outcomes or relationships in your life.

As I’ve reflected and given thanks this week, I’ve realized this has been real in my life over the past eight months as I stepped out of local church ministry and “into the wild.”

“Wild” is the only way I can describe the past eight months and perhaps it’s the same way to describe your life as well. But something profound happens in the wild seasons of life. It’s here that God births something new in us by teaching us to align our lives to His Kingdom.

The toughest thing I’ve experienced in this ‘wild’ season hasn’t been the circumstances (you know small things like what am I supposed to do with my life, earning a living, finding insurance) but The Lord teaching me to wait.

WILD is the WAY Forward

You’re probably asking, “What actually is, ‘The Wild?’ and why does it even matter?”

“At once The Spirit sent Him out into the wilderness, and He was in the wilderness forty days, being tempted by Satan. He was with wild animals, and angels attended Him.” MARK 1:12

Jesus’ ministry didn’t get wild at the END of His life. His life & ministry BEGAN in the wild!

The Wild is not new, it’s just new to us.

In the wilderness, Jesus went face to face with the darkest temptations in our world. He knew we had no way forward without Him facing and defeating these temptations. He was tempted to have control but without the cross, just like we’re tempted to have “peace” in this world but without His cross. This is why every temptation we face or failure of giving into temptation is disorienting.

In his book, In the Name of Jesus, Henri Nouwen says the three temptations Jesus faced in the wilderness that we face today are:

1. The Temptation to be RELEVANT (Turn Stones into Bread)

   
   

2. The Temptation to be SPECTACULAR (Throw Himself off the Temple)

   
   

3. The Temptation to be POWERFUL (Take Power without the Cross)

The Spirit led Jesus to face & DEFEAT the things that have and are DEFEATING us.

A WILD CALLING

We must pay attention to the fact that The Spirit led Jesus into the wilderness.

The way forward for Jesus and for us is through obedience to the Holy Spirit. I’ve found that great movements of God began in these silent moments with God. You ever have a moment where the Spirit was leading you to something but it didn’t make sense on paper?

Most pastors tell me I’m crazy for stepping out of my role at Northside. One guy said to me, “Nate, on the outside it looked like you’ve finally arrived, why would you want to leave?”

It’s not that I was actively looking to leave but I was actively being led to leave.

It’s always easier to leave “for” something than it is to leave “from” something. Sometimes with God, we must follow just like Abraham in Genesis 12:1:

“Leave your country, your people, and your father’s household and go to the land I WILL show you.”

Abraham didn’t get an address, He got God’s promise.

God was faithful in that season for Abraham and He’s still faithful now.

I do want to briefly share some of the exciting doors God has opened for me as The Spirit led me to start my own coaching company called, “Moments to Movements.”

This came from what the Lord has done throughout my entire life, not just the last eight months. God is the King of redeeming, leading and turning our moments into His movement. THAT is what I want to be a part of and encourage leaders to do the same.

Here are the main areas God has led me to focus on:

1) COACHING

I’ve been doing customized one-on-one coaching with senior level leaders in both the Church & business world to help them deal with what they’re facing and help create environments where growth can happen. I also became an associate with my leadership coach, Dave Rider at Rider Leadership Solutions. Together, we’ve been coaching Lead Pastors and Elders to see Churches thrive in healthy and holistic environments. 

2) COLLABORATION

I love working with leaders to plan conferences, events, cohorts & lead strategic retreats for teams. “Into the Wild” is even the theme I got to help plan for a pastors conference in Nashville this year. God’s brought me to some amazing organizations I get to collaborate with and here’s a brief description of them.

• Brightwell Solar
  They bring unbelievable cost savings to nonprofits (Churches, Schools & Nonprofit buildings) and tremendous benefits to the donors who give to this project. They are the first to create this visionary model of generosity, stewardship & innovation in our nation and I’m honored to serve with them.

• The Pasma Group
  They are an architecture firm I got to work with while doing the remodel at Northside. Doug Pasma & I are providing free workshops for Churches who want to either remodel their current space or want to dream about creating a new relational space for ministry to happen.

• Haverstick Design
  They are an acoustic engineering firm that helps Churches update their auditoriums, design places of worship & install customized recording studios. They’ve installed studios for David Crowder, 21 Pilots, Tori Kelly and many more.

3) COMMUNICATION

I still feel called to preach but in a much more reduced & intentional way. I love partnering with Churches and organizations to help communicate God’s Word in a way that helps move God’s unique vision for them forward.

A WILD RESPONSE

It’s not IF you and I will find ourselves in the wilderness but WHEN we find ourselves there, how will we respond?

It’s in our wilderness moment we find God’s grace to be even better than we know.

I want to invite you to take a moment to reflect where the Holy Spirit is leading you right now.

• Holy Spirit, where are you leading me today regardless of what I face?

• Holy Spirit, where do I need to prioritize God’s Word over my wisdom?

• Holy Spirit, where do I need to let the love of God give me rest in my weariness?

Today, may we know Jesus goes before us, has conquered what tempts and defeats us and provides the way forward.

Cheering you on as you face ‘the wild’ in your life.

May we not miss this moment,

Nate

Ready to turn your moment into movement?