The power of the Spirit turned my life into an amazing adventure! For example, just after the announcement that I was leaving P&G, our stock price dropped in half. (There was no direct connection between those events.) I was amazingly calm for a guy in seminary with four kids whose net worth had just been decimated. The Spirit also helped me lose the anger I often showed towards my kids. "Marianne's second fight with breast cancer. . . " He helped me become a better listener, especially with my wife. The Spirit helped me deal with life's bad news. Despite the crush of Marianne's second fight with breast cancer last year, we have felt less fear, more joy, and less worry.

In 2001, Marianne and I felt led to work with Dr. Henry Cloud. Marianne had been leading small groups for five years with Henry's materials on personal growth. We met through a friend, and learned more about his ministry with Campus Crusade. After a lot of prayer, a rigorous training experience and our first 40-day fast, we began with Campus Crusade as the directors of Henry's ministry called "Answers for Life" in late 2001. We built a staff of four couples and a few admin people, and have experienced tremendous growth in our own relationships as we applied the biblically-based materials. In this time, we really learned the power of community to transform (Ephesians 4:16).

This time also enabled us to learn how to help churches develop community-driven strategies that grow stronger Christ followers. We developed a depth curriculum with the Vineyard in Cincinnati, which has produced tremendous results and is now being expanded to other churches. At the same time, we realized that Henry's real call was to take his materials outside the church, and we needed a new structure to accomplish that. I also realized that my passion to teach God's Word had not gone away, but rather it had intensified.

Looking back since I gave my first message at Marianne's home church in February of 1999, I had spoken in churches, at outreach events, in schools or in conferences for leaders somewhere between 75-100 times. When I had not spoken about God for a while I would get restless. In this time, I was practicing my real passion as a "moonlighter", squeezing time after 50-60 hours at P&G or seminary, or running Answers for Life.

"which again reveals the miraculous power of our great God!
"

I decided to step out and seek after my passion to bring God's  message to people on a regular basis in a call to pastoral ministry. Seven months later, I was called by the people of Mariemont Community Church to serve as their senior pastor, which again reveals the miraculous power of our great God!