Dear Friends, after serving for almost 16 years as Senior Associate Pastor at Landmark Church, it seemed clear that it was time to “get out of the boat” and see what the Lord might want to do through us in the remaining years of our ministry.

For some months, I have been exercised in my spirit about the ministry we have had in our homes, in addition to the pastoral role at church. Most of you know that from time to time we have taken in to our home, counseled, and nurtured young men struggling with addictions to drugs and/or alcohol, those who have been abused, as well as some who have grown up in families that were non-Christian, dysfunctional, or had other problems.

In November 2002, Rev. Syvelle Phillips of Evangel Bible Translators spoke at Landmark and the thrust of his message and what the Lord used to speak to me was: “What is it that God has gifted and called you to do that no one else can do?” As I wrestled with that sermon the more unsettled in my spirit I became. Then Pastor Kelly preached three weeks later, and one of his thoughts renewed that challenge afresh: “I’ll be great for God…or I’ll die!” During the ensuing weeks, it just seemed the Lord was saying that He had gifted and called me to minister to the broken, bruised, hurting young men of this world, to be a father to the fatherless.

Earlier in November a friend had challenged me to organize a ministry that would enable me to help those I had been ministering to already. This brother spoke to me at the same time that I was wrestling with the thoughts above, about a name, about a logo, etc. And so at his insistence, I looked into what it would take to become an official not-for-profit, tax-exempt organization. On December 22nd, the papers were filed with the Secretary of State’s Office, and on the 27th, it was official that Father’s Hearth Ministry, Inc., was now official and incorporated. At that point, I didn’t know what this fledgling ministry would entail or where it would go.

On January 15th, while buying some items for the church at Sam’s Club, I passed through the book section. As I passed by, it seemed like one book in particular jumped off the shelf. I didn’t pick it up, but just looked to see if I recognized the author.
I wasn’t even sure whether it was a Christian book or just a secular motivational book. The book? “If You Want to Walk on Water, You Have to Get Out of the Boat” by John Ortberg, one of the teaching pastors at Willow Creek Church.
(I did go back several days later and purchase the book!)

En route to appointments that morning, it seemed as though the Lord was speaking to me as I drove along, “Jim, are you willing to get out of the boat? Are you willing to leave the security and comfort of a position and paycheck at Landmark to see what I will do through you? Do you want to walk on water?”
Neither time nor space allow me to share all the events that followed that encounter with the book and the questions that came, only to say that it became clear that I had to make a move. And so February 16th was our last official day on staff at Landmark Church.

Already, we are making plans to take back into our home a young man who will be released from jail in mid-June. He lived with us for a couple of months last summer, and he has asked if he could come back and live with us.
He wants to take his GED and then enroll in a junior college nearby to start getting his education back on track and rise above the problems and struggles.