I’m a big believer in the idea that every one of us needs a mentor. Discipleship happens best in a small environment, and the opportunity for someone to speak into my life in a one-to-one relationship is vital to me. Having said that, I don’t know that the mentoring relationship has to be formalized. I don’t know that it’s all that important to sit down with the mentor and say, “howdy, you’re my mentor. let’s make with the mentoring.”
For the past 11 years, Dan Nold has been speaking into my life on a regular basis. There have been moments when we’ve sat together in his office or at the Waffle Shop (our office away from the office) and he’s given me wisdom and direction, encouragement and/or a kick in the butt. But more often than not, his leadership and wisdom have come through the way he leads our staff, speaks to our gatherings, shapes the leadership for the churches that are trying to partner to see God-stuff happen in our town…I love his preaching style, but even bigger than that, I love his heart.
I don’t always agree with Dan, and he’s okay with that. But I always value his input. I always listen when he talks. He sees things differently than I do. His personality is different than mine, and his strengths are way different. He’s real, he’s honest, he’s genuine, and he’s human. He speaks into my life by the way he leads his own life. Are there places that he gets it wrong? Sure. He’d tell you the same.
But he loves Jesus, his family, the church, and this town.
12 years ago, I had a brief (less than 10 minute) conversation with Dan. Kim and I had come to State College to meet with a member of the search team that was looking for a youth pastor for Calvary Baptist Church. I wasn’t sure that I wanted to be the yp of a baptist church, but their ad was worded in a way that made me think that maybe this was a different kind of baptist church. Dan was in his office that Saturday morning, working on his sermon. He opened the door, and the smell of strong coffee rolled out to greet me. He stood there in typical Dan attire (jeans, sweater vest, shoes off) and said hello. I asked him what I needed to know about this church. What I meant was why should I consider bringing my deal to Happy Valley. His response totally blew me away:
1. We are committed to being a church that runs after the purposes of the church found in Acts–community, evangelism, discipleship, service, worship and prayer.
2. We believe that we’re called to be part of the church of the city, rather than a stand alone and be as good as we can be by ourselves.
3. We believe that God is going to transform our city as individuals and families are transformed through prayer evangelism.
I was hooked. Dan spoke life to me that day, and he’s been doing that for the past 11 years. Dan, if you read this, thank you…
If you’re interested, you can check out his blog. I always tell him that he ought to write a book, and he doesn’t blog as much as I think he should, but his stuff is always good.
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