equip the Church

Dear friends,

On May 8-9, I had the privilege of helping coordinate the annual conference for FTS Seminary in Shawinigan, Quebec, the seminary connected with my local church and part of the TMAI network. This year’s theme was Christians Without Compromise: Living Faithfully for Christ in the Heart of the Battle — a fitting word for a moment when the moral ground keeps shifting and the pressure to compromise only grows. We wanted to give leaders a time of real reflection, encouragement, and equipping around what it means to hold a faith that is genuine, firm, and deeply rooted in Christ.

We were able to bring my good friend in Jim Stitzinger to speak. Jim serves as the pastor of evangelism and missions at Crossroads Community Church in Valencia, California. Before that, he worked in missions mobilization and development at Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, served as the evangelism pastor at Grace Community Church in Los Angeles, and planted and pastored Grace Bible Church in Naples, Florida. He contributed to Evangelism, part of the John MacArthur Pastoral Library Series, and oversaw the development of the Grace Evangelism training curriculum. He holds an M.Div. from The Master’s Seminary (2002), where he has also taught as an adjunct professor of evangelism, and has served as a chaplain for the Los Angeles Police Department. Jim and his wife Sky have been married 23 years and have three daughters — Macy, Jessica, and Clancy. At the heart of Jim’s ministry is a desire to exalt Christ and to equip believers to persevere in evangelism, stay engaged in mission, and be prepared for church planting.

From the start, we asked Jim to address one theme head-on: what it means to follow Christ without compromise.

Friday night: calling young people to faithfulness

We opened with a Friday evening session aimed squarely at young people, wrestling honestly with what it looks like to live without compromise in an area our culture pressures them on constantly — their sexuality. It’s not an easy topic to bring to a room of teenagers and young adults, but it’s a necessary one, and I was encouraged by how many showed up ready to listen and engage.

Saturday: two hundred leaders, one clear charge

The next day, around 200 leaders gathered for the main conference. Jim’s message was titled The Weapons of Wisdom for Spiritual Warfare (Ephesians 6) — a call to stand firm in the faith in a secular world, refusing to compromise the gospel to fit the moment. There was a real sense in the room that people weren’t just hearing a good message; they were being equipped to carry it back into their own churches and ministries. It was, honestly, an amazing day.

One of the joys of this event was seeing partnership bear fruit. We worked with 9Marks, Ligonier, Desiring God, and Grace to You, Truth For Life and BLF Editions to have books donated for every participant. Every leader walked away not just with a message ringing in their ears, but with resources in their hands to keep growing and to pass on to others.

Monday: investing in fifteen leaders

We closed out the weekend with a retreat for fifteen men — all close friends and emerging leaders in the church. Our goal was simple: to call them toward biblical manhood, and to give them space to be poured into personally rather than just from a stage. We grilled bison steaks together, spent time out shooting clay pigeons, prayed for one another, and sat under Jim’s teaching one more time before the weekend closed. Small, intentional moments like this are often where the deepest formation happens.

Why I’m sharing this with you

None of this happens without a lot of unseen coordination — logistics, partnerships, relationships built over time — and none of it happens without God’s hand on it. I’m grateful for the chance to serve the Church this way, and I’m even more grateful for a network of people like you who carry this work before the Lord in prayer.

Thank you for standing with me. There is a lot of possibility in what’s ahead, and I covet your prayers for it.

Grateful for each of you,

Daniel