I had a great steak dinner on Friday in San Diego with Tom Clegg.

Tom has been a hero of mine for many years.

I wrote my Ph.D. dissertation on the development, implementation, and efficacy of church planting systems. It was Tom Clegg (along with Bob Logan and Tom Nebel) who actually taught me those systems in the late 90's. Our denomination hired them to come in and train us pastors how to coach and mentor church planters.

We had a nice dinner on Friday and I asked him about his journey. Both he and his wife have recently beaten cancer and now are taking on some new challenges.

Tom is now the director of CoachNet, an important player in ministry coaching. But, most exciting for me, Tom gave me a signed copy of his new book.

A few years ago, Tom and Warren Bird wrote Lost in America (a book that many of us used in our writing and research).

Just this week, they have released the updated version of that book, called Missing in America.

When I first met Tom, I was planting a church in Pennsylvania. The church had grown rapidly and we were planting some daughter churches, but did not know anyone in church planting or missiology. But, I got an invitation to this "new paradigm" training. And, I said, "Yes."

After a day of listening to Tom, Bob Logan, and Tom Nebel, I thought, "I want to do that-- I would like to dedicate my life to helping and training church planters and pastors."

It was a bit of a pipe dream, as I was in Erie, PA, far from any training centers, and I was just finishing my D.Min. at Beeson Divinity School. Regardless, I did feel this odd sense of call.

I walked out into the lobby after one of the session and David Putman approached me to talk. He asked, "Would I be interested in becoming a seminary professor and teaching and mentoring planters full time?" The rest is history.

Thanks, Tom for inspiring me that day! God used it in my life in a way you will never know.

Tomorrow, I will pass on a little of what Tom taught me to several hundred church planting leaders in Quebec.