Some of the most meaningful, closest relationships I've ever had in my life have been with my coaches. At age eighteen, Fred Trujillo was a new coach when he drove up in his El Camino at Hellbeck Park to coach the 3rd and 4th grade Stallions. He did it to fulfill a college gym credit, but enjoyed it so much he coached Bantam football for over thirty-seven years. He helped shape my life as a ten-year-old defensive end, and we remain friends to this day. Bobby Graham was a former star athlete who coached basketball at his alma mater. The hard-nosed coach regularly yelled at me as his team captain for two years and expected me to lead the team in every way--on and off the court. He taught me leadership. We are close friends to this day. My coaches in college allowed me to lead the team and to make decisions on the court that would achieve the coach's game plan. Coach Fox moved me to point guard against my wishes because he saw something of which I was unaware. It became a perfect fit for me. Coach Fox taught me unity. When I became the director of Acts 29, I met with Bob Logan, longtime church planting author and founder of CoachNet, and he said that if Acts 29 wanted to transform from a network to a movement, our pastors must be coached and they must be coaching. I wasn't sure what he meant at the time. With Bob's encouragement, we developed and trained sixteen pastor-coaches in 2007, and we are training twenty-four more coaches in 2008. Our goal is to provide a coach for every church planter in the Acts 29 Network. Missiologist Ed Stetzer said that a new church plant would be twice as effective if the lead pastor is being coached. And of course, Ed is never wrong--at least that is what he tells me. Mars Hill Church is training coaches through MCI (Ministry Coaching International). One of our pastors, Dave Kraft, is a professional coach with MCI. In 2007, he trained nine pastors to be coaches of pastors and is training fifteen others to coach lay leaders. The goal of coaching is to help someone succeed in doing what God wants him or her to do. Coaches come alongside to help-like Barnabas to Paul. Similar to an athletic coach, coaches in ministry can identify strengths or weaknesses that can help a person fulfill God's calling. We want to identify nine to twelve men who want to train for one year at Mars Hill to be an effective church pastor. In Acts 4:36 we meet a simple Christ-follower named Joseph. He chooses to passionately follow the mission of Jesus. Joseph puts a great amount of money on the line for this fresh new movement that is advanced by starting new churches from scratch. His buddies nicknamed him "Barnabas," meaning "one who comes alongside to help." One always feels energized being around people like Barnabas because they are helping others to follow their God-given passion more strategically. Barnabas helped to promote Paul to the Apostles (Acts 9:27), he ministered and coached alongside Paul for years, and he coached John Mark (author of the Gospel of Mark). The gifts of a skilled performer last as long as that person is able to execute at a competitive level. The gifts of a coach reproduce from one generation to another. Jesus coached twelve men and the world has never been the same.