A message from Brad Huebert, Executive Director of STM Ministries
Hello STM family!
If we haven’t had the privilege of meeting yet, my name is Brad Hubert. And as of June 1st, I became the new executive director of STM Ministries. Randy and Donna continue to be vital partners in STM. They’re ministering under the STM banner and are faithful supporters of what God is doing through STM. But we have freed them up to serve at a pace that better reflects what God is calling them to engage in, in this season of their lives.
It would be impossible for me to express the depth of the love and respect I have for both Randy and Donna and for the legacy of faithfulness that they have laid over the years as they’ve served Jesus in the trenches in so many countless ways, both seen and unseen. Throughout that 30 years, it’s obvious that STM is about changed lives for Jesus, right? Watching Jesus change lives. And I want you to know that that’s what gets me up in the morning too.
I’ve now been serving with STM for two years. That’s how long it’s been since STM adopted me and commissioned me to develop what has become deeply devoted ministries. A ministry that helps people grow a lifestyle of intimacy with God through daily devotions that change their lives and bring them joy. I bring this workshop to different churches, as well as different resources like the book, Deeply Devoted, that I’ve written. And I hope that you’ve read it. I would love to encourage you to read that because it really does help people grow intimacy with God. A couple of past participants in the workshop shared some things recently that I want to share with you.
One participant said, “always felt like a failure in my walk and devotional life with Jesus. Feels like a burden has been lifted and I have tools to move forward.”
Another one said, “Deeply Devoted will deepen your relationship with God. It gives you a template that guides you to a place of awe and wonder where the Almighty God meets you and impacts you exactly where you need him to.”
And lastly, this is my favorite, “God timed this workshop to break through and speak powerfully after a decade of what I thought was radio silence. Now I know his presence and voice so much more clearly and because of that I know who I am.”
It’s become clear to us as a board and as a team that what God wants to do with STM in the future is to continue to impact lives for Jesus. And we believe that we have the opportunity to reach even more people with the gospel of Christ and to equip them for a life of faithfulness to God and intimacy with him in a variety of different ways.
What we sense is that God wants us to become strategic about the things that he’s already been doing with STM. For example, Brandy and Donna were like spiritual entrepreneurs with an idea, with a dream, with a vision that didn’t quite fit on a church staff, but still had the calling to reach people for Jesus and to serve the body of Christ. The same thing is true with me.
God is calling us to look for those spiritual entrepreneurs like we have been and then adopt them as part of the STM family and commission them to serve Jesus as God sees fit. Our clarified mission in this season is to help churches succeed in their mission, the Great Commission, through a team of ministry specialists that offer expertise and resources that churches in a local context might find hard to offer for themselves.
Imagine what God could do with a team of people deployed for the thriving of the church and the expansion of God’s kingdom. How many lives can we see changed for Jesus as we lean into this new season and grow as a team of partners that are willing to put their shoulders to the plow and see what God can do.
I think it was probably this last year, some point, that God gave Randy a clear picture. I want to introduce you to a quaking aspen tree named Pando that spans 106 acres in the Fish Lake National Forest in Utah. Now, if you hike through this area, you’d see a large aspen grove with thousands of tree trunks. And the real secret is that each of these trunks grow from a single root system. Now that’s our dream for STM, that God would help us grow an Aspen Grove of committed people on fire for Jesus who want to serve him and are united by the STM root system.
Over the last 30 years, God has done immeasurably more than we could have ever asked or imagined. Now I want to ask you to continue to dream and pray and give with us as we invest in this vision to help churches succeed in their mission, the Great Commission to the glory of God. I wish I could take the time now to tell you my story, but I don’t have the time. What I can tell you is that my book, Deeply Devoted, is pretty much my heart and print. For now, I want to encourage you to drop by deeplydevoted.org, which is my website, where you can check out my books, resources, my podcast, subscribe to the Deeply Devoted newsletter, and connect with upcoming deeply devoted events as we book them. You can also look for a revamped STM website in the fall.
It was really nice speaking to you. I hope that this felt a little more personal to you. I wanted you to see my face. Love you. Thank you so much for your partnership with STM.
Lord Jesus, would you continue to bless this ministry in Jesus’ name. Amen.
~ Brad Huebert, STM Executive Director