Reflections on Aspire Conference 2026

 Jason Evans - Church on The Hill - Riverside, CA

Aspire family,

Thank you for such a wonderful conference. I wanted to share a "Holy Spirit moment" that my team and I experienced. Pastor Mark Lee ended the conference with a powerful message on prayer, sharing the inspiring story of Charles Finney and his prayer partner, Daniel Nash. Mark told us that Finney once wrote about prayer and revival, saying:

"I have never known a person sweat blood; but I have known a person pray till the blood started from his nose. And I have known persons pray till they were all wet with perspiration, in the coldest weather in winter."

Pastor Mark then encouraged us to gather with our teams and others to pray the prayers required for revival. Our team gathered to pray, asking God for revival in our church and city. When it was my turn to pray, I began to beg God for those far from Him. During my prayer, my nose began to gush blood. I have never experienced anything like this before. My team and I believe this was God’s signal to us that revival is on its way to our Aspire family, our church, and our city!

This experience has rocked me to my core, and I can’t thank you enough for giving us the space to experience God moving in such a mighty way. I am honored to worship and serve with our Aspire Network and family of churches.

Joe Guynes - The Redeemer’s Place - Plantation, Florida

As Cathy and I prepare to embark on our seventh year of church planting here in South Florida, the 2026 Aspire Network Conference was exactly what we needed. It was a time of encouragement and confirmation that the Lord has us right where we should be. Like for many of you, 2025 has been an extremely difficult year. A year that causes you to ask if the effort is worth it. But as Dr. Mackie opened the conference with the strategic emphasis on being disciple makers, it confirmed that our emphasis on being a disciple-making church was the right emphasis for us and our church. We were reminded that Christ calls us to build His Kingdom on earth. His strategic direction was a call for all of us to be His disciple makers (Matthew 28:16-20). Therefore, everything we do must be centered on making disciples. Time is limited and devoting efforts to things or programs not centered on disciple-making should be retooled. As the conference proceeded, we appreciated that disciple-making must be wholistic in scope, encompassing the whole person – spiritual, mental, physical, and relational. We were reminded that Christ calls all of us as Christians to transform every aspect of our lives to be witnesses of Him, adding authenticity to our words. Disciple-making is to be an intentional relational exercise with reproducible practices, best done with those we know and love, resulting in spiritual communities of mutual love, accountability, and spiritual growth. Finally, we were reminded that sharpening our own discipleship tools must span our whole lives..

Josue Zapata - Centerpoint Church - Colton CA

Thank you so much to the Aspire Network for a well planned and thoughtful conference! My team and I went and gleaned so much from the amazing breakouts and main sessions speakers. My personal highlights were from the Soul Care break-out with Doug Rife. I appreciated the reminders to engage in a weekly withdrawal (among other forms of soul care) to ensure we end well! Burnout is a real thing and we are not indestructible; we need alone time with the Lord. There were also many great, yet sobering, reminders that multiplication is vital for the future of the church. Dr. Kirk Mackie reminded us that "every leader needs an apprentice, because leadership was never meant to stop with us." It's incredible how quickly we can fall into the mindset that says, I am irreplaceable but as Mrs. April Mack said "... graveyards are full of people who were irreplaceable." The mission we are all on is the Salvation of the world… we cannot afford not to train up new, strong, and well equipped leaders who can and will go further than we ever could.