Discipleship Team Contributors

MICHAEL PRICE

NATHAN PRICE

AUSTIN HOLMES

AARON ATLAS

MATT THIBAULT

BEN RUHL

Michael Price - Discipleship, Leadership & Resource Review

By the grace of God, Michael is a disciple of Jesus Christ. He was raised by his loving Christian parents, with his two brothers and sister. Michael preached his first sermon at three years old from the top of an old tree stump to his congregation of other children playing in his green turtle sandbox. God continued to grow Michael through the influence of excellent disciple-makers, eventually leading him to pursue an undergraduate degree in pastoral studies from the Moody Bible Institute in Chicago, Illinois. After Moody, Michael married Janelle, and moved to Westfield, Indiana, to serve as a Youth Pastor for Cornerstone Bible Church.

Michael served as a Youth Pastor for 4 years at Cornerstone before he felt God calling him to a new field. After significant prayer, confirmation from his wife, and the blessing of the elders of Cornerstone, he decided to join the military.

Education highlights include a B.A. in Expository Preaching from Moody Bible Institute, M.A. in Church Leadership from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary, Executive Graduate Certificate in Organizational Leadership from Liberty University, Executive Graduate Certificate in Leadership from Wharton School of Business, and a Doctorate in Education and Ministry for Executive Leadership from SBTS.

NATHAN PRICE - Mission Focus and Goal Setting contributor

Nathan Price is an adopted son of God. For which he did nothing to earn, but received unmerited favor from a loving God, faithful Savior, through the power of the Holy Spirit. Nathan was born and raised in the Puget Sound, where he cultivated his love for exploring the outdoors and aviation. The passion for aviation led Nathan to work for The Boeing Company for 5-years before pursuing a career in the Air Force.

Nathan received his undergraduate and graduate degree from Embry-Riddle Aeronautical University, and continues to pursue additional education. Nathan has been active in layman ministry for over 15-years and continues to serve at his local church.

Nathan now serves as an officer and F-16 Instructor Pilot in the Air National Guard and has conducted multiple combat deployments to the Middle East. Nathan is married to his wife Jen and has three kids, to which he is committed to discipling first. One of Nathan's greatest passions is discipling men into a loving relationship with Jesus Christ, and watching it change their lives and the lives of their families.

AUSTIN HOLMES - Full-range leadership and navigating international ministry

Austin is married to Chelsey, and they and their 5 kids live in Jacksonville, Florida - the proud home of the Jags. He graduated from Furman as a History and Religion double major, completed an MBA at NSU in South Florida, and is completing his doctorate with SBTS.

Austin served for the last 12 years with Mission of Hope (MOH) leading country operations for Haiti and disaster response teams across the Caribbean in partnership with local churches, host governments, NGOs, foreign aid governments, and donors. He’s passionate about seeing the local church strengthened and the Gospel message proclaimed through excellence in international ministry and has earned a reputation with MOH as the leading facilitator mobilizing indigenous networks and churches in disaster responses. He has preached and partnered with churches across the Caribbean and is committed to seeing the local church continue to lead the way by owning the brokenness of their contexts and seeing those areas redeemed for Christ.

Currently, Austin serves as both the VP of Government Relations and Programs with MOH, as well as the COO for Holmes Partners, a private equity company with portfolios of businesses from healthcare, to automotive logistics and construction services. His diverse background running large teams in both ministry/nonprofit, para-military, and business contexts gives him a unique view on the issues facing disciples today and how we can develop to be more effective as leaders and disciple-makers.

Aaron Atlas - Global Missions, Reaching the Unreached, and Discipleship

Aaron’s journey started in a cross-cultural context, born in Europe, raised by American parents, but spent most days among North African immigrants. After being saved at a young age, God was gracious to form and forge his faith in a gospel-centered home, as well as to expose Aaron to God’s heart for the nations through short-term experiences and the impact of godly men. As a result of these influences and a core Romans 15:20 conviction, God set Aaron on a trajectory to give the rest of his life to seeing the unreached have access to the glorious news of the gospel. With that vision and focus, Aaron pursued studies in International Business followed by a degree in Religious studies.

More importantly, God provided Aaron with his sweet wife, whom he married in 2014, and they now have two young children. After five years working in Higher Education and Study Abroad, the Lord opened the door to serve in a mobilization and discipleship capacity in their home church for nearly four years. Aaron, with his family, are now en route to living and serving overseas among the unreached. In his freetime, Aaron enjoys spending time with his family, traveling, playing any sport or yard game, reading, or trying a new local restaurant. More than anything, Aaron desires to abide deeply in Jesus, love and serve his family well, and by God’s grace, be a part of seeing the Kingdom of God advance among the unreached!

MATT THIBAULT - Church Planting, Theology, and Discipleship

The one thing you need to know about Matt Thibault is that he way over married! His wife, Trina, is a Montana girl who is humble, kind, and a ton of fun! They have three crazy-awesome kids: Adelyn ✏️, James 🏈, and Alivia 🧸.

God called Matt out of darkness and into the light 12 years ago. At that time, God put in Matt a passion for people to become disciples of Jesus. Since then, Matt has been in various ministry capacities, starting a high school youth group, apprenticing in the college group, then eventually being ordained as a pastor to lead the college ministry at his church at the end of 2015. In 2020, Matt transitioned to a church in the Central Valley of California to serve as Discipleship Pastor. While there, he finished his Masters in Divinity and started on his Doctorate in Ministry.

Matt’s concentration is church planting, theology, and discipleship. He will trace the growth and development that the Lord works in him through the planting process. He is writing not as the expert but as the biographer, chronologically developing how he had to scrap his way through and cling to the Lord in order to survive!

BEN RUHL - One on One Discipleship, Pastoral Ministry, and Preaching

Ben grew up in Houston, TX and started following Christ at a young age. After graduating from high school, Ben studied the Bible at Torchbearers Bible Schools in England and Austria, Moody Bible Institute (BA) in Chicago, IL, and Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary (M.Div) in South Hamilton, MA. Ben met his wife Olivia while studying at Moody. They married in 2015 and have two kids: 5-year-old Davie Henrietta and 1-year-old Cal McCheyne.

After graduating from Gordon-Conwell in 2017, Ben and Olivia moved to Alton, NH where Ben pastors BeFree Community Church Alton (EFCA) and is the Executive Director of Small Town Summits, a ministry that seeks to provide encouragement, connection, and equipping for small-town pastors, laypeople, and churches. When not parenting, pastoring, or spending time with Olivia, Ben likes to carve wood.

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Feb 11, 2024

The Death of Death: A review of John Owen's perspective on the Atonement

John Owen came from Welsh descent, was educated at Queens College, and became a renowned Puritan theologian, Oxford professor, and passionate pastor who lived from 1616 to 1683. In 1647, he wrote the exhaustive treatise The Death of Death defending Limited or Definite Atonement against the Arminian view of Universal Atonement or Unlimited Atonement.

Apr 6, 2023

Fusion: Exploring Biblical Ecclesiology and How to Connect Guests (Part I)

I started reading Fusion to help think through the church’s responsibility toward guests and how to execute that responsibility faithfully. Like many of you, I have been to churches that greet newcomers obnoxiously, and then others where I have wondered if anyone even noticed I was present. Certainly, there is a biblically faithful practice somewhere between seeker-sensitive and religious exclusive that is rooted in orthodox ecclesiology. Unfortunately, this logic appears absent in Fusion.

Jan 20, 2023

Clever: A Book Review about Secular Leadership Principles for the Church

Clever people are highly talented individuals with the potential to create disproportionate amounts of value from the resources that the organization makes available to them.

Nov 9, 2022

Church Planting 301: Increasing Commitment

If you’ve been in church leadership before, you’ve probably experienced difficulty getting people to commit to the church. In today’s church culture, it’s tough getting most church members to show up on a regular basis—not to mention engaging at another time during the week. Tact on asking them to serve in a meaningful way that contributes toward the fulfillment of the mission? That’s an altogether ‘other’ level of exasperation.

Oct 15, 2022

Living Mission Focused

"What's your mission today?"

How would you respond if I asked you this one question?

Perhaps many of us would respond with something about our to-do list or required tasks for the day. Maybe the mission is something on our work schedule or one big thing on the agenda that if we could just get it done, the day will be labeled a success and we'll have accomplished our mission.

Sep 18, 2022

The Dwelling Place of God is with Man

"Don't miss the forest for the trees." I've heard this expression at various points and in different contexts when I get too bogged down by details. When it comes to reading the scriptures, it can be good to get lost in the trees, taking a deep dive into concepts and word studies for a more thorough understanding. Albeit important, we can sometimes become singularly focused that we miss out on the grandeur of the entire forest. When we step back to see the big picture, we unlock even greater heights of love and awe for our God and His amazing plan.