NCS New Canaan

Founding Chapter

Running the Good Race (Reginald Jones III – 12/16/22 – NCS New Canaan)

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With incredible humility and authenticity, Reginald “Regg” Jones III shares a unique and fascinating faith, family and life journey that had its faith roots at St. Paul’s Episcopal Church in Darien, site of an incredible spiritual revival documented in the book The Miracle in Darien by Bob Slosser.

Regg describes growing up with a father who decided to change the trajectory of his family by making time with his children a priority and how Regg came to face the same challenge with his own family. He explains the four “family values” that shaped much of his educational and professional journey and how he came to accept Jesus Christ as his Lord at the tender age of 11.

Jones talks about how his faith grew through the mentorship of others, the struggle he experienced after college in deciding between pursuing a path in “ministry” or “business”, how those mentors helped him choose business, and how he later came to understand that his choice was based on a false dichotomy, learning that both paths constituted “ministry”.

Regg describes his professional path through top firms such as Pepsico, Apple, Bain and Goldman Sachs, and the lessons they taught him about organizational culture. He explains how he learned to carry and share his faith in those environments and how all those lessons about culture and faith eventually helped shape the vision and culture of Greenbriar, the private equity firm he founded in his 30’s.

Regg explains the four pillars of Greenbriar’s unique culture that was born from a vision to take the best of the corporate cultures he had experienced and shape them by his faith, and he describes why he believes “love wins” even in the marketplace.

With remarkable vulnerability, Jones talks about how he navigated the challenges along the way and how God showed up with “kisses from Heaven” to encourage and guide him at just the right times. He describes challenges such as balancing a demanding career with family life, starting a new business in the midst of 9/11, and walking the “thin green line” between success and failure, always trusting in God’s providence.

Finally, Regg explains the vision that inspired his involvement in the founding of Trinity Church Greenwich.

Holy Spirit Nudges (Edward Mahoney – 5/13/22 – NCS New Canaan)

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Edward Mahoney humbly shares the amazing story of how God transformed him from being “Wall Street Centered” to “Jesus Centered” and how he came to understand and boldly respond to “nudges” from the Holy Spirit.

Mahoney transparently tells the story of spending two years in a hospital as a child during which he received last rites twice. He also explains how that experience began to unlock his gift of relating to people.

Ed talks about his successful Wall Street career and then vulnerably reveals the personal toll of falling from the top. He explains the two events that began the transformation from “Wall Street Centered” to “Jesus Centered”, one of which was showing up for the first time at the New Canaan Society. Ed also shares the importance of his NCS Energy Group that has been “showing up” for each other for over 10 years.

In his words, our gifts and talents are gifts from God to be used to bless others for God’s glory. “Nudges” are when we sense we are meant to do something for someone else–those sometimes uncomfortable opportunities to love our neighbor.

Sharing a few anecdotes from his book Tales from the Bright Side: The Holy Spirit Adventures of Edward Peter Mahoney, Ed tells the incredible story of how he came to write a book about his “Holy Spirit” experiences following “nudges” and emphasizes that his book was written as an encouragement and a challenge to all of us to boldly step out when the Holy Spirit nudges.

Finally, Ed shows a “nudge” in action. He explains that as he was walking through the door and greeted one of the staff in the restaurant, he sensed that he was meant to give all the proceeds from book sales that morning to the restaurant staff serving the group. And he does.

Navigating the Narrow Gate (Tom Cole – 4/29/22 – NCS New Canaan)

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With amazing wisdom and humility gained on life’s journey, Tom Cole shares the ups and downs that have allowed God to shape him, as well as the role the New Canaan Society and the friendships he has found in NCS brudders have played in his story. He reveals with tremendous vulnerability how his greatest personal growth came through the hardest moments of life.

From a painful and public divorce to two heart attacks, Tom talks about the importance of his faith in Jesus to his ability to weather difficult storms. He explains how the first heart attack ultimately led to his book “The Narrow Gate: Fatherly Advice for Navigating the Pathway to Your Best Life“. Lying on a hospital gurney not knowing if he was going home to Jesus, Tom shares that the “dominant” thought was he had not poured enough wisdom into his kids.

Tom takes us through a few of the chapters, starting with what he has learned about the source of real joy and happiness–deep relationship with God and others. He explains why money and achievement do not bring happiness.

He also explains the importance of sharing our stories–not only so that others can walk with us through them, but so that we can make a connection with those who need us to walk with them through their stories.

He ties it all back to the core of NCS–growing deeper in friendship with Jesus and friendship with others by “showing up”–“showing up” not for what you can get but because you might be able to impact the life of another man. Tom transparently tells stories of how he has “shown up” for others and how others have “shown up” and walked with him through life’s valleys.

Newly retired from a long and successful career in investment banking, Tom describes navigating the transition to a new season of life. He also explains the importance of being present to the moment, living one day at a time, even as we reflect on the past and plan for the future.

This is God-inspired wisdom for leading a life walking in the Way of Jesus–wisdom from a father to his children, from a brother to his brothers, and from a friend to his friends.

If any man truly wants to be an NCS brudder, he needs to listen to this God-inspired wisdom on what we mean by “showing up”.​

Early in his talk, Tom refers to “a message from our sponsor”. He showed a video produced by Chick-fil-A as an employee training tool. You can watch it below.

Let Us Play the Man (Ken Fish – 12/17/21 – NCS New Canaan)

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Ken Fish is not known for mincing words or dumbing down Biblical truth to make it more palatable. He laments that fatherhood is in crisis in our world, and looking to the words of Joab in 2 Samuel 10:12 KJV (“Be of good courage, and let us play the men for our people, and for the cities of our God“), he issues an urgent “call to action” for men to “play the man”–or “man-up”–as fathers. We must do it for the sake of our families, our cities and our nation.

Ken shares that, as he travels the world, the #1 prayer request from women in every nation and every country is for God to bring “a Godly man who will lead my household”. He explains ways in which many men are failing to fill the Biblical role of fathers as “priests” of their family and lays out a straightforward Scriptural path to turn things around and “raise a generation of the righteous”:

  • Be of Good Courage.
  • Play the Man.
  • Give Yourself To Others

Ken asserts that the best way for Satan to destroy a country is to destroy families, and the best way to destroy families is to destroy fathers. He also explains why the restoration of righteous fathers is a necessary condition to revival.

Emphasizing that the key to this simple three-point formula is the execution, Fish walks through various Biblical passages that provide guidance on fatherhood and manhood.

You may support Ken’s ministry at this link: https://orbisministries.org/support-orbis/

Lighthouses in the Middle East (Mohammad Yamout – 12/17/21 – NCS New Canaan)

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UPDATE: It is with a heavy heart that we share Pastor Mohammad was found dead in his car early in 2022. While the circumstances of his death remain uncertain, we know with absolute certainty that he went home in glory to spend eternity with his beloved Jesus Christ.

In our “Keepin’ It Real”, Pastor Mohammad Yamout brought an update on the turmoil in Lebanon and the amazing progress of his ministry to share the Gospel by loving Muslims and refugees in the name of Jesus.

In addition to a Christian church in Tyre, Lebanon (the headquarters of Hezbollah), Pastor Mohammad explains other ministries that include:

  • The Tyre Center for the Proclamation of the Gospel & Humanitarian Aid
  • Family care and care for widows and orphans
  • Currently rebuilding an old hospital as the River of Healing Medical Center
  • Jacob’s Farm, raising dairy cows, sheep, goats and chickens both to supply their ministries and sell.
  • The Father’s Storehouse
  • The Joy of Music School
  • The Good Shepherd School
  • Camp K-Love & Camp Refuge
  • A vision for King’s Kids Family Homes
  • A Food Court and Grocery Store

You may support the work of Pastor Mohammad at this link: https://1000lighthouses.givingfuel.com/1000-lighthouses

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