Update, Invitation, and Ask from Todd

Men…we are coming up on a year from when we started our time together at Oak’d to talk about God’s word and what it means to be God’s man, which of course means you should just now be getting the great smell of BBQ out of your clothes.  

I wanted to catch you up on what I am doing, share an invitation with you and ask for your help. For time sake I will put the highlights in bullet form with a longer email at the bottom. 

1. If you have not been keeping up with me and what I have been doing on Thursdays please go to www.unhindered.org and sign up for weekly emails.  (FYI I have been teaching thru 2 Timothy at 3014 Skillman Street, Dallas Texas 75206 at 7pm on Thursday nights.) Come join me tonight for the last of Paul’s words in 2 Tim 4:9-23. I think you will be encouraged, challenged and surprised at how relevant this text is for all of us.

2. I want to invite you to join me and some gifted friends in Scottsdale this October.  This is where I need your help. Even if you cannot make it work in your schedule…I would ask that you join me in praying that the Lord will use this time to encourage and equip and extend the network of good, brave and ready leaders like each of you. The goal is to make this an intimate gathering of ~100 leaders (couples) like you and your wives, where you can be refreshed, fellowship and be further spurred on to stand firm against the tsunami of compromise and cultural pressure all around us. I would love you to join me and I am asking that you share it with other leaders like yourself around the country so they can know about it and join us before it fills up. 

3. I have included a more thorough email below…but please stop now and pray about joining me in Scottsdale and about others you can encourage to join us. 

4. See the email below and the link to find all the info you need and please reach out to me if you have any specific questions. 

I miss seeing each of you and can say with integrity that my prayers for you follow this email. Be strong men. Be God’s men.  Let all you do be done in love.  

Friends - I hope your summer has been filled with making great memories with your family, living with purpose in your faith and plenty of fun.  The Wagner family has, by God’s grace, done all of the above and are looking forward to lots of great opportunities this fall. 

The purpose of this email is to let you know of a time sensitive opportunity we have been working on that we believe would be a blessing to you, your family, your faith and lots of fun - three things that should never be relegated only to summer months.  

We are sending this to you because we believe this opportunity will encourage you and because we would love you to join us in: 1.) praying for the gathering 2.) attending 3.) strategically sharing this invite with others from across the country that you know would be similarly blessed. 

[If your time is limited …stop here and go to HomePage - 1613 Legacy Conference - there is a short video and thorough FAQ.]

As you know Alex and I have been spending these last months listening and prayerfully discerning God’s best use for us as we continue our life mission of loving God and serving others.  While there is a lot of exciting clarity starting to take shape - one short term thing we have invested time, resources, and energy in creating is this conference. Hopefully, you will be hearing more about the #1613project in the days ahead, but we wanted you, and friends like you who to share this opportunity with, to join us this fall October 9-12th in Scottsdale. 

The impetus for me creating the 1613 Legacy Conference started in 2018 when some friends who attended a gathering in the '90s called the “Foundation Conference” called me and asked me if I would pray about creating and providing leadership for “such a time as this”.  The Foundation Conference, was started by Bob Buford and was a strategic gathering of influential business and strategic leaders and their spouses. Bob eventually stopped hosting the conference in the late '90s and continued his work with this group through the newly formed Halftime Institute.

We personally know people whose lives were changed at this conference - some who came to know the Lord and many others who were prompted to ‘get in the game’ like never before, and others who found they were not alone in their desire to live lives of significance. For reasons we didn’t understand at the time, the Lord didn’t give me the conviction that I should invest my resources, time and leadership in this new work, so the idea was mothballed.  Of course, I had no idea that the Lord was about to “mothball” the world with fears related to the Covid pandemic. As is alway the case, listening and waiting on the Lord is a very good idea, and in 2022 I was asked again and this time Alex and I sensed it was time. What we have created is not a reboot of what happened in the '90s; but a new opportunity strategically crafted to fit the challenges/opportunities of our day. Every season has its challenges, which means every season has its opportunities and I believe our time together in Scottsdale this October 9-12th will help us all meet the needs of our moment. 

Many of the individuals who attended the previous conference decades ago now have young professional children of their own and we believe it makes sense now to encourage the next generation to come to be encouraged, equipped and challenged together with previous ones. The speaking team the Lord has allowed me to bring together is set up to speak to those in their late 20s-40s as well as those in their 50’s and beyond who are moving toward their most strategic years of service and life stewardship. Young leaders like Costi Hinn and Allie Beth Stuckey along with experts on theology and culture like Os Guinness, Kelly Shackleford and Greg Koukl, professional coaches like Lloyd Reeb and men who have run the race well for decades like Robert Wogelmuth and (author of the recently released and celebrated book “Gun Lap”) and his wife Nancy Leigh (Demoss) Wolgemuth are coming to challenge all of us to run and finish our race with excellence.  My friends, Navy Seal Clint Bruce and David Eubanks, founder of Free Burma Rangers, will encourage and inspire all of us to live with a warrior mentality against a persistent and ever present enemy.  This is going to be a strategic and great few days in the desert.  

Many lives were changed because others have said to them, “We have never asked you to sacrifice to come to something, but we are now.” 

We are excited to give you the chance to be those friends to others now and invite you to join us in praying and investing with us.  We are hopeful you, and yours, can join us this October in Scottsdale and that you pray about how you can use your relationships and means to make it possible for others to join us. 

Even if you cannot come there is an opportunity to give tax deductible gifts to make it possible for young leaders and pastors who otherwise could not afford to attend to make it. We are praying many of you will reach out to us at [email protected] about this tax deductible opportunity to provide scholarships for others.

The site has a great FAQ section and an email to send further questions to or you can respond directly to me.  Thank you for praying for us and the event and for being a part of the good, brave, and ready. 

Hebrews 3:13, 

Todd and Alex Wagner