pastoral health Archives » Page 2 of 7

October 17, 2019

Healthy Church Systems

Many leaders and couples get into church planting or leading in a church because we care about people and want to see their lives changed; marriages healed, past hurts redeemed, addictions broken. This is why we labor, pray, vision cast, have meetings, preach sermons and sacrifice like we do. But how does that happen? The work of the Holy Spirit is one, but the other part of that is through relationships and systems. God is a God of systems and relationships. We see in Genesis 1 both of these. God creates man and woman in His image, and we see […]

October 3, 2019

How To Stay Spiritually Healthy This Ministry Season

Good grief this fall is busy! Is anyone else tired? And, we’re barely into the ministry season. Maybe it’s the combination of ministry and leadership plus all that’s going on with my kids getting older, playing more sports and being involved with more at school, but this season feels a little crazy to me. Earlier this week, I had lunch with a good friend, who is also a pastor in my city, and we were talking about the busyness of life. We were laughing about all the nonsense that comes with soccer, football, cross-country, homework, tired kids, quirky volunteers at […]

September 17, 2019

How to Speak the Right Words at the Right Time In Your Ministry

Strategy matters. Vision is critical. Structures and systems are vital. These are all important aspects of organizational leadership. But, they are trumped by what leaders actually say. Words matter. Lately I’ve been studying the book of Proverbs and thinking about the impact of words on our lives and organizations. I’m realizing that there have been turning points in my life that are a direct result of something someone said to me. When I was in 9th grade, my youth pastor told me, “You are a leader.” When I was in 11th grade, my English teacher told me, “You are a […]

September 8, 2019

How to lead in a world of distraction

Clay Scroggins is back on the podcast with some fresh insights from his brand new book, How to Lead in a World of Distraction. In an open and vulnerable interview, Clay talks about how the pressures of leadership led to him missing some of the signs of emotional ill-health, breaking down in his boss’s office, and finding quiet and healing in a noisy world. And if you think this is just theory, Clay is learning all this while leading a church of over 9,000, nurturing his marriage, and parenting five kids under the age of ten. Welcome to Episode 292 of the […]

August 27, 2019

Navigating the Life of a Pastor’s Wife

The life of a pastor’s wife (PW) has, for the longest time, been popularly known as a life of self-sacrifice, of discouragement, disillusionment and hurt. With Pastors’ Wives conferences or retreat themes like “From Bitter to Better,” “Embracing My Role as a Pastor’s Wife,” “Enjoying the Ride,” “Overcoming,” “Responding to Trials,” etc, it would thus seem that for most of her life, she is in an embattled situation, facing problems and difficulties on a regular basis with members of the church, other women and even with herself – situations that make it difficult for her to enjoy her life and […]

August 22, 2019

The Emotions of Pastoral Succession

resharing with kind permission from Carey Niewholf Succession has emerged as one of the major issues facing the church in the next decade. Businesses are not that far behind in struggling with succession. Most senior pastors (especially founding pastors) hang on too long. The question is why. In a candid and disarmingly honest interview, Amplify Founding Pastor, Lee Kricher, and his successor, Jason Howard, talk about how they paved the way not just for the next generation of leader, but for the next generation of church, allowing the model to change while the leadership changed. In the midst of it, […]

August 20, 2019

Sarcasm in the Bible?! How Old Testament Narrative Uses Sarcasm

reshared with kind permission from Leadership Resources. Sarcasm in the Bible?! NO WAY… Actually, yes way according to Dr. Dale Ralph Davis. In his helpful book The Word Became Fresh: How to Preach from Old Testament Narrative Texts, Davis explains why sarcasm is used in Old Testament narrative and provides a few examples: Occasionally the biblical writer dips his pen in acid and uses mockery, derision, or put-down to drive home his point. The device may not be prevalent but likely occurs more often than a casual reader thinks. One thinks immediately, of course, of Elijah’s taunting the prophets of Baal on Mt. Carmel […]

August 9, 2019

Delegation & Accountability

In order to be an effective leader, one must learn to properly delegate responsibilities and hold others accountable to their commitments. Since we cannot do all of the ministry by ourselves, especially as our ministry grows, we will need to delegate some of our responsibilities to others if we are to get the work done that the Lord requires of us. Learning how to delegate effectively and then hold others accountable will produce action and not excuses. Delegation “Brothers, choose seven men from among you who are known to be full of the Spirit and wisdom. We will turn this […]

August 6, 2019

2 Questions that Lead to Health

reshared with kind permission from Breeze Church. I don’t know about you, but where I live it has been HOT. I’m wondering how your summer is going? For church leaders, summer is often a change of pace. Many of us take time off. Others of us shut down our regular ministry programming and do something different and perhaps less involved. Summer is often a good time to take stock, evaluate and think strategically. So, here’s the question: How healthy will you be next summer? A year from now will you be closer to Jesus, have better boundaries, have more margin…or […]

July 27, 2019

Zimbabwean Pastors hunger for God’s Word: GProCommission Update

Pastor Calson’s life changed dramatically after he attended Leadership International’s Biblical Foundation courses in 2000. Now he labors full-time giving others the same blessing he received. “Pastors hunger to learn more about God’s Word,” Pastor Calson says. As Leadership International – Zimbabwe’s national director, he travels through Zimbabwe and surrounding countries teaching pastoral leaders how to interpret the Bible according to what God intends. He has a heart for pastors in rural areas, where congregations might be meeting in a classroom or under a tree and training is especially scarce. Just holding the study Bible they receive with the training […]