Nov 24, 2021 | Gratefulness, Thanksgiving
For 2021 . . . for most of us, a year of many blessings, accompanied by significant challenges. For some of us, thankfulness and gratitude seem elusive this year. Today, a Thanksgiving-themed post from our teammate, Jaime Hlavin, that is helping me focus more on what...
Nov 11, 2021 | Difficult people, Disappointment, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor, People Leaving, Relationships
When people leave the church you pastor, God often mourns—and so should you—at least for a while. As a young pastor, the worst days in my life were when people I cared about decided to leave. But now I understand those didn’t have to be my worst days. When people...
Nov 4, 2021 | Alignment, Burnout, Emotional Health, Exhaustion, Fatigue, Leadership, Longevity, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Rhythms
A Barna 2017 Study of 14,000 Protestant Lead Pastors in U.S. revealed that 37% of lead pastors are at medium to high risk of burnout. That percentage has grown even higher in the past two years. Here’s the thing about burnout – getting healed up is not like flipping a...
Oct 28, 2021 | Anger, Bitterness, Difficult people, Emotional Health, Forgiveness, Pastor, Relationships
Relationships can be messy, can’t they? In Acts 13:13 we read the following: “From Paphos, Paul and his companions sailed to Perga in Pamphylia, where John (Mark) left them to return to Jerusalem.” We learn later on in Acts this departure caused Paul a lot of...
Oct 21, 2021 | Authenticity, character, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Relationships, Spirituality
Jaime Hlavin joins the blog again today, writing on the subject of how to behave while our world is falling off the moral cliff. This post is timely, practical, and challenging, all at the same time. Enjoy ~ John. It doesn’t take much to realize that we live in a...