Feb 15, 2018 | Calling, Career, Emotional Health, Fear, friendship, Leadership, Loneliness, Ministry Leader, Missionary, Pastor, Pastor's Spouse, Relationships, Uncategorized
Several months ago, Laura and I taught at a church in the Upper Peninsula of Michigan. For those of you who are not Michiganders, our state’s Upper and Lower Peninsulas are connected by the five-mile long Mackinac Bridge. If you don’t like bridges,...
Jan 11, 2018 | Burnout, Calling, Career, Emotional Health, Fatigue, friendship, Leadership, Loneliness, Ministry Leader, Missionary, Pastor, Pastor's Spouse, People Leaving, People-pleasing, Relationships, Rest, Stress, Uncategorized
In last week’s blog we looked at 5 Common Stressors Pastors Face: Difficulty separating from work Wear and tear of spiritual warfare Societal dysfunction Raising/maintaining church budget Sensitivity Today I’d like to offer some practical ways pastors can address...
Dec 7, 2017 | Calling, Fear, Leadership, Likeability, Ministry Leader, Missionary, Pastor, Pastor's Spouse, People-pleasing, Relationships, Uncategorized
Hi my name is John. I’m a recovering people-pleasing-aholic. My first twelve years of ministry had a significant undercurrent of people-pleasing attached to it. The subconscious desire for everyone to like me led to bad scheduling decisions, inner conflicts over how...
Oct 26, 2017 | friendship, Leadership, Likeability, Loneliness, Relationships, Uncategorized
“We all have blind spots. To deny it is to prove it.” ~ Russ Ramsey Ever been in a conversation with a person who had no idea how their words were negatively impacting you? Ever had a boss who was clueless about how their angry rants were demoralizing you...
Oct 12, 2017 | character, Growth, Kindness, Relationships, Uncategorized
During his 1988 acceptance speech of the Republican Party’s nomination for president, George H.W. Bush called for a kinder, gentler nation. Almost 30 years later, we’ve apparently ignored his speech. Kindness seems in short supply. No matter where we turn—the...
Sep 14, 2017 | Anger, Emotional Health, friendship, Relationships, Uncategorized
Anger might be the most misunderstood emotion of all time. We’ve been created by God with the capacity to experience strong emotions—anger being one of them. Anger happens when someone violates you or crosses a healthy boundary you’ve established. Anger is part...
