Jun 11, 2020 | Calling, Career, Emotional Intelligence, Leadership, Likeability, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Relationships, Team members, Uncategorized, Work
What’s it like to be on the other side of you? I remember our lead pastor posing this question to us during one of his talks several years ago. It’s an intimidating question to ask ourselves. Even more intimidating to ask someone else, “What’s it like to be on the...
Jun 4, 2020 | Calling, Family, friendship, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Relationships, Uncategorized, Work
Today, an important post from our teammate, Jaime Hlavin, on the subject of simplifying. ~ John This week was weird. The governor of Michigan has begun to reopen our state. And it felt almost “normal.” And by “normal,” I mean exhaustingly busy to the point that I...
May 28, 2020 | Abuse, Anger, Anxiety, Assertiveness, Burnout, Depression, Emotional Health, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Missionary, Pastor, Relationships, Suicide, Uncategorized
In last week’s post we talked about the sudden passing of pastor Darrin Patrick, and used it as a launching point for a discussion regarding the problem of suicide in the United States. According to the Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services Administration, in...
Apr 2, 2020 | Anxiety, discouragement, Doubt, Fear, friendship, Leadership, Loneliness, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Peace, Relationships, Stress, Trust, Uncategorized
We are now almost two months into a season we’ve never seen in our lifetimes – the impact, fallout, and stress of the COVID-19 pandemic. I’ve waited to say anything on this platform about the subject because sometimes I think in the heat of the moment, we rush to put...
Mar 12, 2020 | Emotional Health, friendship, Ministry Leader, Missionary, Pastor, Relationships
“You can never have any close friends in the church you lead!” Such was the declaration I heard as a young pastor from many seasoned pastors. I was a greenhorn, and didn’t have enough confidence to push back on their strong position. Coming out of college, where...
Jan 16, 2020 | Difficult people, Family, Forgiveness, friendship, Leadership, Ministry Leader, Pastor, Relationships, Uncategorized
It was the 2nd evening of 2020, I was sitting with a bowl of popcorn on my lap, watching a football game, and enjoying life. A pretty uneventful night. Woke up on Day 3 of 2020 with tooth pain. I thought, “just tooth sensitivity, no big deal.” Day 4 of 2020, the pain...
