Being a disciple is an on-going shaping and molding by God. It can certainly be hard, slow and even frustrating sometimes. In this podcast based on a recent sermon, Pete shares how Jesus wants us to “stick with Him,” allowing Him to radically transform and reorient our lives. – EHD Team P.S. Check out Pete’s latest YouTube video “How Do We Take a Sabbath When Life is So Busy?”.

In this final podcast on The Emotionally Healthy Leader, I respond to the questions:Why are endings and new beginnings, i.e. transitions. so often handled poorly in our ministries, organizations, and teams? Why do we often miss God’s new beginnings, the new work he is doing? The answer is multilayered, yet it revolves around the application of one central biblical truth — death is a necessary prelude to resurrection. To bear long-term fruit for Christ, we need to recognize that some things must die so something new can grow. If we do not embrace this reality, we will dread endings in the same way our wider culture does, as signs of failure rather than as opportunities for God to do something new. In this podcast, I talk about how integrating ending and new beginnings is a critical leadership task to master if we are to do God’s work, God’s way, and in God’s timing. I. Read more.

I spent 8 years writing The Emotionally Healthy Leader. But it was the lessons learned from pain around “Power and Wise Boundaries” that initially served as the impetus for the writing of that book. It was, by far, the most difficult chapter to write. Almost every church, nonprofit organization, and Christian community I know bears deep scars and hurt due to a failure to steward power and set wise boundaries. I was no exception. In this podcast I give many examples of ways we can do this in a healthy way, attempting to nuance the different situations in which we find ourselves. I address two large challenges each of us confronts: Our exercise of power, i.e. our capacity to influence others. That power is God-given. When we under-use our power out of fear, a need to be liked, or an aversion to conflict, we hurt people. This is the most common problem I observe among. Read more.

One of the primary tasks of a leader is to create a healthy culture with healthy teams. For Christian leaders, this task is even more demanding because the kind of culture and teams we create are to be radically different than those of the world. In this podcast, I build on the four characteristics of emotionally healthy culture and team building from The Emotionally Healthy Leader, expanding on each with personal examples and specific ways we have integrated them into our work over the last 23 years. They are: Work Performance and Personal Spiritual Formation are Inseparable. We are not simply concerned with our team’s ability to do their tasks well and fulfill their job description – be it paid of unpaid. We are deeply concerned if they are maturing in Jesus. It is the first question we ask when we meet with them. The Elephants in the Room are Acknowledged and Confronted. An “elephant in. Read more.

Scripture provides us with multiple examples of God’s leaders making plans without him since the beginning of recorded history. Abraham and Sarah grew impatient and decided Abraham would sleep with Hagar (Genesis 16:1 – 4). Moses impulsively killed an Egyptian in a misguided effort to deliver God’s people (Exodus 2:11 – 23). Solomon planned and negotiated deals to build a bigger and better kingdom on the earth without consulting God. The list goes on — ​from King Saul’s decision to remain on his throne and kill David, to the prophet Jonah running away from God’s command to go to Nineveh. Making plans for God without listening to him has been standard practice for thousands of years. In this podcast, I talk about the 3 indispensable questions I ask to stay anchored in making plans and decisions that flow out of deep inner life with God – whether they be in my personal leadership or with a team. They are: What. Read more.

Keeping Sabbath is a core spiritual practice – an essential means God uses to slow us down and mature us. This applies to everyone, and especially to us who lead others. The integration of Sabbath delight in the midst of an active, missional life is one of the more subversive, radical and powerful gifts we can offer our people and the world we aim to serve. In this podcast, I begin by exploring a number of related Sabbath applications and tangents (e.g. Sabbath as play, re-framing vacations as longer Sabbaths, the importance of longer sabbaticals, Sabbath as a weapon of warfare against powers and principalities). After this, I answer a number of common FAQ’s such as: How do I go about deciding what specific activities are acceptable and unacceptable on the Sabbath? Do I need a day-off and a Sabbath? What do I do about my tendency to perfectionism? Isn’t Jesus our Sabbath-rest? Is. Read more.