✅ [FREE VIDEO] Learn a 5-part framework for communicating with others https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/community

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Staff meetings, like it or not, are a critical building block for an emotionally healthy church culture.

Over the years, I have learned that staff meetings are a powerful opportunity to bring encouragement, clarify roles, and learn how to be with Jesus together. There are books written about how to have a productive or efficient staff meeting, but in today's podcast, I take a different approach. I've identified 5 ways to cultivate emotional health in your regular meetings.

✅ [FREE E-BOOK] LeaderSHIFT: 8 Pivotal Breakthroughs of Emotionally Healthy Leaders https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershift

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All around the world, there is an electrical charge surging through the minds and hearts of the people we lead. Our political climate has made this another difficult, yet important time to pastor and lead well.

So how do we navigate politics personally AND from the pulpit without falling prey to the common traps of both sides of the aisle?

In this podcast episode (Part 2 of 2), I share what I believe are 4 invitations from God to the Church in this moment.

Within these invitations are keys for us to lead with grace, steadiness, and wisdom, as we pastor our churches through this storm.

📣 FREE E-BOOK: 8 Practices of Emotionally Healthy Preaching & Teaching 🌟
Learn the essential practices to deliver sermons with depth and power.
https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/preaching

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Leadership is a crucible through which God is changing YOU into a new kind of person. Throughout your leadership journey you will be taken through a series of fires or tests from God that exists to purify you from the inside out.
 
In today's podcast, I share about the many tests you WILL encounter if you haven't already. If you are not prepared for these tests, you will stumble and drown in discouragement. If you are prepared for these tests, you will be transformed into the image of Christ.

A course won't change your church.
Neither will a book, a podcast, or a sermon series.

So the question is, how do people truly change?

This is a question every pastor and leader needs to answer. Over the years of my pastoral ministry, and even today, one thing I've noticed is how often we UNDERESTIMATE the personal time, presence, and intentionality it takes to disciple people into transformation in Jesus.

True change is slow because it is relational. Change does not happen on an assembly line.

Over the past several weeks on the podcast, I've shared with you the importance of reclaiming a spacious life - one that is not rushed, crammed, or overscheduled. Many leaders are coming to understand this as it relates to their PERSONAL life and walk with God.

But today I want to share with you about creating spaciousness for OTHERS. I believe it's the secret ingredient our churches need to experience deep communal fruitfulness.

As leaders, we know that PRAYER is the heartbeat of life in Christ. But often, our vision of prayer can become lop-sided, leading to a heavy weight on our shoulders.

For my first 17 years as a Christian, I had a one-dimensional view of prayer. I thought prayer was a tool I was supposed to use to make God's kingdom come. So I would devote 6-8 hours a week in prayer meetings, interceding for revival and believing that unless I prayed, God wouldn't come. I thought that was what Jesus called us to.

But over time I learned to see something different in the prayer life of Jesus. The gospel of Luke highlights a way of being with God that is less about striving and more about attunement.  It is true that prayer DOES require perseverance and devotion, but for reasons different than we think.

In today's podcast we explore the prayer life of Jesus and what that means for us today.

• Is all self-promotion really sinful? 
• Aren't we called to reach people?
• How do we live and lead publicly without being robbed of joy and contentment?

In 2024, church leaders will be sifted left and right.

Mature from immature.
Wise from foolish.
Substantial from surface level.

This I know – the most effective leaders (and the ones worth following) will draw a line in the sand and put a full stop to accepting a rushed, cluttered, and constricted life.

They will reject speed, crowds, and noise in favor of a graceful, unrushed way of life. I call this lifestyle "spaciousness". It's one of the secret weapons of true spiritual mothers and fathers of the faith.

On today's podcast, I explore the theme of spaciousness, making applications for how leaders can resist the way of the world, and decisively shift into a new way of life with Jesus.

Leaders in 2024 are facing pressures and challenges greater than any other in my lifetime.

Elections, wars, rumors of wars, economic pressure, global instability, scandals, artificial intelligence, etc.

This may seem overwhelming, but there is a unique opportunity before us. As leaders, this will require the decision to radically re-align ourselves to God's purposes and plans in the world today.

On today's podcast, I share some personal reflections on what I believe "radical realignment" looks like and then offer 3 specific invitations from God in this season.

• A staff member is chronically late to team meetings
• Your children are texting during a family meal
• A volunteer is saying they are doing their role, but they clearly are not
• A church elder or board member is living a non-exemplary life
• Someone dropped the ball on getting out promotions for your Christmas Eve service.

✅ [FREE E-BOOK] LeaderSHIFT: 8 Pivotal Breakthroughs of Emotionally Healthy Leaders https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershift

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All around the world, there is an electrical charge surging through the minds and hearts of the people we lead. Our political climate has made this another difficult, yet important time to pastor and lead well.

So how do we navigate politics personally AND from the pulpit without falling prey to the common traps of both sides of the aisles?

In this podcast episode (Part 1 of 2), I share what I believe are 4 invitations from God to the Church in this moment.

Within these invitations are keys for us to lead with grace, steadiness, and wisdom, as we pastor our churches through this storm.

• Your spouse and friends will feel seen and heard.
• Your staff and volunteers will feel like you get them.
• Your church will experience you as compassionate and present.
• Your love for others will grow exponentially.

For the first 17 years of my Christian life, my emotional life was completely divorced from my spiritual life.  Or so I thought.

When sadness, anger, or disappointment surfaced from my soul, I did not see them as gifts. As a leader, I saw my emotions as interruptions to "my real work" – moving the church forward and reaching the lost!

As a result, I was not present with myself, with God, or with others. I saw my sadness as something to be overcome through prayer and Scripture. I would declare, "the joy of the Lord is my strength!" while ignoring the deep cries of my heart.

The truth is that emotions never die. They are only buried alive. They always resurface, leaking into other parts of our lives and relationships. 

It took a work of God for this to change in my life and marriage. When my wife Geri and I discovered the permission to explore our emotional life, it was like opening up a dam. The world went from black and white to color almost overnight.

Emotionally healthy leaders see their emotions as invitations, not obstacles to the mission of God.

The fruit of this journey leads to less anxiety and more freedom in our lives, leadership, and relationships.

In today's podcast episode, my wife Geri and I share more about the skill of emotional discovery we call "Explore the Iceberg" in Emotionally Healthy Relationships. 
 
Bottom line, your emotional life is a matter of life and death!

Leaders, by definition, are captivated by the future – moving forward, making progress, and changing the world.

But what many leaders fail to appreciate is that we are all anchored in our past. In other words, none of us are "blank slates". We each bring the blessings and curses of our families of origin (Exodus 20:5) into our relationships, churches, organizations, and businesses. 

Emotionally healthy leaders understand that you cannot go forward without first going backward.

That is why the GENOGRAM is one of the core tools in both parts of the Emotionally Healthy Discipleship Course.

When I became a Christian, I believed I was a "new creation" (2 Cor. 5:17) and that I no longer needed to deal with my past. However, when I discovered the genogram tool, I found a new way to bring all of the baggage of my family of origin to Jesus to be changed. 

The truth is – you cannot change what you are unaware of.

In today's podcast episode, Geri and I share our history with this powerful tool and how it helped us name the reality of our past to catalyze the transforming work of Jesus in our lives and leadership. Don't miss this one!

• Your expectation is unconscious. You didn't even know you had an expectation until it was violated.
• Your expectation is unrealistic. It is not reasonable given the person or circumstance.
• Your expectation is unspoken. You did not clearly articulate your expectation to another person.
• Your expectation is un-agreed upon. The other person never agreed to follow-through with your expectation.

In over four decades of leadership, I've come to the conclusion that one of the biggest gaps in our leadership training comes down to one essential skill...

Creating safety where everyone around you feels empowered to communicate clearly and honestly.

Without this skill, church teams remain silenced - unable to speak truth and creating the conditions for an environment of frustration, resentment, and judgement.

On today's podcast, I'm joined by my wife Geri, as we explore the first of 8 essential relationship skills that every leader must adopt in order to unleash the God-given voice of our people.

We'll model a powerful skill called "Community Temperature Reading" and talk about how it applies to real life leadership scenarios.

Imagine leading a church where every staff, leader, and volunteer knows how to communicate clearly. Imagine a culture, where everyone feels safe to tell the truth and has the skills needed to do so. Imagine the unity that is possible when every voice is heard.

Take a listen to today's podcast.

According to the World Christian Encyclopedia, the fastest growing stream of the church is the Pentecostal/Charismatic movement. In terms of overall numbers, it represents 644 million Christians world wide. This is 8.3% of the world population. By 2050, it will reach over 1 billion people. Unbelievable!

We need the power of God, gifts of the Holy Spirit, signs and wonders for the global mission of the church. Much of my personal spiritual and leadership journey was formed in the charismatic movement. We regularly experienced the outpouring of God's power in our church. It was electric.

And yet I was still proud, defensive, distant, not present, unable to connect relationally, conflict avoidant, unaware internally, and unloving. This disconnect is what led to the birth of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship.

In today's episode, I unpack 5 key contributions of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship that allow us to walk in the healthy, long-term release of God's power. 

✅ [FREE E-BOOK] LeaderSHIFT: 8 Pivotal Breakthroughs of Emotionally Healthy Leaders https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershift

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As a young leader, I wanted so badly to succeed.
I wanted to pastor a growing church, and preach the best sermons in town.
I wanted to grow our ministries – bigger, better, and more influentual.

To this end, I was told by leadership experts to develop my skills and competencies. I learned to preach and vision cast, to exegete the scriptures, do effective evangelism, lead staff meetings, and launch small groups.

But over time these outward facing competencies became a WEIGHT that squeezed the life out of me.

To make a long story short, this is what catalyzed a complete revolution in me. I knew that I (and we) needed a massive shift in our leadership paradigm.

On today's podcast, we explore the GREAT SHIFT we need.

For leaders, one of the most frustrating parts of decision-making is this...

It....takes....time.

Sure, sometimes quick decisions are necessary. But most consequential decisions (that shape the future of your life, church, and ministry) require the ability to slow down and wait. Usually for longer than is comfortable for you.

In order to let your judgments (discernments) come from deep within, you cannot in any way be pressed or hurried. You must wait.

To be clear, waiting does not mean you are doing nothing.  You are doing the most important something there is. In today's podcast, I share more about what God is actually developing in you in times of waiting. Then I take time to address several questions listeners have submitted.

Decision-making is primarily about discernment. It's the ability to make decisions that align with God's will for your life and ministry.

The truth is - discernment is an art. It takes practice, attention, and a lifetime to develop.

But if there is one core practice that is the foundation of discernment, it is learning to pay attention to the movement of God in your own soul through consolations and desolations.

"Consolations and desolations" are terms offered by Ignatius of Loyola, founder of the Jesuits over 500 years ago to describe the inner feelings that move you toward God and the ones that take you away from God.  

Leaders who are able to slow down and pay attention to the inner work of God will not only be effective, they will be able to lead from joy, rest, and freedom.

One of the primary tasks of spiritual leadership is the ability to make prayerful, wise decisions.

Yet many leaders find it difficult to invest the time and space necessary for sharp discernment. The result is that our decisions become dull, lacking precision and power. Over time, flippant decision-making inflicts tremendous consequences on us and those we lead.

In the first episode of this new podcast series, we discuss the importance of boundaries to keep us surrendered to God's purposes. Why? Because any time God calls us to a specific work, the devil tempts us to live beyond our boundaries. This happens in every season of our life!

When we discern and yield to the gravity of God's purpose, life flourishes. This is the first step to becoming leaders who make sharp decisions.

Years ago, we were doing some strategic planning at the church I had founded in Queens, NY. We were reflecting on what contributed to our growth over a 26 year period.

A single word kept reappearing on the whiteboard - "BASEMENT"

How did we disciple so many quality leaders, many of whom are still leading today?

Hint: it wasn't what happened on the stage. It was what happened in the basement.

Matthew 28 tells us to "make disciples of all nations". But many leaders today feel a pressure to make their discipleship strategies big and public rather than small and hidden.

Jesus modeled a different way of making disciples. In fact, he flipped the entire thing upside down. In today's podcast, I share with you why real discipleship starts in the basement.

Affliction. It's a topic that nobody wants to talk about (including me).

But as it relates to TRUE LEADERSHIP, it is a costly mistake to avoid our afflictions. Why? Because this is how God matures us into spiritual mothers and fathers of the faith.

By "affliction," I'm referring to any kind of hurt, loss, betrayal, broken relationship, abandonment, or disorienting circumstance. While these are obviously things we don't want, they are also unavoidable.

Many of us run from our afflictions, seeing them as obstacles to our life and leadership. We distract, jump over, sidestep, and ignore. But Jesus called us to take up our cross and follow him. And when you're on the cross, you can't just jump off!

The good news is that God doesn't abandon us in our hardships. In fact – if we're willing to PAY ATTENTION, God uses our afflictions to develop us into the type of leaders worth following.

Take a listen to today's podcast episode.

One of the greatest threats to leading with joy is giving into the temptation of overcommitment.

When our lives are crowded, cluttered, and cramped, it is difficult to hear God and live in loving union with Him. The irony is, we can "fit in" regular practices of Sabbath and silence while still being driven by an overscheduled life.

But how do we resist this temptation?

Silence, solitude, and sabbath must become our practices.
AND spaciousness must become our mindset.

In order to live spacious lives, we must avoid the critical traps that keep us settling for an overcommitted life.

• What would it feel like to live with breathing room?
• How would it feel to limit your "Yes" and claim more margin in your schedule?
• What if you could build in time for extended thinking, praying, and being?

On today's podcast, I identify several traps that keep you from the gift of spaciousness and offer wisdom that will help you live with a renewed sense of joy.

Many leaders today "know" the importance of a slowed-down spirituality.

So why do so many continue to feel overloaded and over scheduled, often working 3 jobs, taking on new side hustles, and remain driven by the fear of missing out? Why can't we stop overcommitting?

Listen, I know this struggle firsthand. And I've found that it goes deeper than knowing intellectually and theologically the right thing to do.

1. How do you break free from the roots of overcommitment inside yourself?
2. How do you help others break free from overcommitment as you lead them?

Recently we crossed an unbelievable threshold with the Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast with over 10 million lifetime podcast downloads. I couldn't be more surprised, humbled, and thankful for this milestone moment. 

I say "surprised" because back in 1996, when we first started, the term "emotional health" was considered heretical in much of the church!

Now 25 years later, we can see that the cultural landscape has changed dramatically. Not only is emotional health received, but in many ways, it is now considered a promotional buzzword.

In today's podcast, I share my observations of what I consider 3 counterfeit versions of emotional health that we settle for, but then cast a vision for an authentic life with God.

I was recently asked by someone...

"Pete, if you could go back and give yourself advice in the different seasons of life and ministry, what would you say?"

The truth is – every decade has its own unique invitations. As I reflected, I realized that I would say something slightly different to myself at 25, 35, 45, and even 55.

Today on the podcast, I share with you some fresh insights as I look back on my own journey and development. While my journey is different than yours, I'm hoping you'll be able to learn from my lessons - both the good and the bad!

✅ [FREE E-BOOK] LeaderSHIFT: 8 Pivotal Breakthroughs of Emotionally Healthy Leaders https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershift

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Loss, change, and transition are all around us.

Yet, one of the lesser-known practices of emotionally healthy leadership is learning how to let go and transition from one season to the next. Throughout our lives there are countless endings and new beginnings that invite us to pay attention:

Closing a chapter of life, Leaving one church and joining a new one, Starting a new job or role, Moving away or into a new home, Changing relationships, Succession and release of leadership

In every transition, there are gifts waiting to be discovered if we are able to slow down and reflect in gratitude. When we rush through transitions, giving little thought to what is happening, we actually miss out on the hidden ways God is trying to come to us.

In this podcast, I explore this theme further and share insights on how we can navigate transitions well. 

I was 19 when I came to Christ and started my training as a Christian leader.

As a young leader, I was taught many valuable things. But nobody told me about the most powerful gift leaders can bring to those they lead.

But I've learned (through my own failures) that the greatest gift leaders can actually give is becoming an "incarnational presence" – being DEEPLY PRESENT with people like Jesus.

In today's podcast episode, we look at the norm for most churches and leaders, but then we'll explore the beauty of what can happen in our church cultures when we learn to lead in this way.

I encourage you to watch our full training video online in our Leader's Training Vault. It's completely free and only takes one minute to register.

For now, you can listen to today's episode here...

As a pastor or leader, your primary role is to develop and disciple others.

Not long ago I was spending time with some young pastors, hoping to learn how leaders today define ministry success. The word "influence" seemed to be a common theme.

Many leaders obsess over growing their followers, gaining digital credibility, and creating captivating sound bites for social media. While there is nothing wrong with having a following, there exists a pressure and allure to making that the primary scorecard for ministry impact. This way of thinking only leads to destruction.

In many ways, this is nothing new. The 3 deadly temptations that Jesus faced in the desert, are the exact temptations we face as leaders, no matter what generation you are from.

• Expectations from others (i.e. board, supervisors, people we serve)
• Internal pressure to be a great leader or to create momentum.
• The "shoulds" of everything that feels important. (i.e. "We should be doing more of this...")

• We diminish the long-term impact of our ministries.
• We allow the wrong people exercise power and leadership. 
• We perpetuate immaturity. 
• We grow resentful and live in dis-ease. 
• We waste the time, energy, and money of God's people.
• We increase anxiety in everyone around us.
• We, and our community, become less playful (and more "intense/heavy.")

Every day, people all around us live in a chronic state of dread, anxious about what tomorrow will bring.

Nations and economies are crumbling. News media agitates our deepest fears. It often feels like the ground is shaking beneath our feet.

In a time like this, it is critical that we continue to LIVE and LEAD out of deep rest in Christ.

But how do we break free from the gravitational pull of bad news and despair?

I believe we must recalibrate a biblical vision of HOPE. (Hint: it's more than optimism)
 
Let's be clear – this doesn't happen easily. We must contend for God's vision of reality and vigilantly pursue deep rest in Christ.

In today's podcast episode, I share keys to cultivating hope and deep rest.

Hiring new staff (paid or volunteer) is one of the most difficult responsibilities of church leadership.  The difference between the right hire and the wrong hire will have long-term consequences in your church.

Two weeks ago on the podcast, I brought the first part of "Emotionally Healthy Hiring (Paid or Volunteer)", in which we covered the first 7 principles that leaders must consider before making a hire.

Today, I bring the second part, offering the next 6 out of 13 principles for emotionally healthy hiring. (It's shocking to hear how often principle #11 is overlooked when hiring staff!)

Churches around the world are rebuilding in a post-pandemic world. Leaders are assembling new teams and desperately trying to fill vacant positions.

The temptation to cut corners in your hiring process (paid or volunteer) is ENORMOUS. When you feel the pressure to onboard a new worship leader or children's pastor in order to keep "the wheels on the bus", it's easy to make poor hiring decisions.

In today's podcast, I share 7 out of 13 principles that MUST be considered before your next hire. On the following podcast, I'll release part two of this series with the remaining principles. 

Today, very few church leaders feel like they are winning.

We look at our churches compared to what they used to be or what we'd like them to be, and it's hard to feel like we're making a real difference.

So we're faced with a difficult temptation...

Do we use our best energy to chase the perception of momentum? Or do we pursue heaven's perspective and seek to live with integrity from the inside out?

In today's podcast, I want to encourage you as a pastor or church leader. Jesus is King and He is ruling over the whole world – including your church!

Great news! I'm officially back from my summer sabbatical and I'm excited to share with you insights from my time away. 

In the 3rd - 5th centuries, early Christian men and women fled to the desert to escape the moral compromise in the church and the idols of the world. They did this, not out of self-righteousness, but in order to send a life raft to the church and be a gift to the world. 

The truth is – we must find a new way to live as desert fathers and mothers if we are going to live with deep peace and a powerful witness.

In today's podcast, I share 8 ways you can create for yourself a desert from which you can better love God and love others.

One of the most destructive temptations leaders face is living and leading from the veneer of a "false self". In other words, we project an image of how we'd like to be perceived, rather than living from truth.   

In today's podcast, I share a sermon from Colossians 3 that explores how we can overcome our false self and live out of our true self in Christ.

Many leaders today believe that if we're going to get things done and be successful, we must "take the bull by the horns". We are told that strength and power win in the economy of leadership.

So when Jesus boldly announces "Blessed are the Meek", it's no wonder that many of us shrug our shoulders and keep plowing ahead.

In today's podcast, I share a sermon that explores the depth underneath Jesus' words as he invited us into a life marked by meekness.