Coaching For Pastors - Daily Coaching, Encouragement, and Support for Pastors

We think we are serving in God's power, but if you had a gun to your head, would you say you're serving out of the power of Jesus Christ? Or your own power. Pastors, I think this is a HUGE issue in our churches. We need the power of the LORD, not the power of a blog post, or the latest self-help book. Where DO you get your power? Support the show For more great content and conversations...

Pastor, how do you get the ball down the field, and anywhere close to the end zone, when you have opposition, when you have opposers? How do you get things done in church? How do you enact new programs and initiatives? How do you create change? That's what I'm going to talk with you about this week... Support the show For more great content and conversations for pastors, check out the ov...

Kay Warren joined me and my friend/colleague Jonny Craig to talk about mental illness, its presence and, unfortunately,  stigma in the local church. Rick and Kay Warren lost their youngest son, Matthew, to suicide almost ten years ago, and they have devoted their lives to helping others who struggle with mental illness. You can see everything that Kay is doing in her quest to help others, right he...

In Episodes 152-155 Jeff argues that there is ONE THING that he would ask his congregation to do, above everything else. In Episode 156, he gives his closing argument.  This is our mandate, our charge to keep, to teach this to our people, and teach them to obey it... Support the show For more great content and conversations for pastors, check out the over 400 episodes of the 200churches Podcast !

Love is candy, roses, Valentines, velvet, fluffy, soft, compromising, weakness, fall over, take-it-on-the-chin, anything goes Christianity. No, not really. Our culture trashes the meaning of love. They've lost it completely. Here's my best shot at the meaning of truly biblical love... This is the ONE THING I want my people to live out, more than ANYTHING else! Support the show For more g...

Have you ever had an encounter with someone (in the church) where they weren't very loving toward you? Okay, actually, where there was ZERO love in your interaction with them? I have. Many times. There's lots of reasons for that. But we can't indulge it anymore. No more church demons! Support the show For more great content and conversations for pastors, check out the over 400 episo...

Sometimes the most important, crucial truth - is also the most fundamental, the most elementary, the most basic.  The ONE thing I want my church to be known for, about everything else. So it is with the ONE thing I want my church to be known for, to be about. It's not rocket science. It's not profound or transcendent. But it is absolutely necessary, and before all else, primary and the #...

If you held a membership class, and could only tell your new members ONE thing - ONE thing that they absolutely had to do, had to keep in mind - ONE thing that if they stayed focused on that, everything else would take care of itself - what would that ONE thing be?? This week I want to talk to you about what is most important, most foundational.  I'm going to boil it down to the irreducible m...

Dave Jacobs from SmallChurchPastor.com joins me to talk about church growth - the things we've been told - and the things we should reconsider. Dave's book, Second Thoughts - 100 Things Small Church Pastors Should Reconsider , is filled with encouragement for pastors of ordinary sized churches. We talk about only one, #75 - Reconsider what the church growth experts have told you. Also, i...

Richard Foster wrote the book, Celebration of Discipline - The Path to Spiritual Growth , and Chapter 5 is The Discipline of Study. Wow. This is a great book. So I snatched the best of the best in that chapter, and then lay out for you a 3-step process to attack that discipline of study. The 3rd step in the process is the $$$ step! Without it, you'll probably flame out. With it, you almost ca...

Jeff takes a metaphor from Adam Grant's book, Think Again - and challenges pastors to choose the Rethinking Cycle, instead of the Overconfidence Cycle. Pastors are the spiritual thought leaders in the community, or should be, and must be open to the dynamic of life-long learning. It requires humility and, surprisingly, doubt! But you can do it, and Jeff unpacks how. Pick up Grant's book,...

Hey Pastor, How do you know you're right... about anything? Do you ever assume you're wrong? How do you learn, and gain more knowledge? Knowledge that actually is put to use and benefits you? Do you know what Epistemology is? So, we talk about that a bit both today and tomorrow on Episode 150. This episode will challenge your status quo... I promise! Enjoy! Warmest Regards (and you'...

We hear it all the time, but we're steeped in it in our culture - instant gratification, quick satisfaction, right-now results. We do not want to wait. In our quest for spiritual transformation, we can fall for the quick fix, the... silver bullet! There is none. I talk about the reality of spiritual transformation today as we look at Richard Foster's Celebration of Discipline . What does...

Richard Foster's book, Celebration of Discipline is a classic for the ages. Written 44 years ago with over 2 million copies sold... it is timeless! Jeff reflects on Foster's words encouraging solitude and silence. We are a people bedeviled by noise and commotion. We are overwhelmed with messaging and advertising. We are inundated with information and opportunities. Sometimes in order to...

Suzanne Vogel was in the middle of a capital campaign at her multisite church when Covid hit. Suddenly construction costs went through the roof. Over a million dollars given and millions more pledged. What does a pastor do in a situation like that? Two and a half years later Pastor Suzanne is here to tell you the... rest of the story! Great leadership wisdom and insight is ahead for you on this ep...

In this final episode on discipleship, Jeff provides resources for discipleship and offers some motivation to improve and move forward in this area of your ministry! Multiplication LeadNet Discipleship Exponential Disciple/Shift Book Real Life Discipleship Book Enjoy! Support the show For more great content and conversations for pastors, check out the over 400 episodes of the 200churches Podcast !

What qualifies as discipleship in your church? Do you have a discipleship ministry? (trick question!)  Jeff talks about a way to look at discipleship in your church that will exponentially multiply how much discipleship happens in the lives of your church family. Support the show For more great content and conversations for pastors, check out the over 400 episodes of the 200churches Podcast !

When does discipleship start and finish in the life of the follower of Jesus? How should we think about discipling and discipleship in our church ministry? Jeff continues on the mindset and philosophy of discipleship both in the pastor's life and in the church... Support the show For more great content and conversations for pastors, check out the over 400 episodes of the 200churches Podcast !

Today I continue to develop the idea of a discipleship that is sustainable and continuous - and that works in the real world. I really do believe that we make the idea and practice of discipleship much harder than it needs to be. Therefore, I try to envision a discipleship that is real, untangled, and organic. I hope that this episode churns out of you some helpful thoughts and developments for yo...

At the start of this new church year/school year, I ask you to think about your understanding of discipleship in your ministry context. Spend the next few days with me thinking about what is and what is not discipleship. Is your church filled with disciples? Are they in the discipleship process? What is that process? I think most of us make this way, WAY harder than it needs to be. Let's take...

Andrew Root joined me on the podcast today to talk about the most important things around being a pastor - one of which is helping our people imagine a Living God who comes, and loves, and acts. We talk about social media and its role in our lives and ministry. We talk about writing, pastoring, and parenting - a short, but profound conversation that you will enjoy and be encouraged by! Support the...

In the last in this series on preventing overwhelm and burnout, I share a principle made widely known by Andy Stanley about 20 years ago, which I think that if followed, may just be the most effective way to prevent them. I have been trying to do this for twenty years, and I'll keep practicing it, because I still have a long way to go, but am more convinced of it than ever! Support the show F...

When we want to combat stress, overwhelm, and burnout - probably our #1 super power and secret and weapon is sleep!  Jeff unpacks that on today's episode - because, it is so vitally important, and also the first thing we throw overboard when we get busy, much to our detriment! Enjoy! Support the show For more great content and conversations for pastors, check out the over 400 episodes of the...

This week we are finding more and more ways to hold stress at bay - minimize overwhelm - and avoid burnout. Today Jeff will share two more ways to reduce stress - in a ministry context. Defining issues, challenges, and problems, and actually taking real rest after seriously engaging your work - those are the two, and Jeff teases them out for you. Enjoy! Support the show For more great content and...

The short title of this episode is: Making Progress Through Overwhelm! Sometimes we just need 2.5 yards per down to keep the ball moving down the field. That's hard for "all or nothing" people to do - they go for the "Hail Mary" pass trying to score in one play. You make progress even when you're overwhelmed by doing the small things, the few things, sometimes the one...