Pastors in Recovery

Episode 98: The Mistake You Can't Stop Thinking About Every pastor has a story they wish they could rewrite. Maybe it was inviting the wrong speaker. Making a leadership decision that didn't work out. Trusting the wrong person. Or simply making a mistake that still comes back to mind years later. In this episode, Jon shares several real ministry stories—and one fictional scenario that every pastor...

Episode 97 - Devil's Been Lying to You What happens when the enemy convinces us that our failures are the whole story? After a motorcycle ride through the winding mountain roads of Arizona, I was reminded that we rarely see what's around the next bend. The same is true in our spiritual lives. Satan points to our past, our mistakes, and our struggles, hoping we'll believe that's all there is. But h...

Episode 96 — Come Apart Before You Come Apart Many pastors know they need rest, but not every pastor can take a sabbatical or a week-long retreat. Some are bivocational. Some are raising families. Some are using their vacation time for family trips. So what do we do when life and ministry keep demanding more of us? In this episode, Jon talks about the importance of intentionally getting away for a...

Episode 95 - Look How Far You've Come Recovery can sometimes feel frustrating. We complete a Step Study, attend meetings, work with a sponsor, and still find ourselves noticing all the ways we haven't arrived yet. In this encouraging episode of Pastors in Recovery, Jon Hammond reminds pastors and ministry leaders to pause and look back at what God has already done.  Using the illustration of a woo...

Episode 94 - The People God Sent When we pray for help, guidance, wisdom, or strength, we often expect God to answer through a miracle, a sign, or a dramatic breakthrough. But what if many of God's answers arrive in the form of people? In this episode of Pastors in Recovery, Jon Hammond explores the biblical examples of Aaron, Jonathan, Barnabas, Ruth, Naomi, and the friends who carried a paralyze...

Episode 93 - Retiring Without Losing Your Purpose Episode 93 explores the emotional and spiritual transition many pastors quietly face as they grow older. What happens when your passions begin to change? What if retirement is not the end of your purpose, but a new season of it? In this deeply personal episode, Jon Hammond reflects on aging, ministry identity, family, legacy, and the growing desire...

Episode 92 - Always On - Pastors ADHD and the Guilt of Rest In this deeply personal episode of Pastors in Recovery, Jon Hammond talks honestly about pastors who struggle to slow down. From racing thoughts and chaotic desks to guilt over resting and late-night scrolling, this episode explores the hidden mental and emotional overload many pastors quietly carry. Jon discusses ADHD-style struggles, ov...

Episode 91 -  Everbody Else In Episode 91 of the Pastors in Recovery, Jon opens up about something he misunderstood about himself for years — why certain parts of ministry energized him while other parts emotionally drained him. Why did preaching, mentoring, recovery groups, creativity, and helping people solve problems feel life-giving… while hospital visits, emotionally heavy conversations, and...

Episode 90 - Called… But Not Ready Yet What happens when someone feels genuinely called by God… but they’re not fully ready yet? In Episode 90 of Pastors in Recovery, Jon Hammond talks honestly about one of the most difficult balancing acts pastors face: encouraging people in their calling while also protecting the church through wisdom, discernment, and healthy leadership boundaries. Drawing from...

Episode 89 - Another Church Town Sometimes the hardest part of ministry isn’t the sermon… it’s the moving truck. In Episode 89 of the Pastors in Recovery podcast, Jon Hammond talks honestly about the emotional cost of relocating in ministry and how repeated church moves can deeply affect pastors, wives, and children. New churches can bring excitement, opportunity, and fresh vision… but they can al...

Episode 88 - Struggling Children and You Can’t Fix It Some of the deepest pain a parent can carry is watching a child struggle… and realizing you can’t fix it. In this honest and heartfelt episode of Pastors in Recovery, we talk about the heartbreak of loving teenage or adult children who are making difficult choices, drifting spiritually, resisting help, or blaming the very people trying to care...

Episode 87 - Don’t Forget Her - Loving Your Wife When Life Gets Heavy Sometimes in ministry, we give our best energy to everyone else… and the one closest to us gets what’s left. In this episode of Pastors in Recovery, we take an honest look at what it means to truly love your wife—not just in words, but in presence, sacrifice, and everyday choices. With Mother’s Day approaching, this is a reminde...

Episode 86 - I tried and it Didn't work (So I Stopped) Have you ever tried to connect with someone… and it just didn’t go the way you hoped? Maybe it felt awkward. Maybe they didn’t respond. Maybe you walked away thinking, “That didn’t work… so I’m done.” In this episode, we go deeper than just surface-level connection. We talk about why many of us stop trying—not just because it didn’t work, but...

Episode 85 - Loneliness by Choice | From Isolation to Connection Loneliness is something many pastors feel—but what if part of the problem isn’t just what’s happening to us… but what we’re not doing about it? In Episode 1, we talked about how real isolation is in ministry. But this episode is different. This is a practical conversation about what it actually looks like to move out of isolation and...

Episode 84 - That Slow Drift | + Original Song "Drift" What if you didn’t fall… what if you just drifted? In this episode of Pastors in Recovery, we talk about one of the most dangerous realities in ministry—the slow, almost invisible drift away from God. It doesn’t start with rebellion. It starts with distraction. Busyness. Fatigue. Numbing out. From King David staying home instead of going to wa...

Episode 83 - TSP | Part 9 - So That I May Be Reasonably Happy In This Life What if the problem isn’t your life… but your expectations? In this episode, we unpack one of the most honest and freeing lines in the Serenity Prayer: “…so that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with You forever in the next.” Many of us expect following God to make life easier. We expect obedience...

Episode 82 - TSP | Part 8 - Trusting That You Will Make All Things Right In Episode 82 of the Pastors in Recovery Podcast, we continue our Serenity Prayer series by exploring the line: “Trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will.” When many of us think about the will of God, we often focus on the big life questions—career, ministry opportunities, relationships, and th...

Episode 81 - TSP | Part 7 - Taking As Jesus Did This Sinful World + Song "Why Can't the World" In Episode 81 of the Pastors in Recovery Podcast, we continue our Serenity Prayer series by reflecting on a powerful and difficult line: “Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.” Many pastors begin ministry with a vision of how the world should be. We dream of healthy ch...

Episode 80 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 6 - Accepting Hardship as a Pathway to Peace  This may be the most difficult line in the entire Serenity Prayer. In this episode, I share personal stories of real hardship — my sister running away from home, losing my brother to Hodgkin’s disease, the devastating loss of my nine-month-old nephew, and more recent struggles with injury, limitation, and physica...

Episode 79 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 5 - Living One Day At A Time Are you living in yesterday’s regret… or tomorrow’s anxiety? In Part 5 of our Serenity Prayer series, we explore two powerful phrases: “Living one day at a time. Enjoying one moment at a time.” Many pastors and ministry leaders struggle with replaying conversations from the past or rehearsing fears about the future. Shame and ins...

Episode 78 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 4 + Original Worship Experience with Stone & Mercy In Part 4 of our Serenity Prayer series, we focus on one of the most overlooked — and most powerful — lines: “…and the wisdom to know the difference.” As pastors, many of us are wired to fix things. We carry responsibility. We step into chaos. We try to help. But what happens when we confuse what is ours...

Episode 77 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 3 + Original Song "When It's My Turn" This week on Pastors in Recovery, we move into the hardest part of the Serenity Prayer. Not accepting what we cannot change. But owning what we can. As pastors, we preach that the Holy Spirit does the cleaning. We say, “God changes hearts.” And that’s true.  But what happens when God has already shown us something… and w...

Episode 76 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 2 + Original Song "When God is First" What happens when God is first… but nothing changes? In Week 2 of our Serenity Prayer series, we slow down and sit with one of the hardest realities of faith and recovery: accepting what we cannot change. Many of us were formed to believe that obedience should be rewarded—and that if we’re doing the right things, life sh...

Episode 75 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 1 + Featuring the song "The Serenity Prayer" In this episode, we begin a new short series by slowing down and looking closer at the Serenity Prayer—starting with the very first word: God. Before we ask for serenity, courage, or wisdom, we acknowledge who God is. This prayer begins by placing God at the center, not as a vending machine or last resort, but as...

Episode 74 — The Twelve Steps Recap | Recovery as a Lifelong Practice This episode is a pause, a breath, and a look back. In Episode 74, we step away from teaching individual steps and instead reflect on what the Twelve Steps give us as a whole. Not as a program to complete—but as a way of living. Each step becomes a rail that keeps us steady: how we tell the truth, how we surrender control, how w...