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

My friend, with society and culture speeding up at an exponential rate, it's becoming obvious that this isn't just a "phase" that will pass. We are on a trajectory that will leave us increasingly over-scheduled, inundated, preoccupied, and constantly tending to the tyranny of the urgent.

In this episode I ask what YOU are doing to get off the merry-go-round of culture. How can we be sure to not wander f...

Paul Schlieker takes seriously Jesus' command to make disciples of all people.  Paul is going to challenge your thinking about how you challenge YOUR OWN church family to be disciple makers!

Paul is a financial planner who takes Jesus with him everywhere. He and his wife Peggy are very active serving in various roles and if you CLICK HERE they have some free gifts for you - that you can use in your church for small gr...

Paul's life was changed by the message of the cross, and he has become a servant of God, with a calling he is committed to fulfilling. Paul is a financial planner/manager who serves people by helping them prepare for their future. He's also a disciple of Jesus who makes more disciples of Jesus.

Soon he will travel to Chicago to consult with leaders of a national ministry on how they can better their discipleship ...

Tonight I asked ChatGPT to "Write a blog post about how pastors can use ChatGPT in sermon preparation."

A portion of this episode will be me, using what ChatGPT wrote - in my own voice. You decide if it was any good. Then I give you my hot take on us pastors using writing AI's in our ministries.

We can't stick our heads in the sand - nor can we move forward without wisdom...

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Andy Stanley once said, we need to marry our mission but date our methods. So true! So that begs the question that I unpack in this short episode: Are your ministry methods getting in the way of your church accomplishing its mission??

Enjoy - but please also give this some thought this weekend...

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For more great content and conversations for pastors, check out the over 400 episodes of the 200churches Podcast!

Pastor, the Enemy would love to sideline both you and your church. He'll attack your marriage, your parenting, your family, your hobbies, your addictions, anything! Anything to keep you off the court and out of the game.

Our people are languishing for lack of encouragement, inspiration, and affirmation. We could so easily build them up through a simple gift God has given us. A gift to use to do exactly those three thi...

The recent CDC Report on Teen Mental Health is out and it is not good. 

Pastor, I believe it is absolutely critical that as lead pastors, whether we are in our 20's or 60's - we must develop rapport and relationship with the kids in our churches. They need to have a connection to us. We must influence them.

When the tough times come, we need to be able to speak into their lives. When they are learning an...

(This is the first 20 minutes of a recent 60 minute conversation I had with Jeannine Brown for my 200churches Podcast. It has not been released yet, so this is a sneak preview!)

Dr. Jeannine Brown from Bethel Seminary joins me to talk about her work on the First Peter volume in the New International Commentary on the New Testament series. We discuss the content and context of 1 Peter. A fascinating conversation on the text...

Too often we just try to get by with what we have in ministry, and that includes the volunteers and staff we have, when in reality it just might be that we need more!

And, the MORE we add to our human capital in our church, the better the Body of Christ will be served and equipped. Then, one wonderful cycle starts to turn and people are added to the church, souls are saved, families are healed, and true life change is expe...

Okay, maybe it's not my biggest, but this is certainly one of my worst leadership failures in pastoral ministry! I led a team to the cliff, to stand in awe of the view, but then I essentially pushed them off. :-(

The story eventually takes a good turn, in that I want to learn and grow - and I haven't given up, but have gotten much better.

I hope you learn something from this all too true story of ministr...

We'll all hit those preaching slumps. This is not an episode about how to get out of a slump. It might help, but I've found the only way out of a slump is time, and prayer, and a little diligence.

But this IS an episode about how to create an interesting sermon or message. The things on this episode are true! Move heaven and earth to not bore your people with God or his Word.

This is Part 1 - tomorrow is...

I've been a part of A LOT of leadership team meetings over the last 40+ years. The good, the bad, and of course - the UGLY. 

I was thinking the other day about what the essential elements of an effective leadership team meeting are, and I've come up with three. Likely, you are planning for your next meeting even this week - and I hope that this episode gets you thinking in some helpful directions!

Enjoy!

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Ray Brandon is a pastor who planted his church almost 20 years ago, and has like many of you expanded his ministry reach and involvement. I've known Ray for more than 30 years and am not surprised at the level of pastoral and ministry excellence and integrity he has achieved.

Enjoy this episode - i hope you are inspired and encouraged as much as I was!

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