In Episode 284, John and Jim covered the first three of six inspirational thoughts from John's February vacation. Today in Episode 285, they present three more insights from his time soaking in God’s awe-inspiring and creative masterpieces.

Are you in pain today? Even while the organization you lead is growing? Growth, while often desirable, is usually accompanied by pruning, both in our personal and pastoral lives. And pruning often is joined by an unwelcome companion . . . pain. In today’s episode John and Jim outline four ways pruning brings more fruit into our life at home and at the church or ministry we lead.

Hurrying seems to be our national pastime. And pastors are among the biggest hurry-ers.

The question is—how do we deal with the tension between our God-given assignment and His call to stop hurrying? How can we be productive without always being on the move? Into today’s episode John and Jim unpack four master keys to embracing a less-hurried life.

The top contributor to pastoral burnout? The ongoing stress of the role. If you have answered the divine call to pastoral ministry, you have signed up for both a fulfilling and stressful journey. In today’s episode John and Jim work through five of the most stress-inducing realities of the pastoral role and then offer a practical tip to successfully navigate each of those five stressors.

How we forgive is a harbinger of leadership fruitfulness and longevity. In part two of their conversation about Leadership & Forgiveness, John and Jim focus on extending forgiveness to ourselves, and then close with four powerful forgiveness principles we need to know.

It’s not easy to finish. It’s even less easy to finish well. With the attrition of well-known ministry leaders over the past several years, you can begin to wonder, does anyone finish well?

The good news is that with intentionality, God’s help, and the help of our Christian community, we can finish with a flourish. In today’s podcast John & Jim consider three ideas that increase the chances of finishing our race in full stride.

You do not exist to cater to every whim of those you lead. It’s not good for them . . . or for you . . . nor the organization you lead. In today’s episode John and Jim explore three ideas that help leaders locate the middle ground between the extremes of people-pleasing yeses and people-dodging no’s.

One of the hardest things to do for most lead pastors is to separate from work. Failure to pivot from work to our personal life leads to overscheduling, overcommitting, and rest-deprivation. So here is the question: How do we work hard, how do we fulfill our calling, without running ourselves into the ground? We learn how to pivot.

Leadership is a journey fraught with peril. Numerous temptations lurk. In today’s episode John and Jim explore three less talked about, more subtle temptations that threaten to sneak up on and ambush a leader.

Here’s something most pastors didn’t learn at college: Difficult people go to church.

The 2nd thing they didn’t learn: Difficult people can cause a great deal of harm.

In today’s episode John and Jim dive into a two-part conversation around why getting better at forgiveness helps us lead at a higher and healthier level.