Small Town Podcast

Do you feel like you are stuck in one or more areas of your life or ministry? In this episode I share what I believe might be one of the biggest things that is keeping you there.

• What if you knew you couldn't mess up God's plans for your life this year?

In this episode I share an inspirational challenge as we begin a new year. Have you ever had a time when you encountered a message that came from multiple sources, but you were able to hear the voice of God speaking consistently through it? Well, recently that has been the case for me and I want to share this message with you in hopes that it might encourage you as well.

• What if you knew you couldn't mess up God's plans for your life this year?

• Quote from Jordan Raynor in Redeeming Your Time:
• "But in His great grace, our heavenly Father has given us a tremendous amount of freedom to choose exactly how we will contribute to that mission. And guess what? As long as you are obeying his commands, you can't make a wrong decision."

• Scripture I've read recently:

Psalm 1: Oh, the joys of those who do not follow the advice of the wicked, or stand around with sinners, or join in with mockers.2 But they delight in the law of the Lord, meditating on it day and night.3 They are like trees planted along the riverbank, bearing fruit each season.Their leaves never wither, and they prosper in all they do.

4 But not the wicked! They are like worthless chaff, scattered by the wind.5 They will be condemned at the time of judgment. Sinners will have no place among the godly.6 For the Lord watches over the path of the godly, but the path of the wicked leads to destruction.

• I've also recently been challenged by John Michael Clark (The Family Captain) (Episode #308) with the reality that God put Adam in the garden with the mandate to:
• "Be fruitful and increase in number; fill the earth and subdue it. Rule over the fish in the sea and the birds in the sky and over every living creature that moves on the ground."
• God is our Father who is pleased to see his children filling the earth, subduing it, and ruling over it for His glory.
• Recently I had a powerful coaching call with someone in which we discovered an awesome breakthrough: If I am delighting myself in the Lord, I can trust the desires of my heart.
• What if you knew you couldn't mess up God's plans for your life this year?
• What would you attempt to do for His glory and the good of others?

In this episode I have a conversation with Roy Yanke of PIR (Pastors in Residence) Ministries about the current status of pastoral health in the Church. We talk about the need for pastors to implement life giving rhythms into their daily schedules. We also talk about how a pastor can determine if they are simply in need of a break or need to transition out of pastoral ministry altogether.

In my coaching work with church leaders, I often see pastors struggling with narratives they aren't even aware are taking place in their minds. These "voices" can come from internal and external, spoken and unspoken expectations. They can come from years of church tradition. They can come from a demanding parent or other voice from the past. In this episode, I want to challenge pastors with this powerful question, "Who said so?"

When we can identify where a voice is coming from, we have much more clarity and power to ascertain whether that voice is one we need to listen to or not.

Whose voice should I be leaning into?

• God
• Self
• Family (Spouse)
• Trusted advisors

In this show I'm going to label a few common areas in which churches place unbiblical and unrealistic expectations upon their pastors and I will share how you can overcome them.

1. Time

Many churches think that because they have a "full-time" pastor it literally means they have a full-time pastor.

1. Workload

The pastor is expected to do pretty much everything in the church.

1. Money

It's not uncommon for churches to have an expectation of what a pastor should view as an acceptable standard of living.

1. Family roles

It's not just the pastor we have hired, but we also get access to their spouse and sometimes their kids as well.

1. Activities/interests outside of church

The pastor needs to be careful about how they spend their time outside of their church role.

How do you overcome this?

• Learn to see your church as just ONE of your clients, and not your employer.
• Be willing to have an honest conversation with the leadership in which you set healthy boundaries for yourself and your family.
• Be willing to LEAVE a toxic environment and move into a much healthier place!

Recently I have had a number of pastors reach out to me asking questions about church discipline. In this episode I share a few of my thoughts on the subject as well as a word of caution based on a painful experience of my own that came out of a church discipline situation.

• It's biblical, even though we don't see many churches do it today.
• The goal is restoration…not punishment.
• Everything must be done in love.
• Deal with the problem at the smallest level.
• "Private repentance for private sin; public repentance for public sin."
• Membership question: Who are we responsible for?
• Social media considerations. Be careful.
• There is a purpose and a point in church discipline!
• People can experience love, accountability, correction, restoration, and forgiveness through Christ's family.

5 Reasons to Consider Video Venue for Your Rural Church:

1. It WORKS!
2. It allows your church to hear from an endless supply of gifted communicators.
   1. It provides an avenue for you to get a consistent break from preaching.
   2. It opens the door for many different creative ways of communicating God's Word.

   Examples:

   • Christmas series we filmed in the Black Hills
   • Redemption series
   1. It opens the door for many new strategies for planting new churches, campuses, or micro-sites.

In this episode I interview Rick Magee of Kids Outdoor Zone. KOZ is a ministry that provides men of your church with training and curriculum to mentor boys using outdoor adventure.

I recently was involved in a training on the fire department in which we were cutting a large hole in the roof of a commercial building. We were discussing the need to have our crew and others keep an eye on our surroundings as the person running the saw can get too focused on their task that they can become unaware of a growing danger/threat to their safety.

The same is true in our lives. We can become so focused on the day-to-day details that we overlook growing issues that are more obvious to others.

This is why we need to be intentional about checking our blind spots.

• I need to recognize that I HAVE blind spots in my life.
• I need to be intentional about checking them on a regular basis. ("Your best thinking got you to where you are today.")

When we come back from the break I'll share angles from which we can check our blind spots.

In this episode I have a conversation with Dee Ann Schnautz about the vital role of that pastor's wives play in the ministry and the need for them to pursue spiritual, mental, emotional, and physical health. Dee Ann has been a rural pastor's wife for over 38 years and has a tremendous understanding of the joys and challenges of serving in that capacity.