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.