Free Resource: Download the Day Alone with God Guide at emotionallyhealthy.org/sabbath

Most leaders I know have a daily time with God. Very few ever stop long enough to actually hear Him.

There's a difference between a longer quiet time and a day alone with God. One sustains you. The other re-orders you. And if you're honest, you know the difference—because you've felt what happens when your life gets disordered and nothing seems to bring it back into focus.

In this episode, I'm walking you through how to spend a half day—or full day—alone with God, and why this practice may be the most important thing missing from your leadership right now. We'll look at how Jesus, Moses, Elijah, and Anna all built extended withdrawal into their lives with God—not as a luxury, but as a necessity.

I'll also share a simple six-movement structure you can use right away, along with the fears and resistances that keep most leaders from ever doing this.

Your leadership will only go as deep as your life with God. You cannot give what you don't have.

This episode could change everything.

If you're ready to go deeper with the ideas shared on this podcast, the School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is your next step. It's where leaders slow down, do the inner work, and come out equipped to lead from health instead of hurry. Learn more and apply for the upcoming Fall semester at emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool.

Learn more about the 2026 FALL SEMESTER School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/

📥 Free Resource: Download our free guide to get started with the Daily Office emotionallyhealthy.org/dailyoffice

One of the questions I get asked more than almost any other is: How do you spend time with God each day? What do you do? For how long? Is there a right way?

Here's the truth I've learned over decades of pastoral ministry: there is no one-size-fits-all daily time with God. The goal was never a method—it was always a life of loving union with Him.

In this episode, I take you on a personal journey through five distinct phases of my own prayer life—from intense Scripture study to intercessory prayer, from emotional health integration to contemplative rhythms rooted in monastic wisdom. Each phase taught me something essential. None of them, on their own, was the whole picture.

Then I lay out six practical pillars you can use to design a daily rhythm with God that actually fits you—your season, your temperament, your calling.

Whether you're a ministry leader under immense pressure or someone just trying to show up faithfully, this episode will help you stop copying someone else's spirituality and start building something sustainable and life-giving.

The best daily time with God isn't the longest one. It's the one you'll actually keep.

If you're ready to go deeper with the ideas shared on this podcast, the School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is your next step. It's where leaders slow down, do the inner work, and come out equipped to lead from health instead of hurry. Learn more and apply for the upcoming Fall semester at emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool.

Learn more about the 2026 FALL SEMESTER School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/

Take your team through the Emotionally Healthy Leader Book. Download the FREE discussion guide: http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leader

Let’s get honest.
Power makes most of us uncomfortable.
So we avoid it, minimize it, or misuse it.

In this episode, Pete Scazzero shares a defining leadership failure—one that cost him deeply: relationships, trust, and a 20-year community.

At the center of it?
Unclear boundaries and dual relationships.

You’ll discover:

• Why every leader must name and steward their power
• The danger of trying to be both a friend and a supervisor
• How blurred roles quietly damage teams and culture
• Why the burden of boundaries always falls on the leader
• What it means to do the inner work required for healthy leadership

This is not about leadership theory.
It’s about formation.

Because if you don’t deal with power and boundaries, they will deal with you.

If you're ready to go deeper with the ideas shared on this podcast, the School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is your next step. It's where leaders slow down, do the inner work, and come out equipped to lead from health instead of hurry. Learn more and apply for the upcoming Fall semester at emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool.

Learn more about the 2026 FALL SEMESTER School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/

Take your team through the Emotionally Healthy Leader Book. Download the FREE discussion guide: http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leader

Church scandals don’t begin the day they are exposed. They begin years earlier—in quiet compromises, ignored red flags, and leaders whose gifting has grown faster than their maturity.

In this episode of The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast, I go beneath the headlines to name the real issue: church scandals are not first a PR problem. They are a formation problem.

Jesus told us pressure would come. He told us not to be surprised. And He made clear that what will matter in the end is not image management, but whether we have become the kind of leaders who can stand firm under pressure without collapsing.

I unpack four essential pillars every pastor and church leader needs if they hope to lead with integrity over the long haul: facing your shadow, leading out of your marriage or singleness, slowing down for loving union with Jesus, and practicing Sabbath delight.

This is not about quick fixes. It’s about deep transformation.

If you care about the name of Jesus, the witness of the church, and finishing well, this episode is for you.

If you're ready to go deeper with the ideas shared on this podcast, the School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is your next step. It's where leaders slow down, do the inner work, and come out equipped to lead from health instead of hurry. Learn more and apply for the upcoming Fall semester at emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool.

Learn more about the 2026 FALL SEMESTER School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/

Free Resource: Download the “8 Traps That Kill Your Spaciousness” ebook:
👉 https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/spaciousness

Churches don’t just have problems.
They are emotional systems.

In this episode of the Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast, I introduce one of the most powerful frameworks I’ve ever learned for understanding leadership, conflict, and why anxiety spreads so quickly in churches: Family Systems Theory.
Much of this work comes from psychiatrist Murray Bowen and was later brought into church leadership by Edwin Friedman in Generation to Generation. But don’t worry — we’ll keep this practical, spiritual, and grounded in real ministry life.
If you’ve ever:

Walked into a meeting calm and left reactive
Worked harder at someone’s growth than they are
Watched conflict spread like electricity through your church
You’re not crazy. You’re leading inside an emotional system.

The greatest gift you will ever give your church is not better strategy.

It’s your own inner transformation.
Emotional health isn’t a side issue.
It’s leadership.
Listen in.

Learn more about our School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership:
👉 https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/school

Download the “8 Traps That Kill Your Spaciousness” ebook:
👉 https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/spaciousness

Emotional health isn’t optional. It’s essential.

If you're ready to go deeper with the ideas shared on this podcast, the School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is your next step. It's where leaders slow down, do the inner work, and come out equipped to lead from health instead of hurry. Learn more and apply for the upcoming Fall semester at emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool.

Learn more about the 2026 FALL SEMESTER School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/

Why do churches with sincere faith, gifted leaders, and strong theology still split?

In this powerful episode of the Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast, Pete Scazzero exposes a hard truth many leaders have experienced but rarely name: church fractures are rarely about doctrine or vision—they are about formation.

Drawing from decades of pastoral leadership and personal failure, Pete explains why spiritual maturity without emotional maturity is unsustainable. Churches don’t split because people don’t love Jesus. They split because leaders and communities lack the emotionally healthy skills needed to love one another well under pressure, conflict, disappointment, and power dynamics.

This episode explores why skills like incarnational listening, clarifying expectations, understanding how family history shapes leadership, and engaging in clean conflict are essential for healthy culture. Pete shares stories from his own leadership journey, including a painful church split that could have been prevented if these skills had been in place.

If you’re a pastor or leader longing to build a church culture that thrives—not just for a season, but for generations—this episode offers wisdom, hope, and a clear next step forward.

👇 Explore more at emotionallyhealthy.org
📅 Join our next webinar: emotionallyhealthy.org/webinar

If you're ready to go deeper with the ideas shared on this podcast, the School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is your next step. It's where leaders slow down, do the inner work, and come out equipped to lead from health instead of hurry. Learn more and apply for the upcoming Fall semester at emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool.

Learn more about the 2026 FALL SEMESTER School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/

Around the world, churches are working hard to make disciples, lead faithfully, and impact their communities. Yet many leaders are exhausted, relationships are strained, and spiritual growth feels shallow or stalled. Why?

In this episode, Pete Scazzero addresses a core truth that often goes unnamed: emotional health is the missing link in the global church. Drawing from his own painful leadership crisis and decades of ministry experience, Pete explains why it’s impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. He explores how unaddressed emotional issues limit discipleship, distort leadership, and quietly undermine the church’s witness—no matter how strong our theology or vision may be.

In this conversation, Pete unpacks:

• Why emotional health is foundational—not optional—to spiritual maturity
• How cultural, theological, and leadership blind spots keep the church stuck
• The biblical and theological roots of emotionally healthy spirituality
• What emotionally healthy leadership looks like in real-life ministry
• How redefining success can transform churches and communities

Pete challenges leaders to slow down, go beneath the surface, and embrace emotional health as God’s pathway to deeper transformation—personally, relationally, and globally.
If you long to see a healthier, more Christlike church—and know it must start with you—this episode will reframe how you think about discipleship, leadership, and success.

Listen now and take your next step toward building emotionally healthy leaders and churches around the world.

▶️ Learn more about Emotionally Healthy Discipleship and spiritual maturity
 http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/mature

If you're ready to go deeper with the ideas shared on this podcast, the School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is your next step. It's where leaders slow down, do the inner work, and come out equipped to lead from health instead of hurry. Learn more and apply for the upcoming Fall semester at emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool.

Learn more about the 2026 FALL SEMESTER School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/

As leaders, we want to make wise, Spirit-led decisions that move our ministries forward. But without realizing it, we often fall into patterns of planning that keep us stuck—repeating the same mistakes year after year.

In this episode, Pete Scazzero gets painfully honest about the five planning mistakes that hindered him for years—and how these missteps continue to trap leaders today:

1. Insufficiently preparing
2. Flippantly defining success
3. Ignoring the most important work—listening to Jesus together
4. Skimming on development
5. Failing to anchor vision in calendars, limits, and next steps

Pete shares the lessons he’s learned the hard way through decades of leadership in the local church and Emotionally Healthy Discipleship. With clarity, candor, and practical wisdom, he offers a better way forward—one that’s rooted in prayerful discernment, emotional maturity, and thoughtful preparation.

If you're tired of spinning your wheels and ready to do the deeper work of strategic planning in God's way, this episode is for you.
Listen now and take your next step toward leading with greater clarity, peace, and purpose.

Resources & Links Mentioned:
Free EH Leader Planning & Decision-Making Guide: https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leader
EH School of Leadership: https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/school
Next EH Webinar: https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/webinar

If you're ready to go deeper with the ideas shared on this podcast, the School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is your next step. It's where leaders slow down, do the inner work, and come out equipped to lead from health instead of hurry. Learn more and apply for the upcoming Fall semester at emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool.

Learn more about the 2026 FALL SEMESTER School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/

Most pastors today are trained in strategies, systems, and leadership models that promise church growth—but often leave the soul malnourished.

In this episode, I share a deeply personal and urgent message from a live talk I gave to pastors around the world who are moving beyond using the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Course as a tool—and toward building a deep culture of emotional health and spiritual formation in their churches.

What if the future of church leadership doesn't look like the latest model, but like something ancient? What if the way forward requires going back?

I unpack how, for over 1,100 years, the church's most influential leaders were not trained in classrooms—but in monastic communities of prayer, silence, and deep formation. And I lay out the implications for us today as we discern the next faithful steps in shaping a new kind of leadership pipeline rooted in being before doing.

This is more than theory—it's shaping the future direction of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship.

👇 Explore more at emotionallyhealthy.org📅 Join our next webinar: emotionallyhealthy.org/webinar

👉FREE DOWNLOAD: Craft a Rule of Life for You and Your Team - emotionallyhealthy.org/rule

Most pastors today are trained in strategies, systems, and leadership models that promise church growth—but often leave the soul malnourished.

In this episode, I share a deeply personal and urgent message from a live talk I gave to pastors around the world who are moving beyond using the Emotionally Healthy Spirituality Course as a tool—and toward building a deep culture of emotional health and spiritual formation in their churches.

What if the future of church leadership doesn’t look like the latest model, but like something ancient? What if the way forward requires going back?

I unpack how, for over 1,100 years, the church’s most influential leaders were not trained in classrooms—but in monastic communities of prayer, silence, and deep formation. And I lay out the implications for us today as we discern the next faithful steps in shaping a new kind of leadership pipeline rooted in being before doing.

This is more than theory—it’s shaping the future direction of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship.

If you're ready to go deeper with the ideas shared on this podcast, the School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership is your next step. It's where leaders slow down, do the inner work, and come out equipped to lead from health instead of hurry. Learn more and apply for the upcoming Fall semester at emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool.

Learn more about the 2026 FALL SEMESTER School of Emotionally Healthy Leadership https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/