In this re-start of the Struggling Pastors Podcast, Pastor Thien teaches us how to HEAL our weary souls.

The word HEAL is part of a 4-step process:

Honesty

Empathy

Abiding

Looking Deeply

This is taken from lessons learned from Isaiah 40.

Learn some life lessons from the amazing story of Marques Ogden. Marques was an NFL player and multi-millionaire business owner who lost it all. He lost his business and became a janitor making $8.25 per hour. See how he turned his life around and became an author and successful motivational speaker.

After a long break, I'm relaunching this podcast with a new name and focus. It's called the "Intentional Life Coach" Podcast. Stay tuned for more information.

Chase Replogle is a bi-vocational pastor, web designer, and writer. He currently hosts the Pastor Writer Podcast at pastorwriter.com. The show takes a contemplative look at the writing process for pastors and church leaders pursuing their call to write. 

In this interview, we talk about the dealing with the dreaded “Imposter Syndrome” and other things new writers face.

Our guest today is just getting started on this writing journey. Rachel Larkin is a blogger and has written a couple of books. She lives in New Zealand with her husband and their three young adult sons.

She is also a practicing Chartered Accountant, homeschool mom for fourteen years, Bible study leader, and speaker. She writes about growing in faith and developing your potential on her website at- https://rachellarkin.com.

In this interview, we talk about getting started and dealing with the fear and doubts as a new writer.

Peyton Jones is a pastor and church planter. He trains and coaches church planters all over the world. He is a prolific content creator. He writes books, blogs, and magazine articles. He speaks at conferences, runs a magazine, and two podcasts. He is known as the “Church Planting Ninja.”

In this short episode, I talk give pastors 7 reasons why they should self-publish. If you’re a pastor, I hope this would encourage you to self-publish. If you’re not, please pass this recording onto your pastor.

This was an unplanned interview with pastor Josh Best. He is an author and runs a small publishing company called “Unprecedented Press.” Unprecedented Press helps indie authors self-publish and launch their books. Here’s how their website describes what they do:

“Traditional publishers rarely bet on new authors, and vanity presses gouge them for services instead of investing in their success. This often leads a writer to self-publish, but the endeavor can be extremely difficult to do alone. [Unprecedented Press] exists to help our author-partners feel more confident in the process than they would on their own, produce a higher quality product than they could on their own, and have access to more people than they would on their own. Like a business partner, we’re here to share the load.”

On this interview, we talk about the differences between Traditional Publishing, Self Publishing, and Vanity Presses.

Jean Wise is a hybrid author with 9 books traditionally and self-published. He is a retired nurse and picked up writing in her 50s. She has written devotional books for women and other Christian resources.

She has a unique perspective on writing. We talked about writing Christian devotionals for women, blogging, and the importance of building a platform. We also discuss dealing with rejection, overcoming hurdles, and finding yourself after retirement.

Best quote: “You never retire. You just find a new ministry.”

You can learn more about Jean’s blog at healthyspirituality.org.

Check out Jean's at “100 Day Platform Power-Up Challenge at healthyspirituality.org/platform.

Today, I have the privilege of interviewing Shelley Hitz. Shelly has written over 40 books. She is a busy woman. She also a professional speaker, artist, author coach, podcaster, YouTuber, and blogger. Her website was voted one of the best 100 websites for writers in 2017.

She is the owner and creator of the Author Audience Academy. Her goal is to “help you reach more people with your message and let your light shine.”

On this episode we discuss the challenges that most new authors deal with. We also talk about the importance of being a part of a writing community. I guarantee that you’ll be encouraged by Shelley on this episode.

You can find out about Shelley on her website: www.shelleyhitz.com