Ministry is not easy. Marriage is not easy. Trying to keep a thriving marriage in ministry can sometimes feel impossible. Working for the church often means your day isn’t over at 5 p.m. A traditional job doesn’t always come with the late night emergencies, direct feedback from parents, lack of gratitude from kids, and weekly, recurring deadlines of Sunday. Most importantly, there’s the constant pressure of living a life on display.

On Episode 23 of the Think Orange Podcast, our guests Doug Fields and Ted Lowe discuss the realities of being married in ministry and share how we can protect and strengthen our marriage while serving in the church.

      

We all have things we’re afraid of. Some of those fears stay on the surface and are easy to talk about—like our host Dave’s fear of spiders. But many of us wrestle with fears that lie deeper within. We find ourselves asking questions like, “What if I try and fail?” “What if I’m not good enough?” or, “What if God doesn’t care about the pain I feel?”

On Episode 22 of the Think Orange Podcast, our guests Ryan Leak and Carlos Whittaker talk about what it takes to face our fears, chase failure, and uncover the lies we allow to plague our lives.

      

God calls each of us to put our talents and gifts to work. And when we’re feeling the pull, we start on the goal, project or other venture we feel called to. And then, things get hard or we get bored and the goals that we were once excited about become another project unfinished.

Why is it that 92% of goals never get finished? Jon Acuff has spent the last few years researching just that. Today on the podcast, Jon is breaking down why we start and then stop, the things we’re doing to hold ourselves back, and reminding us that achieving our goals isn’t just fun… it’s good stewardship.

Welcome to Episode 21 of the Think Orange Podcast.

      

Have you ever tried to talk to a kid and realized you had no clue what to say next? Or maybe you were locked in conversation, but had zero idea what the kid was talking about. Or maybe you knew exactly what they were saying, but you were too shocked to know how to respond. Creating great conversations with kids week after week can be challenging, and we’re here to help. Today on the Think Orange Podcast, Jeanne Stevens, one of the lead pastors of Soul City Church in Chicago, joins us to talk about the role creativity plays in creating great conversations with kids from a storyteller’s perspective. Then our friends Toni Collier and Brooklyn Lindsey interview Afton Phillips, Orange’s Director of Lead Small, about creating great conversations with kids in a small group setting. This is an episode that communicators and Small Group Leaders (SGLs) alike won’t want to miss!

      

If you’re a communicator, maybe you sometimes feel stuck in a rut. Every week, you get up and talk and students halfheartedly listen (while simultaneously messaging friends on Snapchat). Then they walk out of the room and you’re left wondering, “Did that even matter?”

This week on the Think Orange Podcast, we’re joined by Jamey Dickens, Director of High School Ministry at Buckhead Church, and Ben Crawshaw, Creative Director of XP3 High School. They help us rethink how we engage with students, encourage us to show empathy to those who seem apathetic, and help us understand what a win might look like in our large group ministries.

Welcome to Episode 19 of the Think Orange Podcast.