A couple weeks ago, Thom Rainer blogged Eight Areas Where Many Ministers are Unprepared for Ministry and I made a note to myself to go deeper into the topic. This past Friday, he did a podcast on the same topic. Apparently, many pastors felt hurt and accused Dr. Rainer of piling on the guilt. His […]
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Culture? You Mean Missionaries Have Culture?
I am reading a great book, Dangerous Calling: Confronting the Unique Challenges of Pastoral Ministry by Paul David Tripp. One of the big points he makes is that the pastoral culture has become toxic. I see a ton of parallels in our missionary community. Culture: Who ever thought that we missionaries had a culture, […]
Continue readingWho Stole My Pedestal? A Case of Missing Identity
For twenty something years my wife and I have served in active missionary ministry. Often we felt embarrassed by the special treatment given to us by church members. In most cases we would be singled out and escorted to front row or special seating areas. Usually for a meal or reception in connection with the […]
Continue readingWives Speak Up–He’s NOT Hearing You!
I don’t get many requests to coach career transitioning husbands and their wives together. Hmmm! Maybe I should start making that a requirement? An excellent blog post by Pastor Ron Edmondson got me thinking about the way we men tend to become so focused on our job change that we don’t always hear what our […]
Continue readingA Matter of Priorities
Seems like almost every day lately has started off with deep thoughts about what items on the long list of to-do projects to tackle first. Today, I found myself distracted by the thought that I had forgotten something. Somehow that is happening more frequently these days, but this was different. As I struggled to recall […]
Continue readingBudding ain’t Blooming!
On my almost daily walk n talk with the Lord I enjoy seeing things in the great outdoors. One of my favorites is a scraggly (my dad would have said–leggy) flowering bush. This bush looks pretty sick most of the year with lots of bare branches and not too many leaves. It often is filled with promising looking […]
Continue readingAre You a Double Switcher?
After serving many years in ministry whether overseas or here at home, you may find yourself in the position of being a double switcher! In the midst of your transition you decide God is leading you to change both your role and career field or industry. For some, this only adds to the confusion and challenge of finding […]
Continue readingTransitions: They Call It a Valley, but It Feels Like a Cliff
This morning as I was doing my daily walk and talk with the Lord, I sensed Him giving me a thought of what I felt as I walked through some of my own career and life transitions. Here’s a glimpse that I want to share with you… They say the experience of going through a […]
Continue readingTransitions: They Call It a Valley, but It Feels Like a Cliff
This morning as I was doing my daily walk and talk with the Lord, I sensed Him giving me a thought of what I felt as I walked through some of my own career and life transitions. Here’s a glimpse that I want to share with you… They say the experience of going through a […]
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