Many church leaders live under an illusion… They believe that in order to see deep change in their people, all they need to do is stay relevant, preach more passionately, and launch the latest, cutting-edge ministry initiatives. The truth is – there is one thing that must first be addressed. It’s the invisible force that can make or break your church. That is – your church culture. When your church culture is healthy, it will bring life and vitality to everything you do. When it is unhealthy and dysfunctional, it will sabotage the best efforts of you and your team. But what DOES a healthy church culture look like? In today’s episode, I cast a 6-part vision for a church culture that will accelerate your ability to make deeply changed disciples of Jesus.

As leaders, we are often celebrated for our gifts, strengths, and successes. We feel the internal and external pressure to be charismatic leaders who are winsome and influential! But the leaders celebrated in Scripture are well known for other reasons – They embraced their weaknesses and vulnerabilities. This was the case for Jesus, Paul, David, Peter, Jeremiah, Elijah and many more. They did not lead as superheroes but embraced the limitations of their humanity. When we are unable to accept our own vulnerabilities, we create a culture where others do not feel safe to be vulnerable. Over time, our churches become filled with people who are encouraged to pretend to be something they are not. In today’s episode, we cover the next mark of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship. Listen along to learn how to actually lead out of weakness and vulnerability.

Many leaders today are unknowingly crippled by this truth… The blessings and sins of your family—going back three to four generations—profoundly impacts who you are today.  Unaware that their past impacts their present, many leaders bury or minimize the family history that lives inside them and settle for a constricted Christian life in which they are stuck spiritually and emotionally. In order to become free and thrive in the new family of Jesus, we must acknowledge how we’ve been deeply shaped by our family of origin. In today’s episode, we discuss this next mark of emotionally healthy discipleship and why developing a “Genogram” will help us become mature disciples of Jesus.

How would you describe a spiritually mature person? Maybe these words and phrases come to mind – spiritually gifted, wise, prophetic, influential, charismatic, rooted in Scripture, prayerful, discerning, serving the poor, etc. These are all great (and necessary) qualities! But the Bible teaches there is one thing that surpasses them all – LOVE. In fact, 1 Cor. 13 tells us that it’s possible to excel in all of these areas and still not have love. When we measure maturity with anything but the quality of our love, we are left with absolutely nothing. But how exactly do we make love the measure of our spiritual maturity? In today’s podcast, we cover this next mark of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship.

Throughout your life, you experience a series of losses. It’s likely this last year has accelerated the rate of certain losses – the loss of friendships and community, the loss of freedom, the loss of jobs, the loss of what’s “normal”, and the loss of dreams. But very few of us were ever taught how to acknowledge and grieve our losses. When we fail to grieve losses, we miss out on an essential way that God wants to meet us. In today’s episode, I continue our book launch series by exploring the next mark of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship. Like David, Jeremiah and Job, we have an invitation to discover the treasures buried in grief and loss.

The world tells you to break through all of your limitations. But this thinking can be extremely destructive. Here’s why… God created you to live within limits. Both for your own well-being and to be reminded that you are not God. When we choose to ignore our limits, we hurt ourselves and others. John the Baptist, Paul, and Jesus all submitted to the limitations given to them by God. In today’s episode, we explore this 3rd mark of Emotionally Healthy Discipleship, and invite you to embrace the God-given limits in your life.