We’ve been providing care, counsel, and prayer to pastors and other servants of Christ for a number of years. One of the most important things we do is help them to rest in God. Every pastor and ministry leader I (Bill) know — starting with the one that looks back at me in the mirror! —…
During the fourteen years that I was fasting from publishing books, Kristi and I were on a retreat with a group of church leaders. As I was quiet and still before God, some inner emotions surfaced and I became aware of feeling inadequate and deficient. I felt I was not doing enough with my life:…
Recently I became a “Papa”! This is me looking into the eyes our first grandchild Juliet Bella! What a heart-pumping and face-illuminating joy this is for Kristi and me! Yet, it’s not easy for us to make space in our calendars and to save energy in our bodies to give quality care to her. This…
“The reason I share my junk with you,” a pastor disclosed. “Is because you’re not a monkish spiritual formation guy. I can’t relate to the contemplative spiritual direction types.” We hear this a lot from pastors. This is one reason why in last week’s Soul Shepherding blog/email I blurted out, “Spiritual Disciplines are Dung!” I…
Many years ago I was at a pastors’ retreat and a friend excitedly handed me his newly published book. I complemented him, but inside I flamed with jealousy. I was in the midst of an extended fast from writing books. It ended up being fourteen years! When Richard Foster relinquished “The Celebration of Discipline” his…
I had just finished my Soul Shepherding meetings with pastors and ministry leaders and I had a few hours before the seminar I was leading that night. As I sat down at my desk I thought to myself, “I have too much to do: multiple talks to prepare, articles to write, ministry reports to complete, and…
Have you heard about the greyhound races? Those dogs are fast! They run so fast because they’re chasing a mechanical rabbit. A friend told me that one day on a racetrack in Florida an interesting thing happened: the rabbit broke so the dogs caught it! Now you might think that it would make the dogs…
I had more work to do than time to complete it: ministry events to prepare for, people calling me for therapy or spiritual mentoring, letters and articles to write. My time alone would slip away fast and then I’d be with my family again. But I had set aside this day for Sabbath rest with…
Every pastor, leader, and caregiver tries to do too much. Lord, help us not to make this mistake! For us and the people around us it’s the source of much anxiety and conflict — also pride, envy, and feeling inadequate. Our main job is to remember that Jesus is the Leader. So make space for…