How do you care for your soul? Do you ever feel like a juice box that’s been sucked dry by people sticking a straw into you?! This was the question I asked a 100 ministry leaders/caregivers, mothers, and pastors’ wives at a church conference recently. When I come home from a day of caring for…
If you search a bookstore or the Internet for resources to help pastors most of what you’ll find will be strategies and methods to be more successful as a pastor, preacher, or leader. Of course, these things are important but the source of our ministry as pastors and our effectiveness as leaders is our own intimacy with…
There is a hero within us that wants to be recognized for making a positive difference in the lives of other people. That’s why when we do something good we say, “Look what I did!” The Hero Pastor We especially want to do something great for God! And be appreciated for this. That’s why many…
We all long for a fresh touch of God in our souls. Often it comes when we hear someone share vulnerably about a personal struggle that we relate with and then we see how God showed up in that person’s life. Immediately we feel hope! Yes, Lord Jesus, I yearn to connect with you like…
Pastors and other leaders are especially vulnerable to stress overload, as well as to burnout, because it’s difficult to set boundaries when leading a ministry or caring for people in need. Research on pastors and pastor’s wives have shown that they suffer from extreme stress, painful struggles, and often burnout. Stress Overload is from being chronically overstressed or going through…
How is your stress level? What changes have you gone through in the last year that may be affecting your health and well-being? The Life Events Stress Test can help you understand. At Soul Shepherding we care for pastors and other ministry leaders and find that they are especially vulnerable to stress overload and burnout. Parents and…
“But Martha was distracted with much serving” (Luke 10:40, ESV). Do these words haunt you? They do me. Like Martha I have given my life to serve the Lord. My life is filled with acts of service that I do for Christ. I’m sure that you too are intentional about serving God by caring for…
Christ came to meet me in the garden of my soul, but I was busy. He was longing to share fragrances of love with me, but I was distracted tending to someone else’s garden. Maybe you know this experience? Maybe like me you are someone who cares for other people as a pastor, counselor, caregiver,…
As pastors and ministry leaders, we’re prone to give too much of ourselves, to do too much and try too hard. Its the same for parents and others who care for people in Jesus’ name. We’re called to be shepherds to the sheep God has entrusted to us. But what does this mean? How do…
When the shepherds in our churches and Christian organizations are depressed, overstressed, or struggling with compulsive behavior, then the sheep they care for suffer. If pastors are not growing in their own intimacy with Jesus, then their ministry to others is diminished. If ministry leaders are not setting aside ministry demands regularly to be still with…