Why Bottling Up Emotions Kills Spiritual Growth
The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast
Release Date: 11/14/2023
Names Before Numbers: The Dramatic Shift True Shepherds Must Make
The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast
🎄Christmas Sermon Prep Webinar - Join me for a FREE webinar on Dec. 5th at 2 pm ET to learn about preaching a Christmas message that deeply changes lives. --------------------------- The truth is, you can’t shepherd numbers. You can only shepherd names. And yet, in a culture obsessed with metrics, many leaders feel trapped, measuring success by attendance, budgets, and fast growth rather than the flourishing of the people God has entrusted to them. In this episode, Pete unpacks the heart of biblical shepherding—leading with Jesus’ love, slowing down to be present, and praying...
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Declaring the Word of the Lord in Anxious Times
The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast
🕯️Christmas Sermon Prep Webinar - Join me for a FREE webinar on Dec. 5th at 2 pm ET to learn how to craft a powerful Christmas message that deeply changes lives. (without losing your soul) --------------------------- In today’s episode, we’re diving into a theme that should resonate with pastors and leaders all around the world. Reflecting on the life and ministry of John the Baptist, we’ll explore how to speak with conviction and clarity amidst a world overwhelmed by fear, information overload, and shifting power structures. John’s world was much like ours—fraught with...
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The Key to Unlock Passionate Mission in Every Member of Your Church
The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast
🗓️ Discover the Sabbath - Download a free e-book to learn the 4 countercultural practices of a biblical Sabbath day. --------------------------- Today, pastors and leaders are grappling with burnout, shallowness in discipleship, and a waning passion for God’s mission. On today’s episode, I share some insights that have transformed the way I view mission and ministry—insights rooted in Celtic Christian spirituality. Geri and I just returned from a two-week journey through Ireland, where we had the privilege of meeting with pastors and church leaders in...
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The Power of a Hidden Life (Leadership Lessons from Elijah) Pt. 2
The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast
⏰ DAILY OFFICE STARTER GUIDE - The Daily Office is an ancient practice to help you stop 2 - 3 times a day to quiet yourself and be with Jesus. --------------------------- For most leaders, success is based on numbers, influence, and impact. But the life of Elijah teaches us something different. On today’s podcast, we continue our journey in Part 2 of The Power of a Hidden Life: Leadership Lessons from Elijah. We’ll explore a profound truth often overlooked in leadership: before we stand on large platforms or lead others, our inner life with God must be well-rooted and established....
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The Power of a Hidden Life (Leadership Lessons from Elijah) Pt. 1
The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast
✅ DAILY OFFICE STARTER GUIDE - The Daily Office is an ancient practice to help you stop 2 - 3 times a day to quiet yourself and be with Jesus. --------------------------- In today’s chaotic and disorienting world, where leaders face intense challenges, Elijah’s life offers us profound wisdom. Whether you lead a ministry, organization, or family, Elijah’s hidden life with God speaks to the core of how we navigate leadership in tumultuous times. In 1 Kings 19, Elijah faced overwhelming exhaustion, fear, and disillusionment after pouring out his heart in service to God. As a...
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How to Grow a Flourishing Ministry Without Losing Your Soul
The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast
✅ PREVIEW THE COURSE - Ready to introduce your church to Emotionally Healthy Discipleship? Preview our game-changing discipleship course for FREE and find the right time to run it in your church. --------------------------- As leaders, we have an internal drive to see our ministries flourish. We have a vision for our churches, families, marriages, and cities to experience the resurrection life of Jesus. That’s why we do what we do! Also, many of us know how easy it is for our God-given ambition to be hijacked by our shadows, fears, and insecurities. The truth is - it's...
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5 Distinctives of an Emotionally Healthy Staff Meeting
The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast
✅ [FREE VIDEO] Learn a 5-part framework for communicating with others --------------------------- Staff meetings, like it or not, are a critical building block for an emotionally healthy church culture. Over the years, I have learned that staff meetings are a powerful opportunity to bring encouragement, clarify roles, and learn how to be with Jesus together. There are books written about how to have a productive or efficient staff meeting, but in today’s podcast, I take a different approach. I’ve identified 5 ways to cultivate emotional health in your regular meetings.
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Pt. 2: 4 Invitations from God in Our Politically Charged World
The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast
✅ [FREE E-BOOK] LeaderSHIFT: 8 Pivotal Breakthroughs of Emotionally Healthy Leaders --------------------------- All around the world, there is an electrical charge surging through the minds and hearts of the people we lead. Our political climate has made this another difficult, yet important time to pastor and lead well. So how do we navigate politics personally AND from the pulpit without falling prey to the common traps of both sides of the aisle? In this podcast episode (Part 2 of 2), I share what I believe are 4 invitations from God to the Church in this moment. ...
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Pt. 1: 4 Invitations from God in Our Politically Charged World
The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast
✅ [FREE E-BOOK] LeaderSHIFT: 8 Pivotal Breakthroughs of Emotionally Healthy Leaders --------------------------- All around the world, there is an electrical charge surging through the minds and hearts of the people we lead. Our political climate has made this another difficult, yet important time to pastor and lead well. So how do we navigate politics personally AND from the pulpit without falling prey to the common traps of both sides of the aisles? In this podcast episode (Part 1 of 2), I share what I believe are 4 invitations from God to the Church in this moment. ...
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The Great Leader Shift the World is Waiting For
The Emotionally Healthy Leader Podcast
✅ [FREE E-BOOK] LeaderSHIFT: 8 Pivotal Breakthroughs of Emotionally Healthy Leaders --------------------------- As a young leader, I wanted so badly to succeed. I wanted to pastor a growing church, and preach the best sermons in town. I wanted to grow our ministries – bigger, better, and more influentual. To this end, I was told by leadership experts to develop my skills and competencies. I learned to preach and vision cast, to exegete the scriptures, do effective evangelism, lead staff meetings, and launch small groups. But over time these outward facing competencies became a...
info_outlineFor the first 17 years of my Christian life, my emotional life was completely divorced from my spiritual life. Or so I thought.
When sadness, anger, or disappointment surfaced from my soul, I did not see them as gifts. As a leader, I saw my emotions as interruptions to "my real work" – moving the church forward and reaching the lost!
As a result, I was not present with myself, with God, or with others. I saw my sadness as something to be overcome through prayer and Scripture. I would declare, "the joy of the Lord is my strength!" while ignoring the deep cries of my heart.
The truth is that emotions never die. They are only buried alive. They always resurface, leaking into other parts of our lives and relationships.
It took a work of God for this to change in my life and marriage. When my wife Geri and I discovered the permission to explore our emotional life, it was like opening up a dam. The world went from black and white to color almost overnight.
Emotionally healthy leaders see their emotions as invitations, not obstacles to the mission of God.
The fruit of this journey leads to less anxiety and more freedom in our lives, leadership, and relationships.
In today's podcast episode, my wife Geri and I share more about the skill of emotional discovery we call "Explore the Iceberg" in Emotionally Healthy Relationships.
Bottom line, your emotional life is a matter of life and death!