September 4, 2025
The Quest for Balance
This article focuses on mindsets—the way we think—more than the mechanics of work-life balance. Here are some key mindsets needed in the quest for work-life balance.
Articles for tag: Life Balance
October 28, 2022
Beyond Ministry: Pastors Share Stress-Relieving Hobbies
After 55 years in ministry, Bob Kastens is convinced every pastor needs a hobby. Kastens' hobby is genealogy. Bob Sartoris (pictured) enjoys woodworking. We also spoke with John Caldwell, Lee Delbridge, and Joshua Persall. (Hobbies included biking, the St. Louis Cardinals, and Hot Wheels cars—not in that order.)
Make Sure You and Your Ministry Are Healthy
By Doug Crozier You can’t avoid it. The health of your ministry is tied to your personal and professional health. Many leaders (me included) have learned this lesson too late; we continue to push harder because we passionately want to grow God’s kingdom. Working hard is one thing; overworking is another. Since transitioning from the corporate world almost 30 years ago, I have dedicated my life and ministry to the Restoration Movement. It was a big change, but I have never regretted it. After many periods of burnout in my life, I began to develop a plan to break these
August 22, 2019
A Little Boy’s Prayer
By Micah Stephen Bedtime is one of my favorite times of the day. Not because of my kids going to sleep, but because I get to wrap up the day with them. On one particular evening, however, as I walked across that squeaky old floor toward the kids’ bedroom, I was hoping bedtime would be easy. The routine includes a story, a quick prayer, kisses goodnight, and saying “I love you” to one another. At bedtime, I can forget my daily stress. No bills. No problem-solving. But, for whatever reason, on this night I just wanted “me” time. Little did
February 24, 2017
How to Be a “˜REAL Man”
By Gary Olsby What one church decided about how to help the men they serve in a day when most men are confused about how to be the man God wants. I have a friend named Nick. He”s a great guy””funny, athletic, a hard worker, a good leader, and a good citizen. He”s a good husband and a great father who provides well for his family. He”s also a loyal Northside Christian Church member (NCC is where these thoughts were developed). You”d like him, too, if you ever got a chance to know him. But Nick has some issues. You
December 22, 2016
The Wrong Kind of Strong
By Eddie Lowen Three attributes we should seek when we say we want a strong leader. In Disney”s animated film Beauty and the Beast, a strapping young man named Gaston cannot fathom why Belle (the Beauty, herself) is so disinterested in him. After all, Gaston is Mr. Everything. As the song sung by Gaston”s sidekick exclaims, he”s the slickest and quickest, and his neck is the thickest! No one can “hit” or “match wits” like Gaston. And for the record, no one can spit like him, either! With a bio like that, what young French maiden could resist? Answer: Belle. She
December 17, 2016
Working Women/Women’s Work: A View from Washington
By Hannah Cleeton Professional women must perform a balancing act the church doesn”t prepare them to handle. A recent profile of the 114th Congress by the Congressional Research Service found women hold 108 seats in the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate, up from 82 seats in the 109th Congress 10 years earlier.1 As it becomes more common for women to run for and hold public office, that number will continue to climb. The statistic does not take into account women who work behind the scenes in the various House and Senate offices, as I do. In my
July 13, 2016
Give Yourself a Break
By Jim Tune I heard about a pastor who took a day off. He set his e-mail to respond automatically with this message: “I”m out of the office today. I”ll respond to your e-mail upon my return.” When he returned to work, he found this e-mail: “Don”t bother. You”re a loser for taking a day off. People will probably die and go to Hell because you thought you needed a day off. Do you think God takes a day off? Are you better than God?” Of course, the e-mail was a joke. The man who wrote that e-mail is a
January 14, 2016
10 Things You Can Do for Your Senior Minister This Week
By Michael C. Mack 1. Pray for him daily. 2. Encourage him with notes, tweets, or in person (but not right before the service begins). 3. Help him focus on sermon prep by limiting interruptions during the week or giving him announcements shortly before he preaches. 4. Take on pastoral care responsibilities. A class or group should be the front line of pastoral care. 5. Be a minister. You are part of the priesthood of all believers, a minister of reconciliation, an important part of the body of Christ. 6. Treat him as a person and as an individual. Remember
September 15, 2015
Volunteers: They”re Vital!
By Mark A. Taylor Not long after I left ministry in the local church to come to the nine-to-five office environment at Standard Publishing, I had an epiphany. I had taken for granted the volunteers who had helped me at the church. When I needed them to come to a meeting, they came. When I asked them to teach a class, they taught. When I recruited them to give up time to keep my latest notion from failing, they were there. Meanwhile, I counted everything I did for the church as part of the job they were paying me for.
April 16, 2015
19 Ways to Recognize a Hero
By Jennifer Johnson Real heroes don”t wear capes. They can”t fly or leap tall buildings or breathe underwater. Real heroes wear khakis and polo shirts. The younger ones wear jeans and untucked Diesel button-downs with pockets on both pecs. On good days they wear waders in a baptistery. Heroes answer the phone at midnight and change back into the jeans before driving across town to sit with a grieving family. Heroes still get up early the next morning to have breakfast with their kids. Heroes are strong enough to unite opinionated volunteers and gentle enough to dedicate new babies. Heroes
October 27, 2014
Critics Calling
By Eddie Lowen My family keeps in touch almost exclusively by text message, so only a small percentage of our communication is by phone call. But when my wife or children do call me, I nearly always answer. If I”m in a meeting or a conversation, I excuse myself to take the call. Years ago, I allowed those calls to go to voicemail because I wanted to be “professional” in my work. I later concluded that was a misplaced priority. I”ve decided it”s more important to be a reliable husband and dad than a perfect employee, so I always answer
August 12, 2013
What about the Preacher”s Family?
By Dennis Bratton Fifty percent of preachers” marriages will end in divorce. Eighty percent of preachers believe pastoral ministry has negatively affected their families. Thirty-three percent say being in the ministry is an outright hazard to their family. Local churches can change this picture. Here are some simple ideas any congregation can follow to make sure their preacher”s family is an example for every family. Preachers live in a continuum of unfinished tasks. At the end of nearly every day, the preacher can think of calls he needs to return, a sermon or lesson he needs to write, someone who requires a personal visit,
January 14, 2013
Advice for Rookie Pastors
By Josh Tandy You don”t have to be 22 and just walking away from the welcome potluck to read this article. Here”s how I define Rookie Pastor: someone who is brand new to ministry, or someone who just took on a new role, or one of those veterans who refuses to stop growing, learning, and adapting. As I wrote my e-book 30 in 30: How to Start or Restart Well*, I realized I did some of my 30 pointers in my first 30 days, and some I have yet to do. My goal is to help the recent graduate who
September 22, 2011
Doing Nothing Is Doing Something
By Mandy Smith The first 35 years of my life I honored God by doing. My plan for the next 35 years is also to honor him by not doing. Exodus 34:21 helped bring me to this turning point. It says: “Six days you shall labor, but on the seventh day you shall rest; even during the plowing season and harvest you must rest.” Around my 35th year I found I had worked myself out and had nothing more to give. My plan to single-handedly save the world was failing miserably since I could barely manage the grocery shopping. So
October 8, 2010
Interview with Sue Ann Cordell
By Brad Dupray For 17 of the 19 years Randy Cordell has ministered with Lakeshore Christian Church, Nashville, Tennessee, his wife, Sue Ann, has been honing her skills and working toward becoming an expert in human resource management at William Morris Endeavor Entertainment (WME), a large and diverse entertainment agency. Sue Ann now manages the Nashville office as her vocation, but her life”s passion is her relationship with Christ. She and Randy have been married 34 years and are the proud parents of two children and four grandchildren. Sue Ann has been a retreat speaker for more than 25 years
October 26, 2008
Keys to Teamwork (Part 2): Communication
By Stephen Bond Steve Bond and his wife, Pam, launched Summit Christian Church in March 1998. The church met in the Sparks YMCA for 3½ years before moving to a new permanent facility on a 36-acre site. Summit”s vision is to “Love God, Love People, and Serve Others.” Over the past 10 years the church has grown to more than 2,000 people in weekend worship attendance. Approximately 1,000 adults are also involved in life groups. One of the keys to this growth has been a high level of teamwork among Summit”s staff and elders. This is the second of four
September 21, 2008
The Assassin of the Headless Sprinting Chicken
By Jud Wilhite My friend, we”ll call him Matt, sits today in the coffee shop looking like he”s slept on the street for a few days. Maybe he has. No one around us has a clue that six months ago, Matt appeared to be a very with-it leader. Six months ago, he was a recognized for his accomplishments with magazine and cable news interviews. That was then; this is now. Today, he has bags under his brown eyes. His hair is ruffled by more than the wind from a weekend cruise. His clothes look like they”re circa 1990 Seattle warehouse
May 21, 2008
From Guilt to Joy
By Mark A. Taylor As I remember it, I spent most of my first full-time ministry feeling guilty. The issue was my time and what to do with it. When I was working for the church, I worried about how much time I was spending away from home. When I was home, I worried about all the church work I””or some church member””thought I should be doing. It was a lose-lose situation that I escaped with my move to the 9-to-5 world of the publishing house. But since then I”ve replaced my guilt about time with fretting about money. It
October 24, 2007
Ministers Deserve Our Gratitude
By Mark A. Taylor “I feel like I got my husband back.” This testimony came from the wife of a fellow who had served many years in local church ministry before joining the staff of a Christian publishing house. He does not work at Standard Publishing; you wouldn”t recognize his name. But his situation is unfortunately familiar to many ministers you know. Several years ago, George Barna said churchgoers “expect their pastor to juggle an average of 16 major tasks. That”s a recipe for failure.” And even without such unreasonable expectations, local church ministry can be more demanding than many
