Hi. Welcome to Greatheart’s Table, a podcast for pastors and those who care for them. Actually, I’ve found that many more than pastors have an interest in what we talk about here. So please pass this on to others, whether they are pastors or not. Certainly, the subject of this episode—the intersection of sexual fidelity and power—is relevant far beyond the role of pastor.

The incidence of another high profile Christian leader having an affair awakens us once again to the target the devil has placed on our backs.

Or should it? I have reason here to question that image.

Perhaps its not the devil’s so-called target that should concern us, but our own lack of awareness of the vulnerability of power.

We encourage you to also subscribe to our newsletter where, on third Mondays and at other times there may be additional content. You can do so here.

You can help support this podcast by supporting us on Patreon. You can do so here.

EPISODE NOTES

Notes and resources relevant to this episode:

Ronald Heifetz and Martin Linsky, Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Change, (United States: Harvard Business Review Press, 2017).

When you buy a book using a link on this page, Greatheart’s Table receives a commission. Thank you for supporting this work!

Podcast music provided by Cool Hand Luke and used with permission.
Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
Outro: “Wonder Tour” / Lyrics / Video

To find our more about Greatheart’s Table, visit us here.

I’m delighted to have you joining us around Greatheart’s Table.

Who are “us?” Many of us are pastors, doing what we believe, or once believed, God has called us to do. Many of us are not, but find that the realities that pastors face, realities addressed here, are true across many life situations.

Many callings, including that of the pastor, involve drudgery, and sometimes difficult times of conflict. Instead of becoming Habakkuk’s contented deer on high places, we want to run, to flee, to find any other thing to do but this.

It’s into this world, once again, I am inviting fellow pastor Adam Tisdale, to speak a word of joy. I hope you find encouragement here to remember why you do what you do.

We encourage you to also subscribe to our newsletter where, on third Mondays and at other times there may be additional content. You can do so here.

You can help support this podcast by supporting us on Patreon. You can do so here.

EPISODE NOTES

Notes and resources relevant to this episode:

Adam’s Substack Double the Joy

Podcast music provided by Cool Hand Luke and used with permission.
Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
Outro: “Wonder Tour” / Lyrics / Video

To find our more about Greatheart’s Table, visit us here.

If you’ve listened to the previous two reset episodes from January, 2022, you know that I have issues with the expectations that American corporate leadership culture has placed upon pastors. Some fit easily within the roles defined for them, they become growth visionaries and ministry strategists. As my dad, a carpenter used to say, “they fit like they growed there.”

But many of us don’t fit. Not in the way we are supposed to.

And that is okay. I want to free us from those expectations.

But once freed, what then?

In this episode I invite pastors to dream. Freed from the cultural expectations what might your vision, your real, deep, heartfelt vision for ministry be? That will be what will make your heart flourish in ministry.

Let’s consider that.

We encourage you to also subscribe to our newsletter where, on third Mondays and at other times there may be additional content. You can do so here.

You can help support this podcast by supporting us on Patreon. You can do so here.

EPISODE NOTES

Notes and resources relevant to this episode:

Harrison Scott Key, Congratulations, Who Are You Again?: A Memoir, (United States: Harper Perennial, 2018), p. 87.

When you buy a book using a link on this page, Greatheart’s Table receives a commission. Thank you for supporting this work!

Podcast music provided by Cool Hand Luke and used with permission.
Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
Outro: “Wonder Tour” / Lyrics / Video

To find our more about Greatheart’s Table, visit us here.

I know that though I write with pastors in mind, not all of you are pastors. I’m actually glad for that, and particularly as we address the idea of just what the pastor is to be. I’m concerned about the expectations that churches place on pastors that turn them into more strategist than shepherd.

This is the second of three resets from January 2022. Were I to write it today, there would be much to add, but little to change. I’d love to know what you think.

Thanks for listening, for reviewing, and referring Greatheart’s Table. This is the only way this will be heard above the cacophony of the internet. I’m grateful for your support, and for your presence.

We encourage you to also subscribe to our newsletter where, on third Mondays and at other times there may be additional content. You can do so here.

You can help support this podcast by supporting us on Patreon. You can do so here.

EPISODE NOTES

Notes and resources relevant to this episode:

Podcast music provided by Cool Hand Luke and used with permission.
Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
Outro: “Wonder Tour” / Lyrics / Video

To find our more about Greatheart’s Table, visit us here.

Pastors, I think you would agree, are not a monolithic set. They come in all shapes and sizes. They have different gifts, different personalities, different reasons for being. But though this is true, too often only one variety of pastor is valued. And that is a shame, and a hard pill to swallow for many pastors who are serving the church well, but who do not fit the valued model.

In this, the first of three resets that first were released in early 2022, I want to explore ideas that swirl around pastoral self identity. First, we consider the visionary.

Please rate, review, and refer Greatheart’s Table, and if you can support us at Patreon dot com.

We encourage you to also subscribe to our newsletter where, on third Mondays and at other times there may be additional content. You can do so here.

You can help support this podcast by supporting us on Patreon. You can do so here.

EPISODE NOTES

Notes and resources relevant to this episode:

https://churchleaders.com/pastors/pastor-articles/354846-the-rancher-shepherd-divide.html

https://www.mecklenburg.org/senior-pastor

Podcast music provided by Cool Hand Luke and used with permission.
Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
Outro: “Wonder Tour” / Lyrics / Video

To find our more about Greatheart’s Table, visit us here.

When I was a kid, I was taught not to cuss. It was a tricky feat for someone given to frustration and anger, and so I found a loophole by saying, “I don’t mean to cuss, but . . .” and then saying whatever had come to mind.

I’ve been wondering recently how many times I, inadvertently, cuss, or curse, from the pulpit. I don’t mean in the style of Die Hard’s John McLain. I’m thinking of a more insidious, and unhelpful, accidental cursing. That’s what I want to explore and I’m grateful that you trust me enough to tag along.

If you can, please rate, review, and refer Greatheart’s Table and subscribe to the print version at Substack.com.

Now, about that cursing . . . .

We encourage you to also subscribe to our newsletter where, on third Mondays and at other times there may be additional content. You can do so here.

You can help support this podcast by supporting us on Patreon. You can do so here.

EPISODE NOTES

Notes and resources relevant to this episode:

Whoever blesses his neighbor with a loud voice,
rising early in the morning,
will be counted as cursing. (Proverbs 27:14)

Eugene Peterson, The Contemplative Pastor, (United States: Eerdmans Publishing, 1993).

When you buy a book using a link on this page, Greatheart’s Table receives a commission. Thank you for supporting this work!

Podcast music provided by Cool Hand Luke and used with permission.
Intro: “Holy Vanguard” / Lyrics
Outro: “Wonder Tour” / Lyrics / Video

To find our more about Greatheart’s Table, visit us here.