Pastors in Recovery

Episode 104 - Intentions

What happens when good intentions never become action?

In Episode 104 of Pastors in Recovery, Jon explores the gap between what we mean to do and what we actually do. Through the drama “Humble Pride,” personal reflection, and strong biblical recovery principles, this episode looks at the subtle ways pride, anxiety, exhaustion, ministry pressure, and fear can keep pastors stuck.

This is not a message of condemnation. It is a call to honesty, surrender, and one faithful next step.If you’ve been telling yourself, “I’ll deal with it soon,” thi...

Episode 103 - After the Words Leave Your Mouth

What do you do when the words are already out there and you cannot take them back?

In this episode of Pastors in Recovery, we continue our series on words and intentions by looking at what happens after careless or hurtful words have already done damage.

Using Scripture as the foundation and recovery principles as practical tools, we talk about owning your side of the street, confession, apology, making amends, forgiveness, consequences, rebuilding trust, and the difference between saying “I’m sorry” and ac...

Episode 102 - Taming the Tongue

Words may be small, but they are never powerless.

In Episode 102 of the Pastors in Recovery podcast, Jon begins a three-part series about our words, their impact, and the intentions behind them. Using James chapter 3, Jon explores the power of the tongue through the images of a bit, a rudder, and a small spark that can set an entire forest on fire. He also shares honest stories from his years in ministry—awkward words, careless speech, damaging frustration, facial expressions, interruption, sarcasm, and the moments when his mouth moved fas...

Episode 101 - Your Brain Is Trained by What You Entertain: Reels, Temptation, and Recovery

What happens when the same platform that helps you stay connected also becomes a threat to your recovery?

In Episode 101 of Pastors in Recovery, Jon begins with a five-minute audio drama, then shares an honest and practical conversation about Facebook Reels, temptation, accountability, boundaries, and spiritual formation.

This episode explores how to retrain the algorithm, reduce exposure, remove unnecessary apps, redirect important relationships, and report honestly to trusted accountability partners. Jon also shares his own Facebook...

Episode 100 - The Story Is Not Over

In this milestone 100th episode of Pastors in Recovery, Jon looks back on the journey that shaped the first one hundred episodes—and offers a glimpse of what may come next.

The episode begins with a short original radio drama, The Bridge, followed by a personal reflection on loneliness, hidden struggles, failure, recovery, ADHD, creativity, and the grace of God. Jon shares honestly about how the podcast changed from what he first imagined, why so many pastors struggle to tell their stories, and how artificial in...

Episode 99: Grace Has Always Been the Hero

As we prepare for Episode 100, Jon reflects on one truth that has quietly woven its way through every conversation on Pastors in Recovery.We've talked about addiction, burnout, ministry, failure, shame, and recovery—but underneath every story has been the same Hero: God's grace.

In this episode, we'll explore the beautiful connection between God's love and His grace. Grace isn't proof that God overlooks our sin. It's proof of how deeply He loves us. The cross reminds us that our sin was serious, but God's love was ev...

Episode 98: The Mistake You Can't Stop Thinking About

Every pastor has a story they wish they could rewrite.Maybe it was inviting the wrong speaker. Making a leadership decision that didn't work out. Trusting the wrong person. Or simply making a mistake that still comes back to mind years later.

In this episode, Jon shares several real ministry stories—and one fictional scenario that every pastor will recognize—to explore an important recovery truth: mistakes are meant to teach us, not define us.

Looking at the life of Peter and the grace of J...

Episode 97 - Devil's Been Lying to You

What happens when the enemy convinces us that our failures are the whole story?

After a motorcycle ride through the winding mountain roads of Arizona, I was reminded that we rarely see what's around the next bend. The same is true in our spiritual lives. Satan points to our past, our mistakes, and our struggles, hoping we'll believe that's all there is. But he never tells the whole story. God's grace is part of the story.

The cross is part of the story.<...

Episode 96 — Come Apart Before You Come Apart

Many pastors know they need rest, but not every pastor can take a sabbatical or a week-long retreat. Some are bivocational. Some are raising families. Some are using their vacation time for family trips. So what do we do when life and ministry keep demanding more of us?

In this episode, Jon talks about the importance of intentionally getting away for a few hours, a day, or a couple of days to spend time with God. Drawing from personal experiences hiking Poston Butte and preparing fo...

Episode 95 - Look How Far You've Come
Recovery can sometimes feel frustrating. We complete a Step Study, attend meetings, work with a sponsor, and still find ourselves noticing all the ways we haven't arrived yet. In this encouraging episode of Pastors in Recovery, Jon Hammond reminds pastors and ministry leaders to pause and look back at what God has already done. 

Using the illustration of a woodworking shop, Jon explores how recovery gives us tools, but lasting growth comes through using those tools over time, supported by healthy rhythms and authentic community.

If yo...

Episode 94 - The People God Sent

When we pray for help, guidance, wisdom, or strength, we often expect God to answer through a miracle, a sign, or a dramatic breakthrough. But what if many of God's answers arrive in the form of people?

In this episode of Pastors in Recovery, Jon Hammond explores the biblical examples of Aaron, Jonathan, Barnabas, Ruth, Naomi, and the friends who carried a paralyzed man to Jesus. Along the way, Jon shares personal stories about three people God used to shape his own life: his wife Janine...

Episode 93 - Retiring Without Losing Your Purpose

Episode 93 explores the emotional and spiritual transition many pastors quietly face as they grow older. What happens when your passions begin to change? What if retirement is not the end of your purpose, but a new season of it?

In this deeply personal episode, Jon Hammond reflects on aging, ministry identity, family, legacy, and the growing desire to simply be near the people we love most. He shares honest thoughts about how his perspective has changed over the years, especially now as a grandfather, and why many...

Episode 92 - Always On - Pastors ADHD and the Guilt of Rest
In this deeply personal episode of Pastors in Recovery, Jon Hammond talks honestly about pastors who struggle to slow down. From racing thoughts and chaotic desks to guilt over resting and late-night scrolling, this episode explores the hidden mental and emotional overload many pastors quietly carry.

Jon discusses ADHD-style struggles, overstimulation, exhaustion, and the pressure many ministry leaders feel to always stay productive and available. He also shares practical encouragement about accountability, healthy rhythms, medication consistency, and learning how to “downshift” instead of cons...

Episode 91 -  Everbody Else

In Episode 91 of the Pastors in Recovery, Jon opens up about something he misunderstood about himself for years — why certain parts of ministry energized him while other parts emotionally drained him. Why did preaching, mentoring, recovery groups, creativity, and helping people solve problems feel life-giving… while hospital visits, emotionally heavy conversations, and intimate adult interactions often created anxiety and exhaustion? This honest conversation explores:performance anxiety in ministry,emotional wiring,purposeful helping,fear of emotionally undefined situations,and the hidden danger of using ministry as a safe place to avoid facin...

Episode 90 - Called… But Not Ready Yet

What happens when someone feels genuinely called by God… but they’re not fully ready yet?

In Episode 90 of Pastors in Recovery, Jon Hammond talks honestly about one of the most difficult balancing acts pastors face: encouraging people in their calling while also protecting the church through wisdom, discernment, and healthy leadership boundaries. Drawing from personal experiences in Bible college, early ministry opportunities, painful leadership betrayals, and lessons learned the hard way, Jon explores the difference between charisma and character, gifting and grounding, passion and prepar...

Episode 89 - Another Church Town

Sometimes the hardest part of ministry isn’t the sermon… it’s the moving truck.

In Episode 89 of the Pastors in Recovery podcast, Jon Hammond talks honestly about the emotional cost of relocating in ministry and how repeated church moves can deeply affect pastors, wives, and children.

New churches can bring excitement, opportunity, and fresh vision… but they can also leave families exhausted, uprooted, and quietly hurting. This episode explores the tension between genuine calling and the temptation to escape burnout, conflict, restlessness, or the pursuit of “something...

Episode 88 - Struggling Children and You Can’t Fix It

Some of the deepest pain a parent can carry is watching a child struggle… and realizing you can’t fix it. In this honest and heartfelt episode of Pastors in Recovery, we talk about the heartbreak of loving teenage or adult children who are making difficult choices, drifting spiritually, resisting help, or blaming the very people trying to care for them.

For many parents, the dream slowly changes over time. First you hoped they’d love Jesus. Then maybe marry well. Then maybe ju...

Episode 87 - Don’t Forget Her - Loving Your Wife When Life Gets Heavy

Sometimes in ministry, we give our best energy to everyone else… and the one closest to us gets what’s left.

In this episode of Pastors in Recovery, we take an honest look at what it means to truly love your wife—not just in words, but in presence, sacrifice, and everyday choices. With Mother’s Day approaching, this is a reminder that our wives don’t just need appreciation once a year… they need to know they’re not walking a...

Episode 86 - I tried and it Didn't work (So I Stopped)

Have you ever tried to connect with someone… and it just didn’t go the way you hoped? Maybe it felt awkward. Maybe they didn’t respond. Maybe you walked away thinking, “That didn’t work… so I’m done.” In this episode, we go deeper than just surface-level connection. We talk about why many of us stop trying—not just because it didn’t work, but because it cost us something. Sometimes it’s rejection. Sometimes it’s comparison. And sometimes… it’s what we believe about ours...

Episode 85 - Loneliness by Choice | From Isolation to Connection

Loneliness is something many pastors feel—but what if part of the problem isn’t just what’s happening to us… but what we’re not doing about it? In

Episode 1, we talked about how real isolation is in ministry. But this episode is different. This is a practical conversation about what it actually looks like to move out of isolation and into connection. We talk about:

• The difference between healthy solitude and unhealthy isolation
• Why connection feels awkward and hard to initia...

Episode 84 - That Slow Drift | + Original Song "Drift"

What if you didn’t fall…

what if you just drifted?

In this episode of Pastors in Recovery, we talk about one of the most dangerous realities in ministry—the slow, almost invisible drift away from God. It doesn’t start with rebellion.
It starts with distraction.Busyness.Fatigue.Numbing out.From King David staying home instead of going to war…to pastors today scrolling late at night, trying to find rest in all the wrong places—this episode exposes how drift really...

Episode 83 - TSP | Part 9 - So That I May Be Reasonably Happy In This Life

What if the problem isn’t your life… but your expectations? In this episode, we unpack one of the most honest and freeing lines in the Serenity Prayer: “…so that I may be reasonably happy in this life, and supremely happy with You forever in the next.” Many of us expect following God to make life easier. We expect obedience to be rewarded with comfort. And when that doesn’t happen, we quietly begin to feel disappointed—even with God. But the S...

Episode 82 - TSP | Part 8 - Trusting That You Will Make All Things Right

In Episode 82 of the Pastors in Recovery Podcast, we continue our Serenity Prayer series by exploring the line: “Trusting that You will make all things right if I surrender to Your will.”

When many of us think about the will of God, we often focus on the big life questions—career, ministry opportunities, relationships, and the direction of our future. But the will of God is not only something we try to discover in the future. Much of it has al...

Episode 81 - TSP | Part 7 - Taking As Jesus Did This Sinful World + Song "Why Can't the World"

In Episode 81 of the Pastors in Recovery Podcast, we continue our Serenity Prayer series by reflecting on a powerful and difficult line: “Taking, as Jesus did, this sinful world as it is, not as I would have it.”

Many pastors begin ministry with a vision of how the world should be. We dream of healthy churches, healed marriages, honest leadership, and people who respond quickly to truth. But over time, reality can feel very different. Brok...

Episode 80 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 6 - Accepting Hardship as a Pathway to Peace 

This may be the most difficult line in the entire Serenity Prayer.

In this episode, I share personal stories of real hardship — my sister running away from home, losing my brother to Hodgkin’s disease, the devastating loss of my nine-month-old nephew, and more recent struggles with injury, limitation, and physical decline. Hardship doesn’t feel like peace.

So how can it possibly be the pathway to it? Drawing from James 1, Hebrews 12, and the words of Jesus H...

Episode 79 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 5 - Living One Day At A Time

Are you living in yesterday’s regret… or tomorrow’s anxiety?

In Part 5 of our Serenity Prayer series, we explore two powerful phrases: “Living one day at a time.
Enjoying one moment at a time.” Many pastors and ministry leaders struggle with replaying conversations from the past or rehearsing fears about the future. Shame and insecurity quietly shape how we lead, speak, and show up in relationships.

In this episode, we imagine the same pastor in three diff...

Episode 78 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 4 + Original Worship Experience with Stone & Mercy

In Part 4 of our Serenity Prayer series, we focus on one of the most overlooked — and most powerful — lines: “…and the wisdom to know the difference.” As pastors, many of us are wired to fix things. We carry responsibility. We step into chaos. We try to help. But what happens when we confuse what is ours to do with what only God can do?





In this episode, we talk about discernment born from closeness to Christ.About the...

Episode 77 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 3 + Original Song "When It's My Turn"

This week on Pastors in Recovery, we move into the hardest part of the Serenity Prayer. Not accepting what we cannot change. But owning what we can. As pastors, we preach that the Holy Spirit does the cleaning. We say, “God changes hearts.” And that’s true. 





But what happens when God has already shown us something… and we haven’t obeyed?Where have we prayed for deliverance when we needed repentance?Where have we blamed God for our lack of...

Episode 76 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 2 + Original Song "When God is First"

What happens when God is first… but nothing changes?

In Week 2 of our Serenity Prayer series, we slow down and sit with one of the hardest realities of faith and recovery: accepting what we cannot change. Many of us were formed to believe that obedience should be rewarded—and that if we’re doing the right things, life should get easier. But what happens when it doesn’t?

This episode explores the quiet disappointment pastors often carry when surrende...

Episode 75 - The Serenity Prayer | Part 1 + Featuring the song "The Serenity Prayer"

In this episode, we begin a new short series by slowing down and looking closer at the Serenity Prayer—starting with the very first word: God. Before we ask for serenity, courage, or wisdom, we acknowledge who God is. This prayer begins by placing God at the center, not as a vending machine or last resort, but as the greatest and highest power—worthy of our trust, our surrender, and our praise.

We talk honestly about control, pride, and the tensi...

Episode 74 — The Twelve Steps Recap | Recovery as a Lifelong Practice

This episode is a pause, a breath, and a look back. In Episode 74, we step away from teaching individual steps and instead reflect on what the Twelve Steps give us as a whole. Not as a program to complete—but as a way of living. Each step becomes a rail that keeps us steady:

how we tell the truth,
how we surrender control,
how we repair damage,
how we stay spiritually awake.

This recap is especially for past...

Episode 73 — STEP TWELVE | From Recovery to Responsibility – Carrying Hope Without Ego

Step Twelve is where recovery turns outward—but for pastors, this step comes with real danger. When healing starts to look like leadership, ego can quietly slip in. In this episode, we talk honestly about what it means to carry hope without trying to carry people. Step Twelve reminds us that recovery doesn’t make us heroes—it makes us witnesses. In this episode, we explore:
The difference between calling and controlWhy pastors are tempted to become fixers instead of fellow travelersHow ego can hide insid...

Episode 72 - STEP ELEVEN | Listening Before Speaking + Original Song "Face Down on the Table"

Most pastors don’t struggle with prayer because they don’t know how. They struggle because their lives are loud. In Step Eleven, we’re invited to improve our conscious contact with God through prayer and meditation—but for pastors, listening can be harder than speaking. When our days are full of serving, leading, producing, and responding… there’s often no space left to be still. In this episode, we talk honestly about:
why pastors already know Step Eleven—...

Episode 71 - STEP TEN | Stay Ready Stay Free + Original Song "I'm Keeping the Backpack Light"

Step Ten is where recovery becomes a way of life. In this episode, we talk about what it really means to stay honest in real time—not by sitting down later to write another inventory, but by dealing with life moment by moment as it happens. Using the image of a clear backpack, we explore how unowned reactions, careless words, and unresolved moments quietly add weight to our lives and ministries.

Step Ten invites us to keep the backpack li...

Episode 70 - STEP NINE | Making Amends Without Making a Mess + Original Song "My Side of the Street"

Making amends sounds simple—until you actually do it. In this episode, we move beyond talking about Step 9 and step into the harder work of doing it wisely. We explore how even sincere apologies can cause more harm when they’re driven by guilt, image management, or the need for closure. Through a personal story, three “Imagine a Pastor” scenarios, and Scripture, this conversation helps pastors understand the difference between managing our conscience and truly owning our part. St...

Episode 69 - STEP EIGHT | Owning the Damage I’ve Done + Original Song "The Bubbleator"

In this episode, we step into one of the most challenging and freeing moments of recovery: learning to own the damage we’ve caused. For many pastors, it’s easier to talk about what happened to us than to look honestly at what has happened through us. Step Eight calls us to step out of our self-protective bubble, stop justifying our patterns, and let God show us the people we’ve hurt along the way. We talk about:

• How pride...

Episode 68 - STEP SEVEN | Letting God Heal the Pastor, Not the Performer

Today we talk about the crash that almost every pastor knows but rarely admits—the moment after the sermon when the anointing fades, the adrenaline stops, and the real battle begins. You’ve prayed. You’ve preached. God has moved.

But when the house grows quiet… the worries return.
The pain you’ve carried comes back.
The temptations you thought were gone show up again.
And the enemy whispers, “You’re failing.” But you’re not.
You’re human.

BONUS EPISODE — “Tripping Over Myself”

In this bonus episode, Jon looks at the blind spots we all have — the places where we keep tripping over our own attitudes, reactions, and old patterns. Sometimes the biggest obstacle in the hallway isn’t the enemy… it’s us.

This episode features Jon’s new original song, “Tripping Over Myself” — a throughtful track about stumbling over our own blind spots and learning to let God show us what we’ve been defending. If you’ve ever reacted too quickly, defended something that didn’t matter, or discovered your biggest st...

Episode 67 - STEP SIX | Being Willing To Change + Original Song "No More Defending"

Step Six is where healing finally starts to take root. It’s the moment we stop defending our dysfunction and become willing for God to rewrite what we’ve been hiding. In this episode, Jon shares raw stories from his years of church planting—ministry burnout, pride, insecurity, financial pressure, and the addictions that surfaced when life got overwhelming. He also opens up about the deeper roots behind anger, shame, and the patterns that kept him stuck. 

Romans 12:2 calls us to be tran...

Episode 66 – STEP FIVE | Confessing, Not Preaching + Original Song “Hats”

In this powerful episode of Pastors in Recovery, Jon unpacks Step Five: Confessing, Not Preaching — learning to tell the truth instead of performing it. He shares honest reflections from his own ministry life — the “pastor hat,” the “church-planter hat,” and the moment he realized that the only hat that truly fits is the real-self hat. Through personal stories, relatable pastor examples, and the story of King Saul, Jon reminds us that fear of people leads to performance, but confession leads to freedom. 

This episode also feature...