Every Church Flourishing by the Great Commission Association
The Every Church Flourishing podcast is all about helping churches, leaders, and pastors find health, encouragement, practical advice, soul care, and resources that work together to build up your local fellowship and the broader Kingdom of God. Join hosts Pastor Chris Cole and Dr. Chase Thompson from the Great Commission Association, led by Dr. Mike Stewart, as they explore the frontiers of ministry and aim to make every church flourish! Broadcasting from the North-Central Coast of California and the beautiful redwoods, We will focus on church growth, pastoral health, church leadership, evangelism, discipleship, denominational news, West Coast church news, California...
How Churches Can Care for Hurting People, Ministry Longevity - 20+ Years at One Church - and How To Develop Church AI Guidelines.
Dr. Stephen Hall of Northpark Baptist Church and the Director of the Birmingham Extension of New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary.
Pastoring for 20+ Years in the Same Church: How to Avoid Conflict in Church and Cultivate Longevity.
How to develop AI guidelines for the church. What is absolutely NOT ok for church AI use, and what is acceptable?
Hayden Huckleberry Soda By Rocky Mountain
How to win your critics over and help turn them into allies and friends.
It takes two to fight, so be incredibly choosy about your fights in th...
The Nitty Gritty: Is Your Church Declining or Dying? Here is an insider's View of How Church Renewal Happens.
Title: The Nitty Gritty: Is Your Church Declining or Dying? Here is an insider's View of How Church Renewal Happens.
What does it feel like when your church is declining and hope is fading? How do you cope with more and more empty seats each Sunday?
Jerry Watson - Red Oaks Baptist in Santa Maria, California
Lisanne Huber - Foothill Baptist in Los Altos, California.
CHRISTOPHER 6. One of the hardest things any person or church can do is examine itself honestly. What did ReNEW help your congregation see about itself that pe...
How Church Turnaround Works from the Inside...Small churches are in danger! Soda Review: I Want Grandma's Banana Cream Pie, Not Her Socks.
Every Church Flourishing Episodes 41 and 42 with Lisanne Huber and Jerry Watson.
Title: How Church Turnaround Works from the Inside! Small churches are in danger. What can be done? Soda Review: I Want Grandma's Banana Cream Pie, Not Her Socks.
The Shonen Banana soda review: Delicious, but more sugar than three bananas or one slice of banana cream pie.
Roughly 30 percent of Americans claim zero religious affiliation - a vast increase from the 1980s and 1990s. A typical church congregation is roughly half the size it was at the turn of the century. Small churches are vuln...
Episode 40: How Can Churches Recognize and Address Weaknesses? Tim Challies' Leadership Advice. +Review of the Worst Soda In the History of the World.
Every Church Flourishing Episode 40 with Tammi Smorynski and Samuel Kommu
Title: How Can Churches Recognize Their Weaknesses and Do Something About Them? Tim Challies ' leadership advice. How does the church go forward from a human perspective?
The worst soda ever conceived. Absolutely disgusting. Made from a fruit banned from multiple airlines, and a fruit that shut down an entire government building just because of the smell.
"Durian fruit, when it is incredibly ripe, has a cross smell between methamphetamines, dirty socks, and rotting bodies."
Tim Challies for anyone in a leade...
Episode 39: Uncensored Insider's View of Church Renewal - How to Confront and Help Heal Church Problems and Failures + Throwback Vietnamese Sarsaparilla Soda Review.
Every Church Flourishing Episodes 39-40 with Tammi Smorynski and Samuel Kommu and Pastor Christopher Cole.
Title: Church Renewal from the Inside - Church Revitalization from the pews.
Samuel Kommu from Calvary Baptist Church in Santa Clara Tammi Smorynski from Oak Grove Baptist Church in San Jose
Some of the negative impacts of Church Drama.
Young leaders. To be sustainable, churches need to constantly prioritize getting younger people involved in leadership.
The church is a complex organism and quick fixes are rare and often ineffective in complex organisms.
"I do not clai...
Episode 38: Church Replanting, Church Revitalization, and Help For Struggling Churches with Bob Bickford. Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast. + Dangers of Soda Racism.
Every Church Flourishing 38 With Bob Bickford.
Title: Culture Eats Strategy For Breakfast. Church Replanting, Church Revitalization, and Help For Struggling Churches with Bob Bickford. FIND YOUR DOTTIES. The Dangers of Soda Racism.
If you don't deal with your church's problems because you don't want people to leave, the truth is that people will leave BECAUSE you aren't dealing with your church's problems.
Put a gifted pastor in the wrong culture and that culture will eat him alive.
Culture is the hidden assumptions about the way things are.
Diagnosis is hard...
Episode 37: WHY leads to WHAT: Pastoring Change in Churches That Want Change But Resist It. HELP! My Church Isn't Growing…What Should We Do?! With Bob Bickford
Episode 37: WHY leads to WHAT: Pastoring Change in Churches That Want Change But Resist It. HELP! My Church Isn't Growing…What Should We Do?! With Bob Bickford of the Nashville Baptist Association.
Notes:
We think if we deal with our problems, people will leave, but the truth is that if we DON'T deal with our problems, people will leave.
How attendance fluctuates in church replants and church revitalizations. Sometimes you will have a double dip when people leave because the church has changed TOO much, and other people leave because the church has NOT ch...
Episode 36: If You Don't Develop Young Leaders, Your Church Will Die. ALWAYS Be Thinking about Four Generations Worth of Leaders in Your Church. + Review of Romantic Peach Cola
Cody Bryan and Christian Challenge Santa Cruz: https://challengeucsc.com/affiliations/
Brandon O'Sullivan at Gospel Community: https://www.gospelcommunitysc.org/leadership
How can young ministers and leaders in the church avoid controversy and offense so that they can be fruitful and flourish?
How can churches have deeper and more fruitful partnerships with parachurch ministries?
How simply making disciples creates opportunities in ministry.
"A peach is an orange sort of thing, but this bottle is a blue sort of thing…what gives?"
Episode 35 How Can Parachurch and Church Ministr...
Episode 35: Churches: Make Room for Young Leaders! The Kingdom of God is Not Competitive, But Cooperative. Santa Cruz College Discipleship.
Today's episode features Pastor Brandon O'Sullivan from Gospel Community Church in Santa Cruz, California: https://www.gospelcommunitysc.org/leadership And Cody Bryan, from Christian Challenge at U.C. Santa Cruz.
Episode 35: How Can Parachurch and Church Ministries Work Together?? The Kingdom of God is Not Competitive, But Cooperative.
How Can Churches Make Room for Young Leaders and Not Stifle Them? Why is it CRUCIAL for churches to make room for young leaders??
How a Bible-Believing Church Can Make Disciples and Thrive in one of the most liberal Cities in America.
College Minis...
Episode 34: It's Healthy To Need Help! Counseling is Intensive Discipleship for Wounded Believers. What are signs that you should talk to a counselor?
How to get in touch with Jason Kovacs and Gospel Care Collective:
https://www.gospelcarecollective.com/counseling/jason-kovacs/
How Jesus in the Garden models for us the need to share our burdens, pains, and needs with other believers rather than bottle them up.
What are signs and symptoms that your anxiety or stress has gone beyond the point where you can handle it on your own?
What are some signs in a leader's life that they are close to a breakdown? What are signs that you should talk to a counselor so...
Episode 33: Help For Pastors and Leaders That Are Struggling: The Mental and Emotional Health of American Pastors and Why It Matters. "Tired of Plain Old White Chase."
Every Church Flourishing with Jason Kovacs, 33-34.
Guest:
Jason Kovacs is not simply a biblical counselor who works with pastors, but even that is pretty special. He has also been heavily involved in church planting, pastoral ministry, adoption/orphan-care advocacy, nonprofit leadership, counseling-center development, trauma-informed care, and ministry to burned-out pastors.
Jason Kovacs is the founder and Executive Director of the Gospel Care Collective, a ministry devoted to gospel-centered, clinically-informed counseling, equipping, and consulting for individuals, pastors, families, and churches. For more than twenty years, Jason has served across a rema...
Episode 32: Brady Bunch Sermon Illustrations + I Want to See Healthy Churches. Churches Helping Churches Outside of Their Denomination. I would love to be funny like Alistair Begg.
Today, we continue talking with Pastor Ed Compean of Shoreline Calvary Chapel Church in Morro Bay about churches helping churches and interdenominational cooperation and unity.
Tango Mango Soda Review.
It's the most honorable thing you can do to have the humility to say, "I don't know it all, and I need help."
Resources:
David Jackson - Falling in Love with Jesus Again: https://replantbootcamp.com/podcast/ep240/
Bob Bickford: Pathways to Partnership: https://www.amazon.com/dp/0999418149?lv=shuf&channelId=500&plpRedirect=mhFallback
If God wants the nations to be...
Episode 31: Church Health Does Not Mean Sanctuary Size but Missional Mobilization. Why Should Churches Foster Other Churches? Calvary Chapel and SBC Partnership. Why Should Churches Help Other Churches? Plus a South African Soda BURSTING with Flavor.
How can churches help other dying, declining, and plateauing churches, and WHY should they? The Health of a Church is Not Found in its Sanctuary Size but in the Great Commissional Mobilization of its people. Why Should Churches Foster (Help) Other Churches?
Today we interview Pastor Ed Compean, a former missionary to Nairobi, Kenya, and a current Calvary Chapel pastor in Morro Bay, California, who is helping to foster an SBC church a few towns over. Why should a pastor from a different denomination invest time, resources, and care into a church that isn't local? What's the be...
Episode 30: Navigating Change: Move the Coffee Machine Away From the Men's Bathroom! How can pastors build trust in new or hurting congregations? How Vulnerable Should Pastors Be When it Comes to Confessing Sins? + Soda Review and Home Invasion.
Every Church Flourishing Episodes 29-30 Jeff Woolstenhulme and Michael Denton
Practical Wisdom on Church Change for small and medium sized churches, and church replants. How can pastors build trust in new or hurting congregations? How Vulnerable Should Pastors Be When it Comes to Confessing Sins? Benign Neglect: Not everything needs to be changed.
Also, during today's soda review, a possible home/office invasion happens - in progress - which may spell the end of Pastor Christopher Cole, co-host of the Every Church Flourishing podcast. Will PC survive? Listen to the end for the astonishing answer!
<...Episode 29: Leading through Change. How Does Church Transformation Happen? Church Turnaround Stories: What is Church Replanting All About? Soda Review: "When I look at this can, it does not scream Ramadan to me."
Today we talk about change, transformation, church death, church renewal, church replanting and revitalization with Pastor Michael Denton of First Baptist Nipomo and Pastor Jeff Woolstenhulme of Foothills Baptist in Los Altos.
A church in FBC Nipomo that had 6 members left, and a church in Foothills Baptist that had 8 members - both on the verge of death very recently- now both churches are on the road to recovery. How could that happen both spiritually and practically?
God is often more concerned about our character and godliness than our mission and success.
Pro tip...
Episode 28: Vision vs. Management + How Can Leaders Balance Confidence and Humility? + The Loneliness Epidemic + the Humility of "I Don't Know." AND Buffalo Wing Soda...SPICY!
ECF Episode 28: Vision vs. Management, How Can Leaders Balance Confidence and Humility? + The Loneliness Epidemic: Finding Connection Shortage in an Online Society. + the Humility of "I Don't Know."
Vision vs. Management: When Vision gets tired, Management takes over the wheel and drives the organization.
Only trillionaires in California have 8 acres.
Intro script. We are back with Missions Strategist Chris Reinolds, and today we pick up with the interview discussing leadership and pastoral loneliness, a topic we've hit a few times before.
Pastors: Don't pretend to know all the answers!
The st...
Episode 27: Why are churches drifting away from their main purpose of discipleship? What is the cure? New Segment: Pastor Disaster - The (ALMOST) Missing Finger and MORE: with Chris Reinolds, the Strategic Outsider of Jacksonville, Florida
Today we talk to the Strategic Outsider, Chris Reinolds, a missions strategist from Northeast Florida. Chris is a great writer and thinker about the mission of the church, and he encourages us today to focus on those practices and programs that align with the church's primary mission, and to cut those things we don't which don't line up with our primary purpose. In addition, we also discuss:
The aspects of pastoring that seminary doesn't prepare you for.
Why church bylaws are probably more important than most pastors and church leaders realize. A church that isn't abi...
Episode 26: The Danger of Hypocrisy, Christian Conspiracy Theories, Baptists and the Nicene Creed, How Does Love Your Enemies Factor Into Politics? With Dr. Cameron Schweitzer of Gateway Seminary
Also: A Beginner's Course on Coffee Roasting!
We begin today's episode in the middle of an interview with Gateway Seminary Bay Area Director Dr. Cameron Schweitzer, and his is discussing the upcoming Bay Area Theology symposium which will address issues like Christian Nationalism, politics and Christian leadership, and other hot-button topics right now. How can pastors effectively lead in a politically polarized atmosphere?
The sufficiency of Scripture should inform all aspects of how we do theology, including politics. According to survey after survey of Christians and those who aren't Christians, the NUMBER ONE REASON people do...
Episode 25: Must Pastors and Church Leaders Go to Seminary? Is Online or In Person School Better? Plus: 666 OR 616: The Mysterious Mark of the Beast and the Earliest Manuscript of Revelation
Pastors and Church Leaders: MUST You Go to Seminary? NO! But, Why SHOULD You?
Why Should Pastors or Church leaders consider a seminary degree? All about Gateway Seminary, Bay Area Campus.
What makes in person seminary training better than online seminary or online classes? Incarnate ministry training vs. online ministry training.
The benefits and drawbacks of fully online seminary or graduate school.
Upcoming Bay Area theology symposium on how churches should receive immigrants and deal with illegal immigrants.
Seminary is not necessary, but why should pastors and leaders go? <...
Episode 24: Prayerlessness=Powerlessnes. How can Churches Develop a Culture of Prayer? Powerful stories of Prayer and Revival. + A Divisive Review of Wild Bill's Ring Pop Soda, a Soda Made by AI??
How does surrender work in a Christian's life? We try to surrender, but God is the one who provides the means for us to surrender.
Being with the Lord is most important, rather than me trying and trying harder.
The comfort of God carrying us to completion in our spiritual journey.
Prayerlessness=Powerlessnes. What can be done about the powerlessness in the modern church? The same thing the South African church in the twentieth century did.
The Lord led us gradually to the sin of prayerlessness as one of the deepest root...
Episode 23: Practical Wisdom for a Deeper Prayer Life. How does phone addiction contend with our prayer life, and what can we do about it? Prayer Distractions and How to Deal with Them. BACON Soda Review.
Today, we have a deep discussion with Dr. Se J. Won on the topic of prayer, and Dr. Won goes beyond the normal prayer discussions and will lead us into a wonderful blend of spirituality and practicality as we discuss how to enrich your prayer life, and why the tyranny of the urgent is less worth your time than abiding in Christ is. Se J shared one of my favorite quotes I've heard recently when he said, "We often settle for what we can do, what we can muster up, rather than what God can do…Sometimes we miss ou...
Episode 22: Empowering, Equipping, and Encouraging Women in Ministry in Southern Baptist Churches. SBC Women in Ministry. Complementarian Ministry
#22. On today's episode, we finish up a great interview with Dr. Cathie Smith, who is the Great Commission Association Women in Ministry Ambassador. If you are following the news, this is a timely conversation for us, as the nation's largest Protestant denomination, the SBC, grapples with the role of women in ministry. Today, we talk with Dr. Cathie about how pastors should seek to enlist qualified and gifted women to serve in leadership roles and invite them to speak into sermon topics, schedules, etc. To give them a voice at the decision-making table. We also discuss practical ways to e...
Episode 21: Why are Women Leaving the Church and 7 Biblical Ways to Empower Women in the Church with Dr. Cathie Smith + What is Greater than Serving?!
How can pastors and churches encourage women to use their gifts for the Kingdom of God?
Seven Ways to Empower Women In the Church:
1. Engage them. Engage them in discipleship and making disciples. See them, connect with them, open doors of opportunity for them as God allows.
2. Encourage their giftings.
3. Exhort God's calling in their lives and give them opportunities to respond to what God is calling her to do – commission/send out
4. "Equip women for ministry and disciple-making. This includes education. Educate women in theology, hermeneutics, and other Bible t...
Episode 20: The Dead Sea Scrolls, Why Pastors Talk about Controversial Bible Issues, Textual Criticism, and Guarana Antarctica Soda Review with Textual Criticism Expert Dr. Anthony Ferguson
Why should pastors talk about controversial Bible passages and difficult Bible origin questions with church members? Old Testament Scholar Dr. Anthony Ferguson answers...
Today, we talk to Dr. Anthony Ferguson, an Old Testament Textual Criticism expert and pastor, about some pretty deep Bible nerd stuff, including how pastors can talk about the background of the Bible without turning the church into a seminary. Some of this short interview is pretty deep, but if you feel lost, never fear, we will process through a little bit of what we discussed at the end of the episode today, right...
Episode 19: Using AI For Evangelism and Ministry, The Power of Old Testament Lamentation, Dead Billionaire Soda and World Cup Evangelism with Pastor Anthony Ferguson
Today we have Pastor and Professor and Everton Blues superfan Anthony Ferguson with us again, and we are talking to him about World Cup evangelism with the Yellow Card Initiative, and a few other things also, including the Great Commission Value of Artificial Intelligence and the importance of preaching about the OLD Testament in church.
We've also got Cal Baptist ministry student and Valley Baptist Youth minister JC Thompson with us today to review a soda that USED to be called Armless Palmer. What is it called now? Will it muster enough Spurgeons to be recommended? Well...
Episode 18: Anthony Ferguson and the Yellow Card Initiative - World Cup Soccer Evangelism. + Guardian Angels and Do Churches Have Their Own Angels? Maybe!
Fun show today. We are going to talk about human evangelism - human messengers and heavenly messengers/angels. Our guest is Dr. Anthony Ferguson of 11th Street Baptist Church in Upland, California, which is a city of about 80,000 that borders Los Angeles. Dr. Ferguson is one of the founders of the Yellow Card initiative, bringing the Good News to World Cup attendees this Summer. We will also talk about guardian angels, and whether or not the Bible teaches that each church is assigned its very OWN angel.
Episode 17: The Flourishing Hispanic Church in California - Help for Spanish Pastors in the West. Spanish Language ONLY Episode with Pastor Humberto Hernandez and Dr. Chris Smith of the Great Commission Association
Today's episode is SPANISH ONLY and features a discussion with California Hispanic Pastor Humberto Hernandez and Dr. Chris Smith of the Great Commission Association. Pastor Humberto and Dr. Smith talk about keys to church health in the Hispanic church in America. PLEASE LET US KNOW IF YOU WANT MORE SPANISH ONLY EPISODES!
El episodio de hoy es solo en español y presenta una conversación con el pastor hispano de California, Humberto Hernández, y el Dr. Chris Smith, de la Great Commission Association.El pastor Humberto y el Dr. Smith hablan sobre algunas claves para la s...
Episode 16: AI Can't Love: Women in Ministry and Artificial Intelligence in the Church With Dr. Kristen Ferguson of Gateway Seminary + Cheerwine Soda Review and Pleading the Blood of Jesus in Prayer.
Another action-packed episode of the ECF podcast today. Gateway Seminary VP Dr. Kristen Ferguson joins us, and our co-hosts are school superintendent Lanette Lozano and Women's ministry expert Dr. Cathie Smith. Today, we talk about how women in the church are a fundamental key to church flourishing that no wise leader should ever overlook. We will also talk to Dr. Ferguson about AI - can AI take the place of counseling, pastors, sermon prep? How much should Christians lean on AI? We've got Cal Baptist BAT student JC back with us for a review of the South's favorite cherry...
Episode 15: "It Was Magnificent...an Extraordinary Picture of Unrestrained Praise." Women in Ministry, Special Needs Ministry, Online Education and Pastor Training with Dr. Kristen Ferguson, Vice President at Gateway Seminary.
Today we've got Gateway Seminary vice president Dr. Kristen Ferguson for a fascinating conversation that ranges from women's ministry, to being a pastor's wife, and concludes with a moving discussion of special needs ministry in the church AND special needs MINISTERING TO THE CHURCH. We will also have JC, the Cal Baptist Ministry student, back to review the World's Hottest Soda with us - does it live up to the hype? Does it injure us? We also have a great Spanish language interview at the end with Dr. Chris Smith and Pastor Humberto Hernandez on the state of the Hi...
Episode 14: Backstage is the Main Stage! What is the Apocrypha and Should Christians Read it? Abiding in Christ vs. Public Ministry + Irn Bru Scottish Soda Review. With Dr. Mike Stewart, Dr. Chris Smith and J.C. Thompson
Great pod today, with some fascinating topics and guest hosts and guest reviewers. We've got a review of a Scottish Soda - Irn Bru, made with steel girders, apparently, and a great guest reviewer there AND ALSO a listener question from Robin F., who asks about the Apocrypha - those mysterious books that are in some Bibles, absent from others, and are the centerpiece for tons of conspiracy theories about the church. What is the Apocrypha, and should you be reading it? WHY is it no longer in most Protestant Bibles? The Truth is out there…and today we be...
Episode 13: At The End of Your Rope? +Preacher Myths (Lions Lay Down with the Lamb? Folded Napkin, Sparing the Rod, God Running?!) with Dr. Mike Stewart and Pastor Grant Combs
Are you at the end of your rope? Today we discuss how to know you are close to running out of rope and what to do about it. PLUS: Preacher Myths. Will the lion lay down with the lamb? Did Paul fall of his horse on the Damascus Road? Did Mary ride a donkey to Bethlehem? Did Jesus leave a coded message in His tomb with a folded napkin? Does sparing the rod spoil the child? We will cover these preaching myths and more!
Welcome to episode 14 of the Every Church Flourishing Podcast, sponsored by the Great C...
Ancient Wisdom, Modern Fire: 10 Tips To Transform Your Preaching! (Top 10 Preaching Quotes of the Last 2000 Years.)
2000 years of amazing preaching advice from John Piper to John Chrysostom, from Tim Keller to Augustine and Gregory the Great, From Martyn Lloyd Jones to Haddon Robinson to Gregory the Great to Thabiti Anyabwile, we've got ELEVEN fantastic tips to help YOU teach and preach the Word of God better. Not only that, but we have some amazing stories in this episode too, such as:
What preacher railed at his listeners for buying solid silver toilets? What preacher and future Pope tried to escape from the Roman Emporer in a wicker basket? What Evangelical icon preferred beer o...
Episode 12: Great Teaching Tips from Preaching Giants, Mental Health Crisis Among Pastors, Rest and Relief in Ecclesiastes and Psalms + Dirty Dew Review!
Today Pastor Christopher Cole of the Great Commission Association and Dr. Chase Thompson discuss mental health among church leaders, how to lead without wearing people out, great preaching tips, helping people to tap into Jesus for rest, AND we review Dirty Dew Soda!
"He must become a man of prayer before he becomes a man of words." Augustine on preaching.
From this episodes great tips on preaching from ancients and moderns section.
Is there a mental health crisis among pastors and church leaders?
In just a few years, the percentage of pastors sel...
Episode 11: Grappling with Grief and Helping The Grieving, Friendships in the Church Part 2, and Fruity Pebbles Soda?! With Dr. Michael Stewart, Pastor Grant Combs, and Dr. Chris Smith.
"They don't need you to bandaid their gaping wound; they need you to be present in their grief."
Dr. Michael Stewart, the head of California's Great Commission Association of Churches, and podcast host Dr. Chase Thompson interview Dr. Chris Smith, a former missionary and current leader of the Great Commission Training Institution, an online ministry training school, and Pastor Grant Combs, the pastor of Lighthouse Baptist Church in Seaside, California. We are talking about relationships in the church. How can pastors and leaders cultivate deep friendships inside the church, and how can pastors protect their families well...
Silent Saturday And the Grief (and Hope!) of Good Friday.
We know about Good Friday...What about Saturday? What happened on that Silent Saturday as the disciples stewed in their hopelessness? They weren't waiting for anything, because it really appeared that they did NOT believe Jesus would be coming back on Sunday. Indeed, the only reason the women went to the graveside is that they needed to embalm and prepare His body for permanent burial, and they couldn't do that the day He died, because the Sabbath began that evening, and they didn't have time, and they couldn't work on the Sabbath.
Like the despairing disciples on t...
Episode 10: Church Friendships: The Loneliness Crisis in Ministry + 10 Resurrection Quotes for Easter Sermons and C.S. Lewis on Do Pets Go to Heaven?! With Dr. Michael Stewart, Pastor Grant Combs and Dr. Chris Smith
Our focus today is on relationships in the church and the loneliness epidemic among pastors and church leaders. Hosted by Dr. Chase Thompson and Dr. Mike Stewart with guests Dr. Chris Smith of the Great Commission Training Institution, and Lighthouse Baptist pastor Grant Combs.
In today's roundtable, we discuss relationships in the church, and hit on some very important questions: Can pastors have deep friendships with church members? How are deep-rooted friendships made? There is a combination of factors that work together to keep pastors isolated…how can pastors and church leaders guard against that?
<...Episode 9: NO Supermen! Leaders: Take Off Your Capes. With Counselor Immanuel Marsh. 2 Things I wish I knew sooner about defending the Faith. + Clearest Signs of Anxiety from My Clients. Are Christians who Believe the Bible weak-minded?
This week we continue our talk with counselor Immanuel Marsh about burnout, and helping church leaders and pastors stay healthy spiritually and emotionally. Can pastors have deep friendships with people in their churches? How do leaders cover up their burnout? What are signs burnout is imminent? ALSO: Top online apologetics YouTube channels, how to defend your faiht during Easter season and a review of the mysteriously appearing Inca Kola - which got an astounding score!
Episode 8: Sneaky Burnout With Immanuel Marsh + Free Resurrection Book + Top 5 Apologetics Books + Healthy Orange Creamsicle Soda Review.
We have a great discussion today on a sneaky enemy of church leaders, a potentially delicious soda to review, a resource for church leaders that sells for $60, and we will tell you how to get it for free, AND, we will review the top 5 books on the resurrection of Jesus to get you ready for resurrection day - Easter - and also throw in a couple of bonuses.
"I've known that pastors kind of play things close to the vest in general.But I didn't realize how isolating that was. I thought that was just kind of p...
Episode 7: Don't Lead Alone + School Superintendent Lannette Lozano on What is the Hardest Thing About Teaching in 2026? + An Austrian Soda We Can't Pronounce.
Would you like to listen to a podcast that features hosts with a combined six decades of church pastoral experience talking about church ministry and church health? A podcast that gives you practical tips for church renewal and church growth while also encouraging you and exhorting you in your role as a church leader or church pastor? A show that goes over the latest news and statistics in church life with cutting edge stastitical analysis on the latest trends impacting followers of Christ? A podcast that also includes the following conversation:
"I think you would be an ex...
Episode 6: Prayer is a Non Negotiable With Dr. Se J. Won + You Ain't Got This Alone + Learning From Ministry Failure And The Mysterious Missing Bos Rooibos Tea Crime and Review
Episode 6 of the Every Church Flourishing Podcast features Pastor Chris Cole and Dr. Chase A. Thompson interviewing Dr. Se J. Won the Director of Mission Operations for California's Great Commission Association.
Here's some random shownotes, quotes and a list of the resources we discussed. Check out www.EveryChurchFlourishing.com for a transcript!
You Ain't Got This - I Need Help. Learning from failure. Needing God for everything - even the practical things like leaky faucets. The dangers of trying to succeed with sheer effort in ministry. There are 400 Pastor Kims listening to this podcast! "There's ma...
