Below is a post I wrote for Preparing for Amazement Ministries Messages for the Younger Marcus In line with a blog post written by one of our coaches, Jessica Carlson, I thought it would be good to share the messages I would give to the younger me after more than 25 years in ministry. Find […]

Recently a young leader asked me what were some of the key things they needed to know about leader health. I was not prepared for it, but here was my list. Sabbath. Seriously. Self-knowledge is critical. Health Trumps.  What would be your list?

We have in our lives many ceilings, including in the area of self-care.  Self-knowledge determines the height of many of our ceilings. There is a direct correlation between our self-knowledge and our effectiveness.  There is a direct correlation between our self-knowledge and our ability to grow.  There is a direct correlation between our self-knowledge and […]

Below is a link to a blog written for Preparing for Amazement Ministries on why I have quit church jobs over the year. Thought it might be worth sharing. Why I Quit Church Jobs

Self-care isn’t selfish. You probably know this is true, and most would not challenge this notion. While we might not openly disagree with this statement, internally we live in a way that embraces it. Often, the not so direct comments and expectations of others also affirm the falsehood that self-care is selfish. Self-care is something […]

One the key tools for self-care is setting, maintaining and enforcing boundaries. We live in a culture, even in the church where we do not value boundaries. In fact, the church is terrible about boundaries, seeing the word ‘no’ as some sort of statement of lacking commitment or faith. The people who struggle with boundaries […]

Its common to make new resolutions each year. While a new calendar year can be a helpful and natural time to make some changes, as leaders we should look to change things when e notice that they are an issue. Each year does provide us an opportunity to think about how we can have greater […]

In his book, The Advantage, leadership guru Patrick Lencioni notes that ‘organizational health trumps everything.’ There is so much truth in this statement for the church and for ministry leaders. The corollary that our ministry, Preparing for Amazement Ministries (amazed15.org) has adopted is that outside of the work of God through the Gospel, health trumps […]

The last couple years have been challenging for everyone around the world. Ministry leaders are no exception. In fact, I am often heard saying that the ‘last two years of ministry have been the hardest decade of ministry in our lifetime.’ There is, I believe truth to this. Ministry leaders are tired and need to […]

Pastoral ministry, or really any kind of ministry leadership can bring the greatest joys and challenges. Serving in one of these roles often means some feelings of isolation, judgement and intense pressure.  I have never really seen a stool with 2 legs and certainly none with only one leg. I often think of the image […]