What To Do When You Can’t See Your Way Through
Speaking with all integrity, my family is a huge reason why I was able to go through the cloud. But, in all reality, they should be because they went through the cloud with me!
Click here for the podcast link: https://churchleaders.com/podcast/444360-dale-sellers-hope-help-pastors-stalled.html
The YouTube version is available below.
As a church leader, you may have begun ministry with dreams of making an eternal impact. But years of striving, stress, and strain have left you feeling defeated, disillusioned, and stalled. But there is hope, in this reading plan, Dale shares how God views you and your ministry regardless of size or any other typical measurement.
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Dale has experienced both the highs and lows of ministry. He’s experienced the joys of serving people, but also has the scars from a life spent in the church. This book was not written from an ivory tower but in the battle ground of ministry. As you read through this book you will find encouragement, authenticity, truthfulness, and the words of an experienced pastor who lived through the peaks and valleys of ministry and still loves people and the church!
I know Dale personally and I can tell you this – he loves Jesus, his family, and the local church. He has personally helped me in ministry. He spoke words of hard truth into my life when I was “stalled,” but also words of incredible refreshment. Less than a year ago spoke words of encouragement that blessed me and my wife immensely. This book will challenge you and encourage you!
I am so glad that Dale wrote this book to serve countless other pastors that need to hear and believe once again there is hope and it’s found in faithfully following and serving Jesus! If you’re a layperson buy this book for your pastor. If you’re a pastor buy this book for yourself and purchase a few more for your pastoral colleagues.
Our 95Podcast episodes, blog posts, and books have been specifically designed to provide encouraging teaching and guidance on the issues that you face in daily ministry.
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According to Ephesians 4:11 – 12, the main function of church leadership is to equip believers for the work of the ministry.
Equipping others, however, is difficult. Our blog posts address the practical ways that church leaders can build communities of support and encourage other believers to be the hands and feet of Christ in the Church and the larger community.
Speaking with all integrity, my family is a huge reason why I was able to go through the cloud. But, in all reality, they should be because they went through the cloud with me!
It’s time to address the internal barriers in the hearts of spiritual leaders that keep them from reaching out for help. I hope you can overcome them if I help you identify them in your heart.
I saw the most traction in discipleship growth through intentional one-on-one and one-to-few relationships. If my older self (who still disciples others) could give my 30-year-old self some advice about discipleship, here are a few things I would say.
I was undoubtedly their campus “mom” but without the benefit of a lifelong relationship to help guide them. Yes, discipleship was messy, and as I look back on those days, I see where I could have used a different perspective. Here are three of my biggest mistakes:
Each of us has an identity fashioned by our personality, cultural background, social influences, and acquired preferences. Our organizational identity also includes our skill sets, experiences, needs, and interpretations of our roles.
I’m referring to more about what’s been happening to me internally over the last two years as I try to find the proper balance between what influences me and what I influence.
Having a host of commitments always reminds me of these wise words, “If you don’t control your calendar, your calendar will control you.” What gets scheduled gets done, and what doesn’t get scheduled gets left behind.
For me, it means making sure that I’m equipping individuals and churches to join God in His work. It means that I’m charged with encouraging those around me to participate in God’s mission of sharing about Jesus.
Whether we like it or not, though, church has changed. The message is the same, but there’s no doubt church looks different. With or without our approval.
As a volunteer, it’s often easy to fall into a rut with your serving routine. You walk in, find your badge, stand where you’re supposed to stand or go where you’re supposed to go, and put your time in while trying to look relatively pleasant.
Far too many churches spend the majority of their weekly focus on what happens in the “main service” without giving any serious thought to everything else that optimizes the ministry as a whole.
I would’ve been asking how I could use this time to move closer to God’s ring of honor. The more I reflect on these thought patterns, the more I see how much I need to confess!
Discouraged. It’s how every leader has felt at one point or another when we want to be somewhere we’re not. Dale navigated his own experiences of disappointment in himself and uncovered key truths about leadership in ministry that can anchor and guide us today.
Dale Sellers of 95Network believes this trend is largely due to discouragement among our pastors. Many church leaders begin ministry with dreams of making an eternal impact. But years of striving, stress, and strain have left them feeling defeated, disillusioned, and stalled.
Thankfully, there is hope that ministry can turn around for the discouraged pastor. As a former minister who’s been in the trenches, Dale Sellers reveals that:
In STALLED, you will discover your sweet spot and realize you are closer to being “there” than you know.
All episodes will be posted here on the website, and are also available wherever you listen to podcasts.
Hosted by Caralee Culpepper and Dale Sellers, our executive director, and a former small church pastor, our 95Network podcast is a wealth of information specifically for small-church pastors—delivered in a candid, kind, and concise way. We cover pressing topics in modern ministry, annual trends, and more.
There has to be an intentional emphasis to reach children and youth if you’re wanting to help lead people to Jesus. Over that past 70 years, the majority of those who commit to Jesus are children and youth.
Life can change in an instant. When it does, it’s so important to have community and honest relationships to help you work through it.
Looking at the horizon for churches in the coming decades requires us to discover new avenues of financial resources and stability. Sadly, many churches will wait until it’s too later or they are in a pressure filled situation to research new possibilities.
Addressing this issue head on will most likely allow your ministry to have a huge impact in your community. There are very few avenues for people to pursue to find healing and wholeness.
It’s much better for a leader to approach ministry health from a “proactive/preventative” posture than to deal with the consequences of a “reactive/rebuilding” results.
One of the most important things every church can do is to do a legal audit of their preparedness concerning the many shifting issues facing the church.
Jesus modeled for us how important it is to meet people’s needs before you attempt to share the Gospel with them. Providing something as life sustaining as clean water can open even the most cynical person to investigate the message of God’s love shown to us through Jesus.
Justin & Wade’s passion for effective communication shines through as they talk about the current state of the church and what must be done to reach those in our communities who are far from God.
You only get one shot at discipling your children. It’s important to begin now even if you’ve never had an intentional discipleship focus with defined outcomes and goals.
Ministry in the coming decade is going to require a renewed authenticity in how we provide ministry. The shift has already begun to move from “observing” a service each week to “participating” in it.
Michael’s love of the local church comes from this philosophy: “Jesus SAVED me. But He used the local church to SHAPE me.” What He did through His Bride, the local church, changed my whole life!
This is great conversation on the challenges facing women who choose to answer the call to serve the local church in today’s climate.