Has your dream of making a difference for God brought more frustration than happiness? Are you suffering from pastoral burnout or depression? Do you wonder if it’s time to move on–or out? Have you recently searched for openings in other churches? Thought about selling insurance? Getting your Realtor’s license?

Every church is different, and your situation is unique, but common threads of pastoral burnout and frustration lurk in every church. Using unpublished, commissioned research from the Barna Group, LifeWay and Christianity Today, I used my thirty years in the ministry to identify five potent killers in pastors’ lives:

• • A head-in-the-sand mentality that denies problems
  • Emotional investment in the wrong issues
  • Unhealthy responses to ministry frustrations
  • A lone ranger attitude that says “God and I can handle this”
  • Attitudes and actions that lead to lonely, hurting spouses

Regain the hope and enthusiasm you once had for ministry! In 5 Ministry Killers and How to Defeat Them, I…

• • Show how to defeat obstacles with the potential to kill your ministry
  • Illustrate healthy ways to respond to depression, burnout and aggravating issues
  • Minimize the draining effects ministry places on you and your family (with a chapter on a Pastor’s wife’s challenges written by my wife, Sherryl)
  • Demonstrate how to share with others what they can do to help

By learning to open up with vulnerability, own up with humility, show up with integrity and speak up with courage, we can experience healing and renewed joy in service to Christ, our families and our churches.