Thrive in 5
Thrive In 5: Emotional
If you have read A.A. Milne’s Winnie the Pooh, are you an Eeyore or a Tigger? “Eeyores” are your typical pessimists. Life is one disappointment after another. Positive things are never as good as imagined. Neutral things are worse than expected. Negative things...
Thrive in 5: Physical
Living a healthy lifestyle requires physical activity.
Thrive In 5: Spiritual
Delighting in the Trinity- What is your Christian life like?
Thrive In 5: Relational
What is a secret to strong relationships? In his book “The Relationship Cure,” relational researcher, John Gottman, suggests that we should be on the lookout for “bids for connection” and turn toward these bids whenever we can. What is a bid for connection? A...
Thrive In 5: Emotional – Anxiety
Here are five things you can do to turn off your God-given anxiety alarm bells when they are over active.
Thrive in 5: Financial
The Importance of Saving Money Saving money is an important part of your personal financial journey. In John Wesley’s message on money, his three main points were earn all you can, save all you can and give all you can. Unfortunately, many people are not saving these...
Thrive in 5: Physical
“Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies” (the Apostle Paul, 1 Corinthians 6:19-20). God has created human...
Thrive in 5: Relational Attunement
Neuroscientists affirm that we are “wired for connection” from birth. Infant brains develop best when caretakers are in sync—attuned—with babies’ physical, emotional, and relational needs. Obviously, no caretaker is in sync 100 percent of the time; caregivers provide...
Thrive in 5: Use Your Brain the Way God Intended
“I do not feel obliged to believe that the same God who has endowed us with sense, reason and intellect has intended us to forgo their use.” –Galileo Maintaining intellectual health is often a neglected part of pastoral well-being. Yet, Jesus included loving...
Thrive In 5: Emotional
How do you feel about the person you are with when you are all alone? This is when your capacity for self-loathing or self-liking reveals itself. The odds are good that you may experience either attitude about your “self” at one time or another. As a pastor,...
Thrive In 5: Planning For Retirement
One of the hardest things for some pastors to think about is preparing for retirement. There are so many aspects to think about, it can boggle the mind. Yet, it is one of the most important life events many of us will ever experience from both a personal and...
Thrive In 5: Understanding God’s Love
As Wesleyan pastors, we all know the scriptural truth that loving God and loving others is the central hallmark of the Christian spiritual life. But do we truly embrace this as the ultimate outcome of what it means to be Spirit-filled? As David Benner states,...
Thrive in 5 – Intellectual- Informing Your Understanding of Culture
Pastors assist people to be faithful disciples of Jesus in the midst of a culture that is in need of redemption. But how can you as a pastor be best informed about the nature of that culture?
Thrive in Five – Spiritual – Bodily Spirituality: Five Reasons to Care
Do you not know that your bodies are temples of the Holy Spirit, who is in you, whom you have received from God? You are not your own; you were bought at a price. Therefore honor God with your bodies. Apostle Paul, 1 Cor. 6:19-20 Bodily Spirituality: Five Reasons to...
Thrive in 5 – Emotional – Cultivating an Emotional Core
As a pastor, you know how important your emotional vitality is to ministry. Pastoral ministry requires the ability to withstand the emotional stresses of life and be “present” and empathetic to others. Emotional vitality also includes resilience, the...
Thrive in 5 – Financial – Personal Finances
Few areas in our lives are as sensitive as personal finances. Finances are often a great source of stress for clergy. Yet no matter how much or how little we earn, we are responsible to be good stewards of what the Lord provides. Stewardship includes taking healthy...
Thrive in 5 – Physical – Caring for your Body
Jesus said, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” implying that our physical bodies and energy levels do have an impact—for better or worse—on our spiritual lives and ability to be there for others. If we do not maintain good physical health...
Thrive in 5 – Intellectual – Lifelong Learning
Here are five suggestions that can help you stay ahead of the curve and position yourself for longevity in ministry.
Thrive in 5 – Spiritual – Protecting the Spiritual Life of the Pastor
Sustaining Pastoral Excellence The most fundamental level of self-care is the pastor’s personal relationship with God in Christ through the Spirit. Everything in the pastor’s life flows from and is dependent upon the spiritual condition of the heart:...
Thrive in 5 – Relational – Empathizing with others
Reflecting God’s own triune nature, we are created to live in loving community with others. As pastors who love, it is essential that we empathize with others: to feel what others feel. People must sense that we understand them. People will know that we truly...
Thrive in 5 – Relational – Cultivating Friendships
Reflecting God’s own triune nature, we are created to live in loving community with others as well as with God. Too much isolation can lead to loneliness, depression, and sense of abandonment. Our perceptions can become distorted. A healthy pastor will seek to...
Thrive in 5 – Physical – 5 Activities & Resources to get your blood pumping
Jesus said, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak,” implying that our physical bodies and energy levels do have an impact—for better or worse—on our spiritual lives and ability to be there for others. Sometimes the best thing you can do for your...
Thrive in 5 – Financial – Personal Insurance Needs
Stewardship includes taking healthy care of ourselves so we can be there for others. It also involves thinking ahead to care for those we love in the event of a tragedy. Some believe that purchasing life insurance indicates a lack of faith in God’s provision....