#43: The Church as Destiny Incubator (with Michael Brodeur)
“Jesus died so that every single follower would be a priest and a king unto their God. The idea that most of us would be spectators or consumers of Christianity is not what Jesus had in mind.”
Michael Brodeur is a pastor to pastors, and the brains behind pastorscoach.com. We discussed church growth vs church health, evangelism, the megachurch model, and the differences between family churches and factory churches. Michael told me that part of the spiritual responsibility of leaders is to help people discover their unique gift mix, their unique passions and dreams, and to get them on a path towards that outcome. If you’re in pastoral ministry of any kind, you need to listen to this.
Resources mentioned:
pastorscoach.com
destinyfinder.com
michaelbrodeur.com
Revival Culture: Prepare for the Next Great Awakening, by Michael Brodeur & Banning Liebscher
Destiny Finder: A Practical Approach to Unlocking Your Destiny, by Michael Brodeur.
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Two years ago, my friend Steve Austin, an author, mental health advocate and former pastor, died by suicide. Ever since then, I’ve intended to dedicate an episode to his memory and his work, and this is that episode. Including a powerful interview with Lindsey Austin, Steve’s wife, along with a selection of readings from Steve’s book, Hiding In The Pews: Shining Light on Mental Illness in the Church, this is a vulnerable and sacred discussion that filled me with more hope and joy than I expected. I’ve lost count of the number of people who have reached out to me this Spring while hitting really dark patches in their mental health. Pastors, it is our job to help, but not always in the ways we expect or assume. This episode is for all of us, so we can learn to create suicide-safe spaces.