What a fantastic conversation this is with Cherith Nordling, theologian, professor, mentor, author, and lover of Jesus and his Church. This is her 3rd appearance on our podcast, having joined us for episodes 231 & 264 in 2017/2018. She is on a teaching team for the upcoming Hebrews Class at the OpenTableConference.com where her bio says this:
Cherith is a theologian, writer, and mentor in Christian formation with a Ph. D. from the University of St. Andrews. Most recently she served as Associate Professor of Theology at Northern Seminary in Lisle, Illinois. She also taught for five years at Calvin College and Seminary while serving as Co-Director of Christian Formation with her husband, Robert. She has taught as adjunct professor at numerous other institutions and continues as a seasonal lecturer for Regent College, Vancouver, BC and for the YWAM Masters Program in Christian Formation. Open your heart, your imagination, and your love for God... and enjoy!
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Jeff and Jonny talk about making ministry changes in a church, but first asking the question - "Is it worth it?" Is the cost you will have to pay to make the change, worth the benefit that will result, and how do you determine that?
Jonny remembered literally all the way back to Episode 02 - Handling Sacred Cows In Your Church, and decided this episode is the part 2 update on sacred cows in the church! Maybe you have some changes you want to make in your ministry, and you are trying to decide if the cost is worth the benefit - and perhaps this episode will help you process through that. It's been a long time since the guys created an episode without another guest - and this was FUN! 
Mark Messmore is the lead pastor of Mount Olivet Christian Church in Williamstown KY. Mark talks with Jeff and Jonny about his adventures in ministry - like writing a book on preaching titled Simple Preaching Prep - A guide to finish your first sermon and flourish beyond, and also dueling with the challenges of ministry and personal life.
Mark shares openly from a very vulnerable place, in a way that connects others to him through weakness and not strength. This episode is going to encourage everyone who has ever struggled through the challenges of leading a church while at the same time fighting their own personal battles. 
Jeremy Norton is the lead pastor at Mountainview Church in White Horse, the Yukon Territory, Canada. Check out what Jeremy is doing in the video on THIS PAGE. It is really encouraging that he and his church are reaching out to the northern areas of Canada to evangelize and disciple all people.
Jeremy has been a "friend of the podcast" for many years, and appeared also on episodes 233 and 329. We know you'll enjoy Jeremy's story! Also, Jeremy's book, Northern Roads - A Journey of Life and Leadership Serving on the 60th Parallel is available where all books are sold! 
Jeff and Jonny talk with Dr. Doug Bursch about his latest book titled Posting Peace - Why Social Media Divides Us and What We Can Do About It. Doug has extensively researched, written, and considered the impact of social media on our culture and churches. He suggests a redemptive approach toward social media by Christians. Since the most important conversations are happening online, he does not want to be absent from them, but he wants to interject love, peace, and reconciliation while engaging in those very conversations.
Doug is direct and clear in his dialogue with the guys, and they think you will find this episode extremely thought provoking and instructive. This will be one of those very helpful and encouraging episodes dealing with the very struggles of our day as pastors. Enjoy! And, pick up Doug's book, Posting Peace, here! 
Craig T. Owens is a Michigan pastor and author of Shepherd Leadership - The Metrics That Really Matter. Craig talks about how pastors can measure church and ministry health in our post-pandemic reality. Craig led his church through a lot of change over the past two years and eventually into a new facility. We discuss Craig's book and the metrics that point to a healthy ministry. Enjoy!
Bob Tiede has been working with CRU (formerly Campus Crusade for Christ) for almost 50 years! He is an exceptional leader who, for the last 9 years, has been the content creator for the website LeadingWithQuestions.com. At Bob's site, you can download his four books for FREE! They give you all kinds of great leadership fodder to help you as a leader lead with questions instead of simply telling people what to do.
When you tell people what to do, your ideas are the only ones in play, but when you lead with questions you quickly mine the entire collaborative brain of the group - for the BEST ideas. You're going to love this very helpful, very practical, and extremely actionable episode - enjoy! Episode 372 - Detaching Your Church From A Sunday Morning Centric Ministry Focus with Jon Ritner3/17/2022 
Jon Ritner, from Ecclesia, a church in Hollywood CA, joins Jonny to talk about the impact of our post-Christian culture on how we approach ministry in 2022 America. Jon's book, Positively Irritating: Embracing a Post-Christian World to Form a More Faithful and Innovative Church, came out in 2020 and is exactly about what the subtitle says!
Jonny and Jon talk at length about that, and pastoral burnout from the last two years. But, they open up with a great story - while they pastor in churches 2,000 miles apart, they were both impacted personally by the same person, and have never known each other. It's a great story! Jeff is absent except for the intro, so make sure to listen to his segment, or he'll feel bad! But he also shares some keys to truly appreciating this episode. 
Brian Russell has been a seminary prof at Asbury Seminary for more than 20 years, where he has been training men and women for ministry. He had his Master's, then PhD, was a seminary professor, but it was even after that when he finally learned contemplative practices that have changed his life, maybe even saved his life.
His new book is Centering Prayer - Sitting quietly in God's presence can change your life. He talks with us about his book, and how sitting silent before God has transformed his heart and life... enjoy! 
Charles Stone is not a neuroscientist or neurologist! Stone is a pastor who has done extensive research into neuroscience and leadership especially related to ministry. He is working on his PhD and has been in pastoral ministry for 40 years. He talks with us about the half dozen or so books he's written now about our brains, neuroscience research, and ministry.
You can find Charles HERE! Enjoy Episode 370! 
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