If you’re leading people, Numbers 11–14 shows 5 hard realities you’re going to face whether you like it or not.
This is what leadership actually feels like.
The Burden of Leadership 🧵
A Discipleship Pathway is NOT "Come to our worship service, then join a small group, then take our membership class, then serve at the church."
This is not a Discipleship Pathway it is a Program Assembly line.
10 things lead pastors should inspect:
1. Their own souls
2. The well-being of their fellow elders
3. The text they are preaching
4. The average weekly giving per capita
5. The guest experience & follow-up process
6. The serving & giving track record of potential leaders
7. The job descriptions of staff members
8. The relational culture among leaders
9. The volunteers with great potential
10. His wife’s experience of the church
My wife has had the run around for hours on the phone, only to be hung up on.
Now my kids are in need of care, and doctors are billing us for our kids.
Is there anything you can do to help us out?
@TimSheehyMT@SteveDaines
Senators, my wife has filed for insurance for our kids through Healthy Montana Kids. We moved here in May of 2025 and added a fourth child in August.
Our fourth child app was applied just before the government shutdown and now no one can find it.
One pastor said, "I had become a full-time pastor and a part-time Christian."
That's called losing your soul.
It's too common in church leadership, but doesn't have to be.
15 STRATEGIES FOR KEEPING YOUR SOUL
1. Connect regularly with God — as a Christian who needs him (not primarily as a pastor or sermon-prepper)
2. Prioritize solitude — my favorite definition is from Cal Newport: “time spent free from the input of other minds”
3. Rigorously practice weekly Sabbath — rest to pray, play, and intentionally lay down any striving
4. Spend time with real friends — people who don’t really need you as their pastor
5. Identify your personal warning signs & invite input — give trusted people permission to point out areas of concern.
6. Invest in counseling — an experienced person to help you process limits, losses, and the wear-and-tear of life.
7. Use every minute of vacation — it’s not lazy (“a lumberjack never wasted time sharpening his axe”)
8. Develop healthy pressure release valves — the pressure will come out one way or another, so intentionally decide for it to come out in good ways
9. Create sweet personal & family practices for Christmas & Easter — these are moments to practice being a private Christian, not just a public pastor
10. Don’t let other people decide what is an “emergency” — their emergency is rarely your emergency
11. Regularly practice retreat days — time to zoom out, take inventory, & invest in yourself
12. Create a folder of ministry implosion stories — read and review this annually as a warning to your soul
13. Develop a plan for intentional sabbaticals — this will be healthy in the long-run for you, your family, and the church
14. Structure your week with margin — you can’t red-line forever
15. Put “developing leaders” on your job description — it’s the only way to build a sustainable ministry that doesn’t depend on you
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Follow me @lukedsimmons for more resources to help you have a faithful & fruitful ministry that endures.
I'm pulling for you!
@wxbrad I may have to fly to Memphis for a funeral on Friday for family. If I go, I will need to fly right back for another funeral I’m officiating on Saturday morning in Huntersville, with the burial in Denver.
Any idea on what the weather will do? Can’t afford to get stranded
Here is the #Christmas story in a nutshell: God left his place, came to our place, then took our place so we could be invited to his place! That is the wonder of #Christmas!
Today is the Day of Prayer for the Persecuted Church.
On this day, we unite in prayer for our brothers and sisters who are persecuted for their faith.
We won’t be silent. We will pray.
🔗 Join us for a month of prayer for the persecuted church at: https://t.co/s80zKmwl2Y.
You have been generous, and we are grateful! 💙
Thank you, Southern Baptists for giving over $280 million last year to missions here in the states and across the world!
On behalf of those that serve with your sending organizations, thank you!
@NAMB_SBC@NationalWMU
With 2 weeks to go in our fiscal year, the Lottie Offering just passed the $200m goal, blowing by last year’s receipts of $196m & closing in on the $203.7m record high.
Thanks to Southern Baptist generosity 3560 IMB missionaries remain fully funded & sharing the gospel overseas
The Paris Olympics start this weekend, and your IMB missionaries have been hard at work to make the most of this God-given moment, preparing for opportunities to share the gospel with the nations!
🔗 Learn more at: https://t.co/Fzcjg5cf7z.
Looking to start a cohort to develop believers for Great Commission ministry? Want to enhance your existing programs by learning from other effective models? Bring your staff to the @IMB_SBC Senders Summit!
Sign up today👇
https://t.co/B77Y25iZ9C
What a blessing to gather with 40 retiring @IMB_SBC emeritus missionaries with 1,100+ combined years of service.
Listening to their testimonies, the resounding theme was gratitude to God for the privilege of serving Him and to Southern Baptists for sending and supporting them.