Revista Compass (impresa)
The Greatest Calling
Be sure to download the full version. I have been a pastor at the same church for over 20 years and, like you, understand the challenges of ministry. Pastors experience the great joy of leading people to a personal relationship with Jesus Christ and the gut-wrenching emotion of watching a father serve as the lone pall-bearer carrying the casket holding his infant son down the aisle and setting it at the front of the church. And then we are supposed to get up and say something meaningful. Not long ago I stood in an Intensive Care Unit with a mom and dad whose son had been in a terrible accident. I was there when the doctors came in and told them that he had less than a 10...
Read MoreMinistering to Hispanic Leaders
Be sure to download the full version. The number of pastors and missionaries coming to QuietWaters stressed and burned out is alarming. Don’t get me wrong we want more pastors and missionaries who are in need of our program to come. The alarming part is the growing number and the intensity of their burn out. One of the answers to reducing the amount of burnout they are experiencing is sabbatical counseling through QuietWaters. More and more pastors are coming to us as a part of their sabbatical, and more and more churches are providing the time and money for pastors to take a sabbatical.However, we are not seeing mission agencies provide in the same way. In this issue...
Read MoreRescued by Rest
Be sure to download the full version. The number of pastors and missionaries coming to QuietWaters stressed and burned out is alarming. Don’t get me wrong we want more pastors and missionaries who are in need of our program to come. The alarming part is the growing number and the intensity of their burn out. One of the answers to reducing the amount of burnout they are experiencing is sabbatical counseling through QuietWaters. More and more pastors are coming to us as a part of their sabbatical, and more and more churches are providing the time and money for pastors to take a sabbatical.However, we are not seeing mission agencies provide in the same way. In this issue...
Read MoreSacred Discontent
Be sure to download the full version. The church is the most dangerous place for pastors to serve. But it is where they have been called by God to serve. When visiting with pastors and their spouses who are participating in one of our Leadership Counseling Intensives, I often share that statement. I then remind them that that “dangerous place” didn’t change while they were enjoying the comfort of the QuietWaters Retreat Center. They are going to be returning right back into that “dangerous place.” Every day I hear stories from pastors and their spouses about hurtful and mean actions by their churches. They are pulled into conflicts and situations that they...
Read More10th Anniversary Edition
Be sure to download the full version. With this issue we are introducing you to the new QuietWaters Retreat experience. Our former retreat site—the donated private home of a doctor and his wife—served hundreds. We continue our tradition of providing a safe place, a resting place where renewal can take place, with our new retreat site: a beautiful, spacious home that is already welcoming pastors and missionaries. The scene on the cover of this issue represents what you will see around the new QuietWaters Retreat. Deer regularly visit the Retreat property. As you know, our name comes from the last words of the second verse of Psalm 23. With our new Retreat location, we...
Read MoreThe Spirit's Tracks Through Human Hearts
Be sure to download the full version. As I listened to Dr. Ron Nydam speak to the crowd that assembled for the twenty-fifth celebration of Pastoral Counseling for Denver, I was struck by how his comments related to my experiences. He said, “Guilt and shame for sin are no longer a problem, even if they should be.” It is what I’ve been sensing in my conversations with pastors and spouses who are considering coming to Quiet Waters Ministries for our Leadership Counseling Intensives. Because of its relevance to our ministry, I knew that we needed Dr. Nydam’s presentation to become an article in our Compass magazine. In his presentation, and now in his article in this...
Read MoreMidlife Transition
Be sure to download the full version. This year my uncle bought a “Hot Rod.” The yellow Ford pictured below is the realization of many a 1950s teen’s dream. Obviously it’s been my uncle’s dream too. Now nearing his seventies, he is realizing that dream. However, purchasing such a car is also a common symptom of midlife crisis. Perhaps his is an example of a very late onset midlife crisis. In her article titled “Midlife Transition: Embracing Your ‘Second Adulthood,’” Dr. Holly Schut addresses the phenomenon of the delayed onset of midlife. In 2008, Dr. Holly Schut launched Midlife Momentum, a ministry designed to aid people in midlife and beyond to live...
Read MoreIntegrity
Be sure to download the full version. We have a crisis in this nation, but I’m not talking about the recent financial crisis that has been in the news. The crisis I’m talking about is a crisis of leadership—Christian leadership. George Barna and others have been credited with saying that the behavior of Christians regarding divorce, law suits, materialism, and so forth is not significantly different from that of non-Christians. At Quiet Waters Ministries this has been evident in some of the pastors who have attended our Leadership Counseling Intensives. Yes, we see the inappropriate behavior that results in moral failure of pastors, and we have been privileged to...
Read MoreSo Send We You
Be sure to download the full version. Every year at least 5,000 missionaries leave the field prematurely because of excessive stress involving personal, family, social, and ministry-related problems. Those remaining on the field face life stressors at least 2–3 times those experienced by individuals at home in the United States. (Source: Narramore Christian Foundation) That staggering statistic is often overlooked as we hear our returning missionaries tell their missionary stories on Missions Sunday. As you listen to their stories and feel your heart go out to those they are reaching with the gospel, have you ever wondered how the missionaries are really coping. Have...
Read MorePastors and the Public Square
Be sure to download the full version. Step out of the traffic! Take a long, loving look at me, your High God, above politics, above everything.” In this passage from The Message paraphrase of Psalm 46:10, Eugene Peterson captures a current daily experience that is impacting each of our lives. In the past few months we’ve been overrun with political rhetoric, and it’s only just begun. Those vying for the office of president of the United States have determined that we need more time to consider their candidacy, so they started campaigning earlier than in the past. Every time we turn on the television or radio, we hear discussions about the latest political debate...
Read MoreHarmless?
Be sure to download the full version. Several months ago, the author of this issue’s article “Harmless?” told me about her experience. When she said she was thinking of writing a book about her story, I asked her to share a portion of it in Compass. That was prior to the media frenzy brought on by the fall of Ted Haggard and other Colorado clergy. With Amy’s story as the lead in this issue, we’re addressing the timely and difficult topic of infidelity among ministry leaders. It is my hope that you will find Amy’s story painful to read but eye opening to the problem. “Harmless?” is a true story lived out by the author (whose real name is not Amy Chanan) in...
Read MoreLiving Under the Shadow of Idealization
Be sure to download the full version. With this issue of Compass, you will experience a little bit of the past summer’s Quiet Waters Leadership Couples Retreat. It would be great if the wonderful, romantic dinner where we learned how each gentleman “popped the question” to his future wife. You would have enjoyed the wonderful Sunday morning service as Rev. Dave Reck led each couple in renewing their vows. What I can provide is a glimpse into the learning experienced by those who attended. This year’s Retreat speaker, Dr. Ron Nydam, writes in this issue of Compass about the important role of “Idealization” in a pastor’s life and family. He shared this...
Read MoreDone with Darkness
Be sure to download the full version here In the deep jungles of Africa, a traveler was making a long trek. Coolies had been engaged from a tribe to carry the loads. The first day they marched rapidly and went far. The traveler had high hopes of a speedy journey. But the second morning these jungle tribesmen refused to move. For some strange reason they just sat and rested. On inquiry as to the reason for this strange behavior, the traveler was informed that they had gone too fast the first day, and that they were now waiting for their souls to catch up with their bodies. (From the book, Springs in the Valley by Mrs. Lettie Cowman) Too many pastors, missionaries, and...
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