


Around the world, churches are working hard to make disciples, lead faithfully, and impact their communities. Yet many leaders are exhausted, relationships are strained, and spiritual growth feels shallow or stalled. Why?
In this episode, Pete Scazzero addresses a core truth that often goes unnamed: emotional health is the missing link in the global church. Drawing from his own painful leadership crisis and decades of ministry experience, Pete explains why it’s impossible to be spiritually mature while remaining emotionally immature. He explores how unaddressed emotional issues limit discipleship, distort leadership, and quietly undermine the church’s witness—no matter how strong our theology or vision may be.
In this conversation, Pete unpacks:
Pete challenges leaders to slow down, go beneath the surface, and embrace emotional health as God’s pathway to deeper transformation—personally, relationally, and globally.
If you long to see a healthier, more Christlike church—and know it must start with you—this episode will reframe how you think about discipleship, leadership, and success.
Listen now and take your next step toward building emotionally healthy leaders and churches around the world.
▶️ Learn more about Emotionally Healthy Discipleship and spiritual maturity
http://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/mature
The SEHL is a 16-week online course for leaders who want to deepen their life with Jesus while gaining practical tools to disciple others. Designed to help foster a healthy, sustainable ministry culture, the course includes teaching, guided practices, and small-group conversations, and live Zoom sessions with the EHD team.
Apply by February 15
https://www.emotionallyhealthy.org/leadershipschool/

In this 4th and final episode of a sermon series on the life of Jacob, Pete observes the life of Jacob in contrast to his son Joseph. One lived as if all things were against him. The other lived knowing God was for him even in difficult circumstances. How might you be living?
To download a free e-book on Six Marks of a Church Culture that Deeply Changes Lives visit www.emotionallyhealthy.org/churchculture.

In "Hard Lessons from the Life of Jacob: Part 3" Pete shares how Jacob finally faced his most difficult conflicts, became crippled in the process, but was changed by God.
To download a free e-book on Six Marks of a Church Culture that Deeply Changes Lives visit www.emotionallyhealthy.org/churchculture.

Tension. Distress. Difficulty. Pressure. Do these adjectives describe some days in your leadership? In Part 2 of "Hard Lessons from the Life of Jacob" Pete shares how God met Jacob in the mess, strain and conflict of his leadership. God is there to do the same in our own difficult leadership days.
To download a free e-book on Six Marks of a Church Culture that Deeply Changes Lives visit www.emotionallyhealthy.org/churchculture.

Jacob offers us a rich study of leadership. While he was richly blessed by God – chosen, destined to greatness, and deeply loved – he struggled to rest in that reality. In Part 1 of this series, Pete unpacks the lessons of Jacob's exploitation of Esau to ensure he gets God's blessings for the future.
To download a free e-book on Six Marks of a Church Culture that Deeply Changes Lives visit www.emotionallyhealthy.org/churchculture.

Jesus' challenge to the leaders in his day, found in his sermon in Matthew 23, is so biting and sharp that some interpreters have wondered if these words are authentically Jesus'. They are. In this podcast, Pete breaks down Jesus' challenge into 5 categories and shares how it applies to us today.
To download a free e-book on Six Marks of a Church Culture that Deeply Changes Lives visit www.emotionallyhealthy.org/churchculture.

Pete invites you into his personal journey of slowly breaking patterns and behaviors of overfunctioning. After considering the examples of Moses and Martha as classic overfunctioners, he lays out the three steps he took to stop overfunctioning.
To download a free e-book on Six Marks of a Church Culture that Deeply Changes Lives visit www.emotionallyhealthy.org/churchculture.

When we cross the line into "fixing" our ministries instead of leading them forward to greener pastures, we are overfunctioning. Pete invites you to listen to Geri's reading of the audio version of an outstanding chapter out of The Emotionally Healthy Woman called "Quit Overfunctioning." By the time you finish, it will make sense why quitting overfunctioning is foundational to leadership.
To download a free e-book on Six Marks of a Church Culture that Deeply Changes Lives visit www.emotionallyhealthy.org/churchculture.

In part 2 of this podcast series, Pete explores four additional goals we frequently overlook in our leadership. To download a free e-book on Six Marks of a Church Culture that Deeply Changes Lives visit www.emotionallyhealthy.org/churchculture.

Setting priorities as a Christian leader is one of our most challenging and difficult tasks. If we get it right, fruitfulness and joy follow. If we get it wrong, feelings of failure and misery follow. This podcast (Part 1 of 2) will consider, in detail, the most frequently overlooked priority and goal of our leadership.
To download a free e-book on Six Marks of a Church Culture that Deeply Changes Lives visit www.emotionallyhealthy.org/churchculture.

This podcast, a 15-minute experience of silence and stillness before the Lord, is our Christmas gift to you, our way of saying "thank you" for being one of our faithful podcast listeners. For the fuller experience with Jesus, please find the video titled "Breathe: Being with God in Silence" on our YouTube page.