Leadership Night - Right Affections, Right Rhythms

Pastor Mel draws on 28 years of ministry in a talk to pastors at an ARC gathering at Victory Church in Cranberry, Pennsylvania. Most pastors don't leave over a headline scandal. They leave because of what Mel calls the slow drip of ministry: the hurts, disappointments and unmet expectations that add up over the years. What sustains leaders, he says, is their rhythms, and every rhythm is driven by an affection. So the real question is what you love. Mel walks through the right affections in order: Jesus, your spouse, your kids and God's people. "The health of your ministry cannot exceed the health of your marriage." Then he names the wrong ones that quietly take their place: success, applause, control and comfort, which he calls "the greatest enemy of the church." He closes by reading 2 Corinthians 4 and praying for the pastors in the room.