I used to be a pastor. I still am, technically… I’m just not working as a pastor right now. I was a pastor to children and though there are things about ministry I don’t miss, there is quite a bit that I do. You want a list? I’ll give you a list.

Things I miss:

• Using all of my gifts and talents at one time for one purpose.
• Serving God through full-time ministry.
• Having a purpose.
• Connecting with kids… especially the misfits and troublemakers.
• Teaching people from the Bible.

Things I don’t miss:

• Self-righteous church members.
• Established programs that we do just cause we always have.
• Entitled parents who disrespect my efforts and those of my staff.
• Doing one of the hardest but most unappreciated, unsupported and disconnecting jobs in the church.
• Stocking the snack machine, staff meetings, mandatory prayer nights and kid’s camp.

So because of my bout with depression, anxiety and bi-polar I had to give up my official for-pay job. On the outside I’m an unemployed dude trying to fill his time with podcasting, but on the inside I’m still someone who very much wants to impact the Kingdom of God in some way.

Right now putting out the old resume and jumping into another church isn’t in the cards. Both because I’m not all the way better yet and because I’m not sure that’s what I want to do anymore. Ministry yes. In a typical church setting? Maybe not.

Right now what I can do is talk into a microphone a bunch so I’m probably going to start a sermon podcast. I figure a half-hour episode every week. It’ll get me back into studying and sermon prep again as well as give me an outlet and a way to ease back into the parts of pastoring I don’t want to quit.

This will not be an online church… nor will I be offering my services as some kind of online pastor. My goal would be to offer supplemental content… meaning it would be in addition to what folks are getting in their church and in their own personal devotion time. The show would focus on new, injured, non-traditional, hungry, or disenfranchised Christians and those seeking spiritual answers in general. I’d work on the sermon during the week just like the old days, choosing topics that I feel would be beneficial to the listener… especially those topics that are often misunderstood, over-complicated or discouraging to some. I will also include questions & answers which could lead to an entire episode dedicated to questions.

I’m no great man of God. I’m a screwed up, half-healed, sarcastic, jaded ex-children’s pastor who wants to speak about Godly things in an honest and practical way. I was a kid’s pastor… and I’ve always had a theory that kid’s pastors could easily double as new believer pastors because we can break down the big stuff (not water down) and make it a little more digestible.

I don’t know when this podcast will start… or what it will be called… but I hope that you will tune in at least once and give me your feedback.

If you have a name suggestion email it (james@nlcast.com) or leave it in the comments below. Here are a few of my ideas:

Um…
Ahh…
Well…

So yeah, if you have any suggestions feel free. Naming is always the hardest part of any new podcast.