Russ Ewell says, “Fortune smiled on me the day I became a father of a family with disabilities. Human limits became real as I watched my sons fight to overcome Autism and Down Syndrome. Their inspired efforts increased the intensity of purpose shared by my wife and me. We learned to live differently.”
A significant number of people fear being different. Disability has served to help my family and me overcome this fear. It has clarified what’s important and freed us from convention. The struggle has consistently opened our eyes to the discovery necessary to overcome our family’s human limits.
This has been my personal journey. As a minister, I’ve applied what I’ve learned from my family’s experience to my spiritual life and process, constantly looking for ways to grow and refusing to settle for tradition or convention. This type of transformative thinking is something I believe a relationship with God should do for everybody.
Russ joins Dale on today’s podcast to help us understand how to think differently in our leadership when it comes to reaching the next generations. This is a lively conversation that you will find to be very helpful.
Links to Resources Mentioned or Related
- Website: Russ Ewell.com
- Website: Bay Area Christian Church
- Podcast: Deep Spirituality.com
- Lead Different.com
- E-Life – e-life.org
- E-Sports – e-sports.org
- Book – He’s Not Who You Think He Is: Dropping Your Assumptions and Discovering God for Yourself
- The Chemistry Lab Newsletter
- Email Russ
- Link to NEW! Soul Care Essentials Online: 3-Session Video Series
- Link to NEW! Soul Care Essentials Cohort: 6 Weeks of Guided Conversations for Post-Conference Groups
- 95Network – Soul Care Essentials
- 95Network – Healthy Church Assessment
- Read Stalled: Hope and Help for Pastors Who Thought They’d Be There By Now
- Watch Podcast on YouTube
Key Takeaways
1) Having two special needs children changed my perspective on ministry success and impact.
2) It’s so important to prioritize learning about the values of the next generations if we truly want to reach them with the Gospel.
3) We must start releasing the next generation now for them to help us shape the church of the future. Lasting succession starts with empowering next-gen leaders when things are going well to prepare them for a successful handoff.
4) Prioritizing my family relationships helped me become a better pastor and leader.
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