Publications
Keep up to date with QuietWaters Ministries.
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. Hispanics are the fastest growing minority group in the United States, and ministry among them is increasing accordingly. The National Hispanic Association of Evangelicals, the largest Latino Christian organization in America, states that there are over 15 million Hispanics living in the United States who identify themselves as evangelical. The rapid growth of the evangelical church among Latinos is exciting. However, ministry leaders among this population are struggling to keep up with the demands of shepherding their congregations well. While zealous for the work God is doing among them, these leaders are frequently overextended...
Read MoreNiceness Rather Than Truth
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 10, Number 7 July 2010 Greetings! In the May Compass Online I told you that we had received a record number of inquiries about our Leadership Counseling Intensive program and many have scheduled to come to participate in a LCI at our Retreat Center. I ask for your prayers for these colleagues as well as the counselors and host couples that will be serving them. Thank you for your prayers. They have been evident. We continue to serve many so please continue to hold...
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 MoreAre You Ready? Compass Online
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 11, Number 2 January 2011 Greetings! As the deer pants for streams of water, so my soul pants for you, O God. Psalms 42:1 (NIV) As I photographed the deer enjoying the shade in the front yard of the QuietWaters Retreat this summer, I was reminded of this passage in Psalms. See the deer in the lower right corner of the picture above. Many come to QuietWaters with their souls in need of God. And He is always ready to meet their needs. ...
Read MoreDo you believe in UFOs?
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 10, Number 12 December 2010 Greetings! All of us at QuietWaters Ministries want to wish you a very Merry and Blessed Christmas and may the Lord richly bless you in the coming New Year. from, Jim, Stacie, Ro, our counselors, Dave, Vicki, Tom, Christine, Werner, our board Ray, Keith, Joe, Vince, Glenn, Bhaskar, Sid, Earl, and Meindert. Do you believe in UFOs? by Jim Schlottman News flash: Unidentified Flying Objects from outer space...
Read MoreElders Settle Differences with Pistols at 10 Paces
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 10, Number 11 November 2010 Greetings! You may have noticed that I’ve changed the photo for this issue to a picture of our Retreat Center. This year a record number of pastors and missionaries have enjoyed the new Retreat Center. With 8000 sq. ft. of living space on three acres, it provides a very pleasant place to say, but the only way you can stay at our Retreat Center is to participate in one of the Leadership Counseling Intensives. So please contact me if you would like to schedule a...
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 MoreThe Right Way To Ask
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 10, Number 9 October 2010 Greetings! How often do you preach about stewardship? Is it once a year or quarterly? Most pastors are hesitant to bring up the subject. The main reason is that the people in the pews don’t want to hear about giving and money. I’m told that money is one of the most often written about topics in the Bible. Evidently, God knew that we would have a problem with money. I’m also hesitant to talk about stewardship in my writings. In fact I...
Read MoreA Congregation of Golden Retrievers
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 10, Number 8 August 2010 Greetings! Recently I received the following comments from guests staying at our QuietWaters Retreat Center. “Vi and Duane (a host couple) were at the front door waiting for us. We couldn’t believe how beautiful everything was and how kind and helpful Duane and Vi were.” “The host couple were loving, gracious people who by the end of our stay became our “‘friends’.” “We thoroughly enjoyed the house and our stay there. ...
Read MoreShepherd’s Blessing Dinner Doubles the Venues, Doubles the Fun
Two dinners in two locations. That was the 2010 plan for the annual QuietWaters Ministries fundraiser called the Shepherd’s Blessing Dinner. Having maxed out the facility at Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church in 2009, the challenge for planners was to figure out how to keep growing while still providing some continuity for faithful supporters. The solution: In April 2010, Shepherd’s Blessing Dinners were held at two locations—Family in Christ Community Church, in Westminster, CO, and Cherry Creek Presbyterian in Englewood, CO. The first dinner drew 101 people to register for a north location, and the second dinner was convenient for over 200 people living in the...
Read MoreDouble Honor – Highest Regard
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 10, Number 5 May 2010 Greetings! This month we have received a record number of inquiries about our Leadership Counseling Intensive program and many have scheduled to come to participate in a LCI at our Retreat Center. That has prompted me to ask for your prayers for these colleagues as well as the counselors and host couples that will be serving them. Prayer is vital to the ministry of QuietWaters. Double Honor...
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 BLIND SIDE
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 10, Number 4 April 2010 Greetings! Tonight we will hold our second Shepherd’s Blessing Dinner. We are holding two dinners this year because we outgrew our location last year. The first dinner was last Friday and the final dinner is tonight. The speaker is Dr. Tom Varney, a counselor with QuietWaters Ministries. Please pray that everyone will be blessed and that we will be a blessing our shepherds by following the instructions from 1 Thessalonians 5. “Now we ask...
Read MorePrivately to a SolitaryPlace
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 10, Number 3 March 2010 Greetings! Thank you for your prayer support and interest in QuietWaters Ministries. This year started out very busy with the opening of our new QuietWaters Retreat. We are so encouraged to see couples and individuals coming to enjoy the new Retreat. In our next issue of the Compass magazine we will have articles describing in detail our programs and the Retreat. If you do not currently receive the Compass magazine, please go to our website www.qwaters.org and...
Read MoreTiger Woods
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 10, Number 2 February 2010 Greetings! Did you happen to notice that I did not send you a January Compass Online? I hope you did. I chose not to create a January issue because of all that has been going on with the preparations to open our new Retreat and Ministry Center. Read below about the Retreat opening. . Blessings, Jim Tiger Woods by Jim Schlottman Some of you may have listened, as I did, to Tiger Woods give a public...
Read MoreA Place
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 9, Number 12 December 2009 Greetings! In this issue of the Compass Online, I’m pleased to share with you the full announcement with details of our new QuietWaters Retreat and Ministry Center. There is a lot of activity going on at the new Center as we make it ready for use beginning in February 2010. . Blessings, Jim A Place by Jim Schlottman In 1999, a small group of men and women caught a vision “to ensure...
Read MoreWhat does it mean to rest?
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 9, Number 11 November 2009 Greetings! I’ve shared with you in this publication that we had made an offer on a “place” for a new retreat. The offer was accepted and we will close on November 24. Please pray that everything will go well. I’ll be sending you a full announcement with details in a forthcoming issue. . Blessings, Jim What does it mean to rest? by Jim Schlottman An article in the New York Times read,...
Read MoreOunce of Prevention Worth Pound of Cure
The temperature was dropping and my fingers were numb. My back hurt. My knees were telling me they were over 50 years old. Still I persisted. “One more shingle and I’ll be done.” I was on the roof of my daughter and son-in-law’s house. A windstorm had peeled the shingles from their roof and flung them around the neighborhood. Our children were out of town, and a snowstorm was predicted. Being a dutiful father, I decided to repair the roof of our children’s home before the next storm could do more damage. What was I afraid of—Water damage. Since the roof had been stripped to the tar paper in seven places, melting snow could seep in and cause extensive damage...
Read MoreCourage
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 9, Number 10 October 2009 Greetings! As a pastor you know we are approaching one of your busiest times of the year, the holiday seasons of Thanksgiving and Christmas. My suggestion is that before it all hits, take a little time to refresh yourself both physically and spiritually. With renewed spiritual strength you will have the strength and courage to go through this busy time with joy and thanksgiving. . Blessings, Jim ...
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 MoreHow Do You Measure Up?
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 9, Number 9 September 2009 Greetings! October has been declared Clergy Appreciation Month. And as you will see if you receive our Compass magazine, I’m declaring 2010 as The Year of The Clergy. When perform a wedding ceremony, you may end by saying. . . by the authority vested in me by the State of (name of State). While no authority has vested in me the right to declare any year the year of anything that’s not stopping me. Pass this issue along to your church...
Read MoreDon’t Compare Fingers
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 9, Number 8 August 2009 Greetings! We are making good progress toward securing a new retreat home. We have seen God’s finger prints on everything that has happened so far in this endeavor. God’s finger prints are on this project because of your prayers. Thank you for those prayers, and please continue to pray. Blessings, Jim Don’t Compare Fingers by Jim Schlottman All...
Read MoreThe Test Question
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 9, Number 7 July 2009 Greetings! Did you notice that this is the July Compass Online arriving in your inbox the first week in August? I knew you would understand that working on a new Retreat Home “place” and working with the 77% increase in participants in our Leadership Counseling Intensive program has kept me a little busy. Are you willing to be a little late with one of your projects? I have a little saying that I repeat to myself when I’m faced with being late. ...
Read More300 Give to Make Wounded Whole
Three hundred people braved rain and cold on April 16 to prove their dedication to helping Christian leaders find restoration and renewal through QuietWaters Ministries. The generosity and sacrifice of donors present at the annual Shepherd’s Blessing Dinner enabled ongoing ministry to hurting pastors, missionaries and key Christian leaders. The evening emphasized how God uses QuietWaters in His healing work of “Making the Wounded Whole.” A matching gift challenge issued by an anonymous donor motivated others to give bigheartedly, and $50,000 was received in gifts and commitments that night. In an uncertain economy, Christians once again revealed their trust is in...
Read MoreQuiet Place
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 9, Number 5 May 2009 Greetings! The vision of Quiet Waters Ministries is to “To ensure that every Christian leader and their families have a place to seek and find restoration and renewal.” I’ve been thinking a lot about our vision because after nine years of using a private home as our Retreat Home for our Leadership Counseling intensive, we are seeking a permanent “place.” You will see that I put a great deal of importance in “place” as you read the following article. Please...
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 MoreThe Frog Run
COMPASS ONLINE A Digital Help Toward Renewal from QuietWaters Ministries Volume 9, Number 4 April 2009 Greetings! When I receive a call enquiring about our counseling program from a pastor, a pastoral spouse, or a missionary, I’m often talking to someone who is tired and burned out. Burn out does come from over work, but not over work alone. Burn out occurs when over work is accompanied by discouraging words from those around you. Are you feeling defeated by negative words spoken by a congregation member? Then read on and learn a lesson from a...
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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