Carey Nieuwhof
Don’t settle for an impact smaller than you’re called to make. It's time to unlock your potential and lead confidently into a future filled with growth — for yourself, your church, and your mission. Get access to some of my best leadership content, only published in my newsletters.
This is why leadership feels heavier than it should
Hi Reader, Leadership has a way of convincing you that the answer is always to do more. What if the thing that's quietly costing you the most isn't your workload; it's the pace you're living at? Today on the podcast, Tyler Staton shares how a cancer diagnosis forced him to rethink everything he believed about productivity, presence, and what it actually means to lead well. One insight especially stayed with me: many leaders don't sacrifice joy because they're lazy. They sacrifice it because...
Your teenager's first relationship may be with an AI
Hi Reader, I need to tell you about three families. A 13-year-old girl in Colorado. A 14-year-old boy in Florida. A 16-year-old boy in California. All three died by suicide in the last two years and in each case, their families say the same thing happened first. Their kid fell in love with an AI chatbot. I know that sentence probably reads like science fiction... I wish it were. What do you think of when you hear "AI companion?" For most of us, we picture some obscure app we've never heard...
On The Rise: Will AI Kill The Sermon? + How to Avoid Being Overcharged and Chick-fil-A’s secret menu
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, some fresh insights from Tim Ferriss on how AI is already killing publishing and what it might do to other content (like sermons), also how to avoid being overcharged with dynamic pricing, and Chick-fil-A's secret menu. What Will AI Do To Sermons? An interesting/alarming analysis from Tim Ferriss on the future of content What’s the future of...
Your sermon isn't your competitive advantage anymore
Hi Reader, You are hearing me talk a lot about why I think the AI conversation can't wait. Today, I want to give you two things you can actually use this week... ideas I think could change how you approach ministry in this season. Idea one: the scarcity flip. For centuries, preaching was scarce, but community was plentiful. People had deep relational lives, but hearing great teaching was the rare thing. Church had the corner on content. That equation has completely flipped. Today, anyone can...
The cost of leadership (More Eugene Peterson)
Hi Reader, In this final episode of our Required Listening series, I sit down with Eric Peterson and Winn Collier to look at Eugene Peterson's life from the inside. What was Eugene really like? No better people to ask than one of his sons and his biographer. You might think of it as the opposite of an influencer's life. We talk about Eugene's fear of losing his soul, the ambition he had to wrestle down, the cost his work had on his family, and the simple, generous life he and Jan chose when...
If everything's harder, you should make it easier
Hi Reader, Maybe you've noticed this. Anytime I go to a website these days, it seems to be much harder to access what I'm there for. First you get a cookie notification, then you get a pop-up telling you to turn on notifications or subscribe, then there's an ad that blocks the text you're trying to read. Soon you don't even remember why you clicked on the site in the first place, and the content's no longer worth what you paid to get to it. Or you try to sign in on an account and you can't...
On The Rise: What Gen Alpha Thinks about Life and Faith + How to Deal with the Hugger in Your Church
Welcome to the On The Rise newsletter, where I feature fascinating, helpful, and sometimes curious content that caught my attention this week. Today, Some fresh research on how Gen Alpha (aka your student ministry) is feeling about life and faith, how to tell whether someone wants be greeted with a hug, handshake or wave, rebuilding a broken world, and what challenges reveal about you. What Does Gen Alpha Think About Life and Faith Everyone’s Talking about Gen Z, but there's a fresh...
Required Listening: One of Eugene Peterson's final interviews
Hi Reader, When was the last time you sat in silence long enough to hear what was really going on inside you? That's not a question most leaders ask. We're usually too busy solving problems, preparing messages, leading meetings, and moving on to the next thing. This week, as part of our "Required Listening" series, I'm bringing back one of the most meaningful conversations I've ever had on this podcast: a conversation with Eugene Peterson, recorded just a year before he passed away. During...
Something's changing faster than the church is
Hi Reader, A few weeks ago in On The Rise, I shared some staggering Barna data: practicing Christians trust AI more than the average person does. Not less, more. They're using it to understand scripture, and some are even using it as a spiritual guide. The people in our churches aren't waiting for us to figure this out. They're already living in it. People are asking AI their questions (including, increasingly, their spiritual ones) every single day. And most church leaders are responding...
15 lessons from a leader who finished well
Hi Reader, A question for you: If you could sit down with an 80-year-old leader who finished well, what would you ask? Most leadership advice comes from people in the middle of the journey. This week's podcast is different. As part of a new "Required Listening" summer series, I'm bringing back one of the most loved, shared and cherished conversations we've ever had on this podcast: my View from 80 interview with Gordon MacDonald. If you've never heard it, well, that's why it's part of the...
Don’t settle for an impact smaller than you’re called to make. It's time to unlock your potential and lead confidently into a future filled with growth — for yourself, your church, and your mission. Get access to some of my best leadership content, only published in my newsletters.