Ten Count Book

Chad Simpkins and I have been working tirelessly to compile an honest collection of stories from Christian leaders who, admittedly, have been clocked by life and experienced the Ten Count.

Tales of struggle, loneliness, and failure have become commonplace among Christian entrepreneurs, pastors, and planters around the world. For many of them, exhaustion replaced the adrenaline that once surged when they stepped into the ring. Now many stand, sucking wind, with weak knees upon a blood-splattered canvas.

A 2016 survey by Ed Stetzer Lifeway Research suggests that pastors are indeed fighting for their lives. Of the 734 former senior pastors surveyed, 56% say they have clashed with the church, “over changes they proposed, and 54% say they experienced a significant personal attack.”

You are likely to never hear these stories on the main stage of a conference or published in the glossy pages of a Christian magazine. But, these stories need to be told. They are raw and vulnerable and in some ways, articulate our own story. These are the stories of leaders who entered the ring against an opponent that had outranked, outsized and out-matched them and found themselves face down on the mat.

Our desire is for this book to begin a sacred conversation that would help others who are experiencing a Ten Count in their lives. Our hope is it will apply a little salve to the cuts above our eyes, some ice to our sore muscles and maybe a few stitches if needed.