The Discerning Leader Podcast: Recent Episodes
Steve Macchia | Leadership Transformations, Inc.
The Discerning Leader podcast is for Christian leaders who are interested in discovering the joy of “practicing a preference for God” in all aspects of their personal lives and relationships, their leadership and service to others. Each episode our host, Steve Macchia, founder and president of Leadership Transformations, Inc. (LTI), with friends from the LTI community, will explore one aspect of spiritual discernment as a way of life. Join us on this refreshingly transformational journey and add your voice to this leadership conversation.
Co-Hosts: Steve Macchia and Matt Scott, Guest: Suz Skinner
“A good gardener listens and watches and wants to work with what God is already doing” - Suz Skinner
Suz Skinner is a member of the Emmaus Faculty, Abide Faculty, and a Spiritual Formation Associate for Leadership Transformations Inc. and the Pierce Fellowship at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Suz joins Steve and Matt to talk about what it means for God to be the gardener of our souls. Using the garden as a motif, Suz shares how the big story throughout the Bible is of God’s desire to dwell with humanity. Reflecting upon the parable of the fig tree, Suz reminds us that the Gardener has a heart of mercy. Finally, Suz shares how wise gardeners are aware of what is already happening in the garden.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Co-Hosts: Steve Macchia and Matt Scott, Guest: Fyfe Blair
“Understanding the pruning that is happening with Christ. Yes, it’s hard, but there’s deep soul care work here going on. It’s about your fruitfulness” - Fyfe Blair
Fyfe Blair is a faculty member of LTI’s Selah Certificate Program in Spiritual Direction (Europe cohort). Fyfe is also the Project Lead for “The Caim" - a large garden in the small village in rural Scotland where he resides. With hands-on knowledge of horticulture, Fyfe joins Steve and Matt to share reflections between tending to a garden and tending to the garden of the soul.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Co-Hosts: Steve Macchia and Matt Scott
“Are you creating space in your life to be alone, to be quiet, to be reflective, to be relational, to put technology away, to hang out with those you love and to be loved?” - Steve Macchia
The Bible is full of agrarian imagery. The words of Genesis, the prophet Isaiah, Apostle Paul, and Jesus himself all talked about gardens, plants, trees, seeds and soil, and farming. We see dry and dusty, sun-scorched land; we also see fertile, thriving, flourishing gardens. In Jesus's parable of the sower, He emphasized the state of the soil. This parable can also be understood as a metaphor for the state of our souls. Season 32 will consider what it looks like to discern God in the garden of our soul. In this first episode, Steve and Matt share insight about what factors contribute to souls that are hard, rocky, and thorny versus souls that are receptive to God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“When was the last time you’ve been awed by God?” - Steve Macchia
How can slowing down help us embrace the mysterious work of God? In this episode, Steve and Matt tackle this question as they invite you to “slow down and be more curious.”
Our technological, information-rich age can make us resistant to wonder. What do we gain from surrendering control of knowing everything? Looking at the encouragement from Romans 11:33-35 and Job 31, Steve and Matt talk about how wonder releases our sense of control, deepens our dependence on God, and enables us to worship God more fully.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“A humble person is a content person.” - Steve Macchia
How does our hustling lead to entitlement? In this episode, Steve and Matt tackle this question as they invite you to “slow down and be more content.”
When we are hustling, this leads to entitlement. Entitlement fuels our discontent. Looking at the encouragement from the apostle Paul found in Philippians 4:10-13, Steve and Matt talk about how contentment is found not in circumstances or possessions but when we are at home with God and with ourselves. This episode includes personal stories of learning to be content through loss and practical advice to be more content.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“What are we gripping in our hands that may simply be worth a penny in comparison to the abundant life God offers us." - Steve Macchia
How do we release the things that make for false self identity? In this episode, Steve and Matt tackle this question as they invite you to “slow down and be more detached.”
Henri Nouwen talked about the false self gripping to 1) what we do (our work) 2) what we have (our possessions) 3) what others say about us (our image). This conversation looks at practical ways to detach from these things that we build a false sense of self around. Looking at the encouragement from Jesus found in Luke 9:23-26, Steve and Matt talk about denying ourselves in order to receive the fullness of the abundant life in God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“Not setting realistic expectations of what we can accomplish within a day creates unnecessary hurry and angst inside each of us.” - Matt Scott
How does our inability to slow down rob us of attentive presence? In this episode, Steve and Matt tackle this question as they invite you to “slow down and be more attentive.”
Too many relationships and roles can make us overwhelmed and over-extended in life. This conversation looks at practical ways to slow down and focus our attention on God and others. Looking at the encouragement from Hebrews to fix our eyes on Jesus, Steve and Matt talk about practices that can deepen our awareness.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
"It is hard to do the 'one-anothering' of the New Testament when we are in a hurry" - Matt Scott
How does hurry hinder humility? In this episode, Steve and Matt tackle this question as they invite you to “slow down and be more humble.”
Exploring the reality that hurry drives our selfish ambition, this conversation looks at practical ways to slow down and consider the needs of others above and before our own. Looking at the example of Jesus in Paul's letter to the Philippians, Steve and Matt talk about practical ways that humility is the starting place to serving, loving, and caring for the needs of others.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“How are we going to know God with heart, soul, mind, and strength if we don’t know Him in the inner core of our being - our soul?” - Steve Macchia
In this second episode of Season 31, Steve and Matt talk about the practice of silence. The goal of silence is to know God in the core of our being. Practices that lead us to silence include stillness, solitude, sabbath, and surrender. Every day, there are increasing distractions that challenge the practice of silence. Silence can also be difficult because paying attention to the things that weigh heavy on our hearts is disorientating at times. But this is where God meets us. One of the greatest gifts we can give one another is not our speaking but our silence, simply our presence.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“I think the biggest danger of hurrying is that it pours fuel into my addiction to be busy, to be hurried, to be productive, to be noticed.” - Steve Macchia
Season 31, entitled ‘Discerning God in Slowness’, begins by exploring a phrase that is central to who we are as an organization: Slow Down, Be More. In this conversation, Steve and Matt answer the question “What is the danger of hurrying?” And in addition, they dialogue around the fruit and spiritual transformation that comes from learning to live more slowly. Gleaning from the words of Matthew 11, this podcast episode invites you to embrace Jesus’ invitation to slow down, recover your life, and learn to live freely and lightly.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Co-Hosts: Steve Macchia and Matt Scott
“I’ll spend the rest of my life helping people notice God and discern His presence, His power and His way.” - Steve Macchia
This special 200th episode is a celebration of what the Lord has done through this podcast. With listenership in over 130 countries, all fifty of the United States, and almost 200,000 downloads we are grateful for you - the listeners. Steve and Matt reflect that for the majority of Leadership Transformations Inc.’s 21-year history, we have come alongside people primarily in person. This podcast was started in 2020 and is one of the first ways we equipped leaders online. Steve and Matt reflect on highlights from the past 30 seasons, including 75 unique guests. Moving forward, we hope to hear more from you, our listeners.
Let us know what topics you would like to hear more about. In celebration of 200 episodes, we have a gift for the first 200 people who email us at admin@leadershiptransformations.org. Thank you for celebrating with us.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Hosts: Steve Macchia & Jeremy Stefano
“So much of the work of God in my life contains so much mystery. God is at work doing amazingly deep things that are unseen.” - Steve Macchia
Throughout the summer, team members of Leadership Transformations Inc. have shared a favorite psalm. This week, we swap seats and Jeremy Stefano interviews Steve Macchia to hear about one of his favorite Psalms - Psalm 139. Steve first heard this psalm as a teenager as a part of a gospel presentation and he was moved to ask Jesus into his life in a more significant way. Many years later, this Psalm continues to be meaningful to Steve. Steve reflects on how God’s all-knowingness causes us to be willing to admit our own brokenness and need for God. Finally, Steve encourages the listener to pray the Psalms, using the language to help us reflect our own experiences back to God in prayer.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Chrissy Chang
“In the middle of busyness and life, how do I enter into this retreat-like presence?” - Chrissy Chang
Chrissy Chang is the Online Ministry Coordinator for Leadership Transformations, Inc. a trained spiritual director with LTI’s Selah certificate program, and the Associate Director of Mosaic Network with Mosaic Formation. Chrissy joins Steve for a conversation around Psalm 131. The Psalms, and this one in particular have been to Chrissy, a gateway to the monastery of the heart - the place where we can meet with God in a retreat-like space amidst the responsibilities of life. Psalm 131 invites the reader to release the things that occupy the heart and the mind and release to them to the Lord who has control over them. This Psalm teaches us how to have a calm and quiet soul.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Suz Skinner
“Can I stand up to evil and say, ‘I’m not afraid’?” - Suz Skinner
Suz Skinner is a member of the Emmaus Faculty, Abide Faculty, and a Spiritual Formation Associate for Leadership Transformations Inc. and the Pierce Fellowship at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Suz joins Steve for a conversation around her favorite Psalm - Psalm 23. Suz shares that this familiar Psalm is meant to help us understand and know what it is to live a with-God life. This Psalm is rich with language showing God to be the one who comforts, shepherds, guides, overflows, protects, and leads us. Suz shares what the Psalms have meant in her life and how Psalm 23 continues to be a source of growth and trust in her life.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
“As we become present to Him, He re-orients us to His rule, to His righteousness, His justice, His abundance, His blessing, and praise rises within us, and we worship” – Susan Currie
Susan Currie is the Director of Selah and a Minister of Spiritual Formation for Leadership Transformations Inc. Susan joins Steve for a conversation around her favorite Psalm - Psalm 65. Even when chaos abounds in the world, Psalm 65 reminds us that we can come into God’s presence. As we become fully present to Him, he reorients us by taking all the legitimate concerns and starts forming in us an obedience to His rule, His righteousness, and His justice. Rather than ignoring the broken places of the world, we bring them into our worship, God turns our hearts to sing His praise and we sing His rule into being.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: James Hauptman
“It’s not a flippant thing to remember the goodness of God. God has been present and overseeing even the hard and difficult times.” - James Hauptman
James Hauptman is the Executive Assistant for Leadership Transformations Inc. James joins Steve for a conversation about his favorite Psalm – Psalm 90. This Psalm written by Moses reminds us of the faithfulness of God. Throughout all generations, God has been the dwelling place for His people. This Psalm teaches us to number our days. James keeps a record of how many days he has been alive as a practice to remember the faithfulness of God. Finally, James shares how he and his family count their days in both big decisions and in the daily minutia of life.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia | Guest: Matt Scott
“That experience was when the Psalms came alive to me.” -Matt Scott
Matt Scott is the Creative Director and a Minister of Spiritual Formation for Leadership Transformations Inc. Matt joins Steve for a conversation about his favorite Psalm – Psalm 27. With themes of trust and reliance on God; Psalm 27 invites the reader to fix our eyes on the Lord. In this Psalm, David honestly named his circumstances and reality. While enemies were closing in and trials abounded, David fixed his eyes on the goodness of God, the beauty of the Lord, and His attributes. Psalm 27 reminds us that we can walk forward not paralyzed by fear but in hope and joy, trusting in the goodness of God.
Mentioned in this episode:
- Matt Scott and Hilton Head Presbyterian Church Psalms Volumes 1 & 2
- I Shall Not Fear (Psalm 27) (feat. Eileen Robinson)
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Kim Alexander
“We can’t be more attached to the outcome than we are to Christ.” - Kim Alexander
Kim Alexander is a Senior Faculty Member of LTI’s Selah, a two-year certificate program in Spiritual Direction. Kim joins Steve for a conversation on her favorite Psalm – Psalm 63. This Psalm was written by David in the wilderness and contrasts a dry and parched land without water with being fully satisfied with the richest of foods. We are reminded that our circumstances do not determine our internal state. God is no less God in dark places. He meets us in wilderness moments. Kim reminds us to be more attached to Christ than to the outcome of our circumstances.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Rick Anderson
“In a time when there is anxiety or panic, there is something about this psalm that calms me down. It reminds me that I don’t have a lot of control over anything. God has control over everything.” - Rick Anderson
Rick Anderson is the Executive Vice President of Leadership Transformations Inc., where he has served for the last 19 years. Rick joins Steve Macchia for a conversation around his favorite Psalm - Psalm 46. Psalm 46 invites us to come and sit at the feet of God and surrender our worries, concerns, anxieties, and fears to him. We can do that because God is the one who has all things under His control. Rick also shares how the Psalms have been meaningful in his own life; they give us words when we don’t know what to pray.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
“Blessing the Lord is a daring thing to do, and it is the thing for which we’ve been created.” - Jeremy Stefano
Season 30 will feature team members from Leadership Transformations Inc. and focus on discerning God in the Psalms. The Psalms are prayers that God has given us to pray. These prayers cover almost every human emotion we will experience as children of God, and God delights in our expression of the fullness of our emotions. In this first episode of Season 30, Jeremy Stefano joins Steve Macchia for a conversation around his favorite Psalm - Psalm 103. The character of God is described through this Psalm - He is merciful and gracious, slow to anger and abounding in love. Jeremy notes that this Psalm is both personal to each of us and at the same time, God is not a personal god, but the God over all of creation. Jeremy reminds us that believers are the only ones with the authority to bless. We get to speak blessings over one another, over our towns, and even over the Lord.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Olivier Bala
“Anyone that comes in here really feels comfortable. It’s something we have not tried to work hard at. It’s in our DNA.” – Oliver Bala
Oliver Bala has been the Senior Pastor of Mount Hope Community Baptist Church for the past 28 years. Oliver joins Steve today for a conversation around Healthy Church Trait 5: A Commitment to Loving and Caring Relationships. Oliver credits the welcoming and deep relationships to the cultural values held by this multiethnic, multigenerational church: worship, sanctuary, hospitality, discipleship, spiritual formation, and leadership development. Oliver notes that part of his role is to help people get familiar with the content of healthy discipleship over again until it makes a difference in their daily lives.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Barry Corey
“My dad said, ‘Whoever comes my way, I’m going to make myself receivable.’ Receivable is another word for kindness.” – Barry Corey
Barry Corey grew up as a pastor’s son in Quincy, Massachusetts. His early life was shaped by seeing people's lives changed at the altar at his father’s church. Barry joins Steve for a conversation about Trait 7 of a Healthy Church: An Outward Focus. Barry shares words from his father, Hugh, given when Barry spent a year researching educational programs for children of the landless poor in Bangladesh. Barry had seen his father show radical love and kindness to gas station attendants, cobblers, dentists, tailors, and attorneys. In the streets of Bangladesh, Hugh said, “Whoever comes my way, I’m going to make myself receivable.” Barry explains that receivable is another word for kindness and that there is a world of difference between niceness and kindness. While “niceness" is not in the Bible, kindness is. And kindness is a radical virtue that can change lives because of how strong it is.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Bob Ludwig
“Good management can assist the mission of the organization and make it more effective by setting people free from the complex irritations of bad management.” – Bob Ludwig
Bob Ludwig has enjoyed a two-track career with business consulting and church/ministry leadership. In this conversion with Steve Macchia, Bob shares principles from Healthy Church Trait 8: Wise Administration and Accountability. Bob speaks to the idea that good management makes the Church's mission more effective. Wise management involves clear procedures, resulting in lowered anxiety in the organization and an ease of good ministry. Bob concludes this episode by offering wisdom for church leaders today.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Ellen Bishop Little
“You don’t need a big budget, a lot of people, or a nice building to have the presence of God and loving, caring relationships.” – Ellen Bishop Little
Ellen Bishop Little along with her husband Larry responded to a call to teach at their local church. They chose an unlikely group - two-year-olds! After the first year was finished, they chose to continue moving up each year with the group of children. They stayed with this same group of children all the way to high school. Ellen and Larry provided community for the students as they grew and matured. These same students in turn provided community for Ellen and Larry when Larry became sick and succumbed to cancer. Ellen joins Steve Macchia for a personal story of Healthy Church Trait #4: Learning and Growing in Community.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: Greg & Doug Scalise
“You don’t need a big budget, a lot of people, or a nice building to have the presence of God and loving, caring relationships.” – Greg Scalise
Pastors Doug and Greg Scalise are third and fourth-generation pastors. Their family has over one hundred years of Christian ministry. Doug and Greg join Steve Macchia for a conversation on healthy churches. They each share personal stories of growing up in Christian homes and churches. Loving and caring relationships have shaped both father and son, reminding us that the church can fill the need for meaningful relationships, connection, support, and encouragement. Doug and Greg encourage the listener to recognize the power of God’s Empowering Spirit within healthy churches.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Tom Sparling
“I see it now among Gen Zers; there is a passion in my young adults that is as fresh and real as what we were experiencing.” –Tom Sparling
The second trait of a Healthy Church is "God Exalting Worship". Tom Sparling was a part of the original team that worked with Steve Macchia on Becoming a Healthy Church. Tom joins Steve for a conversation about worship today. In this episode, Tom shares his hope for the younger generation today, advice for the older generation, and encourages everyone that authentic worship comes from a passionate pursuit of God outside of our Sunday morning gatherings. This episode reminds us that God alone is to be the object of our worship.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dennis Baril
“God’s empowering Presence is a value and a relationship, not a doctrine.” –Dennis Baril
Dennis Baril was part of the original research team for Becoming a Healthy Church. In this episode, Dennis sits down with Steve to share a conversation about the first trait of a healthy church, a value for God’s empowering Presence. Before serving as a senior pastor, Dennis managed multi-million-dollar accounts for a corporation as a middle manager. He discovered that leading a healthy church was more difficult than working on such large accounts. Today, Dennis travels the country with his wife encouraging church leaders. From this unique perspective, Dennis shares reflections on the church today as a father, grandfather, and church leader.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Rick Anderson
“It is so important that all of this is held together with spiritual discernment and a posture of leadership that is listening to God.” –Rick Anderson
Twenty-five years later, the ten traits of a healthy Church as outlined in Becoming a Healthy Church are still relevant because they are principles from Scripture, solid theology, and practical research. In this episode, Rick Anderson joins Steve Macchia to outline all ten traits. The first three traits are vertical, aimed at cultivating a life with God. Traits four, five, and six are horizontal, aimed at connecting with one another as the people of God. The final four traits are missional, aimed with an outward focus. These ten traits conclude with a reminder that spiritual discernment and a posture of leadership that is listening to God hold all ten traits of a healthy Church together.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“My vision is that we would be known for our love, not our conflicts and difficulties and estrangement” - Steve Macchia
Season 29 will focus on the soul of the Church. From its first days, Leadership Transformations Inc. has prioritized the local congregation and its health. These episodes will highlight the updated 25th-anniversary edition of Becoming a Healthy Church. Born out of research with thousands of church leaders and vetted in conversations, the book and this podcast season highlight timeless principles that have not changed, though the expressions have been modernized. Each of the traits are Biblical, historical, and current because they are based on a principle rather than a program. Steve’s vision is that the Church would pay better attention to the things that matter most - our walk with God; as this leads to health and vitality of relationships and churches.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“It’s in that place of deeper solitude and reflection that we meet the living God face to face, heart to heart.” – Steve Macchia
Find a time and space for a personal retreat. Maybe you only have a few hours and a bench somewhere in nature. Schedule it and prioritize it because you will have a million reasons why you should fill it with something else. In this final episode of season 28, we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt discuss the transforming power of personal retreats. Three things are needed for personal retreats: a set time and place; attentive listening to and with God; and seeing retreat as a place of God’s transforming work. Matt talked about the need to guard retreats - unless we prioritize them, a million other things will demand our attention. Matt and Steve discussed the power of attentive listening that frees us from coming into retreats with predetermined ideas of what we need to hear from God. Finally, Steve speaks to the power of retreats as a place of meeting with God face to face.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“You don’t need to memorize where all the Psalms are, just pray the Psalms.” – Steve Macchia
The Psalms are a reminder that God is not threatened by our emotions. He is big enough to handle the combination of human emotions - faith and doub, hope and despair, joy and sorrow. In episode thirteen, we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt reflect on praying the psalms. The Psalms teach us how to pray. Steve and Matt share practical ways to pray through the Psalms and some of their favorite Psalms. his episode concludes with a guided reflection to help you adopt the practice of praying the Psalms.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“Our lives are driven by our loves - what we think about, dwell upon, what we allow to be enthroned in our hearts. When we re-order our loves, we re-order our lives.” – Matt Scott
Simply put, we become what we love. In episode twelve, we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt reflect on re-ordering our loves. When we think about re-ordering our loves, we are talking about what are we attached to, what we think we can’t live without. The biggest factor in re-ordering our loves is to become aware of these things that we hold tightly. Steve and Matt share how these idols of the heart can be people, possessions, power, or persuasion. All of our disordered loves need to be diminished or released altogether. This day-by-day, moment-by-moment process allows Christ to become our greatest affection.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“We all have a rule of life, a way of living, already. The question is, are we living in response to God’s invitation for us?” – Steve Macchia
A “Rule of Life” has nothing to do with rules. The best way to translate it is the “way” of life. All of us have a rule of life already at work. The question is, are we living in the way that God wants us to be living?
In episode eleven, we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt focus on the practice of having a Rule of Life. Steve defines a Rule of Life as “Spirit-empowered rhythms and relationships that create, redeem, sustain, transform the lives that God invites us to humbly fulfill for Christ’s glory.” Steve and Matt share how a rule of life will be much more meaningful if we take the time to ask questions about our unique thumbprint and footprint. Our unique thumbprint has to do with the roles and relationships we have, our gifts, our desires, our vision, and our mission in life. Our unique footprint encompasses our spiritual life, our relational life, our physical life, our financial life, and our missional life.
If this episode has been helpful for you, you may be interested in other Rule of Life resources from LTI including online workshops, previous podcast episodes, the Crafting a Rule of Life book, and the www.ruleoflife.com website.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
This is a reprise of the Holy Week Interlude episode 2 which aired on April 6, 2023
“Death gives way to life. Not only lived out by Jesus but meant to be lived out by each of us.” – David Vryhof, SSJE
Holy Week is considered the climax of the Christian year. The service that starts on Maundy Thursday continues all the way to the Easter Vigil and is the capstone of Holy Week. Steve Macchia and Brother David Vryhof return to the podcast to discuss how the liturgical worship of holy week very much engages our body with our mind and heart. During these days we recognize the death of Christ that leads to His rising. This process of death to new life is an ongoing conversion process that we are invited to participate in daily.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
This is a reprise of the Holy Week Interlude episode 1 which aired on March 30, 2023.
“We are offering ourselves in fresh new ways to God in Lent.” – David Vryhof, SSJE
Holy week has the potential to invite us into intimacy sharing with Jesus not only his triumph and resurrection but his path of suffering. Commencing a two-week interlude, Steve Macchia and his spiritual director, Brother David Vryhof of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (Episcopal Monastic Community based in Cambridge, MA) explore ways that we can value and participate in the work of Christ during holy week. All of us are in pursuit of a deeper affection for Christ. Times like Holy Week bring us to that deeper place of desire, longing towards Jesus.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“Gratitude is a remedy for my bent towards entitlement.” – Matt Scott
In this world filled with gripes, gossip, and guesswork in relationships, saying an occasional “thank you” is good for our souls. In episode ten, we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt focus on the practice of gratitude. Matt shares how gratitude is a remedy towards entitlement, the belief that God or others owe us something. Gratitude works in our discontentment, self-centeredness, and selfish ambition. Steve shares how we can express gratitude through trials, being able to say “Thank You Lord even for that tough experience in my life. This episode concludes with a guided reflection to help you adopt the practice of gratitude.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“We can’t be restless all the time. Sabbath is the place of greatest freedom, life, and joy.”–Steve Macchia
We can all agree that the Ten Commandments are important. But for some reason, many of us have only brought nine of the Ten into the modern day. We’ve left behind the command to Sabbath. In episode nine, we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt focus on the practice of Sabbath. In our modern culture, we no longer observe Sabbath and instead celebrate busyness. We hold each other accountable to the other nine Commandments, but not the Sabbath-the place of greatest freedom, life, and joy. Matt and Steve share four elements of a good Sabbath (cease, rest, feast, and embrace). This episode concludes with a guided reflection to help you adopt the practice of Sabbath.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“What does it say about me if I’m not busy?” – Matt Scott
Our culture invites us to find rest in so many other places. We are constantly in motion because we are afraid of what rest will look like or create for us. In episode eight, we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt focus on the practice of rest which is a beautiful invitation to live in freedom - a place of lightness rather than being weighed down, burdened, or having a heaviness. Matt points out that our resistance or hesitancy to rest is based in fear, and lack of trust - fear that we would be seen as lazy, the fear that the things that we deem essential won’t get done. Steve encourages us to adopt a mindset of “My life is full but I’m finding my rest in the Lord.” This episode includes a guided reflection to help you embrace the practice of resting.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“Fasting is not an opportunity for us to enter into a diet experience. If we are giving up something hoping that at the end of the fast we might also be down five pounds, that seems to miss the heart of what Jesus is talking about.” – Matt Scott
Prayer and fasting go together. This is to realign your heart with God’s heart. In episode seven, we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt focus on the practice of fasting. Fasting welcomes and invites discomfort and suffering into our physical body. We practice fasting because it is biblical, important and Jesus gave His followers instructions for fasting, saying “When you fast.” Steve admits that even though he knows how good fasting is for the soul, he still struggles with it. We may fast along with the church calendar, in repentance, for discernment, or dependence on God. All of these reorder our attachments and realign our priorities around God’s priorities which deepens our relationship with God and with others. This episode includes a guided reflection to help you start the practice of fasting.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“We truly are as sick as our secrets.” – Steve Macchia
Discerning leaders need to understand the importance of saying “I'm sorry I was wrong. Please forgive me. In episode six, we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt focus on the practice of confession. In confession, we are given the opportunity to be honest, and truthful, and speak of the reality of our given life experience. Confession breaks us out of hiding and living a shame-filled life. The invitation to confession is light and life. Confession is not limited to our sin but also includes our confession of our faith in God. This episode includes a guided reflection to help you practice confession.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“I see the practice of daily examen as keeping the inner house of your soul clean.” – Steve Macchia
The discipline of examen comes from David’s prayer in Psalm 32. In episode five, we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt focus on the practice of examen. Ignatius of Loyola created this practice to help his brothers look at their lives each day. Matt and Steve share personal reflections on examen, noting that the only way you can get to a holy listening to purpose is to pause at the beginning or end of your day. Steve shares the five main ideas of examen, and Matt concludes this episode with a guided experience to help you practice examen.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“The practice of journaling really helps you to notice.” – Steve Macchia
The discipline of journaling is as old as the Bible. In episode four (Journaling), we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt focus on the practice of journaling. Matt shares the value has found in simply writing things down as it has enabled him to process what he thinks, feels, experiences, and the ways in which God feels near or absent. Steve shares recent insights about journaling and five pieces of practical advice to help us journal well.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“We are a forgetful bunch; if we’re not doing something that helps us record, remember, and come back to the goodness of God on a regular basis, we will forget. When we forget, our hearts get hardened.” - Steve Macchia
In episode three (Reflection), we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt focus on the practice of reflection. Matt shares how gratitude is the antidote to the voice of the enemy and our secular culture that strikes our hearts early in the morning. Steve shares that “reflection is remembering, giving thanks, marking the faithfulness of God.” Reflection looks back upon both joyous times and hard times. Reflection can include meditating on a single verse, journaling, photography, creative arts, holy conversations, noticing, and pondering, it may be alone and in quiet or together with loved ones. Reflection keeps our hearts soft towards the Lord. This episode concludes with a guided experience to help you practice reflection today.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“Listening is the primary skill to develop in life. Particularly if you are a leader.” - Steve Macchia
In episode two, we continue to explore the spiritual practices that are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. and have been celebrated throughout Christendom. This week, Steve and Matt focus on the practice of listening prayer. Steve says “Listening is the primary skill to develop in life. Particularly if you are a leader.” Matt shares his prayer journey, moving from sharing a list of requests with God to recognizing and paying attention to the voice of God. Matt and Steve talk about listening prayer as letting go of the desire to control the conversation with God. Matt and Steve share practical suggestions to start practicing listening prayer. This episode concludes with a guided reflective experience to help you grow in listening prayer.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“The Word of God should not be approached as another book to master its material but should result in a deep transforming experience with God.” – Matt Scott
Season 28 will focus on the spiritual practices that have been celebrated through Christendom and are at the heart of Leadership Transformations Inc. Each episode will have a short conversation on a different spiritual practice and a guided, reflective experience. In this inaugural episode, Steve Macchia and Matt Scott introduce the practice of Lectio Divina. This way of reading Scripture is a slow, repetitive reading that is designed to transform the reader. Steve and Matt walk through this way of contemplative Bible reading and its six layers: silencio, lectio, meditatio, oratio, contemplation, and incarnatio. People who practice Lectio Divina report, “It was good to receive from the Word of God for myself.” May you have the same experience as you listen to today’s episode on the spiritual practice of Lectio Divina.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
This is a reprise of season 23 episode 7 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Margery Kennelly
“We always think about waiting on God but God spends a long time waiting on us.” – Margery Kennelly
Margery serves as Associate Rector at St George's Episcopal Church in Nashville, TN. Margery joins Steve to share pastoral reflections on Epiphany - the bright clear revelation of Christ’s kingship over the whole world. For Christians, this time reminds us to manifest who Jesus is in the world through our testimony and work in the world. As we think about waiting on God, we are reminded that God spends time waiting on us. Margery shares that patience is the ally of waiting and encourages us to demonstrate this fruit of the spirit while we wait. Finally, we are invited to Ignatian Examen, asking, “Does my life glorify God?”
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
This is a reprise of season 23 episode 6 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Todd Cravens
“What do I need to do now? Waiting is not an absence of activity.” - Todd Cravens
Todd Cravens is in his 16th year, serving as Teaching Pastor and Elder at Hope Christian Church in Winchester, MA. He grew up in Louisville, KY, attended the University of Louisville, and received his M. Div in Theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Todd and his wife Alisa have three adult children and enjoy hosting international students, totaling more than 60 students from 16 different countries. Todd joins Steve to share about personal and pastoral practices in the week after Christmas. We are encouraged to reflect back upon the year and give voice to the way God has been at work in our lives. We are invited to continue being attentive to God; bringing what we think out to happen into alignment with what we know God wants to happen.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
This is a reprise of season 23 episode 5 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Bryan Wilkerson
“Believe that the Lord had something fresh for you this Christmas” – Bryan Wilkerson
Bryan Wilkerson serves as Senior Pastor at Grace Chapel, authored Living God’s Story, is a graduate of Wheaton College and Denver Seminary, and holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Bryan’s life mission statement is “to lead as many people as possible to a joyful and growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.” He and his wife, Karen, have four married children and a growing number of grandchildren. Brian shares with Steve that as he enters his thirty-ninth year of ministry, Christmas is his favorite time of year to preach and minister. He believes that the Lord can bring something new in our spirit as we wait expectantly. His pastoral counsel to us is to be quiet for five minutes – to sit in front of the Christmas tree or fireplace, go for a walk, and allow the Lord to meet us in those moments.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
This is a reprise of season 23 episode 4 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
“Waiting on God is resisting the impulse to take matters into my own hands.” – Mark Booker
Mark Booker serves as the Senior Pastor at Park Street Church in downtown Boston. After completing theological study at the University of Oxford, he ministered in a congregation in Washington, DC, before moving to Boston to plant Church of the Cross, where he served for 11 years. Mark and his wife Mandy have four children and live in Boston. Mark joins Steve to share about waiting in his leadership and personal life. Many of us like to bring change and make things happen. Advent puts the spotlight on the reality that we are a waiting people. We often grasp for what is tangible; what we can control or manipulate. Mark reminds us that waiting looks like resisting the impulse to fix things through our own means. Waiting is about trusting in God’s promises, even when evidence points in all kinds of different directions.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Friedrich
This is a reprise of season 23 episode 3 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
“Waiting in the Bible is not just looking at the clock. It is about anticipation. It’s about cultivating hope and joy. ” – Dave Friedrich
Dave Friedrich was born and raised in Canada. He has advanced degrees in philosophy from York University in Toronto and in spiritual formation from Regent College in Vancouver, BC. He has lived and worked at L’Abri, a ministry of Christian hospitality and cultural engagement, both in Switzerland and in Massachusetts. Dave has also worked at a bank, been a professional firefighter/paramedic, a swing dance instructor, and a youth pastor. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 2013 and is currently serving as the rector of Church of the Cross, an Anglican church in Boston. Dave and Anna are (prayerfully!) raising their two teenage sons, Cole and Adam. Reflecting on Simeon in the Temple from Luke 2, Dave joins Steve for a conversation about waiting on God. We are tempted to want to know exactly when God will fulfill His promises. He often doesn’t answer that question. Instead, He gives us surprises in our waiting. Advent is a season where we cultivate hope and joy in what is coming and in what is already being experienced that gives us a foretaste of what is to come.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia and Dave Ripper
This is a reprise of season 23 episode 2 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
“We suffer from a severe depletion of spiritual expectancy. Moments of waiting can actually rekindle the flames of hope.” – Dave Ripper
Dave Ripper serves as lead pastor of Crossway Christian Church in Nashua and Milford, NH, and as the chaplain of the Boston Bruins. He’s a graduate of Denver Seminary and is finishing his Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction from Fuller Theological Seminary and The Dallas Willard Center. Dave is the co-author of The Fellowship of the Suffering: How Hardship Shapes Us for Ministry and Mission (IVP, 2018), and is the co-founder of Evergreen, a nine-month training experience for emerging leaders in partnership with Converge Northeast. Dave and his wife, Erin, a mental health therapist, have three kids and a yellow lab. They love to hike throughout New England and to travel to America’s National Parks. Dave joins Steve to share pastoral encouragement on reflection, stillness and waiting. While we wait, Dave encourages us to keep a faithful list - noting the top three things already in our lives that God invites us to be faithful to. Reflecting on Psalm 40, Dave and Steve invite us to consider the experience of waiting as an obstacle to our faith or an invitation to a deeply expectant life. An expectant life is a wonder-filled, joyous experience.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
This is a reprise of season 23 episode 1 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
“During Advent, we give space to the waiting. All of us are waiting for something.” – Susan Currie
Susan serves as the Director of Leadership Transformation’s Selah Certificate Training Program in Spiritual Direction. Over the past 30 years, she has offered retreat leadership and formation ministry to various church and parachurch bodies. Susan also serves as Affiliated Clergy with All Saints’ Anglican Cathedral in Amesbury, MA. In our 21st century life we do not like to wait for anything. Sharing from the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Susan Currie returns to the podcast and invites us to come alongside the Biblical characters. We consider their longings, their waiting, and the things we ourselves are waiting for. She reminds us that all of us are waiting for something. In Advent, we are invited to slow down enough to recognize our longings and offer them to the only one who can come and make all things right.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
“Give thanks to the Lord, for he is good. His love endures forever.” – Psalm 136: 1
The Leadership Transformations lead team enlighten us with formative insights about the spiritual significance of giving thanks. Susan Currie, Rick Anderson, Jeremy Stefano, and Matt Scott join the conversation and add their reflections on gratitude. They begin with their favorite Scripture passages that focus on a thankful heart in the Psalms and throughout the Old and New Testament. They shared notable Thanksgiving hymns that have been special to them, including Praise My Soul the King of Heaven, Now Thank We All Our God, and Come Ye Thankful People Come. In addition, they encouraged one another with memories of their childhood, gifts of the past year for which they are thankful, as well as meaningful spiritual practices that birth gratitude in their hearts and relationships. Fostering a thankful heart is indeed central to the development of the discerning leader’s heart.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Brandon Moore
“When you are dealing with the worst of the world, how do we begin to nurture our souls and then in doing that nurture the souls of others.” – Brandon Moore
Brandon Moore has served as an Army Chaplain for more than two decades, serving three tours in Iraq, as a Strategic Communication Officer at the Pentagon, and now as Chief of Army Chaplain Recruiting and Accessions. Brandon joins the podcast to share how leading a discerning life has changed him. From learning to release the heavy weight of death that he has experienced, to befriending ecumenical chaplains of other faiths, to helping create an upcoming Hollywood movie about the chaplaincy (Fighting Spirit: A Combat Chaplain’s Journey) Brandon has leaned into the question, “how do we begin to nurture our souls and then in doing that nurture the souls of others.”
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Trent Casto
“It’s incredible what a man who is united to Jesus and weak in the eyes of the world can accomplish” – Trent Casto
Author and Pastor Trent Casto joins the podcast to talk about God’s strength in our weakness. In this episode, he shares ideas and practices that have enabled him to lead in a way that displays God’s grace. From his newly released commentary on 2 Corinthians in the Reformed Expository Commentary series, Trent shares that the heart of all our issues is drifting from the heart of the biblical gospel - either towards our performance, power, and strength or towards a disregard for God’s standards. As you listen, may you be empowered to lead with authenticity that comes from an understanding of the sufficiency of God’s grace.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
“Everyone knows whether they are living a spacious or a cluttered life. The question is, are we tapping into our longings that those quiet hours feed in our soul” – Steve Macchia
A discerning leader builds their life upon the teachings of Jesus. For the past two decades, Leadership Transformations has been coming alongside leaders and learners who are engaged in important and meaningful service in the body of Christ. Steve Macchia and Jeremy Stefano return to the podcast to share the final five attributes of the heart of a discerning leader. In this episode, you will hear how a spiritually mature leader values silence, solitude, and space for God; willingly voices repentance, confession, and forgiveness, regularly reorders his/her affections, is decisive when necessary, discerning when essential and has strength of character and competency (especially during hard times).
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
“Paying attention to the people we are serving is crucial, otherwise it’s all me.” – Jeremy Stefano
A controlling leader has a need to power over others, leaving no space for others. This kind of leader creates an atmosphere of anxiety and fear rather than one of welcoming and mutual contribution. A discerning leader is attentive, listens to, and offers a hospitable presence to others. Jeremy Stefano and Steve Macchia return to the podcast to share five more attributes of the heart of a discerning leader. In this episode, you will hear how a spiritually mature leader provides a hospitable presence, is deeply content and humble, genuinely joyful and celebratory, rooted in trust and rest, and generates peace and hope.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
“Jesus is gentle. Surely those who lead in His name must be typified especially by gentleness also.” – Jeremy Stefano
A stingy leader is stingy with grace, kindness, gifts, and generosity. A discerning leader is aware of God’s abundance and leads with liberty and graciousness. Jeremy Stefano and Steve Macchia return to the podcast to share five more attributes of the heart of a discerning leader. In this episode, you will hear how a spiritually mature leader is known for his/her kindness and goodness; lives a life of prayer and prayerfulness; exhibits the fruit of the Spirit, especially gentleness; stands firmly on the biblical foundation of justice and mercy and prioritizes stewardship and generosity of financial resources.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
“As a leader, we often love people who we need in our leadership. The love has to be unconditional, not measured out in increments to those we see as more deserving.” – Jeremy Stefano
What does it look like to lead well? Over the next few episodes, Jeremy Stefano and Steve Macchia will unpack this question, offering twenty attributes of a spiritually mature leader. Fresh off a team retreat together, Jeremy and Steve share the first five attributes: loving unconditionally, providing grace, what to do with praise, and why gratitude and rhythms of spiritual practices are essential. This episode is full of spiritual wisdom for every type of leader.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Winn Collier
“You had this sense that you were with someone who knew Jesus.” – Winn Collier
Winn Collier is the author of Eugene Peterson’s authorized biography, A Burning in My Bones. Few people have had an opportunity to know Eugene’s life as a pastor, theologian, author, and poet like Winn. Winn shares personal stories of Eugene’s upbringing and transformation. Winn describes that Eugene was transformed by prayer, slow reading, attentiveness, and deep encounters with God in the Scriptures; this changed the way he moved in the world and with people. Winn and Steve share stories of personal time with Euguene; times that were often marked by unhurried silence. Winn encourages the listener that we live in a world where we are deeply and profoundly addicted to our actions and our self-importance and our making things happen; but in God’s world, unhurried attentiveness to God and others is a very counter-transformational experience.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Ken Shigematsu
“If you can put yourself in a pathway of beauty every day, it can awaken you to God’s love for you and it leaves less room for shame to work so that you can become your truest self.” – Ken Shigematsu
Author and Pastor Ken Shigematsu joins the podcast to talk about shame. In this episode he shares the spiritual practices that work to awaken us to God’s forgiveness and love for us, making less of shame and more of the self that God created us to be. From his book Now I Become Myself: How Deep Grace Heals Our Shame and Restores Our True Self, Ken shares candidly about his history with shame and finding a way to allow God’s grace to penetrate his soul. As you listen, may you come out of a place of anxiously needing to prove that you are enough to God, to yourself or to others but live from a place of acceptance as the beloved of God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeff Crosby
“Embracing the mystery is good enough” – Jeff Crosby
Jeff Crosby joins the podcast to talk about longings - the inner ache and sadness that we feel at times. From Jeff’s newest book, The Language of the Soul: Meeting God in the Longings of our Hearts, Jeff teaches that the longings we experience are places for God to meet us. Jeff walks us through several longings from the book - the longing for home, for friendship, for heaven and for an undivided life. All of us carry longings in our hearts. The invitation is to be attentive to those longings and invite the Lord of the universe to meet with us in the midst of them and to take time to cultivate spiritual practice that makes us more aware of God’s presence in our lives.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: KeumJu Jewel Hyun
“Whether you like it or not, you are in the leadership position. Who do you think you work for?” – KeumJu Jewel Hyun
KeumJu Jewel Hyun joins the podcast to talk about the role of servant leadership within the heart of a discerning leader. Jewel is an author, a professor, and the founder of Matthew 28 Ministries, which focuses on Christian women’s leadership development and economic empowerment in Kenya. Jewel’s most recent work, The Quest for Biblical Servant Leadership: Insights from the Global Church, is a collaboration of Christian authors from around the globe. In this podcast episode Jewel shares the insight discovered from diverse cultures from Kenya to Canada to Korea. Listen and discover the common leadership thread across many diverse cultures.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Philip Yancey
“Nature, beauty, love, these are good things. They must have been given to us by God. That’s what grace is. It’s a free gift we didn't deserve. That’s my story, being drawn back to God, not by fearsome threats by the experience of God’s grace.” – Philip Yancey
Award-winning author Philip Yancey is on the podcast this week to share his own life story. He candidly shares about his discovery that God is not the “super cop in the sky” looking for someone to punish but is the giver of all good things - including nature, beauty, and love. Philip teaches us that when we live as if our hands are closed in fists, God’s grace falls to the ground unreceived. He encourages us to live openhandedly and generously because that is how God treats us. Philip ends the conversation by sharing his hope for the Church in our time.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Barbara Peacock
“I believe the foundation of effective leadership is understanding and embracing and living out the discipline of love.” – Barbara Peacock
The Discerning Leader podcast returns from a summer break to focus on the Heart of a Discerning Leader. Our first guest for Season 27 is Barbara Peacock - an award-winning author, spiritual director, teacher, and intercessor. Her recent book, Soul Care in African American Practice, has just been released by Baker books.
Barbara joins Steve to talk about leadership as loving people. She reminds us that we are first called to love God and then to love people and not things. Barbara shares an original poem she wrote entitled Silencing Today and encourages us to be attentive in our love for God and towards others.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
This is a reprise of season 3 episode 5 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
"In the celebration of Sabbath, we explore the command and accept the invitation to dwell with God with a deep, resounding yes – with gusto!" – Susan Currie
The fourth rhythm of Sabbath is “celebrating” the joy and delight of our identity and freedom in Christ. When we gather with the family of God on Sabbath – for worship, fellowship, prayer, and relationship building – we are reminding each other of the with God life we share. Weekly worship with our faith community is like a dress rehearsal for a wedding: the wedding feast of the Lamb, when the bridegroom returns for his bride once more. In this life we “make every effort” to enter that rest (Hebrews 4: 9) with a Jubilee taste of heaven on our hearts and minds.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
This is a reprise of season 3 episode 4 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
"We realize our deepest, truest, eternal part of us as God’s dearly loved children when we rest. What God does in us when we rest is carried into all aspects of life." – Susan Currie
Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and when he frustrated the religious leaders by healing on the Sabbath, he was a delight to those he came to serve and set free. Sabbath reminds us of our true identity in Christ, in all aspects of our personhood, and ushers us into the fullness of our salvation. Embracing our eternal identity is best known and experienced in times of Sabbath rest and ever-deepening trust. “You are my beloved” are the words from God that restore and renew us, as we welcome and embrace creativity, spontaneity, imagination, and beauty.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
This is a reprise of season 3 episode 3 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
"You have been set free (in God), so keep the Sabbath! This is what Sabbath rest is all about. We don’t want to lose our memory for tasting the goodness of God." – Susan Currie
God’s loving invitation and specific commandment is to Sabbath rest – for all. The people of God were ushered into the Promised Land and reminded to rest, always to remember their years of bondage in Egypt. God urges us likewise to live fully and abundantly, in freedom and joy, recalling how we too can let our daily work become bondage for our soul. Our drivenness and constant effort keeps us from refreshing and renewing rest. But, trusting God with heart, soul, mind, and strength will lead us to a restful lifestyle, renewed in the grace of God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
This is a reprise of season 3 episode 2 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
"Sabbath ceasing is meant for everyone and every living creature our lives touch: our children, our animals, all in our household. God rests in order to delight in his creation. So too are we made to rest in order to engage our creational identity." – Susan Currie
Sabbath rest is the turnkey to the deeper life. Ceasing can be the most difficult of all the Sabbath rhythms, as it requires us to stop what we normally do in order to embrace that which offers us more of the abundant life. Sabbath reminds us not to be productivity machines, but instead be people who value relationships, first and foremost with God. As God says “trust me” he knows how hard that will be for us, especially if we have a tendency toward a hurried and harried life. Ceasing work and technology are two examples of stopping in order to rest well.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
This is a reprise of season 3 episode 1 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
"Discernment is about being with God, paying attention to God, letting our every word and effort come from attentiveness to God. Sabbath is the place that nurtures that attentiveness." – Susan Currie
Sabbath nurtures our attentiveness to God and thereby enhances our practicing a preference for God. From the creation account in Genesis we see God’s choice to rest after completing his work, delighting in the beauty of all that was established. We are invited to join God in the blessing and holiness of Sabbath rest and enjoy the gifts offered as we’re attuned to his priority. Sabbath rest encourages a pace of life that allows us to see, hear, and notice God’s goodness and grace amidst our very full lives. Let’s slow down enough to listen more restfully to God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
This is a reprise of season 2 episode 5 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
Reflection is an important spiritual discipline, inviting us to notice, remember, and give thanks. It is practiced in a variety of ways, from journaling to photography, and especially in the ancient practice of Examen. In reflection we are seeking the Spirit’s guidance to illuminate the path we’ve walked and attend to his presence and power every step of the way. As discerning leaders, it’s preferable to live a reflective life, noticing our feelings, actions, and attitudes, and intentionally realigning our motivations, drives, and values toward God’s delightful priorities.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
This is a reprise of season 2 episode 4 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
Prayer is a huge, somewhat daunting subject. No one has mastered prayer. In fact, if we’re honest, we are all simply beginners. This episode explores the inward, upward, and outward nature of prayer, in both the “secret place” of our prayer closet, as well as in our public worship and community life. Prayer is a conversation between God and his children, with God as primary initiator, offering his love and inviting our love in return. Our posture is to be one of receptivity, openness, listening and noticing God’s loving voice of comfort, guidance, and joy.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
This is a reprise of season 2 episode 3 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
Instead of studying the Word to preach or teach it, Lectio Divina invites us to simply listen and receive the Word as a gift of love from God to us, his beloved children. Discerning leaders know the power of the Word and delight when the Scriptures come alive in our prayer closets. As a primary spiritual practice, lectio divina encourages us to feast on a slow and prayerfully meditative reading of God’s Word. In this episode we look at the six rhythms of lectio and behold how the Word comes alive as it’s prayerfully and repetitively held as a gift of love.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
This is a reprise of season 2 episode 2 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
We live in an incredibly noisy world. Distractions abound, vying for our attention all throughout our days. Choosing a subversive, counter-cultural pursuit of exterior and interior silence is what separates a discerning leader from society’s norm. Silence and solitude is where we hear the whisper of God, enveloping us with love and affection. It’s the place where Jesus often was found, before the sun rose or late in the evening, discerning the loving voice of the Father.
Finding our way to interior stillness is a great challenge but an even more significant reward.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
This is a reprise of season 2 episode 1 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
A discerning leader understands that service to others is based upon a relationship with God and thereby prioritizes the nurture of the soul. Commencing a new series, Steve Macchia and his spiritual director, Br. David Vryhof (www.ssje.org), explore the importance of spiritual practices as a foundation on which to deepen a life with God. Since we generally live unreflective lives, we need the space, the grace, and the rhythms to pursue on our pathway to greater union with God. Spiritual practices are a means to the abundant life. It’s all about love!
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
This is a reprise of season 1 episode 5 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
Imagining what it would be like if the Church were filled with discerning leaders, Steve and Jeremy dream together about a Church filled with those who regularly turn to God. With Romans 12: 1,2 as backdrop for today’s episode, we explore six principles for practicing discernment together as leadership teams. Out of a transformed and renewed mind, we are able to test, affirm, and discern God’s good and perfect will. The goal: a lifestyle of spiritual discernment for leaders and communities and a lifetime of companionship with God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
This is a reprise of season 1 episode 4 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
Psalm 139 reminds us that God discerns all of our ways out of his abundant and unconditional love for us. His attentiveness toward us evokes a response of attentiveness to him. Discernment means to perceive, recognize, sift, sort, and separate, learning to know what is knowable. To practice a preference for God helps us lean more and more fully his direction, discerning him courageously and gratefully. Steve and Jeremy unpack noticing God in revelatory, reasoning, and discerning times. They also discuss the role of consolation and desolation in discernment.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia | Guest: Jeremy Stefano
This is a reprise of season 1 episode 3 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
Beginning with the prayer of the Apostle Paul to the Church in Philippi and ending with his prayer to the Colossians, Steve and Jeremy unpack some of the most essential ingredients of prayerful discernment. They discuss the importance of an experiential knowledge of and an ever-deepening intimacy with God. And, they lovingly caution us not to slip into the mind-to-mind combat so many teams encounter at their strategy tables. Instead, choosing to become a community of love and prayerfulness will lead us into Christ-honoring discernment.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
This is a reprise of season 1 episode 2 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
Continuing the conversation about spiritual discernment, Steve and Jeremy look at how Jesus’ mother and disciples were either kept from or open to his presence and mission. The Gospels are filled with stories that provide real-life opportunities for practicing a preference for God. Defining the attributes of discernment with the backdrop of Jesus’ earthly journey gives us important glimpses into the clarity of his teaching and mission. The way forward for all of us is seen in the simple yet profound intentionality of seeing God everywhere.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
This is a reprise of season 1 episode 1 of The Discerning Leader Podcast.
On this inaugural episode, Steve and Jeremy recount one of the pinnacle accounts of discernment in Luke 24. The Road to Emmaus is a wonderful example of discernment as a way of life, and not simply a way to make decisions. Noticing the presence, power, and peace of Jesus is the beginning, middle, and end of healthy spiritual discernment. And, like the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, so too do we need to practice a preference for God and encourage one another to look for Jesus along our lifelong journeys of faith.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Gary Franklin
“For the first twenty years of my ministry, discernment wasn’t a part of my way of life - it was just busyness and activity.” – Gary Franklin
A large part of discernment is learning to pay attention to our soul. Gary Franklin is a pastor in the greater Atlanta area who has ministered for over four decades, is the founder of the Leaders Heart Inc, and is a graduate of LTI’s Emmaus program. Gary joins Steve Macchia to share his story of transformation, becoming a formational leader rather than a strategic leader. Gary describes his journey as one of holding on to God’s presence, peace, power, and courage in the context of massive transitions. We are encouraged to cultivate our capacity to be present with God, to know ourselves, and restore the wonder of God’s presence.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Abigail Carroll
“Poetry starts with submitting myself to beauty.” – Abigail Carroll
God is a creative artist who delights in our creativity. God is glorified when we enter into creativity with Him. Abigail Carroll, the author of three poetry collections and pastor of arts and spiritual formation joins Steve Macchia to share her life story of collaborating with God in creativity. In this episode, Abigail describes how writing poetry has enlivened her heart and moved her soul to focus on God, especially during times of grief. We are encouraged to create with the Spirit of God through writing poetry, journaling, and through other creative means.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Iain Whitfield
“He knew the timing would be best if it were radically different from what I understood it to be.” – Iain Whitfield
God isn’t seeking our permission; God is seeking our submission. Iain Whitfield shares this principle from his life. Iain was born in India to missionary parents, spent two decades in the UK and almost four decades in the United States. Ian served as Community Life Pastor in Winchester, Massachusetts for twelve years. His first career was in commercial banking which he left to help care for his terminally ill daughter who died in 2006. Iain shares his experience of God in trusting for his daughter’s nurture and care and for provision during a vocational transition.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Gayle Heaslip
“How can I carry Christ with me throughout the day?” – Gayle Heaslip
How can we carry the presence, power, and peace of God with us throughout our day? Gayle Heaslip joins Steve Macchia to share her story of transformation. Gayle invites us to move from spending time with God in the morning and moving forward in the day without any change to viewing our life as a “monastery of the heart,” recognizing that we can carry Christ with us throughout the day. Listen as Gayle describes her experience being filled with the Holy Spirit and how we can experience the indwelling presence of the Spirit of God. Gayle Heaslip has a degree in counseling from Gordon-Conwell Seminary, has completed Selah’s Certificate Training Program in Spiritual Direction, and is the founding pastor of Emmaus Anglican Church in Falmouth, MA.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Rowena Day
“There are so many ways that our attention is pulled, and we are divorced from our own bodies which make it really hard to notice God.” – Rowena Day
Season 26 will focus on life stories that have been shaped by the presence, power and peace of God. Rowena Day was born and raised in Canada and now lives in Washington D.C with her husband Jon and their four children. She was a member of LTI’s Emmaus program and has just begun the Selah-Anglican program this month! She is passionate about creative arts, spiritual formation, soul care and its intersection with neurobiology. Rowena shares with Steve how she notices the presence of God through the mighty oceans and in the minute details of our lives. Rowena encourages us with the notion that only when our mind, heart, body and spirit are fully integrated can we be receptive to what God has for us in the present.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
“Death gives way to life. Not only lived out by Jesus but meant to be lived out by each of us.” – David Vryhof, SSJE
Holy Week is considered the climax of the Christian year. The service that starts on Maundy Thursday continues all the way to the Easter Vigil and is the capstone of Holy Week. Steve Macchia and Brother David Vryhof return to the podcast to discuss how the liturgical worship of holy week very much engages our body with our mind and heart. During these days we recognize the death of Christ that leads to His rising. This process of death to new life is an ongoing conversion process that we are invited to participate in daily.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
“We are offering ourselves in fresh new ways to God in Lent.” – David Vryhof, SSJE
Holy week has the potential to invite us into intimacy sharing with Jesus not only his triumph and resurrection but his path of suffering. Commencing a two-week interlude, Steve Macchia and his spiritual director, Brother David Vryhof of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (Episcopal Monastic Community based in Cambridge, MA) explore ways that we can value and participate in the work of Christ during holy week. All of us are in pursuit of a deeper affection for Christ. Times like Holy Week bring us to that deeper place of desire, longing towards Jesus.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia
“We get into conflict related to discernment because there are those around the table of discernment who don’t want to be patient with the process.” – Steve Macchia
So often we are confronted with environments that are not going to be very friendly to a prayerful process of discernment. In order to find the fullness of God’s design for us we may need the help of another. This ten-phase process (that has been used by the church for generations) can be your help. In this final episode of season 25, Steve shares pastoral reflections on the entire process of discernment. Drawing upon decades of ministry experience, Steve reminds us how crucial prayer is throughout the complete discernment process. Steve recounts how crucial it is we have the right people involved – those who have a heart for God and are more committed to the process of discernment than their own preconceived ideas.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott
“If we don’t do deliberation well, we torpedo all the good work we’ve done so far” – John Pearson
During the process of discernment, we must learn how to deliberate well before finally making a decision. John Pearson and Matt Scott return to the podcast to complete this four-part series on the 10 phase process for discernment. During phase 8 we deliberate in a manner that is grace-filled, loving and prayerful. Without this way of discussion, discernment goes off the rails and the most charismatic person in the room takes over. During phase 9, a decision is finally made. John and Steve discuss the important distinction between being united in a decision versus being unanimous. How the board or groups speaks about the decision is also important. During the final phase (10) the group enters into a process of review, evaluation and if necessary, starting the discernment process again. In this, the leader is charged to celebrate what God is doing because of the decision made.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia | Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott
“Clarity and consolation are big words in the discernment process.” – Steve Macchia
God is a God of clarity and not confusion and He wants His children to experience clarity. Through these phases of discernment, we experience greater clarity. John Pearson and Matt Scott return to the podcast to continue this masterclass in group discernment. Episode three expounds upon phases four through seven of the discernment process. In these phases we assemble the facts, critique our options, consider why we should not do something and finally consider why we should do something. Throughout the process we are invited to not merely give lip service to prayer, but to pause and seek the Lord’s face, bathing the entire process in prayer.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia | Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott
“I think we shortchange the Holy Spirit by not asking, ‘Lord, who do you want on this discernment team?’ It makes a world of difference.” – John Pearson
Who is helping you discern? How willing are you to let go of your ideas and opinions? John Pearson and Matt Scott return to the podcast to phase two and three of the discernment process. In phase two we consider who the right people are to discern a decision. Matt shares from experience the benefit of inviting those people that know us best, love us most and are going to be impacted by our decision to the discernment process. In the church and nonprofit side, John and Steve encourage us to invite a representation of all those who are a part of the organization. The third phase deals with our willingness to let go of power and choose humility by holding our ideas and opinions with an open hand and an open heart.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott
“The why question is a gutsy question. There’s a lot of people who need more guts as lead ministers.” – John Pearson
Every day we are confronted with decision-making. Some decisions are obvious, others require us to wait. The most difficult decision-making is deciding between multiple options. In Season 25 of The Discerning Leader podcast, we will focus on the process of discernment. Drawing material from Chapter 8 of Steve’s book, The Discerning Life, John Pearson and Matt Scott join Steve Macchia for a conversation on the big question of decision making - the “why” question. John Pearson is a management and board governance consultant and author of many books, including Mastering the Management Buckets.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“How powerful it is for people to let each other emote and not get in the way of what the Spirit of God is doing and let God do His work” – Steve Macchia
In this concluding episode, Steve and Matt share what it means to be present to God and to one another. When we listen to one another well our goal is not to fix, judge or necessarily say something helpful. Instead, we offer our attention and our presence. We make space for the trinity to do the work of healing and restoration. Steve and Matt share what this looks like in leadership teams and in personal relationships. A practical application we can take from this week’s episode is to ask the people around us “am I companioning you well?” In listening to their experience of us, we can learn a lot on how to be good spiritual companions.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“Leaders plant seeds of hope, even when the situation is dire.” – Steve Macchia
We live in a world that is constantly disappointing us. How do we continue to have hope? Steve Macchia and Matt Scott return to the podcast to talk about this very idea. Using week five of the appendix of The Discerning Life, they echo the psalmist who points our eyes to the mountain, to the Lord the maker of heaven and earth. The temptation for leaders (especially gifted, capable leaders) is to invite people to hope in us. The best thing we can do is come alongside them and point them towards our eternal hope.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“Is this really God speaking or is it any of those other voices pulling me off course?” – Matt Scott
Every day there are a multitude of voices that clamor for our attention. Sometimes the voice we hear is our own internal voice of pride or selfish pursuit. Other times we hear the voice of the enemy through lies, deceit, or shame. What we want is to sift through the voices, notice God, hear his voice and even help others respond to his voice. In this episode, Steve and Matt return to the podcast to take us through the fourth week of our forty-day discernment journey. This week's readings from The Discerning Life center on God being revealed and our openness to fully receive what he wants to do. Be encouraged to listen for God’s voice amidst competing voices, for your own walk with God and for your spiritual friends.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“We are to be peculiar people in our grace, our mercy, our kindness, our love, our forgiveness, our reconciliation - that’s the peculiarity of the church.” – Steve Macchia
Sometimes we think the church is perfect. We wish it were. But the church is not perfect. The church is comprised of broken people. In this episode, Steve and Matt walk us through the third week of our forty-day discernment journey. This week's readings from The Discerning Life center on how we can become aware of our personal brokenness which contributes to brokenness in the body of Christ. Steve shares that “the broken me ends up contributing to the broken we.” We need to release an expectation of perfection from one another and adopt a posture of saying, “Lord, have mercy” first on me then on us collectively. We end by asking what can we do today to be a positive life-giving experience in the body of Christ?
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“In the midst of pain and suffering and sorrow, what is God inviting us to do about it?” – Steve Macchia
Most of our emotional pain and heartache is unnecessary. Because we are jealous, anxious or fearful, we tend to hold grudges. We tend to throw each other away relationally when that is not the way of God. In this episode, Steve and Matt walk us through the second week of our forty-day discernment journey. This week's readings from The Discerning Life center on our broken world and come from some familiar passages from Genesis and Exodus. Steve shares about the forgiveness that Joseph gave to his brothers. This forgiveness redeemed them back to him, to one another and even to the mandate their father Jacob gave on his deathbed. Matt shares about God speaking to Moses in the burning bush. This moment was God seeing the suffering of His people and Moses’ commissioning to be an agent of God’s redemptive work.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“In the discerning life, we have to take everything we have and hold it more loosely.” – Steve Macchia
Our world is often very noisy and fast-paced, making it hard to hear God’s voice. During season 24 we will look at a forty-day prayer and reflection resource from Steve’s latest book, The Discerning Life. In Episode 1, Steve Macchia and Matt Scott have a conversation around discernment in community and friendships. Steve shares reflections on discerning God from the account of Abraham and Isaac found in Genesis 22. Steve reminds us that ALL that we have comes from God. God wants us to function as stewards, holding things looser than we often do. Finally, Steve encourages us to listen to God attentively and obey Him faithfully.
Visit www.stevemacchia.com to order your own copy of The Discerning Life.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Margery Kennelly
“We always think about waiting on God but God spends a long time waiting on us.” – Margery Kennelly
Margery serves as Associate Rector at St George's Episcopal Church in Nashville, TN. Margery joins Steve to share pastoral reflections on Epiphany - the bright clear revelation of Christ’s kingship over the whole world. For Christians, this time reminds us to manifest who Jesus is in the world through our testimony and work in the world. As we think about waiting on God, we are reminded that God spends time waiting on us. Margery shares that patience is the ally of waiting and encourages us to demonstrate this fruit of the spirit while we wait. Finally, we are invited to Ignatian Examen, asking, “Does my life glorify God?”
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Todd Cravens
“What do I need to do now? Waiting is not an absence of activity.” - Todd Cravens
Todd Cravens is in his 16th year, serving as Teaching Pastor and Elder at Hope Christian Church in Winchester, MA. He grew up in Louisville, KY, attended the University of Louisville, and received his M. Div in Theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Todd and his wife Alisa have three adult children and enjoy hosting international students, totaling more than 60 students from 16 different countries. Todd joins Steve to share about personal and pastoral practices in the week after Christmas. We are encouraged to reflect back upon the year and give voice to the way God has been at work in our lives. We are invited to continue being attentive to God; bringing what we think out to happen into alignment with what we know God wants to happen.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Bryan Wilkerson
“Believe that the Lord had something fresh for you this Christmas” – Bryan Wilkerson
Bryan Wilkerson serves as Senior Pastor at Grace Chapel, authored Living God’s Story, is a graduate of Wheaton College and Denver Seminary, and holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Bryan’s life mission statement is “to lead as many people as possible to a joyful and growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.” He and his wife, Karen, have four married children and a growing number of grandchildren. Brian shares with Steve that as he enters his thirty-ninth year of ministry, Christmas is his favorite time of year to preach and minister. He believes that the Lord can bring something new in our spirit as we wait expectantly. His pastoral counsel to us is to be quiet for five minutes – to sit in front of the Christmas tree or fireplace, go for a walk, and allow the Lord to meet us in those moments.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Mark Booker
“Waiting on God is resisting the impulse to take matters into my own hands.” – Mark Booker
Mark Booker serves as the Senior Pastor at Park Street Church in downtown Boston. Mark joins Steve to share about waiting in his leadership and personal life. Many of us like to bring change and make things happen. Advent puts the spotlight on the reality that we are a waiting people. We often grasp for what is tangible; what we can control or manipulate. Mark reminds us that waiting looks like resisting the impulse to fix things through our own means. Waiting is about trusting in God’s promises, even when evidence points in all kinds of different directions.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
“Waiting in the Bible is not just looking at the clock. It is about anticipation. It’s about cultivating hope and joy. ” – Dave Friedrich
Dave Friedrich has advanced degrees in philosophy from York University in Toronto and in spiritual formation from Regent College in Vancouver, BC. He has lived and worked at L’Abri, a ministry of Christian hospitality and cultural engagement, both in Switzerland and in Massachusetts. Dave has also worked at a bank, been a professional firefighter/paramedic, a swing dance instructor, and a youth pastor. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 2013 and is currently serving as the rector of Church of the Cross, an Anglican church in Boston. Reflecting on Simeon in the Temple from Luke 2, Dave joins Steve for a conversation about waiting on God. We are tempted to want to know exactly when God will fulfill His promises. He often doesn’t answer that question. Instead, He gives us surprises in our waiting. Advent is a season where we cultivate hope and joy in what is coming and in what is already being experienced that gives us a foretaste of what is to come.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Ripper
“We suffer from a severe depletion of spiritual expectancy. Moments of waiting can actually rekindle the flames of hope.” – Dave Ripper
Dave Ripper serves as lead pastor of Crossway Christian Church in Nashua and Milford, NH, and as the chaplain of the Boston Bruins. He’s a graduate of Denver Seminary and is finishing his Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual Direction from Fuller Theological Seminary and The Dallas Willard Center. Dave is the co-author of The Fellowship of the Suffering: How Hardship Shapes Us for Ministry and Mission (IVP, 2018), and is the co-founder of Evergreen, a nine-month training experience for emerging leaders in partnership with Converge Northeast. Dave joins Steve to share pastoral encouragement on reflection, stillness and waiting. While we wait, Dave encourages us to keep a faithful list - noting the top three things already in our lives that God invites us to be faithful to. Reflecting on Psalm 40, Dave and Steve invite us to consider the experience of waiting as an obstacle to our faith or an invitation to a deeply expectant life. An expectant life is a wonder-filled, joyous experience.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
“During Advent, we give space to the waiting. All of us are waiting for something.” – Susan Currie
Susan serves as the Director of Leadership Transformation's Selah Certificate Training Program in Spiritual Direction. Over the past 30 years, she has offered retreat leadership and formation ministry to various church and parachurch bodies. Susan also serves as Affiliated Clergy with All Saints’ Anglican Cathedral in Amesbury, MA. In our 21st century life we do not like to wait for anything. Sharing from the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Susan Currie returns to the podcast and invites us to come alongside the Biblical characters. We consider their longings, their waiting, and the things we ourselves are waiting for. She reminds us that all of us are waiting for something. In Advent, we are invited to slow down enough to recognize our longings and offer them to the only one who can come and make all things right.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Cindy Foley
“If my chief thing is to look for God, and look for His goodness in people, it makes me less critical.” – Cindy Foley
Cindy Foley and her husband Tim are the Divisional Leaders of the Northwest Division of The Salvation Army, with headquarters in Seattle, WA. Tim and Cindy have served together in appointments in Hawaii, Arizona, and in a variety of roles in California, notably as the first Administrators of the Ray and Joan Kroc Corps Community Center in San Diego, at the College for Officers Training, and as Divisional Leaders for the Golden State Division. Cindy was later appointed as the Chief Financial Officer for The Salvation Army USA. Cindy shares highlights of noticing God throughout her life, including life lessons from the farm, teaching Sunday school at age 11, opening the first Salvation Army Kroc Center and serving with her husband in ministry. Cindy encourages us to notice God as we think of people - “There’s a big difference between looking for the goodness of God in people instead of looking for mistakes or things that aren’t done.”
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: Bill and Kristi Gaultiere
“Ohh, I need to do some more inner journey work. This is an invitation.” –Kristi Gaultiere
Bill and Kristi Gaultiere are Drs of Psychology and the Founders of Soul Shepherding, a ministry to help pastors, leaders, churches, and all those desiring to thrive with Jesus in emotional and relational health. They are authors of a number of soul care books and resources. They have been speaking and writing about following Jesus in life and ministry since 1987. Bill and Kristi join Steve for a rich conversation about spiritual practices, discerning together and soul care. For their book Journey of the Soul, they reflect on more than 70,000 hours of therapy and spiritual direction with people. From Journey of the Soul, Bill and Kristi share six stages of spiritual growth and different walls that we experience. These walls start as periods of disorientation but become transition times to a more Christ-centered way of being. Listen as they share personal stories of supporting one another during their own walls and offer a light and a map to help every person through their own journey of the soul.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: James Bryan Smith
“Every need that my soul has, Jesus meets them – every single one of them.” – James Bryan Smith
James Bryan Smith is the author of the Good and Beautiful Series which includes The Good and Beautiful God, The Good and Beautiful You, The Good and Beautiful Life, and The Good and Beautiful Community. He earned his MDiv at Yale and his D. Min at Fuller and is a theology professor at Friends University in Wichita, Kansas, where he also serves as the director of the Apprentice Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation. A founding member of Richard J. Foster's spiritual renewal ministry, Renovaré, Smith is an ordained United Methodist Church minister and has served in various capacities in local churches. James joins Steve for a conversation about how our view of God transforms our understanding/experience of spiritual disciplines. With a toxic view of God, James says “spiritual formation not only won’t help you, they might make you worse, you might turn them into legalism.” With a right view of God, “the disciplines take on a new understanding. Now it’s not, ‘I’m doing these things to get this angry God to be less angry.’ It’s,‘I’m doing these things because I want to be with this God.’”
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Cindy Bunch
“When we develop self-compassion, we cultivate greater empathy towards others.” – Cindy Bunch
Cindy Bunch is a divisional vice president and associate publisher for InterVarsity Press, where she has worked for more than thirty years. She acquires and develops for the Formatio line of spiritual formation books. She is the author of Be Kind to Yourself as well as several Bible study guides in IVP's LifeGuide® Bible Studies series. Cindy holds an MA in theological studies from Northern Seminary and completed her spiritual direction training at North Park Seminary. She and her husband live in the Chicago suburbs. Cindy shares with Steve how we can develop greater empathy towards others by first experiencing the kindness of Jesus to us. Hear how Cindy’s training in Spiritual Direction has taught her to notice God in everything, including working with authors as an editor.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Molly Shafferman
“‘I thought you were going to teach me to pray.’ ‘We are. We are listening a little bit.’” – Molly Shafferman
Molly Shafferman lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband Howard. They have two grown children and three adorable grandchildren. Molly grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Family and Child Development. Molly has been active in church and civic groups all her adult life, including Healing Prayer and Women’s ministries, Alpha, and home Bible studies. She is a graduate of LTI’s Selah program and offers spiritual direction to many. Molly shares major turning points in her life. Highlights include stories about her mother who taught Molly how to pray, entrusting a child with Tourette’s Syndrome to Jesus and the impact that Spiritual Direction has had upon Molly’s own life and marriage.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Carolyn Arends
“The promise we always have is not no pain - it's no wasted pain. There's nothing that He can’t redeem.” – Carolyn Arends
Carolyn Arends is Renovaré's Director of Education where she oversees the Renovaré Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation, the Renovaré Book Club, and various other initiatives. Additionally, she has written and released 14 albums, earned 2 Dove awards and is the author of 3 critically acclaimed books. You can find more about her at www.renovare.org and www.carolynarends.com. Carolyn joins Steve and shares several turning points of her life. After reading Steve’s book, The Discerning Life, she recognizes these watershed moments as discerning life moments. When asked about how she cultivates a discerning life, she noted that the formation that makes a discerning person is almost identical to the formation that makes a great writer or artist, it is living receptively to the Lord.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Trevor Hudson
“I thought to myself, ‘God, did I really get all this wrong? I thought you were leading me in this direction.’” – Trevor Hudson
Season 22 will focus on life stories shaped around spiritual discernment as a lifestyle. Trevor Hudson is an ordained minister in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. After spending forty years doing pastoral ministry in a local congregation, he now gives his time to lecturing, teaching, and writing in the areas of spiritual formation and spiritual direction. His most recent book, Seeking God-Finding Another Kind of Life with St Ignatius and Dallas Willard, is available now from NavPress. Trevor and Steve discuss discerning what it means to follow Jesus in family and vocational life as well as through times of discontent and suffering. Trevor shares the common theme about seeking Jesus through the lives of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Dallas Willard.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Paul Borthwick
“You might be praying for someone who’s never been prayed for before in Jesus’ name.” – Paul Borthwick
As we conclude season 21, Paul and Steve prompt us to ask: so, what? now, what? and what kind of person shall we become from this? We start with understanding the three big greats. The great commandment invites us to see the world that God sees it. Great compassion compels our heart to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. And the great commission leads us to proclaim the love of Jesus to those who cross our path and those who are around this world. These three things often impact our daily lives: changing our mindset, opening our worldview, and reminding us of the assurance - Jesus’ promise to always be with us, even to the ends of the earth.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Paul Borthwick
“Prayer is our response to the global amount of information.” – Paul Borthwick
During His ascension, Jesus commissioned His disciples to be “witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth.” Here, Paul Borthwick shares five practices that help us see where God is at work locally and globally:
- Information. God fuels our discernment through Scriptural knowledge and understanding of current events
- Intercession. Prayer is our response to the global amount of information
- Involvement. Notice where God is at work in the people around you and consider a short-term mission trip
- Integration. Letting the things we know about the world influence our life
- Investigation - Keeping our eyes, ears and hearts open to what God wants us.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
“There is a family of God to get to know globally.” – Steve Macchia
Followers of Jesus are part of a big family that stretches around the world. This family is in China, Columbia, Syria, Russia, Ukraine and in every country of the world. Every weekend this family gathers to worship in places from the greatest cathedrals in Europe to huts with mud floors. If we could listen to the global Christian family, they would ask us to first know them, and know their stories; second to pray for them and third partner with them in their local ministry. Discovering the family of God globally may start as simply as starting a conversation with someone who has a different accent than you or visiting a church in your own city made up of people of a distinct ethnicity.
Resources:
- Operation World
- Gordon Conwell Center for Global Christianity
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Paul Borthwick
“I think that we are living in the most exciting time in Christian history since Jesus walked the earth.” – Paul Borthwick
Steve Macchia and Paul Borthwick continue their discussion on discovering God’s heart for the world and our shared calling to serve collaboratively in global missions. In this episode, Paul says “As a student of God’s work around the world for quite awhile; I believe that we are living in the most exciting time to be alive in the history of Christianity since Jesus walked the earth.” Listen in as Paul explains this position and hear about missionary work around the world that the news media isn’t sharing.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Paul Borthwick
“The thing that God is using to help me be a person of love is the phrase that comes to my mind whenever I see a person; ‘this is a human being created in the image of God and worthy of love and respect.’ ” – Paul Borthwick
Season 21 will focus on discovering God’s heart for the world and our shared calling to serve collaboratively in global missions. Steve Macchia welcomes guest Paul Borthwick to the podcast. In episode 1, Steve and Paul talk about God's love for all people, sharing four insights from John 3:16-21. Listen to Paul’s story about an emotional encounter he had at the airport after the Boston Marathon Bombing.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia
“In order for us to be watchful and waiting, we need to be patient.” – Steve Macchia
Noticing God in everything is what fosters a discerning life in Christ. Within the realm of reflection is the ancient practice of Examen. Created initially by St. Ignatius in the 16th Century, it’s found new life in the modern spiritual formation movement. Here Steve Macchia unpacks the discipline by walking through the five big areas of Examen:
- Aware of God’s promised presence
- Review the day with gratitude (what gifts did you receive?)
- Pay attention to our emotions about the day
- Pray into one feature of the day that you are highlighting in your reflection
- Look toward tomorrow with prayerful anticipation and perhaps even a particular action
He also introduces a handful of additional questions for individual or group reflection.
Downloadable Resources:
- Touchpoint: Daily Examen
- Examen Questions for Personal and Group Reflection
Host: Steve Macchia
“Remembering and giving thanks are good for your soul.” – Steve Macchia
A grateful heart is a God-honoring heart and we want to fill our souls with words of thanksgiving every single day of our lives. The discipline of reflection is what aids us in both remembrance and gratitude, the main themes of reflective journaling. Within the context of our personal prayer closet, where we are in pursuit of a spacious encounter with God, we want to attend to the ways God has been active in our lives. Writing down what we notice in a journal helps us focus on the deeper meaning of life’s ebb and flow. Like rocks of remembrance that God’s people piled high after the parting of the sea, or the significance of the Lord’s Table, we practice reflective disciplines for the sake of pointing to God as the central figure of our relationships and responsibilities. Action without reflection is meaningless action.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia
“How is it with your soul today, dear friend?” – Steve Macchia
The invitation in today’s episode is slanted toward listening to God in our prayers. Once we’ve settled into a spacious encounter with God, which commences with time in the Word, we enter into our life of prayer. So many ways to pray – upward prayers of praise and adoration, inward prayers of confession and forgiveness, outward prayers of supplication and concern. Regardless of the focus of your prayers, are you attending to the voice of God? Or, are you doing all the talking to God? Steve’s focus is on tilting the balance toward more listening to God than talking to him, simply because of the belief that God has more important things to say to us than we have to say to him. And, because God delights to speak into our lives in transformative ways. Consider adjusting your physical postures of prayer as you discover the joy of listening prayer.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
"We need to be biblically centered in our personal spiritual practices." – Steve Macchia
In Season 20 we will focus on four spiritual practices: Lectio Divina, listening prayer, reflective journaling, and daily Examen. Steve Macchia is fluent in these practices, having made them an essential part of his regular prayer closet experience as a beloved child of God. He believes firmly in the need for us to keep the Scriptures central to all aspects of our personal devotional practices. Many of us are taught to study the biblical text in order to teach, preach, or share it with others. But, in our prayer closets we are invited to simply receive God’s Word as a gift for our soul. Here we are fully present to the movement of God’s Spirit, attentive and receptive to the living Word of God. The six major historical movements of Lectio Divina are presented here: Silencio, Lectio, Meditatio, Oratio, Contemplatio, and Incarnatio.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“Look what social media has done to our ‘notice me’ inclinations today and how that self-centeredness keeps us from preferring God instead.” – Steve Macchia
This episode originally aired on 01/20/22 in Season 17 - The Discerning Life (Episode 1). Spiritual discernment is “practicing a preference for God” and one that we can learn how to live on a daily basis. How do we posture ourselves to prefer God and guide others to do likewise? That’s what we need to learn and it only happens by a practiced discipline and choice of the heart. Perceiving and noticing God in the daily, routine places of our lives prepares us for times.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
“Most of us have a stained-glass image of Jesus and it’s hard for us to grasp his daily life as a beloved son of God.” –David Vryhof, SSJE
This episode originally aired on 07/08/21 in Season 12 - Discerning God in Community (Episode 1). Brother David Vryhof of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (Episcopal Monastic Community based in Cambridge, MA) joins Steve in conversation about Jesus and his discernment at the beginning of his earthly ministry. They recount Jesus’ baptism, his 40-days of temptation in the wilderness, and his proclamation of his mission and ministry in the synagogue. Each encounter is rich with meaning and purpose, profound in their mystery, and significant touch points for Jesus and his growing discernment about the Father’s loving desires.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Adele Calhoun
“Shaming voices have the power to cripple us. They isolate us from the truth about ourselves and others.” – Adele Calhoun
This episode originally aired on 09/23/21 in Season 14 - Discerning God Emotionally and Relationally (Episode 1). Shame is universal. It’s been with us since Adam and Eve hid from God after succumbing to the shaming voice of the devil. How we deal with the shaming voices of our past will either set us free to live more abundantly, or will keep us crippled by their falsehood. In today’s episode, Adele Calhoun offers great wisdom and truth about the importance of knowing and naming the shaming narratives of our lives, and invites us to embrace practices that will lead to redemptive healing. Trust Jesus with your shame. When we are even at our worst, He comes to set us free.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Gary Thomas
“The Christian life is about an abundance of good fruit. We must walk away from toxic people in order to preserve that good fruit.” – Gary Thomas
This episode originally aired on 10/21/21 in Season 14 - Discerning God Emotionally and Relationally (Episode 5). Gary Thomas speaks to a glaring issue today: dealing with toxic people. He says, “Before you walk away from your ministry, try walking away from toxic people first.” We need to learn how to play defense, to protect what God has planted in our hearts and in our service to others. When we invest so much of our energy on toxic relationships, we lose sight of God’s missional call to build up the Kingdom. There may in fact come a time when it’s simply best to just “walk away” and maintain your focus on Jesus and his mission. Be wise. Say no. Turn away. Be free.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: Rick Anderson, Susan Currie, Matt Scott, and Jeremy Stefano
“Giving space to our relationships and decisions describes well our discernment processes for Selah and for LTI overall.” – Susan Currie
Rick Anderson (Executive VP), Susan Currie (Director of Selah), Jeremy Stefano (Director of Emmaus and Abide), Matt Scott (Creative Director), and Steve Macchia (Founder and President) join their voices in rejoicing together on the occasion of the 19th Anniversary of Leadership Transformations. They share stories of how spiritual discernment has been a central part of our life together in relationships and ministry. Rick talks about the impressive and unforced discernment process followed by the LTI board as we called him onto the team more than 16 years ago. Susan reflects on how the Lord directed our steps in offering training in spiritual direction, and how the Selah ministry has grown over the years. Jeremy helps us slow down conversations and lean prayerfully into our ongoing discerning presence and the development of new ministry, like Emmaus and Abide. Matt comes alongside us with his creative heart for God and collects our shared longings for discerning the voice and passion of God for all of us. Join the celebration of 19 faithful years with a donation to www.LeadershipTransformations.org
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Michelle Sanchez
“In a racially broken world, what we need for disciples to be is not color-blind, but color-courageous.” – Michelle Sanchez
Michelle Sanchez is Executive Ministry of Make and Deepen Disciples for the Evangelical Covenant Church, a multiethnic denomination of over 900 congregations throughout North America. She is also the author of Color-Courageous Discipleship book series. As she notes, it’s far better to become color-courageous than to be color-blind. Her vision: follow Jesus, dismantle racism when we see it, and build beloved community by loving one another across our differences. As an African American minister, Michelle has a unique voice to communicate this important message to the Church today. In this conversation she shares how God called her out of her investment banking career into full time ministry, beginning in the local church and now in a strategic denominational leadership position. Find her at MichelleTSanchez.com
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jenn Giles Kemper “What if the things that bring you joy are an arrow pointing you to God?” – Jenn Giles Kemper
Jenn Giles Kemper is the Founder of Sacred Ordinary Days, offering intentional spiritual guidance for those desirous of a wholistic life in Christ. They create tools and curate resources for a global community of ecumenical believers. Jenn’s a contemplative entrepreneur with a heart for the health and vitality of the body of Christ. She’s creative, insightful, and willing to take risks courageously and prayerfully. A trained spiritual director, Jenn organized the Sacred Ordinary Days planner for those who prefer a tactile prayer experience throughout the liturgical year. When asked about how she fosters a discerning life, she encourages us to know yourself and give yourself permission to be yourself, to create space, become more aware, learn to live life more open handedly, and see prayer as a doorway into a relationship with God.
Host: Steve Macchia | Guest: Al Lopus “Divine providence called me and I answered the phone.” – Al Lopus
Today’s discerning life story features the founder of Best Christian Workplace Institute, Al Lopus, who joins us to share his wisdom about the keys to outstanding organizational life. His new book, The Road to Flourishing: Eight Keys to Boost Employee Engagement and Well-Being covers eight priorities to greater effectiveness. Based on extensive research, the eight keys also spell the word FLOURISH: Fantastic Teams; Life-Giving Work; Outstanding Talent; Uplifting Growth; Rewarding Compensation; Inspirational Leadership; Sustainable Strategy; and Healthy Communication. The #1 need: inspirational leadership, focusing on the importance of character, integrity, competency and trust. So much to glean for Christian leaders today!
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Mindy Caliguire "Everything I believe about soul care came about because of the collapse of my interior life." – Mindy Caliguire
President and Co-Founder of Soul Care, Mindy Caliguire shares about her experiences in spiritual formation ministry and a life of soul care for herself and others. She looks back to the challenges of church planting and her early days of releasing a life of the strategic and analytical in order to “swan dive” into the depth of her interior life, soaking in the unforced rhythms of God’s grace. It is here that she found God in mystery, slowness, stillness and love. She discovered the joy of immersing herself in God and then resting in God’s provisions. Most recently displaced by a wildfire in her neighborhood. Mindy’s faith story is entering a new chapter of trusting God fully. Amidst this level of disruption, soul care has been essential.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Cheryl Buchanan “It was me that needing saving from my prejudice, judgments, and ignorance. It was me that needed to grow.” – Cheryl Buchanan
Cheryl Buchanan is the co-founder of New Story Community (NewStoryCommunity.net), a ministry designed to promote the flourishing of indigenous women in safety, beauty, and community. Meeting in a retreat center in British Columbia, Canada, this new ministry is a safe haven for women who are seeking to be freed of addictions that have held them captive for years. Cheryl’s love for these women began nearly 20 years ago when she volunteered her services to come alongside indigenous families through their local church. God birthed and matured Cheryl’s discerning life story in listening prayer, spiritual direction, and hospitality.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Debby Mills “Debby, you are a peacemaker, but you are deeply troubled.” – Debby Mills
Growing up, Debby Mills became disillusioned with the church but never gave up on God. And he never gave up on her. In her professional career and her family life, Debby naturally serves from a belief that every life matters to God and should therefore matter to us. As an adult, she was baptized and confirmed in her local church, which led her into a deeper exploration of faith. Her involvement with LTI’s Emmaus program was personally restorative, which led she and her husband into leading soul hospitality groups in their home. The Mills’ are volunteers with Hospitality Homes, an agency that provides free space for family members of those who are hospitalized. Additionally, the ministry of racial reconciliation has been birthed in Debby’s heart and has led her into service opportunities designed to bring justice and wholeness to all.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Sara Singleton “In my painful disappointments, I learned how to be content, and I learned of God’s love and sufficiency.” – Sara Singleton
Sara Singleton shares her story about the obvious and mysterious ways that she has been discerning the hand and heart of God for several decades. She begins with how she and her husband Jim met during college, and fell in love thanks to the grace of God. Jim was for her “the safest person on earth” and their marriage has been a testimony of God’s love ever since. She recounts her story of failed pregnancies and the challenge of raising an adopted child from Guatemala. Her years of ministry, most recently in Newburyport, MA, led her into her doctoral work and an incredible ministry of racial justice and reconciliation. Go to Whitfield2020.org for additional information. She ends the episode sharing two stories of God’s amazing provision!
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Gordon MacDonald "Expect to reorganize your interior life every 7-10 years." –Gordon MacDonald
Gordon MacDonald’s “View From Eighty” continues in this episode with the following issues and ideas:
- Live modestly, stay free of debt, be generous, develop a financial plan, and be wary of those who try to buy your favor;
- Expect to reorganize your interior life every 7-10 years;
- Receive complements, criticism and counsel with humility and appreciation, avoid whining, complaining, self-pity and making excuses;
- Stay alert for the evils and confusions imbedded in organizational life;
- Be quick to say (with sincerity and put into writing too) thank you, well done, I’m sorry, I forgive you, and how can I help?;
- When you prepare a sermon or teaching, always ask yourself, “What difference will this presentation make to those who will hear you?”;
- Be alert for the sensual “triggers” that sometimes follow intense spiritual ministry; and
- Return to the cross regularly: express your gratitude, name your sins and resentments, pray for the world, and listen for God’s calls to do mighty things.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Gordon MacDonald “Your number one priority in the Lord’s work is your family.” –Gordon MacDonald
“The View from Eighty” is a synopsis of Gordon MacDonald’s discernment today. What are the 15 things I’ve observed in myself and others, that make you either a success or failure in life and ministry, fulfilling all that God invites? In this episode we cover the first 7 items:
- Prioritize the most significant people in your world;
- Never (ever!) stop growing; stay responsive to fresh ways and ideas that sustain your physical and mental health; ask great questions; enrich your wisdom and spiritual life;
- Be more a priest and less a preacher; bless people and don’t bully them;
- The time will come when you will have to relinquish titles and privileges and slip into obscurity;
- Anticipate those occasions when you may suffer, fail, doubt, face conflict, and experience loss;
- Be trustworthy and reliable, a person who keeps his/her word; don’t make promises you can’t keep; and
- Be a spiritual father/mother to teachable people who may someday inherit your responsibilities.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: John Pearson “Once you taste spiritual discernment, you won’t want to go back to the old way of decision-making.” –John Pearson
John Pearson is a leadership and management consultant, who formerly served as CEO of the Willow Creek Association, Christian Camp and Conference Association, and Christian Leadership Alliance. His “Weekly Staff Meeting” email reviews at least one book per week, including The Discerning Life (sign up at www.managementbuckets.com). He shares with us heart-warming stories about how his life has been transformed by spiritual discernment. He reminds us of the importance of having people on our leadership teams who understand discernment and want to respond to God’s desires and hear God’s voice, urging us to focus on depth instead of #’s.
You can access the Board Prayer John mentions in this episode by sending an email to steve@ltinc.org
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Nate Foster “The Jesus way is clear: hang out with 12 nobodies and then give them the keys.” –Nathan Foster
Nate Foster is the son of Richard Foster, renowned spiritual formation leader and founder of Renovare, where Nate serves as director of Community Life. He shares how his awareness of God’s engagement in his life grew from a lot of quiet reflection. It’s here that he notices God filling the gaps, often most apparent long after the fact and in quiet discernment. He sees the spiritual practices as what we do in the ordinary parts of life, serving our family or reaching out to a neighbor in need. He has quit viewing spiritual practices as only for the super spiritual, and has found renewed joy in wonderful, ordinary places filled with grace. So countercultural.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Eric Peterson "God is in everything, in all the details of life, and not just the pleasant ones." –Eric Peterson
Eric Peterson is the son of Eugene Peterson, author of The Message translation of the Bible, who found his way to faith and pastoral ministry with reluctance. As he reflects on his discerning life, he describes his journey as along a luminous trail, a metaphor based on mountain climbing. Slugging his way up the mountain, he looks back and down and sees headlamps shining on the pathway he and his friends had created. The lights are references to his own discerning life story, always being led by the light, but not always along a straight line. Eric is a man who’s been richly blessed and continues to discern ways to be a blessing to others.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott "Formation, discernment, and renewal are threads woven into everything we do at Leadership Transformations." – Matt Scott
Season 18 will focus on life stories shaped around spiritual discernment as a lifestyle, beginning with the Leadership Transformations story, nearly 19 years in the making. Spiritual formation, discernment, and renewal are embedded into everything we are and do as a ministry. And, it all began in the summer of 2002. Steve recounts the dream God awakened within his soul, in the midst of a challenging season of his family, ministry, and personal life. After months of team-based discernment, the ministry of LTI was born. Since our inception on July 1, 2003 God has built a strong foundation and solid ministry to leaders and teams, and we give God be the glory!
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott "We need a common language and experience for how best to live a discerning life individually and collectively." –Steve Macchia
As we conclude season 17, we discuss The Appendices of The Discerning Life: An Invitation to Notice God in Everything. Inspired by Rueben Job, Steve’s kind, gracious, humble and loving mentor, this 40-day guide to spiritual discernment introduces the reader to a common language and experience of discernment. This is helpful for teams and small groups who are seeking to live a discerning life in community. Discovering this lifestyle from the biblical text and in the life of the historic Church is inspirational for those in that that pursuit today. The Lord purposefully makes himself known to his beloved, and then invites us to practice a preference for him daily.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott "My true home is in Christ’s heart and Christ’s home is my heart. That’s radical!" – Steve Macchia
Today’s episode focuses on chapter nine and the Epilogue of The Discerning Life: An Invitation to Notice God in Everything. In this conversation we discuss the radical nature of the discerning life, a lifestyle marked by a transformed heart. With God as the Mastermind of the necessary renovations of our hearts and lives, we learn to trust him in all things. It’s important that we remain open to the work of God as we are molded and reshaped by the love of God. When we rest in God and trust him completely, we notice his work in our midst with greater clarity. Let’s say yes to the invitation to follow Jesus, and then discern his presence and power in all things.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott “Asking ‘Why?’ is the hardest and most important question to consider in virtually every circumstance of life.” – Steve Macchia
In chapter eight of The Discerning Life: An Invitation to Notice God in Everything, today’s episode covers the very intentional and deliberative process of spiritual discernment for groups and individuals. Here we build on the foundation of a discerning life and enter into the phase of decision-making that grows from the radical lifestyle of practicing a preference for God. We begin with the importance of the question “Why?” which is the most important question to consider. From here we shift to identifying the most important question we are discerning together, which leads into the ten questions and phases for discernmentarians to consider.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott “The discerning life requires a radical and renewed change of heart and mind.” – Steve Macchia
Today we are diving into chapter seven of The Discerning Life: An Invitation to Notice God in Everything. We unpack the importance of shifting from a self-directed to a Spirit-empowered life, and the radical choices that implies. A renewed mind is a changed mind, transformed by the invitation to consider the various levels of soul care and its parallel to house care: chores, maintenance, emergencies, redecorating, upgrading, and renovating. To the very end, even on the cross, Jesus modeled for us a life of intentional focus on God’s way…grace and forgiveness. He thereby invites us to live in full submission to his priorities, practicing a preference for God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
"All spiritual discernment happens within a story-laced context." – Steve Macchia Chapter six of The Discerning Life: An Invitation to Notice God in Everything, is the topic of today’s conversation. Here we unpack the importance of understanding and appreciating the various contexts that have shaped our lives…as well as the lives of those we are called to love and serve in Jesus. The gift of empathy is the goal – walking in each other’s shoes and showing grace, mercy, kindness and love to those who are different from us. When we become respecters of various cultures, contexts, and story lines, we learn to embrace one another and live the abundant and discerning life. Our God-blessed pathway is always rich with empathy.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott “Practicing biblical hospitality is first and foremost toward the lost, the least, the lonely, and the left behind.” – Steve Macchia
Chapter five of The Discerning Life: An Invitation to Notice God in Everything, is the topic of today’s conversation. In this conversation we explore the meaning of biblical hospitality, and how Jesus invites us to become receivable to all who cross our path. We acknowledge that our preparation is one of the greatest signs of love, not only in the external ways we are hospitable, but more importantly, in our gracious hearts. Imagine if our churches were known for being an hospitable place, where grace was our primary offering. As Jesus welcomed all, so shall we.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott “The discerning life is relational and based primarily in a listening presence.” –Steve Macchia
Chapter four of The Discerning Life: An Invitation to Notice God in Everything, is the topic of today’s conversation. A discerning life is best fulfilled in the presence of one another, as we offer grace upon grace to each of our relationships. It’s important to recognize the power of listening and learn to love and honor one another in spite of our quirks and idiosyncrasies, our gifts and abilities, our backgrounds and ethnicities. When we are fully present, we are expressing our desire to be both with and for one another, as was embodied perfectly in Jesus.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott "Unless I learn how to live a contemplative life, I will continue to live a manipulative life." – Steve Macchia Chapter three of The Discerning Life: An Invitation to Notice God in Everything, is the topic of today’s conversation. Here we unpack the importance of listening to God prayerfully, expectantly, and faithfully. We discover a life of obedient surrender to God by first and foremost listening to his still small voice, in the Scriptures, in our prayer closets, and in our spiritual practices. Listening is the essence of the discerning life, and unless we practice this all-important attribute our spiritual sensibilities will be dulled in the daily pursuits of our lives.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott “Pay attention to God who takes great delight in you, rejoices over you with a song, and has an extravagant affection for you.” –Steve Macchia The Scriptures are replete with examples of how God made himself known to his beloved children. Sometimes through a burning bush, or a dream, or an angel, or even a donkey. When he wants to make himself known he does so in creative, life-giving ways. So, what’s our response and how will we offer him our full attention in return? In today’s episode Steve and Matt explore the importance of our attentiveness, so that we listen, receive, and follow after God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength. This is the road to the abundant life in Christ. Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“Look what social media has done to our ‘notice me’ inclinations today and how that self-centeredness keeps us from preferring God instead.” – Steve Macchia
Welcome to all who are joining us as members of the Reading Retreat for The Discerning Life. (If you still want to join the online, author-guided, self-paced retreat, go to www.stevemacchia.com for all the details). Spiritual discernment is “practicing a preference for God” and one that we can learn how to live on a daily basis. How do we posture ourselves to prefer God and guide others to do likewise? That’s what we need to learn and it only happens by a practiced discipline and choice of the heart. Perceiving and noticing God in the daily, routine places of our lives prepares us for times when we need to discern his particular will.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“Discernment is a lifestyle of noticing God in everything, practicing a preference for God in all aspects of our life and service to others.” –Steve Macchia
We are excited to launch the 17th season of The Discerning Leader Podcast with a focus on Steve Macchia’s newest book, The Discerning Life: An Invitation to Notice God in Everything (Zondervan Reflective, 2022). Steve and his conversation partner, Matt Scott, commence this new season talking about the importance of spiritual discernment as a lifestyle for all leaders and learners. Today Steve and Matt lay the groundwork for this new series. All who pre-order the book are invited to join the online, author-guided, self-paced Reading Retreat. Pre-order your copy of the book, find all the details at www.stevemacchia.com - and sign up today!
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: Dave Currie and Susan Currie
“Epiphany was our main missions conference in the local church, when we invited the children to bring offerings to Jesus as we sought to share the light of Jesus to the far corners of the earth.” –Dave Currie
Epiphany is both a day and a season in the church calendar. Occurring on January 6, it concludes the 12 days of Christmas and signifies the wise men following the bright star to find Jesus. They brought gifts of gold, frankincense, and myrrh, symbolic of the fulfillment of God’s promises in Jesus as prophet, priest, and king. Dave and Sue Currie follow the church calendar as a couple and as a family and guide us into the experience with the richness and fullness that Epiphany is intended to provide. As we follow Jesus let’s joyfully reveal his light to the world.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: Susan Currie, Rick Anderson, Jeremy Stefano, and Matt Scott
“Four words have been my focus this past year: silence, slowing, simplicity, and Sabbath.” –Matt Scott
It’s always good for the soul to look back and around us before looking ahead. Turning the page from one calendar year to the next gives us opportunity to do so prayerfully, reflectively, and gratefully. The LTI Lead Team talks about the various ways they do so on today’s episode. Collectively representing more than 60 years of service to LTI, each team member offers great wisdom and practiced ideas of how to anticipate a new year. These include spiritual practices such as Examen, journaling, restful noticing, updating rule of life, and creatively decluttering. “Teach us to number our days aright, that we may apply our hearts to wisdom.” –Psalm 90
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Anna Friedrich
“I love Christmas because, with the resurrection in view, its obscure beginning and its incredible beauty strengthens my trust in God.” –Anna Friedrich
Shifting from Advent into Christmas is seamless when considered in the light of the full Christian story. For four weeks our hearts have been inclined toward waiting, watching, and wondering once more. In Christmas, our yearnings and longings are fulfilled in the joyful coming of the long-awaited Messiah Jesus. From the perspective of a wife, mom, artist, and poet, Anna Friedrich refreshes us with her musings about our stirred-up emotions, our anxious longings, and the joy of being welcomed again into the depth and beauty of the glorious Incarnation.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Br. Curtis Almquist, SSJE
"Learning the value of waiting has largely been removed from our vocabulary. Advent gives us the gift of waiting." –Curtis Almquist, SSJE
Advent is a season of anticipation. A time of preparation for the Christian community. The promised Messiah is coming in Jesus and the Church remembers once more. With a penitential quality to the season, Advent is a solemn time to pay attention to what is standing in the way of our walking in the way. It’s a time for personal reflection in our prayer closet where stillness and silence are our teacher. It’s a season of noticing those around us who are lost and lonely, reaching out to those who fear being forgotten. It’s a time to practice presence and gratitude.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Curtis Almquist, SSJE
"Advent invites us to slow down and create space in order to receive Christ in the fullness of our being." – Curtis Almquist, SSJE
Discerning God during the season of Advent takes prayerful intentionality, especially with the onslaught of alluring messages from our over-commercialized world. It’s the beginning of the church year, where we prepare our hearts for the coming of Christ in his physical nativity, in our own hearts, and in his future second coming. It’s also a time of disciplined fasting and abstinence, a time to ponder and pray, which helps us to get in touch with our deepest longings as we prepare our hearts for the prophetic and mysterious coming of Christ into this world.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Kyle Strobel
"The Lord’s Prayer is at the very heart of what prayer is supposed to be, as we pray with and in Jesus." – Kyle Strobel
Featuring Kyle Strobel’s latest book, Where Prayer Becomes Real, today’s episode is on the importance of honesty and sincerity in prayer. Kyle and his co-author John Coe write on prayer from a practical, theoretically rich approach, addressing what happens existentially when we pray. He shares that we actually are dishonest in our prayers, as if it’s a performative act before God, based on our preconceived notions of how we should pray. He then focuses on the importance of watchfulness and the need for us to cultivate a life of earnest, unceasing prayer.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Barbara Peacock
“As Africans were being transported across the Middle Passage to America in slave ships, their formation was practiced while in chains.” – Barbara Peacock
The author of Soul Care in African-American Practice inspires us on today’s episode with words of wisdom and grace. And, even offers a song for our weary soul. With the backdrop of Africans in slave ships heading to America, she enlightens us with how spiritual formation and soul care has been a central part of the African-American experience. Reading excerpts from her book, Barbara shares with us how Black leaders have embodied spiritual practices for generations. Spiritual disciplines open us up to receive God’s love and in turn to love others in God’s name.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Steve Smith
“We can experience hitting the wall, burnout, and exhaustion, all the while working to build up the Kingdom.” – Steve Smith
Steve Smith, Founder of Potters Inn, a ministry of soul care for local church and professionals in the marketplace, confronts head on the soullessness of leaders today. With God as the Potter, we are his clay, and if we want to be formed into his likeness, we need to practice ancient rhythms of prayerfulness in Christ. Overcoming the fears of silence and solitude is the place to begin. Like Jesus, who often withdrew to lonely places, so too shall we. Going solo in the spiritual practices will lead us home to the Father’s loving embrace and into the abundant life.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Tara Owens
“As much as we think we’re not, we’re heavily defended against God; we have a lot of walls up, but creativity sneaks around those walls and opens us up to God.” – Tara Owens
Tara Owens, founder of Anam Cara (which means soul friend, coming alongside another in spiritual friendship), shares about how we deepen our affection for God through creative expressions. God is a creative God…he could have made just one kind of flower or one kind of grass, but he chose to be creative instead. Jesus celebrated children as representatives of the kingdom of heaven, for they are the ones who innocently play and joyfully create. What are the creative outlets that enhance your prayerfulness and your fruitfulness as co-creator with God?
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Alan Fadling
“We have a cultural assumption that fast is good and slow is bad…how might slow be good for your soul?” – Alan Fadling
Today we commence a new season focusing on the pace of your soul. Our souls don’t operate at the pace of our smart phones and so much slower than the speed of technology. Our brokenness, weariness, and hunger for more of God leads us into a deeper, more reflective space. Learning how to walk the pace of Jesus will bring us into the pace of grace, love, and peace, fostering the depth and quality of our lifestyle and relationships. Jesus often withdrew to alone and quiet places to find some rest and reconnect with the Father. Perhaps we can too.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Alice Fryling
“I want to look back on my life to see what I’ve learned about God and apply it to my life now and in the future.” – Alice Fryling
The aging process is never-ending, and it’s a goldmine for transformation. We have a choice as we age: will we do so selfishly and begrudgingly, or will we age gracefully and faithfully? Alice Fryling offers us wisdom for how best to lovingly give of yourself in the twilight years as we embrace the holy invitation of growing older. If we are vulnerable in our old age, we will acknowledge our weakness and losses, and shift from a transactional to a transformational spirituality. It’s a tipping point with a choice to keep growing in God or hang it up forever.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Gary Thomas
“The Christian life is about an abundance of good fruit. We must walk away from toxic people in order to preserve that good fruit.” – Gary Thomas
Gary Thomas speaks to a glaring issue today: dealing with toxic people. He says, “Before you walk away from your ministry, try walking away from toxic people first.” We need to learn how to play defense, to protect what God has planted in our hearts and in our service to others. When we invest so much of our energy on toxic relationships, we lose sight of God’s missional call to build up the Kingdom. There may in fact come a time when it’s simply best to just “walk away” and maintain your focus on Jesus and his mission. Be wise. Say no. Turn away. Be free.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Amy Murgatroyd
“When you live as if you’re dying, you begin to see the world in a much different way.” – Amy Murgatroyd
Mom, wife, and award-winning photographer and film-maker, Amy Murgatroyd (amymurgatroyd.com) shares today about the importance of capturing our emotions and relationships. She invites us to consider how we can become story catchers, who with wide-eyed wonder see the glory of God in the beauty that surrounds us, particularly in the people with whom we share our lives. Seeing with the eyes of our heart and listening to the whispers of God is a great spiritual practice. We are designed by God to co-create with him in this life.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Gary Thomas
“What if God designed marriage to make us holy more than to make us happy?” – Gary Thomas
Imagine what your marriage would look like if you first and foremost prioritized your relationship with God. “If only we could just be Christians first, then our marriages wouldn’t become so difficult,” according to our guest Gary Thomas, author of Sacred Marriage. Best marriage advice: seek first the Kingdom of God and his righteousness. Marriage isn’t for our personal romantic passion and family happiness, it’s for helping each other deepen our affections for God. When we focus on reverencing God, we in turn can love our spouses.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Alison Cook
“In my own personal story, I found it easy to love God, but very challenging to know and love myself.” – Alison Cook
In her ground-breaking book Boundaries for Your Soul, Alison Cook is seeking to help us turn our overwhelming thoughts and feelings into our strongest allies. Using the internal family systems model, she illumines our pathway forward by addressing the true struggles we face in life and relationships. She describes how a Christ-centered way to self-awareness will lead to internal freedom and joy, and much healthier relationships with others. Her “U-turn” approach to emotional wholeness includes five key phases: focus, befriend, invite, unburden, and integrate.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Adele Calhoun
“Shaming voices have the power to cripple us. They isolate us from the truth about ourselves and others.” – Adele Calhoun
Shame is universal. It’s been with us since Adam and Eve hid from God after succumbing to the shaming voice of the devil. How we deal with the shaming voices of our past will either set us free to live more abundantly, or will keep us crippled by their falsehood. In today’s episode, Adele Calhoun offers great wisdom and truth about the importance of knowing and naming the shaming narratives of our lives, and invites us to embrace practices that will lead to redemptive healing. Trust Jesus with your shame. When we are even at our worst, he comes to set us free.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
“Providing an hospitable presence helps us to notice God together.” —Susan Currie
Group spiritual direction is a ministry of listening that is unique among all other small group experiences. Susan Currie unpacks how to create, protect, and nurture such groups, offering wise principles and priorities that embody this transformative practice. When we help each other listen to the voice of God we do so tenderly, prayerfully, and gracefully. The Lord does the work when we come alongside another in their earnest desire to hear from God. In this hospitable space, we notice together that “our hearts are burning with the presence of Jesus.”
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
“In spiritual direction, one person is being present to another for the sake of being attentive to the voice of God.“ – Susan Currie
Are you looking for a spiritual director or a training program in spiritual direction? LTI’s Director of Selah, Susan Currie, joins Steve in this episode focusing on the ministry of spiritual direction.
Distinct from other forms of companionship – discipling, mentoring, coaching, pastoring – spiritual direction is laser focused on helping another listen attentively to the voice of God. When we have a trusted confidante helping us notice and prefer God in all aspects of our life, we grow in our affection for God. Holy listening transforms us into a person of discernment.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Gayle Heaslip
“We create hospitable space, non-judgmental, gentle, supportive, deeply attentive to God’s work in our lives and our midst.” —Gayle Heaslip
Trained counselor, spiritual director, LTI team member and Anglican priest, Gayle Heaslip, offers her wisdom on spiritual friendship, especially between and among women. Her ministry of hospitality has shown women (and many men) what it means to practice the hospitality of God, who welcomes, affirms, celebrates, and blesses us simply for who we are as his children.
Stirred in longing and wonder over the friendship between Ruth and Naomi, Gayle opens the eyes of our hearts to see the gifts of love that create congruency and wholeness in persons.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Rick Anderson
"Friendship among men is elusive, but incredibly important." —Rick Anderson
Who in your life is saving you from the worst of you and bringing out the best of you? Since most men life lives of quiet desperation, men in the body of Christ have an opportunity to pursue so much more. Spiritual friendship among the company of other men can be both formative and transformative. Shifting from playful bantering and competitive interactions, men can indeed experience empathy, compassion, and support from one another. With David and Jonathan as biblical examples, we explore the true meaning of covenantal companionship.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Richard Plass
“At the core of who we are, we are relational beings, created by a relational God. Many leaders today, however, don’t have anyone to share their story.” —Rich Plass
Today’s episode is an overview of Rich Plass’ book, The Relational Soul (IVP). He reminds us that our Trinitarian God is relational, as he invites relationship with us as his beloved children, and as he desires for us to have relationships of love with one another. Our family of origin sets the trajectory for our relational connections, or lack thereof. As adults, it’s important to have trusted friends with whom to courageously share our story, both the broken and whole aspects of our journey. Only then will we be set free to live the abundant life offered to us in Christ.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Richard Plass
“Our long-standing spiritual friendship has been a tapestry woven together by the grace of God.” —Rich Plass
Our host and guest have been friends and brothers in Christ for nearly 50 years. They speak authoritatively about the importance of friendship for all of us in the body of Christ. Recounting their shared history, they dovetail their reflections with the biblical text and a mature understanding of what makes for healthy, intentional, life-transforming friendship. They consider how friends are made and how they lead us into a healthy walk with God. Fresh insights are offered about being receivable, not reactionary, in loving and trusting ways.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
“We’re all trying to listen deeply to what God wants of us throughout the entire prayerful process.” – David Vryhof, SSJE
Prior to group discernment, it’s important to follow guiding principles: does the group have a stated covenant? Do we all share a faith view of reality and willing to be led by God prayerfully? Are we willing to bathe the process in prayer, laying aside our preconceived ideas, have holy indifference and an openness to consider various opinions? Will we honor one another, listen well, contribute positively, pause frequently, affirm silence to help us slow down when needed? From that unhurried, prayerful attentiveness, we enter a guided process with joy and gusto.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
“Prayerful listening together is essential for us to know what we are to do and who we are to become in this season of life and ministry.” –David Vryhof, SSJE
The Good Shepherd loves us and desires to lead us, for as we listen to God, we join him in his longings for us. But we need to be intentional about this pursuit of learning how to listen to God individually and collectively. From an attentive posture we then discern God’s affection for us as well as his intentions for us as his beloved ones. Each member of the group needs to share the priority of listening together to God and one another, otherwise it’s a bumpy road. Once the question(s) are clarified, asking God first will lead us smoothly into discernment as a team.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
“God enters our lives in unusual ways, often in places where we are weakest and most vulnerable, where he delights to bring change to our lives.” —David Vryhof, SSJE
The art of discernment takes time and experience, as we learn how to recognize the voice of God and discover the yearnings God has for us. Our culture is so dominated by the decisiveness of the business and commerce community. Instead, the church needs to lean more toward a discernment model for leadership. St. Ignatius of Loyola offers principles and practices for individual and group discernment, beginning with unpacking our deepest desires, and then pursuing them in freedom. Overarching principle: know, love, and serve God – all for his glory.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
“In order for us to hear the voice of God, it’s not about our ears, but much more about our hearts.” —David Vryhof, SSJE
Instead of using the term “God’s will” David and Steve unpack a healthy alternative: God’s yearnings for us. God desires for us is to live with him, noticing his empowering presence, and trusting him to abide in us. Paying attention to God’s yearnings is a lifelong pursuit, marked by times of obvious lucidity when the way forward is clear. Other times, we are confronted by multiple choices, and we pay attention to the consolation or desolation in our hearts. Still, there may be a need for us to simply wait on God and fulfill our heart’s desires in God’s timing.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
“Most of us have a stained-glass image of Jesus and it’s hard for us to grasp his daily life as a beloved son of God.” David Vryhof, SSJE
In this new series, Brother David Vryhof of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (Episcopal Monastic Community based in Cambridge, MA) joins Steve in conversation about Jesus and his discernment at the beginning of his earthly ministry. They recount Jesus’ baptism, his 40-days of temptation in the wilderness, and his proclamation of his mission and ministry in the synagogue. Each encounter is rich with meaning and purpose, profound in their mystery, and significant touch points for Jesus and his growing discernment about the Father’s loving desires.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Mark Buchanan
“Endurance. All walking eventually gets hard, lonely, tedious. All start with exhilaration, but end with some level of perseverance.” – Mark Buchanan
God’s faithfulness is understood deeply and fully amidst a life of perseverance. He invites us into a long obedience in the same direction. His pace is slow because it’s the pace of love. God longs to form us into his image and he’s comfortable doing so at his pace, slower than we as humans prefer. But, like the allegory Pilgrim’s Progress, life is a long journey to the celestial city. As we endure to the end, we embrace the heart of God and pursue the priorities of God’s Kingdom through his most excellent way – love. Notice today the gifts of walking at Godspeed.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Mark Buchanan
“Walking with a friend is soul formative and nurturing, especially among God’s creation as we walk and pause in awe together.” –Mark Buchanan
Walking has a built-in requirement to attentiveness. Not only the noticing of where we are heading and the terrain under our feet, but in our awareness of God and the companions that join us. In this episode we explore walking as friends, with animals, as prayer, and for the sake of attentiveness and remembering. As we walk, we discern God’s movement among us as he invites us to trust him and grow in his grace. Slowing down to notice the leaf, the ducks in the pond, the beauty that surrounds us, evokes a graced awareness of God. Enjoy a walk today!
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Mark Buchanan
“I’ve always been in a rush and it’s not served me well for my deeper formation.” –Mark Buchanan
God invites us into a life of receptivity and grace, walking with God as he companions us at his pace: 3 mph. As we seek to resemble Jesus, we need to learn how to slow down our fast-paced lives. Here we discover so much more about his faithful affection for us as his beloved children. As we walk with intentionality and purposefulness, we are embodying life as a pilgrimage. Only when we pace ourselves appropriately will we experience our genuine quest to encounter God. God Walk is a sequel to The Rest of God, both written by our special guest, Mark Buchanan.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Mark Buchanan
“Our Sabbath practices began by taking one do-nothing day each week…and it changed everything.” –Mark Buchanan
The spiritual rhythm of Sabbath rest is good for our souls, our relationships, and our service to others. Learning to linger at the pace of grace, Sabbath teaches us to slow down long enough to savor every important morsel of life. We need to build capacity and practice Sabbath in order to overcome our addictive patterns and realign around God’s invitation to rest. In this episode we discuss practical ways to lean into Sabbath, including how best to prepare for Sabbath. Our mindset for receptivity is key to savoring the richness of Sabbath. Receive the day – it’s a gift!
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Mark Buchanan
“Jesus saved me and then the Sabbath saved my relationship with Jesus.” –Mark Buchanan
Mark Buchanan, author of The Rest of God, reminds us that we spend many of our waking moments pursuing adrenaline rushes. Activity, noise, productivity, and even relationships can hinder us from a life of attentiveness and receptivity. Sabbath slows us down and awakens within us a fresh, renewing way of being. As we practice noticing God, we experience clarity, calmness, and a rich sense of well-being in Christ. Sabbath teaches us to be receptive to all that God delights to offer us as his beloved children, made to live abundantly in the image of God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Currie
“A living church always needs new expressions in song to meet the immediacy of current and particular circumstances.” – Dave Currie
Spiritual songs and hymns help us become more discerning leaders. As we sing, regardless of our unique context, we join with the voices of saints from around the world who worship musically with songs of our Christian faith. How may distinct races, denominations, or ethnic groups have you joined in song? Engaging in song theologically, emotionally, and experientially is good for the soul. We evaluate a good song theologically by holding it up to Scripture; we are invited fully into the song experientially and emotionally. Good songs stand the test of time.
For more information about today’s hymns:
"LORD, YOU HAVE COME TO THE LAKESHORE" * Background: https://hymnary.org/text/lord_you_have_come_to_the_lakeshore * https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-lord-you-have-come-to-the-lakeshore * Solo guitar & duet: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Kdsab4mm4nI&pbjreload=10 * Choir in Spanish & English: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mdXrgsqIZ8k
“HERE O LORD YOUR SERVANTS GATHER” * Background: https://hymnary.org/text/here_o_lord_your_servants_gather * https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/resources/history-of-hymns-here-o-lord-your-servants-gather * Japanese/English Version: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jiT6WSdBNhw
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Currie
“Do everything for the glory of God – and with a song in your heart!” – Dave Currie
Singing is a great way to help us notice what God is doing in our midst. When we let the message of Christ dwell among us richly, it’s the songs, hymns, and spiritual songs – offered from our hearts – that solidify the truths about God in our souls. We are made in God’s image, and we share in God’s creative process as we sing and make music in our hearts. What is it about singing that characterizes the formative work of God in us? We explore this question and notice the dynamic work of God as our head and our heart cooperate with one another in song.
For more information about today’s hymns:“GUIDE ME, O THOU GREAT JEHOVAH”
- Background: https://hymnary.org/text/guide_me_o_thou_great_jehovah
- Sung in English & Welsh: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wT4n1hGjDDg
“BLESSED ASSURANCE, JESUS IS MINE!”
- Background: https://hymnary.org/text/blessed_assurance_jesus_is_mine
- Alan Jackson/Country: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6vfqYwfTqlE
- CeCe Winans/Gospel: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uMLOlYWM03g
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Currie
“Singing the songs of those who have come before us, especially from other cultures and times, enhances our discernment as leaders.” – Dave Currie
God sings over us out of his great affection, and as a warrior for our soul, he protects and cares for us as his beloved. Songs have been a part of the history of the church as singing helps us stay connected to God and with one another as his children. We know there will be lots of singing in heaven; while we are here on earth, we have a foretaste of that eternal worship. Spanning the history of the church, we note the ways every tribe, nation, and language group are rehearsing for the final praiseworthy performance at the marriage supper of the Lamb!
For more information about “WHEN ISRAEL WAS IN EGYPT'S LAND”:
- Background: https://hymnary.org/text/when_israel_was_in_egypts_land
- Gospel Choir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P32Vj-R8fkY
- Louis Armstrong: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uW3EAmKESKA
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Currie
“When Jesus shows up, we want to sing!” – Dave Currie
Sing to the Lord a new song! Songs of our faith are an invitation to intimacy with God, who loves us and enjoys hearing the praises of his people. In this episode we will notice the songs of Zechariah, Mary, and of Simeon – in celebration of the coming of the Messiah. We’ll consider how the second coming of Jesus, as noted in the book of Revelation, includes great songs of adoration. Also, in the writings of the apostle Paul, the people of God are encouraged to sing psalms, hymns, and spiritual songs, with gratitude in their hearts. Discerning hearts sing!
For more information about “JESUS, THE VERY THOUGHT OF THEE” by Bernard of Clairvaux:
- Background: https://hymnary.org/text/jesus_the_very_thought_of_thee
- Version by Ghanaian Choir: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CF_SAsw0XjU
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Currie
“A song is the quickest route on the longest journey – 18 inches from the head to the heart and then back again.” –Dave Currie
Our own leadership discernment grows as we enter into others’ experience of noticing God in worship and song. We get to know others from around the world as we sing their songs. This has been true since the dawn of time, and is expressed throughout the Scriptures. In the Old Testament, particularly the Psalms, we find God’s people singing in times of triumph, lament, confession, thanksgiving, and praise. Words are the poetry that point us to God and the melody expresses the overflow of emotion. When we sing we pray twice. We hold songs in our heart.
To learn more about songs and their backgrounds:
- https://hymnary.org/
- https://www.umcdiscipleship.org/worship-planning/history-of-hymns
For more information about “SAVIOR OF THE NATIONS, COME” by 4th C. Ambrose the Bishop of Milan, translated into German by Martin Luther and into English by William Reynolds:
- Background: https://hymnary.org/text/savior_of_the_nations_come_virgins_son
- Koine—Savior of the Nations Come (contemporary folk version): https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=DsNPi71O7FI&list=RDAMVMDsNPi71O7FI
- Robert G. Farrell—organ & chorale: https://music.youtube.com/watch?v=-HxXFatWo9Y&list=RDAMVM-HxXFatWo9Y
- Sister Sinjin—women’s duet: https://music.youtube.com/search?q=savior+of+the+nations+come
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
“It’s hard to consider racial reconciliation when we’ve never really had a right relationship to reconcile.” – Kim Nash Alexander
Today’s conversation tackles one of the most significant issues of our day, and how God would have us address it from his perspective. Racial brokenness has been a part of our culture for generations and perhaps it will take longer than we prefer to bring about meaningful change. Dr. Kim Alexander shares with us what it’s meant for her as an African American leader in the body of Christ and in her community. She outlines the pathway forward in enlightening ways, including awareness, ownership, and agency, and prayerful practices such as confession, forgiveness, repentance, and learning how to honor one another above ourselves.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Genalin Niere-Metcalf
“The more you know your own story, the more you will know your own brokenness and what triggers you relationally.” –Genalin Niere-Metcalf
Relational brokenness doesn’t have to stay that way. There are paths that lead us to wholeness, and on today’s episode we discover how. It all begins with understanding our own personal stories, the narratives that have shaped us over time. Unless we know our own hearts fully, it will remain difficult to love others fully. God invites us to trust him, urging us to build trust among others. Kindness, compassion, forgiveness and grace come from a heart that’s been healed and renewed. Listen today and ask God to strengthen and restore your relationships.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Genalin Niere-Metcalf
“Emotional brokenness is our sense of not being whole, which is all a part of being alive.” – Genalin Niere-Metcalf
All of us interact with broken people. It’s the wounded among us who wound others, often unaware. Emotional brokenness shows up in our emptiness, anxiety, bitterness, sadness, shame, and perfectionism. Because the Lord delights in healing the broken hearted, it’s vital for us to embrace our own brokenness, honor our pain, and seek healing from God. How? Listen to your body, practice breath prayer, enjoy beauty, seek out friends, and practice self-care. Also, giving voice to our personal story in the safety of loving community allows us to be fully known.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
“Jesus comes to tend to the broken. No need to feel disqualified or set aside by the Lord because of our brokenness. He longs to rescue us and bring us closer to his heart.” – Jeremy Stefano
Spiritual brokenness begins with acknowledging our basic human condition as ones who are dislocated from God. The pathway to wholeness is paying attention to the ways we have stiff armed God or sought to manipulate him in our own image. We seek to explain him our preferred way, or perform for him in hopes of blessings in return, or we have unrealistic expectations of God and get easily disappointed. Instead, our wholeness comes when we choose repentance, gratitude, a heart of worship, and a reawakened love for God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
“On the night we learned the news about my cancer, my husband and I went to a concert in Boston and I wondered, ‘Surely, I’m not the only one in this vast hall who has cancer.’” – Susan Currie
Susan Currie was surprised to discover she had stage three colorectal cancer at the young age of 50. Her doctor outlined the year-long plan for dealing with it, comforting her with the words “this can be cured.” Chemo, radiation, surgery, and additional treatments and therapies left her sidelined from her daily routines. But God comforted her fears and made himself lovingly accessible throughout her physical brokenness. The intimacy of God’s abiding presence carried her throughout, with the Scriptures, prayers, and loving family helping her to persevere.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia
“We are to receive the love of God if we are to ever dispense the love of God to others.” – Steve Macchia
How does God use our brokenness as a pathway to spiritual transformation? Today commences a new season of episodes, focusing on the overview of brokenness and wholeness. Reading from the Introduction of Macchia’s book, Broken and Whole, Steve invites us to consider our own brokenness and God’s delightful redemption. He identifies four areas of brokenness: suffering, heartache, sinfulness, and imperfection. The focus of our transformation is the unconditional love of God in Jesus. He closes the episode with three reflective exercises.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Justin Whitmel Earley
"From being totally overwhelmed by my schedule, the house of my life was decorated by my Christian calling but the architecture of my life was built like everyone else, on an unsteady foundation…simple habits radically changed my life." – Justin Whitmel Earley
Justin Earley, author of The Common Rule (InterVarsity Press), introduces his suggested Common Rule, made up of eight habits, four daily and four weekly. The daily habits are: kneeling prayer at morning, midday, and bedtime; one meal with others; one hour with phone off; and Scripture before phone. The weekly habits are: one hour of conversation with a friend; curating media to four hours; fasting from something for twenty-four hours; and Sabbath rest. Each habit corresponds to two different spectrums: love of God and love of neighbor.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Ken Shigematsu
“People are so busy and anxious today; turning to things that give a temporary lift but not a lasting contentment. A rule of life can give us a longer term of abiding peace and a deeper trust in God." –Ken Shigematsu
Using the image of a trellis to describe our personal rule of life, Ken Shigematsu, author of God in My Everything (Zondervan), places emphasis on the roots of Sabbath, prayer, and sacred reading. Building on that foundation are the day-to-day pieces of life – family, friends, work and play. We relate in spiritual friendship, in our sexuality, and in family life. We are restored by the care for our physical body, childlike play, and generous stewardship of our finances. We reach out to others in our work, in acts of justice, and in our verbal and lifestyle witness.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Tom Griffith
“Your rule of life is designed to help you frame the intentionality of life that uniquely fits and sets you free in Christ!” –Tom Griffith
Crafting a Rule of Life (written by Steve Macchia) is dedicated to Psalm 16:11, “You make known to me the path of life, you fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand.” The website www.ruleoflife.com was developed when the book was released and provides additional help in crafting your rule of life. Here you’ll notice a variety of creative ways individuals have written it out, either in a grid, list, graph, object, tree, poem, or a manuscript. Either way you choose, it’s not to be perfect, but easily editable per season of life.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Tom Griffith
“When there’s something important expressed to us from a member of the body of Christ we are to receive it as an expression of grace that has both inspiration and conviction from the Father.” –Tom Griffith
The third component of Crafting a Rule of Life is to understand how our personal rule is fulfilled in the context of community, with our spiritual friends and among our faith community. With good friends by our side, we will not be shaken from the pursuit. Instead, as we are loved well by being actively listened to, we can rest in God at a deep level of trust. Offering to one another the gift of attentive presence is one of the best acts of love. Principles of good listening are covered in this episode with the encouragement to do so in a trustworthy manner.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Tom Griffith
“As Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man, so shall we as ones created by God and accountable to him to steward and share our lives.” –Tom Griffith
We form our personal rule of life by considering prayerfully the main time frames of our lives. What is God inviting us to consider as priority on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or annual basis? The areas we seek to review include our spiritual practices that deepen our affection for Christ and his Church; our relational priorities that feed and foster trust with others; the physical care of our bodies as the temple of the Holy Spirit; the stewardship and generosity of our finances; as well as our missional service to others. There’s joy in this journey of discovery!
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Tom Griffith
“There is no arrival in this world, but to have a great relationship with God the Father, and when we listen to God, we begin to meaningfully live our rule of life.” –Tom Griffith
In Macchia’s Crafting a Rule of Life, we are learning how to live intentionally for God. A healthy, flexible, and fruitful rule of life needs to be articulated rather than assumed. Discovering how best to frame a personal rule of life begins with prayerful attentiveness. Our roles need to be defined and clarified, in order for our relationships to be prioritized. Our gifts, personality, strengths and temperament display the unique and mysterious way God creates us as individuals. Our passions, vision, and mission inform how we fulfill a God-blessed life.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Tom Griffith
“Rule of life helps me to be present, not always looking to the past or projecting ahead to the future. The treasure is right here, right now, in God’s presence.” – Tom Griffith
In this series, we will be noting Steve Macchia’s book, Crafting a Rule of Life (IVP). Tom Griffith is our special guest, and is the founder of Greater Formation. A personal rule of life is a pattern or way of living both descriptively and prescriptively for God. This ancient concept comes from our spiritual fathers and mothers, like St. Benedict, who chose to listen intently to God’s voice for how wholistic ways of living faithfully and fruitfully. We in turn are invited to consider how best to steward every facet of our lives in ways that honor God and build up his kingdom.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
“ The Lord has his way of weaning us from our attachments or affections in this world, and cleanse the air, helping me face the dilemmas of my heart on retreat.”– Jeremy Stefano
One thing I ask of the Lord, this only do I seek…that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gaze on his beauty, and seek him in his temple (Psalm 27). As we dwell, gaze, and seek God, our heart’s truest longings emerge from deep within our soul. Like Jesus’ invitation to abide, the singular focus of a spiritual retreat is to find our way home to the embrace of God. This will require a releasing of our attachments and distractions, the idols of our heart. In that attentive space of retreat, the fruit will emerge and then remain forever.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
“Sometimes people think we need to be all put together in order to come into the presence of God, but that’s simply not true.” – Jeremy Stefano
Spiritual retreats are a wonderful opportunity to experience the hospitality of God amidst one’s desire to be hospitable to the soul. Where we experience such retreats should open us up to a fresh move of God’s Spirit, even if we come from a dark valley or a season of fear. God sets the table before us and invites us to enter willingly, with unforced authenticity. Even though setting and location shouldn’t matter, in many ways it does. The external environment and people, location, and mindset, all coalesce in enhancing the deep interior joy of intimacy with Christ.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
“Spiritual retreats place us in a position to receive what Jesus is already doing in our behalf.” – Jeremy Stefano
There are so many options for retreats, but a spiritual retreat is unique. Designed to heighten our attentiveness quotient, participants are invited to place themselves in postures of graced receptivity. It’s here where we notice and receive all that Jesus is already providing for us…his shepherding provisions of goodness and love, inviting us to lay still beside quiet waters, and be restored in heart, mind, body, and soul. On retreat we reconnect contemplatively with the state of our souls and the Lover of our souls, in the Word, prayer, and in various reflective practices.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
“Turn away from other things that pretend to satisfy the soul and find rest in the Lord…in repentance, quietness and trust.” – Jeremy Stefano
Often unaware, we become productivity machines and lose sight of what it means to be a human being longing for relationship with God. Spiritual retreats are great experiences of rediscovery and restorative renewal. It’s on retreat where we are reminded of the myriad gifts of God, primarily his unconditional love, flowing forth in his mercy, grace, compassion, kindness and forgiveness. Retreats allow us set apart time to wait on God, notice him, attend to his still small voice, receive his gifts, and delight in his presence. When to retreat? How about now!
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
“A holy place to draw away to a space and time dedicated solely to God, to be present to God.” – Jeremy Stefano
There are many ways to retreat, but on a spiritual retreat the exclusive desire is to be with Jesus. Likened to his invitation to the disciples immediately prior to the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus says “come with me by yourselves to a solitary place and get some rest.” (Mark 6:31). On spiritual retreat we are saying yes to that invitation, hopping on a boat in the middle of a lake (or a retreat center), separated from the busyness and noisiness of life, to simply be with the Lover of our souls. Retreats are special times with Jesus, replenished in wilderness or in plenty.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Ted Wueste
“The ways of God are mysterious, but the person of God is reliable, trustworthy – even and especially in times of suffering.” – Ted Wueste
It is certainly possible to discern God’s presence during seasons of suffering. Yes, even in our darkest days, the love of God is there to guide, sustain and encourage us. Ted Wueste shares the deeply profound invitation of God to walk into and embrace our times of suffering and receive the gifts God wants to offer. When we frame our lives in the context of our story, which is also God’s story, we can discern our with-God life as firmly rooted in the loving character of God. Themes of grace, hope, and presence are covered in this episode to encourage all of us.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Ted Wueste
“The Lord prepares us for our times of suffering so we can walk with Him through our suffering. With God we can walk through anything.” – Ted Wueste
God invites us to trust him in times of pain and suffering and he equips us to enter these deep places instead of being enmeshed in our own life circumstances. Our guest, Ted Wueste, knows this from first-hand experience. Diagnosed in September 2017 with Hodgkin’s lymphoma, followed by multiple chemotherapy treatments, surgery to remove from his chest a mass the size of a baseball, two stem cell transplants, and acute myeloma leukemia, Ted speaks of God’s goodness and grace. His story is laced with many opportunities to notice the with-ness of God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Cynthia Fantasia
“When we choose to trust God, then we find him, and begin to see his fingerprints on everything.” – Cynthia Fantasia
Today 6 million have Alzheimer’s disease, with 16.5 million unpaid caregivers coming alongside them, thrown into their role without any lead up or training. None of this has caught God by surprise, but for the care-giver every aspect of the experience is new. In this testing, God is building perseverance and our response may not be joyful, but it can be joy-filled. Today’s episode covers several reflections for coming alongside those who suffer: grieving differently; being kind; holy habits; short accounts; open-handedness; gratitude; presence; and love.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Cynthia Fantasia
“Remember that the present loss doesn’t override the richness of the past. We had 45 years of amazing memories and 3 years of sickness and suffering.” – Cynthia Fantasia
In the Lingering Light, written by our guest Cynthia Fantasia, provides courage and hope for the Alzheimer caregiver. After a delightful 45 years of marriage and family life, everything changed with Bob Fantasia’s Alzheimer’s. Were it not for a community of friends and family members coming alongside Cynthia, life would have been dark and foreboding. Ambiguous grief – the loss of someone who is still alive but in a different state of mind – can be debilitating. But, a strong faith, deeply forged in community, unleashes the sustaining presence and power of God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Cynthia Fantasia
“I determined to live on the other side of eternity as a caregiver for my beloved husband as he suffered through his terminal Alzheimer’s disease. My goal was to preserve his dignity and my sanity.” – Cynthia Fantasia
Discerning God’s presence and power during times of suffering and heartache can be challenging. It’s nearly impossible without having others in your community to help direct you back to the truths that you know, but have gotten muddled in the midst of the suffering. Our guest, Cynthia Fantasia, tells her story of coming alongside her beloved husband as he suffered for 34 months with Alzheimer’s disease. For both of them, this was the fulfillment of their “for worse and in sickness” side of their wedding vows, persevered through raw, faithful love.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Rick Anderson
“An honest diagnosis and a hopeful prognosis is needed for local congregations today. The Church Health Assessment Tool (CHAT) will help you get there.” -Rick Anderson
The Church is vitally important. Leadership Transformations supports the spiritual health of the body of Christ. The Church Health Assessment Tool (CHAT) is an online, holistic, user-friendly, biblically-centered, strengths-based listening tool that hundreds of congregations have used successfully. Like looking both ways before crossing the street, CHAT helps leadership teams remain attentive to their surroundings, especially their congregants. A deeper awareness of God and his beloved children leads to greater clarity and trust for discerning the way forward.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia
“We as the people of God, his dearly loved ones, are to be like salt and light in the world we are called to love and serve in Jesus’ name.” - Steve Macchia
The mission of the Church is to be like salt and light in our needy world. The world is desperate for the seasoning of God and for a light to point them toward Jesus. A healthy church discerns together the unique ways they become outward in their focus via evangelism, social action, international missions, and caring for the poorest of the poor. In addition, a healthy church embraces the need for wise administration and accountability, finds joy amidst the diversity and unity of the body of Christ, and stewards with generosity all that’s entrusted to their care.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia
“What does it mean to love one another, to be the body of Christ, the family of God, preferring one another in Christ?” - Steve Macchia
Becoming a healthy church includes our compassion toward one another as members of the body of Christ. Ideally, by creating a culture of grace where love for God and each other reigns supreme. When we prioritize the betterment of others, we exhibit the "one another’s" of the Scriptures, loving, serving, forgiving, and praying for one another. Jesus models this in the washing of his disciples’ feet and invites us to do likewise: learning and growing in community, with loving and caring relationships, serving others in unity and devotion to the family of God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia
“How are you contributing to the health of the Church today? We are oaks of righteousness called of God to display his splendor!” - Steve Macchia
We learn best how to practice a preference for God in the context of the local church. And, when we are positive contributors to the vitality of the Church, we honor and please God. Unity in the body of Christ is God’s priority, as there’s great beauty in our diversity. Scripture and prayer are essential ingredients of church health, equipping us to trust God together. As we are empowered by the Spirit, exalting God in worship, and caring for our souls in our prayer closets, we deepen our affections for God and become oaks of righteousness, displaying his splendor.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.
Host: Steve Macchia
“I want to caution us against being so enveloped by the culture that we forget the real purpose of the Church. What does it mean to be a spiritually healthy family of God today?” - Steve Macchia
It’s challenging to be the church today. There is so much antagonism against who we are and what we stand for. So many issues and isms that envelop our culture. But, we believe in the central role of the Church today. And, it’s Leadership Transformations’ desire to serve as seed bearers of hope for the hearts of God’s people. It’s too easy to sit back as a critic of the Church, with cynicism and skepticism on our lips. Instead, we invite you to reconsider the soul of the Church and do everything possible to invest in the health and vitality of the body of Christ.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Suz Skinner
"We need to give ourselves permission to become childlike and enjoy the wonder, awe, and joy of playfulness." -Suz Skinner
How easy it is to forget the invitation to become like a child if we are to truly experience the kingdom of God. We tend to be more like productivity machines, maximizing the use of each available hour, filling them with noise, activity, and effectiveness. Instead, what brings God delight is when we are childlike, focusing on who we are and who we are becoming in Christ. Playfulness is a fitting antidote to our culture and an invitation to an abundant life in Jesus. Giving ourselves permission to play will release our oft-hidden humility, contentment and joy.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Suz Skinner
"How can we pay greater attention when God uses images, metaphors, parables, stories, songs, and poetry in his Word that invite us to pray and respond?" - Suz Skinner
The Scriptures are replete with examples of God’s creative work in our world and in our hearts. Taking time to notice the metaphorical ways God describes himself invites us into a posture of graced receptivity. We are in turn invited to be artists in our prayerful response. There’s a whole world of prayer to explore as we feast our eyes on God’s abiding presence and direction, expressed in images, metaphors, parables, stories, poetry, and songs. As you behold God in his many creative expressions, perhaps there’s a picture to draw or a poem to write in response.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Suz Skinner
"Seeing the sunrise and sunset never gets old. They are the fingerprints of God each and every day." – Suz Skinner
Creation and beauty speak directly of God, but without words. God is the author of both gifts and he delights for us to enjoy them. Who among us doesn’t love to lay on the ground and look up at the sky, noticing God’s handiwork in the clouds? In both unpredictable and predictable ways, God has blessed us with his creation and empowered us to create and enjoy beauty. Because of our uniqueness, each person notices differently. When our senses are enlivened, we are quickened to respond. Embrace a renewed attentiveness and share the joy with others.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Suz Skinner
It’s important that we are in the Word in order to see how God makes himself known to us. – Suz Skinner
The Word of God comes alive in our hearts and minds as we see God with greater clarity in our Scripture reflections and prayers. In this episode we discuss lectio divina (divine reading) and visio divina (divine reflection on a photograph, painting, piece of art or creation) in order to be drawn into the Word of God and prayer in Spirit-empowering ways. We highlight imaginative prayer which invites us into a new way of seeing Jesus with eyes of faith. Study and exegesis of the Bible is richly enhanced in our prayer closets as we join God slowly, prayerfully in the Word.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Suz Skinner
We are creative beings, reflecting the creative God who made us in his image. – Suz Skinner
Creativity begins with God the Creator. He invites us to participate in his creation by caring for the air we breathe, the water we drink, the beauty of the sky, the earth, the animals, the trees, and everything that exists. It’s part of our creative identity to reflect the image of God, care for and nurture what he’s provided, and to honor creation by acknowledging its goodness. As ones who desire ways to reflect God’s priorities, the pursuit of creativity levels the playing field and invites us to pay attention to the hunger within for more of God, more of his and our creativity.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
In the celebration of Sabbath, we explore the command and accept the invitation to dwell with God with a deep, resounding yes – with gusto! – Susan Currie
The fourth rhythm of Sabbath is “celebrating” the joy and delight of our identity and freedom in Christ. When we gather with the family of God on Sabbath – for worship, fellowship, prayer, and relationship building – we are reminding each other of the with God life we share. Weekly worship with our faith community is like a dress rehearsal for a wedding: the wedding feast of the Lamb, when the bridegroom returns for his bride once more. In this life we “make every effort” to enter that rest (Hebrews 4: 9) with a Jubilee taste of heaven on our hearts and minds.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
We realize our deepest, truest, eternal part of us as God’s dearly loved children when we rest. What God does in us when we rest is carried into all aspects of life. – Susan Currie
Jesus is the Lord of the Sabbath and when he frustrated the religious leaders by healing on the Sabbath, he was a delight to those he came to serve and set free. Sabbath reminds us of our true identity in Christ, in all aspects of our personhood, and ushers us into the fullness of our salvation. Embracing our eternal identity is best known and experienced in times of Sabbath rest and ever-deepening trust. “You are my beloved” are the words from God that restore and renew us, as we welcome and embrace creativity, spontaneity, imagination, and beauty.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
You have been set free (in God), so keep the Sabbath! This is what Sabbath rest is all about. We don’t want to lose our memory for tasting the goodness of God. – Susan Currie
God’s loving invitation and specific commandment is to Sabbath rest – for all. The people of God were ushered into the Promised Land and reminded to rest, always to remember their years of bondage in Egypt. God urges us likewise to live fully and abundantly, in freedom and joy, recalling how we too can let our daily work become bondage for our soul. Our drivenness and constant effort keeps us from refreshing and renewing rest. But, trusting God with heart, soul, mind, and strength will lead us to a restful lifestyle, renewed in the grace of God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
Sabbath ceasing is meant for everyone and every living creature our lives touch: our children, our animals, all in our household. God rests in order to delight in his creation. So too are we made to rest in order to engage our creational identity. – Susan Currie
Sabbath rest is the turnkey to the deeper life. Ceasing can be the most difficult of all the Sabbath rhythms, as it requires us to stop what we normally do in order to embrace that which offers us more of the abundant life. Sabbath reminds us not to be productivity machines, but instead be people who value relationships, first and foremost with God. As God says “trust me” he knows how hard that will be for us, especially if we have a tendency toward a hurried and harried life. Ceasing work and technology are two examples of stopping in order to rest well.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
Discernment is about being with God, paying attention to God, letting our every word and effort come from attentiveness to God. Sabbath is the place that nurtures that attentiveness. – Susan Currie
Sabbath nurtures our attentiveness to God and thereby enhances our practicing a preference for God. From the creation account in Genesis we see God’s choice to rest after completing his work, delighting in the beauty of all that was established. We are invited to join God in the blessing and holiness of Sabbath rest and enjoy the gifts offered as we’re attuned to his priority. Sabbath rest encourages a pace of life that allows us to see, hear, and notice God’s goodness and grace amidst our very full lives. Let’s slow down enough to listen more restfully to God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
Reflection is an important spiritual discipline, inviting us to notice, remember, and give thanks. It is practiced in a variety of ways, from journaling to photography, and especially in the ancient practice of Examen. In reflection we are seeking the Spirit’s guidance to illuminate the path we’ve walked and attend to his presence and power every step of the way. As discerning leaders, it’s preferable to live a reflective life, noticing our feelings, actions, and attitudes, and intentionally realigning our motivations, drives, and values toward God’s delightful priorities.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
Prayer is a huge, somewhat daunting subject. No one has mastered prayer. In fact, if we’re honest, we are all simply beginners. This episode explores the inward, upward, and outward nature of prayer, in both the “secret place” of our prayer closet, as well as in our public worship and community life. Prayer is a conversation between God and his children, with God as primary initiator, offering his love and inviting our love in return. Our posture is to be one of receptivity, openness, listening and noticing God’s loving voice of comfort, guidance, and joy.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
Instead of studying the Word to preach or teach it, Lectio Divina invites us to simply listen and receive the Word as a gift of love from God to us, his beloved children. Discerning leaders know the power of the Word and delight when the Scriptures come alive in our prayer closets. As a primary spiritual practice, lectio divina encourages us to feast on a slow and prayerfully meditative reading of God’s Word. In this episode we look at the six rhythms of lectio and behold how the Word comes alive as it’s prayerfully and repetitively held as a gift of love.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
We live in an incredibly noisy world. Distractions abound, vying for our attention all throughout our days. Choosing a subversive, counter-cultural pursuit of exterior and interior silence is what separates a discerning leader from society’s norm. Silence and solitude is where we hear the whisper of God, enveloping us with love and affection. It’s the place where Jesus often was found, before the sun rose or late in the evening, discerning the loving voice of the Father.
Finding our way to interior stillness is a great challenge but an even more significant reward.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof
A discerning leader understands that service to others is based upon a relationship with God and thereby prioritizes the nurture of the soul. Commencing a new series, Steve Macchia and his spiritual director, Br. David Vryhof (www.ssje.org), explore the importance of spiritual practices as a foundation on which to deepen a life with God. Since we generally live unreflective lives, we need the space, the grace, and the rhythms to pursue on our pathway to greater union with God. Spiritual practices are a means to the abundant life. It’s all about love!
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
Imagining what it would be like if the Church were filled with discerning leaders, Steve and Jeremy dream together about a Church filled with those who regularly turn to God. With Romans 12: 1,2 as backdrop for today’s episode, we explore six principles for practicing discernment together as leadership teams. Out of a transformed and renewed mind, we are able to test, affirm, and discern God’s good and perfect will. The goal: a lifestyle of spiritual discernment for leaders and communities and a lifetime of companionship with God.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
Psalm 139 reminds us that God discerns all of our ways out of his abundant and unconditional love for us. His attentiveness toward us evokes a response of attentiveness to him. Discernment means to perceive, recognize, sift, sort, and separate, learning to know what is knowable. To practice a preference for God helps us lean more and more fully his direction, discerning him courageously and gratefully. Steve and Jeremy unpack noticing God in revelatory, reasoning, and discerning times. They also discuss the role of consolation and desolation in discernment.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
Beginning with the prayer of the Apostle Paul to the Church in Philippi and ending with his prayer to the Colossians, Steve and Jeremy unpack some of the most essential ingredients of prayerful discernment. They discuss the importance of an experiential knowledge of and an ever-deepening intimacy with God. And, they lovingly caution us not to slip into the mind-to-mind combat so many teams encounter at their strategy tables. Instead, to choose to become a community of love and prayerfulness which will leading us into Christ-honoring discernment. Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
Continuing the conversation about spiritual discernment, Steve and Jeremy look at how Jesus’ mother and disciples were either kept from or open to his presence and mission. The Gospels are filled with stories that provide real-life opportunities for practicing a preference for God. Defining the attributes of discernment with the backdrop of Jesus’ earthly journey gives us important glimpses into the clarity of his teaching and mission. The way forward for all of us is seen in the simple yet profound intentionality of seeing God everywhere.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net
Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano
On this inaugural episode, Steve and Jeremy recount one of the pinnacle accounts of discernment in Luke 24. The Road to Emmaus is a wonderful example of discernment as a way of life, and not simply a way to make decisions. Noticing the presence, power, and peace of Jesus is the beginning, middle, and end of healthy spiritual discernment. And, like the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, so too do we need to practice a preference for God and encourage one another to look for Jesus along our lifelong journeys of faith.
Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net