The Discerning Leader Podcast

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.  

Brandon Moore, Army Chaplain with over two decades of service, shares how leading a discerning life has changed him. Topics include nurturing our souls and the souls of others, befriending ecumenical chaplains, and creating a upcoming Hollywood movie about the chaplaincy.

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.