The Discerning Leader Podcast

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.

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.