Spiritual Life and Leadership

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Rob Gailey is Professor of Business and Director of the Center for International Development at Point Loma Nazarene University, as well as the co-author of Development in Mission: A Guide for Transforming Global Poverty and Ourselves.The issue of poverty alleviation is probably one of the most challenging issues, not only for the church, but for the world in general.   As both a missionary and a business professor, Rob Gailey brings a wealth of experience and wisdom to this topic.THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Rob Gailey is Professor of Business and Director of the Center for International Development at Point Loma Nazarene University, as well as the co-author of Development in Mission: A Guide for Transforming Global Poverty and Ourselves.Rob Gailey was a missionary kid. He shares the story of encountering deep poverty, which led him to care about poverty alleviation today.When back in the United States with his family, Rob Gailey was considered impoverished in comparison to other Americans, but when he and his family went back to Swaziland he was considered incredibly wealthy.  That dichotomy has never left him.Over the past thirty years, poverty is actually going down globally.Rob Gailey explains what he means by transformational development, which is a holistic approach to poverty alleviation.It is incredibly important to listen to those whom we are trying to serve when it comes to poverty alleviation.Rob Gailey tells the funny and tragic story of the “gringo wall” at a mission location in Mexico—a project given to mission teams who come to serve, but aren’t willing to listen.Rob talks about how frequently mission teams only do busy work when they go on mission trips.The move of the poor from rural areas to urban areas is having a profound impact on global poverty.The way we vote in our own country can make an impact on global poverty.Rob Gailey discusses the importance of reciprocity and mutuality in the work of poverty alleviation.Markus Watson reflects on the importance of listening and mutuality in our local contexts, as well.Holistic transformation is impossible without the church.The church’s work of poverty alleviation needs to come from a place of deep spiritual formation so that those we serve will be drawn to Jesus Christ.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Rob Gailey:Point Loma Nazarene University Faculty pageLinkedInBooks mentioned:Development in Mission: A Guide for Transforming Global Poverty and Ourselves, by Rob Gailey, Monty Lynn, and Derran ReeseWhen Helping Hurts, by Steve Corbett and Brian FikkertWalking with the Poor, by Bryant MyersRelated episodes:Ep 34: A Small ChuGet Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Michaela O’Donnell is the Executive Director of the Depree Center for Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary and the author of Make Work Matter: Your Guide to Meaningful Work in a Changing World.  The world of work has changed. Rarely do people stay at the same company for decades (which used to be the norm). No people move from job to job every few years.  The gig economy has change the world of work. And if you haven't noticed, the coronavirus pandemic has exacerbated all these changes.In this episode, Michaela O'Donnell helps us understand the changing nature of work, not only for people in the marketplace, but also in the church.THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Michaela O’Donnell is the Executive Director of the Depree Center for Leadership at Fuller Theological Seminary and the author of Make Work Matter: Your Guide to Meaningful Work in a Changing World.The most formative book Michaela O’Donnell has read is Strengthening the Soul of Your Leadership by Ruth Haley Barton.Michaela shares what led her to write Make Work Matter.It’s important to have a good understanding of work because it is such a big part of our lives and is part of God’s creation intention for human beings.Michaela O’Donnell discusses how the world of work has changed in recent years and decades.In dealing with the changing nature of work, we need to recognize we are not alone and make space for our feelings.The changing nature of work invites us to engage in grief work.Michaela O’Donnell describes how resilience can help us navigate the changing world of work.The “entrepreneurial way,” as Michaela O’Donnell explains it, includes resilience, creativity, deepening in relationship, and the skill of empathy.The story of the Good Samaritan is a helpful way of thinking about the connection between empathy and entrepreneurship.Michaela O’Donnell reminds us that we can experience “small r resurrections” in the midst of the challenges of work.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Michaela O'Donnell:Depree Center for LeadershipPre-order Make Work MatterBooks mentioned:Make Work Matter: Your Guide to Meaningful Work in a Changing World, by Michaela O’DonnellStrengthening the Soul of Your Leadership, by Ruth Haley BartonTempered Resilience, by Tod BolsingerChurch Leadership InstituteRelated Episodes:Episode 77: To Know the World and Still Love It, with Steven GarberRhythms of Leadership, Ep 8: Not a Solo Mission, with Michaela O’DonnellGet Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Andy Crouch is Partner for Theology and Culture at Praxis and the author of Strong and Weak. In this episode, Andy Crouch discusses the roles of both strength and weakness--authority and vulnerability--in our leadership.So often, we assume the greatest leaders are the ones who exhibit great authority.  Or maybe we believe the greatest leaders let go of all their authority and lead only from a place of vulnerability.But that’s a false dichotomy.  Leaders that bring true flourishing lead with both authority and vulnerability.THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Andy Crouch is Partner for Theology and Culture at Praxis and the author of numerous books, including Strong and Weak.The most formative books Andy Crouch has read are A Long Obedience in the Same Direction by Eugene Peterson and Technology and the Character of Contemporary Life by Albert Borgman.After writing Playing God: Redeeming the Gift of Power, Andy Crouch placed the themes of that book on a 2x2 matrix, which unlocked all kinds of new insight, which led him to write Strong and Weak.Andy Crouch explains what a 2x2 matrix is.  In the case of Strong and Weak, the 2x2 matrix consists of authority and vulnerability.See graphic belowWhen humans experience both authority and vulnerability, this is flourishing.When there is no authority and no vulnerability, this can be called safety or withdrawal.Vulnerability without authority is suffering.Authority without vulnerability is control or exploiting.Andy Crouch explains the need for both authority and vulnerability by exploring Genesis 1 and 2.There is something that is unlocked in the world when a person with authority willingly empties themselves of authority and enters into suffering.  It has a capacity to repair and restore the world.Finding the right meaningful risk will unlock flourishing for you and the people you’re entrusted with.In order to move toward vulnerability, letting go of authority, we need friends who are outside our own system.The prayer of a healthy leader:  God, show me my meaningful action today and show me my meaningful risk.To find out more about Andy Crouch and his work, visit www.praxislabs.org.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Books mentioned:Strong and Weak, by Andy CrouchA Long Obedience in the Same Direction, by Eugene PetersonTechnology and the Character of Contemporary Life, by Albert BorgmanPlaying God: The Gift of Redeeming Power, by Andy CrouchPraxis Website:Praxislabs.orgRelated episodes:Rhythms oGet Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Mark Scandrette is the author of The Ninefold Path Jesus: Hidden Wisdom of the Beatitudes.  In this episode, Mark does a fantastic job, not only unpacking what the Beatitudes are all about, but also showing us how living into the reality of the Beatitudes can help us be healthier and more lifegiving leaders.THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Mark Scandrette is the executive director of ReImagine: A Center for Integral Christian Practice and the author of The Ninefold Path of Jesus: Hidden Wisdom of the Beatitudes.The Beatitudes suggest that the blessed life can come to the most unlikely people.The Beatitudes are not a new set of rules given to us by Jesus.In the Sermon on the Mount, Jesus tries to get us to rethink our assumptions about life.Mark Scandrette suggests the Beatitudes name some of our first instincts that take us away from God’s reality and presence and then invite us to reengage those realities on a deeper level.When we experience poverty, our first instinct is to grasp.  But the Beatitudes invite us to move from closed-handedness to open-handedness.In The Ninefold Path of Jesus, Mark Scandrette offers physical postures for us to take in order to better experience the reality of the Beatitudes with our bodies.Mark Scandrette thinks of the Beatitudes as the psychology of the Kingdom of God.Because of a tendency toward competition and comparison, leaders often have a hard time with the Beatitude that says, “Blessed are the meek.”Mark Scandrette describes the “Ninefold Path Leader Labs” that he leads and how they have helped leaders experience the reality of the Beatitudes.In the “Ninefold Path Leader Labs,” participants are asked, “Who do you tend to label, stereotype, or judge?”Participants are invited to pray for strangers with this prayer:  “Child of God, may you be well.”Mark Scandrette shares an incredible story of how the Beatitudes helped him defuse a situation in which a man brandished a gun at a convenience store.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Books mentioned:The Ninefold Path of Jesus, by Mark ScandretteThe Divine Conspiracy, by Dallas WillardWebsites:Markscandrette.comninefoldpath.orgReimagine.orgGet Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Phuc Luu is the author of Jesus of the East: Reclaiming the Gospel for the Wounded.  This book is based on the questions, “Why is there a theology for the sinner, but not for the victim, for the sinned against?”That same question is also at the root of this conversation.  In other words, do we need to pursue a Gospel that focuses less on punishment avoidance and more on the restoration of a broken world?THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Phuc Luu is a theologian-philosopher and the author of Jesus of the East: Reclaiming the Gospel for the Wounded.The Crucified God, by Jürgen Moltmann, and The Cross and the Lynching Tree, by James Cone, are the most formative books Phuc Luu has read.Phuc Luu came to the U.S. as a refugee with his family at the age of 4.The Eastern Church Fathers tended to see sin as akin to sickness and salvation was likened to healing.Minjung theology came out of Korea in response to the suffering and woundedness experienced, and focuses on salvation as healing, much like the Eastern Church Fathers.With Constantine’s conversion, Christianity went from being a religion for the victims to a religion for the victimizers.We have a Christianity for the sinner, but not a Christianity for the sinned against.Phuc Luu explains the racialization of justice in the United States.What is the good news for us today?  How would Jesus bring healing to those who are wounded?Phuc Luu answers the question, why did Jesus die on the cross?Phuc Luu asks the question, does God have to do bad things in order to make good things happen?God stands in solidarity with all those who are crucified.The gospel for sinners is the opportunity to repent and have the mind of Christ.Jesus created a kinship that mended the wounds of those around them.  Jesus wants us to be reconciled to one another.The church is called to allow its brokenness to intersect with the brokenness of the world, and thereby bring healing.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Phuc LuuWebsite:  www.phucluu.comBooks mentions:Jesus of the East, by Phuc LuuThe Crucfied God, by Jürgen MoltmannThe Cross and the Lynching Tree, by James ConeReading the Bible with the Damned, by Bob EkbladGet Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Kara Powell is the Executive Director of the Fuller Youth Institute at Fuller Seminary, as well as the Chief of Leadership Formation, also at Fuller Seminary.  Kara is also the co-author (together with Brad Griffin) of 3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager.While Kara Powell’s book addresses the foundational questions that adolescents wrestle with, it turns out these questions linger throughout our lives.  The three big questions focus on identity, belonging, and purpose, and an understanding of these questions can give us insight both into our own anxieties, hopes, and motivations, as well as the anxieties, hopes, and motivations of those we work with and lead.THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:One of the reasons Kara Powell wrote this book is because a teen said, “I wish the church would stop giving me answers to questions I’m not asking.”This book is an attempt, through research, to understand, what are the questions that young people are asking and how do we help them experience Jesus’ best answers for those questions?In speaking with teenagers, the three big questions had to do with Identity, Belonging, and Purpose:Who am I?Where do I fit?What difference can I make?The process of discipleship is the process of discovering Christ-centered answers to these questions.Kara Powell shares that almost every teenager feels like they are not enough.  Jesus, however, says to teenagers, “You are enough.”The teens with whom Kara Powell spoke in her research said they feel like they belong when they feel safe and when they share experiences with others.Teens feel that they can make a difference when they are helping people.  But they need to learn that they don’t need to earn God’s approval.According to Kara Powell, these three questions can be really helpful in working with people in our ministries and organizations.  When we look a difficult issue as being a matter of identity, belonging, or purpose for someone, that issue can suddenly make sense.Kara Powell shares how understanding these questions have helped her even as a mom.To find out more about Kara Powell and 3 Big Questions that Change Every Teenager, visit www.3bigquestionsbook.com.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Books mentioned:3 Big Questions That Change Every Teenager by Kara Powell and Brad GriffinWebsite: www.3bigquestionsbook.comGet Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Leadership, at its core, always has to do with navigating change.  In a world like ours, change leadership is more critical than ever.  But change leadership, or adaptive leadership, is impossible if the leader isn’t willing or able to take a learning posture.In this episode, Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson talk about how best to learn for the sake of leadership.  Learning is always more effective in community.  Learning happens best, in other words, with the support of a cohort of others who are on the same leadership journey, and the guidance of a coach who can challenge our assumptions and ask provocative questions.THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Tod Bolsinger is the Executive Director of Fuller Theological Seminary’s Church Leadership Institute.Markus Watson and Tod Bolsinger give a brief synopsis of Episode 108, “Context and Creativity.”Many leaders are discovering that they need help.  They are realizing that they don’t have all the answers.Tod Bolsinger explains why a cohort is so important for learning as a leader.  The leader’s job in a cohort is really just to convene a group of learners.Lewis and Clark and their team were a learning cohort.Tod shares the story of a megachurch pastor who admitted he needed coaching.A coach’s job is to care about you for the sake of the mission.A dysfunctional leader is more interested in control than in learning.Markus Watson and Tod Bolsinger discuss the role of spiritual formation in healthy leadership.Leaders need a cohort for support and a coach for challenge.Leaders need to ask for help.  Asking for help is an act of leadership.The Lilly Endowment has made it possible for the Fuller Seminary’s Church Leadership Institute to provide learning cohorts and coaching at an affordable price through the Online Adaptive Capacity Cohort.  The cost is $3500 for an 18-month cohort and coaching process.  Mention Spiritual Life and Leadership when you apply to get a $500 scholarship.  More scholarship money is available depending on need.At the end of the Online Adaptive Capacity Cohort, you will have a team of people who are ready to take on the challenge of a changing world. Your team will be change leadership experts.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Online Adaptive Capacity Cohort:For more information, click HERETo register, click HEREMention Spiritual Life and Leadership to get a $500 scholarshipBooks mentioned:Canoeing the Mountains, by Tod BolsingerGet Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Each church, each ministry organization, is situated in a unique context—a particular place and time and culture.  And that context, if we’re paying attention and engaging with a posture of learning, will call forth creative new ways of serving and loving and blessing our neighbors.In this conversation, Tod Bolsinger and Markus Watson discuss both the importance of knowing one's context and responding with creativity when discerning a church's ministry calling.THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Tod Bolsinger is the Executive Director of Fuller Seminary’s Church Leadership Institute, as well as the author of Canoeing the Mountains and Tempered Resilience.Now that we’re coming out of the pandemic, many of us think about going “back.”  But what would we be going back to?Ronald Heifetz says that a crisis can give us the will to address issues we didn’t want to address before.A crisis has an acute phase and an adaptive phase.The future of one’s church will be built on the healthiest version of its “charism,” it’s gift.Each church has been uniquely gifted for its particular context.Leaders are shaped more by their context than by the reading they do or the education they receive.Leaders and pastors need to pay attention to the pain points of their communities and reflect on how their church’s charism can address those pain points.  And how will that require us to change?Tod Bolsinger shares an amazing story of a church in Austin, TX, that took on the challenge of economic inequality in their community by buying medical debt.This sparked all kinds of ministry creativity in that church.Markus Watson shares the story of Westmorland Community Presbyterian Church and the Food Pantry they started in their small, rural town.The Church Leadership Institute is offering the Online Adaptive Capacity Cohort to help churches and pastors discover their charism and how to serve creatively in their contexts.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Online Adaptive Capacity CohortClick HERE for more infoClick HERE to apply (mention Spiritual Life and Leadership for a $500 scholarship)Books mentioned:Canoeing the Mountains by Tod BolsingerTempered Resilience by Tod BolsingerBeyond Thingification by Markus WatsonReviews help listeners find this podcast.  To leave a review of Spiritual Life and Leadership:Click HERE.Click on the link that says, "Listen on Apple Podcasts."In the window that opens, click the button that says, "Open Link." Get Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Mandy Smith is a pastor and the author of Unfettered: Imagining a Childlike Faith Beyond the Baggage of Western Culture.  In this episode, Mandy discusses the ways we are called to embrace childlikeness, while resisting childishness.  And, at the same time, we are called to embrace mature adultlikeness, while resisting insecure adultishness.THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDES:Mandy Smith is a pastor and the author of Unfettered: Imagining a Childlike Faith Beyond the Baggage of Western Culture.Mandy wrote Unfettered over the course of five years and four re-writes, having initially written a very “adult-like” exposition of childlike faith.Mandy Smith explains the difference between “adultish” and “adult-like.”Mandy shares how she began to explore what it means to have a childlike faith.God is the initiator of mission in the world.  We are called to rest, receive, and respond.Rest from the assumption that it’s all up to me.From that rest, we always receive from the Source of all things.Our response, then is to step into the adult-like agency of leadership.Mandy Smith further unpacks the rest, receive, respond framework.Western culture tends to reduce human beings down to what we think and what we do.If we truly believe God is carrying our lives and the world, we can stop and rest sometimes.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Mandy Smith:Website:  www.thewayistheway.orgBooks mentioned:Unfettered: Imagining a Childlike Faith Beyond the Baggage of Western Culture, by Mandy SmithThe Vulnerable Pastor, by Mandy SmithThese books are available wherever you buys books, including https://www.heartsandmindsbooks.com/Listen to Mandy Smith’s earlier episode:Episode 36: The Vulnerable Pastor, with Mandy SmithReviews help listeners find this podcast.  To leave a review of Spiritual Life and Leadership:Click HERE.Click on the link that says, "Listen on Apple Podcasts."In the window that opens, click the button that says, "Open Link."  This will open iTunes.To the right of the Spiritual Life and Leadership logo, click "Ratings and Reviews."Under the heading, "Customer Reviews," click on the button that says, "Write a Review."Select the number of stars and write your review.Click submit.Thank you!—Links to Amazon are affiliate links.Get Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Mark Lau Branson is the co-author of Leadership, God's Agency, and Disruptions.  In this episode, Mark discusses the question raised by "Modernity's Wager."  That question is, "Can life be lived well without God?"  While most of us would say, "No," the sad truth is that we often live and lead as though God is neither active nor present. THIS EPISODE'S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Mark Lau Branson is the Homer L. Goddard Professor of the Ministry of the Laity at Fuller Theological Seminary, as well as the co-author (together with Alan Roxburgh) of Leadership, God’s Agency, and Disruptions.Mark Lau Branson explains the meaning of “modernity’s wager,” which argues that life can be lived well without God.Christian leaders operate within a framework that puts the onus of “success” on them.  This leads to ways of leading rooted in power and control.Strategic planning is totally dependent on humans being objects who can be manipulated toward ends.  But ministry leaders do this unconsciously.Churches look at their neighbors as objects who need something.  And the church’s job is to deliver it.Mark Lau Branson states that God is constantly disrupting throughout the Bible and walking with his people amid disruptions.Markus Watson and Mark Lau Branson discuss the way the Gospel of Matthew presents learning communities as one of the key ways the church discovers its calling and purpose.We can truly only learn through reflection in conversation.Whenever Jesus had a meal with someone, he was always a guest.  Mark Lau Branson says that the disciples learned from this that hospitality for the Gospel means you’re a guest.  And then you listen because you’re a guest.Mark Lau Branson and Markus Watson discuss the Four Spiritual Laws as a commodity designed to control a conversation and elicit a particular outcome.Mark Lau Branson explains the social construction framework.  Jesus, in the Sermon on the Mount, is challenging the social construction of both his time and our time.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Mark Lau Branson:Fuller websiteBooks mentioned:Leadership, God’s Agency, and Disruptions, by Mark Lau Branson and Alan RoxburghRelated book:Beyond Thingification: Helping Your Church Engage in God's Mission, by Markus WatsonChurch Leadership InstituteFree Online Course:Leading Your Church Through ChangeReviews help listeners find this podcast.  To leave a review of Spiritual Life and Leadership:Click HERE.Click on the link that says, "Listen on Apple Podcasts."In the window that opens, click the button that says, "Open Link."  This will open iTunes.To the right of the Spiritual Life and Leadership logo, click "Ratings and ReviewGet Becoming Leaders of Shalom for free HERE.Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.