Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Is experiencing shalom at a James Taylor concert possible? Does God work only through people who are Christians?  Does God only show up when we’re doing explicitly Christian things?  Or can God be experienced anytime there is goodness and beauty and kindness?Personally, I think God can be experienced anytime, anywhere–even at a James Taylor concert!  In this episode, I reflect on the themes of broken shalom and restored shalom–which are reflections of God at work in the world–in the music of James Taylor.THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Markus and his wife went to Las Vegas to see James Taylor in concert--truly a moment of experiencing shalom!Markus had a bit of a spiritual experience during the concert.James Taylor’s songs all revolve around images of shalom and broken shalom.The song, Carolina in My Mind, depicts the broken shalom of homesickness and the restoration of shalom as he goes “to Carolina in my mind.”The invitation of God is, “Come home.”There are people who are longing for a place to call home. This is part of the immigration challenge in the world to today.“Home” is a place of experiencing shalom.How can the church help those without a home find a place that they can call home?The song, Fire and Rain, presents images of both broken and restored shalom, especially in regard to relationships.A broken relationship is broken shalom.The song, You’ve Got a Friend, is a picture of restored shalom, especially in regard to relationships.The song, Shower the People, shows what it looks like when people pour out love—experiencing shalom—on the people they care about.Shower the People is a picture of restored shalom.As Markus looked down on the crowd, he had a profound sense that all of these children are loved by God.The concert gave people an experience of the shalom that God wants for us.God wants to restore shalom in every aspect of our lives.God isn’t limited working only through church people. Experiencing shalom is possible anywhere.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKSIf you want to hear James Taylor’s best, this is a good one: James Taylor, Greatest HitsAnd this is the biography of James Taylor that my wife is currently reading: Sweet Dreams and Flying Machines: The Life and Music of James TaylorInstructions 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.I'd be so grateful if you did this.  Thank you!— Links to Amazon are affiliate links.  If you mClick HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Ron Ovitt is the President and founder of Empower Ministry, which helps people grow into healthy Christians empowered for ministry in their lives.  For Ron, becoming a healthy follower of Jesus involves developing what he calls emotional resilience—the ability to bounce back from painful experiences in our lives.  In this episode, Ron explains what emotional resiliance involves and why it is so important for spiritual leadership.THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Empower Ministry’s goal is to empower people to overcome their addictions and emotional challenges so they can fully be who they were meant to be.Ron Ovitt grew up with a fair amount of anxiety and depression.Ron Ovitt studied psychology, which played a part in his emotional healing.He discovered that emotional resilience is a key component of the inner healing people need.The Five Signs of a Healthy Christian:Love JesusLove God’s WordEmotional ResilienceSpirit-ledOutwardly FocusedEmotional resilience refers to the ability to bounce back from painful experiences and return to joy.Emotional resilience can be broken down into three parts:Emotional recognitionEmotional regulationEmotional relearningRon Ovitt likes to say, “If you embrace it you can erase it.”People who struggle emotionally are unable to talk about it at church because of the stigma. The church should be the safest place in the world to talk about emotional struggles.Ron Ovitt’s book, Power Up!, is available as a free PDF at www.empowerministry.org/powerupRELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKSPower Up! free PDF: https://www.empowerministry.org/powerup/Ron Ovitt Email:  ron@empowerministry.orgEmpower Ministry: Website:  https://www.empowerministry.org/Twitter:  https://twitter.com/EmpowerForInstagram:  https://www.instagram.com/empowerforliving/Books by Ron Ovitt: Moments in the Word: Daily Moments that Feed Your SoulThe Five Signs of a Healthy Christian: How to be a spiritually healthy and vibrant ChristianGifted: Easy to Use Guide that Helps You Assess, Discover, and Use Your Spiritual GiftsWired for Ministry: Assess Your Passions, Spiritual Gifts, Experience, and Abilities for MinistryPower Up!: Powerful Bible Verses Paraphrased to Guide and Inspire You Through Life’s Most Challenging CircumstancesOther books mentioned: Shame and Grace: Healing the Shame We Don’t Deserve by Lewis SmedesTo leave a review of Spiritual Life and Leadership: 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!Why is ministry harder than it used to be?  Church attendance is declining every year.  Fewer people than ever have even set foot in a church.  The church as an institution has far less influence in our society than it used to.Why is this?  What happened?The fact is we live in a Post-Christendom world.  Christendom is that part of the world and that part of world history in which Christianity was the dominant shaper of culture.  We might even say Christianity was the culture.But we live in a very different world.In this episode, Markus Watson unpacks the origin of Christendom, how it shaped the church, and the reality of our Post-Christendom existence.THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Markus shares a story about feeling frustrated that attendance and giving in his church were both declining. Ministry is harder than it used to be.We live in a Post-Christendom world.Christendom and Christianity are not the same thing.Christendom is that part of the world in which Christianity is in control of the culture.Christendom began with the conversion to Christianity of the Roman Emperor Constantine in 312 A.D.When Constantine legalized Christianity, the church was suddenly thrust into a position of cultural and political power.Before Christendom, becoming a Christian involved an intense 2-year period of catechesis and examination.After Christendom, it was possible to be a Christian without conversion or commitment.Constantine was never catechized and was baptized only shortly before his death.A new distinction emerged. Before Christendom, the primary distinction was between church and world.During Christendom, the primary distinction was between clergy and laity.The clergy’s job in Christendom was to provide spiritual goods and services for the “ordinary” Christians.Ministry is harder today in part because people aren’t interested in the church’s spiritual goods and services.Despite the fact that ministry is harder today than in the past, the decline of Christendom is actually a wonderful opportunity for the church.  The church can recover its identity as a missionary people, participating with God to restore shalom in the world.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKSBooks: Missional Church, edited by Darrell GuderCanoeing the Mountains by Tod BolsingerThe Change of Conversion and the Origin of Christendom by Alan KreiderAnother City by Barry A. HarveyThe Patient Ferment of the Early Church by Alan KreiderInstructions 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.ClClick HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Scott Schimmel started The You School several years ago to help kids make the transition into adulthood. He and his team help students, families, and others who are in times of transition work through five key questions:What do you believe in?Who are you becoming?What’s your mission?How are you going to contribute?Who do you belong to?This is a process of identity formation, which, when it comes down to it, is also a process of spiritual formation.In this episode, Scott Schimmel shares about how The YouSchool is helping not only kids, but all kinds of people (including veterans) make challenging transitions that ultimately lead to a life of purpose and fulfillment.THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Scott Schimmel is the President and Chief Guide of The YouSchool.Scott initially intended to go into accounting.Scott Schimmel ended up serving with InterVarsity for ten years.YouSchool was founded to help people get clear on their calling in the world, to help them transition well into life.The ability to look at your life as a story is incredibly helpful for getting perspective on one’s life.There are five key questions that The You School helps people answer: What do you believe in?Who are you becoming?What’s your mission?How are you going to contribute?Who do you belong to?The You School’s process for helping people grow into healthy adults is really a process of spiritual formation, though they don’t use that language to describe what they are doing.Scott Schimmel shares about his own spiritual formation leading up to the creation of You School, as well as how he has been shaped since starting You School.You School works with several veterans’ organizations to help veterans transition out of the military.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKSThe YouSchool Website:  https://www.theyouschool.com/Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TheYouSchoolInstagram:   https://www.instagram.com/theyouschool/Vimeo:  https://vimeo.com/user32651157The YouSchool Podcast https://theyouschool.podbean.com/Books: The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas WillardRenovation of the Heart by Dallas WillardInstructions 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.I'd be so grClick HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!What do you if you’re leading a local congregation and you find out that a boy in your neighborhood has asthma because the landlord won’t fix the mold problem in his apartment building?  If you’re the pastors of Ebenezer Church in San Diego, you cancel your regular worship service, meet the congregation in front of the apartment building, and stage a protest until the landlord agrees to do the right thing.This is a great part of the story of Ebenezer Church.  But what I especially love is what Pastor Noel Musicha says about this protest. He says he’s not really interested in protesting.  What he’s interested in is restoring shalom.Of course, there’s much more to Ebenezer Church than this.  In this episode, I speak with Pastors Noel Musicha and Jere Lester, a really great church located in the Linda Vista community of San Diego.THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Noel Musicha and Jere Lester are the pastors of Ebenezer Church in San Diego.Noel and Jere feel called to minister to the poor and immigrant community in San Diego’s community of Linda Vista.There is power in the tradition of being a church. It is the environment where inner life transformation takes place, which allows for the outer life of ministry to the community.Ebenezer Church meets in the sanctuary of Linda Vista Presbyterian Church. Noel and Jere highly value the ministry and heritage of their host congregation.They learned early on that the most important thing they were going to take to the community was not good theology, but their own pain.Ebenezer Church exists to meet the immigrant and the poor.Ebenezer Church’s leadership reflects the diversity of the community.Jere learned about a boy who had asthma because his building had mold. When the landlord refused to do anything about it, Ebenezer Church moved their church service to the apartment building and protested until the landlord agreed to fix the problem.Noel isn’t interested in protesting. He is interested in restoring shalom.Ebenezer Church’s website is www.ebenezerchurchsd.com. You can also find them on Facebook and Instagram.Worship services are Sunday nights at 5pm (followed by dinner) at Linda Vista Presbyterian Church.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKSEbenezer Church Website:  http://ebenezerchurchsd.com/Facebook:  https://www.facebook.com/EbenezerChurchSD/Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/ebenezerchurchsd/Linda Vista Presbyterian Church Website:  http://lvpres.org/Presbytery of San Diego Website:  https://www.presbyterysd.org/1001 New Worshiping Communities Website:  https://www.presbyterianmission.org/ministries/1001-2/To leave a review of Spiritual Life and Leadership: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/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!Why does it still surprise me to hear that a woman has been called to be the Senior Pastor of a church?  Why is there still a part of me that thinks ministry leadership is a man’s job?  Probably because the patriarchy of our culture has shaped me more deeply than I know.But, unlike me, God does not set limits on who is called to ministry leadership.In this episode, Tara Beth Leach, Senior Pastor of First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena–affectionately known to many as PazNaz–shares the story of her call to ministry and the challenges she has faced along the way.  Tara Beth is the author of Emboldened: A Vision for Empowering Women in Ministry.THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Tara Beth Leach is the Senior Pastor of First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena, or “PazNaz.” She is also the author of Emboldened: A Vision for Empowering Women in Ministry.Tara Beth first felt her call to ministry when she was in high school. But she was told she couldn’t be a pastor.Even though her Nazarene denomination affirms women in ministry, Tara Beth noticed that the reality was that women were being sidelined.Leading PazNaz has been the hardest thing Tara Beth Leach has ever done.Tara Beth Leach works hard to process the challenge of ministry in a healthy way.Mandy Smith, author of The Vulnerable Pastor, is part of Tara Beth Leach’s support system.The issue of women in ministry is not merely a justice issue; it’s a gospel issue and a missional issue.Tara Beth encourages “amplification,” a practice in which women and men “amplify” the voices of women in the room by repeating and highlighting the words the women in the room are speaking.Tara Beth Leach encourages women to lead from their femininity. But this is a very complicated topic because femininity is, in many ways, culturally constructed. The bottom line for women is basically just…lead from who you authentically are.Patriarchy, which emerged out of the curses in Genesis 3, is not prescriptive (“this is how you should live), but descriptive (“this is what the world looks like when sin becomes part of the story”).We have been called to live by the reality of the resurrection, not under the shadow of the curse.We need to be less myopic and, instead, begin to take note of those around us—men and women—who have been called to ministry.Tara Beth Leach encourages women in ministry to take one faithful step at a time. RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKSBooks mentionedEmboldened: A Vision for Empowering Women in MinistryThe Vulnerable PastorTara Beth Leach Twitter:  https://twitter.com/TaraBeth82Instagram:  https://www.instagram.com/tarabeth82/First Church of the Nazarene of Pasadena Website:  https://www.paznaz.org/To leave a review of Spiritual Life and Leadership: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spClick HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Followers of Jesus need a framework for intentional spiritual growth.Consider what happens to a grapevine when it doesn’t have a trellis on which to grow.  I imagine that the vine just sort of lays on the ground and the grapes end up getting eaten by worms or bugs.  But when the vine has a trellis, the grapevine is able to bear much fruit.Likewise, we need a trellis for our lives if we are going to “bear much fruit” (as Jesus says in John 15).  We need a framework for intentional spiritual growth.  In Emotionally Healthy Spirituality, Peter Scazzero explains that this framework is called a “Rule of Life.”  In this episode, I talk about 1) why you need a Rule of Life and 2) how to develop a Rule of Life.THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Spiritual growth requires intentionality.Jesus stresses the importance of intentionally staying connected to him in John 15:1-8. Only then can we “bear much fruit.”A “Rule of Life” is an intentional framework for our lives to help us grow spiritually.The word “rule,” according to Peter Scazzero, comes from the Greek word for “trellis.” It is a structure that helps the vine grow, rest, and bear as much fruit as possible.The story of Daniel demonstrates the power of intentional spiritual growth.Daniel was betrayed by other administrators in the Persian Empire. Rather than retreating, defending himself, or fighting back, Daniel simply returned to his Rule of Life—praying three times daily by his window that faced Jerusalem.It was Daniel’s Rule of Life that gave him the strength to be faithful to God even when his life was threatened.A Rule of Life can be structures with four categories in mind: prayer, rest, relationships, and work/activity.Select one or two practices to engage in for each category. PrayerRestRelationshipsWork/Activity It takes trial and error to develop a Rule of Life. But we need to pursue intentional spiritual growth.Don’t get legalistic about your Rule of Life. As soon as your Rule of Life becomes a duty and chore, it will no longer be life-giving or draw you close to God. RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKSBooks Emotionally Healthy Spirituality by Peter ScazzeroEmotionally Healthy Spirituality Workbook by Peter ScazzeroThe Emotionally Healthy Church by Peter ScazzeroThe Emotionally Healthy Leader by Peter ScazzeroPray As You Go (daily devotional podcast) Website:  https://pray-as-you-go.org/Twitter:  https://twitter.com/prayasugo Scriptures John 15:1-8Daniel 6:1-11To leave a review of Spiritual Life and Leadership: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-life-and-leadership/id1435252632— Links to Amazon are affiliate linksClick HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.

Send me a text! I’d love to know what you're thinking!Daniel So and Jeya So are both experienced church-planters and experienced coaches of church-planters.There was a time when you could start a new church simply by walking into a new part of town, knocking on doors to let people know about the new church, and within a few weeks there would be a hundred people or so–especially if they already belonged to that denomination or tradition.  But church-planting is not that easy in a Post-Christendom world.Daniel So and Jeya So will share about the challenges and the joys of starting new churches—or as they put it, “new worshiping communities”—in the 21st century.THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Daniel So and Jeya So are the pastors of Anchor City Church in San Diego. Daniel is also the Director of Cyclical San Diego, the Presbytery of San Diego’s church planting initiative. Jeya does assessing and coaching of church plant leaders with “1001 New Worshiping Communities,” national church planting initiative of the Presbyterian Church (USA).The most formative book Jeya has read in recent years is Till We Have Faces by C.S. Lewis.The two most formative books Daniel has read is The Divine Conspiracy by Dallas Willard and From a Liminal Place: An Asian American Theology by Sang Hyun Lee.Cyclical is more about cultivating environments in which new worshiping communities can grow and thrive than it is about starting new denominational churches.A new church is far more nimble and responsive than most established churches.In order to effectively start new churches and worshiping communities, larger church bodies need to be supportive and open-handed.The purpose for starting new churches can’t be to save the denomination. It has to be for the sake of the kingdom of God.Large churches must be willing to let go of and support leaders and staff who feel called to start new churches.A lot of the qualities required for church planting can apply to church revitalization.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKSBooks Till We Have Faces by C.S. LewisThe Divine Conspiracy: Rediscovering Our Hidden Life in God by Dallas WillardFrom a Liminal Place: An Asian American Theology by San Hyun LeeDaniel So Twitter: https://twitter.com/headsparks/Cyclical San Diego Website: https://cyclicalsd.org/Anchor City Church Website: https://anchorcity.org/Cyclical Los Angeles Website: http://www.cyclicalla.com/To leave a review of Spiritual Life and Leadership: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/spiritual-life-and-leadership/id1435252632— Links to Amazon are affiliate links. 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!We live in an age of incredible change.  Traditional entertainment like TV is being replaced by streaming on-demand media.  Traditional stores are being replaced by online shopping.  Traditional churches are having a harder and harder time knowing where they fit in a culture that is so drastically different than it was fifty years ago.This is where Dwight Gibson and the way of exploration comes in. Dwight Gibson has been helping organizations “explore” new ways of being, new ways of doing, new ways of fulfilling their mission.  Dwight is an expert when it comes to organizational exploration.  He has years of experience helping organizations find their way from where they are to where they need to be.  And he guides them by means of what he calls “the way of exploration.”THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:When an organization knows they need to get from “here” to “there,” but they don’t know how, Dwight Gibson and The Exploration Group are able to step in and help them find the way by means of exploration.There are organization that die by doing nothing and there are organizations that die by trying to do everything.The “Way of Exploration” consists of three phases: starting, doing, and finding.StartingThe Choice to Go Beyond… Beyond where the organization currently is.The Crossroads… The decision that’s made to change the status quo. They are willing to actually do something (e.g., spending some money, hiring staff, hiring a consultant, etc.).DoingPondering… Involves asking questions, studying, talking to people, doing research, and so forth. A very open-ended part of the process.Landmarking… Start identifying insights.Orienteering… When you start putting landmarks together to create a new value chain, to start charting the way forward.FindingRealization… Recognizing an outcome. But it’s not always clear when this happens. It may be progressive over time. And what is realized may be very different than what was initially expected.Evaluation… Four questions: What did we know now that we didn’t know before?What don’t we need that we used to need that we picked up along the way?What do we see now?Do we go back to the way it used to be?As people of faith, we ought to have a greater capacity for exploration because we know there is something beyond us.Dwight Gibson says the way of exploration does not guarantee an answer at the end. But you always learn something.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:The Exploration GroupWebsite: https://www.exploradelphia.com/Books about adaptive leadership: Leadership on the Line: Staying Alive Through the Dangers of Change by Ronald Heifetz and Marty LinskyThe Practice of Adaptive Leadership: Tools and Tactics for Changing Your Organization and the World by Ronald Heifetz, Alexander Grashow, and Marty LinskyTo leave a review of Spiritual Life and Leadership: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/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!What is neighborhood exegesis?One of the most eye-opening ideas for me over the last 10-15 years is the idea that God is already ahead of the church, out in the world, working through all kinds of people to bring healing and wholeness to the world. Lesslie Newbigin calls this idea “the previousness of the gospel.”The reason this idea meant so much to me was because it took the pressure off. As a pastor, I wasn’t responsible for achieving God’s purposes in the world. What I was responsible for was to become aware of where and how God was at work and then join God in what God was already doing.But how do you become aware of what God is doing?In this episode of Spiritual Life and Leadership, Marcos Mujica explains how the process of “neighborhood exegesis” can help churches, not only get to know their neighborhoods, but also discover where God is at work and how God may be calling them to join him in his mission.THIS EPISODE’S HIGHLIGHTS INCLUDE:Marcos Mujica is the President of Agrarian Craft, which does landscape construction and regenerative agriculture.Two books have had a big impact on Marcos: Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture by Ellen DavisTorture and Eucharist by William CavanaughExegesis is the process by which we derive meaning out of texts.Exegesis is about reading the narrative that is displayed before us.Our neighborhoods can tell us stories.Marcos’ process of neighborhood exegesis: Teach the leadership team about salvation.Start researching the neighborhood through online resources and interviews.The goal is to discover the assets, the problems, and needs of the neighborhood, so that the church can discover how God may be calling them to serve their neighborhood.It’s much more effective when the church itself is involved in doing the neighborhood exegesis, rather than just hiring someone like Marcos to do it.After they have studied the neighborhood, they lay it all before the Lord and pray for discernment on how God is calling them.Do the people of peace have to be Christians? No. God is not limited to working only through Christians.The most important quality a church needs when doing neighborhood exegesis is a prayerful and expectant posture.God is the main character in this story and we are participants in it.We should be alarmed because of sin, but we also should be hopeful because God is in our midst.RELEVANT RESOURCES AND LINKS:Agrarian CraftWebsite:  https://www.agrariancraft.com/Books mentioned Scripture, Culture, and Agriculture: An Agrarian Reading of the Bible by Ellen DavisTorture and Eucharist: Theology, Politics, and the Body of Christ by William CavanaughThe Open Secret: An Introduction to Theology and Mission by Lesslie NewbiginPlanet of the Slums by Mike DavisTo leave a review of Spiritual Life and Leadership: Click HERE to get my FREE online course, BECOMING LEADERS OF SHALOM.