In this episode of the Unseen Leadership podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Mike Kelsey are joined by Jamie Ivey who is the host of the Happy Hour with Jamie Ivey podcast. She is also the author of several books, including her most recent children's book God Made You to Be You. During their conversation, they discuss using our gifts for other people to see His works and give glory to God for them, being comfortable in who God made you to be, and how to learn more about what you are gifted for. QUOTES FROM EPISODE 74: "If I am struggling and I think my gifts are small today, I still can believe that God has given them to me so that people will see them and give glory to God.""God is bringing you up as a leader and He has prepared things for you to do.""I am not trying to put on a show, I am just trying to be myself and I think God has used that in a lot of people's lives.""I had to go through a lot of laying stuff down with God - insecurities and feeling not enough.""He has equipped those who He has called and I am going to keep walking forward.""You do bring something to the table, not because you are awesome, but because God has gifted you.""Practically, one of the best things for me has been to step in and serve. Sign up to teach a class and see what happens.""Sometimes we get in the wrong mindset of thinking that what someone else is doing equals success.""Success is individualized and so many times is a moving target.""I want to look at people I can learn from, but I don't want to chase their successes. I want to chase faithfulness and what God has called me to do." RESOURCES MENTIONED God Made You to Be You by Jamie Ivey You Be You by Jamie Ivey Unseen Leadership Episode 2: Jamie Ivey on Dealing With Your Past and Sharing Your Struggles With Others

In this episode of the Unseen Leadership podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Mike Kelsey are joined by Derwin Gray who is the founding and lead pastor of Transformation Church. He is also the author of The Good Life and his new book, God, Do You Hear Me?. During their conversation, they discuss how prayer is the posture of our hearts, how prayer leads to better ministry, and how your prayer life affects how you preach. QUOTES FROM EPISODE 73: "Leadership is not telling people what to do. Leadership is embodying what you want others to become.""Prayer is a posture of our hearts to the divine presence of God in everything.""We often live out of our family of origin wounding rather than our new family of origin and our Father.""As a leader The Lord's Prayer not only shows us intimacy, but also The Lord's Prayer is God's will for our lives.""Weak people pray to a strong God. People who think they are strong don't pray to God.""Prayer is a posture of dependence and need.""We should never get good at ministry because we will get bad at prayer.""A prayerless preacher is a powerless preacher.""Don't mistake big crowds for big power.""If the redemptive work of Jesus is not the plumb line to everything, then it is not a Christian message.""Prayer is the heartbeat that pumps the blood out of the message.""Do not look for content to preach. Look for content to live." RESOURCES MENTIONED God, Do You Hear Me? by Derwin Gray The Good Life by Derwin Gray Unseen Leadership Episode 37: Derwin Gray on Focusing on Discipleship More Than Leadership Conformed to His Image by Kenneth Boa

In this episode of the Unseen Leadership podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Mike Kelsey are joined by Sandra McCracken who is a prolific songwriter, modern day hymn writer, and record producer. She is also an author of her new book Send Out Your Light. During their conversation, they discuss how a song can connect people, that leadership can take on different forms based on personality types, and the two sides of ego and that challenge that causes. QUOTES FROM EPISODE 72: "I was pretty shy as a kid, and I didn't want to be upfront. Songwriting was a way by which I could contribute and put words to something we all shared and then it could become communal.""No matter what field you are in, we are all creative.""There are all these ways we express the creativity of God - for me it is songwriting.""We have a shared human experience because this is God's world and He has made things in a way that He can speak to us through these things in the same way.""Leadership can actually be a quiet thing. You don't have to be some big personality that wants to be upfront all the time.""Leadership that reflects your personality type could take a lot of different forms.""The way we manage our pride and humility is the biggest challenge of working together in groups and a team.""If you are starting something new, you can expect that growth is going to be uncomfortable sometimes." RESOURCES MENTIONED Send Out Your Light by Sandra McCracken Hearing the Call by Nicholas Wolterstorff Lament for a Son by Nicholas Wolterstorff Hearing God by Dallas Willard This Episode's Sponsor: Our sponsor, BELAY, is offering all our podcast listeners a free download of their resource, ‘5 Ways A Church Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Day,’ which shares the five most positive changes that will come out of hiring a bookkeeper for your church.  Just text LIFEWAY to 55123 or visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway to download it for free today!

In this episode of the Unseen Leadership podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Mike Kelsey are joined by Dr. Scott James who is a pediatric physician and an elder at The Church at Brook Hills in Birmingham, Alabama. He is also the author of two devotions, The Expected One and The Risen One. During their conversation, they discuss how leadership is letting others flourish, investing in a local church, and making a purposeful shift between work and home. QUOTES FROM EPISODE 71: "My biggest misconception was that leadership, in and of itself, is defined as an active, out front, action-oriented role.""If you are surrounded with good people, you don't have to drag them from up front. You support them from behind and let them thrive and flourish in what God has already gifted them to do.""Wherever you are, whatever role God has you in, invest your life in a good, local church.""Making that commitment to a local church then puts you in a position to serve other people.""When pivoting between things, I will stop, pray, and do something that is a very concrete shifting of gears.""Stay humble, keep your head down, do the work in front of you.""Most people that step into a leadership position have this expectation that they need to do grandiose things right out of the gate. I think plodding is the better course." RESOURCES MENTIONED The Expected One by Scott James The Risen One by Scott James Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund Every Moment Holy The Wolf Hall Trilogy by Hilary Mantel This Episode's Sponsor: Our sponsor, BELAY, is offering all our podcast listeners a free download of their resource, ‘5 Ways A Church Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Day,’ which shares the five most positive changes that will come out of hiring a bookkeeper for your church.  Just text LIFEWAY to 55123 or visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway to download it for free today!

In this episode of the Unseen Leadership podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Mike Kelsey are joined by Gregg Matte who is the senior pastor of Houston's First Baptist Church and the founder of Breakaway Ministries at Texas A&M University. He is also the author of many books including his upcoming devotional, Capture the Moment. During their conversation, they discuss leading through your God-given identity, the three-legged stool of calling, and the need for grace in learning. QUOTES FROM EPISODE 70: "Pray for leadership and wisdom every day.""I really value peace, and that is a tough one for a leader.""If I can be myself and walk with God, number one I am going to honor Him, and number two I am going to be able to lead.""Calling is: Do I want to? Do people respond when I do it? And does God want me to?""My high value of peace negated my need to be clear.""I want to make a good, clear decision, but I'd like to do it and keep the body of Christ unified.""Give your mornings to God, your afternoons to the church, and your evenings to your family.""Do not sell your family on the alter of ministry.""Realize you are continually learning, and, therefore, show yourself grace." RESOURCES MENTIONED Unstoppable Gospel by Gregg Matte Difference Makers by Gregg Matte Capture the Moment by Gregg Matte Spiritual Leadership by Oswald Sanders The Seven Money Types by Tommy Brown This Episode's Sponsor: Our sponsor, BELAY, is offering all our podcast listeners a free download of their resource, ‘5 Ways A Church Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Day,’ which shares the five most positive changes that will come out of hiring a bookkeeper for your church.  Just text LIFEWAY to 55123 or visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway to download it for free today!

In this episode of the Unseen Leadership podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Mike Kelsey are joined by Coach Mark Richt who is the former head football coach of the University of Georgia Bulldogs and the University of Miami Hurricanes and a longtime assistant coach for the Florida State University Seminoles. He is currently a football analyst for the ACC network. He is also the author of his new book, Make the Call. During their conversation, they discuss how to know if you are making good decisions, the importance of being genuine, and being a good steward of the influence that God has given you. QUOTES FROM EPISODE 69: "It's hard for faith and fear to live in the same mind.""My fear was stronger than my faith and God helped me grow my faith like I asked for.""If you are making a big decision and your goal is to try to please somebody or some group of people that can be dangerous.""My goal was to make a decision that God would be pleased with and my gauge on whether I did that or not was how I felt when I put my head on the pillow at night.""To try to change your personality to be somebody your not, first of all takes too much energy, and maybe more importantly, people under you are going to see you aren't genuine.""If you do something for someone who can't help you back it changes the way you look at life.""You can change any cycle that has been going on in your home.""Within a couple generations you might affect 50 to 100 people's lives because you decided you were going to man up.""One size doesn't fit all when it comes to capturing the heart of a player or a person, a wife or a child. They all feel love different ways.""God said, 'I will certainly be with you.' If you know that, then you can make it. If you make the mistake of thinking it's all you, that is when you get crushed." RESOURCES MENTIONED Make the Call by Mark Richt The 5 Love Languages by Gary Chapman Kingdom Man by Tony Evans This Episode's Sponsor: Our sponsor, BELAY, is offering all our podcast listeners a free download of their resource, ‘5 Ways A Church Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Day,’ which shares the five most positive changes that will come out of hiring a bookkeeper for your church.  Just text LIFEWAY to 55123 or visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway to download it for free today!

In this episode of the Unseen Leadership podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Mike Kelsey are joined by Mitchel Lee who is the lead pastor of Grace Community Church in Fulton, Maryland. He is also the author of Even If. During their conversation, they discuss how going through a wilderness period leads to better leadership, leading with courage and humility, and the slow work of building culture. QUOTES FROM EPISODE 68: "What I learned during that wilderness period was that charismatic people are a dime a dozen. It is people with character that stay and that the Lord uses.""Look at the biblical testimony. What leader do you see that doesn't go through the wilderness?""When we are cultivating that intimacy with the Lord before the valley comes, it makes us able to endure the valley in that transformative way.""There are no wasted years in the kingdom of God.""Do not underestimate the formative power of obscurity.""Lead out of your convictions.""It's so easy to try to think about how to lead so that each person feels placated. There is no win in that situation.""They don't have to be my best friends, but I do have a responsibility to stay relationally connected with my team.""If you want to build something that will outlast you, you have to build culture.""You have to have an urgency for the long haul." RESOURCES MENTIONED Even If by Mitchel Lee The Second Mountain by David Brooks In the Name of Jesus by Henri Nouwen Emotionally Healthy Discipleship by Peter Scazzero A Failure of Nerve by Edwin Friedman Life of the Beloved by Henri Nouwen This Episode's Sponsor: Our sponsor, BELAY, is offering all our podcast listeners a free download of their resource, ‘5 Ways A Church Bookkeeper Can Transform Your Day,’ which shares the five most positive changes that will come out of hiring a bookkeeper for your church.  Just text LIFEWAY to 55123 or visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway to download it for free today!

In this episode of the Unseen Leadership podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Mike Kelsey are joined by Jimmy Scroggins who is the lead pastor at Family Church in West Palm Beach, Fl. He is also the author of Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations and Full Circle Parenting. During their conversation, they discuss discerning the Lord's call, leading through love or fear, and thinking holistically about balancing family relationships and work. QUOTES FROM EPISODE 67: "If you are in leadership, you can't lead without conflict. You are going to be frustrated from time to time wherever you are in leadership.""Learning the power of chemistry and culture in leadership was important.""If you don't have some kind of a plan, your head is going to be on a swivel all of the time.""Consider your life in seasons, and almost time block your commitments so that your head is not on a swivel all of the time.""You are going to be blown around by opportunities and you are never going to be able to give the right amount of energy to what God has in front of you right now today.""You've got to love people for them, not for what they do for you.""There are two levers you pull as a leader: you are either leading through love or you are leading through fear.""I undervalued the power of institutions and I undervalued the wisdom of veteran leaders.""As a Christian thinker, we should think of ourselves holistically all the time.""I hope that I have learned to lead out of a desire to love and serve others more than desire for other people to think I am somebody." RESOURCES MENTIONED Turning Everyday Conversations into Gospel Conversations by Jimmy Scroggins Full Circle Parenting by Jimmy Scroggins Good to Great by Jim Collins Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund Excellence Wins by Horst Schulze Downline Ministries' mission is to encourage a restoration of biblical discipleship in and through the local church by equipping men and women to know God's Word and make disciples.  The primary way we partner with churches is through the Downline Institute, a 9 month biblical discipleship training program that walks students through the Bible (Genesis-Revelation), biblical manhood/womanhood, and key discipleship lessons. Listeners can receive $100 off tuition cost by using the code LIFEWAY when you apply at www.downlineministries.com.

In this episode of the Unseen Leadership podcast, Chandler Vannoy and Mike Kelsey are joined by Miguel Nunez who is a pastor, medical doctor, and speaker. He is also the author of several books including his latest, Servants for His Glory. During their conversation, they discuss learning from past life experiences, how serving in a church impacts our lives, and how humility affects a person. QUOTES FROM EPISODE 65: "I can relate to people in a more compassionate way from what I learned from them.""I firmly believe that your wife has to be the first person to confirm your call to ministry.""Being the head of the house does not mean that your wife has to blindly follow whatever you are thinking. The Lord gave her to you so she can help you make decisions and bring a different perspective.""Don't think of your secular work as secular, it is sacred.""You should be looking for the opportunity to serve, that is how you identify your gifts and talents.""It was a mistake for me to assume that if you did everything right that everything would go well and no one would go against you.""I realized that a lot of the unrest within us is the consequence of not being gentle and lowly.""A humble person can be taught by people over him or under him. A humble person can be a team member. A humble person is sensitive to the voice of God." RESOURCES MENTIONED Servants for His Glory by Miguel Nunez Spiritual Leadership by Henry Blackaby and Richard Blackaby From and Before God by Sugel Michelen Lead by Paul Tripp WhatsApp Follow @PastorMNunez on Twitter Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund This Episode's Sponsor: Downline Ministries' mission is to encourage a restoration of biblical discipleship in and through the local church by equipping men and women to know God's Word and make disciples.  The primary way we partner with churches is through the Downline Institute, a 9 month biblical discipleship training program that walks students through the Bible (Genesis-Revelation), biblical manhood/womanhood, and key discipleship lessons. Listeners can receive $100 off tuition cost by using the code LIFEWAY when you apply at www.downlineministries.com.

In this episode of the Unseen Leadership podcast, Chandler Vannoy is joined by Dr. Jason Allen the president of Midwestern Baptist Theological Seminary in Kansas City, MO. He is also the author of many books including Succeeding at Seminary, Being a Christian, and Discerning Your Call to Ministry. During their conversation, they discuss understanding your unique gifting and calling, redeeming ambition, and contextual leadership. QUOTES FROM EPISODE 64: "There is more than one way to be a faithful, fruitful, effective pastor, leader, dad, coach, seminary president.""There is more than one way to faithfully lead.""How a man handles his own ambition is one of the most important aspects of his life.""If I were to hire a person and they struck me as fundamentally unambitious, that would be a problem. But if a person is just foaming at the mouth, that would signal the alarm at the other extreme.""You can be weakening your institution by chasing unhealthy goals.""We have to remember that leadership is always contextual.""If you find yourself brushing shoulders with leaders, ask them questions about what they are learning about leadership." RESOURCES MENTIONED Succeeding at Seminary by Jason Allen Being a Christian by Jason Allen Discerning Your Call to Ministry by Jason Allen Rescuing Ambition by Dave Harvey The Effective Executive by Peter Drucker The Craig Groeschel Leadership Podcast The Rise and Triumph of the Modern Self by Carl Truman Churchill & Son by Josh Ireland This Episode's Sponsor: No matter how many people you have on staff at your church, there’s only so much you can accomplish in a day, right? Your church exists to serve your community, so the mission of your church and its staff is to reach as many people as you can. So BELAY, the innovative staffing solution with over 10 years of experience serving churches with virtual assistants, bookkeepers and social media strategists, is offering a free download of their resource, ‘Church Leaders: Essential Strategies to Unleash Productivity.’  Let BELAY help your church live its mission in your community by helping you juggle less and accomplish more. Visit belaysolutions.com/lifeway for your free download.