Episoder
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: A.J. Swoboda
“The invitation to sabbath offends just about everything we value as Americans.” - AJ Swoboda
In this special edition episode of The Discerning Leader podcast, Steve Macchia has a conversation with AJ Swoboda, writer, professor and pastor. AJ shares about the subversive power of sabbath, how we can care for creation, and the formative power of our daily patterns and habits.
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.
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Co-Hosts: Steve Macchia and Matt Scott, Guest: Suz Skinner
“A good gardener listens and watches and wants to work with what God is already doing” - Suz Skinner
Suz Skinner is a member of the Emmaus Faculty, Abide Faculty, and a Spiritual Formation Associate for Leadership Transformations Inc. and the Pierce Fellowship at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Suz joins Steve and Matt to talk about what it means for God to be the gardener of our souls. Using the garden as a motif, Suz shares how the big story throughout the Bible is of God’s desire to dwell with humanity. Reflecting upon the parable of the fig tree, Suz reminds us that the Gardener has a heart of mercy. Finally, Suz shares how wise gardeners are aware of what is already happening in the garden.
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.
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Manglende episoder?
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Co-Hosts: Steve Macchia and Matt Scott, Guest: Fyfe Blair
“Understanding the pruning that is happening with Christ. Yes, it’s hard, but there’s deep soul care work here going on. It’s about your fruitfulness” - Fyfe Blair
Fyfe Blair is a faculty member of LTI’s Selah Certificate Program in Spiritual Direction (Europe cohort). Fyfe is also the Project Lead for “The Caim" - a large garden in the small village in rural Scotland where he resides. With hands-on knowledge of horticulture, Fyfe joins Steve and Matt to share reflections between tending to a garden and tending to the garden of the soul.
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.
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Co-Hosts: Steve Macchia and Matt Scott
“Are you creating space in your life to be alone, to be quiet, to be reflective, to be relational, to put technology away, to hang out with those you love and to be loved?” - Steve Macchia
The Bible is full of agrarian imagery. The words of Genesis, the prophet Isaiah, Apostle Paul, and Jesus himself all talked about gardens, plants, trees, seeds and soil, and farming. We see dry and dusty, sun-scorched land; we also see fertile, thriving, flourishing gardens. In Jesus's parable of the sower, He emphasized the state of the soil. This parable can also be understood as a metaphor for the state of our souls. Season 32 will consider what it looks like to discern God in the garden of our soul. In this first episode, Steve and Matt share insight about what factors contribute to souls that are hard, rocky, and thorny versus souls that are receptive to 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.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“When was the last time you’ve been awed by God?” - Steve Macchia
How can slowing down help us embrace the mysterious work of God? In this episode, Steve and Matt tackle this question as they invite you to “slow down and be more curious.”
Our technological, information-rich age can make us resistant to wonder. What do we gain from surrendering control of knowing everything? Looking at the encouragement from Romans 11:33-35 and Job 31, Steve and Matt talk about how wonder releases our sense of control, deepens our dependence on God, and enables us to worship God more fully.
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.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“A humble person is a content person.” - Steve Macchia
How does our hustling lead to entitlement? In this episode, Steve and Matt tackle this question as they invite you to “slow down and be more content.”
When we are hustling, this leads to entitlement. Entitlement fuels our discontent. Looking at the encouragement from the apostle Paul found in Philippians 4:10-13, Steve and Matt talk about how contentment is found not in circumstances or possessions but when we are at home with God and with ourselves. This episode includes personal stories of learning to be content through loss and practical advice to be more content.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“What are we gripping in our hands that may simply be worth a penny in comparison to the abundant life God offers us." - Steve Macchia
How do we release the things that make for false self identity? In this episode, Steve and Matt tackle this question as they invite you to “slow down and be more detached.”
Henri Nouwen talked about the false self gripping to 1) what we do (our work) 2) what we have (our possessions) 3) what others say about us (our image). This conversation looks at practical ways to detach from these things that we build a false sense of self around. Looking at the encouragement from Jesus found in Luke 9:23-26, Steve and Matt talk about denying ourselves in order to receive the fullness of the abundant life in 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.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“Not setting realistic expectations of what we can accomplish within a day creates unnecessary hurry and angst inside each of us.” - Matt Scott
How does our inability to slow down rob us of attentive presence? In this episode, Steve and Matt tackle this question as they invite you to “slow down and be more attentive.”
Too many relationships and roles can make us overwhelmed and over-extended in life. This conversation looks at practical ways to slow down and focus our attention on God and others. Looking at the encouragement from Hebrews to fix our eyes on Jesus, Steve and Matt talk about practices that can deepen our awareness.
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.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
"It is hard to do the 'one-anothering' of the New Testament when we are in a hurry" - Matt Scott
How does hurry hinder humility? In this episode, Steve and Matt tackle this question as they invite you to “slow down and be more humble.”
Exploring the reality that hurry drives our selfish ambition, this conversation looks at practical ways to slow down and consider the needs of others above and before our own. Looking at the example of Jesus in Paul's letter to the Philippians, Steve and Matt talk about practical ways that humility is the starting place to serving, loving, and caring for the needs of others.
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.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“How are we going to know God with heart, soul, mind, and strength if we don’t know Him in the inner core of our being - our soul?” - Steve Macchia
In this second episode of Season 31, Steve and Matt talk about the practice of silence. The goal of silence is to know God in the core of our being. Practices that lead us to silence include stillness, solitude, sabbath, and surrender. Every day, there are increasing distractions that challenge the practice of silence. Silence can also be difficult because paying attention to the things that weigh heavy on our hearts is disorientating at times. But this is where God meets us. One of the greatest gifts we can give one another is not our speaking but our silence, simply our presence.
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.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott
“I think the biggest danger of hurrying is that it pours fuel into my addiction to be busy, to be hurried, to be productive, to be noticed.” - Steve Macchia
Season 31, entitled ‘Discerning God in Slowness’, begins by exploring a phrase that is central to who we are as an organization: Slow Down, Be More. In this conversation, Steve and Matt answer the question “What is the danger of hurrying?” And in addition, they dialogue around the fruit and spiritual transformation that comes from learning to live more slowly. Gleaning from the words of Matthew 11, this podcast episode invites you to embrace Jesus’ invitation to slow down, recover your life, and learn to live freely and lightly.
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.
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Co-Hosts: Steve Macchia and Matt Scott
“I’ll spend the rest of my life helping people notice God and discern His presence, His power and His way.” - Steve Macchia
This special 200th episode is a celebration of what the Lord has done through this podcast. With listenership in over 130 countries, all fifty of the United States, and almost 200,000 downloads we are grateful for you - the listeners. Steve and Matt reflect that for the majority of Leadership Transformations Inc.’s 21-year history, we have come alongside people primarily in person. This podcast was started in 2020 and is one of the first ways we equipped leaders online. Steve and Matt reflect on highlights from the past 30 seasons, including 75 unique guests. Moving forward, we hope to hear more from you, our listeners.
Let us know what topics you would like to hear more about. In celebration of 200 episodes, we have a gift for the first 200 people who email us at [email protected]. Thank you for celebrating with us.
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.
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Hosts: Steve Macchia & Jeremy Stefano
“So much of the work of God in my life contains so much mystery. God is at work doing amazingly deep things that are unseen.” - Steve Macchia
Throughout the summer, team members of Leadership Transformations Inc. have shared a favorite psalm. This week, we swap seats and Jeremy Stefano interviews Steve Macchia to hear about one of his favorite Psalms - Psalm 139. Steve first heard this psalm as a teenager as a part of a gospel presentation and he was moved to ask Jesus into his life in a more significant way. Many years later, this Psalm continues to be meaningful to Steve. Steve reflects on how God’s all-knowingness causes us to be willing to admit our own brokenness and need for God. Finally, Steve encourages the listener to pray the Psalms, using the language to help us reflect our own experiences back to God in prayer.
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.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Chrissy Chang
“In the middle of busyness and life, how do I enter into this retreat-like presence?” - Chrissy Chang
Chrissy Chang is the Online Ministry Coordinator for Leadership Transformations, Inc. a trained spiritual director with LTI’s Selah certificate program, and the Associate Director of Mosaic Network with Mosaic Formation. Chrissy joins Steve for a conversation around Psalm 131. The Psalms, and this one in particular have been to Chrissy, a gateway to the monastery of the heart - the place where we can meet with God in a retreat-like space amidst the responsibilities of life. Psalm 131 invites the reader to release the things that occupy the heart and the mind and release to them to the Lord who has control over them. This Psalm teaches us how to have a calm and quiet soul.
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.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Suz Skinner
“Can I stand up to evil and say, ‘I’m not afraid’?” - Suz Skinner
Suz Skinner is a member of the Emmaus Faculty, Abide Faculty, and a Spiritual Formation Associate for Leadership Transformations Inc. and the Pierce Fellowship at Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Suz joins Steve for a conversation around her favorite Psalm - Psalm 23. Suz shares that this familiar Psalm is meant to help us understand and know what it is to live a with-God life. This Psalm is rich with language showing God to be the one who comforts, shepherds, guides, overflows, protects, and leads us. Suz shares what the Psalms have meant in her life and how Psalm 23 continues to be a source of growth and trust in her life.
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.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie
“As we become present to Him, He re-orients us to His rule, to His righteousness, His justice, His abundance, His blessing, and praise rises within us, and we worship” – Susan Currie
Susan Currie is the Director of Selah and a Minister of Spiritual Formation for Leadership Transformations Inc. Susan joins Steve for a conversation around her favorite Psalm - Psalm 65. Even when chaos abounds in the world, Psalm 65 reminds us that we can come into God’s presence. As we become fully present to Him, he reorients us by taking all the legitimate concerns and starts forming in us an obedience to His rule, His righteousness, and His justice. Rather than ignoring the broken places of the world, we bring them into our worship, God turns our hearts to sing His praise and we sing His rule into being.
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.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: James Hauptman
“It’s not a flippant thing to remember the goodness of God. God has been present and overseeing even the hard and difficult times.” - James Hauptman
James Hauptman is the Executive Assistant for Leadership Transformations Inc. James joins Steve for a conversation about his favorite Psalm – Psalm 90. This Psalm written by Moses reminds us of the faithfulness of God. Throughout all generations, God has been the dwelling place for His people. This Psalm teaches us to number our days. James keeps a record of how many days he has been alive as a practice to remember the faithfulness of God. Finally, James shares how he and his family count their days in both big decisions and in the daily minutia of life.
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.
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Host: Steve Macchia | Guest: Matt Scott
“That experience was when the Psalms came alive to me.” -Matt Scott
Matt Scott is the Creative Director and a Minister of Spiritual Formation for Leadership Transformations Inc. Matt joins Steve for a conversation about his favorite Psalm – Psalm 27. With themes of trust and reliance on God; Psalm 27 invites the reader to fix our eyes on the Lord. In this Psalm, David honestly named his circumstances and reality. While enemies were closing in and trials abounded, David fixed his eyes on the goodness of God, the beauty of the Lord, and His attributes. Psalm 27 reminds us that we can walk forward not paralyzed by fear but in hope and joy, trusting in the goodness 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.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Kim Alexander
“We can’t be more attached to the outcome than we are to Christ.” - Kim Alexander
Kim Alexander is a Senior Faculty Member of LTI’s Selah, a two-year certificate program in Spiritual Direction. Kim joins Steve for a conversation on her favorite Psalm – Psalm 63. This Psalm was written by David in the wilderness and contrasts a dry and parched land without water with being fully satisfied with the richest of foods. We are reminded that our circumstances do not determine our internal state. God is no less God in dark places. He meets us in wilderness moments. Kim reminds us to be more attached to Christ than to the outcome of our circumstances.
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.
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Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Rick Anderson
“In a time when there is anxiety or panic, there is something about this psalm that calms me down. It reminds me that I don’t have a lot of control over anything. God has control over everything.” - Rick Anderson
Rick Anderson is the Executive Vice President of Leadership Transformations Inc., where he has served for the last 19 years. Rick joins Steve Macchia for a conversation around his favorite Psalm - Psalm 46. Psalm 46 invites us to come and sit at the feet of God and surrender our worries, concerns, anxieties, and fears to him. We can do that because God is the one who has all things under His control. Rick also shares how the Psalms have been meaningful in his own life; they give us words when we don’t know what to pray.
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.
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