Gravity Commons Podcast

Mark and Lisa Scandrette join us in our podcast series on parenting to discuss what they’ve learned about creating a thriving family culture of “belonging and becoming” (which sounds a lot like “grace and truth” which is probably why we resonate so much with them!). The Scandrettes are great because they share more than just […] The post Creating a Thriving Family Culture with Mark and Lisa Scandr...

N.T. Wright (!!) joins us for our mini-series on the coronavirus pandemic to talk about his new book God and the Pandemic: A Christian Reflection on the Coronavirus and Its Aftermath. We had a lively and illuminating conversation about the Christian response to the pandemic, as well as the recent protests against police brutality and […] The post N.T. Wright on the Christian Response to the Pandem...

Lacy Finn Borgo joins us in our series on parenting to talk about how to have spiritual conversations with children. Often we as parents are scared to try and have spiritual conversations with our kids, but Lacy shows us how. Lacy teaches and provides spiritual direction for the Renovaré Institute as well as the Doctor […] The post How to Have Spiritual Conversations With Children with Lacy Finn B...

Keirsh Cochran is a cop, and a Christian, and is the youngest active police chief in the country. Keirsh has been seeking to reform the way policing is done since he became a police officer, and he joins us to give us his perspective as a Christian (and a cop) on police brutality, the protests, […] The post A Cop’s Perspective on Police Brutality and the Protests appeared first on Gravity Leadersh...

We are starting an extra mini-series this month focused on the church’s response to the coronavirus pandemic. In this first episode we interview Mike Frost on what the pandemic is revealing about us. Mike teaches at Morling College in Sydney, Australia. He is an internationally recognized missiologist and one of the leading voices in the […] The post Mike Frost on What the Pandemic is Revealing Ab...

This is the second episode in our series on parenting, and it’s all about the pitfalls and potential of youth ministry. We talk with Andrew Root, Professor of Youth and Family Ministry at Luther Seminary, and author of The End of Youth Ministry: Why Parents Don’t Really Care About Youth Groups and What Youth Workers […] The post The End of Youth Ministry with Andrew Root appeared first on Gravity...

We are starting a new series today on parenting. You don’t have to be a parent to benefit from this series, either. There are a lot of connections and parallels between leadership in general and parenting in particular that we are confident there will be good insights for everyone in this series. To kick things off, […] The post How to Make Faith Matter For Our Kids with Natalie Frisk appeared fir...

So often the reason that nonviolence doesn’t feel like a viable option for Christians is that we simply have never seen what nonviolent action looks like, and because of this lack of imagination, nonviolence seems unrealistic or naïve. That’s why we were excited to talk with Ron Sider about his book Nonviolent Action: What Christian Ethics […] The post Cultivating an Imagination for Nonviolent Act...

What does it actually look like to walk in the way of the Christlike God? To become human as God is human? Author and patristic scholar Brad Jersak walks us through the 7 elements of the “more beautiful way” that results from believing the “more beautiful gospel” that God is just like Jesus. Links from […] The post Brad Jersak on Learning to Become Human Like Jesus appeared first on Gravity Leader...

We continue our Desert Stories series, interviewing John Stallsmith, pastor of Grace Snellville, part of the Grace Family of Churches in the Atlanta area. Part of John’s story is how he needed to confront his own brokenness in the midst of walking through a season of difficulty and loss. Links from this episode The Enneagram […] The post Facing Your Own Brokenness: A Desert Story With John Stallsm...

Many states are talking about “opening up” and churches are confronted with the question of WHEN and HOW to start gathering again. On Wednesday, May 6, 2020, we gathered a few pastors from the Gravity community on Facebook Live for a discussion focusing on the following questions: When and how are you planning to gather? […] The post Reopening Church? A Pastors Panel appeared first on Gravity Lead...

We continue our Desert Stories series, interviewing Angie Ward, author, teacher, learner, and thinker. Angie recently wrote I Am A Leader: When Women Discover the Joy of Their Calling, and we talked with her about the journey of discovering her calling to lead as a woman. Links from this episode The Enneagram and Stress: Transformation […] The post Leading As a Woman: A Desert Story with Angie War...

We continue our Desert Stories series, interviewing Jason Raitz, pastor of Thrive Church in Mount Pleasant, Michigan, about the pressures of church planting, depression, and almost burning down Bill Hybels’ house (yes you read that right). Links from this episode The Enneagram and Stress: Transformation Through Crisis, an online workshop May 9, 2020 Parenting in […] The post Depression and Church...

We continue our Desert Stories series by interviewing Dan Deeble, founder of Lost Ball Consulting, and former lead and teaching pastor of Heartland Community Church in the Kansas City area. Links from this episode The Enneagram and Stress: Transformation Through Crisis, an online workshop May 9, 2020 Parenting in a Pandemic: Grace and Truth in […] The post Fasting From Preaching: A Desert Story Wi...

The devastation and suffering brought on by the coronavirus pandemic has raised a perennial question: “Where is God in the midst of all this?” We interviewed Geoff Holsclaw and Michael Gonzalez, who have both recently written helpfully on this subject. We tackle some of the “go to” phrases we often reach for (like “God is […] The post Where is God in the Coronavirus Pandemic? appeared first on Gra...

We start a new series today called Desert Stories, focusing on how God works in our lives through “wilderness” seasons; times of suffering and struggle, times of grief and loss. In this first episode, Ben, Matt, and Ben share some of their own desert stories to kick off the series. Links from this episode Our […] The post Desert Stories: A New Series on How God Shapes Us in Suffering appeared firs...

We’re a few weeks into the coronavirus pandemic. What is happening now and what are we learning? On Thursday, April 2, 2020, we gathered a few pastors for a COVID-19 / Coronavirus Panel focusing on the following questions: How are you handling care structures? What are you doing for Easter? How are you talking about […] The post Coronavirus a Few Weeks In: Now What? (Pastors Panel) appeared first...

The practice of contemplation is sometimes viewed with suspicion by Christians, but in this interview Kyle Strobel shows us how it is firmly rooted in Scripture and Christian tradition. It’s also a profoundly helpful and powerful practice for spiritual formation. Kyle is a teacher, writer and preacher. He is the associate professor of Spiritual Theology […] The post Reclaiming Contemplation as a C...

Certified Non-coronavirus Content! Ben and Matt respond to a listener question, who wonders: “If God really does care about it more than we do, then I don’t need to control outcomes or manage results. But if that’s true, how can I cast vision and do strategic planning?” Links from this episode Check out (and join!) […] The post How to Plan Strategically Without Trying to Control Outcomes appeared...

Another quick episode (that we broadcast live as a webinar) about what we’re learning about leading in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. This time it’s about the the oft-used phrase in times like these: “God is in control.” Become a patron Gravity Leadership is a community of leaders who are learning to lead like […] The post Comfort During Coronavirus: God is in Control? appeared first on Gr...

Another quick episode (that we broadcast live as a webinar) about what we’re learning about leading in the midst of the coronavirus pandemic. This time it’s about the disorientation many of us feel as leaders. Become a patron Gravity Leadership is a community of leaders who are learning to lead like Jesus, live on mission, […] The post Leadership Disorientation in the Coronavirus Pandemic appeared...

Another quick episode (that we broadcast live as a webinar) about how to be the church in the time of coronavirus: what we’re learning as pastors real time! Become a patron Gravity Leadership is a community of leaders who are learning to lead like Jesus, live on mission, and make disciples in the post-Christendom world. […] The post Being the Church in the Time of Coronavirus: Imagination and Poss...

We continue our series on walking through deconstruction without losing your faith, interviewing Dr. Dennis Edwards about learning to read and understand Scripture after you've deconstructed a naïve, "magical" picture of the Bible. Dennis holds an M.Div. from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School, and has done post-graduate studies in Theology at Fordham University. He holds a […] The po...

A conversation for Christian leaders about what we’re (real time!) learning about how to lead faithfully in the midst of the global coronavirus/COVID pandemic. Links from the podcast Sign up for our weekly curated links Andy Crouch’s excellent guide for Christian leaders: Love in the Time of Coronavirus Lyman Stone’s guide for how to meet […] The post Leading in the Midst of the Coronavirus Pandem...

We continue our series on walking through deconstruction without losing our faith by deconstructing the “love” depicted in Shel Silverstein’s popular book The Giving Tree. Is this what the love of God revealed in Christ is like? Or does our definition of love need to be deconstructed? Links from the podcast Sign up for a […] The post Deconstructing the “Love” of the Giving Tree in the Light of Chr...