Gravity Commons Podcast

We continue our series on power by talking with author and pastor Nate Pyle about how our inherited misconceptions about power distort our vision of masculinity. Our vision of masculinity is wrapped up in loads of inherited misconceptions about power, and in this episode we talk with about it. Much of what the evangelical church has […] The post How Power Distorts Our Vision of Masculinity with Na...

What is the difference between “worldly power” and the power of God? Matt and Ben talk with Thomas Horrocks from the Sinnergists Podcast about how power corrupts our ability to lead like Jesus when we don’t lead from a place of servanthood. We talk about cults, the military, pacifism, the idolatry of “effectiveness”, and a whole bunch […] The post How Power Corrupts our Leadership with Thomas Horr...

Most of us think of power as control. The ability to “make things happen”. Then we project this onto God, thinking he is the most able to “make things happen”. But what if God’s power was more characterized by love than control? Is love powerful? This is Part 2 of our series on power in […] The post How We Get Power Wrong: Control Vs Love appeared first on Gravity Leadership. Advertising Inquiries...

Abuse of power in the church has been exposed more in the last few years that ever before, but what does this have to do with us “normal” leaders who haven’t abused power egregiously like the leaders we see in the news? On our 1-year podcast anniversary, we start a new series on power in the […] The post Power in the Church, Pt 1: We Have a Problem With Power appeared first on Gravity Leadership....

Many of us associate Lent with eating fish on Fridays… but what is Lent? And why would someone want to practice it, especially if it isn’t part of your tradition? In this episode, Ben and Matt chat with Aaron Damiani, who wrote a book on why and how to practice Lent: The Good of Giving Up: […] The post Why and How to Practice Lent with Aaron Damiani appeared first on Gravity Leadership. Advertisin...

What’s the difference between self-care and self-indulgence? How can you tell if you’re practicing healthy rest or unhealthy indulgence? In this episode, Ben, Matt and Ben discuss this issue based on some of their recent personal kairos moments. Is there such a thing as healthy ambition? Do we make our resting into “work?” Ben H. also […] The post 052 – Self-care or Self-indulgence? How to Tell th...

In this episode Ben, Matt and Ben answer a recent email that questions the balance between managing and micromanaging. Some of the topics we cover are: self-leadership comes before leading others paying attention to our own anxiety in the midst of leading how to invite change in others (parenting tip!) how do we leverage everything […] The post 051 – Practicing Directive Leadership Without Microma...

In this episode Ben and Matt talk with Bonnie Kristian about how faith and flexibility go together. We often think of them as opposites, but in fact we need some flexibility for our faith to grow. Topics in this episode: In seasons of disillusionment, how can we let our faith be flexible without losing our faith […] The post 050 – Bonnie Kristian on (Faithfully) Practicing a Flexible Faith appeare...

We interview Hannah Anderson on the (alleged) idolatry of the family. We wanted to talk with her after we saw a Twitter thread she posted awhile back on family idolatry. She is insightful and has an important, nuanced message about this that we got to talk with her about. It was a GREAT conversation. Resources to […] The post 049 – Hannah Anderson on the (Alleged) Idolatry of the Family appeared f...

We interview Aaron Niequist about his new book The Eternal Current: How a Practice-Based Faith Can Save Us from Drowning. Links and resources: Pick up Aaron’s new book: The Eternal Current: How a Practice-Based Faith Can Save Us from Drowning Connect with Aaron on Twitter Aaron’s website Gravity Leadership Academy | we’re always starting new cohorts! If […] The post 048 – Aaron Niequist on Embraci...

We interview Luke Norsworthy about his new book God Over Good: Saving Your Faith By Losing Your Expectations of God. Links and resources: Luke’s podcast: Newsworthy with Norsworthy Connect with Luke on Twitter. Gravity Leadership Academy | we’re always starting new cohorts! If you found this episode of the Gravity Leadership Podcast helpful, please let us […] The post 047 – Luke Norsworthy on Choo...

We interview Carlos Rodriguez of Happy Sonship and Happy Givers NPO about the dynamics of following Jesus in an increasingly polarized world, and how his work in Puerto Rico among the poor and marginalized has informed his perspective. It was a really fun, helpful conversation! Links and resources: Connect with Carlos on Twitter. Support Carlos’ work […] The post 046 – Carlos Rodriguez on Followin...

Chris Moerman is our guest on the podcast today. Chris is the pastor of Grace Capital City in Washington, D.C. We talk specifically about his insight into discipling and leading millennials (a.k.a. young people), and quite a few other things! Links and resources: Grace Capital City We talked about N.T. Wright’s book Simply Christian: Why […] The post 045 – Discipling and Leading Millennials with C...

A very special Christmas episode, in which we simply proclaim a Christmas sermon from St. Gregory of Nazianzus. And it’s only 6 minutes long. Glory to God in the highest! Links and resources: Who was St. Gregory of Nazianzus? We found the sermon on the Laughing Bird Liturgical Resources site (an awesome resource!) Gravity Leadership […] The post 044 – St. Gregory of Nazianzus on the Glory of Chris...

What does the gospel have to do with “social justice?” Despite some recent public statements, it turns out that the gospel has a LOT to do with social justice! Jeff Hancock of International Justice Mission joins us to talk about the connection between the gospel, the church, and justice for the poor. Links and resources: […] The post 043 – What Does the Gospel Have To Do With Justice? appeared fir...

“People don’t abandon faith because they have doubts. People abandon faith because they think they’re not allowed to have doubts.” Austin Fischer is a pastor who almost stopped believing in God a few years ago because of his doubts. He documented his journey and his discoveries about doubt in his book Faith in the Shadows: Finding […] The post 042 – Austin Fischer on Finding Christ in the Midst of...

When we start believing that Jesus shows us what God is really like, it sets off a theological revolution for most of us. All kinds of old frameworks and scripts have to be jettisoned, and it’s often a scary experience. Chris Green joins us to talk about what this shift has looked like in his life, […] The post 041 – Rediscovering God in the Face of Christ with Chris Green appeared first on Gravit...

Church funding has been declining for 30 years, and most of us have no idea why it’s happening or what to do about it. Josh Schuler of Newfire Giving joins us to talk about the history of funding churches (it’s way different than we thought), the difference between “tithing” and giving, and share some best practices for […] The post 040 – Why the Church is Facing a Funding Crisis appeared first on...

Jim Lyon is the general director of Church of God Ministries in Anderson, Indiana. We’ve partnered with the Church of God for a couple years now to provide coaching, consulting, and training opportunities to their pastors and churches. We had a great discussion with Jim about leading change without becoming a coercive, manipulative leader. In essence: […] The post 039 – Jim Lyon on Leading Change...

Advent is just around the corner: December 2nd is the first Sunday of Advent. But what is Advent? And why would anyone celebrate it? Is this just some hipster nonsense, or is there something important here to pay attention to? Our friend Shawn McCain joins us for this episode. Shawn is an Anglican priest in Austin, Texas, […] The post 038 – Advent: Why, What, and How with Shawn McCain appeared fir...

Leading like Jesus means moving from a posture of being an expert and answerer to being a learner and a listener. In this episode, Ben Sternke and Matt Tebbe talk about how a “dust-up” about racism on Matt’s Facebook page reveals some of the essential posture shifts necessary for leading and living like Jesus. Specifically, how […] The post 037 – Leading By Learning and Listening appeared first on...

A few days ago we hosted our first ever National Gathering, and we had a few reflections on what we’re learning. We thought we’d share them with you. Links and resources: Gravity Leadership Academy | we’re always starting new cohorts! Gravity Consulting | Bring us out to do a workshop or team consultation If you found […] The post BONUS Episode: Reflections on Our First National Gathering appeared...

How do you know if it’s time to quit? Pastors and ministry leaders get a lot of advice on how to keep going and persevere through difficult times, but not much advice on how to end a ministry well. When to close a church instead of find a way to keep it running. In this […] The post 036 – Know When To Fold ‘Em: On Closing a Church Plant appeared first on Gravity Leadership. Advertising Inquiries:...

"God is love" sounds nice, but is it really, 100%, all the time true?? Or does God "balance" his love with wrath? In this episode, we interview Brad Jersak about the unique experiential way he learned to trust that God really is love, and that his love has the power to forgive and redeem the worst of […] The post 035 – Brad Jersak on Learning to Trust that God is Love appeared firs...

Aaron Keyes is a songwriter, worship pastor, and founder of Ten Thousand Fathers Worship School. In this episode, we interview Aaron about the difference between a song leader and a worship pastor, what’s broken about worship in the church, and how investing your whole life in others is really the only way to make disciples in the […] The post 034 – Aaron Keyes on Investing Your Whole Life in Othe...