Leading Simple with Rusty George

What do Notre Dame, the Coachella Valley, and John Adams have in common?  Ricky Jenkins is the Senior Pastor of Southwest Church in Indian Wells, CA, a Gospel-Centered, Multiethnic, Intergenerational church. We had the chance to talk through what it’s like leading a church that has navigated difficult transitions and trauma. He also highlighted why authenticity is key to leading a multiethnic chur...

90% of new churches in America are small churches, and there are some incredible lessons we can learn from what those are doing well. Our guest, Karl Vaters, is a champion for building a healthy small church, and I'm glad to have him back on the podcast. You can take a listen to the first episode we recorded here . Karl sheds light on small churches' advantages when connecting with new people and...

Planting a church isn't easy. There are so many factors to consider, like where you'll plant the church and how to support the community you'll serve. Carl Kuhl knows a thing or two about that experience, and I'm glad to have him on the podcast this week to share his insights. He's a pastor, a church planter, and an incredible leader with a fascinating perspective on leading a church. Not only do...

Everyone has opinions, and as a Pastor, I have the pleasure of hearing a lot of them, particularly regarding my teaching style.  You're not deep enough.  You talk too much sports. We want more Bible. We want less Bible. How about some Greek or Hebrew. I wish you would __________________. (You can fill in the blank)  For a long time, I didn't know what to do with that feedback. So I broke how I pre...

Marty Lamb is a scout for the Los Angeles Dodgers. He’s signed some incredible talent from high schools and colleges. Learning how to spot talent early isn’t an easy feat, so I’m grateful to hear some of his insights on what it takes to do just that every day. We get a chance to talk about some of his learnings on the road and the highlights of his career so far. Marty also takes time to share abo...

Some of the best leadership lessons I've learned have come from conversations I've had with sports legends like Ned Yost on the podcast (you can listen here as he talks about how to build a winning team culture). But there's nothing like learning alongside a friend. That's why I'm glad to have Brad Williams back for this episode of Leading Simple. Join us as we sit down to talk about the lessons o...

Kyle Idleman from Southeast Christian Church is my guest for this week's episode. What you may not know is that Kyle is the one who planted Real Life Church, where I am today. As we sat down, I learned a bit more about what it was like for Kyle to grow up under the microscope as a pastor's kid. (Something my daughters know a little something about. You can listen to their take on being a pastor's...

The Kansas City Royals were a significant part of my childhood. So, imagine how excited I am to have Ned Yost on the podcast. Ned Yost was the manager of the Kansas City Royals in 2014-15 when they went to the World Series and won. Ned and I sit down and talk all things baseball, of course. I got to hear some of the lessons he’s learned as a coach, how he listened to his instincts and honed his ab...

Lance Witt joins me on the podcast this week, and we’re talking about burnout. Burnout is an issue that I think every person, no matter their industry, has had to navigate. Lance openly shares his experience as a pastor at Saddleback and the pivotal moment when he realized he needed a shift in his life. Lance also provides some helpful tips on combating burnout and increasing your self awareness,...

Savannah Kimberlin is the Director of Research Solutions at Barna Group, and I am honored to have her as a guest on the podcast this week. Sometimes, data and statistics can be a little intimidating to people (myself included). Thankfully, there are people like Savannah and the incredible team at Barna Group who are called to research so we can see how the numbers reflect the world around us. Join...

Kye Chung and Lee Coate from Growmentum sit down with Rusty and share their insights on what it takes to grow your organization. Special thanks to Growmentum for sponsoring Leading Simple throughout the month of June.

There are so many great articles and podcasts out there about how to create a healthy staff culture . This is not one of them. This week, Rusty reflects on how he broke his staff culture, and what it took to repair it.

Paul Hicks joins Rusty on the podcast this week. He is a part of Search Ministries based in Texas, along with another Leading Simple guest, Bruce Matthews . When we think about evangelism, our minds can immediately go to planning some big event with a lot of people. But in Rusty's conversation with Paul, he breaks down a process to share your faith that is centered on one person, one day at a time...

Mark and Michelle McKinney are co-pastors, parents, and the first dynamic duo on Leading Simple. Rusty sits down with the two of them to talk about the ups and downs of being a part of a church community.  Michelle shared her experiences as a pastor, a pastor’s wife, and with her children. Mark also gave some advice to husbands about what it can look like to support their partner through difficult...

For the 200th episode, Rusty’s daughters join him to talk about what it’s really like to be a pastor’s kid. Their perspective isn’t just helpful for pastors who are parents, but for anyone raising a child in this generation. Special thanks to Leadr for sponsoring this episode and to our listeners!

Holly Tate from Leadr joins Rusty for this week's episode to tackle some of the tough questions people may be having around their careers. Employees may be wondering how to discern the next best step in their career. Employers may be questioning how to help their teams feel supported and fulfilled in their roles. Across the board, people want to know how to develop as a leader . Holly breaks down...

This week's guest is author and leadership expert Brian Dodd. Rusty and Brian take this episode to make leadership simple. Take a listen as they discuss how to look at life through a lens of leadership and the best way to see growth in your leadership. Brian also shares the top 3 lessons from his new book, 2021: The Year in Leadership.

For this week's episode, Pastor Rusty George is at Real Life Church to celebrate Easter. You can listen here or watch here

This week, Rusty is joined by Al Lopus, the founder, and CEO of the Best Christian Workplaces Institute, on the podcast today. Rusty and Al sit down to talk about workplace health as well as Al's brand new book, Road to Flourishing: Eight Keys to Boost Employee Engagement and Well-Being . You can find it anywhere you buy books on April 19th, 2022.

In this episode of Leading Simple, Rusty sits down with Richmond Wandera as he shares his story of growing up in Uganda. At only eight years old, he and his family encountered devastating loss and poverty. Despite that, it paved the way for him to experience the incredible love of Jesus through one 15 year old girl's babysitting money. Special thanks to our sponsor, Compassion International. If yo...

Rusty sits down with Kevin Queen, the lead pastor of Crosspoint Church as they talk about developing as a leader and getting creative in crisis. Kevin shares his experiences leading through a leadership transition, changing church culture, and a tornado.

Is it possible to prove the resurrection? Rusty sits down with J Warner Wallace for this week’s episode. They discuss about the impact that Christ had on history, science, and the modern world. Rusty also also had the chance to get his insight on how to talk to the next generation about why Christ matters.

Matt Allman joins Rusty on the podcast today. If you’re a pastor who’s ever wondered how to promote Easter, then this episode is for you. Rusty and Matt get the chance to talk about Easter. They also dig into how the COVID-19 pandemic affected Matt as a pastor and church planter so he could serve his people better. Matt also gives us the inside look at the two times of year you could be missing ou...

Rusty shares a story of a mistake he made while leading and the lessons he learned from it to be a better leader today.

Our guest on the podcast this week is Mitchel Lee. He's a speaker and the lead pastor of Grace Community Church. He is also the author of Even If: Trusting God When Life Disappoints, Overwhelms, or Just Doesn't Make Sense, a book that is particularly relevant in the world we're living in today.  Mitchel joins Rusty to share his experience leading a multi-ethnic church. They also chat about his new...