The Discerning Leader Podcast

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Currie " A living church always needs new expressions in song to meet the immediacy of current and particular circumstances. " – Dave Currie Spiritual songs and hymns help us become more discerning leaders. As we sing, regardless of our unique context, we join with the voices of saints from around the world who worship musically with songs of our Christian faith. H...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Currie " Do everything for the glory of God – and with a song in your heart! " – Dave Currie Singing is a great way to help us notice what God is doing in our midst. When we let the message of Christ dwell among us richly, it's the songs, hymns, and spiritual songs – offered from our hearts – that solidify the truths about God in our souls. We are made in God's ima...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Currie " Singing the songs of those who have come before us, especially from other cultures and times, enhances our discernment as leaders. " – Dave Currie God sings over us out of his great affection, and as a warrior for our soul, he protects and cares for us as his beloved. Songs have been a part of the history of the church as singing helps us stay connected to...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Currie " When Jesus shows up, we want to sing! " – Dave Currie Sing to the Lord a new song! Songs of our faith are an invitation to intimacy with God, who loves us and enjoys hearing the praises of his people. In this episode we will notice the songs of Zechariah, Mary, and of Simeon – in celebration of the coming of the Messiah. We'll consider how the second comin...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Currie " A song is the quickest route on the longest journey – 18 inches from the head to the heart and then back again. " – Dave Currie Our own leadership discernment grows as we enter into others' experience of noticing God in worship and song. We get to know others from around the world as we sing their songs. This has been true since the dawn of time, and is ex...

" It's hard to consider racial reconciliation when we've never really had a right relationship to reconcile. " – Kim Nash Alexander Today's conversation tackles one of the most significant issues of our day, and how God would have us address it from his perspective. Racial brokenness has been a part of our culture for generations and perhaps it will take longer than we prefer to bring about meanin...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Genalin Niere-Metcalf " The more you know your own story, the more you will know your own brokenness and what triggers you relationally. " –Genalin Niere-Metcalf Relational brokenness doesn't have to stay that way. There are paths that lead us to wholeness, and on today's episode we discover how. It all begins with understanding our own personal stories, the narratives...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Genalin Niere-Metcalf " Emotional brokenness is our sense of not being whole, which is all a part of being alive. " – Genalin Niere-Metcalf All of us interact with broken people. It's the wounded among us who wound others, often unaware. Emotional brokenness shows up in our emptiness, anxiety, bitterness, sadness, shame, and perfectionism. Because the Lord delights in h...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano " Jesus comes to tend to the broken. No need to feel disqualified or set aside by the Lord because of our brokenness. He longs to rescue us and bring us closer to his heart. " – Jeremy Stefano Spiritual brokenness begins with acknowledging our basic human condition as ones who are dislocated from God. The pathway to wholeness is paying attention to the wa...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie " On the night we learned the news about my cancer, my husband and I went to a concert in Boston and I wondered, 'Surely, I'm not the only one in this vast hall who has cancer. '" – Susan Currie Susan Currie was surprised to discover she had stage three colorectal cancer at the young age of 50. Her doctor outlined the year-long plan for dealing with it, com...

Host: Steve Macchia " We are to receive the love of God if we are to ever dispense the love of God to others. " – Steve Macchia How does God use our brokenness as a pathway to spiritual transformation? Today commences a new season of episodes, focusing on the overview of brokenness and wholeness. Reading from the Introduction of Macchia's book, Broken and Whole, Steve invites us to consider our ow...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Justin Whitmel Earley " From being totally overwhelmed by my schedule, the house of my life was decorated by my Christian calling but the architecture of my life was built like everyone else, on an unsteady foundation…simple habits radically changed my life. " – Justin Whitmel Earley Justin Earley, author of The Common Rule (InterVarsity Press), introduces his suggested...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Ken Shigematsu " People are so busy and anxious today; turning to things that give a temporary lift but not a lasting contentment. A rule of life can give us a longer term of abiding peace and a deeper trust in God. " –Ken Shigematsu Using the image of a trellis to describe our personal rule of life, Ken Shigematsu, author of God in My Everything (Zondervan), places emp...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Tom Griffith " Your rule of life is designed to help you frame the intentionality of life that uniquely fits and sets you free in Christ! " –Tom Griffith Crafting a Rule of Life (written by Steve Macchia) is dedicated to Psalm 16:11, "You make known to me the path of life, you fill me with joy in your presence, with eternal pleasures at your right hand." The website www...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Tom Griffith " When there's something important expressed to us from a member of the body of Christ we are to receive it as an expression of grace that has both inspiration and conviction from the Father. " –Tom Griffith The third component of Crafting a Rule of Life is to understand how our personal rule is fulfilled in the context of community, with our spiritual frie...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Tom Griffith " As Jesus grew in wisdom and stature, in favor with God and man, so shall we as ones created by God and accountable to him to steward and share our lives. " –Tom Griffith We form our personal rule of life by considering prayerfully the main time frames of our lives. What is God inviting us to consider as priority on a daily, weekly, monthly, quarterly, or...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Tom Griffith "There is no arrival in this world, but to have a great relationship with God the Father, and when we listen to God, we begin to meaningfully live our rule of life." –Tom Griffith In Macchia's Crafting a Rule of Life , we are learning how to live intentionally for God. A healthy, flexible, and fruitful rule of life needs to be articulated rather than assume...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Tom Griffith "Rule of life helps me to be present, not always looking to the past or projecting ahead to the future. The treasure is right here, right now, in God's presence." – Tom Griffith In this series, we will be noting Steve Macchia's book, Crafting a Rule of Life (IVP). Tom Griffith is our special guest, and is the founder of Greater Formation. A personal rule of...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano " The Lord has his way of weaning us from our attachments or affections in this world, and cleanse the air, helping me face the dilemmas of my heart on retreat. "– Jeremy Stefano One thing I ask of the Lord, this only do I seek…that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life, gaze on his beauty, and seek him in his temple (Psalm 27). As...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano " Sometimes people think we need to be all put together in order to come into the presence of God, but that's simply not true. " – Jeremy Stefano Spiritual retreats are a wonderful opportunity to experience the hospitality of God amidst one's desire to be hospitable to the soul. Where we experience such retreats should open us up to a fresh move of God's...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano "Spiritual retreats place us in a position to receive what Jesus is already doing in our behalf." – Jeremy Stefano There are so many options for retreats, but a spiritual retreat is unique. Designed to heighten our attentiveness quotient, participants are invited to place themselves in postures of graced receptivity. It's here where we notice and receive...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano "Turn away from other things that pretend to satisfy the soul and find rest in the Lord…in repentance, quietness and trust." – Jeremy Stefano Often unaware, we become productivity machines and lose sight of what it means to be a human being longing for relationship with God. Spiritual retreats are great experiences of rediscovery and restorative renewal....

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano "A holy place to draw away to a space and time dedicated solely to God, to be present to God." – Jeremy Stefano There are many ways to retreat, but on a spiritual retreat the exclusive desire is to be with Jesus. Likened to his invitation to the disciples immediately prior to the feeding of the 5,000, Jesus says "come with me by yourselves to a solitary p...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Ted Wueste "The ways of God are mysterious, but the person of God is reliable, trustworthy – even and especially in times of suffering." – Ted Wueste  It is certainly possible to discern God's presence during seasons of suffering. Yes, even in our darkest days, the love of God is there to guide, sustain and encourage us. Ted Wueste shares the deeply profound invitation...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Ted Wueste "The Lord prepares us for our times of suffering so we can walk with Him through our suffering. With God we can walk through anything. " – Ted Wueste  God invites us to trust him in times of pain and suffering and he equips us to enter these deep places instead of being enmeshed in our own life circumstances. Our guest, Ted Wueste, knows this from first-hand...