The Discerning Leader Podcast

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Iain Whitfield " He knew the timing would be best if it were radically different from what I understood it to be ." – Iain Whitfield God isn't seeking our permission; God is seeking our submission. Iain Whitfield shares this principle from his life. Iain was born in India to missionary parents, spent two decades in the UK and almost four decades in the United States. Ia...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Gayle Heaslip " How can I carry Christ with me throughout the day? " – Gayle Heaslip How can we carry the presence, power, and peace of God with us throughout our day? Gayle Heaslip joins Steve Macchia to share her story of transformation. Gayle invites us to move from spending time with God in the morning and moving forward in the day without any change to viewing our...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Rowena Day " There are so many ways that our attention is pulled, and we are divorced from our own bodies which make it really hard to notice God. " – Rowena Day Season 26 will focus on life stories that have been shaped by the presence, power and peace of God. Rowena Day was born and raised in Canada and now lives in Washington D.C with her husband Jon and their four c...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof " Death gives way to life. Not only lived out by Jesus but meant to be lived out by each of us. " – David Vryhof, SSJE Holy Week is considered the climax of the Christian year. The service that starts on Maundy Thursday continues all the way to the Easter Vigil and is the capstone of Holy Week. Steve Macchia and Brother David Vryhof return to the podcast to...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof "We are offering ourselves in fresh new ways to God in Lent." – David Vryhof, SSJE Holy week has the potential to invite us into intimacy sharing with Jesus not only his triumph and resurrection but his path of suffering. Commencing a two-week interlude, Steve Macchia and his spiritual director, Brother David Vryhof of the Society of St. John the Evangelist...

Host: Steve Macchia " We get into conflict related to discernment because there are those around the table of discernment who don't want to be patient with the process. " – Steve Macchia So often we are confronted with environments that are not going to be very friendly to a prayerful process of discernment. In order to find the fullness of God's design for us we may need the help of another. This...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott " If we don't do deliberation well, we torpedo all the good work we've done so far " – John Pearson During the process of discernment, we must learn how to deliberate well before finally making a decision. John Pearson and Matt Scott return to the podcast to complete this four-part series on the 10 phase process for discernment. During phase...

Host: Steve Macchia | Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott " Clarity and consolation are big words in the discernment process. " –  Steve Macchia God is a God of clarity and not confusion and He wants His children to experience clarity. Through these phases of discernment, we experience greater clarity. John Pearson and Matt Scott return to the podcast to continue this masterclass in group discernm...

Host: Steve Macchia | Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott " I think we shortchange the Holy Spirit by not asking, 'Lord, who do you want on this discernment team?' It makes a world of difference. " –  John Pearson Who is helping you discern? How willing are you to let go of your ideas and opinions? John Pearson and Matt Scott return to the podcast to phase two and three of the discernment process....

Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: John Pearson and Matt Scott " The why question is a gutsy question. There's a lot of people who need more guts as lead ministers. " –  John Pearson Every day we are confronted with decision-making. Some decisions are obvious, others require us to wait. The most difficult decision-making is deciding between multiple options. In Season 25 of The Discerning Leader podcast...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott  " How powerful it is for people to let each other emote and not get in the way of what the Spirit of God is doing and let God do His work " – Steve Macchia In this concluding episode, Steve and Matt share what it means to be present to God and to one another. When we listen to one another well our goal is not to fix, judge or necessarily say something helpfu...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott " Leaders plant seeds of hope, even when the situation is dire. " – Steve Macchia We live in a world that is constantly disappointing us. How do we continue to have hope? Steve Macchia and Matt Scott return to the podcast to talk about this very idea. Using week five of the appendix of The Discerning Life, they echo the psalmist who points our eyes to the mou...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott " Is this really God speaking or is it any of those other voices pulling me off course? " – Matt Scott Every day there are a multitude of voices that clamor for our attention. Sometimes the voice we hear is our own internal voice of pride or selfish pursuit. Other times we hear the voice of the enemy through lies, deceit, or shame. What we want is to sift thr...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott " We are to be peculiar people in our grace, our mercy, our kindness, our love, our forgiveness, our reconciliation - that's the peculiarity of the church. " – Steve Macchia Sometimes we think the church is perfect. We wish it were. But the church is not perfect. The church is comprised of broken people. In this episode, Steve and Matt walk us through the thi...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott " In the midst of pain and suffering and sorrow, what is God inviting us to do about it? " – Steve Macchia Most of our emotional pain and heartache is unnecessary. Because we are jealous, anxious or fearful, we tend to hold grudges. We tend to throw each other away relationally when that is not the way of God. In this episode, Steve and Matt walk us through t...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott " In the discerning life, we have to take everything we have and hold it more loosely. " – Steve Macchia     Our world is often very noisy and fast-paced, making it hard to hear God's voice. During season 24 we will look at a forty-day prayer and reflection resource from Steve's latest book, The Discerning Life. In Episode 1, Steve Macchia and Matt Scott have...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Margery Kennelly " We always think about waiting on God but God spends a long time waiting on us. " – Margery Kennelly   Margery serves as Associate Rector at St George's Episcopal Church in Nashville, TN. Margery joins Steve to share pastoral reflections on Epiphany - the bright clear revelation of Christ's kingship over the whole world. For Christians, this time remin...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Todd Cravens " What do I need to do now? Waiting is not an absence of activity. " - Todd Cravens Todd Cravens is in his 16th year, serving as Teaching Pastor and Elder at Hope Christian Church in Winchester, MA. He grew up in Louisville, KY, attended the University of Louisville, and received his M. Div in Theology from Southern Baptist Theological Seminary. Todd and hi...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Bryan Wilkerson " Believe that the Lord had something fresh for you this Christmas " – Bryan Wilkerson Bryan Wilkerson serves as Senior Pastor at Grace Chapel, authored Living God's Story , is a graduate of Wheaton College and Denver Seminary, and holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Bryan's life mission statement is "to lead as ma...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Mark Booker " Waiting on God is resisting the impulse to take matters into my own hands. " – Mark Booker Mark Booker serves as the Senior Pastor at Park Street Church in downtown Boston. Mark joins Steve to share about waiting in his leadership and personal life. Many of us like to bring change and make things happen. Advent puts the spotlight on the reality that we are...

" Waiting in the Bible is not just looking at the clock. It is about anticipation. It's about cultivating hope and joy. " – Dave Friedrich Dave Friedrich has advanced degrees in philosophy from York University in Toronto and in spiritual formation from Regent College in Vancouver, BC. He has lived and worked at L'Abri, a ministry of Christian hospitality and cultural engagement, both in Switzerlan...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Dave Ripper " We suffer from a severe depletion of spiritual expectancy. Moments of waiting can actually rekindle the flames of hope. " – Dave Ripper Dave Ripper serves as lead pastor of Crossway Christian Church in Nashua and Milford, NH, and as the chaplain of the Boston Bruins.  He's a graduate of Denver Seminary and is finishing his Doctor of Ministry in Spiritual D...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Susan Currie " During Advent, we give space to the waiting. All of us are waiting for something. " – Susan Currie Susan serves as the Director of Leadership Transformation's Selah Certificate Training Program in Spiritual Direction . Over the past 30 years, she has offered retreat leadership and formation ministry to various church and parachurch bodies. Susan also serv...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Cindy Foley " If my chief thing is to look for God, and look for His goodness in people, it makes me less critical. " – Cindy Foley Cindy Foley and her husband Tim are the Divisional Leaders of the Northwest Division of The Salvation Army, with headquarters in Seattle, WA.  Tim and Cindy have served together in appointments in Hawaii, Arizona, and in a variety of roles...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: Bill and Kristi Gaultiere " Ohh, I need to do some more inner journey work. This is an invitation. " –Kristi Gaultiere Bill and Kristi Gaultiere are Drs of Psychology and the Founders of Soul Shepherding, a ministry to help pastors, leaders, churches, and all those desiring to thrive with Jesus in emotional and relational health. They are authors of a number of soul ca...