The Discerning Leader Podcast

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: James Bryan Smith " Every need that my soul has, Jesus meets them – every single one of them. " – James Bryan Smith James Bryan Smith is the author of the Good and Beautiful Series which includes The Good and Beautiful God, The Good and Beautiful You, The Good and Beautiful Life, and The Good and Beautiful Community . He earned his MDiv at Yale and his D. Min at Fuller...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Cindy Bunch " When we develop self-compassion, we cultivate greater empathy towards others. " – Cindy Bunch   Cindy Bunch is a divisional vice president and associate publisher for InterVarsity Press, where she has worked for more than thirty years. She acquires and develops for the Formatio line of spiritual formation books. She is the author of Be Kind to Yourself as...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Molly Shafferman " 'I thought you were going to teach me to pray.' 'We are. We are listening a little bit.' " – Molly Shafferman  Molly Shafferman lives in Richmond, Virginia with her husband Howard. They have two grown children and three adorable grandchildren. Molly grew up in Montgomery, Alabama and graduated from Auburn University with a degree in Family and Child D...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Carolyn Arends " The promise we always have is not no pain - it's no wasted pain. There's nothing that He can't redeem ." – Carolyn Arends Carolyn Arends is Renovaré's Director of Education where she oversees the Renovaré Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation, the Renovaré Book Club, and various other initiatives. Additionally, she has written and released 14 albu...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Trevor Hudson " I thought to myself, 'God, did I really get all this wrong? I thought you were leading me in this direction. '" – Trevor Hudson Season 22 will focus on life stories shaped around spiritual discernment as a lifestyle. Trevor Hudson is an ordained minister in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. After spending forty years doing pastoral ministry in a l...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Paul Borthwick " You might be praying for someone who's never been prayed for before in Jesus' name. " – Paul Borthwick As we conclude season 21, Paul and Steve prompt us to ask: so, what? now, what? and what kind of person shall we become from this? We start with understanding the three big greats. The great commandment invites us to see the world that God sees it. Gre...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Paul Borthwick " Prayer is our response to the global amount of information. " – Paul Borthwick During His ascension, Jesus commissioned His disciples to be "witnesses in Jerusalem, and in all Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth." Here, Paul Borthwick shares five practices that help us see where God is at work locally and globally: Information. God fuels our...

" There is a family of God to get to know globally. " – Steve Macchia Followers of Jesus are part of a big family that stretches around the world. This family is in China, Columbia, Syria, Russia, Ukraine and in every country of the world. Every weekend this family gathers to worship in places from the greatest cathedrals in Europe to huts with mud floors. If we could listen to the global Christia...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Paul Borthwick  " I think that we are living in the most exciting time in Christian history since Jesus walked the earth. " – Paul Borthwick Steve Macchia and Paul Borthwick continue their discussion on discovering God's heart for the world and our shared calling to serve collaboratively in global missions. In this episode, Paul says "As a student of God's work around t...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Paul Borthwick " The thing that God is using to help me be a person of love is the phrase that comes to my mind whenever I see a person; 'this is a human being created in the image of God and worthy of love and respect.' " – Paul Borthwick Season 21 will focus on discovering God's heart for the world and our shared calling to serve collaboratively in global missions. St...

Host: Steve Macchia " In order for us to be watchful and waiting, we need to be patient. " – Steve Macchia Noticing God in everything is what fosters a discerning life in Christ. Within the realm of reflection is the ancient practice of Examen. Created initially by St. Ignatius in the 16 th Century, it's found new life in the modern spiritual formation movement. Here Steve Macchia unpacks the disc...

Host: Steve Macchia " Remembering and giving thanks are good for your soul. " – Steve Macchia A grateful heart is a God-honoring heart and we want to fill our souls with words of thanksgiving every single day of our lives. The discipline of reflection is what aids us in both remembrance and gratitude, the main themes of reflective journaling. Within the context of our personal prayer closet, where...

Host: Steve Macchia " How is it with your soul today, dear friend? " – Steve Macchia The invitation in today's episode is slanted toward listening to God in our prayers. Once we've settled into a spacious encounter with God, which commences with time in the Word, we enter into our life of prayer. So many ways to pray – upward prayers of praise and adoration, inward prayers of confession and forgiv...

" We need to be biblically centered in our personal spiritual practices."  – Steve Macchia In Season 20 we will focus on four spiritual practices: Lectio Divina, listening prayer, reflective journaling, and daily Examen.  Steve Macchia is fluent in these practices, having made them an essential part of his regular prayer closet experience as a beloved child of God. He believes firmly in the need f...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Matt Scott " Look what social media has done to our 'notice me' inclinations today and how that self-centeredness keeps us from preferring God instead. " – Steve Macchia This episode originally aired on 01/20/22  in Season 17 - The Discerning Life (Episode 1).  Spiritual discernment is "practicing a preference for God" and one that we can learn how to live on a daily ba...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: David Vryhof " Most of us have a stained-glass image of Jesus and it's hard for us to grasp his daily life as a beloved son of God. " –David Vryhof, SSJE This episode originally aired on 07/08/21  in Season 12 - Discerning God in Community (Episode 1).  Brother David Vryhof of the Society of St. John the Evangelist (Episcopal Monastic Community based in Cambridge, MA) j...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Adele Calhoun " Shaming voices have the power to cripple us. They isolate us from the truth about ourselves and others. " – Adele Calhoun This episode originally aired on 09/23/21 in Season 14 - Discerning God Emotionally and Relationally (Episode 1). Shame is universal. It's been with us since Adam and Eve hid from God after succumbing to the shaming voice of the devil...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Gary Thomas " The Christian life is about an abundance of good fruit. We must walk away from toxic people in order to preserve that good fruit. " – Gary Thomas This episode originally aired on 10/21/21  in Season 14 - Discerning God Emotionally and Relationally (Episode 5). Gary Thomas speaks to a glaring issue today: dealing with toxic people. He says, "Before you walk...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guests: Rick Anderson, Susan Currie, Matt Scott, and Jeremy Stefano " Giving space to our relationships and decisions describes well our discernment processes for Selah and for LTI overall. " – Susan Currie Rick Anderson (Executive VP), Susan Currie (Director of Selah), Jeremy Stefano (Director of Emmaus and Abide), Matt Scott (Creative Director), and Steve Macchia (Founder an...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Michelle Sanchez " In a racially broken world, what we need for disciples to be is not color-blind, but color-courageous. " – Michelle Sanchez Michelle Sanchez is Executive Minister of Make and Deepen Disciples for the Evangelical Covenant Church, a multiethnic denomination of over 900 congregations throughout North America. She is also the author of Color-Courageous Di...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jenn Giles Kemper " What if the things that bring you joy are an arrow pointing you to God? " – Jenn Giles Kemper Jenn Giles Kemper is the Founder of Sacred Ordinary Days, offering intentional spiritual guidance for those desirous of a wholistic life in Christ. They create tools and curate resources for a global community of ecumenical believers. Jenn's a contemplative...

Host: Steve Macchia | Guest: Al Lopus " Divine providence called me and I answered the phone. " – Al Lopus Today's discerning life story features the founder of Best Christian Workplace Institute, Al Lopus, who joins us to share his wisdom about the keys to outstanding organizational life. His new book, The Road to Flourishing: Eight Keys to Boost Employee Engagement and Well-Being covers eight pr...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Mindy Caliguire " Everything I believe about soul care came about because of the collapse of my interior life." – Mindy Caliguire President and Co-Founder of Soul Care , Mindy Caliguire shares about her experiences in spiritual formation ministry and a life of soul care for herself and others. She looks back to the challenges of church planting and her early days of rel...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Cheryl Buchanan " It was me that needing saving from my prejudice, judgments, and ignorance. It was me that needed to grow ." – Cheryl Buchanan Cheryl Buchanan is the co-founder of New Story Community ( NewStoryCommunity.net ), a ministry designed to promote the flourishing of indigenous women in safety, beauty, and community.  Meeting in a retreat center in British Col...

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Debby Mills " Debby, you are a peacemaker, but you are deeply troubled. " – Debby Mills Growing up, Debby Mills became disillusioned with the church but never gave up on God. And he never gave up on her. In her professional career and her family life, Debby naturally serves from a belief that every life matters to God and should therefore matter to us. As an adult, she...