The Five Gifts Podcast

What if spiritual gifts were never meant to be isolated moments of power—but expressions of a living, Spirit-formed community? In this Season 3 premiere, Bruce Ritter and Charles Russell establish a foundational framework for understanding spiritual gifts within the life of the church. Moving beyond fascination with the spectacular, they explore the incarnational nature of gifts, the Trinity’s mod...

As the season finale of The Five Gifts Podcast, Bruce Ritter and Charles Russell reflect on a core leadership reality: connection always requires energy. With the New Year approaching, they invite leaders to examine where their emotional, relational, and spiritual energy has been spent—and where God may be calling them to reinvest it. This episode weaves fivefold leadership insight, emotional heal...

What if Christmas isn’t just about forgiveness—but inheritance? In this Christmas episode of The Five Gifts Podcast, Bruce and Charles explore how Galatians 4:1–7 reveals Christmas as God’s decisive move to reclaim His family from spiritual bondage. Drawing from the Divine Council worldview, they show how Jesus enters a fractured cosmic order as the faithful Son, and how the Spirit of adoption res...

In this episode of The Five Gifts Podcast, Bruce Ritter and Charles Russell examine Paul’s model of mission, discipleship, and leadership reproduction. Through the lens of Paul’s missionary journeys and epistles, they explore how churches multiply through demonstration, imitation, and reproduction—when leaders carry both the tenderness of a mother and the leadership of a father. This conversation...

This episode explores one of the most neglected areas of Christian leadership: the emotional life of the leader. Bruce and Charles examine how God created us to feel, why emotions are essential for spiritual growth, and how suppressing them leads to burnout, false identity, and spiritual stagnation. Drawing from Scripture, the life of Jesus, and insights from emotionally healthy spirituality, they...

Is your church perfectly designed to produce the results it’s producing—even if it’s not producing disciples? In this powerful episode, Bruce Ritter and Charles Russell unpack the 10 major barriers that keep churches from making disciples. Discover why many churches unintentionally form consumers instead of disciples, and what pastors and leaders can do to shift the culture toward spiritual format...

This Thanksgiving, Bruce Ritter and Charles Russell invite you to slow down and partake in a feast for the soul. In this holiday episode, we explore the Disciplines of Engagement—the practices that anchor us in the presence of Jesus and move us beyond striving, busyness, and cultural expectations. Together, we unpack themes of: • Abiding vs. striving • Resting vs. performing • Presence vs. pace •...

Every leader leaves a mark—but what kind of mark are you leaving? In this powerful episode of The Five Gifts Podcast, hosts Bruce Ritter and Charles Russell unpack what true influence looks like for Spirit-filled leaders. Drawing from biblical principles, leadership theory, and years of ministry experience, they reveal how God shapes a leader’s credibility, trustworthiness, and vision to reflect H...

True spiritual leadership does not begin with strategy. It begins with surrender. In this episode, Bruce Ritter and Charles Russell uncover the divine process God uses to shape leaders from the inside out. If you have ever wondered why God takes His time developing you, or why your journey includes difficulty, waiting seasons, and stretching moments, this conversation will bring clarity and confid...

Too many leaders rise without ever reproducing themselves. The real test of leadership is not what you build, it is who you build. In this powerful episode, Bruce Ritter and Charles Russell unpack a complete, biblical, and practical blueprint for multiplying leaders. You will learn why leadership development is not optional, how Jesus modeled it, and what it takes to build a culture where leaders...

Lead from Revelation, not Ambition. In this episode, we break down how spiritual leaders receive vision, not manufacture it. Vision is not ambition. Vision is revelation. When God speaks, we listen and obey. In this episode you will learn: • Why human-driven vision leads to burnout and confusion • The 8 counterfeit sources of “vision” leaders must avoid • How God actually reveals vision to His peo...

Charles Russell and Bruce Ritter explore the leadership gift for the Marketplace. Many believers feel a strong leadership calling but struggle to see how it fits in the local church. This episode reframes leadership as a sacred ministry in the marketplace – where vision, creativity, and stewardship advance the Kingdom of God. In this episode: • Why the Church needs vision-casting leaders, not just...

Episode Title: Exegeting Your Audience: Preaching for Spiritual Formation Preaching isn’t just about communicating truth—it’s about shaping lives by the power of the Spirit. In this episode of the Five Gifts Podcast, Bruce Ritter and Charles Russell explore how preachers can exegete both the text and their audience, ensuring messages are Bible-based, Spirit-energized, verdict-demanding, and audien...

What if your sermon wasn’t just a message, but a moment where God’s voice broke into people’s lives? And what if, beyond inspiration, it equipped them with clear steps to live out their faith on Monday morning? That’s the beauty of prophetic and teaching gifts working together in preaching—hearing God’s voice and applying it with clarity. In this episode of the Five Gifts Podcast, hosts Bruce Ritt...

In this episode, Bruce Ritter and Charles Russell unpack Ephesians 4:7–10, exploring the ascension of Christ as both His coronation and conquest. Drawing from Michael Heiser and John Stott, they reveal how Christ’s victory releases the outpouring of the Spirit, conquers spiritual wickedness, and empowers the Church through five gifts: apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers. With th...

In this episode, Bruce Ritter and Charles Russell explore John Maxwell’s Law of Collaboration. They discuss why the best thinking happens with others, how collaboration strengthens communication, and how fivefold leadership provides a built-in collaborative model for the church and marketplace. Practical applications include inviting trusted feedback, cultivating open-minded teams, and leveraging...

How do you share the gospel in a culture that sees Christianity as unbelievable? In this episode of the Five Gifts Podcast, Bruce Ritter and Charles Russell unpack principles for the evangelistic gift and explore how to make the gospel both true and believable in today’s skeptical culture. We discuss the importance of storytelling, hospitality, plausibility structures, reframing apologetics, and c...

Most leaders assume that communication is all about the message. But UCLA research shows that only 7% of communication comes from words—while 38% comes from tone and 55% from body language. That means more than 90% of your effectiveness as a leader comes from how you show up, not just what you say. In this episode of The Five Gifts Podcast, Charles Russell and Bruce Ritter explore John Maxwell’s p...

In this episode of The Five Gifts Podcast, Charles Russell and Bruce Ritter unpack 10 Core Themes from Rob Reimer’s Spiritual Authority and connect them to the Fivefold Ministry model. From intimacy with God to authority rooted in compassion, they explore how apostles, prophets, pastors, teachers, and evangelists each embody and express spiritual authority in unique ways. Through biblical insights...

The Five Gifts Podcast unpacks the New Wineskin paradigm for Spirit-filled leaders—apostolic, prophetic, pastoral, teaching, and evangelistic gifts for church renewal. In this episode of The Five Gifts Podcast, we unpack the New Wineskin paradigm Jesus taught in Luke 5 and explore how it shapes Pentecostal-Charismatic church revitalization in today’s ministry landscape. Our hosts—operating in Apos...

In this episode, we unpack John Maxwell’s Law of Modeling—"It’s hard to improve when you have no one but yourself to follow"—through the lens of Spirit-filled Fivefold ministry. Every Apostolic pioneer, Prophetic voice, Evangelistic witness, Pastoral shepherd, and Teaching mentor needs models to imitate and lives to multiply. Growth doesn’t happen in isolation—it happens in proximity, humility, an...

In this episode, we explore John Maxwell’s Law of the Ladder through the lens of Fivefold ministry, asking: How far can your calling go without the strength of character to sustain it? We unpack how each Fivefold gift—Apostle, Prophet, Evangelist, Pastor, and Teacher—requires a unique expression of Christlike character formed by the fruit of the Spirit, which are the visible attributes of Jesus in...

What if the evangelist isn’t just a preacher in a stadium—but a Spirit-filled strategist, a relational bridge-builder, and a cultural translator? In this episode of The Five Gifts Podcast, Bruce and Charles explore how the gift of the evangelist must break free from outdated models and rediscover its prophetic power in today’s world. Based on Rick Richardson’s Evangelism Outside the Box and the le...

Discipleship doesn’t just happen in sermons—it happens in Spirit-filled communities. In this episode of The Five Gifts Podcast, we explore how fivefold leaders can fuel small group momentum through seven proven strategies offered by Lifeway Research. Learn how apostles, prophets, evangelists, pastors, and teachers uniquely contribute to group life, spiritual formation, and leadership multiplicatio...

Pain is part of life. Growth is a choice. In this episode, we explore Maxwell’s The Law of Pain and pair it with timeless wisdom from C.S. Lewis to help you navigate hardship with purpose. You’ll learn how to turn setbacks into growth moments, develop a redemptive perspective on suffering, and consider the value of walking with a spiritual life and leadership coach to accelerate your healing journ...