Chrissy Chang

Cindy Bunch | Discerning God in Our Stories, Episode 4

Discerning God in Our Stories, The Discerning Leader Podcast / /

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 well as several Bible study guides in IVP’s LifeGuide® Bible Studies series.  Cindy holds an MA in theological studies from Northern Seminary and completed her spiritual direction training at North Park Seminary. She and her husband live in the Chicago suburbs. Cindy shares with Steve how we can develop greater empathy towards others by first experiencing the kindness of Jesus to us. Hear how Cindy’s training in Spiritual Direction has taught her to notice God in everything, including working with authors as an editor.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Steve Macchia (Podcast Host)
Founder and President of Leadership Transformations
Steve is the author of The Discerning Life,  Becoming a Healthy Church, Broken and Whole, Crafting a Rule of Life and several other titles. Steve has over 40 years in ministry and two postgraduate degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Cindy Bunch (Season Twenty-Two Guest)
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 well as several Bible study guides in IVP’s LifeGuide® Bible Studies series. Cindy holds an MA in theological studies from Northern Seminary and completed her spiritual direction training at North Park Seminary. She and her husband live in the Chicago suburbs.

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Molly Shafferman | Discerning God in Our Stories, Episode 3

Discerning God in Our Stories, The Discerning Leader Podcast / /

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 Development. Molly has been active in church and civic groups all her adult life, including Healing Prayer and Women’s ministries, Alpha, and home Bible studies. She is a graduate of LTI’s Selah program and offers spiritual direction to many. Molly shares major turning points in her life. Highlights from this episode include stories about her mother who taught Molly how to pray, entrusting a child with Tourette’s Syndrome to Jesus, and the impact that Spiritual Direction has had upon Molly’s own life and marriage.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Steve Macchia (Podcast Host)
Founder and President of Leadership Transformations
Steve is the author of The Discerning Life,  Becoming a Healthy Church, Broken and Whole, Crafting a Rule of Life and several other titles. Steve has over 40 years in ministry and two postgraduate degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Molly Shafferman (Season Twenty-Two Guest)
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 Development. Molly has been active in church and civic groups all her adult life, including Healing Prayer and Women’s ministries, Alpha, and home Bible studies. She is a graduate of LTI’s Selah program and offers spiritual direction to many.

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Carolyn Arends | Discerning God in Our Stories, Episode 2

Discerning God in Our Stories, The Discerning Leader Podcast / /

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 albums, earned 2 Dove awards and is the author of 3 critically acclaimed books. You can find more about her at www.renovare.org and www.carolynarends.com. Carolyn joins Steve and shares several turning points of her life. After reading Steve’s book, The Discerning Life, she recognizes these watershed moments as discerning life moments. When asked about how she cultivates a discerning life, she noted that the formation that makes a discerning person is almost identical to the formation that makes a great writer or artist, it is living receptively to the Lord.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Steve Macchia (Podcast Host)
Founder and President of Leadership Transformations
Steve is the author of The Discerning Life,  Becoming a Healthy Church, Broken and Whole, Crafting a Rule of Life and several other titles. Steve has over 40 years in ministry and two postgraduate degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Carolyn Arends (Season Twenty-Two Guest)
Carolyn Arends is Renovaré’s Director of Education. In her role, Carolyn oversees the Renovaré Institute for Christian Spiritual Formation, the Renovaré Book Club, and various other initiatives. She has written and released 14 albums and is the author of 3 critically acclaimed books. Carolyn has earned 2 Dove Awards, 3 Juno Nominations, and was recognized as the West Coast Music Awards’ Songwriter of the Year. In addition to her busy touring and speaking schedule, Carolyn has been a regular columnist for Christianity Today. She has a degree in Psychology and English from Trinity Western University and a Master of Arts in Theological Studies from Regent College. She lives in Surrey, BC, Canada, with her husband, Mark, and their children Benjamin and Bethany.

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Trevor Hudson | Discerning God in Our Stories, Episode 1

Discerning God in Our Stories, The Discerning Leader Podcast / /

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 local congregation, he now gives his time to lecturing, teaching, and writing in the areas of spiritual formation and spiritual direction. His most recent book, Seeking God-Finding Another Kind of Life with St Ignatius and Dallas Willard, is available now from NavPress. Trevor and Steve discuss discerning what it means to follow Jesus in family and vocational life as well as through times of discontent and suffering. Trevor shares the common theme about seeking Jesus through the lives of Saint Ignatius of Loyola and Dallas Willard.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

Steve Macchia (Podcast Host)
Founder and President of Leadership Transformations
Steve is the author of The Discerning Life,  Becoming a Healthy Church, Broken and Whole, Crafting a Rule of Life and several other titles. Steve has over 40 years in ministry and two postgraduate degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary.

Trevor Hudson (Season Twenty-Two Guest)
Trevor Hudson is an ordained minister in the Methodist Church of Southern Africa. After spending forty years doing pastoral ministry in a local congregation, he now gives his time to lecturing, teaching, and writing in the areas of spiritual formation and spiritual direction. Throughout his life as a pastor and teacher, he has sought to prioritize the discipleship ministry of local congregations, build bridges across different “streams” within the Christian community, and relate spiritual formation to daily life within the context of our suffering world.

Trevor Hudson | Discerning God in Our Stories, Episode 1 Read More »

Discerning Where We Fit In the Great Commission | Discerning God’s Heart for the World, Episode 5

Discerning God’s Heart for the World, The Discerning Leader Podcast / /

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. Great compassion compels our heart to love our neighbors as we love ourselves. And the great commission leads us to proclaim the love of Jesus to those who cross our path and those who are around this world. These three things often impact our daily lives: changing our mindset, opening our worldview, and reminding us of the assurance – Jesus’ promise to always be with us, even to the ends of the earth.  

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

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Practices that Fuel Global Discernment | Discerning God’s Heart for the World, Episode 4

Discerning God’s Heart for the World, The Discerning Leader Podcast / /

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:

  1. Information. God fuels our discernment through Scriptural knowledge and understanding of current events
  2. Intercession. Prayer is our response to the global amount of information
  3. Involvement. Notice where God is at work in the people around you and consider a short-term mission trip
  4. Integration. Letting the things we know about the world influence our life
  5. Investigation – Keeping our eyes, ears and hearts open to what God wants us. 

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

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Discovering the Family of God Globally | Discerning God’s Heart for the World, Episode 3

Discerning God’s Heart for the World, The Discerning Leader Podcast / /

“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 Christian family, they would ask us to first know them, and know their stories; second to pray for them and third partner with them in their local ministry. Discovering the family of God globally may start as simply as starting a conversation with someone who has a different accent than you or visiting a church in your own city made up of people of a distinct ethnicity.

Resources:

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

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Discerning God at Work in the World | Discerning God’s Heart for the World, Episode 2

Discerning God’s Heart for the World, The Discerning Leader Podcast / /

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 the world for quite awhile; I believe that we are living in the most exciting time to be alive in the history of Christianity since Jesus walked the earth.” Listen in as Paul explains this position and hear about missionary work around the world that the news media isn’t sharing.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

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Discerning God’s Love for All People | Discerning God’s Heart for the World, Episode 1

Discerning God’s Heart for the World, The Discerning Leader Podcast / /

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. Steve Macchia welcomes guest Paul Borthwick to the podcast. In episode 1, Steve and Paul talk about God’s love for all people, sharing four insights from John 3:16-21. Listen to Paul’s story about an emotional encounter he had at the airport after the Boston Marathon Bombing.

Join the conversation about spiritual discernment as a way of life at www.LeadershipTransformations.org and consider participation in our online and in-person program offerings. Additional LTI spiritual formation resources can be found at www.SpiritualFormationStore.com and www.ruleoflife.com and www.healthychurch.net.

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Daily Examen | Spiritual Praxis, Episode 4

Spiritual Praxis, The Discerning Leader Podcast / /

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 16th Century, it’s found new life in the modern spiritual formation movement. Here Steve Macchia unpacks the discipline by walking through the five big areas of Examen:

  1. Aware of God’s promised presence
  2. Review the day with gratitude (what gifts did you receive?)
  3. Pay attention to our emotions about the day
  4. Pray into one feature of the day that you are highlighting in your reflection
  5. Look toward tomorrow with prayerful anticipation and perhaps even a particular action 

He also introduces a handful of additional questions for individual or group reflection. 

Downloadable Resources:

Daily Examen | Spiritual Praxis, Episode 4 Read More »

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Mitzi Mak

Selah-West Faculty

Mitzi started her professional life as a high school social studies teacher. She and her husband Jerry then served cross-culturally for ten+ years, living abroad first in India and then Kurdistan, N. Iraq. In addition to being a Spiritual Director, she now serves as a Formation and Care pastor in her local church in Houston, TX. She has graduated from LTI’s Selah Spiritual Direction training as well as LTI’s Emmaus Formational Leadership Program.

Mitzi enjoys engaging conversation, reading fiction, doing jigsaw/crossword puzzles, ocean gazing and exploring the world with Jerry through food and travel.

God has two main callings in Mitzi’s life: to care for those who care for others and to be a guide in helping others have a healthy relationship with the Trinity – recognizing God’s loving presence and activity in their lives and how to faithfully respond.

“Selah was a transformative experience for me – allowing the contemplative within to emerge and to beautifully co-exist with my extraverted personality.“