Discerning God in Seasons of Waiting: Advent and Christmastide

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 his wife Alisa have three adult children and enjoy hosting international students. Todd joins Steve to share about personal and pastoral practices in the week after Christmas. We are encouraged to reflect back upon the year and give voice to the way God has been at work in our lives. We are invited to continue being attentive to God; bringing what we think out to happen into alignment with what we know God wants to happen.

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.

Todd Cravens (Season 23 Guest)
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 where he attended the University of Louisville, followed by the Southern Baptist Theological Seminary where he received his M.Div. in Theology. Todd and his wife Alisa have three adult children and together they have enjoyed hosting international students, totaling more than 60 students from 16 different countries. In addition, Todd enjoys running, journaling, refurbishing Apple products, and photographing the beauty of God’s wide world.

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 many people as possible to a joyful and growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.” He and his wife, Karen, have four married children and a growing number of grandchildren. Brian shares with Steve that as he enters his thirty-ninth year of ministry, Christmas is his favorite time of year to preach and minister. He believes that the Lord can bring something new in our spirit as we wait expectantly. His pastoral counsel to us is to be quiet for five minutes – to sit in front of the Christmas tree or fireplace, go for a walk, and allow the Lord to meet us in those moments.

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.

Bryan Wilkerson (Season 23 Guest)
Bryan Wilkerson has served as Senior Pastor at Grace Chapel since September of 2000, having previously served as Senior Pastor at Shelter Rock Church in Manhasset, New York. Bryan is a graduate of Wheaton College and Denver Seminary, and holds a Doctor of Ministry degree from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Bryan is the author of Living God’s Story, and serves on the board of Denver Seminary. Bryan’s life mission statement is “to lead as many people as possible to a joyful and growing relationship with Jesus Christ and His Church.” Bryan enjoys running or biking the back roads and trails of New England. He and his wife, Karen, have four married children and a growing number of grandchildren.

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 a waiting people. We often grasp for what is tangible; what we can control or manipulate. Mark reminds us that waiting looks like resisting the impulse to fix things through our own means. Waiting is about trusting in God’s promises, even when evidence points in all kinds of different directions. 

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.

Mark Booker (Season 23 Guest)
Mark Booker serves as the Senior Pastor at Park Street Church in downtown Boston. Originally from Colorado, Mark used to work professionally in the great outdoors. After completing theological study at the University of Oxford, he ministered in a congregation in Washington, DC, before moving to Boston to plant Church of the Cross, where he served for 11 years. Mark and his wife Mandy have four children and live in Boston.

“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 Switzerland and in Massachusetts. Dave has also worked at a bank, been a professional firefighter/paramedic, a swing dance instructor, and a youth pastor. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 2013 and is currently serving as the rector of Church of the Cross, an Anglican church in Boston. Reflecting on Simeon in the Temple from Luke 2, Dave joins Steve for a conversation about waiting on God. We are tempted to want to know exactly when God will fulfill His promises. He often doesn’t answer that question. Instead, He gives us surprises in our waiting. Advent is a season where we cultivate hope and joy in what is coming and in what is already being experienced that gives us a foretaste of what is to come.

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.

Rev. Dave Friedrich (Season 23 Guest)
Dave was born and raised in Canada. He 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 Switzerland and in Massachusetts. Dave has also worked at a bank, been a professional fire fighter/paramedic, a swing dance instructor, and a youth pastor. He was ordained as an Anglican priest in 2013 and is currently serving as the rector of Church of the Cross, an Anglican church in Boston. Dave and Anna are (prayerfully!) raising their two teenage sons, Cole and Adam.

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 Direction from Fuller Theological Seminary and The Dallas Willard Center.  Dave is the co-author of The Fellowship of the Suffering: How Hardship Shapes Us for Ministry and Mission (IVP, 2018), and is the co-founder of Evergreen, a nine-month training experience for emerging leaders in partnership with Converge Northeast. Dave joins Steve to share pastoral encouragement on reflection, stillness and waiting. While we wait, Dave encourages us to keep a faithful list – noting the top three things already in our lives that God invites us to be faithful to. Reflecting on Psalm 40, Dave and Steve invite us to consider the experience of waiting as an obstacle to our faith or an invitation to a deeply expectant life. An expectant life is a wonder-filled, joyous experience.

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.

Dave Ripper (Season 23 Guest)
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 Direction from Fuller Theological Seminary and The Dallas Willard Center. Dave is the co-author of The Fellowship of the Suffering: How Hardship Shapes Us for Ministry and Mission (IVP, 2018), and is the co-founder of Evergreen, a nine-month training experience for emerging leaders in partnership with Converge Northeast. Dave and his wife, Erin, a mental health therapist, have three kids and a yellow lab. They love to hike throughout New England and to travel to America’s National Parks.

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 serves as Affiliated Clergy with All Saints’ Anglican Cathedral in Amesbury, MA. In our 21st century life we do not like to wait for anything. Sharing from the story of Zechariah and Elizabeth, Susan Currie returns to the podcast and invites us to come alongside the Biblical characters. We consider their longings, their waiting, and the things we ourselves are waiting for. She reminds us that all of us are waiting for something. In Advent, we are invited to slow down enough to recognize our longings and offer them to the only one who can come and make all things right.

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.

Susan Currie (Season 23 Guest)
Director of Selah
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 serves as Affiliated Clergy with All Saints’ Anglican Cathedral in Amesbury, MA.