Discernment as a Way of Life

Transformed Leaders | Discernment as a Way of Life Episode 05

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano

Imagining what it would be like if the Church were filled with discerning leaders, Steve and Jeremy dream together about a Church filled with those who regularly turn to God. With Romans 12: 1,2 as backdrop for today’s episode, we explore six principles for practicing discernment together as leadership teams. Out of a transformed and renewed mind, we are able to test, affirm, and discern God’s good and perfect will. The goal: a lifestyle of spiritual discernment for leaders and communities and a lifetime of companionship with God.

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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God-Attentiveness | Discernment as a Way of Life Episode 04

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano

Psalm 139 reminds us that God discerns all of our ways out of his abundant and unconditional love for us. His attentiveness toward us evokes a response of attentiveness to him. Discernment means to perceive, recognize, sift, sort, and separate, learning to know what is knowable. To practice a preference for God helps us lean more and more fully his direction, discerning him courageously and gratefully. Steve and Jeremy unpack noticing God in revelatory, reasoning, and discerning times. They also discuss the role of consolation and desolation in discernment.

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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Love Abounding | Discernment as a Way of Life Episode 03

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano

Beginning with the prayer of the Apostle Paul to the Church in Philippi and ending with his prayer to the Colossians, Steve and Jeremy unpack some of the most essential ingredients of prayerful discernment. They discuss the importance of an experiential knowledge of and an ever-deepening intimacy with God. And, they lovingly caution us not to slip into the mind-to-mind combat so many teams encounter at their strategy tables. Instead, to choose to become a community of love and prayerfulness which will leading us into Christ-honoring discernment.

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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Recognizing Jesus | Discernment as a Way of Life Episode 02

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano

Continuing the conversation about spiritual discernment, Steve and Jeremy look at how Jesus’ mother and disciples were either kept from or open to his presence and mission. The Gospels are filled with stories that provide real-life opportunities for practicing a preference for God. Defining the attributes of discernment with the backdrop of Jesus’ earthly journey gives us important glimpses into the clarity of his teaching and mission. The way forward for all of us is seen in the simple yet profound intentionality of seeing God everywhere.

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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The Road to Emmaus | Discernment as a Way of Life Episode 01

Host: Steve Macchia, Guest: Jeremy Stefano

On this inaugural episode, Steve and Jeremy recount one of the pinnacle accounts of discernment in Luke 24. The Road to Emmaus is a wonderful example of discernment as a way of life, and not simply a way to make decisions. Noticing the presence, power, and peace of Jesus is the beginning, middle, and end of healthy spiritual discernment. And, like the disciples on the Road to Emmaus, so too do we need to practice a preference for God and encourage one another to look for Jesus along our lifelong journeys of faith.

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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Mitzi Mak

Selah-West Faculty & Emmaus 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.