It is the end of Season 2! Jo and Steph reflect over the different series which have been part of this past season and the podcasts that have impacted them personally. They also discuss what life looks like for them right now as Summer begins - from horse camp to baseball and book writing.
Make sure you don’t miss out on new updates with Jo and Steph by signing up to their personal websites: www.josaxton.com and www.pastorsteph.com
Join Steph’s Author page on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pastorsteph/
We would love it if you could support Lead Stories Podcast by rating our podcast on iTunes!
Finally… don’t miss out on the Lead Stories resources, Hello Goodbye, Life in the Wilderness and Empowering Women study guides. Find them at: www.leadstoriesmedia.com/resources
In this episode Steph chats with Patrick Lambertz from Men Against The Trafficking Of Others (MATTOO), an organization working to educate men and stop the source of human trafficking.
Listen in to discover how you can help be a part of stopping human trafficking by helping to create stigmas against it.
Check out:
Www.mattoo.org and their course: ‘Extinguishing the flames.’
Discussion:
1) Think about the quick decision someone makes to view pornography or go to a strip club for a bachelors party. What does the web of human trafficking look like behind those decisions?
2) How can you intentionally help those around you (and yourself) make better decisions to not support human trafficking, bearing in mind that doing nothing is often helping a fire to spread?
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
Facebook: LeadStoriesPodcast
Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
Continuing the series on Stigmas, Jo chats to Kaitlin Curtice, a native-american Christian about her re-discovery of her heritage and how that has impacted her faith and relationship with God.
Listen in to hear how God has revealed himself in new ways to Kaitlin as she has researched her heritage, and Kaitlin’s ideas of how the church could be blessed by recognizing and learning from certain cultural values from native americans tribes.
Discussion:
1) What did you learn about native american tribes as a child? Were they positive or negative influences?
2) Kaitlin mentioned that teaching her children traditional ways may mean they are made fun of. Are there parts of your heritage / ideals you hold to that you are afraid to influence others with for fear of what they may say /do? How can you make sure it is not the enemy who is silencing you?
3) What positive things could/should the church embrace from native american cultures?
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
Facebook: LeadStoriesPodcast
Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
Check out Kaitlin’s book ‘Glory Happening’ coming November 7th
And find her on facebook, twitter and instagram!
Jo and Steph continue the series on Stigmas and race today with Edrin Williams, who was born in South Carolina and now a pastor in The Sanctuary Covenant church in the Twin Cities.
Listen in to hear how growing up in the South impacted Edrin’s childhood and raised early questions about race and how we can all become more inter-culturally competent as we lead others from different backgrounds and races.
Also find Edrin on:
Twitter, Instagram, Snapchat and Facebook!
Discussion questions:
1) Take some times to think through the prejudices you probably hold. When you think about people from different backgrounds (white, black, asian, latino…) what roles / professions do you naturally assign to them?
2) What do you know about your family culture? What is your ethnic story? What is in your roots? Share what you know and investigate further!
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
Facebook: LeadStoriesPodcast
Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
This week on LEAD VOICES Jo and Steph interview Pastor Sandra Maria Van Opstal on the topic of multiethnic leadership and worship.
She is a liturgist and activist who is passionate about re-imagining worship that mobilizes for reconciliation and justice.
Check her out at: http://www.sandravanopstal.com/
Also, get her new book The Next Worship here: http://www.sandravanopstal.com/the-next-worship/
https://twitter.com/sandravanopstal
https://www.instagram.com/sandravanopstal/
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
Facebook: LeadStoriesPodcast
Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
Surely with a black family living in the White House for so many years, America is now in a post-racism era, right?! This week Jo and Steph chat race and stigmas with Deidra Riggs, a missionary to the white evangelical church.
Listen in to find out:
- What is white-privilege and does it still exist?
- How can change be brought to the white evangelical church regarding race stigmas?
- How can you be proactive in supporting diversity in your spheres of influence?
Check out Deidra Riggs website (and sign up for her newsletter!) at www.deidrariggs.com and also check out her new book: ‘One’.
Discussion questions:
1) What is white-privilege and where have you experienced it?
2) What practical steps can you take to encourage diversity in race and culture in your spheres?
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
Facebook: LeadStoriesPodcast
Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
Jo and Steph chat this week to Kathy Khang a writer and speaker about mental health and racial stigmas. Listen in to hear Kathy share her mental health journey struggling against depression and how Kathy is helping her children have positive attitudes towards mental health care.
Discussion:
1) What are some healthy ways you can demonstrate mental health care in your family or with the people you live with?
2) Do you engage or disengage with racial issues? Why? How can you engage with them in positive ways?
3) Why do you think diversity is so important to God?
Check out Kathy’s website and book:
More Than Serving Tea - Kathy Khang
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
Facebook: LeadStoriesPodcast
Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
Continuing the conversations on the stigmas against mental illness, Steph chats with Leah Adair about her struggle against OCD and the stigmas surrounding it. Leah shares her journey to being diagnosed with OCD and coming to understanding what OCD looks like for different people, far from the widespread misconception that it is just about compulsive hand washing.
Discussion questions:
1) What stops you from sharing your story? (We’re not talking necessarily about telling the world on Facebook, it could be just with a friend.)
2) How can you create space for people to share their stories with you this week?
3) What have you learned about OCD during this podcast that you didn’t know before? What stigmas have been debunked for you?
Resources:
Embracing my Obsessive Compulsive Disorder by Leah Adair:
http://thesaltcollective.org/embracing-my-obsessive-compulsive-disorder/
My OCD does NOT stop me from being a teacher, wife, sister & friend by Leah Adair:
http://thesaltcollective.org/my-ocd-does-not-stop-me-from-being-a-teacher-wife-sister-friend/
Websites with more information:
https://jackieleasommers.com/ocd/
http://www.overcomingocd.net/chrissieface-of-o/
Twin Cities OCD support:
International OCD foundation:
debunking the myths of OCD youtube :
This week Steph chats to Chris Frank, a clinical counselor about mental illness, and the stigmas connected with them, especially within the church. Both Steph and Chris talk from personal experience about struggling against mental illness and the different roles medical professionals have played in helping them and those close to them.
Listen in to find out the difference between primary and secondary emotions and how they impact our mental health; how stigmas from society and the church impact mental health freedom and how we, as leaders and individuals, can support ourselves and others towards better mental health.
Discussion:
1) How does it help to state: ‘I am struggling against depression’ rather than ‘I am depressed.’ How can our language help tear down stigmas?
2) One of the definitions of shame is a feeling of not being enough. Where do you struggle with that and what lies are you believing that impact your mental health?
3) What positive things can you do to support your own mental health and the mental health of those who you lead?
Mental Health Resources:
https://www.mentalhealth.gov/get-help/immediate-help/
https://www.betterhelp.com/helpme/
https://suicidepreventionlifeline.org/
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
Facebook: LeadStoriesPodcast
Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
Living with stigmas is exhausting. The wondering if people support you in the role you are in can be incredibly tiring - like having too many apps running in the background at one time.
In this final conversation about the stigmas against strong women, Jo and Steph talk interpersonal and work/vocational relationships and how being strong women has affected those areas for them. They also share from the new ebook on ‘Empowering women in leadership’ on how we can all empower strong women in helpful ways.
Check out the ebook at www.leadstoriesmedia.com/resources.
Discussion:
1) What pre-conceived ideas do you think there are about strong women in dating relationship? Is it okay for women to be strong in a relationship? Are there only specific circumstances where it is okay?
2) Where have you felt you have had to compete with other women? Where has that feeling come from a false understanding of the abundance of God’s kingdom?
3) What does it look like to affirm the range of gifts and personalities in your friendship group / extended family? Do both the louder and quieter voices get heard?
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
Facebook: LeadStoriesPodcast
Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
Jo and Steph talk the public and private life of leadership this week with Jennie Allen, founder of the If Gathering. Listen in to hear how God led Jennie to start the If Gathering, how she overcame doubts and fear as she stepped into leadership, and how her renewed perspective on trials has helped her persevere in the face of private trial in the midst of public success.
Check out Jennie Allen’s new book: Nothing to prove
Twitter: @Jennieallen Instagram: @jenniesallen
Discussion questions:
1) Do you receive or run from trials? Can you think of a time you have received a trial and you have grown as a result?
2) How does seeking the approval of man hold you back right now? What intentional steps can you take to know God’s approval and keep moving forward?
3) Who are the people God has placed around you to encourage you that you are tempted to take for granted or fail to accept when things get tough?
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
Facebook: LeadStoriesPodcast
Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
This Lead Voices episode sees Jo and Steph interviewing Sharon Hodde Miller, a mom, speaker, writer and who also has a PhD!
Listen in to hear all about Sharon’s research into why evangelical women go into ministry and the steps we can all be involved in to encourage and empower women to step into their callings.
1) One of the things Sharon often heard when interviewing women training for ministry is that they felt ‘selfish’ for pursuing training. When have you felt selfish for using or being trained further in your areas of gifting?
2) Men are often willing to give something a go without feeling 100% sure of their calling or gifting, whereas women are much more reluctant until they are totally sure. Can you think of a time when you or women you know have been slow to embrace an opportunity because you/they haven’t felt sure? How important do you think it is to feel ‘sure’ before you step into something?
3) ‘Your words create leaders’. What mentoring / group mentoring opportunities are there available for women in your church? Are women encouraged to step into their callings as much as men are? If not, are there steps that could be taken to encourage this further?
Check out Sharon’s website: sheworships.com
If you are interested in reading Sharon’s doctorate contact her via her website or on her author page on facebook - Sharon Hodde Miller.
Also check out the new Lead Stories resource guide ‘Empowering Women in Leadership’ to help you be empowered and to empower women around you at www.leadstoriesmedia.com/resources.
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
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Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
You spoke up and Jo and Steph respond by discussing the stigmas there are against strong women. Why is it that ‘assertive’ and ‘confident’ are desirable traits for men, but women with those same characteristics are often seen as threatening and aggressive? Listen in to hear Jo and Steph’s personal stories alongside an exploration of how the Biblical word to refer to woman as Adam’s ‘helper’ in Genesis 2:18, did not mean his lesser servant, but something very different…surprisingly different!
Discussion questions:
1) How does it change your perspective of women knowing what the Biblical word ’Ezer’ means ‘to be strong strong, defend, rescue, protect, cherish’ and that the word was most often used to describe God Himself?
2) Read Proverbs 31. How does your understanding of what women should be change knowing this passage was meant of a celebration of what women could freely embrace rather than a tick-list of perfection for women to live up to?
3) What could it look like for you and your church to celebrate women? Where have you / others around you stigmatized women and girls with characteristics of strength rather than celebrated them?
Check out the following resources:
Influential / More than Enchanting - Jo Saxton (same book, different titles depending on your location)
Woman: the full story - Michelle Guiness
Lost women of the Bible - Carolyn Custis James.
Year of Biblical womanhood - Rachel Held Evans
TED talk: Caroline Paul: To raise brave girls, encourage adventure.
‘How to empower women in leadership’ guide:
www.leadstoriesmedia.com/resources
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
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Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
JR Rosko from Canton, Ohio is Jo’s guest on Lead Voices. Listen in to hear how God has led JR to create a platform for voices of those who have been more marginalized traditionally, particularly through Missio Alliance, a space for missional and theological conversation and training.
JR also shares things that have made him more mindful of the dynamics between female and male leaders, and how he has intentionally created space for men and women to be co-laborers in the Kingdom.
Discussion questions:
1) JR’s advice to men was: create regular, safe places for women to share. Are there currently spaces in your church, or in the spaces you lead for women and other minorities to regularly share in a safe space?
2) JR’s advice to women was: find dialogue partners (people who you can highlight things to) and speak up assertively when you feel your or another minorities voice being silenced. How do you feel about that? What might it look like to be assertive yet humble?
http://www.missioalliance.org/leadership/
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
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Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
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Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
Stigmas are things which mark people as inferior. Anything which disgraces, shames or brings disapproval on others is a stigma. It may be a stigma against a group of people, an individual or a circumstance, and it has alienating results.
Jo and Steph take a look at life in Jesus’ day and the stigmas that were in place against certain groups of people, examining how Jesus walked deliberately over those imaginary lines to bring people into God’s kingdom. They also start exploring what it might look like practically to embrace stigmatized groups, using an example of a housing project focused on integrating people with HIV/Aids in a local community and the opposition that the project has encountered.
Discussion questions:
1) Take some time to think about the different groups of people who are stigmatized around you. Who are the people who are ‘unclean’ in your culture / life? Some may be obvious cultural stigmas, whilst some may be personal prejudices against individuals. Write a list of all those people and begin by asking God for forgiveness for those stigmas and to help you to see those people as He sees them. Then start by imagining what it might look like for you to step over those imaginary lines and bring God’s kingdom to those people.
2) Is there anyone who God may be asking you to lead or disciple who doesn’t fit into your or others’ expectations about who you should be leading or discipling?
3) What holds you back from engaging with people who are stigmatized? What are your fears? Be honest and bring them to God in prayer.
Jo and Steph want to hear from you! Let them know at the following social media: What are some of the stigmas you see around you today and why?
Join us at:
Don’t forget to check out and join Jo and Steph for the 6K for water at:
www.leadstoriesmedia.com/worldvision
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
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Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
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Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
Jo and Steph have two important things to share with you today - and they want your help!
Listen in to hear how you can join in with the 6K for water with or without coming to Minneapolis, and hear them announce their new series on ‘stigmas’ and how you can get involved.
Discussion questions & action points:
1) Who can you get together with and join in with the 6K for water or use your influence to join together with others to help others in need? Go to www.leadstoriesmedia.com/worldvision to find out more about how to take part virtually or locally in the 6K for water.
2) What stigmas are holding you or the people you lead back? Please let Jo and Steph know the answers (plus any other things you want to hear them talk about) by contacting them at one of the following mediums:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
Facebook: LeadStoriesPodcast
Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
Jo chats with Jenny Dyer, executive director of Hope for Healing Hands based in Nashville, Tennessee.
Listen in to find out what advocacy really means and how we as Christians can be advocates for the world’s poor. Find out what small 5 minute response you can make to help women and children around the world face a future with hope and free from disease.
Check out:
http://www.hopethroughhealinghands.org/
Recommended book:
The Mother and Child Project by Kay Warren and Melinda Gates.
Welcome to Holy Week! Without the resurrection, all of Jesus’ life (and ours!) would be meaningless. Resurrection is the power of the kingdom of God and it is available for us today, not just in the kingdom to come.
This week Jo and Steph look at Luke 24:36-49 and discuss what difference living in resurrection life can mean to us.
Discussion questions:
1) What parts of your life need resurrection? Will you bring them to God and ask Him to work His resurrection power in them? (If it is not immediately clear, spend some time asking God to show you some areas He wants to restore.)
2) Where have you faced great disappointment or grief in the past? Did you ever ask God to bring resurrection into those situations? If yes, share your experience. If no, spend some time asking Him to show you where He did or inviting Him to do so.
3) As leaders what could it look like for God to resurrect our failures? Where do you need His resurrection power as a leader?
JOIN IN!
Go to www.leadstoriesmedia.com/worldvision to find out more about the 6K for water and join Jo and Steph virtually or locally and take part!
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
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Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
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Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
The city was full of people and animals coming together to celebrate the Jewish feast of Passover. Jesus and his disciples are also celebrating but in the midst of the meal and the intensity of what is about to happen Jesus takes an opportunity to take up the posture of a servant and wash his disciples feet.
Jo and Steph look at John 13:1-17 in this podcast and our willingness as leaders to get into other people’s mess and to allow other people into ours. Listen in as they discuss practical ways that we can respond to God in the context of community.
Discussion questions:
Reread John 13:1-17
1) What do you find easier: helping other people in their mess or allowing others to come and help you in your mess. Why? How easy is it for you to allow Jesus to come into your mess and help you?
2) Is there anything in your leadership that you ask of others which you are not prepared to do yourself?
3) What is the difference between pity and compassion? Can you think of some practical examples and responses of each?
4) Can you name the people who you allow to wash your feet? Who are your intentional community who you are vulnerable with?
Join us at www.leadstoriesmedia.com/community
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
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Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
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Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
When Jesus entered Jerusalem on a donkey many were hoping that he would bring political change and uproot the Romans. But God’s kingdom often looks like the opposite to what we expect - will we join God with what He is doing or will we quickly turn on Jesus when our expectations are not fulfilled?
Jo and Steph discuss how recognizing and responding to what God is doing requires us to have an understanding of what God’s kingdom looks like - concentrating on internal changes which impact external ones.
Discussion questions:
1) Read Matthew 21: 1-11 and put yourself in the place of the different characters in the story - the religious leaders, the crowd, the disciples. Where can you identify with their response to Jesus?
2) Think through some of the parables and things Jesus says about the kingdom in the Bible. How does Jesus challenge our thinking on what God’s kingdom should look like in regards to who is welcomed, the role of finances, what faith looks like etc?
3) Take a moment to posture yourself before God and pray this prayer:
God will you open our eyes to see what you are doing around us,
Open our ears to hear what you are saying,
And give us the courage to respond.
Come and join us at www.leadstoriesmedia.com/community
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
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Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
In this Lead Voices podcast Jo and Steph chat with Natasha Sistrunk Robinson, the author of Mentor for Life: Finding Purpose through Intentional Discipleship (Zondervan, 2016).
She intentionally serves as a credible witness of Christ’s leadership to engage, equip, and empower people to live and lead on purpose. She is the visionary founder of the 501(c)(3) organization, Leadership LINKS, Inc., a ministry that exists to connect people with purpose.
Leadership LINKS exists to educate and equip servant leaders who are committed to using their skills and resources for the greater good of humanity. We fulfill our vision by offering leadership education that facilitates impactful living, character and spiritual development.
Natasha serves as a Bible teacher, writer, mentor, anti-human trafficking advocate, and champion for education.
Natasha is a graduate of Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary Charlotte (cum laude, M.A. Christian Leadership) and the U.S. Naval Academy. A former Marine Corps officer, she has over 15 years of leadership and mentoring experience in the military, government, church, seminary, and nonprofit sectors.
She is a sought after leadership consultant, mentoring coach, and speaker. Connect via her official website www.natashaSrobinson.com, blog www.asistasjourney.com, Twitter @asistasjourney, Instagram nlsrobinson, orwww.facebook.com/NatashaSistrunkRobinson.
Come join us at: www.leadstoriesmedia.com/community
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
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Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
Once we have overcome barriers to responding to God, how do we actually discern what God is saying? What does that look like practically?
This week Jo and Steph share their stories, answering questions such as:
Discussion questions:
1) Having listened to the podcast are there some fresh ways you can identity that God has spoken to you in the past that you didn’t previously recognize?
2) What does / could it look like for you to develop the spiritual muscle of discerning God’s voice in your life?
3) Do you find it easier to discern God’s voice in stillness or movement? How can you develop the other area more?
Join us at www.leadstoriesmedia.com/community
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
Facebook: LeadStoriesPodcast
Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
God is already moving and doing things in our lives, neighborhoods and world and He desires for us to meet Him in it. Can we recognize what He is doing and join Him in it?
Jo and Steph embark on a new season during the season of Lent looking at how we can discern what God is saying and respond to Him accordingly. In this show they discuss everyday things which prevent us from responding to God - 5 Barriers beginning with ‘B’!
Discussion questions:
Come join us at www.leadstoriesmedia.com/community
Follow Lead Stories Podcast to interact with Steph and Jo:
Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
Instagram: @LeadStoriesPodcast
Facebook: LeadStoriesPodcast
Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com
What does it look like to experience purpose in the wilderness?
This week Jo and Steph look at key men and women in the Bible who were given a calling and a promise and then for an extended period of time they recieved the exact opposite to what God had promised.
They also take time to look at Joshua and Caleb, faithful leaders who were ready to respond to God’s invitations to enter the Promised Land but who were held back by others.
Who would have thought that the crazy wilderness journey which is opposite to the promise is actually the journey to the promised land itself?
Discussion questions:
1) Do you know what your purpose is? What has God called you to do, not matter what season you are in? Jo mentioned that hers was ‘equipping others to be all they are meant to be’. Spend sometime developing a personal missional statement.
2) Have you ever felt held back as a leader by other people’s lack of faith? How did you respond to that disappointment?
3) What happens when you are the person who sees the giant and is afraid to go in? Are you prepared to believe? Are there giants that are sabotaging your life right now?
4)When you have longings do you tend towards despair or hope? How can you invite God into your longings so that they are transformed into hope and faith?
5) Are you paying attention to what God is doing in the midst of waiting? Steph mentioned how learning plumbing through broken toilets was not her desired calling, but it has prepared her for later in life in her calling. What things are seemingly pointless in your life right now which God could redeem?
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Twitter: @LeadStoriesVox
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In this episode Jo chats with Rachael Leman, the executive director for CARE, a worldwide movement dedicated to ending poverty. Their focus is on women and girls, recognizing that poverty will only be eradicated when there are equal rights for all.
Listen in to hear how CARE is working to impact the lives of many people positively, empowering them out of poverty.
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Connect with Jo at: www.josaxton.com @josaxton
Connect with Steph at: www.pastorsteph.com @pastorstephMPLS
Subscribe on iTunes to have the podcast automatically download to your device every week or listen at www.leadstoriespodcast.com