5 Leadership Questions: A Leadership Podcast Featuring Interviews With Carey Nieuwhof, Craig Groeschel, Matt Chandler, Jen Wi

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Karen Swallow Prior, professor of English and author of On Reading Well. They discuss how and why we should work on developing our reading skills and being comfortable with other viewpoints to better support our own viewpoints. BEST QUOTES "I think you should take notes, mark in the book, or do something to engage with it and read reflectively. Good writing is not the kind of writing you can skim." "Reading one book well is far better than reading ten to check off your list.""We all have skill levels, whether its reading or listening, and we should be trying to develop those and not get frustrated with ourselves because we aren't where we think we should be.""I really want to understand their point of view so that I can understand and support my own point of view.""We are always thinking in community and hopefully we are part of different thinking communities.""When I see leadership potential or any oth

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Nils Smith, from Dunham+Company, and Jason Powell, online pastor for Harvest. They discuss the following questions: What did Easter service look like in your context?How are you following up with people after Easter services?What will church look like post COVID-19 season?Tools for doing online church better BEST QUOTES "I think American is hungry for the gospel. I think this is the perfect time right now to advance the kingdom of God using technology like never before.""If someone in this opportunity clicks a banner and fills out their information, we immediately mail them a Bible.""We call every single person that has made a commitment to follow Jesus Christ for the first three weeks and we will talk to them on the phone and give them encouragement.""Those that are really leaning into this technology and having zoom gatherings are having the depth of community and connection the most effectively.""W

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Jimmy Dykes, sportscaster and author of The Film Doesn't Lie. They discuss how leadership in the sports world applies to all other kinds of leadership and how our words and actions truly reflect God's impact in our lives. BEST QUOTES "From a sports analogy - with coaches and players the real change, the real truth, the real evaluation process begins when they watch a film. I take that same scenario that's used in the sports world and I take us on a spiritual journey throughout the book.""Our walk with God goes to a whole other level when our obedience goes to another level.""I am so blessed to be a part of the ESPN family and that puts me in front of a lot of different people. A lot of coaches are mentors in my life.""If you are a head coach, you have immediate impact - hour to hour - with everyone on your staff, the student athletes you coach, and the actions you lead with speak volumes.""I have a huge

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Gene Getz, author of 60 books including The Measure of a Man and the Life Essentials Study Bible. They discuss the life-long journey of learning about the pastorate and the importance of encouraging those who we have learned from. BEST QUOTES "People are sheep and they need to be lead, and they will be lead if you have strong leadership.""You've got to keep learning all the time. If you stop learning, you are going to stop growing.""When I started pastoring, being a writer, I determined that if I was going to do a series I would write my sermon as if you were reading it.""Our main point of emphasis right now is how can we stay on top of all of the tasks we have and keep things moving in spite of this shutdown because of the virus.""If communication breaks down, hit it immediately and open the door of communication. That is what keeps us efficient.""Every one of us is built on the shoulders of someone els

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Levi Lusko, lead pastor of Fresh Life Church. They discuss how being knowledgeable in areas outside your specialty can benefit your leadership and the unique challenges facing the church during this time. BEST QUOTES "We are only going to be effective in ministry long-term if we can manage ourselves, manage our emotions, and productively minister to people in a way that is life giving.""People that have a wider range than just one discipline will be more likely to explore more options than jump to what they specialize in.""The murky water is how to we execute a clear vision in a dark world?""We have Zoom, we have our Bibles, we have our phones. Let's go.""I have tried to build our home to be a place of Selah for our family.""We are trying to make sure our kids know that their problems and flaws are not ever a problem to me because i am a pastor.""I think the brokenness in the church and so many families

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Dr. Lina Abujamra, founder of Living With Power Ministries and pediatric ER doctor. They discuss the following questions: What does it look like on the frontlines right now?What do we need to know about COVID-19?What advice would you share about ministering during this time?How long do you think this current COVID season will last? And will there be a second round? BEST QUOTES "The very thing that God had directed me to became the hub of ministry and medicine combining like no other time before.""As New York has grown in its crisis, one of the things that has happened in the rest of the United States is that there has been time to prep.""The easiest way for me to talk about plain, old COVID is the trifecta - fever, shortness of breath, and cough - and sort of a flu-like look.""The fear factor is exponentially increased because of so much mis-information out there and that's dangerous.""Something happe

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Jenaye White are joined by Ian Morgan Cron, author of The Road Back to You. They discuss how the Enneagram helps you become more self-aware and how knowing more about your people makes you a better leader. BEST QUOTES "As I think about the Enneagram and the crisis we are in, it opens up all kinds of opportunities to become the best expressions of ourselves that we can become, to exercise the muscles of compassion and patience and self care.""The Enneagram is a personality typing system that teaches there are nine basic or core personality styles - one of which people gravitate toward and adopt in childhood.""The human ego would like us to believe we know ourselves better than we do and that we are more in control of our lives than we actually are.""The Enneagram helps us see what we are like at our best and at our worst - when we are under a lot of strain and when we are in a good space.""The Enneagram is very simple to learn, it's v

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Justin Murff, director of The MENA Collective. They discuss responding to current COVID-19 circumstances as churches move to digital platforms and focusing on family during challenging ministry times. BEST QUOTES "Are we the kind of church that is making a difference in the life of our community and our city, or are we just occupying space and having a good social gathering on a Sunday morning?""Use the tools that you have at your disposal. Facebook Live is a great tool. Zoom is a great tool.""Your congregation needs to see you. They need to hear you. They don't just need to get an email.""We are facing, for the first time in our country's history, we most likely will not be able to gather as a church to celebrate Easter. That is profound.""When we think about digital church it is going to expand some of our boundaries, particularly when we talk about our ordinances or sacraments." "Use what you have, t

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Tim Keller, founding pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in Manhattan and author of The Reason for God, The Prodigal God, and the How to Find God Series. They discuss how lessons learned while serving in New York City after 9/11 can be helpful in response to the current COVID-19 situation. BEST QUOTES "Right now, a lot of our cultural idols are being smashed.""How do we minimize the damage of this situation to our ministries and also how do we capitalize on the situation to minister?""This is not like the 2008 recession. This is not like 9/11 in New York City. These are all somewhat unique, but they are all cataclysmic.""After 9/11, we knew that 14,000 small business went away overnight and all the people that worked their lost their livelihood. We put out word that if you could prove you worked there we could help.""It's going to take time, but be looking for ways to step in and if you are praying fo

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Todd McMichen, director of Generosity by Lifeway. They discuss the following questions: What do I say on Sunday?How can you communicate this throughout the week?How can pastors lead their people to live a generous life during this time?What do I do if giving starts to tank?How do we help people have a good experience giving online?During this season, how should churches handle benevolence? BEST QUOTES "We have to settle into this new world and help people see the mission of the church.""Lead with a generosity story of how someone in your church is living generously right now.""If you can give a positive word about your finances, that would be good to do.""Because life is so challenging right now and there are so many distractions, giving to the church is the last thing on their mind.""On Sunday when you refer to the offering you only need to refer to one way to give digitally to keep it simple.""There

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Brad Lomenick, past Catalyst leader and author of H3 Leadership and The Catalyst Leader. They discuss the following questions: Who or what has been the greatest leadership influence in your life?What is your favorite leadership failure story?What book would you gift yourself as a young leader?If you could teach a course on any topic, what would it be?What advice would you give a student about the real world of leadership and ministry? What common things should they ignore? BEST QUOTES "Networking is all about you, connecting is all about others.""As a connector, my job is to put people together and let the power of the connection be built between them.""The person of Jesus and the people of the Scriptures I think are true connectors.""If you are a leader, a parent, or train horses, there are so many similarities.""You need to be aware of your passions, but you have to combine strengths and passions wi

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Daniel Im, former cohost of 5LQ, Senior Associate Pastor at Beulah Alliance Church, and author of You Are What You Do. They discuss the following questions: How do you deal with past regrets?Is the process of journaling regrets supposed to be individual, or with someone? And if it is with someone, who?How can this lie disable or destroy your future?How does this lie fit into the gig economy?What's your advice for leaders who still have things from their past they need to deal with? BEST QUOTES "The past is not just about the things that you have done, the past is also about what others have done to you.""Reflecting on both what you have done and what others have done to you will help you assess the extent to which your past affects your present.""There's a lot of junk and pain that we experience because we work with broken people.""Is what I am doing right now a reaction to something in the past or am I living the way I a

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Joshua Gagnon, the founding and lead pastor of Next Level Church. They discuss starting a church in a difficult situation and navigating being an organization that is stable and agile. BEST QUOTES "We are excited that that started where nobody would have thought a movement of God could start.""Looking back, God prepared me to lead Next Level Church, but it wasn't in a church environment.""We have to have people walking alongside of us as sidekicks that are sweating with us in our pursuit of what we hope to become.""Heroes are simply people who are living the life now that we hope to someday live.""Let's keep the grit, passion, and great expectation for God to do great things, but in the end let's go ahead and surrender our expectations.""One of the dangers of the church world is the lack of grit and resolve. When we face resistance we often want to back down from it.""A vision statement is pointless outs

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Daniel Im, former cohost of 5LQ, Senior Associate Pastor at Beulah Alliance Church, and author of You Are What You Do. They discuss the following questions: What do you mean by the saying that experiences are better than things?What's the shadow side of the lie that you are what you experience?Do you address anything about how experience economy has shifted us from ownership-minded to access-minded?How are we seeing the idea of experience come into the church? BEST QUOTES "Experiences create more memories and for us, as a culture, we are spending more money on experiences than things.""Experience is everywhere you look, even in the way our culture is trying to sell products." "If you take a photo of a thing, you are never going to get as many likes as if you take a picture of yourself in an experience." "Influencer marketing is being driven by narcissism.""Envy and jealousy stirs up in our heart when we see an experience,

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by D.A. Horton, Pastor of Reach Fellowship in Long Beach, California. They discuss being engaged in a deep accountability relationship and transparency in difficult situations in your life. BEST QUOTES "Learning church history will help believers understand how the church contextualized the nuances of the great commission where they lived in the time that they lived in.""It's the idols of comfort, personal peace, and self-preference that we have to combat, confess, and then destroy in order to be freed up.""It's through that fire that we have melded together meaningful relationships that you cannot communicate in a prospectus.""Scars are a representation that healing is possible through Jesus Christ and His local church.""It's in community that the Scriptures come to life.""If we have truly trusted Christ to save our soul, then He will also provide for the physical needs we have.""Praying to the Lord privat

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Daniel Im, former cohost of 5LQ, Senior Associate Pastor at Beulah Alliance Church, and author of You Are What You Do. They discuss the following questions: What is the greatest lie that leaders believe?How is this lie affecting the church?How has this continued to shift in culture? We have both experienced the tragedy of a fall. How does that happen?How do you come back from this? BEST QUOTES "'You Are What You Do' is the greatest lie that leaders believe.""Every single one of these lies is likely more appealing to one of the Enneagram numbers than not.""Doing has become a badge of honor. It has become a status symbol and the way to define ourselves.""Books have become the new business card.""Is your identity on the things that you do, have done, and are going to do? Or on what Jesus has done for you? And is that enough?""Ephesians 2:8-9 is what Christ has done for us, and doing is a response in verse 10.""There are thre

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by John Mark Comer, author of The Ruthless Elimination of Hurry. They discuss what he learned from writing his book and living an unhurried life. BEST QUOTES "Once you discover Truth and wisdom you are tapping into God's design and intention for the universe.""In my experience, you have to exegete the cultural narrative as much as you exegete the biblical narrative and point people to Jesus and His gospel.""Knowing the exegesis of a text is different than actually becoming the kind of person with the capacity to do what the text says.""Now I think about a sermon through a Venn diagram of three parts: biblical theology, spiritual formation, and cultural commentary.""How do we live an unhurried life and focus on sabbath and soul care without getting into introspective, introverted self-improvement for Jesus?""Hurry and burnout are coming for everybody.""Because of the digital age, there are all sorts of Type B people who are stil

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Daniel Im, former cohost of 5LQ, Senior Associate Pastor at Beulah Alliance Church, and author of You Are What You Do. They discuss the following questions: How prevalent is the gig economy and how has it grown?How is the gig economy affecting the church?How is the gig economy beneficial and what are ways people can participate?How does the gig economy change the way we hire? BEST QUOTES "The book started out from a talk I gave to leaders and pastors about how the gig economy is affecting churches.""The broadest way to define the gig economy is being self-employed in a part-time or full-time capacity and if you get paid for your time, skills, possessions, or expertise.""In 2019, 35% of the American workforce was a part of the gig economy.""If you aren't a part of the gig economy, you are funding it.""When you look at the research, about 68% of all gig workers joined the gig economy in the last 5 years,""The gig economy's

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins and Chandler Vannoy are joined by Barnabas Piper, former cohost of 5LQ, current director for community at Immanuel Nashville, and author of Help My Unbelief. They discuss the following questions: What is one thing you’ve read recently?What is one thing you’ve listened to recently?What is one tool or resource you’ve started using recently?Who is one person who has influenced you recently?What is one lesson you have learned recently? BEST QUOTES "Everyone thinks it's the abundance of resources that are the answer to the golden tomorrow, and really it's more about what you stop and clarify.""I have found the Community Bible Reading Journal really helpful in terms of slowing down to think through text that normally I would have read over quickly.""One thing I've noticed after moving from Lifeway into church ministry is the way I have gravitated to learning from people who are 20 to 30 years ahead of me in ministry or in faith.""The bigges

In this episode of the 5 Leadership Questions podcast, Todd Adkins is joined by Vance Pitman, a church planter in Las Vegas, Nevada, at Hope Church. They discuss the current realities of church planting in the Western United States and why it's important to wait to write a book. BEST QUOTES "A few years ago God gave us a vision to reach the Western United States.""I think one of the great tragedies of the Christian movement today is that a lot of guys are writing books who just started in the ministry and they are writing a lot of theory but not a lot of proven practice.""I'm learning from three categories of people right now: people who finish well, people from a different context, and people who are doing it.""America's west coast is still largely a pre-Christian context.""It wasn't until God brought me to Las Vegas that I realized that the real passion and the heart of God was for the Gospel and the Kingdom to expand in the city.""I believe if there is hope for another gospel movement in the United S