Men's Leadership Network Podcast

This week on our COVID-19 Sessions, we will be discussing the question, “Is getting back to normal really our goal?” or should our goal be “How do we go forward?”

This week on our COVID-19 Sessions, we will be talking about leading yourself well during a pandemic. 

Our special guest for today’s Men’s Leadership Podcast comes all the way from Israel. On a recent Biblical Studies Tour, Pastor Jeff sat down with Yoni Gerrish, one of the countries leading guides and an expert in Biblical archaeology. Jeff met Yoni on his first Holy Land tour in 1999 and he's been leading our tour groups ever since. In this interview, Jeff and Yoni talk about how God’s plan changed the trajectory of Yoni’s life. From the mountains of Colorado to the wilderness we read about in Exodus, Yoni reflects on how God shaped his journey to Israel, gave him a heart for sharing the Gospel through guiding tours and equipped him with friends and colleagues to encourage and support him along the way.

It's Valentine's Day. A day when we're reminded to go the extra mile to show love to the most important people in our lives. In today's interview with Jeff & Lora Helton, Founders of Wellspring Coaching and Training, we discover that going the extra mile one day a year doesn't do nearly as much for your relationship as going an inch every day. They provide helpful tips and practical resources for keeping the intimacy of your relationship alive once the honeymoon is over, kids are demanding your time, and the repetition of life sets in. In addition, they unpack the importance of centering your relationship on Christ and how that common ground provides a foundation that can weather any storm. *We apologize for the slightly muffled audio in this interview. We experienced some technical difficulties that were not apparent until after the recording. We strive to deliver the best content and quality available and while we came up short on the audio quality, we have confidence you'll agree that the content from Jeff & Lora more than make up for it here. Thank you for understanding and supporting the mission of Men's Leadership Network.

"What would you do if you won the lottery?" It's a common question asked around water coolers and meal tables across the country. For Adam Gray, his answer was simple: open up his own CrossFit Gym. But of course, that would mean leaving a steady and comfortable job as an actuary, a profession he had spent over 3,000 hours of undergraduate, graduate, and licensing study hours. Being an actuary was low-stress, played to his strengths with math, and paid well. So why ever leave? Eventually, Adam recognized what he thought was a reoccurring daydream for what it was: guidance from God. So, just a few years ago, he left his steady paycheck and, with the support of his family, took the plunge and opened CrossFit Goose Creek in Berry Farms.Running CrossFit Goose Creek has not only meant going to work at a passion project every day, but it's also meant doing something that helps others. In this video interview with Pastor Jeff, Adam shares his entrepreneurial journey, how his father set an example for him to emulate, and how waking up every day and seeing God in everything is as easy as it sounds.

In this week's MLN Spotlight we are joined by special guest, Pike Williams. Pike is a licensed Marriage and Family therapist with the Refuge Center in Franklin, TN, and his clinical passion is to work with couples and with men. He is certified in trauma-focused cognitive behavior therapy and is trained in EMDR, a proven approach for helping clients process unresolved trauma. Pike is certified to administer the Prepare/Enrich Assessment, a valuable tool for pre-marital work, and he is a member of the American Association for Marriage and Family Therapy and the American Association of Christian Counselors. Outside of his time at The Refuge Center, he maintains a private practice as well.  Pike is married with three grown children and serves as chaplain for the Nashville Predators. 

Steven Wright was on top of the world in the summer of 2016. The knuckleballer from California had been picked up in the second round of the 2016 MLB draft and was now standing on the pitcher’s mound for the Boston Red Sox as he pitched his first complete MLB game for a decisive 5-1 victory over the Yankees. He was also selected for the All-Star game that summer. And then prior injuries came back to eventually derail his 2017 season, and that’s when things started crashing down. Steven admits, “I got away from God. I stopped praying. I stopped reading my Bible. I was frustrated with God. I was so mad at God.”  His insight is incredibly self-reflective and hints to a greater point in his story where he states, “God is as big, as close as you are to him, in your life.”Steven’s story is inspiring in all the right ways. It shows that when we move away from God the small cracks in our lives begin to grow wider and threaten to swallow us whole. It also shows that while we can incorrectly and naively blame God for the problems in our lives, we are often "drinking the wrong Kool-Aid." God loves us. There is no caveat or footnote to those three words. We may not all be former MLB All-Stars, but Steven’s story isn’t really that much different from many stories of men around us. When things are great, we get lazy with our faith and drift away. It’s not until we’re in the dark valley that we realize we need help and finally give up trying to control everything around us. It’s then that we find God right where we left him all along.

Leadership Truths from an Anchorman 

"Life is not a spectator's sport. Get in the Game!"These were the words that Chris Miller heard from his mother as a child and they shaped him into the man, husband, father, anchorman, and Christ-follower he is today. Chris grew up in Colorado and has always loved being outdoors, skiing, hiking, fishing and soaking up all that life has to offer. After playing football in college, Chris began his career in broadcast journalism covering local sports. His career took him all over the west coast and, along the way, he crossed paths with a wonderful young weather broadcaster named Elyse. They moved to Southern California and were married. In 2011 they made the trip to Nashville for CMA Fest and as they were leaving town he remembers Elyse saying, "Ya know, I think we could raise a family here." In 2016, they made the move to Nashville as Chris earned the role of News Anchor for NBC's Nashville affiliate, WSMV News 4. We're honored to share the stage with Chris as he transitions from the person asking the questions to the one answering them. He'll share his thoughts on how he prioritizes faith, marriage, parenting, and career, (in this order) and how he works every day to be a godly leader at home, at work, and in the community. 

Raising the Next Generation 

In our Men's Leadership Network interview this week we spoke with Jason Loudon. Jason has been an educator his entire career and currently serves as a middle school principal. As we hear almost weekly reports about the rise in anxiety and depression in the U.S., especially in children age 10-18, we all want to know as dads, granddads, uncles, and leaders how we can be part of the solution.In today's interview, Jason shares some great insight into what kids are facing and some simple, yet important, steps we can take to invest in the next generation.