Archives: Portfolios

In today’s fast-paced world, many are searching for deeper meaning and connection, and Dr. Nijay Gupta joins us to explore how we can experience God’s presence in everyday life — examining the intersection of faith and culture, the transformative power of the Word, and the spiritual hunger evident in modern society.

Dr. Gupta unpacks the concept of “holy worldliness” and how the gospel’s holiness can transform the world into a place of beauty, goodness, truth, and love, while also shedding light on the exciting ways young people are engaging their faith and how Scripture can serve as a guide in these turbulent times.

THE INNOVATIVE CHURCH LEADER PODCAST AND GIVEAWAYS:

We want to help pastors experience and bring renewal through Spirit-led innovation, reaching new people, and making disciples who make disciples.

Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter at innovativechurchleaders.org/join-us for a chance to win future book giveaways, retreats, cohorts, workshops, and assessments!

Subscribe, Rate, and Review The Innovative Church Leaders Podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or youtube.com/@InnovativeChurchLeaders.

What if our misunderstanding of forgiveness is actually causing more harm than good?

In this profound episode of the Innovative Church Leaders podcast, host ⁠Dr. Eric Bryant⁠ welcomes back world-renowned apologist and advocate ⁠Dr. Amy Orr-Ewing⁠. Together, they tackle one of the most weaponized and misunderstood topics in the modern church: Forgiveness.

Dr. Orr-Ewing shares insights from her new book, ⁠Forgiveness: Reclaiming Its Power in a Culture of Outrage and Fear⁠. She addresses the “identity politics” of grievance, the rise of “cancel culture,” and—most importantly—how the church has often used the teaching of forgiveness to silence victims of abuse. This isn’t just a theological discussion; it’s a vital framework for leaders who want to lead with both uncompromising grace and unwavering justice.

It’s time to stop minimizing harm and start discovering the cosmic power of the Cross to satisfy our deep hunger for justice.

THE INNOVATIVE CHURCH LEADER PODCAST AND GIVEAWAYS:

We want to help pastors experience and bring renewal through Spirit-led innovation, reaching new people, and making disciples who make disciples.

Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter at innovativechurchleaders.org/join-us for a chance to win future book giveaways, retreats, cohorts, workshops, and assessments!

Subscribe, Rate, and Review The Innovative Church Leaders Podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or youtube.com/@InnovativeChurchLeaders.

What if the “success” of growing a large church is actually hiding a shallow reality of disciple-making?

In this catalytic conversation, David Putman – author of Detox for the Overly Religious and founder of Planting the Gospel – shares the “divine encounter” that forced him to stop measuring the crowd and start measuring the kingdom.

After growing a church to 2,500 people, David realized that while the church was big, the discipleship was thin.

Discover the 5-3-2 Framework, an “operating system” for the church that moved from one pastor to generational disciple-making in 46 cities across five countries. Learn how to transition from “programming” your church to “releasing” a movement, why three is the perfect number for transformation, and how to use the “S.O.W.I.N.G.” method to turn daily scripture reading into an external mission.It’s time to move the cookies to the bottom shelf.

Stop discipling for information and start actually making disciples of Jesus.

THE INNOVATIVE CHURCH LEADER PODCAST AND GIVEAWAYS:

We want to help pastors experience and bring renewal through Spirit-led innovation, reaching new people, and making disciples who make disciples.

Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter at innovativechurchleaders.org/join-us for a chance to win future book giveaways, retreats, cohorts, workshops, and assessments!

Subscribe, Rate, and Review The Innovative Church Leaders Podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or youtube.com/@InnovativeChurchLeaders.

What if the most polarized issue in our country is actually one of the oldest commandments in the Bible?

In this enlightening episode of the Innovative Church Leaders podcast, host Eric Bryant talks with ⁠Dr. Sandy Richter⁠ – Old Testament scholar, Westmont professor, and author of Stewards of Eden.

Discover how to move beyond partisanship and rediscover the biblical mandate to “tend and defend” the earth. Stewardship isn’t a political platform; it’s a Genesis commission.

Dr. Richter helps us understand the Old Testament in order to give the church its Bible back.

Resources Mentioned:

⁠Stewards of Eden: What Scripture Says About the Environment and Why It Matters⁠ by Sandra L. Richter

⁠The Epic of Eden: A Christian Entry into the Old Testament by Sandra L. Richter⁠

⁠The Epic of Eden: Deborah⁠ (Bible Study Curriculum)

THE INNOVATIVE CHURCH LEADER PODCAST AND GIVEAWAYS:

We want to help pastors experience and bring renewal through Spirit-led innovation, reaching new people, and making disciples who make disciples.

Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter at innovativechurchleaders.org/join-us for a chance to win future book giveaways, retreats, cohorts, workshops, and assessments!

Subscribe, Rate, and Review The Innovative Church Leaders Podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or youtube.com/@InnovativeChurchLeaders.

What if your church’s “welcome” is actually scaring people away?

In this eye-opening conversation, Richard Riccardi — author of The Wandering Worshipper—shares his radical social experiment: visiting 33 different houses of worship in a single year. From Hindu temples to black congregations, Richard moved from being an “irregular and uninspired” cradle Catholic to a passionate deacon in a church where he was the first white member.

Discover the “Goldilocks” of hospitality, why “Miss Cha Cha” (the church lady) almost scared him off, and the one thing churches do that immediately alienates newcomers. This isn’t just a travelogue; it’s a mirror for every pastor and church leader asking: Are we truly a place for everyone?

THE INNOVATIVE CHURCH LEADER PODCAST AND GIVEAWAYS:

We want to help pastors experience and bring renewal through Spirit-led innovation, reaching new people, and making disciples who make disciples.

Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter at innovativechurchleaders.org/join-us for a chance to win future book giveaways, retreats, cohorts, workshops, and assessments!

Subscribe, Rate, and Review The Innovative Church Leaders Podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or youtube.com/@InnovativeChurchLeaders.

Sociologists ⁠⁠Mark Mulder⁠⁠ and ⁠⁠Gerardo Martí⁠⁠ join ⁠⁠Eric Bryant⁠⁠ to reveal lessons from the rise and fall of the ministry of Robert Schuller and the Crystal Cathedral as described in their book The Church Must Grow or Perish: Robert H. Schuller and the Business of American Christianity.

As we navigate a post-Christian landscape marked by political polarization and disaffiliation, Mulder and Martí offer a look at what happens when congregational life is mapped onto capitalism. 

Discover why the “racism of 2026” is more sophisticated than ever, why the search for “predictable models” makes leaders susceptible to drift, and how to cultivate a spiritually responsive community rooted in the way of Jesus.  

THE INNOVATIVE CHURCH LEADER PODCAST AND GIVEAWAYS:

We want to help pastors experience and bring renewal through Spirit-led innovation, reaching new people, and making disciples who make disciples.

Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter at innovativechurchleaders.org/join-us for a chance to win future book giveaways, retreats, cohorts, workshops, and assessments!

Subscribe, Rate, and Review The Innovative Church Leaders Podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or youtube.com/@InnovativeChurchLeaders.

What if the question “How do I grow my church?” is keeping you from actual kingdom impact?

In this vision-casting conversation, ⁠Dave Ferguson⁠ – founder of ⁠Exponential⁠ and author of ⁠Multiplier⁠ – reveals why waking up asking “How do we multiply God’s kingdom?” changes everything, how churches with a vision to plant 10+ churches grow 10% faster annually (while non-planting churches are plateaued), and why half the seats in his pastor peer group are now empty because of drift.

Dave shares stories of movement-makers like a pastor in Zimbabwe (who helped overthrow a 30-year dictator through discipleship) and Mimi at Amazon (who planted 100 micro churches with a $0 budget).

Discover the four gauges (RPMS) that could save your ministry and marriage, why 16% of multiplying churches creates a tipping point, how Community Christian handed off leadership after 18 months of apprenticeship, and what a “dream hour” is (and why Dave regrets not doing it sooner).

THE INNOVATIVE CHURCH LEADER PODCAST AND GIVEAWAYS:

We want to help pastors experience and bring renewal through Spirit-led innovation, reaching new people, and making disciples who make disciples.

Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter at innovativechurchleaders.org/join-us for a chance to win future book giveaways, retreats, cohorts, workshops, and assessments!

Subscribe, Rate, and Review The Innovative Church Leaders Podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or youtube.com/@InnovativeChurchLeaders.

What do you do when God feels absent in your deepest suffering?

In this raw and hope-filled conversation with host Toriano Mayo (pastor at the Well in Austin), Tiffany Stein – author of Mourning God – shares how losing her infant son led her to a secondary loss she never expected: the felt absence of God’s presence.

Tiffany reveals what Job’s friends got right (silence) and wrong (talking), how to lament which includes complaining and ultimately trusting, and what it means to build enduring hope on the only thing that can’t be taken away.

THE INNOVATIVE CHURCH LEADER PODCAST AND GIVEAWAYS:

We want to help pastors experience and bring renewal through Spirit-led innovation, reaching new people, and making disciples who make disciples.

Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter at innovativechurchleaders.org/join-us for a chance to win future book giveaways, retreats, cohorts, workshops, and assessments!

Subscribe, Rate, and Review The Innovative Church Leaders Podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or youtube.com/@InnovativeChurchLeaders.

What if the greatest barrier to making disciples isn’t lack of resources—but the assumption you’re already doing it?

In this paradigm-shifting conversation, Mark “Moose” Bright – Director of Relational Discipleship Network – shares how life groups become the tip of the spear (not the holy huddle).

Discover the power of kingdom ambition, why vulnerability sets the bar for discipleship, and how churches are reviving through multiplication instead of addition.

THE INNOVATIVE CHURCH LEADER PODCAST AND GIVEAWAYS:

We want to help pastors experience and bring renewal through Spirit-led innovation, reaching new people, and making disciples who make disciples.

Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter at innovativechurchleaders.org/join-us for a chance to win future book giveaways, retreats, cohorts, workshops, and assessments!

Subscribe, Rate, and Review The Innovative Church Leaders Podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or youtube.com/@InnovativeChurchLeaders.

What if communion isn’t just a ritual—but the most powerful way to practice hope in a broken world?

In this moving conversation, Anglican priest ⁠Hannah Miller King⁠ shares how the Eucharist became her lifeline after losing her father at 14 and her youngest brother to suicide, why the Lord’s Table can become “the altar call every Sunday,” and how bottom-up healing through embodied rituals can reach us in ways theology alone cannot.

Hannah unpacks insights from her book ⁠Feasting on Hope: How God Sets a Table in the Wilderness⁠ such as why some prayers remain unanswered (and that’s a feature, not a flaw), and how communion frames the gospel for me, for us, and for the world.

THE INNOVATIVE CHURCH LEADER PODCAST AND GIVEAWAYS:

We want to help pastors experience and bring renewal through Spirit-led innovation, reaching new people, and making disciples who make disciples.

Be sure to sign up for our email newsletter at innovativechurchleaders.org/join-us for a chance to win future book giveaways, retreats, cohorts, workshops, and assessments!

Subscribe, Rate, and Review The Innovative Church Leaders Podcast at Spotify, Apple Podcasts, or youtube.com/@InnovativeChurchLeaders.