Heartland Leadership Podcast

Seminaries train pastors to be prepared for ministry. Yet, some have the reputation of killing the passion / faith of soon-to-be pastors, thus sometimes being mocked as "cemeteries." How does this happen and what's the remedy? Dave Ambrose, Drew Steinhart, and Clint Neptune share about their seminary experiences, and how modern approaches to theological education provide a hope for the future of pastoral training and formalized discipleship.

The books and passages of prophecy are among the most difficult for modern readers to get their arms around.  We discuss what prophets are and how they function, how the New Testament engages with prophecy, the difference between forth-telling and fore-telling, and other prophecy related topics.

We are kicking off our year-long mega series "The Journey" about all of scripture by keeping the end of the story in mind - we'll be unpacking Revelation! This final piece of the New Testament has drawn the fascination of Christians and pop-culture enthusiasts alike for its epic, mysterious, and apocalyptic elements. In this Series Spotlight on "The End Game," we look at the Big Ideas for each week and drill down on what we mean when we say, "The book of revelation is not about the end of the world, but about the end of evil in the world."

Clint is joined by Dave and Drew to discuss the current Advent series called The Missing Peace.  The coming of Jesus fits into a larger narrative and longing for a rescuer who would bring peace.  We discuss how the series will connect the Messianic prophecies of the Old Testament to the life and death of Jesus. 

Series Spotlight: We are wrapping up our year-long theme of SENDING - we started the year with Meeting the Missionary God, and in May looked at Becoming the Missionary Church.  Now, we will be talking about Living as Sent People and asking ourselves what it looks like to be sent to where God is calling us.

Have you ever considered getting baptized, but you have a bunch of questions? Great! We get into what baptism is, why someone would do it, how we practice it at Heartland, and the appropriate age for someone to be baptized.

In this episode of the Heartland Leadership Podcast, Dave and Clint discuss Heartland's current sermon series "Connected". What does it mean to be connected to God, ourselves, our families, and others?

Why consider the heroes (and anti-heroes!) of the Bible? What about these stories are valuable and relevant for us today? In this episode, Clint Neptune has a conversation with Dave Ambrose and Tony Allen about the motivation for doing a sermon series on the Heroes of the Faith and some of the finer details that we can't get to on a Sunday morning.  Hopefully we'll pique your interest in joining us for the rest of the series.

Pastors are leaving ministry at an alarming rate - why is that? What about the role of the pastor is leading to this? And further, how can we support our pastors through the practice of offering sabbatical? Dave Ambrose, Drew Steinhart, and Tony Allen join Clint to discuss how best to think of sabbaticals, why it is important for churches and even businesses to offer them, and typical goals of the people who take them.

How can we maximize the potential of female leaders in our midst, whether in the business world or in the church? How can we create opportunities for women to exhibit their gifts and talents? We should want to develop female leaders and it is important to build intentional strategy for doing so. We really appreciated having Kadi Cole join us for this conversation. For a deeper investigation into these ideas you check out her book Developing Female Leaders and her latest book Finding Your Leadership voice at https://www.kadicole.com/resources.

Heartland's Executive Team joins Clint for a discussion on how to build a healthy organization and staff culture.

Like other demographics, students have been hit hard by the pandemic. Normal rhythms of life, milestones, and planning for the future all have a different texture during COVID. But are there some things that are always a part of Student Ministry - that all young people face regardless of the era they live through? In this episode, Clint and DJ Pesata talk all about Student Ministry. Topics include how to reach students in 2021, raising up adult volunteer leaders, meeting students where they are at, sharing the good news, how to interact with parents.

Pastors Deante and Arnalesa Lavender share about their experience with planting The Remedy Church during COVID. Even during a pandemic, God is still on the move and chooses to partner with us in expanding the kingdom of God. You can find out more about the Remedy Church here: https://www.theremedynation.org/  

What does it mean to have a "sacred" marriage? What is the purpose of marriage to begin with? We have a candid discussion about marriage as a spiritual formation catalyst, the nuances in understanding some biblical passages about concerning same-sex relationships, and other big questions about marriage. If you have questions, please leave a comment. We would love to interact with you. Featuring: Tony Allen, Brian Alonzo, Dave Ambrose, and Nicole Weidokal

Few topics have garnered more attention in the past decade than Transgenderism.  Of course, it is not just a topic - it's about people.  Real people going through extremely challenging circumstances and also real people trying to understand these folk's experiences the best that they can. Please extend some grace toward us as we navigate these ideas - the popular terms used in the discussion come with quite a bit of baggage, and some people use them in different, even contradictory, ways.  In this conversation, we explore what it looks like to love people well that think and act differently than we do. How should the body of Christ respond to people who are transgender and what does that mean in the context of the church.

In this episode, Dave Ambrose and Drew Steinhart think through the ethics of voting, and in particular, how to vote as a faithful follower of Jesus.  We offer a helpful thought-experiment to get us using the same language for discussing the topic, cultural trends that make conversations about politics even more challenging, and the important things to look for or watch out for in a candidate.