Podcasts
On this page, you can see the downloadable podcasts we currently have available. Each one has a short description and a preview (about one minute) that gives you an idea as to the content of the podcast. They all tend to be between 3-15 minutes. We regularly add new ones to the list. As you will see, we typically have some podcasts that anyone can access for free. The rest require a MinistryLift Membership (a personal membership is $9.99/month and a church membership is $29.99/month), which gives you access to all of the MinistryLift podcasts and other resources plus a 20% discount on document editing through PaperLift.
FREE! What Can Nehemiah Teach Us About Leadership | Dr. Randy Wollf | 20:25 | Preview | Podcast
In this podcast, we see how Nehemiah demonstrates six essential leadership practices that every leader needs to strengthen in themselves and other leaders they want to develop.
Conflict
FREE! A Peacemaker’s Guide to Addressing Conflict: Six Lessons from Acts | Dr. Randy Wollf | 13:52 | Preview | Podcast
Acts 15 describes a significant conflict in the life of the early church. We can learn six important lessons from this important struggle: 1) Engage the issues, 2) look for God's blessings in the midst of conflict, 3) acknowledge and unpack divergent perspectives, 4) engage in communal dialogue and discernment, 5) be appropriately assertive, and 6) seek a win-win solution.
FREE! Making Conflict Transformational: An Overview | Dr. Randy Wollf | 5:19 | Preview | Podcast
This podcast gives an overview of the six steps for making conflict transformational that are featured in the next five podcasts.
Making Conflict Transformational: Step #1 – Recognize that Conflict is Necessary | Dr. Randy Wollf | 8:22 | Preview | Podcast
Conflict often provides optimal conditions for personal, interpersonal, and organizational growth. It forces people to pay attention to what's happening, think better, and love more.
Making Conflict Transformational: Step #2 – Identify the Type of Conflict and the Intensity Factors | Dr. Randy Wollf | 9:16 | Preview | Podcast
In this podcast, Randy describes six types of conflict and how we might respond well in each of them. In addition, he explores the factors that can cause a conflict to escalate and those that can deescalate a conflict situation.
Making Conflict Transformational: Strategies 3 and 4 – Bathe the Situation in Prayer and Check Your Own Heart | Dr. Randy Wollf | 12:57 | Preview | Podcast
Making Conflict Transformational: Step #5 – Understand Your Approach to Conflict | Dr. Randy Wollf | 15:49 | Preview | Podcast
Making Conflict Transformational: Step #6 – Build Pathways of Peace | Dr. Randy Wollf | 11:08 | Preview | Podcast
Enduring Conflict | Dr. Randy Wollf | 4:52 | Preview | Podcast
FREE! Mediating Conflict | Dr. Randy Wollf | 6:34 | Preview | Podcast
Living Missionally
FREE! Reasons Why We Sometimes Don't Share our Faith | Dr. Randy Wollf | 17:31 | Preview | Podcast
In this podcast, Randy shares some of the reasons why we sometimes don't share our faith like not really loving people enough to tell them about Jesus, thinking that the other person won't care about spiritual things anyway, and not having any close Christian friends. Randy shows through Scripture and personal stories how we can overcome these and other challenges.
Eight Biblical Reasons for Sharing Christ | Dr. Randy Wollf | 7:06 | Preview | Podcast
Randy grew up in Saskatchewan in the heart of farming country. It's not too surprising that the first biblical reason for sharing Christ that he shares is about the fields being ripe for harvest. Exploring all eight of the biblical reasons for sharing Christ in this podcast will hopefully encourage and empower you to take next steps in living missionally.
Six Ways Anyone Can Share Christ (Part 1) | Dr. Randy Wollf | 8:51 | Preview | Podcast
Anyone can share Christ with unbelievers. In this podcast, Randy explores the first three ways that people can share Christ: 1) Pray regularly for unbelievers (Randy will share about the triple-five challenge for jump-starting your prayers for your unbelieving family and friends), 2) love other believers, and 3) bless unbelievers through acts of kindness.
Six Ways Anyone Can Share Christ (Part 2) | Dr. Randy Wollf | 8:43 | Preview | Podcast
The last three ways anyone can share Christ is to connect with unbelievers and build relationships, share your faith story (even as you respectfully listen to their stories), and share the Gospel message as God provides opportunities.
UNDER DEVELOPMENT
The Ethics of Evangelism | Dr. Randy Wollf | 11:56 | Preview | Podcast
The Role of Prayer in Spiritual Awakening | Dr. Randy Wollf and Dr. J. Edwin Orr | 11:22 | Preview | Podcast
Why Plant Churches | Dr. Randy Wollf | 16:08 | Preview | Podcast
Reaching Regions for Christ | Dr. Randy Wollf | 11:54 | Preview | Podcast
Living Missionally | Dr. Randy Wollf | 7:16 | Preview | Podcast
Serving Immigrants in Jesus' Name | Dr. Randy Wollf | 8:06 | Preview | Podcast
Raising Up Global Kids | Dr. Randy Wollf | 8:59 | Preview | Podcast
Spiritual Disciplines and Your Rule of Life
FREE! Engaging with Scripture | Dr. Randy Wollf | 7:05 | Preview | Podcast
Randy explores how praying through Scripture, journaling, memorizing, talking through a passage, studying, reflecting, and personalizing can help us meditate on Scripture so that we experience deeper transformation through the power of God's Word.
Practicing Silence and Solitude | Dr. Randy Wollf | 11:22 | Preview | Podcast
Jesus himself regularly practiced silence and solitude. If the Son of God needed this solitary time, it makes sense that we should prioritize it, too. Obviously, there are huge benefits to practicing this spiritual discipline. However, we also need to be mindful of the dangers.
Developing a Lifestyle of Prayer | Dr. Randy Wollf | 14:48 | Preview | Podcast
This podcast explores how we can strengthen our prayer life by trying a different approach to prayer (Randy describes 14 different approaches), keeping track of answered prayers, understanding our worship languages, and living by faith.
Engaging in Lifelong Learning | Dr. Randy. Wollf | 8:42 | Preview | Podcast
Reading/listening/watching widely, engaging in training (including listening to these amazing MinistryLift podcasts), mining the knowledge and skills of others, hanging out with people who ask good questions, and deeply processing life experiences are all important strategies for positioning us as lifelong learners who have a growing capacity to love God more deeply and serve Him more effectively.
Practicing Life-giving Sabbath | Dr. Randy Wollf | 4:59 | Preview | Podcast
We experience Sabbath when we stop doing what is necessary and do that which gives life. Life’s obligations and challenges don’t go away, but practicing Sabbath gives us a break from them and affords us the space to replenish ourselves and refocus on God and His priorities.
Living Simply | Dr. Randy Wollf | 7:29 | Preview | Podcast
In this podcast, Randy describes how we can live more simply by blessing others with our possessions, decluttering, and adding margin to our lives.
Taking Time for Play and Recreation | Dr. Randy Wollf | 8:06 | Preview | Podcast
Surprised to see play and recreation in a list of spiritual disciplines? Play and recreation that re-creates our bodies, minds, and spirits is absolutely critical as we seek to love God, love others, and make disciples.
Serving Others | Dr. Randy Wollf | 3:03 | Preview | Podcast
Jesus showed us how to serve by washing the disciple's feet. Why did he do it? How was he able to serve in such a humble way? This podcast will begin to answer those questions as a way of helping us grow in our willingness and capacity to serve others.
FREE! Caring for Our Bodies | Dr. Randy Wollf | 3:54 | Preview | Podcast
Taking care of our bodies by watching what we eat, exercising, and getting enough sleep has huge physical benefits. However, it can also have spiritual benefits as a healthy body often gives us more energy and courage to follow God's lead in our lives.
Tending to Our Emotional Health | Dr. Randy Wollf | 4:50 | Preview | Podcast
This podcast gives a brief introduction to the four domains of Emotional Intelligence: Self-awareness, self-management, social awareness, and relationship management. As we grow our emotional intelligence, we are better able to love God, others, and ourselves more deeply and serve more effectively.
Fostering Stronger Family Ties | Dr. Randy Wollf | 5:11 | Preview | Podcast
In this podcast, Randy shares about how one of his mentors put a book into his hands when he was a young adult. The book was the triumphant and tragic story of Bob Pierce, founder of World Vision. Pierce's story is a stark reminder of what can happen when we do God's work, but neglect our most important ministry - our family.
Building Loving Community and Conclusion | Dr. Randy Wollf | 3:07 | Preview | Podcast
How do we foster loving, Christ-centered communities on a mission to be and make growing disciples of Jesus? Scripture describes a set of "one anothers" that can guide us in the formation of these kinds of deep, missional communities.
Small Groups, House Churches and Missional Communities
FREE! The Global House Church Movement | Dr. Randy Wollf | 31:35 | Preview | Podcast (Part 1) | Podcast (Part 2) | Presentation PowerPoint | Church Planting Movements Video (mentioned in the podcast)
God is using house churches in a major way to make disciples of the nations. This podcast was originally a workshop at the 2008 Vancouver Missions Fest and will give you an overview of what God is doing through the global house church movement. It will also provide a simple blueprint for starting house churches anywhere in the world.
FREE! What Makes Small Groups Grow (Part 1) | Dr. Randy Wollf | 11:03 | Preview | Podcast
Based on their ground-breaking research on small groups, Jim Egli and Dwight Marable discovered that healthy small groups that grow spiritually, relationally, and numerically have four growth factors in common. In Part 1 of What Makes Small Groups Grow, we look at the first two factors: prayer and reaching out to unbelievers.
What Makes Small Groups Grow (Part 2) | Dr. Randy Wollf | 9:26 | Preview | Podcast
This podcast tackles the third and fourth factors for growing a small group: caring for one another and empowering others to use their gifts to live out God's call on their lives. When small group leaders and their group members actively practice the four growth factors, they will be in a strong position to reach unbelievers, assimilate new people, and multiply into new groups.
What Makes Small Group Systems Grow | Dr. Randy Wollf | 7:46 | Preview | Podcast
Small groups operate within a large small group ministry or system within the church. In their research, Egli and Marable discovered that it is not enough for individual small groups to practice the four growth factors (mentioned in the previous two podcasts); church leaders must foster a larger church culture that is conducive to growing the small group ministry as a whole. They do this by fostering an atmosphere of prayer, coaching small group leaders, and building a strong equipping approach that permeates the entire church.
Essential Skills for Leading Small Groups | Dr. Randy Wollf | 5:44 | Preview | Podcast
What are the essential skills that small group leaders must possess in order to lead their groups well? The podcast gives a quick overview of several key skills grouped into four skillsets: 1) Preparation Skills, 2) Skills for Facilitating Small Group Meetings, 3) Shepherding Skills, and 4) Outreaching and Multiplying Skills. The rest of the podcasts in this series will look at the skills in more detail.
Preparing to Lead a Small Group
FREE! Preparing to Lead a Small Group Skill #1: Growing as a Leader | Dr. Randy Wollf | 7:15 | Preview | Podcast
As small group leaders grow, so, too, do their groups. This podcast looks at six key practices of Christian leadership: 1) Cultivating a growing relationship with God, 2) developing godly character, 3) discerning and living out personal calling, 4) growing deep community, 5) building healthy teams, and 6) strengthening skills.
NEW! Preparing to Lead a Small Group Skill #2: Discernment | Dr. Randy Wollf | 4:57 | Preview | Podcast
There are many good ways to lead your small group. Discernment helps you to figure out the best way as you grow in your capacity to observe and understand yourself, the individuals in your group, and the larger culture.