The Five Gifts Podcast

The Five Gifts Podcast exists for Christian Leaders and Christ-followers to rediscover Christ's presence and activity in their lives and their churches.

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Our Hosts:

Charles Russell has served in Pastoral Ministry for 26 years. He is also a certified John Maxwell speaker, coach, and trainer for staff, leadership teams, and volunteers. He has a Masters in Organizational Leadership. Find out more at charlesrusselltraining.com.

Bruce Ritter Bruce Ritter has been a lead Pastor for 28 years and a Spiritual Life and Leadership Coach since 2005. He is also a consultant with Church Life Resources. He has a Masters in Pastoral Ministry and a Doctorate in Evangelism and Discipleship. Check out more at his website Coaching Cardia.

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The Leader before the Leadership: A Spiritual Center

2026-07-20

In this episode, we explore the subtle ways ministry leadership can erode a leader's spiritual life, and the three postures — brokenness, abiding, and fellowship with the Spirit that keep a leader's soul healthy for the long haul.

Ministry can look spiritually healthy from the outside while quietly starving you on the inside. In this episode, we unpack what actually protects a leader's spiritual center — no matter which of the five gifts you carry. We dig into the hidden ways leadership can become toxic to our walk with God (the Starving Baker, the Superficial Celebrity, the Polished Performer, the Spiritual Professional), and then walk through three postures that guard against it: being broken before God, abiding in His Word and prayer, and living in ongoing fellowship with the Holy Spirit. Whether you're apostolic, prophetic, evangelistic, pastoral, or teaching-gifted, this episode asks the one question every leader needs to answer honestly: if ministry disappeared tomorrow, would your relationship with Jesus still be growing? 🎧 New episodes every week on the Five Gifts Podcast. 👉 Ready to go deeper as a leader? Take the next step with coaching: 🔗 charlesrussellministries.com 🔗 charlesrusselltraining.com 🔗 coachingcardia.com #FiveGiftsPodcast #ChristianLeadership #SpiritualFormation #PastorLife #MinistryLeadership #LeadershipCoaching #EphesiansFour #ApostolicLeadership #PropheticVoice #Evangelism #PastoralCare #BibleTeaching #FaithLeadership #ChurchLeadership #SpiritualHealth #AbideInChrist #BrokenBeforeGod #HolySpirit #ChristianPodcast #LeadershipDevelopment

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Filetype: M4A - Size: 26 MB - Duration: 29:32m (117 kbps 48000 Hz)