Sally Warland with Scenic City Women's Network is our guest right now. Sally. Good morning. Are you enjoying the cold temps?

Sally Warland with Scenic City Women's Network is our guest right now. Sally. Good morning. Are you enjoying the cold temps?

Oh good morning. Yes I do actually. I enjoy every season though, but I have. I'm looking forward to some snow.

Oh good morning. Yes I do actually. I enjoy every season though, but I have. I'm looking forward to some snow.

Oh well interesting. I'm looking forward to it. But I'd like to see it through my window, not driving through it as we go. Well, yes, Sally is true. Let me ask you this because. Because you've been in the area for a long time. You love the weather. You have such a passion for learning about the area even more. And then there are people in your life and in the life of the body of Christ here in the Tennessee Valley that you introduce us to regularly, who you got in mind for us today?

Oh well interesting. I'm looking forward to it. But I'd like to see it through my window, not driving through it as we go. Well, yes, Sally is true. Let me ask you this because. Because you've been in the area for a long time. You love the weather. You have such a passion for learning about the area even more. And then there are people in your life and in the life of the body of Christ here in the Tennessee Valley that you introduce us to regularly, who you got in mind for us today?

I have a real treat today with my dear friend Deborah Gunn, and you all are going to absolutely love her. I know you already know her, so you love her already, but she is just such an inspiration.

I have a real treat today with my dear friend Deborah Gunn, and you all are going to absolutely love her. I know you already know her, so you love her already, but she is just such an inspiration.

I heard a rumor that she's your twin sister. Is that true?

I heard a rumor that she's your twin sister. Is that true?

She is. She is my twin sister and her mom. I call my mom so we are blessed to have each other. Of course, I always tell her that our mom likes me better so she doesn't appreciate that too much. But anyway, we are very dear friends and it's a blessing to have her. And you all know her for so many things that she does in the community, which she's going to be sharing with you all. You know, she's worked for First Things First for quite a while, and then she's got a lot to share about things they're doing at New Covenant Fellowship, which is expanding out to other churches. And I'm going to let her share that with you. But some of the things that she has helped start is celebrate recovery, grief, share programs, and also a secret that many people may not know. But you should certainly know because I've asked to be her agent. She is a dynamic singer. In fact, when we were working with the state, we took her to Nashville to do a state event and they absolutely loved her. She has a voice that is so obviously from the Lord and it's such a blessing. So maybe she'll share a little of that. But one of the great things that she has done is she is a graduate of the John Maxwell Leadership Training, and that's something that she's going to be sharing today about leadership in our churches.

She is. She is my twin sister and her mom. I call my mom so we are blessed to have each other. Of course, I always tell her that our mom likes me better so she doesn't appreciate that too much. But anyway, we are very dear friends and it's a blessing to have her. And you all know her for so many things that she does in the community, which she's going to be sharing with you all. You know, she's worked for First Things First for quite a while, and then she's got a lot to share about things they're doing at New Covenant Fellowship, which is expanding out to other churches. And I'm going to let her share that with you. But some of the things that she has helped start is celebrate recovery, grief, share programs, and also a secret that many people may not know. But you should certainly know because I've asked to be her agent. She is a dynamic singer. In fact, when we were working with the state, we took her to Nashville to do a state event and they absolutely loved her. She has a voice that is so obviously from the Lord and it's such a blessing. So maybe she'll share a little of that. But one of the great things that she has done is she is a graduate of the John Maxwell Leadership Training, and that's something that she's going to be sharing today about leadership in our churches.

All right. Well, good morning to you, Sally, and good morning to you. Deborah, thank you so much for joining us today.

All right. Well, good morning to you, Sally, and good morning to you. Deborah, thank you so much for joining us today.

Good morning, Tom and Toby. Thank you guys so much for having me and for my twin sister inviting me on today. Thank you. Sally.

Good morning, Tom and Toby. Thank you guys so much for having me and for my twin sister inviting me on today. Thank you. Sally.

You're welcome.

You're welcome.

Well, I have personally witnessed you singing. You bring so much joy when you sing. I've listened to you speak and teach on leadership, and you do a great job with that and have been intrigued as you have started ministries in your church. And I can't wait to hear more about how that is spilling out to the community. But tell us first how you got involved in leadership and initiating things like celebrate recovery and grief. Share.

Well, I have personally witnessed you singing. You bring so much joy when you sing. I've listened to you speak and teach on leadership, and you do a great job with that and have been intrigued as you have started ministries in your church. And I can't wait to hear more about how that is spilling out to the community. But tell us first how you got involved in leadership and initiating things like celebrate recovery and grief. Share.

Well, you know what? I think it ties into what my first lady was literally just talking about a few minutes ago. The word of God and a scripture that just jumped off the page for me in a devotional several years ago. And actually, it's Romans chapter 12. And I see Romans chapter 12 as a call of a call to action for the body of Christ.

Well, you know what? I think it ties into what my first lady was literally just talking about a few minutes ago. The word of God and a scripture that just jumped off the page for me in a devotional several years ago. And actually, it's Romans chapter 12. And I see Romans chapter 12 as a call of a call to action for the body of Christ.

Okay. So no fair just teasing us with that little thing. So what verse is it that really kind of drew you in, Deborah?

Okay. So no fair just teasing us with that little thing. So what verse is it that really kind of drew you in, Deborah?

Well, it's Romans chapter 12 and chapter 12. The entire chapter, but more specifically, um, 12 and one where it's calling us to surrender ourselves to a life of service to Jesus Christ. Yeah. And so one of the things I didn't do as my first lady mentioned was being able to quote it word for word. Uh, so as far as memorizing it, but it basically says that, uh, we are to submit ourselves to Christ because of what Christ has done for us. Um, we need to. It's a way of service. It's a life of service.

Well, it's Romans chapter 12 and chapter 12. The entire chapter, but more specifically, um, 12 and one where it's calling us to surrender ourselves to a life of service to Jesus Christ. Yeah. And so one of the things I didn't do as my first lady mentioned was being able to quote it word for word. Uh, so as far as memorizing it, but it basically says that, uh, we are to submit ourselves to Christ because of what Christ has done for us. Um, we need to. It's a way of service. It's a life of service.

Yeah. It's a beautiful.

Yeah. It's a beautiful.

Verse. It's urging. Yeah, it's urging us. It says, therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. And, um. And that is what he considers true and proper worship.

Verse. It's urging. Yeah, it's urging us. It says, therefore, I urge you, brothers and sisters, in view of God's mercy, to offer your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and pleasing to God. And, um. And that is what he considers true and proper worship.

And right now we are talking with Deborah Gunn and also Sally Warland, and we're talking about leadership and just someone who has taken the initiative in the community to create ministries that help wherever they're needed and has led other people to do the same. So we want to dive in here. Deborah talking about grief. Share and celebrate recovery at your church.

And right now we are talking with Deborah Gunn and also Sally Warland, and we're talking about leadership and just someone who has taken the initiative in the community to create ministries that help wherever they're needed and has led other people to do the same. So we want to dive in here. Deborah talking about grief. Share and celebrate recovery at your church.

Um, so one of the things about grief share and celebrate recovery. It ties into the the rest of my verse that I kind of left off with Romans chapter 12, verses one through two. There's a line in there that says, uh, do not conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And so we know that the Word of God renews our minds. But sometimes we as a body of Christ, we need to come together and help people and heal some of the issues that they're having and definitely with grief. Share. As everybody knows, after Covid. Uh, so many people lost loved ones, and I saw so many people hurting and even in our own church, uh, families and children hurting. And it just started there with like, my gosh, what can we do as a body of Christ? What can our church do to help people who are hurting versus, you know, I know that there are counselors and there are faith based based counselors. But I wanted something that our church could do to help the healing process. Um, and so that's where Griefshare came in and had a conversation with my most fabulous pastor, Doctor Bernie Miller. And of course, Pastor Miller is so community minded, and he's always looking for ways to reach out and help the community. And when I told him about Griefshare, he said, okay, go get it done. Go and do it. So he endorsed it. We pulled together a team of people, got them trained in how to run a griefshare program, and it has just grown tremendously from that. And the number of people probably in a couple of years, we've had a couple of hundred people go through that program and also had several churches who also saw the benefits, saw the healing of, you know, members of their own churches. We have people come to our church who are not necessarily members, but went back to their churches to start the ministry because they received healing.

Um, so one of the things about grief share and celebrate recovery. It ties into the the rest of my verse that I kind of left off with Romans chapter 12, verses one through two. There's a line in there that says, uh, do not conform to the pattern of the world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind. And so we know that the Word of God renews our minds. But sometimes we as a body of Christ, we need to come together and help people and heal some of the issues that they're having and definitely with grief. Share. As everybody knows, after Covid. Uh, so many people lost loved ones, and I saw so many people hurting and even in our own church, uh, families and children hurting. And it just started there with like, my gosh, what can we do as a body of Christ? What can our church do to help people who are hurting versus, you know, I know that there are counselors and there are faith based based counselors. But I wanted something that our church could do to help the healing process. Um, and so that's where Griefshare came in and had a conversation with my most fabulous pastor, Doctor Bernie Miller. And of course, Pastor Miller is so community minded, and he's always looking for ways to reach out and help the community. And when I told him about Griefshare, he said, okay, go get it done. Go and do it. So he endorsed it. We pulled together a team of people, got them trained in how to run a griefshare program, and it has just grown tremendously from that. And the number of people probably in a couple of years, we've had a couple of hundred people go through that program and also had several churches who also saw the benefits, saw the healing of, you know, members of their own churches. We have people come to our church who are not necessarily members, but went back to their churches to start the ministry because they received healing.

Oh, that is beautiful.

Oh, that is beautiful.

Yeah, I love that. I know some people who've been involved in that. But if a person wanted to start a ministry like that, like how how do they do it? What how do how do you train? How do you connect with national grief, share or celebrate recovery? How do how do you do it?

Yeah, I love that. I know some people who've been involved in that. But if a person wanted to start a ministry like that, like how how do they do it? What how do how do you train? How do you connect with national grief, share or celebrate recovery? How do how do you do it?

Yes, both of those definitely are national organizations. And so you can go to griefshare. Org and find out. Purchase a kit. There's like a starter kit per church. But what we did, we wanted to help people kind of get over the learning curve of trying to figure all of this out from, you know, from the start, from ground zero. So we thought, you know what? We already have experience. We've already done this. We know how to expedite the process for some people. So we started to train. We did some trainings at New Covenant for other churches and allowed them to come and bring people that they wanted to bring and definitely help them purchase their cross, purchase their starter packages, so that they would also have that national presence, because we have a national presence on their website. Somebody there looking for a place to go to Griefshare. So we helped them get make that connection, help them go through some training at our church so that they could go back and just like, hit the ground running.

Yes, both of those definitely are national organizations. And so you can go to griefshare. Org and find out. Purchase a kit. There's like a starter kit per church. But what we did, we wanted to help people kind of get over the learning curve of trying to figure all of this out from, you know, from the start, from ground zero. So we thought, you know what? We already have experience. We've already done this. We know how to expedite the process for some people. So we started to train. We did some trainings at New Covenant for other churches and allowed them to come and bring people that they wanted to bring and definitely help them purchase their cross, purchase their starter packages, so that they would also have that national presence, because we have a national presence on their website. Somebody there looking for a place to go to Griefshare. So we helped them get make that connection, help them go through some training at our church so that they could go back and just like, hit the ground running.

This is mornings with Tom and Toby. Deborah Gunn is our guest. She is a leader, and she's passionate about raising up leaders not just in her church, but in other churches around the area and also raising up lay leaders. And and they are so important. Deborah, tell us why lay leadership is so vital to the body of Christ.

This is mornings with Tom and Toby. Deborah Gunn is our guest. She is a leader, and she's passionate about raising up leaders not just in her church, but in other churches around the area and also raising up lay leaders. And and they are so important. Deborah, tell us why lay leadership is so vital to the body of Christ.

It's important that you know, also in Romans chapter 12, it talks about the the gifts that God has given us. He's given us all spiritual gifts, But as the body of Christ, we need to help people understand what their gifts are. A lot of people don't know that they have spiritual gifts that God has given them. And so with those gifts, we're able to equip the body of Christ to help carry some of the load and help carry some of the responsibilities, because our pastors can't do it all and our deacons, they can't do it all. But if we can equip people in our congregations to to be the feet of Jesus and what I literally kind of call be boots on the ground with the gospel and with healing programs of healing and showing love, the love of Jesus Christ. Um, you know that that's what God has called us to do. And so we want. We just need to help inspire. And I believe in this word inspire. Um, which for me, inspire stands for inspiration. And my inspiration is Jesus Christ. It's us. Networking together as the body of Christ is what the N end stands for. The S stands for us being strategic about how we do that, to help people walk in their purpose. That's what the P stands for. The I in inspire stands for being innovative because you know what? Used to work doesn't always work today. So we've got to come up with some new ideas. The R in inspire stands for us being able to relate to people. So it's meeting them where they are. Somebody who's hurting, somebody who's grieving, somebody who has mental health issues. You know, as the body of Christ. We need to be able to meet people where they are. So being relatable and then being able to equip and empower those believers in Christ to use those gifts that God has given. That's what being inspirational means to me.

It's important that you know, also in Romans chapter 12, it talks about the the gifts that God has given us. He's given us all spiritual gifts, But as the body of Christ, we need to help people understand what their gifts are. A lot of people don't know that they have spiritual gifts that God has given them. And so with those gifts, we're able to equip the body of Christ to help carry some of the load and help carry some of the responsibilities, because our pastors can't do it all and our deacons, they can't do it all. But if we can equip people in our congregations to to be the feet of Jesus and what I literally kind of call be boots on the ground with the gospel and with healing programs of healing and showing love, the love of Jesus Christ. Um, you know that that's what God has called us to do. And so we want. We just need to help inspire. And I believe in this word inspire. Um, which for me, inspire stands for inspiration. And my inspiration is Jesus Christ. It's us. Networking together as the body of Christ is what the N end stands for. The S stands for us being strategic about how we do that, to help people walk in their purpose. That's what the P stands for. The I in inspire stands for being innovative because you know what? Used to work doesn't always work today. So we've got to come up with some new ideas. The R in inspire stands for us being able to relate to people. So it's meeting them where they are. Somebody who's hurting, somebody who's grieving, somebody who has mental health issues. You know, as the body of Christ. We need to be able to meet people where they are. So being relatable and then being able to equip and empower those believers in Christ to use those gifts that God has given. That's what being inspirational means to me.

And that is the the name of your own ministry and leadership group, right?

And that is the the name of your own ministry and leadership group, right?

Well, actually, I have a company. It's called inspire, and that's what all of that stands for. And yes, I do teach leadership skills to in work in the workplace.

Well, actually, I have a company. It's called inspire, and that's what all of that stands for. And yes, I do teach leadership skills to in work in the workplace.

Well, Deborah, thank you so much for just inspiring us this morning and for really saying what you said about all the leadership cannot be on those with official titles. We as the body of Christ, we have all been given gifts. And I've always been shocked at how many people don't know what their spiritual gifts are. I've never taken a spiritual gifts inventory or had someone speak into their life about that. What would you say to that person who literally has no clue what their spiritual gift is? How can they get involved?

Well, Deborah, thank you so much for just inspiring us this morning and for really saying what you said about all the leadership cannot be on those with official titles. We as the body of Christ, we have all been given gifts. And I've always been shocked at how many people don't know what their spiritual gifts are. I've never taken a spiritual gifts inventory or had someone speak into their life about that. What would you say to that person who literally has no clue what their spiritual gift is? How can they get involved?

Um, so there are definitely ways you can, uh, as Tom mentioned earlier, Google.

Um, so there are definitely ways you can, uh, as Tom mentioned earlier, Google.

Uh, some assessments online.

Uh, some assessments online.

To go and find, you know, a spiritual gift inventory and just take that inventory to see how God has gifted you or go to one of your church leaders and just say, hey, I'd like to find out. I'd like to learn about to find out what my spiritual gift is, because I went to church for years and I didn't know what my spiritual gift was. And honestly, because I was a new Christian, and when I found out what it was, I was like, nah, uh, that is not me. But I'm telling you, today I'm operating in my spiritual gifts of. And which number one, it just kind of starts off as an administration. So I had no idea when I was 30 that I'd be doing what I'm doing at like 64. Wow. That's good. So yeah, I think going to a church leader and asking and just saying, hey, I'd like to find out more about my spiritual gift.

To go and find, you know, a spiritual gift inventory and just take that inventory to see how God has gifted you or go to one of your church leaders and just say, hey, I'd like to find out. I'd like to learn about to find out what my spiritual gift is, because I went to church for years and I didn't know what my spiritual gift was. And honestly, because I was a new Christian, and when I found out what it was, I was like, nah, uh, that is not me. But I'm telling you, today I'm operating in my spiritual gifts of. And which number one, it just kind of starts off as an administration. So I had no idea when I was 30 that I'd be doing what I'm doing at like 64. Wow. That's good. So yeah, I think going to a church leader and asking and just saying, hey, I'd like to find out more about my spiritual gift.

Yeah, I love it. Uh, so Deborah Gunn is our guest. Deborah, thank you so much for pointing us in the right direction to not only, um, do the work of the body of Christ, not just leaving it to the pastors and the elders, but just each and every one of us, as members of the body of Christ, have a gift and we can contribute. So, Deborah, thanks again for being here with us on mornings with Tom and Toby.

Yeah, I love it. Uh, so Deborah Gunn is our guest. Deborah, thank you so much for pointing us in the right direction to not only, um, do the work of the body of Christ, not just leaving it to the pastors and the elders, but just each and every one of us, as members of the body of Christ, have a gift and we can contribute. So, Deborah, thanks again for being here with us on mornings with Tom and Toby.