Release Date: July 14, 2026

Why the Leadership Pipeline Is a Myth, and What Actually Works

What if the most widely accepted strategy for developing leaders in your church or business is fundamentally broken? In this episode, Justin Forman sits down with Pastor David Ashcraft, former lead pastor of LCBC Church, which grew to 25 locations and 28,000 weekend attendees, now serving with the Global Leadership Network. David pulls no punches: the leadership pipeline is a myth. What replaces it is a culture, one that produces leaders from within, in real time.

David draws on decades of experience scaling a church from 200 to 28,000 and overseeing 300 staff, 275 of whom were developed from within the congregation. His insights on leadership development, faith-work integration, and measuring fruit over process offer a roadmap for any pastor, entrepreneur, or marketplace leader serious about building something that lasts.

Key Topics:

• Why the "leadership pipeline" model fails, and the culture-based alternative that actually works
• How LCBC grew from 200 to 28,000 people across 25 locations by developing leaders from within
• The "just-in-time training" principle: why proximity to application accelerates leader development
• The Global Leadership Summit: roughly 400,000 leaders across 1,120 sites worldwide, and why it bridges pastors and marketplace leaders
• Data vs. fruit: how to measure discipleship and leadership without falling into box-checking traps
• How business leaders and churches can learn from each other, and why ministry happens everywhere, not just on Sunday

Notable Quotes:

“You can have the money, but if you don’t have the leaders, you’re not going anywhere.” — David Ashcraft

“The whole idea of the leadership pipeline is a myth. It tends to be almost more of a class or a course. If you go through enough courses, somehow you’re going to come out on the other end a trained leader—and you’ve received training, but it doesn’t make you a leader.” — David Ashcraft

“If you’re a leader, people are going to be attracted to whoever the leader is.” — David Ashcraft

Guest Bio:

David Ashcraft served for decades as the founding lead pastor of LCBC Church (Lives Changed By Christ) in Pennsylvania, scaling it from a church plant in 1991 to 25 locations serving 28,000 people every weekend, with 275 of 300 staff members developed from within the congregation. He now serves with the Global Leadership Network (GLN), which hosts the Global Leadership Summit, an annual event reaching approximately 400,000 leaders across 1,120 sites worldwide. GLN features speakers including Jim Collins, Andy Stanley, Craig Groeschel, Arthur Brooks, and Patrick Lencioni.

Host Justin Forman sits down with John Cortines, author, generosity advocate, and a leader at the Maclellan Foundation, to unpack the heart transformation at the core of every faith-driven entrepreneur's relationship with money. Recorded at the Kingdom Advisors conference, this conversation begins in a Harvard Business School Bible study and ends with a vision for professionally managed giving funds that could rival the mutual fund industry in scale.

John traces his journey from a young oil-and-gas professional whose online banking password was literally "retire@40!" to a husband, father of six, homesteader, and passionate advocate for Kingdom generosity. Drawing from his two books, God and Money and True Riches, John shares both the practical mechanics and the deep heart work required to move from asking "How much do I need to give?" to "How much do I really need to keep?"

Key Topics:

• The wrong question most Christians ask about money, and the reframe that changes everything
• Why giving felt like a spreadsheet cell working against retirement, until joy broke through
• Financial finish lines: setting lifestyle and net worth guardrails before wealth arrives
• The four heart conditions around money (pride, coveting, anxiety, and indifference) and their gospel antidotes
• Why King Nebuchadnezzar and King David are the ultimate contrast study for entrepreneurs
• How collaborative, professionally managed giving funds could become as common as index funds
• Practical first steps for busy entrepreneurs ready to go on the generosity offensive

“The right question isn’t how much do I need to give, it’s how much do I really need to keep?” — John Cortines

“All things come from you and of your own have we given you.” — John Cortines (quoting King David, 1 Chronicles 29)

“By definition, giving is actually a source of joy and freedom and purpose in the Christian walk.” — John Cortines

John Cortines is the co-author of God and Money (2016) and True Riches, books exploring biblical stewardship and the heart transformation behind generous living. A Harvard Business School graduate, John began his career in oil and gas at Chevron before pursuing a calling to equip Christian business leaders with a theology and practice of generosity. Today he helps lead generosity and giving strategy at the Maclellan Foundation, which opens its global grant-making engine to families deploying resources worldwide. John and his wife Megan live on 12 acres in East Tennessee with their six children, where they homeschool, homestead, and raise everything from egg-laying hens to Thanksgiving turkeys.

What does it look like when 40 years of faithfulness meets a brand-new playbook? Rob Hoskins, president of OneHope, joins host Justin Forman for a wide-ranging conversation about the moment we're living in—and why the pioneer era of missions must give way to a new collaborative missiology. From a father’s prophetic vision of children having access to evil things on handheld devices (before mobile phones existed) to building one of the world's most far-reaching children's Scripture engagement ministries, Rob's story is a masterclass in generational faithfulness, innovative disruption, and Kingdom-minded collaboration.

OneHope has delivered God's Word to children in every country of the world, in hundreds of languages, through print, film, and digital platforms—including the Bible App for Kids in partnership with YouVersion. Now, as the pace of change accelerates and the global church diversifies, Rob makes the case that collaboration isn't just smart strategy. It's biblical obedience.

• The prophetic vision that launched OneHope: Rob's father dreamed of children viewing pornography on handheld devices—before smartphones existed—and heard God say: 'The only thing that will overcome these lies is truth.'

• From pioneer to collaborative missiology: Why the tactics that grew Christianity in sub-Saharan Africa from 4% to 65% in a century won't be enough for the challenges ahead.

• Innovation requires failure: How two failed mobile scripture experiments cost millions—and made the Bible App for Kids possible.

• The intergenerational handoff: Rob's father stepped down at the top of his game, saying 'It's when you're at the top of your game that the game's about to change.'

• Close the Bible Gap collaborative: Six agencies pooling resources for Bible access in the world's least-reached places—creating shared measuring systems, logistics, and one-stop resourcing for frontline church planters.

• Why 1.6–1.8 million nonprofits signals a problem: Comparing the fragmented ministry landscape to the market's consolidating instinct—and why 'God told me' can become a sacred cow that blocks accountability.

• Democratizing missions: The global church is 75% non-Western—and collaborative missiology finally gives the majority world church not just a seat at the table, but a hand in building it.

"The only thing that will overcome these lies is truth. My word is truth—take my word, give it to every child in the world."

— Rob Hoskins (quoting his father's vision), Page 2, 00:02:19

"What got us here isn't gonna get us to where we need to go."

— Rob Hoskins, Page 5, 00:14:57

"I would be very unfaithful if I wasn't collaborating."

— Rob Hoskins, Page 7, 00:23:02