One generation will commend God’s works to another. That is the heartbeat of Generations, a place where wisdom is passed from the Abrahams, through the Isaacs, to the Jacobs.

In this episode, we focused on one of the most relatable leaders in Scripture: David.

Not because he had a perfect story, but because he had a real one.

David’s leadership was forged long before he ever sat on a throne. It was shaped in rejection, sharpened in waiting, strengthened through fear, and tested in success.

1) God Often Develops Leaders Out of Sight

David was overlooked and underestimated. When Samuel came to anoint the next king, David’s own father lined up every son except him. David was left in the fields.

It is easy to assume that being overlooked is proof you are disqualified. In God’s process, it can be confirmation you are in training.

The hidden seasons form humility, faithfulness, and spiritual strength. They teach you how to stay “vertical” with God so your identity is not controlled by people’s opinions.

2) Rejection Can Create Two Very Different Leaders

A powerful moment in the conversation was the warning about rejection.

When someone is insecure and wounded, being overlooked can trigger a drive to force acceptance. That can lead to striving, manipulation, and performance living.

But David learned something better. He rested in God’s timing. He refused to grasp for what God promised. He stayed submitted to God’s process and let God open doors at the right time.

3) Great Leaders Serve, They Don’t Just Lead

Os explained the difference between two forms of leadership:

• Top down leadership
• Servant leadership

Jesus defined greatness in a way the world still struggles to accept: if you want to be great, you must be a servant of all.

David lived this in the cave.

When he fled from Saul, he hid in the cave of Adullam. That cave became the gathering place for 400 distressed, indebted, discontented men, essentially the misfits of the nation.

David did not resent them. He served them.

Over time, those men became David’s mighty men, leaders who carried extraordinary strength and loyalty. David’s record was staggering. He never lost a battle.

The lesson is clear. Leaders are not formed by perfect teams. Leaders are often formed by serving imperfect people until they become who God intended them to be.

4) Waiting Seasons Are Not Wasted Seasons

David was anointed as a teenager, but he did not step into the throne for years. The gap between promise and fulfillment can feel painfully slow.

Os referenced a pattern he has seen repeatedly in leaders, including a stage of isolation. Many leaders experience a period where God puts them aside, not to punish them, but to prepare them.

Some of the greatest “downloads” in history happened in isolation:

• David wrote psalms in the cave
• John wrote Revelation on Patmos
• A classic like Pilgrim’s Progress was written in prison

God turns messes into messages into messengers.

5) Fear Can Become a Training Ground for Authority

David lived under constant pressure. Saul wanted him dead. Fear was always available.

The discussion around fear and leadership highlighted two key ideas:

• Discipline can dissipate fear
• A strong vertical relationship with God builds perspective

Ian shared a vivid picture of this. He went skydiving, felt the fear, but gained a bigger perspective. Seeing creation from 13,000 feet humbled him and reminded him how small our fears are compared to the God who made everything.

Leadership requires courage, but courage is not the absence of fear. It is moving forward with God when fear is present.

6) Success Has Its Own Temptations

One of the most sobering parts of David’s story is that his greatest moral failure happened after he became successful.

When kings went to war, David stayed home. Idleness opened the door to temptation.

Os warned that success can be dangerous because it gives you more control over your time, money, and options. That freedom can become a trap if you lose discipline and drift out of rhythm with God.

This led to a discussion about Sabbath and hurry. Hustle culture can destroy people, but idleness can also destroy people. The goal is not a perfect balance, it is a godly rhythm.

7) Pain Can Drive You Toward God or Away From Him

When pressure hits, most people want relief. Some seek that relief through unhealthy escape. But pain can become a gift if it drives you into God’s presence.

Os shared how mentors and hard seasons exposed strongholds, wrong beliefs, and wounds that needed healing. David carried a wound of rejection, and God had to address it.

Jesus said the truth will make you free. Often the truth you need is uncovered in the pressure.

8) You Are Becoming a Leader Even If You Don’t Feel Like One

A question was asked that many young adults quietly live with: what does leadership look like when you are early in your career and just trying to survive?

Os gave a strong answer. Value your early job experiences. They become stepping stones.

He shared his own chain of career moments, including a sales job he was not expected to succeed in. He prayed, stepped out, and surprised everyone. Those experiences became foundational, both professionally and spiritually.

Ian echoed the same idea. Even jobs he disliked taught skills he later carried into his next season.

You do not have to have it all figured out. Take the next step in front of you and let God build the path as you walk it.

Get Connected

If you want to keep learning across generations and help mentor emerging leaders:

• Visit TGIFGenerations.com
• Check out the 4:6 Circle (Malachi 4:6)
• Subscribe to the free weekly devotional on Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob
• Share this episode with someone in their 20s to 40s who needs encouragement

The post Leadership Lessons from David: From the Cave to the Crown appeared first on SheepFeast.

One of the deepest questions in the human heart is simple but unsettling.

Why am I here?

You can have a career, a degree, a full calendar and still wake up one day thinking, What am I actually doing with my life? In Episode 3 of the Generations Podcast, Os Hillman joins Dr. J, Mark and Ian to talk honestly about purpose, calling and how to discover why God made you.

At the core of the conversation is this conviction. Purpose is not something you invent. It is something you receive from the God who created you.

The Hunger to Know “Why”

For years churches and individuals have gravitated toward teachings about purpose. Rick Warren’s “The Purpose Driven Life” was a global phenomenon because it tapped into something already alive in every heart. People desperately want to know what God thinks of when He thinks of them.

Scripture confirms that we were made with intention.
Colossians 1:16 says that everything was created by Christ and for Christ.
Ephesians 2:10 says we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus for good works that God prepared in advance for us to do.
Jeremiah 1:5 reveals that God knew and set Jeremiah apart before he was even formed in the womb.

Purpose is not an optional add on for spiritual overachievers. It is woven into your spiritual DNA.

Where We Look for Identity

The problem is that most people look in all the wrong places to find that purpose. Os points out that identity often gets built on three shaky foundations:

• What we do
• What we own
• What others think about us

If your sense of purpose is tied only to a job or a season, then when that job changes or that season ends, you are left wondering who you really are.

God’s design is different. He created us in His image to identify with Christ. When our core identity is rooted in Him, our purpose becomes an expression of His life through our unique wiring, gifts and story.

A Generation in Crisis

Ian adds a younger perspective. In his generation, the battle over purpose is intense. When people live without a sense of God given purpose, it often shows up in self destructive patterns, violence or a frantic search for meaning in all the wrong places.

At the same time, there is a growing number of young believers who are reconnecting to Christ, finding their purpose in Him and seeing the fruit of that decision. In a world full of endless digital options and opportunities, clarity about how God specifically wired you is more vital than ever.

A Simple Exercise to Clarify Your Design

Os shares a pivotal moment in his own journey. In his early forties a board member who coached executives in transition told him, “I think you know your gifts and abilities, but I do not think you know why God made you.”

She led him through a simple but profound process:

1. Write one word that describes you at the top of each of 10 to 15 sheets of paper.
2. Spread them out and narrow them down to the four words that feel the most “true” to who you are.
3. Form a sentence that starts with “God made [your name] to be …” and weave those four words into a clear statement of purpose.

For Os, words like “articulator,” “shepherd” and “leader” emerged. The statement that eventually formed was:

God made Os Hillman to be an articulator and shepherd of foundational ideas that lead to transformation.

What struck him later was how that statement described his life across very different seasons. As a golf pro, he articulated and coached people to transform their game. As an ad agency owner, he guided clients in transforming their businesses. Later, as a teacher and author, he articulated and shepherded spiritual ideas that led to transformation in people and cultures.

Your purpose statement may not define a specific job, but it should fit your God given “how” in almost any environment.

God Uses Valleys to Shape Calling

Purpose is not discovered in a vacuum. Os is candid about a season where he lost more than half a million dollars, his wife left and 80 percent of his business disappeared. He was in what Hosea calls the “Valley of Achor” which means “trouble.”

Hosea 2:15 promises that God can turn the Valley of Achor into a door of hope.

If you allow God to walk you through adversity, that season can become a place of deep authority. Once you have overcome panic attacks, financial collapse, broken relationships or other trials with God’s help, you carry a unique ability to minister to others in that same area.

In God’s economy, your deepest pain can become a platform to serve others. You can give the enemy a “black eye” by using what he meant for harm as fuel for kingdom impact.

Called to Solve Problems

Another key idea in the episode is that you are called to solve problems.

Jesus constantly solved problems. He healed the sick, rescued the woman caught in adultery, restored Peter’s fishing business and met people at their point of need. Each miracle increased His influence.

Os points out that city transformation is not mysterious. Imagine ten churches asking the mayor one simple question. “What is your greatest problem?” If those churches unite to solve that problem with faith and practical service, their influence in that city will grow.

In the same way, as you solve problems with the wisdom, gifts and authority God has given you, your influence and impact will grow.

The Role of Community and Mentoring

Throughout the episode, the team highlights that purpose is best discovered and walked out in community. Os did not come to clarity alone. God used a South African board member, prophetic voices, friends, an English teacher who became his editor and a publishing mentor who reminded him there is a difference between being a writer and being an author.

The Generations project and the 4:6 Circle exist to create that kind of environment, especially for the next generation. Malachi 4:6 speaks of the hearts of fathers turning to children and children to fathers. Generations is about building a place where spiritual fathers, mothers, sons and daughters can walk together and pass on wisdom.

Inside the 4:6 Circle, members receive Os’s booklet “How to Discover Why God Made You,” mentoring calls and additional resources designed to help believers of all ages clarify and live out their purpose.

Next Steps if You Are Hungry for Purpose

If your heart resonates with this conversation, here are a few practical ways to respond:

1. Take the free quiz at TGIFGenerations.com as a quick starting point to think about how God wired you.
2. Work through the purpose statement exercise from Os’s booklet with a spouse, friend or mentor. Often others see our strengths more clearly than we do.
3. Consider joining the 4:6 Circle. For the price of a cup of coffee each month you can access resources, mentoring and a community that cares deeply about helping you fulfill God’s call on your life.
4. Share the episode with a younger person in your life. High school and college students especially need clarity about why God made them in a world full of noisy options.

Mark Twain once said, “The two most important days in your life are the day you are born and the day you find out why.”

Our prayer is that you will not only discover why God made you, but also have the courage, support and wisdom to live it out fully so that when you stand before Him, there is nothing left on the table.

The post Generations Ep 3 – How to Discover Why God Made You appeared first on SheepFeast.

Few young leaders have shaped the cultural landscape of modern Christianity quite like Charlie Kirk. His voice carried conviction without hostility, truth without arrogance, and courage without compromise. In this episode of the Generations Podcast, hosts Os Hillman, Dr. Je Hammonds, and Mark Rowan explore “10 Things That Made Charlie Kirk a Change Agent”—and how his legacy continues to inspire a rising generation of leaders.

The Power of Conviction and Grace

One of Charlie’s defining traits was his ability to stand firmly on biblical truth while still honoring those who disagreed. As Os Hillman shared:

“He went into the lion’s den, but he didn’t go in as an adversary. He listened, valued the other person, and spoke truth.”

Charlie modeled a kind of leadership that’s rare in today’s world—bold yet humble, unwavering yet kind. He understood that real influence isn’t about overpowering others; it’s about reflecting Christ in every conversation.

Os Hillman experienced a similar moment when he was invited to speak at Harvard University—only to be met by student protesters who opposed his biblical worldview. Instead of reacting with anger or retreating, Os engaged with calm and respect. He listened to their concerns, shared his faith with grace, and left an impression that went beyond the event. Some students later thanked him for the way he carried himself. It was a living example of what Charlie Kirk embodied—conviction without hostility, and courage anchored in love.

Leading the Next Generation

The Generations team reflected on how Charlie intentionally reached across generational lines, inviting younger believers to think deeply, act courageously, and live faithfully. His life reminded us that revival doesn’t begin in politics or platforms—it begins in the hearts of those who love God and live by His Word.

Even in his tragic passing, Charlie’s example continues to awaken a hunger for truth and leadership rooted in humility. As the hosts discussed, his life challenges all of us to ask: What does it mean to be a true change agent in our time?

Lessons for Today’s Leaders

Here are a few takeaways from the conversation:

• Stand firm in biblical truth—but never lose compassion.
• Engage with respect. Listening doesn’t mean compromising.
• Lead by example. Character creates credibility.
• Equip others. Change agents multiply influence by empowering others.

Carrying the Torch

The Generations Podcast exists to bridge wisdom across ages—to tell the stories of God’s faithfulness and equip both current and emerging leaders to live with purpose. As Psalm 145:4 declares, “One generation will declare Your works to the next.”

Charlie Kirk lived that mission. And now, it’s our turn.

The post Generations, Episode 2 – Why Charlie Kirk Was a True Change Agent appeared first on SheepFeast.

A Journey Marked by Adversity and Mentorship

When Os Hillman lost his marriage, his business, and his financial security in the span of just a few months, his world collapsed. By age 42, he had tasted success as a business owner, teacher, and leader. But suddenly, he found himself in what Scripture calls the Valley of Achor — a valley of deep trouble.

Out of that valley, God brought mentors — spiritual fathers — who shaped his journey and helped him discover his calling as a leader in the faith-at-work movement.

Meeting Gunnar Olson — A Joseph Calling

In 1994, Os met Gunnar Olson, founder of the International Christian Chamber of Commerce. At that point, Os had lost over half a million dollars, his marriage was ending, and his business was crumbling.

When they met, Gunnar told him:

“You have a Joseph calling on your life — earmarked by adversity. God is preparing you as a provider for others in the marketplace.”

From that moment, Gunnar became a spiritual father to Os. He didn’t write checks or solve Os’s financial crisis. Instead, he offered wisdom, friendship, and the kind of mentorship that was “caught” more than taught.

Lessons From Spiritual Fathers

Through Gunnar and other mentors, Os learned several timeless lessons:

1. Adversity is preparation — Just as Joseph’s prison prepared him for Pharaoh’s palace, adversity develops character for greater callings.
2. Position yourself with hunger — Mentorship isn’t always formal. Often, it’s about being present, serving, and learning from those ahead of you.
3. Pain can be a motivator — Hunger and desperation often position us to hear and receive wisdom.
4. The Father’s blessing matters — At a Virginia Beach conference, Gunnar prayed for Os. The encounter brought deep emotional healing — a reminder of the power of spiritual fathers blessing spiritual sons.
5. Mentorship evolves — Over time, the mentor-mentee relationship can shift into friendship or even mutual encouragement.

Discovering Purpose

Another mentor helped Os discern his God-given design through a simple exercise. Out of it came this statement:

“God made Os Hillman to be an articulator and shepherd of foundational ideas that lead to transformation.”

Those words became a compass for his life, helping him filter invitations, opportunities, and decisions.

Generations: Passing the Baton

Now in his later years, Os is passionate about succession — raising up the next generation of leaders in faith, work, and culture. He emphasizes Psalm 145:4:

“One generation shall commend your works to another, and shall declare your mighty acts.”

Through the Generations initiative, Os hopes to see spiritual fathers and mothers pass on wisdom, blessing, and power to younger leaders hungry for God’s call in their lives.

Key Takeaways

• Seek out mentors with humility and hunger.
• Don’t despise adversity — it’s often God’s training ground.
• Understand your unique God-given design and purpose.
• Expect God’s power and blessing to flow through generational connection.
• Carry what you’ve received and pass it on to the next generation.

Learn More

TGIF: Generations — equipping younger leaders through mentorship and community.
Marketplace Leaders — Os Hillman’s ministry.

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