The RISE Leadership Podcast

When Life Falls Apart: Buster Pray on Leading, Following & Holding Onto Hope

Buster Pray has served at Cross Church for almost 33 years — as worship pastor, as campus pastor at Pinnacle Hills, and now leading our Legacy Ministry. Along the way, he

The Pipeline, Part 4: Coaching – Leading the Leaders

The Pipeline series ends where leadership development reaches its highest calling — not just leading a team, but developing the leaders on your team. In Part 4, Dr. Jerem

Life After Yes, with Meredith Floyd

She's the better half of our senior pastor at Cross Church — and today she's finally on the podcast.  Meredith Floyd joins Dr. Jeremy Dixon and Izzy Hoffarth f

The Pipeline, Part 3: What Leading Actually Looks Like

Two regular people with regular jobs outside of church walls — and they're leading some of the most meaningful ministry happening at Cross Church. In Part 3 of The P

The Pipeline, Part 2: Start by Serving | Nick Bethea

Most people think serving is what you do before real leadership starts. They're wrong.  In this episode, Dr. Jeremy Dixon and Phil McMichael sit down with Nick Beth

The Pipeline, Part 1: It Starts Here | Dr. Ryan Blackwell

What do you do when you can see a problem your organization doesn't know it has?  That's exactly where Ryan Blackwell found himself as Executive Pastor of Cros

Transformation Through Transitions

In this episode Pastor Ralph Johnson discusses lessons of leadership and personal growth that the Lord has taught him through an early career in the Navy and his transiti

The Cost of Unexamined Ambition | James Young

What happens when God blesses your career more than you deserve — and you start believing you earned it? In this episode, Dr. Jeremy Dixon and Phil McMichael sit down wit

Behind the Book: When You Don't Know What to Do | Nick Floyd

You're praying for clarity. You're waiting for God to tell you what to do. But what if that's not actually what He's after?  Dr. Jeremy Dixon and Izz

The Media Tension Every Church Leader Feels | with Phil Cooke & Dan Wathen

You're not trying to build a platform. You're trying to steward one. In this episode, Dr. Jeremy Dixon and Phil McMichael sit down with Hollywood producer and m

The Church Gen Z Is Actually Looking For | Noah Herrin

The next generation doesn't need a better show, they need a real home. In this episode, Dr. Jeremy Dixon is joined by co-hosts Ben Stoken and Mark Hutchinson to sit

Called to Go | Julio Arriola on Church Planting, Obedience, and the Cost of Yes

What does it actually cost to say yes to God's call? In this episode, Dr. Jeremy Dixon and Izzy Hoffarth sit down with Cross Church Missions Pastor Julio Arriola — a

“Let’s Go, God!” — Leading with Faith, Family & 33,000 People | Shelley Simpson

Shelley Simpson is the President & CEO of J.B. Hunt Transport Services — one of the largest logistics companies in North America, with over 33,000 employees. She started

The 3 Leadership Jumps: How Great Leaders Grow

What does real leadership growth look like?  In this episode of the Rise Leadership Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Dixon and Phil McMichael sit down with executive coach Ben Cashio

The Weight of Leadership: Stewardship Beyond the Pulpit

Most people picture ministry on a stage.  But what if real ministry also looks like boardrooms, budgets, and carrying the weight of decisions that affect thousands of li

Your Story Is Your Platform: How God Uses Ordinary Obedience for Extraordinary Impact

What if the very thing you walked through is the very thing God wants to use?  In this episode of The RISE Leadership Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Dixon and Phil McMichael sit do

Intro to Worship Ministry

What really happens behind the scenes of worship ministry?  In this episode, Dr. Jeremy Dixon and co-host Phil McMichael sit down with Nick Hardeman, Cross Church’s Asso

Don’t Flinch: Navigating a New Season of Change at Cross Church (Part 2)

In Part 2 of our Don’t Flinch conversation, Dr. Jeremy Dixon and co-host Phil McMichael sit down again with Cross Church Senior Pastor, Dr. Nick Floyd, for a candid and b

Don’t Flinch: Leading with Courage in a Season of Change (Part 1), with Pastor Nick Floyd

As we kick off Season 2 and step into a new year filled with uncertainty, change, and transition, how do leaders stay steady instead of shaken?  In this episode of the R

3 Prayers of the Leader to Wrap up the Year

In this episode of The RISE Leadership Podcast, Dr. Jeremy Dixon and Phil McMichael wrap up 2025 with a discussion on the personal prayer life of the leader. As part of t