The Better Together Podcast with Callie and Rosario "Roz" Picardo

Jesus says in Matthew 11:15, "Whoever has ears, let them hear."  The art of listening should be easy, but one of the hardest things to do.  Rev. Luke Edwards shares some practical tips for listening for leaders, congregations, and everyday people.

How do we squeeze more out of 24 hours in a day? Or is there another way? Ken Willard, author of Time Management for the Christian Leader joins us to talk about a Christian model of time management based on the model of Jesus. 

As Christians, we are called to mourn with those who mourn, but it can be hard to know what to say and how to effectively be present with those who are grieving. Rev. Dr. Reggie Abraham, Assistant Professor of Pastoral Care and Chaplaincy at United Theological Seminary shares wisdom and practical tools for Christians who are coming alongside friends and loved ones amid grief and suffering. 

In today's polarizing and divided landscape, the need for bridge builders is at an all-time high.  Dr. Brian Law has the gift of bringing people together, tackling conflict, and working toward peace.  Brian is the Pastor of Christ Church Kettering in Kettering, Ohio, and the Senior Leader of the Gem City Church Collective, a network family of churches.

Leadership consultant Alicia Granholm is passionate about equipping and empowering leaders to make a lasting impact. But, what happens when you are so tired you can't creatively make a change when you know you need one? Alicia guides us in knowing our seasons, waiting on God's direction, and making the changes to step into God's next assignment.

The Lord says, "Be still and know that I am God" (Psalm 46:10), yet in a world filled with noise, how do we actually do this? Dr. Brian Russell, author of Centering Prayer: Sitting Quietly in God’s Presence Can Change Your Life, joins us to share a pathway through silence to be still and know God's deep love.

An incredibly influential role often overlooked is that of being an intentional aunt or uncle. Whether for biological family members or individuals you choose to pour into spiritually and relationally, Wayne and Tricia Botkin share wisdom for developing meaningful relationships with a Kingdom impact.

We all want to be considered intelligent, but how is our cultural intelligence? Dr. Dee Stokes, creator of the Cultural Competence Workbook: The Key to Loving One's Neighbor, joins the Better Together Podcast to help us learn to listen to God and one another. As a former basketball coach turned leadership coach, she also shares a powerful word for all of us for 2023.

The age-old question is how can a loving and merciful God allow suffering?   Roz unpacks the topic of suffering in a sermon that helps understand it from the viewpoint of Scripture.

The Bible is God’s Word, but how do we know God said what it says He did? If true, why does it contain passages with violence, judgment, and injustice? How do we know what is contextual or simply history and what is for us to follow today? And is ok even to ask these questions if we say we follow Jesus? Join us for this week’s Better Together Podcast as Callie tackles some of these questions and more. 

What difference does Jesus make? This time of year we celebrate the birth of Jesus Christ, Emanuel, God with us. But what difference does it really make? Roz unpacks the meaning of Christmas, in this special Better Together episode.

How do we get to hope in a hopeless, chaotic world? The answer is Jesus, but even Christians struggle to stay in that place of hope. Founding pastor of Impact Church (Atlanta, GA), coach, speaker, and author Olu Brown joins the Better Together Podcast to share wisdom from his book Hope: An Advent Journey.

Evangelism has gotten a bad wrap because it has often been done poorly and with layers of hypocrisy. Yet, as Christians, we are called to share the Good News. Dr. Pete Bellini, Professor of Church Renewal and Evangelization, shares practical ways to share our faith in Jesus Christ in ways that are culturally relevant today.

Dave and Cindee Johnson have a passion for helping others develop strong marriages and relationships. They joined the Better Together Podcast to share wisdom from years of coaching others and working on their own marriage. Many of these practical tools can help strengthen any meaningful relationship from family to friendships to working with coworkers. We are better together!

It can be hard to keep Christmas focused on Christ with all the ads, toys, and gifts. Tiffaney Taylor, Director of Family Ministries at Mosaic Church, shares practical ideas for engaging kids this Advent and Christmas, whether they are your kids, grandkids, nieces, nephews, or they belong to a friend or neighbor. Plus, they can adults too!

If you have kids in your life this Thanksgiving, whether they are your own, grandkids, nieces, nephews, or the neighbor's kids, here are some fun ways to encourage thankfulness this holiday season. Tiffaney Taylor, Director of Family Ministries at Mosaic Church, joins us with lots of creative ideas to engage kids of all ages. As an added bonus, they are fun for grown-ups too!

With current culture wars and a bent toward explaining everything rationally, many have put God's word in a box or worse used it as a weapon. Dr. Cheryl Bridges Johns shares how this happened and more importantly what we can do about it with insights from her latest book Re-enchanting the Text: Discovering the Bible as Sacred, Dangerous, and Mysterious.

There is power in being known and loved. Join us for author Peter Mutabazi's story of love, redemption, forgiveness, and learning to dream again, as he journeyed from a runaway street kid in Uganda to becoming a foster dad in America.