Better on the Inside

*This episode description was generated with the help of ChatGPT* Would love to hear your feedback. In this episode, Justin takes us back to the origins of his agency, Nava Church Marketing. He recounts his journey of creating a proven roadmap to help churches gain prominence within their communities. With a decade of experience in freelance marketing, Justin developed strategies that elevated his...

What do church metrics and California Raisins have in common? Dr. John Harris tells us in this great conversation, including a lot about the digital church and how we make disciples online. What gets me excited is how Dr. Harris is taking advantage of the digital medium and building something unique and wonderful. He also gets very real about metrics that really matter. Get his book Sharing Jesus...

Jenn Layte blessed the conversation with her journey and how she's helping others take those steps! Jenn is an author, Pastor and trained Spiritual Director. I love how she tells stories and help others tell better stories with their lives. Check out her LinkTree (https://linktr.ee/jenniferaglayte) and/or her website (https://jenniferaglayte.com/) to learn more about the work she's doing....

Sharifa Stevens and Kate Boyd join me on this episode. Y'all, these ladies absolutely blew me away. I am gobsmacked. Sharifa & Kate are the best of what a theologian should be: brilliant, passionate, principled, loving and clear. And they dropped knowledge for nearly an hour. I truly think every professing believer should listen to this podcast. Because it's not just about how we can h...

Eric Hoke is the proprietor of "I Help Pastors Get Jobs" , a wonderful website that does exactly what it says... help Pastors (and other folks in vocational ministry) transition out of church jobs and into the marketplace. He helps people follow the path that he himself has walked, and even more importantly, he still has skin in the game as part of a local church in NYC. You can continue...

My dude Ben Hardman comes by and PREACHES! Ben runs the Kingdom Dreams Initiative , where they bring to life the Good Work you have been uniquely created and uniquely called to do. He has a totally unique perspective on church and how to unleash folks with the skills, talents and gifts to make this world a better place. I'll be honest, you can't listen to Ben and then go to back to doing &...

Part 2 is here! This episode is super fun. Emily and her eldest son Coen set the interwebs ablaze when they released their exhaustive rankings of the best animated Disney films of all time. So, I got them on the podcast to chat about it... and we talked for 3 hours. You can continue the conversation in our Facebook Group: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterontheinside⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ I spoke at the T...

This episode is super fun. Emily and her eldest son Coen set the interwebs ablaze when they released their exhaustive rankings of the best animated Disney films of all time. So, I got them on the podcast to chat about it... and we talked for 3 hours. This is just part 1!!!!!! You can continue the conversation in our Facebook Group: ⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.facebook.com/groups/betterontheinside⁠⁠⁠⁠ I spoke...

I'm honestly laughing just thinking about recording this episode with Sharifa Stevens! Not hilarious and witty, she's also insightful, wise, compassionate and brilliant. A true Wizard! I'm excited to share this free-flowing conversation where tackle all sorts of topics like Hogwarts Houses, Harry Bellafonte, the pettiness of John the disciple, growing up in the Bronx, being an only chi...

Pastor Keith Myer has been advocating for survivors of the widespread (and often covered-up) abuse within the Southern Baptist Convention (SBC). Not only with bringing awareness and changing procedures, but also in the tangible way of helping survivors travel to the annual meeting in New Orleans, LA. Please help Keith by donating to the Go Fund Me to pay for survivors travel, food and lodging expe...

Besides mispronouncing his name (SMH), I enjoyed every second of my conversation with Kyle Meyaard-Schapp . I honestly didn't know what to expect from my conversation with someone from the Evangelical Environmental Networ k. But Kyle absolutely delivered with some really challenging and (dare I say) mind-blowing stuff about what it means to follow Jesus in the midst of climate change. If I had to...

I met Ezra Byer at a cool conference I had the opportunity to attend a few months ago. We hit it off, at least in part, because we care so much about the practical application of the Christian faith and moving it out of the Sunday morning box. Ezra created and leads The Monday Christian, a website and podcast focused on turning Sunday belief into Monday action . You can continue the conversation i...

Kate Guthrie is brilliant. A Pastor, Chaplain, Spiritual Director and just overall wonderful person, Kate wrote a prophetic dissertation in 2014 that is even more relevant today. While some of the terms may need updating, her observations about how our souls are shaped by digital media are prescient. Kate's grasp of modern spiritual formation is beyond necessary and wildly helpful. I connected...

Raconteur and Benevolent Cult Leader(?) Andrew Sears joins me on this episode. Andrew shares about the evolution of his spiritual journey, his experience with church and finding a home. We also get to talk about Tabletop Games, Video Games and the communities built around play. He said something profound that I think can apply to the church: everybody shows up and plays! That's so important. You c...

Ryan Nanni is an absolute treasure. As 1/4 of the internet's only college football podcast, Ryan is not only the twisted mind behind characters like Antioch the Birthday Spider but also a catalyst behind this passionate, mostly benevolent digital community. On the surface, the Shutdown Fullcast is a rollicking and silly inside-joke laden college football podcast where they talk about everything BU...

Let's-a-go! Join Charlotte Elia and Jon Pyle as they dig deeper into the previous episode, answer your questions and share your insights. With an eye on how to apply, After Better on the Inside is meant to make an actual difference in your home and work life. This week, Charlotte and I reflect on the diamonds from the phD mines that Becky Castle Miller dropped from her work on emotions in Scriptur...

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Have you ever been made to feel bad about feeling good? Were you taught that "above all things, the heart is deceitful?" If so, you gotta listen to this conversation with Becky Castle Miller! If not, you should listen too because you will still learn something. Becky challenges (and kinds debunks) many of the ways we think about our emotions, feelings and desires. She drops a bu...

Let's-a-go! Join Charlotte Elia and Jon Pyle as they dig deeper into the previous episode, answer your questions and share your insights. With an eye on how to apply, After Better on the Inside is meant to make an actual difference in your home and work life. This week, Charlotte and I dive into my conversation with Sarah Styf around furthering the Kingdom online. The algorithm is not neutral. The...

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Sarah Styf is a very cool English Teacher and more! We had a great conversation about how important it is for believers to consider our conduct online. When every tweet or comment section can become a digital hellscape, our posture, our words and our presence matter.  Do we need to be perfect? Absolutely not. But we certainly can make the effort to be loving. We also discus...

Let's-a-go! Join Charlotte Elia and Jon Pyle as they dig deeper into the previous episode, answer your questions and share your insights. With an eye on how to apply, After Better on the Inside is meant to make an actual difference in your home and work life. This week, Charlotte is both co-host and guest as we dive into her points about resigning from volunteer roles and making the digital hellsc...

What can small rural churches teach large churches about digital ministry? And how can we all (rural, urban, big, small, new, old) do digital better, together? Charlotte Elia is here to help expand our digital imagination and find our respective lanes in the digital space. Charlotte is one of the funniest people ever but more importantly, an incredible voice in both rural and digital church spaces...

EPISODE TRANSCRIPT Today my conversation is with Dr. Josh Packard, Executive Director of the Springtide Research Institute . Through their extensive research (perhaps the largest data set on the planet) on the spiritual lives of young folks, Springtide and Dr. Packard discovered some mind-blowing things. You might think you know about the spirituality of the next generation (13-25 year olds), but...

My guest this week is me. I invited my good friend Andy Mage to interview me because I wanted to share what I've learned this year. When I started this podcast, it was because I was looking for answers. With all the scandals, abuse, and controversy surrounding the church, I wanted to know how to make the church "better on the inside". Specifically for those working, going to, visiting, volunteerin...

Rob Fike is the first guest I've ever had on my socks!! (True story) Rob & I are friends IRL and he's a fantastic dude. We've worked together, podcasted together, watched movies together, played basketball together and dreamed together. As a PK and non-profit sector veteran, Rob has a unique and impactful view of how to start and sustain movements. This is absolutely worth a lesson as we refle...

Jason Kirk is one big part of the Shutdown Fullcast, the internet's ONLY college football podcast , and the proprietor of Vacation Bible School , a podcast about the big, weird Holy Bible, made by and for Sunday School kids. ( Support them on Patreon !) Jason is also a wonderful theologian and thinker about religion and spirituality, but firmly outside the Evangelical Industrial Complex, so I want...