Better Than Not

In this episode of Better Than Not, I am joined by Pastor Luke Etelamaki. Luke is the father of four with 15 years of pastor experience and the new Campus Pastor for Northview Community Church’s church plant in Chilliwack. Luke is originally from the Seattle area, planted a church in Regina and moved to Chilliwack recently to begin his new work. Luke tells his story mixing in many personal experie...

In this special episode of Better Than Not, I am joined by radio personality and political commentator Scott Thompson. Scott’s seen a lot in his 40+ year career in radio. Immersed in the world of media and politics, I thought who better to talk about this important election for Canada and Canadians. Whether we’re still deciding or decided, Scott brings a lot of information and perspective to this...

In this episode of Better Than Not, I am joined by my dad, Rogers Gardham. Dad is in his 90th year and 65th year of marriage to my mom. He is the father of three, granddad to six and great granddad to one. He’s been retired thirty years after working for the Bank of Nova Scotia for forty-one. In our conversation, Dad talks of his early life growing up in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island to his...

In this episode of Better Than Not, I am joined by returning guest pianist Laura Altenmueller (first time in video)! Laura is a concert pianist, music teacher and holds a Doctor of Musical Arts. Laura talks about her music and use of the Suzuki Method in teaching her students. She also talks about the story behind her collaboration with mezzo-soprano Noelle Carey who she will be performing with, S...

In this episode of Better Than Not, I am joined by Pastor Mike Bellanti. Mike is the father of two, an author and the Lead Pastor at Northbrook Church in Wisconsin. He is a Fuller Seminary graduate and recently completed a Doctor of Ministry, out of which came his book “A Liturgy For Wholeness.” Mike talks of working with youth in the inner city of Los Angeles, church planting in Colorado and movi...

In this episode of Better Than Not, I am joined by Norm Hubbard. Norm is father to six kids, an author (a self-confessed word nerd) and works for the Navigators. He holds a Masters in Linguistics (I’ll never play Scabble with him) and is working on his Masters in Divinity. Like most episodes, we were back and forth and all over the place on subjects. Norm talks about writing his book More Than Chr...

In this episode of Better Than Not, I was joined by Graham Nickel. Graham is the father of four kids, a high school teacher of English and Bible and an elder at Northview Community Church. We’re all over the place in this episode, which was so fun. Graham is a wealth of knowledge on a variety of subjects. From the books Dune and Lawrence of Arabia to social media and much more, Graham gives insigh...

In this episode of Better Than Not, I was joined by Pastor Levi Friesen. Levi is the new pastor at East Abbotsford Campus of Northview Community Church. He’s recently completed Northview’s Immerse Program that earned him a Masters in Divinity. Levi gives insight into his process of creating and delivering a message and how important personal stories are in that form of communication. He also expla...

In this episode of Better Than Not, I was joined by radio personality Scott Thompson. An old friend, Scott has seen a lot in his 40+ years on the air in both music and talk radio. A self-confessed news junky, our conversation moves through Scott’s world from his early days in music radio to capturing a significant following in news and talk radio. From designing and building music sound boards to...

In this episode of Better Than Not, a friend, engineer and mindset coach, Tizneem Jiancaro returns (first time in video) to talk about her world of "Rethinking Life as a Game" and a variety other interests. My conversation with Tiz continued from where our last (EP47) left off with her love for her motorcycle, riding and bringing that experience to her clients. We stretch into AI and cog...

In this episode of Better Than Not, internationallyrecognized artist Kirk Sutherland returns to talk about his art and creating it. Kirk is a graduate of the Ontario College of Art & Design University and also lectures on art. Kirk speaks of his influences and the vibrant colours he achieves in his paintings. He talks of the emotion behind art and learning to be comfortable (or at least accept...

My guest in this episode of Better Than Not is one of my oldest friends, Craig Collett, business owner, musician and music aficionado. In this episode, Craig shares some of his story from forming our first band together to starting his backline music equipment rental company. He describes what prompted him to move from teaching guitar lessons to the music rental business to eventually build a comp...

In this episode of Better Than Not, Dan M, an adventurer and storyteller with a calling for God, returns to chat about more of his adventures around the globe. He shares of being one of the first travellers to China in the 80s as the country became more open to foreigners. He takes us into the ocean scuba diving in the Maldives accumulating over 4,000 dives. Then we’re into Malaysia where he and h...

In this episode of Better Than Not, Todd Leyden, friend, author and Executive Director of Fort Wilderness, returns (first time in video) to talk about transitioning from city life to the wilderness and his world after his book—Eyes of the Father—was published. We talk about his unanticipated role at Fort Wildness and moving his wife and family into northern Wisconsin after the passing of his young...

My guest in this first in-person episode of Better Than Not is Pastor Ezra Okoti, Executive Pastor of Multiplication at Northview Community Church in Abbotsford BC. Ezra shares his story as a father of four and a pastor of twenty years in Canada. Originally from Kenya Africa, Ezra was a teen when he was Called while raking leaves in his school courtyard. Our chat covers science, the Bible, culture...

My guest in this episode of Better Than Not is Neil Orr, friend, retired police officer, and hospice representative. Neil shares his story as a widowed father of two daughters and three grandsons, who is currently undergoing treatment for cancer. In our chat, he describes his adventures in applying to become--and life as--a police officer, the impact of his cancer diagnoses and the heartbreak of d...

In this episode of Better Than Not, Payman Kianpour, friend and Founder and CEO of Kepstrum Inc, returns (first time in video) to talk about what goes into design balancing love, energy, perspective and material desire. We talk about living in the present and living twice. Why do we spend so much of our lives thinking of the future? How do we live with love more fully in our work, lives and all th...

My guest in this episode of Better Than Not is Robin Jones, friend, author, renovator and life enthusiast. Robin tells his story of what coming for age in the 60s was like from the psychedelic drug culture to meeting Bob Dylan. He talks of his commitment to get a university degree and falling into the renovation business. He talks of his father’s mentorship, his books and his love for people. He's...

My guest in this episode of Better Than Not is Amber Cate, a mom, a private equity broker and a cancer survivor. In this episode, Amber tells her story of graduating from Harding University with a triple degree in philosophy, psychology and theology (all topics I love to get immersed in). She worked in ministry for a time and became a mom only to have her life change with the diagnosis of a rare f...

My guest in this episode of Better Than Not is Pastor Eric Heath of Northview Community Church's Central Abbotsford campus. In this episode, Eric talks about his unusual journey from civil litigation lawyer to pastor. A father of four and a hockey goalie (an immediate connection), Eric describes his challenge to recognize what he was being called to do and how quickly, and how the path to seminary...

In this episode of Better Than Not, I had the honor of speaking with writer, producer and film director, Nicola Rose. We talked about Nicola's creative start with writing and working as a professional puppeteer that led to writing and directing short films. Her first feature film - Goodbye, Petrushka - received critical acclaim and her latest, much anticipated film, Magnetosphere is launching at f...

In this episode of Better Than Not, I had the privilege of talking with Brandon McGuire, host of the very popular Daily Dose of Wisdom Podcast and YouTube Channel. We talk about how Brandon got started with his YouTube channel with his passion for Jesus. We talk science to history, all evidence of C.S. Lewis' quote, "the myth became real." Many of the personalities who we talk about have appeared...

My guest for this episode of Better Than Not is returning guest (first time on video) Christiane Banks - a friend, author and professional therapeutic beautician. In this episode, recorded two days after Remembrance Day, we talk about Christiane's ability to bring the past forward in her books: Amelia's Prayer, Amazing Grace and Catch Your Falling Star. Christiane tells of her emotional experience...

In this episode of Better Than Not, I had the good fortune to talk with William C. Cole, actor, author, writer, director and filmmaker. A storyteller at heart, Bill describes his experiences on set filming Cafe Daughter and other yet to be released films. He walks us through his experiences as a concert promoter as well as writing and touring his books and what inspired him to make his first film....

My guest for this episode is a return conversation with Aman Azad--first time in video!--Founder and CMO of AMG Analytics. This episode was intentionally scheduled to follow the U.S. election to discuss its potential impact on technology and artificial intelligence on some of our major issues like healthcare, housing and food. This included governance and the psychological aspects as well. And tha...