Live Faith First Podcast

Life is a long and winding road.  It’s interesting how God takes our experiences, His refinement and opportunities to get us to the place He wants us.  It often isn’t the path we’d choose, but it’s the path that transforms us into exactly who God wants us to be.   Elliot sits down with Pastor Andrea of Lead Bold and they chat about that winding road, leadership principles and how we can purposeful...

Show up as your best self.  Be all you can be.  Live your best life.  All great sayings, but sometimes that’s not attainable, we can’t be everywhere all at once, and we don’t always have the perfect words for the situation.  Truth is, sometimes just showing up, being present, being consistent in somebody’s life is exactly what it takes to live an extraordinary life.    Author and Moody Publishers...

Do you feel disconnected in your own community?  Are your children meeting students from different cultures and ethnicities in their classrooms?  Have you ever unknowingly offended somebody from a different background?  There are tools and skills that you can implement to help you and your children connect in your community and school classrooms.   Michelle Reyes is an author, speaker and CQ (Cult...

Humans tend to move into their tribes.  Their political, ethnic, ideological, sports teams tribes and so many more.  It’s easy and safe to be with people that think like you, look like you, talk like you and live like you.  This attitude contributes to so many of the ills in our society, because we can categorize people as the “less thans” because they're not part of your tribe.   Author Dr. T...

Joy can be illusive, but when we’re experiencing it-there’s nothing better.  Joy is more than happy, which can be circumstantial.  Joy is communal, joy is relational, joy gets us through the hard times, and we’re filled with joy in the great times.  If you want some more joy in your life listen to this podcast. Author and practitioner, Chris Coursey, joins the podcast.  Chris has written over 10 b...

Sometimes we make it harder than it needs to be, Pastor and Author Dr. Derwin Gray joins the podcast to discuss building an ethnically diverse church, and how crossing societies divides can be pretty straight forward. The U.S. Church remains one of the most ethnically monolithic structures in our society with 76% of pastors reporting that their churches are one racial or ethnic group. It seems we...

A collector of amazing stories, from living in remote Mali at 22, to navigating the multi-cultural region of the Silicon Valley Pastor Corinna talks about what she's learned along the way. It's not easy to navigate culture and differences but by observing and asking questions we can learn and grow ourselves. As a self-proclaimed introvert we think you'll love hearing about her journey....

Remember days on the playground being bullied by somebody that should be your friend?... was it just me? Life is constantly throwing opportunities to be offended, or to overcome offense. The more we ask questions, and learn about people overcoming offense can be the norm. Elliot and LeTesha discuss striving to listen to understand, rather than be understood. To seek out what's below the surfac...

Asking questions and being curious can be all it takes to build a bridge with somebody that you might otherwise think you're opposed to. As we try to break down barriers, having a stance of openness and curiosity can lead down a path of connectedness that you never would have expected. Elliot sits down with Pastor Fred Mok of Quicksilver Church in San Jose, California. Fred launched his church...

The Surgeon General just announced that the U.S. has an epidemic of loneliness and isolation.  Studies have found that having friends decreases cholesterol levels, and has amazing health benefits.  In fact, having a friend that you see on a regular basis gives you the same happiness boost of getting a $100k annual raise.  How amazing is that? Elliot sits down with author and professor Heather Holl...

What does it look like when pastors from diverse backgrounds and ethnicities gather?  Pastor Lonnie tells us about how God used the George Floyd tragedy to inspire pastors to gather, learn together and be vulnerable.  The result is a growing network of churches coming together to cross barriers and make a difference in their communities. Learn about the story of The Racial Reconciliation Network a...

Winning an Argument Isn't Winning At All Do you like to stir the pot from time to time?  Drop a well timed verbal grenade into a group of people and stand back and see the mayhem that follows?  Maybe you can’t stand arguing, don’t like debate and wished we could all just get along.  If any of those things are true, then you need to listen to this podcast. Elliot sits down with Michael Gulker,...

Jesus gave us communion in the midst a chaotic dinner marked by self-centeredness, betrayal and arguments about who is the greatest. Elliot and Gary discuss communion and how that symbol of remembrance is one of the elements and traditions that Christians can unify around. Christian unity will have all of the attitudes the disciples displayed at the last supper, and in the midst of our chaos, thro...

Elliot sits down with pastor and author Jay Kim as they discuss living in our digital world.  We know that there’s an algorithm that sends us advertisements, articles, reels, and posts with the purpose of getting us to keep scrolling and swiping.  Jay and Elliot discuss the challenges of our digital world, and how we can navigate it.  Social and news media aren’t going away, so it’s important that...

Elliot sits down with Faith First Founder, Vintage Foster.   They discuss the beginnings of Faith First, how George Floyd motivated Vintage to do something about the division in society. Vintage spent decades working in the print media, and he discusses what trends in the media have led to the spectacular headlines, clickbait and how that escalates the divisiveness we experience in our society.  H...

Pastor Tony and I discuss navigating conflict in relationships, making the invisible God's love visible and how God wants us to be unified (not uniform).  Live Faith First. Wellspring Church Live Faith First links: YouTube Instagram TikTok Facebook Website Signup for email Donate