John's brother, Pastor Matt Stephens, joins us on this week's podcast. Matt Stephens is the pastor of The Fort in Columbus, Georgia. John and Matt talk about their childhood, answer some brotherly trivia questions and discuss what it's like to pastor during a pandemic. 

The Reverend Dr. William H. Willimon is Professor of the Practice of Christian Ministry at the Divinity School, Duke University. He served eight years as Bishop of the North Alabama Conference of The United Methodist Church, where he led the 157,000 Methodists and 792 pastors in North Alabama. For twenty years prior to the episcopacy, he was Dean of the Chapel and Professor of Christian Ministry at Duke University, Durham, North Carolina. Willimon is the author of over 80 books. His articles have appeared in many publications including Theology Today, Interpretation, Liturgy, and Christianity Today.

John and Matt catch up on the inauguration and how as Christians we are called to continue to model the ways of Jesus instead of being driven by other ideologies. 

The first podcast of the new year! We welcome back Dr. Marc Boom to give us an update on the vaccine, current cases in Houston and what we can expect in the coming months. 

Matt and John are here to host a special Thanksgiving episode! John teaches Matt how to fry a turkey and they discuss Christmas traditions and what they are up to for the Holidays.  

Gil Rendle is an author, speaker, facilitator, and influential thought leader who has spent more than 40 years working across the religious landscape, first as a United Methodist pastor and then as a consultant. For the last 11 years, Gil has worked as a senior vice president of TMF’s Leadership Ministry facilitating conversations with denominational leaders on how to lead courageously in today’s rapidly changing cultural and spiritual environment. 

Dr. Cleve Tinsely joins us this week to talk about our nation's response to the election and how spiritual leaders can move forward. 

This week we welcome back Marlon Lizama! John and Marlon talk about their first cars and John reveals a shocking detail about his youth. They also discuss the creative process and how we can use creativity to benefit our mental health and our spiritual lives.

John and Matt talk about ways that we can cope with stress during the election season! 

The guys talk about the presidential election, wisdom and humility, Howard Thurman, The Social Dilemma and much more!