
Seeking the God who is not safe, but is very good.
Pointing to Christ and His Kingdom
We live in a postmodern, post-Christian age. Christianity is dwindling, secularism is rising, and the faith of many is being shipwrecked on the rocks of doubt and deconstruction.
It’s into this world that GoodLion was born.
It started with two youth pastors with a heart to see young people caught in the storm of modern culture find an anchor in the person and teachings of Jesus Christ.
The name GoodLion comes from C.S. Lewis’ classic Narnia stories. The child Lucy asks if Aslan is a safe lion, and to this the woodland creatures respond… “Safe? Of course he’s not safe… he’s a lion! But he’s good.”
It’s our deepest desire for people everywhere to encounter this Jesus, the God who is not safe but is very good.
We want to see people break free from apathy. We want to help doubting Thomases see the holes in the hands of Christ. We want to help people move from a place of cheap grace and easy-believism to radical discipleship. We want to raise up powerful peacemakers in a hostile and divided culture.
Most of all, we want to help people live their lives for the Kingdom of God.
We are GoodLion, and we are glad you are here.
Who we are.

Aaron Salvato
Aaron spent over a decade sheperding youth ministry students in the Way of Jesus. He has served as a middle school pastor, high school pastor, and Bible College teacher. He currently works as Content Strategist / Podcasting Director at Calvary Global Network.
Aaron describes himself as having the heart of a pastor and the hands of an artist, which he expresses in a drive for creating Gospel-centered content through podcasts, writing, videos, and theological courses. He is an avid reader, lifelong learner, and dedicated Bible teacher. Aaron is passionate about helping young people navigate our post-Christian culture, prioritizing the ministry of peacemaking in a divided world. Aaron is most happy when he is mentoring others on their journey with Christ.
Aaron lives in Oklahoma with his best friend Brooklynn and their new son, Jack. His favorite ministry role so far is husband/father.

Brian Higgins
Brian has served as a pastor, teacher, and discipler for nearly 15 years. Previously, he worked as a Youth Pastor at Calvary Chapel Old Bridge and as the Director of Admissions for Calvary Chapel Bible College. Currently, Brian is leading a small group seeking to plant a church in Central New Jersey.
Brian’s main ministry passion is personal discipleship, helping people enjoy and embrace the lifestyle of Jesus. He works to do this through podcasting, writing, preaching, and one-on-one mentorship. Brian loves to see a new generation of Christians learn to live like Jesus so they can experience and advance God’s Kingdom.
Brian lives in New Jersey with his incredible wife Tori and their newborn son Nathan.
Aaron and Brian met in 2017, founded the GoodLion Podcast Network, and now serve together researching, writing, and creating content to help young people walk with Jesus.
We create resources and content to help people follow the Way of Jesus.
We want to walk with people through the complexities and challenges of faith in our age.
Our goal is to challenge you to think, learn, and grow in your apprenticeship to Jesus.
Podcasts

One of the core ways we serve the Church is by creating podcast content that is theological, educational, and focused on forming disciples in the way of Jesus.
Below you will find curated lists of our content.
Our cornerstone show is The GoodLion Podcast.
Sort Podcasts By Topic
- The GoodLion Podcast
- Theological Deep Dives
- Navigating Culture
- Following Jesus
- Hot Topics
- Ministry
- Preaching Training
- Youth Ministry
- Questions and Answers
But in this episode, we’re not here to point fingers or place blame. We’re here to explore what it looks like to embrace radical peacemaking, to follow in the footsteps of Jesus and make peace within the church, instead of dividing the body of Christ over secondary issues. We’ll delve into the hard questions and offer reflections on how we can move forward and heal the wounds inflicted during these challenging times.
Aaron says “Pastor Terry is a wise and loving soul, a grandfatherly figure whose words are like a warm hug on a cold winter’s day. I’m honored to have him on the show, and I can’t wait for you to experience his wisdom and love for yourself.” Join us for a conversation that’s sure to inspire, challenge, and encourage.
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LINKS
GoodLion: Way of the Peacemaker (Peacemaking on Social Media)
















Theological Deep Dives
At the center of what Aaron & Brian do is a passion to go deeper, ask tough questions, avoid easy answers, and take time to wrestle through matters of faith.
















Following Jesus
Our heart at GoodLion Ministries is that you would learn to walk the path of Christ. These episodes will help encourage you on your journey.
















Hot Topics
Content speaking into some of the most challenging topics believers face today.
















Ministry
Episodes to help you as you serve Jesus, make disciples, and preach the Gospel.
















Training – Preaching
Brian and Aaron are passionate about preaching, and both have spent their lives doing it both within the church and outside of it. This collection of episodes, including ones from Brian’s First Time Bible Teacher podcast, will help you grow as Bible teachers and proclaimers of the Gospel.
















Training – Youth Ministry
Before they started GoodLion, Aaron and Brian spent their 20s as youth pastors. Currently they have a passion for mentoring young youth pastors/volunteers, and sharing from their experience and things Jesus has taught them about serving young people.



Q&A
The team at GoodLion loves questions. We think the best thing you can do with your questions is wrestle through them with your fellow believers. In these episodes, we tackle questions sent in by listeners and do our best to help. We aren’t experts, but we are life-long learners who love helping fellow questioners find truth.
















Courses
As lifelong learners, we have a passion to help shape the next generation of believers. We want to freely share with them what we have learned. Below you will find some of the free theology courses we have developed.
More Resources From Our Library
Questions
The team at GoodLion loves questions. We think the best thing you can do with your questions is wrestle through them with your fellow believers. In these episodes, we tackle questions sent in by listeners and do our best to help. We aren’t experts, but we are life-long learners who love helping fellow questioners find truth.
Some people insist the Bible is the word of God. Still others insist, no Jesus is the Word of God. Where does the truth lie?
That’s the question we are going to dive into today.
On this episode I’m joined by that same mentor I learned the phrase “Jesus Is what God has to say” from: my former youth pastor and good friend, Evan Wickham. I know you’re going to be blessed to hear from Evan today. If you don’t know him, he’s a worship leader, Husband and father of 5 kids, a graduate of western seminary, and a church planting pastor who leads Park Hill Church in San Diego.
I can’t speak more highly of the guy. He’s been one of the people in my life who has challenged me and inspired me to follow Jesus the most. He’s always encouraged me to dive deep, not shy away from tough questions, and has always pointed me back to Christ. In fact, if it wasn’t for the ways he impacted me over the years, this show and ministry of GoodLion probably wouldn’t exist!
With all that said, I know you’re going to enjoy todays episode as we explore the concept of the “Word of God”, and ask who, or what, is the Word of God? We get deep. We get Biblical. I know that I learned a lot, and I hope you do too.
I hope this conversation between a teacher and his former student blesses you, encourages you, challenges you, and surprises you.
Youre listening to the GoodLion podcast






































Aaron and Brian love preaching and teaching the scriptures and helping people grow in their passion and love for Jesus and the Kingdom.
Both Aaron and Brian have spent many years preaching to youth ministries, Bible college classrooms, young adults ministries, churches, camps, and conferences.
They are as comfortable speaking to rooms of 10 as they are rooms of 500.
A big part of what we love to do at GoodLion is invite people into discussion.
We love leading discussions and Q&A after we preach to help people go deeper.
If you’d be interested in having Aaron and Brian speak at your event, please let us know!
We can be booked individually, but we love working together as a package deal, much more fun.
We don’t charge to speak. The Gospel is our mission, not our side hustle! You are free to donate an offering to support what we do, but we don’t have rates and we aren’t afraid to work for free. We only ask that our travel expenses are covered.
Note: Due to both of us having newborns, we are less likely to be open to traveling outside of our home states of Oklahoma and New Jersey in 2022, but we’d love to work with you in 2023 and beyond, and are also open to creating video content for your event, or speaking virtually at your event, big or small.