Podcasts about Abila

Welcome! Church Online is a community of people all over the experiencing God and connecting with one another like never before in history. Introduce yourself in the chat and let us know where you're from! Get Connected Check us out on Facebook, YouTube and Instagram Find a Small Group www.southpoint4u.com/groups Find out more at www.southpoint4u.com Notes: All of us are betting our lives on something No one should bet their life on “blind faith” “Believe me when I say that I am in the Father and the Father is in me; or at least believe on the evidence of the works themselves.” - John 14:11 Whatever we bet our life on needs more than emotion; it should have strong evidence Why should I trust the Bible? Myths: ● NT was written centuries later ● Bible is corrupted - many versions ● Has contradictions For what I received I passed on to you as of first importance: that Christ died for our sins according to the Scriptures, that he was buried, that he was raised on the third day according to the Scriptures, and that he appeared to Cephas, and then to the Twelve. - 1st Corinthians 15:3-8 After that, he appeared to more than five hundred of the brothers and sisters at the same time, most of whom are still living, though some have fallen asleep. Then he appeared to James, then to all the apostles, and last of all he appeared to me also, as to one abnormally born. - 1 Corinthians 15:3-8 PAUL THE APOSTLE -Martyred in 64/65 AD -Corinthians written in 55 AD -Jesus crucified in 33 AD --- That's 22 years, not centuries, later! --- Myths: ● NT was written centuries later ● Bible is corrupted - many versions ● Has contradictions Bible written in: Hebrew – Aramaic – Greek The Great Isaiah Scroll, a Dead Sea Scroll dating back to around 125 BC, is remarkably similar to the Masoretic Text, the standard Hebrew Bible, with only a few minor textual variations, confirming the accuracy of the transmission of the Book of Isaiah over a millennium. Myths: ● NT was written centuries later ● Bible is corrupted - many versions ● Has contradictions The two criminals also said cruel things to Jesus. - Matthew 27:44 One of the criminals who hung there hurled insults at him… But the other criminal rebuked him. - Luke 23:38-40 Using an unequal standard creates an unfair picture Literary Evidence Manuscript Evidence Archeological Evidence LITERARY EVIDENCE 66 different books 40+ Authors (varied backgrounds) Written on 3 different continents Written in 3 different languages Over a 1,500-year time span It's a coherent message & has thematic unity NON-CHRISTIAN HISTORICAL SOURCES: Tacitus Suetonius Josephus Pliny the Younger Lucian Talmud -Jesus lived during the time of Tiberius Caesar. -He lived a virtuous life. -He was thought to be a wonder-worker. -He had a brother named James. -He was acclaimed to be the Messiah. -He was crucified under Pontius Pilate. -An eclipse and earthquake occurred when He died. -He was crucified on the eve of the Passover. -His disciples believed He rose from the dead. -His disciples were willing to die for their beliefs. MANUSCRIPT EVIDENCE 1,000 years – 10 copies – GAELIC WARS 750 years – 7 copies – NATURAL HISTORY 500 years – 500 copies – ILIAD 50 years – 24,000 copies – NEW TESTAMENT ARCHEOLOGICAL EVIDENCE Luke: 32 countries, 54 cities, 9 islands, 0 mistakes ---------- Politarchs – city officials No reference in existing Greek literature 1st century archway with inscription “In the time of Politarchs” ----------- Lysanias the Tetrarch of Abilene (no mention) 2 Greek inscriptions from Abila dated 14-29 A.D. “Freedman of Lysanias, the Tetrarch” “It may be stated categorically that no archeological discovery has ever controverted a single biblical reference.” - Archeologist Dr. Nelson Glueck (Time Magazine Person of the Year) Believing the Bible does not require any blind faith. It has mountains of evidence that points to its trustworthiness. “A person who rejects Christ may choose to say that I do not accept it, he may not choose to say there's not enough evidence.” - Simon Greenleaf

Father Edward Looney reads and comments on The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations: From the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich.Day 131Volume 2JESUS' TEACHING MISSION IN THE COUNTRY OF GENESARETH AND ON THE BANKS OF THE JORDANChapter 18: Jesus in Abila and GadaraLEARN MORE - USE COUPON CODE ACE25 FOR 25% OFFThe Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations: From the Visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich Four-Book Set - https://bit.ly/3QVreIsThe Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ: From the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich - https://bit.ly/4bPsxRmThe Life and Revelations of Anne Catherine Emmerich Two-Book Set - https://bit.ly/3yxaLE5The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary: From the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich - https://bit.ly/3wTRsULMary Magdalen in the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich - https://bit.ly/4brYEXbThe Mystical City of God Four-Book Set - https://bit.ly/44Q9nZbOur Lady of Good Help: Prayer Book for Pilgrims - https://bit.ly/3Ke6O9SThe Life of Jesus Christ in a Year: From the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich is a podcast from TAN that takes you through one of the most extraordinary books ever published. Follow along daily as Father Edward Looney works his way through the classic four-volume set, The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations, by reading a passage from the book and then giving his commentary. Discover the visions of the famous 19th-century Catholic mystic, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, a nun who was privileged by God to behold innumerable events of biblical times.Anne Catherine's visions included the birth, life, public ministry, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, as well as the founding of His Church. Besides describing persons, places, events, and traditions in intimate detail, she also sets forth the mystical significance of these visible realities. Here is the infinite love of God incarnate and made manifest for all to see, made all the more striking and vivid by the accounts Blessed Anne has relayed.Listen and subscribe to The Life of Jesus Christ in a Year: From the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich on your favorite podcast platform or at EmmerichPodcast.com.And for more great ways to deepen your faith, check out all the spiritual resources available at TANBooks.com and use Coupon Code ACE25 for 25% off your next order.

Father Edward Looney reads and comments on The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations: From the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich.Day 130Volume 2JESUS' TEACHING MISSION IN THE COUNTRY OF GENESARETH AND ON THE BANKS OF THE JORDANChapter 18: Jesus in Abila and GadaraLEARN MORE - USE COUPON CODE ACE25 FOR 25% OFFThe Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations: From the Visions of Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich Four-Book Set - https://bit.ly/3QVreIsThe Dolorous Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ: From the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich - https://bit.ly/4bPsxRmThe Life and Revelations of Anne Catherine Emmerich Two-Book Set - https://bit.ly/3yxaLE5The Life of the Blessed Virgin Mary: From the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich - https://bit.ly/3wTRsULMary Magdalen in the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich - https://bit.ly/4brYEXbThe Mystical City of God Four-Book Set - https://bit.ly/44Q9nZbOur Lady of Good Help: Prayer Book for Pilgrims - https://bit.ly/3Ke6O9SThe Life of Jesus Christ in a Year: From the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich is a podcast from TAN that takes you through one of the most extraordinary books ever published. Follow along daily as Father Edward Looney works his way through the classic four-volume set, The Life of Jesus Christ and Biblical Revelations, by reading a passage from the book and then giving his commentary. Discover the visions of the famous 19th-century Catholic mystic, Blessed Anne Catherine Emmerich, a nun who was privileged by God to behold innumerable events of biblical times.Anne Catherine's visions included the birth, life, public ministry, Crucifixion, and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, as well as the founding of His Church. Besides describing persons, places, events, and traditions in intimate detail, she also sets forth the mystical significance of these visible realities. Here is the infinite love of God incarnate and made manifest for all to see, made all the more striking and vivid by the accounts Blessed Anne has relayed.Listen and subscribe to The Life of Jesus Christ in a Year: From the Visions of Anne Catherine Emmerich on your favorite podcast platform or at EmmerichPodcast.com.And for more great ways to deepen your faith, check out all the spiritual resources available at TANBooks.com and use Coupon Code ACE25 for 25% off your next order.

Send us a textStruggling with binge eating? You're not alone. In this eye-opening episode Dr. Orlena sits down with binge eating coach Amber Abila to uncover the truth behind this challenging habit. Discover how viewing binge eating as a brain-based habit rather than a permanent condition can transform your relationship with food. Learn practical strategies to rewire your brain, challenge harmful thought patterns, and find hope in your journey to food freedom. Whether you're battling binge eating or simply want to improve your relationship with food, this episode offers invaluable insights and compassionate guidance. Tune in to start your path towards a healthier, happier you.Connect with Amber Abila:

Ok, everybody get your scarves and mittens on because we're starting the ol' cold trudge!Perrin and his entourage leave Abila and the prophet and head back to camp where they find a tense stand off. He learns that Faile has been captured and reacts predictably.Meanwhile Faile, Alliandre, Maigdin and co are learning what it means to be taken gai'shain, in the snow, on the move. They cross paths with Therava and Sevannah, and regretably, Galina. Immediately plans are made by everyone...Let us know what we missed by using any of the social media links below!X - @BloodAndAshPodEmail - moritz@bloodandashespodcast.comYouTube - Blood and AshesFacebook - BloodAndAshesPodcastWeb - www.bloodandashespodcast.com (Now with voicemail capabilities!)Discord - Blood and Ashes (If the link doesn't work, drop me a message and I'll email you a fresh one)Merch - Blood and Ashes Merch! (If you send in some good ideas, we'll use them too!)Enjoy!Mo, Willie and Jody

There are a growing number of social entrepreneurs using technology to address a range of development challenges in Africa, from agriculture healthcare to education. But many of them say that financing is the greatest barrier to scale. At the World Economic Forum Annual Meeting 2024, Devex's Raj Kumar sat down with three social entrepreneurs: Temie Giwa-Tubosun, CEO of LifeBank, a healthcare technology and logistics company delivering critical medical supplies, Gerald Abila, founder of BarefootLaw, a non-profit in Uganda providing access to justice through technology, and Mayur Patel, chief commercial officer at M-Kopa, an asset financing platform in Africa. Their conversations point to several ways social entrepreneurs are using technology to address social challenges, as well as the crucial role financing must play in scaling their impact. "The big barriers for growth are not demand,” Patel said. “They're not the scalability of the platform, or the opportunity. The big barriers to growth are figuring out how you solve the working capital cycle.” Listen to the episode to hear more from Giwa-Tubosun, Abila, and Patel, who joined Kumar for the Davos Dispatch podcast, recorded from the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland.

As we welcome the New Year, it's the perfect time to reflect on the amazing growth and transformations we've experienced in the past year. So, I'm super excited to welcome back Amber Abila, a coach specializing in binge eating and overeating, to share her incredibly successful second year in business.In this week's episode, we'll reflect on Amber's story of transformation, where a minor setback led her to launch her group program and increase her income fivefold from the previous year. We'll talk about her marketing strategies, her approach to social media, pricing her program, and her mindset work – all contributing to making her business more enjoyable and profitable. We'll also discuss how tapping into your own intuition can benefit you in your business-building journey. Amber's story shows that staying committed to your business and receiving the right mindset coaching will pay off, because success belongs to those who just keep going. Don't miss out on this inspiring episode to kick off your own year of transformation!Welcome to the Life Coach Business Building Podcast! Join me as I teach you simple (organic) strategies to gain more paid clients in your life coaching business. Plus, I'll share strategies for designing your offer, pricing your coaching, and selling your coaching offers, I have it all covered. My goal is to inspire you to take simple, consistent action to grow your coaching business. So, if you're ready to be a well-respected life coach with paid clients, this podcast is for you!Episode details:01:38 Amber's Journey as a Binge Eating and Overeating Coach04:20 Amber's Effective Marketing Strategies and Approach to Social Media08:01 Overcoming Challenges and Launching Her Group Program16:58 The Importance of Mindset Work in Amber's Business Growth23:15 Amber's Exciting New ProjectQuotes: 10:01 - “The more I started tuning into what I wanted, the easier it became.” — Amber Abila22:25 - “There are going to be times where it sucks and it's hard and you're overwhelmed and you feel like you can't figure things out. But if you stay committed to your vision of what you want, I just think this really proves that you're going to get there eventually.” — Amber Abila

In this episode, I had an interesting conversation with my client, Amber Abila, a coach specializing in binge eating and overeating.Amber shares her story about how she helps people feel normal and regain control around food, drawing from her own personal experiences. As someone who's been through it all, Amber created a step-by-step coaching plan that incorporates mindset work to help her clients stop binge eating and overeating for good. She also talks about how the Business Building Boutique helped her map out a coaching process that fits her unique style and creativity. Amber talks about her marketing and what has been effective including her coffee chats where potential clients can come to learn in a relaxed, free, weekly Zoom training session. Don't miss out on this episode packed with wisdom and inspiration, empowering you to find your niche from within and embrace perfect timing, so you, too, can grow your own coaching business and live your best life!Welcome to the Life Coach Business Building Podcast! Join me as I teach you simple (organic) strategies to gain more paid clients in your life coaching business. From designing, pricing, and selling your coaching offers, I have it all covered. My goal is to inspire you to take simple, consistent action to grow your coaching business. So, if you're ready to be a well-respected life coach with paid clients, this podcast is for you!

It started with English Bulldogs, and then frenchies... co owning Johnny Kash with G Money, Tx Bullie Mafia! It's only up from here my guy!!! This week's guest, John Abila tells us how it all started for him!If you have any questions, comments or topics or would like to be a  part of the podcast please email us at thedawgfellaspodcast@gmail.com. Also make sure you follow us on our social media accounts to stay up to date with the podcast and our special guests and other cool things we have going on! Special Guest: John AbilaFB: John AbilaIG: @frenchkashkennelsIG: @The_DawgFellas_PodcastIG: @delaghetto_mobtie_kennelsIG: @interstate_27_frenchiesIG: @mobtiekennelsIG: @noserope_lyfeIG: @txbulliemafiaFB: The DawgFellas PodcastFB: Anthony Ray ZimmerleFB: Amito ZerrataFB: Rj MartinezFB: Gabriel Flores FB: Gabriel Tbm Villarreal

In this episode, our special guest Amber Abila discusses a topic that might be one of the biggest challenges ex-binge eaters face: overeating. Tune in this week to discover how to curb overeating once you no longer binge. Amber Abila is a Binge Eating & Overeating Coach who helps people feel normal and in control around food forever. She created The Confident Eater after many years of struggling with food herself. In this episode she covers: How to define overeating What happens when you overeat The reasons WHY you're overeating after binge eating How much “normal” eaters overeat Why overeating is actually progress How to reduce overeating after binge eating You can schedule a FREE 45-minute consultation call with her here: www.theconfidenteater.org Find her on Instagram: @theconfidenteater_ https://www.instagram.com/theconfidenteater_/

The past three years have seen radical shifts in the B2B sales landscape. From sales organizations having to go from in-person selling to virtual selling, to shifting how prospecting is done by leveraging online tools – there has been a lot to navigate. As sales leaders and sales teams have been focused on prospecting faster and more efficiently, there has been a quiet epidemic happening in the background. Getting prospective customers into the sales funnel is part of the battle, but converting them and keeping them as customers is a whole other challenge. With so many options on the market and an oversaturation of generic sales and marketing messages, the retention strategies and personalization techniques used to retain customers must also evolve. But, exactly how to prevent what one sales expert calls the “Great Customer Resignation” is the topic of this episode of the Modern Selling Podcast. I'm excited to welcome a phenomenal guest who spends quite a bit of time researching the ins and outs of customer satisfaction and retention. Craig Charlton, CEO of SugarCRM has spent over 25 years building and running high-growth businesses. Prior to joining SugarCRM in 2019, he was CEO of Oildex, a provider of financial automation software and services for the oil and gas industry, where he helped the company achieve 150% bookings growth, leading to the company's acquisition by Drillinginfo. Before joining Oildex, Craig was CEO of Abila, a provider of financial and CRM software and services to associations, nonprofit organizations, and governmental entities. Abila, which was acquired by Community Brands, grew its revenues threefold and transformed its revenue base to a subscription-based (SaaS) model over a three-year period. Prior to that, Charlton was senior vice president and general manager of Asia Pacific at Epicor Software Corporation, an industry-leading ERP solution provider, where he developed and executed the company's regional strategy, achieving consistent revenue and profit growth. Craig's insights into what B2B sales organizations should be doing to boost customer retention is why this is a must-listen-to episode! We'll dive into the recent stats from SugarCRM's Impact Report and decipher what the data tell us about what customers are looking for and how sales teams should be positioning their prospecting efforts. Download the full episode now and listen until the end to get every customer retention nugget! How Has Customer Churn Changed Since The Pandemic? As most sales leaders have seen, there have been noticeable shifts in how we are approaching and interacting with both prospects and customers. Here at Vengreso, our specialty is in helping B2B sales leaders and teams prospect better. Over the past 18 months, through our own research, we've found that 69% of sales professionals agree that prospecting is the hardest and most time-consuming part of their role. I wanted to know what Craig is seeing on the other side, once a prospect becomes a customer, and what's the current trend with customer churn. The data he shares is truly eye-opening, “Last year, the Global Research survey revealed that customer churn was costing midmarket companies $5.5 million a year. Our research, this year, shows that 58% of sales and marketing leaders say that churn has gotten worse over the last 12 months. This is now likely costing companies even more than $5.5 million a year! For every two customers coming in the door, one of them is leaving.” This is a remarkable number – $5.5 million in lost revenue! Join the conversation to hear what Craig says is really causing churn rates to explode and what sales leaders must do now to stop the bleeding. What Role Can CRMs Play in Reducing Customer Churn? As a sales evangelist by trade, I'm always curious to know what technology can do to help right the tide and get sales teams back on track. At Vengreso, we use a host of automation tools and systems to help us not only streamline how we prospect, but also to leverage key data that tells us how we can personalize each customer touchpoint. I wanted to hear Craig's perspective on what CRMs can do to mitigate this growing customer churn rate, especially since his company's findings suggest that 56% of sales organizations don't have the customer data they need to be effective. He shares three key insights: Increased visibility. CRMs can help sales leaders have a better view of what customers are likely to churn so they can proactively reach out to nurture that relationship. Improved personalization. When sales reps know what a customer needs and can tailor any communication to what's relevant to that customer – it's a win-win. A good CRM can be critical in creating highly personalized nurture, onboarding, and engagement campaigns. Better sales tracking. Without a robust CRM, it's hard to ever truly quantify how effective prospecting and marketing efforts are. According to SugarCRM's current research, some 54% of all leads are either poorly or underqualified. Having a proven CRM solution can easily identify the gaps in prospecting and sales to help reps and sales leaders figure out a better path forward. What's Holding Sales Teams Back From Keeping Customers?   This is a rather loaded question, but Craig and I dive deep into what the real solution may be. In my view, there are a host of factors at play. However, I'm a big proponent of the importance of providing world-class training to all sales reps that focuses on how to prospect with intention, personalization, and communicating value in mind. Our PVC Methodology for Prospecting outlines each one of these critical steps to engage with prospects in a way that makes them want to become customers. I have Criag walk through his ideas on the topic, “The biggest drawback to reducing customer churn is CRM adoption. Many sales teams have a CRM of some sort, but they're usually not properly trained on how to use its automation and are often unaware of the full features their CRM may offer. Sales teams should be leveraging AI as much as possible to know exactly which customers are at risk of leaving and how to best engage with them. Sadly, so many B2B sales teams aren't doing this.” Automation is a BIG productivity driver for us at Vengreso. This is why we've created THE best business productivity tool on the planet – FlyMSG. With it, sales teams (and other teams too) can reduce the time waste copying and pasting messages to customers and free up their time to focus on other strategic tasks. But, FlyMSG is just one tool we talk about. Towards the end of our conversation, Craig shares a host of actionable tools and steps sales leaders can take right now to get the most out of the CRM to instantly boost customer retention. Download the full episode to get in on this valuable insight. Want access to the full 2022 CRM Impact Report: The Great Customer Resignation and the Path Forward? Click here to download your complimentary copy.

Justyn, Sam, and James are back for our first episode of a new offseason. Random topics include: Sam brings a baby (and a beer) to record MLS Playoff Update Minnesota United Transfer Rumors? Charlotte's Expansion Draft MNUFC2 Joins MLS Next Pro Patrick Weah's Knee Reynoso Old Player News (Dawin, Abila, Christian) Pep Guardiola Forward Madison Minnesota Women's Soccer MNUFC Roster Transactions If you enjoy the podcast, we encourage you to subscribe, review, and interact with us on Twitter and Facebook @PodLoons. Pod On You Loons! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/podloons/message

Vanishing Postcards host and storyteller Evan Stern on the importance of telling the stories from the places that are off the interstate. This episode is brought to you by Brain.fm. I love and use brain.fm every day! It combines music and neuroscience to help me focus, meditate, and even sleep! Because you listen to this show, you can get a free trial.* URL: https://brain.fm/innovativemindset If you love it as much as I do, you can get 20% off with this exclusive coupon code: innovativemindset   Born during the driving rainstorm that inspired Stevie Ray Vaughan to record the classic “Texas Flood,” Evan Stern is one of a proud few who can claim Austin as his legitimate hometown. Having caught the performing bug early on, he first gained attention at age 11 with a second-place finish in Austin's famed O. Henry Pun Off, and has since graced the stages of New York's Carnegie Hall and Lincoln Center. A graduate of Sarah Lawrence College and the British American Drama Academy, whether acting Shakespeare, or charming audiences with the turn of a Cole Porter phrase, Evan is first and foremost a storyteller, with a sincere love and appreciation for history, travel and the art of raconteurship. He is now honored to return to Texas for the first season of Vanishing Postcards, an ambitious project that represents a synthesis of these passions through the form of audio essay. Vanishing Postcards is a documentary travelogue in which listeners are invited on a road trip exploring the hidden dives, traditions, and frequently threatened histories that can be discovered by exiting the interstates. Named one of the Best Podcasts of 2021 by Digital Trends. Connect with Evan IG - @vanishing_postcards IG - @evansternnyc Podcast- https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/vanishing-postcards/id1544610020 Episode Transcript [00:00:00] Evan Stern: It's hard for me to really latch on one specific lesson that I have gained, but I do believe that. Everybody wants, ultimately wants to be heard. [00:00:18] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Hello and welcome to the innovative mindset podcast. I'm your host Izolda Trakhtenberg on the show. I interview peak performing innovators in the creative social impact and earth conservation spaces or working to change the world. This episode is brought to you by brain FM brain FM combines the best of music and neuroscience to help you relax, focus, meditate, and even sleep. [00:00:39] I love it and have been using it to write, create and do. Deepest work because you're a listener of the show. You can get a free trial head over to brain.fm/innovative mindset to check it out. If you decide to subscribe, you can get 20% off with the coupon code, innovative mindset, all one word. And now let's get to the show. [00:00:58] Yeah.[00:01:00] [00:01:02] Hey there. And welcome to the innovative mindset podcast. My name is Izolda Trakhtenberg. I'm your host, and I'm super thrilled that you're here. I'm also really excited and thrilled to talk about and meet this week's guest. Listen to this. Evan stern was born during the driving rainstorm that inspired Stevie Ray Vaughn to record the class. [00:01:22] Texas flood. I love that Evan stern is one of a proud few who can claim Austin. S's legitimate hometown that's the town is growing. So, wow. That's amazing how few people probably are from there. Having caught the performing bug early on. He first gained attention at age 11 with a second place finish in Austin's famed. [00:01:43] Oh, Henry punt off. And it says grace, the stages of new York's Carnegie hall and Lincoln center, a graduate of Sarah Lawrence college. American drama academy. Wow. Whether acting Shakespeare or charming audiences with the turn of a Cole Porter phrase, Evan is first and foremost, a storyteller, and [00:02:00] you know how close that is to my heart. [00:02:02] He's got a sincere love and appreciation for history travel and the art of a wreck on tour ship. He's now honored to return to Texas for the first season of vanishing postcards and ambitious project that represents a synthesis of these passions through the form of audio essay. Vanishing postcards is a documentary travel log in which listeners are invited on a road trip, exploring the hidden dives, traditions, and frequently threatened histories that can be discovered by exiting the interstates named one of the best podcasts of 2021 by digital trends, evidence here to talk about banishing postcards and everything else. [00:02:37] So amazing that he's doing Evan. Thank you so much for being there. Show welcome. [00:02:41] Evan Stern: Thank you so much for having me. It's a great honor. Oh, [00:02:44] Izolda Trakhtenberg: you're very sweet. So I I'm, this is such an exciting thing. Delving into the history of Texas. First of all, into the, into the storytellers of Texas into the dives and the honky-tonks of Texas as a travel log.[00:03:00] [00:03:00] But as a podcast, what, what inspired you to do this? What inspired you to go? You know what? I'm going to create this travel log. And I'm going to make it about my home state. What happened that you went, yes, I want to do this. [00:03:13] Evan Stern: Well, it was, it, it wasn't as if there was a lightning bolt of inspiration. It was a very kind of slow gradual process. [00:03:21] Um, and, and you told me, you know, a few years ago that right now I'd be working on a podcast. Um, you know, I might've said really. Um, but like, like so many though, I am one of those people who over the last 10 years just absolutely fell in love. Podcasting, um, and the, um, audio medium of storytelling, I think kind of the gateway drug for me, um, was years ago, I started listening to the moth, you know, just people getting up and telling personal stories without notes. [00:03:52] I, I just absolutely loved it. Um, then you start discovering, um, other programs, you know, like the, the kitchen [00:04:00] sisters and, and, and, and there's, you know, different, different stuff. I mean, there, there's a wonderful podcast about classic Hollywood called you must remember this. There's one about country music called cocaine and rhinestones, um, and around, and, you know, not too long ago as well. [00:04:18] Um, you know, the YouTube algorithm, uh, kept suggesting for whatever reason that I watched these, uh, travel blog, travel blog videos, and in watching them, I would never really see the way that I enjoy traveling represented. Um, I mean, certainly it's not always the case, but I think more often than not, when you, when you see videos of that nature, it's much less about the places themselves. [00:04:45] It's much more about the people saying, oh, look at me and how cute I am in this place. Um, and I just kind of gradually started thinking, you know, I wonder if there is something that, uh, that, that I can do. [00:05:00] Um, and initially I had this grand idea. That I wanted to do a show that was going to be a musical travel log of Mexico. [00:05:09] Um, you know, I'm, I'm immersed in the gig economy in New York, and I always try my best to get away January February just to, to escape the, the bitter cold of the winter. And, um, you know, Mexico is my happy place. It's, it's cheap, it's warm. Um, and so I initially had this idea that I was going to go, uh, kind of explore, use music as a portal to exploring the cultural, regional history of Mexico. [00:05:36] I was going to go to Vera Cruz that was going to where the tradition of, you know, and one a Watteau and, um, you know, in Monterey and the north. And I went so far as to, uh, produce a pilot episode, um, in Marietta Yucatan, um, about the tradition of the trophies that they have there. And it's one thing to, you know, when you're running an event, [00:06:00] Um, you know, you're thinking to yourself, oh my goodness, this is just going to be the best thing ever. [00:06:05] This is going to be amazing. And then you sit down and you listen to what you have spent months working on and you go, oh my goodness, I have missed the mark. So terribly. Um, it was a perfect lesson in show. Don't tell, I mean, w what happened was, is I talked all about the city of Marietta. It's about its history, this, that, and the other, but you didn't actually, um, when, when you were listening to it, I also learned pretty quickly that the, the human voice has such terrific color, shade, and nuance to it. [00:06:37] That if you have an actor come in, um, to a dub over, uh, you know, what was said in English, you just, you just lose so much. Um, and I realized pretty quickly that I needed to learn much more about audio production before tackling a project of that ambitious nature. And so I started thinking to myself, well, you know what. [00:06:59] Might [00:07:00] not be as exotic as Mexico, but if there's one thing I know it's that Texas people love to talk and they tell great stories. So in January of 2020, um, grab some equipments. Um, and I went back down to Texas to see what I could do. Um, really, it was just, uh, going to be kind of an experiment. Um, but it very quickly evolved into vanishing postcards. [00:07:26] Um, what happened was, is I took a look at what I was doing, um, and I realized that each episode was a snapshot of a different place. And if there was a thing that the place has had in common it's that you didn't know how much longer a lot of them were going to be around or that they were representative of broader cultural histories or traditions that. [00:07:52] You know, you, you just, they're kind of rare, um, in, in this kind of fast paced rapidly homogenizing [00:08:00] world. Um, and, um, since then it, it became, it it's, it's been an incredibly rewarding journey. Um, you know, as I maybe referenced earlier in, in many ways, it is kind of a 180 from a lot of the work I've previously done at the, at the same time. [00:08:17] Um, I feel that all of that work really kind of beautifully prepared me for it. Um, and having embarked on this journey, um, I ended up covering like about 1500 miles of, of Texas and, um, having embarked on this journey as a solo traveler, um, I'm now really grateful that the series is out in the world. Um, and I can invite, uh, you know, people like you and listeners really around the world, uh, to, to join me now and experience, uh, everything that I got to do. [00:08:49] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Wow. That's amazing. And it's incredible to me, what you just said about how you took everything that you had learned up until that [00:09:00] point and reframed it and repurposed it almost into this, this way of looking at your home state. And yet it is both technical and it takes a lot of artistry. And I'm wondering what, in, as part of, as part of doing this project, what did you learn? [00:09:21] What was the thing that stood out for you that you learned maybe about yourself or about the people in your state or about the places? What was the biggest thing you learned and how did it change you? [00:09:31] Evan Stern: Well, there's a lot, I mean, it's hard to, for me to really latch on one specific lesson that I have gained. [00:09:38] Um, but I do believe that. Everybody wants, ultimately wants to be heard. They, they really do. Um, and I mean, people often ask me, you know, w w w w when I first started doing this, it was, it was in January, 2020. It was before the pandemic hit. Obviously the pandemic changed, um, a [00:10:00] lot of what I could do. Um, but I was really the first episodes that you'll hear in the series. [00:10:05] I was really just kind of showing up at these places completely unannounced. Um, they really had no idea, um, that I was going to be there. Um, and it, it, people ask me, you know, did you meet resistance? We'll we'll really know. Um, everyone was, was intrigued. And for the most part, people were so honored that, you know, someone like me was taking an interest in their work, their place, uh, what they were doing. [00:10:35] Um, and I don't think too, I mean, Someone recently asked me too, that, that when they, you know, listen to the, to the series, you know, that, you know, they, they feel as if I'm able to, you know, extract these, these stories. And they said, well, how, how do you, how do you make this magic happen? And, well, the truth is is that you, you can't, um, there is nothing that you can do to you. [00:10:59] You never [00:11:00] really know what is is going to happen. Um, but the stories, if you just, if you start talking to people, um, you approach them with respect, empathy, and a willingness to listen. Um, and you ask them specific questions. Um, you just, you, you never know what you're going to. Um, and something that I tell anyone who's maybe interested in doing something like this. [00:11:29] Um, I will say that if you do want to, you know, get stories, you do want to ask people specific questions. Um, I would never go up to someone and just say, tell me about yourself. Um, I might say, um, before we get started, could you maybe describe for me your childhood home, you know, something like that. And, um, that really kind of opens up the door and we just kind of take things from there. [00:11:51] Yeah. [00:11:56] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Sorry. I'm taking all of that in. I like to take a pause to make sure [00:12:00] that I've, that I've understood everything. One of the things that I heard you say that really struck a chord with me was that it's about listening. And the other thing of course was asking those specific questions and. Were there any, and if so, what are they techniques that you use specifically as a, as a performer to help you with that part of it? [00:12:26] Evan Stern: Well, you know, I honestly, I think that, um, as I said so much of my experience, um, leading PR prepared me in, in leading up to this, um, and a big job that I've had for a number of years here in the city is it's a very, it's a very strange job. Um, I work as a, what is called a standardized patient, um, that is the medical schools, programs, hire actors to facilitate simulations [00:13:00] for, uh, medical interns and students. [00:13:03] Um, I have played all sorts of different cases. You'd never believe. I mean, they've had to diagnose me. I've been the graphic designer they've had to diagnose with cancer. Um, I have, uh, you know, I, I I've been the 19 year old crack addict who suffered a panic attack. You name it. I've I've had it. Um, but I have learned so much in, in working with these students in terms of how they build rapport and what works and what doesn't. [00:13:34] Um, I think it's amazing. How many people, uh, it can be applied to interview situations, whatever, um, you know, you give someone a microphone. Sometimes they just kind of become a completely different person. You know, they think that every question, you know, has to be probing and every question, you know, has to have weight, but you really just have to remember how you talk to people in your [00:14:00] everyday life. [00:14:02] You know, how do you introduce yourself to a stranger? Um, you know, you're just going to start talking to people, um, and you know, you, you read their body language and you, you really just it's about establishing trust. Um, and it, and I feel that people understand that. I don't think of myself as a journalist. [00:14:30] Um, I'll be the first to say that I think of myself as more of an essayist. I really think that a journalist job is to investigate a journalist job is to probe. I'm not really there to do that. I'm really there just to, you know, kind of have a conversation and, and enjoy the ride and see where that ride takes. [00:14:49] You know, I'm not, if someone tells me a tall tale, um, I'm not going to fact check that story. Um, but I think that people recognize [00:15:00] that. Um, and you know, I just think that, um, just, just really, like I said, just, just remembering how we relate to one another, uh, every day is, is just crucial. [00:15:15] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Yeah, you're talking. I mean, as you're talking, I'm going, he's, he's talking about integrity and authenticity, and those words are abandoned about aura a lot nowadays, but it really, it seems to me that that's, that that's what you, that, that that's what, what you were using, you know, using who you, who you were authentically to meet these people. [00:15:37] And I know you said that people asked you if you, if you met resistance, I'm wondering what was the most wild story you heard? [00:15:46] Evan Stern: Goodness. Oh, man, there, there were, there was, uh, so, so there's this teeny town called Castile, Texas that sits on the Western edge of the, uh, [00:16:00] the hill country. It's absolutely beautiful, very isolated. [00:16:04] The town has a population of six and, um, I don't even know if he's really there, mayor, I don't know if they actually have a mayor, but you know, the, the big local personality is Randy Love. Festi, uh, he's the owner of the Castille store. Um, I'll be releasing his episode in a, in a few weeks. Um, but, uh, when I was there, he told me that, uh, he had, uh, he, he, he, he took a trip to Cabo San Lucas with his girlfriend. [00:16:36] Uh, they saw this, uh, chicken in a bar and he said, you know what, I need a chicken for the store. So, um, you know, he bought this, uh, roof. For the store. And, um, he had this, uh, Billy Bass that was like, you know, one of those electronic things, you know, you clap your hands in the best wiggles. Well, um, one day as he tells [00:17:00] me, he looks over and, um, this rooster is having sexual relations with that bass. [00:17:05] So this thing he tells me became this huge sensation where people from all over the place started coming to town to see his rooster perform, you know, 12 times a day. And he was able to, uh, make hundreds of thousands of dollars in real estate deals that he was able to sell to the people who came through the store because of that rooster. [00:17:27] And then he proudly led me into the store where he showed me this. He, you know, he, he called the rooster cockroach. Yeah, and the rooster died. And after the rooster died, he had that. He took him to the taxidermists and, um, had him, uh, mounted and placed on top of his good friend, Billy the bass. And I've seen a lot of taxidermy in my day. [00:17:51] I don't think I have ever seen a stuffed rooster and I have certainly never seen a row stuffed rooster on top of a Billy Bass. I'll [00:18:00] tell you that right now. [00:18:02] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Wow. That is. Tall tale for sure. [00:18:10] Oh my goodness. I uh, wow. Yeah, yeah. I don't even, I'm like, whatever. How do I follow that up? I think, I don't [00:18:21] know. I did. I did, because you know, the thing, the thing about this is that anytime we tell stories or listen to stories, I think we're changed by them even if, even if it's, oh, that's just the most ridiculous thing I've ever heard. Your experience of life is, is, is changed in some way or another. So I guess I'm wondering, how have you been changed by doing this project? [00:18:45] Evan Stern: Well, It's in many ways, it's been a dive into the unknown, as I said, it's, it's very, it was all very new for me in the beginning. Um, I had to do a lot of learning and [00:19:00] I re I really had to put myself out there. Um, it definitely, um, tested the boundaries of my comfort, um, in a lot of ways. Um, you know, you really just have to, as I said earlier, you have to go up out there and just start talking to people. [00:19:16] Um, and I usually found that I was way more nervous than the people I was talking to. And, um, I was talking to someone else about this, um, experience. Someone said, and, you know, she asked me, she was like, well, how do you, where does that confidence come from? Where do you get that confidence? And I said, well, you know what? [00:19:36] I, I, I think I've discovered that confidence is kind of overrated. Um, because you can't just read a book or, you know, attend a three-day workshop, whatever, and magically have confidence. It just doesn't happen that way. Confidence happens as a result of experience. Um, it happens as a result of mistakes. Um, and, [00:20:00] um, I think. [00:20:02] I heard somewhere that, you know, what heroic act doesn't involve, just huge levels of vulnerability. Um, and so I, I think I have definitely grown in confidence as a result of all of this, but that really, uh, just is a by-product of, of the work itself and everything that, you know, has been asked of me to, to rise to this challenge [00:20:36] Izolda Trakhtenberg: and that in itself, the, the skills you've built, the ideas that you've gotten and, and brought to fruition is a big part of the change I would imagine. And I love, I'd love to discuss a little bit as you talk about this, what is the process? What was the creative process that goes in to making an episode to crafting vanishing posts? [00:20:59] Evan Stern: Absolutely. [00:21:00] So each, you know, obviously I do have each episode does have a subject that I am interested in delving into. Um, there are people that I want to meet, just so you know, so basically, um, a bit more about the show itself for, for those listening out there. So essentially listeners are invited to join me on a road trip. [00:21:23] And so each episode is produced in documentary style. So, you know, you're going to hear a lot of, it's not, you know, interview, it's not talk show, you're going to hear a lot of different voices. Um, you're going to hear some of my narration, um, and I really work hard to make it an immersive listening experience for those who, who are hearing the episodes. [00:21:49] Um, but basically the, the way that I constructed is, um, there are. And, uh, as I said, you know, each episode, there are certain issues that, that I'm looking at. [00:22:00] Um, and so I just go, I, I talk to people, um, and I assemble a number of interviews at the, at the places that I go to. Um, you know, I try to talk to the, uh, the owners. [00:22:14] I try to talk to the workers. I try to talk to the people who go to these places. Um, you're going to ask all of those people different questions. Um, but you're also, I think there, you know, you also want to, there are also some specific questions that I will ask all of them. Um, and then what I do is I, I come back home and I listened to all of the, um, I listened to all of the interviews and I extract, you know, the, the gold from each person I speak with, you know, I could very well talk to someone for like an hour out of that hour conversation. [00:22:51] I might just take, you know, Three minutes worth of, of nuggets or whatnot. Um, and then I, you know, I, I look at [00:23:00] everything that I have and I stepped back and I, I just kind of look for it, you know, that, what, what, what, what, what are the commonalities, what, what do people keep coming back to, you know, are there opposing views? [00:23:15] Um, and from there, I, I just kind of take these nuggets and I weave together a story out of all of that. Um, I really let my subjects kind of guide the way that the, the story moves and goes. Um, the, the most challenging job for me is in the writing process of pasting it all together. Um, everything has to have I learned, you know, for years, I, you know, I've, I've. [00:23:45] Did a lot of performing in the cabaret world. Um, and you know, even if you're just putting together a show, that's, that's really kind of, you know, a series of songs, what is said in between those songs is every bit as [00:24:00] important as the songs themselves and everything has to have architecture and a beginning, middle and an end. [00:24:06] Um, so the, the greatest challenge for me is about how I can link everything together, um, in the narration as part of a cohesive whole, um, you know, I think, but each episode, uh, you know, I, I never, totally, there are always things that I want to focus on, but you just never totally know where it's going to go. [00:24:27] And before each one, um, I always ask my God, is this going to work? Um, but some so far it's worked out okay, [00:24:38] Izolda Trakhtenberg: That moment of, oh, what if this is going to be a complete disaster? I know it well. Um, and it's, I'm so fascinated by what you're saying with respect to the storytelling, the beginning, middle and end, and the sort of the patter between songs in, in, in a cabaret show, all of, all of those things, those elements [00:25:00] of storytelling, what do you think is the result? [00:25:06] What is the most crucial thing to put into it? And what is the result? How do you, when do you feel like yes, it has worked as opposed to, oh, it's going to be a disaster. [00:25:16] Evan Stern: Well, as I said earlier, again, the most important thing is, is show don't tell, um, and what, what, what is always best for me is I try not to. [00:25:34] I try not to express too much in the way of, of opinion. Um, what, what is really magical though, is just when you have, when you're talking to someone and, you know, whether they realize it or not, they, they share and tell a story that just kind of beautifully encapsulates everything, you know, that, that just really explains the issue [00:26:00] without it, you know, at that point, the work for you is, is really done. [00:26:05] Um, but you know, kind of an example of, of something that, you know, I, I did that, that was a challenge, um, was, you know, I have an episode that's coming out in a bit where. I took a trip first to, to Brownsville, Texas, where I spoke with this man who is the last, uh, cook in the United States who was allowed to serve a barbacoa cooked barbacoa, as it was meant to be prepared, which means it's, it's cooked in a pit under the ground. [00:26:37] Um, and that's what he does. He, he, he's serving barbacoa out of what had been his childhood home. Um, there's a pit out back that's in the ground and, you know, that's where he cooks it. The reason that he's allowed to do it is because his father started it in 1956 and it's been going on for this long. And so I focused on him and I did a segment on him. [00:26:57] And then I went to San [00:27:00] Antonio and I, um, you know, met a cook there who, you know, talked about cooking up puffy tacos. And, um, it ended up, you know, she, her story went in a completely different direction. Um, I mean, her mother. Started this business out of, uh, out of a garage because it was her last hope. Um, she was an incredible woman, a revered figure in San Antonio, um, who, you know, was shockingly murdered. [00:27:28] Um, and she talked all about that and, and, and everything. And, and then, and how she like found forgiveness and was being able to move beyond and, you know, everything that her, how her mother prepared her and how her mother expressed love through, through cooking. And, um, I realized that, you know, on, on the surface, you know, these two stories, yes, they were about cooking, but they were very, very different. [00:27:55] But what, what is it that they had in common? I realized that, you know, [00:28:00] through their cooking, they were both expressing love. And for me, and that's how I brought the two together. [00:28:14] Izolda Trakhtenberg: I'm still thinking, sorry, it's a beautiful, uh, yeah. That notion of, um, cooking and, and healing through cooking and expressing love through cooking, but also expressing love for, I guess, the, the heritage and the inspiration for what they did is so important. And I'm wondering if you have someone or figures or people in, in your world. [00:28:45] Hoo hoo hoo. Does that for you? Who inspired you to do this? And if so, is it that same love, it sounds weird to say love connection, but is that connection one of love and respect? What [00:29:00] is it about the people or the images or, or the ideas that inspired you that comes from that place? [00:29:11] Oh, no you're [00:29:11] Evan Stern: thinking. Oh, no, of course, absolutely. I mean, [00:29:20] There. I mean, who can you say, can you just rephrase the question in a simple, in a simple one sentence in a simple one sentence for me? Can you say, say what you're getting at [00:29:30] Izolda Trakhtenberg: again here? Sure. I'm just wondering who inspired you throughout the journey? Are there any public figures or is there anybody in Texas? [00:29:37] Are there any people who made you go, ah, this is what I want. Well, [00:29:41] Evan Stern: what I can say is that if, if there is a bar that I am always working towards, you know, never, never met him personally. Um, but I am old enough to remember growing up on CVS. There was a man by the name of Charles Kuralt who would travel the [00:30:00] country and he would really just kind of share good news is, is what he was, is what he was doing. [00:30:07] And he. He, he never expressed anything in, in terms of, in, in, in showing these stories, he was able to present, you know, the best of people without really expressing anything in the way of judgment. And there are many situations throughout this process where I have asked myself, what would Charles Kuralt do? [00:30:32] Hmm. Um, and you know, I, I don't mean to, I'm not trying to compare myself to Charles Caroll. Um, in the least, you know, I have much more work to do, you know, before I feel like I can get people called him the Walt Whitman of American television. Um, but I can tell you that that is the bar that I am always working towards. [00:30:56] Um, and the greatest compliments that I have received, [00:31:00] um, you know, or when people have heard this series and said, oh, you know what, this reminds me of Charles Perrault. [00:31:08] Izolda Trakhtenberg: That's lovely. And I remember Charles Caroll also on like, uh, CBS Sunday morning or something like that. Yeah, yeah. Yeah. His stories were all, you know, when, uh, you were mentioning the idea of love and heart. [00:31:20] That's what I remember thinking about his stories was that they were always full of such quiet soul and heart. They didn't have to be huge stories, but they were, they always left me feeling better and always gave me something to think about. Well, yeah, [00:31:38] Evan Stern: go on. Go on. No, no, no, go ahead. Go ahead. Well, and I do believe that there is a great void of that when you look at our media landscape right now, and th there, there really is. [00:31:48] Um, we live in a horribly polarized, horribly divided age. Um, I, I do not believe that anything that we have lived through over the [00:32:00] last five, six years should be normalized. I will be the first to say that, um, But I do believe that, you know, the, the issues that we are wrestling with right now as a nation, uh, in the divisions that we're dealing with in terms of politics and race are completely unsustainable. [00:32:20] But at the same time, I do think that there is more that we have in common than what we've realized. And I do think that culture right now is one of those rare areas of agreement. And what this show is about celebrating is that culture, um, you know, culture provides opportunity for shared experiences and you know, that that's really kind of what I'm getting at with, with all of this. [00:32:53] Um, and, and additionally too, I mean, how can we expect for people in [00:33:00] our rural communities to appreciate what is good and beautiful about places like New York city or San Francisco, or even Austin for that matter, if we cannot appreciate what is good and beautiful about them, [00:33:22] Izolda Trakhtenberg: from what you just said, it feels like there's a sort of a, through the looking glass aspect to your show that you're inviting people to go on a journey with you to, to see these places or to listen to these, to these stories and to hear about them. When you do that, when you're in that space of inviting people on a journey, how do you decide which stories are the ones that are important to tell. [00:33:52] Evan Stern: Well, something that's important to me. Is that so often when we think about art and [00:34:00] culture, I mean, we think about palaces of civilization, like the mat, the British museum, the, the loop, but the truth is that art and culture is everywhere. And oftentimes some of the best of it comes from places that you're just not going to read about in glossy magazines. [00:34:20] You're not going to see about these places on Instagram. And it's really about exploring that, you know, Detroit gave us Motown, Clarksdale, Mississippi gave us the blues. Um, and, and for me, it's really kind of about seeking these, these places out. You know, if you read a, you know, if you read like a tourist guide book about Texas, they're going to tell you to go to the Alamo. [00:34:49] They're going to tell you to go to the river walk, do this, do that. Um, There's so much more to that. I mean, I had the [00:35:00] great honor of visiting a town called San Benito, um, which is about, you know, 15, 18 miles north of the border. Um, and you know, th this is, you know, if you look at this country, um, you know, the real Grandy valley, um, is just statistically, one of the, the poor regions, you know, there's been a lot. [00:35:21] Um, you know, uh, D population, you know, flight, whatnot, but this town of San Benito, um, was responsible for giving birth to the movement of music. Um, which is an incredible genre. Basically what happened is the, uh, the Mexican laborers down in south Texas, um, heard the music that was brought to the area by the checks, the Germans, they heard the Pocus, they heard the accordions, um, and they, they took that accordion music. [00:35:51] They took those polkas and they added their own lyrics and Spanish to them. They threw in guitar and they created this whole entire genre [00:36:00] of music. And, um, w w the story there is, is, is I knew that I wanted to. To do a piece, you know, on the border, you hear about the border a lot, um, in the news right now, but what is always lost in the noise surrounding all of that is the culture and the people who actually exist there. [00:36:19] Um, and I thought that kahuna really kind of provided a terrific, uh, opportunity just to explore kind of the beautiful th the, the beauty that exists there. And I heard that there was this museum in this town called the Texas kahuna music hall of fame. So I sent a message on Facebook. Um, I I'd heard that, uh, it was founded and owned by a man by the name of Ray Abila. [00:36:42] And a little while later, I got a call from his son, turned out, uh, that Mr. Abila, his father had died about seven months prior, but that if I wanted to go, um, visit the museum, that they would be honored to have me and I showed up. This museum, the small town in [00:37:00] Texas and the entire family was there because they wanted for me to know about their father. [00:37:07] Um, they wanted me to know about Cancun . Um, they found a, the president of a record label who specializes in this music so that he could be there with us too. And they had such pride and joy in, in sharing. And an honor that someone took the time to visit a place like, like San Benito. Um, it is an experience I will always treasure and never forget. [00:37:34] Izolda Trakhtenberg: That is so lovely. And I'm so glad that you got to tell that to, to tell that story, to show, to show, to sort of open the window, if you will, into San Benito and into this music. And I'm wondering something, this is a little off topic, but do you know who Alan Lomax was? I [00:37:54] Evan Stern: have heard the name. Um, please refresh my memory. [00:37:57] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Sure, sure. So he was an [00:38:00] ethnomusicologist and what he did with his whole career for 50 years, he traveled the world and he recorded music. And when video came along, video of mew, indigenous music, wherever he was, he tried to find the music from that place. And, uh, and there, when I worked at the national geographic site in many moons ago, he came over and he was like, Hey, I would love to put together a library that didn't happen with the geographic, but his daughter, after his death put up a website and there is a website that you can go and, uh, sort of see the music from anywhere. [00:38:35] You can hear the music from anywhere, you just type it in. And if it's there, if they got a recording of it, you'll be able to hear it. And so I'm wondering for posterity, what is your. W w w this library, if you will, that you're creating this travel log that you're creating in my mind, Alan Lomax, his version of it is providing us access to music from all [00:39:00] over the world that is, that could be lost. [00:39:03] And I'm wondering, what do you, what is your feeling about that with the stories that you're telling you mentioned earlier that these that's, their survival is not certain the different traditions and the, and even the, the, you know, the honky-tonks the places themselves, what are you going for here? What is your long-term vision for vanishing postcard? [00:39:24] Evan Stern: Well, so yes, so I'm collecting oral history and I, I think it is really important that we do have a record of it. Um, I think in some ways, uh, this is something perhaps of a bit of a call to arms. Um, you know, I, I want to say it's about shining a light on, you know, what is, what is still, what is still there. [00:39:47] Um, but we can still go to, but as I said, you know, some of this stuff might not be around for too much longer, so it's, it's really kind of about drawing attention to it so that we can preserve it. Um, you know, I look at my [00:40:00] hometown of Austin. Texas as a whole. Um, it is, it is changing at rapid pace. I don't think that change is something to be feared. [00:40:09] Um, in, in many ways I think it is something that, um, should be embraced, but we have to change and grow responsibly. Um, we have to ask, you know, why, w w what is it that people like about Austin? What is it about Texas that draws people there? Why do people keep coming? Um, and I do think that it is it's culture, and I believe that we, as a society need to do a lot more to protect the culture that surrounds us. [00:40:36] I mean, th th most of the places that I spotlight are small businesses and. You know, whenever a small business closes that, you know, has a great history behind it or fondness to it, you'll have all of these people come out of the woodwork saying, oh my goodness, this is horrible. This is the worst thing ever. [00:40:54] But my question always is, well, when was the last time you, you actually went there? Um, [00:41:00] I mean, it's really exhausting. It's a lot of hard work, um, to, to keep these places going. And if people get tired or they aren't making ends meet you, you can't blame them. Um, and this is an issue that you see happening in New York. [00:41:14] It's an issue you see happening in Texas, California, London, name it it's happening. Um, and so I do think that. You know, th th hopefully this series kind of makes people think, uh, a bit more about that. Um, and long-term, it is my hope, uh, that I can expand the map beyond Texas because, um, the, the issues that I feel are explored in this series are truly universal. [00:41:44] In fact, if you look at the analytics, um, most people tuning in and listening right now are actually listening from outside of Texas. Um, and so I think it's important to, uh, you know, I want to expand the map [00:42:00] and, um, you know, if I can do a part to draw attention to, you know, the, the, the beauty of a meal, American culture that surrounds us, um, you know, that's kind of what my goal is. [00:42:16] Izolda Trakhtenberg: And it's a great goal. And I'm so glad that you said that you eventually, cause that was going to be, my next question was, do you want to take it outside of Texas? And I mean, Texas covering Texas can be a lifetime's work cause it's such a big place with such a varied set of, of uh, peoples and cultures. [00:42:32] And yet I love the notion of, of that, what you said, finding those small businesses, finding those people, who aren't, the ones trumpeting themselves and giving them a chance to, to shine. I think that's amazing and wonderful that you're doing that. And I love the notion. And if you could. What would you go next? [00:42:53] Evan Stern: Uh, well, I, I have a dream. I would love to drive route 66 from Oklahoma to [00:43:00] California, and I would love to collect stories and oral histories along the way. Um, I think that route 66, so much of why, um, it kind of occupies this mythic status, um, is because of the timing. Um, you know, there were other highways that were built before or after there were larger ones. [00:43:19] Um, but I think, you know, if you journey route 60, I've never done it, but I, I have to think that if you drive route 66, I mean, you were following in the steps of the, the Okies who migrated to California because of the dust bowl and the great depression. Um, it was an incredible artery during world war II. [00:43:38] So there's that history as well. Um, then it kind of. You know, in encapsulates that golden age of American travel and in the late forties and fifties, then it was decommissioned. And, you know, there was a lot of abandonment that happened and kind of, what does that say? Um, you know, about the American dream, you [00:44:00] know, it was it, uh, and, and so there's a lot that I would like to explore and taking that journey, um, beyond that, I would also love to take a trip to Mississippi sometime, uh, something that fascinates me about Mississippi. [00:44:11] I think, um, the, the writer really Maura said that Mississippi is America's Ireland. Um, if you look at it, it has produced the most incredible Canon of just literary lions, um, William Fox. Um, Richard Wright, Eudora, Welty. Um, they were all Mississippians and Mississippi continues to produce an incredible writers there. [00:44:36] There's a wonderful storytelling tradition attached to Mississippi. Um, and I would love to see, uh, what, what I could get there. [00:44:47] Izolda Trakhtenberg: I love it. I think that's amazing. First of all, I'd driven along 66 and you will, you will love it. Love it, love it. And, uh, you know, Mississippi and the south in general [00:45:00] has a rich storytelling culture. I have every time I spend time in Alabama, Mississippi, Georgia, Florida, that, that part of the country there, if you, if you set a spell, you will, you will get amazing stories. [00:45:16] And often you don't, it doesn't take a lot of prompting. So I'm I'm you said earlier that, that it's just about sort of talking to people the way you would talk to them. The, I guess the question is, have you had people who just say Nope, Nope. Not doing it. And if so, what have you done if that particular story is important to you or do you just move on to the next person? [00:45:38] Oh, [00:45:38] Evan Stern: absolutely. Well, there, there is. Um, you know, so the. The third episode that you'll hear in the series. Um, I did at a honky-tonk called arche blue, silver dollar, um, in this town called Bandera, Texas. Um, it's a fantastic place. Um, again, it was pre pandemic. Um, so, you know, I showed up there unannounced and I really wanted to [00:46:00] talk to, uh, archi blue. [00:46:01] He's he's the owner, he's in his eighties. He performs there every Saturday night. Um, I thought, you know, th this guy is a legend. I've got to talk to him, got to talk to him. He wanted absolutely nothing to do with it. Wouldn't give me an inch refuse to let me record him. Um, and you know, he was cordial when I talked to him, we're talking, you know, you're one word answers, you try everything. [00:46:24] Um, but what happened is, is, uh, every, I, I talked to everyone. That I could find around him and everybody had a story about archi that they wanted to share and, um, what resulted in. And so his refusal became part of the story itself. Um, but in talking to everyone who knew and loved him and had stories to share about him, you really got a terrific, uh, portrait that wouldn't have existed. [00:46:56] Otherwise that that I think is entirely charming. [00:47:00] Um, and when that happened, I had to remind myself that one of my very, very favorite, um, essays of all time, uh, was written by, uh, gates Elise. Um, in 1965, he was given an assignment to interview Frank Sinatra for Esquire magazine and Frank Sinatra completely refused to talk to him. [00:47:23] Um, but what he ended up doing was he interviewed all the hangers on everyone in his, his entourage. And, uh, to this day, people say that it is the most realistic. Portrait of Frank Sinatra that has ever been captured. Um, and so I would recommend to anyone who finds themselves in that position to think of that story and, you know, maybe read that story, uh, because that's something that I draw tremendous inspiration from.[00:48:00] [00:48:03] Izolda Trakhtenberg: It's so interesting. I have a friend who, uh, who's a PR expert and she talks about the difference between marketing and PR Gloria, Charles, her name. And she says marketing is when you come to people and you say, Hey, I'm great. But PR is when someone else goes, you know what? That person they're great. And as long as it's someone you trust, it weighs more than if the person is trumping again themselves, you know? [00:48:31] And so there's something to what you said that kind of reminded me of that, that notion of the other people around Frank Sinatra or, or, or archi, uh, being the ones who tell their tale. And I, I guess I'm wondering within that, I've asked you about the wildest, what is the story that has touched you the most? [00:48:55] The one that made you go, ah, wow. I had no [00:49:00] idea. [00:49:02] Evan Stern: Well, for me, the, the episode that, that, that has the most personal heart for me, um, is, is the second one. What happened is I went to this dance hall. Um, I, I, I knew that I wanted to do a piece on dance halls. Um, in, in Texas, you know, everyone always talks, always writes about Greenhall or Lukin Bach. [00:49:27] You know, those are the big dance halls, but there are many, many, many more others out there. And there was one I discovered that I'd never been to called SEF Shaq hall. It's in this teeny community, um, called Seton, Texas. It's about eight miles outside of a town called temple. It's a community of about 40 people. [00:49:48] And, um, and there's this old dance hall there called SEF shuck hall. That is pretty much trapped in time. Um, by most accounts, it is now the oldest, [00:50:00] um, family run dance hall in Texas. You know, it's a family that, that owns it. This family has, has always owned and run it. And, um, I went there and I wanted to talk to its owner, Alice, who is 89 years old. [00:50:19] Um, and, uh, you know, I had actually called an advanced to ask if I could come and talk to her. She said, sure, well, I got there. And I said, well, I'm here to talk to Alice. And it turned out, you know, that morning she took a fall and they had to take her to the emergency room. Um, and you know, and it kind of, you know, you could feel the way. [00:50:41] In that situation, you know, what, what happens to this place? Um, you know, without, without Alice here. And I ended up talking to her daughter-in-law and son, um, and you know, they're, they're committed to keeping it going. Um, but you could feel like the, you [00:51:00] know, the, you know, I, I feel like that situation kind of infused the episode with, with weight. [00:51:06] Um, but beyond that, um, you know, I listened to, to what I had initially, and there was something missing. Um, I said to myself, I said, you know, I'm doing a lot of talking here. I'd like to find someone else who could do some, some talking for. Um, and there there's an association called the Texas dance hall preservation. [00:51:29] And I found the woman who was working at the time as their executive director, because I wanted to talk to her just to kind of get some more historic perspective on dance halls. You know, I was talking about the history. I think it's better if someone else can talk about the history, other than me, that actually knows more. [00:51:45] And, you know, I talked earlier about how, you know, you have those moments where someone just kind of, you know, tells a story or share something that just beautifully illuminates everything. And, um, [00:52:00] I was talking to her and I asked, I said, you know, there are so many causes out there in this world that are, that are worth devoting attention to. [00:52:09] I said, you know, why are dance halls important to you? And she said it was, it became an incredibly emotional interview that I was not expecting at all. But she said that, you know, those places have a lot of heart and that her fear was that we're getting away from that as a society. And, you know, she, you know, ends up crying. [00:52:34] She's saying, you know, these places, you know, people go there, you know, it's not just about the fun. It's, it's not just about the dancing. Um, it's about, you know, it's about cleaning the roof. It's about cleaning the toilet. And she says, I see so many people working so hard to keep these places going and, you know, and of course it is perfectly illustrated what the shoe lock family, you know, we're, we're [00:53:00] doing, you know, the, the, the daughter-in-law the son, you know, they, they work, you know, five days, they do not take days off. [00:53:07] You know, they have regular jobs that they keep Monday through Friday, and then they're there on the weekends. And, um, I think that it beautifully exemplified their story. In addition to just about every other person that I talked to in the series as a whole, [00:53:30] Izolda Trakhtenberg: that is beautiful. And I'm so grateful that you shared that, that moment of, of talking to her and also the story of. Dance halls in general or, or anything that we do because we love it. Um, you know, we, we do it because whatever it is, whatever that thing is that you do, because you love it. And particularly these places where one of the things that I think Evan, that, that you've highlighted, that I think is so [00:54:00] incredible is that you've taken, you've highlighted places that aren't going out for fame. [00:54:08] You know, these are people and places that are just living, doing their thing and living their lives day in and day out, year in and year out. And they're not going to be a celebrity. They're not trying to be world famous for example. And yet you've shown the light on them. And I think that's so it's powerful because of that, because they're living their lives and doing something hopefully that they love, like with the dance hall story. [00:54:35] And they're not looking for accolades and yet you've given them a platform. And I'm so grateful that you've [00:54:43] Evan Stern: done that. Well, I will say it's not even that. I think a lot of them as well, feel a responsibility to the people who go to these places, you know, like a dive bar, isn't just a place to grab a beer. [00:54:58] You know, a dive [00:55:00] bar represents an entire community. Um, you know, a dive bar, a dance hall. These are all places where people go to, to belong. That's that's, that's what, all of the, that's another through line that I think these places have in common, you know, whether it's a barbecue joint, a dive bar, a dance hall, people go to these places for community and for places to belong. [00:55:25] And I think that it's, it's, it's important to highlight that aspect as well. [00:55:31] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Absolutely. I agree. Yeah. Interestingly because people come and go, like you said, there are a lot of people who, who come to Texas, uh, especially Austin has, has ballooned. Uh, I guess the question that's come that's upper. Most of my mind right now is culturally the culture of places changes. [00:55:54] Right? And so, as the culture evolves, I [00:56:00] know that you're a lot of what vanishing postcards is about is, is capturing that before it goes away before it's no longer in its current form. Are there things that you've done that have been, uh, sort of in the process of changing or something is over and something new's coming to take its place? [00:56:21] And if so, what have those things been? [00:56:25] Evan Stern: Um, you mean my work or places I've been. [00:56:30] Izolda Trakhtenberg: I guess I'm not asking the question very well. I'm just wondering about culturally, your vanishing postcards project is focused on sort of the smaller, uh, heart, very heartfelt places in people in Texas now and perhaps, and perhaps hopefully someday elsewhere. [00:56:51] And as, as the culture changes in those places or for those dance halls, have you captured in any of the [00:57:00] episodes that you've done? That change taking place? Absolutely. [00:57:04] Evan Stern: Um, the, the very first place that I went to, um, was a bar called, uh, the, the dry Creek cafe. Um, it's been there for about 70 years. Um, it, when it first opened in the early 1950s, it really basically sat on the edge of the country. [00:57:22] Now, not only is it no longer country, um, it's now pretty much surrounded by mansion's. Um, it's now basically it's this ramshackle dilapidated dive that is surrounded by some of the priciest real estate in all of Texas. Um, but this bar has survived. Um, and I think it's one of the few places that you can go where you're reminded that, you know, before the tech, uh, millionaires invaded the Hills, the Hills were actually home to Cedar choppers, which was this, um, Appalachian subculture. [00:57:55] Um, and, uh, the, the very first person that I interviewed. [00:58:00] In, um, in Texas for the series was angel their bartender. Um, this was a tough day game, you know, raspy voice, you know, just changed smoker, you know, just, just fabulous, you know, just tough as nails, woman. Um, she was incredibly, um, reticent to, uh, to speak with me again, getting her to talk on the record and letting along to record her. [00:58:28] Um, just took every ounce of charm that I could possibly muster. But when she found out that I was okay with cussing, um, she opened right up. She let the F bombs fly. Um, we had a terrific time, um, and, uh, very sadly I think about, um, four months or so. Um, after I, I interviewed her, she died. Um, what was remarkable about angel is, um, as I said, the place opened in, um, I think it was 1950. [00:58:59] [00:59:00] Three. Um, she was only the third bartender to ever work there. Wow. Um, and so I'm incredibly grateful that I, you know, captured her, her voice and I have that record of her. Um, but you know, you have to ask, you know, when, when someone like that goes, you know, um, you know, what does that, how does that change a place? [00:59:22] You know, what does that do? I was actually just back in Austin last week. Um, and I went there to visit the place to, you know, just see if there was some additional footage I could get that would help bring the season two to a close, um, just to kind of see how that change had affected things. Um, and you know, so there, there are analogies, there, there are now like a few bartenders there who are like trading duties and whatnot. [00:59:48] Um, but I think what's kind of beautiful is that those who have filled in, you know, were all regulars, who, who knew and loved and cared about the bar. Um, [01:00:00] and, uh, you know, they dedicated a section of the bar to angel where they have, you know, her pictures and some things that she loved. Um, and, um, it was, it was just kind of interesting and reassuring to see, um, how, you know, yes, you know, when a beloved, you know, figured, uh, leaves, it's hard and it's challenging. [01:00:21] Um, but if the community is there. It will come. It will find a way to continue. At least for now. I'm grateful to see that, to know that the dry Creek is still there and that those who love it, um, are doing their part to, uh, to keep it going. [01:00:38] Izolda Trakhtenberg: I'm so glad to hear that story. That is wonderful. Evan. I want to thank you so much for taking the time to talk to me about this. [01:00:46] It's, it's such an important topic because it isn't one that, that we tend to focus on. So I'm really grateful that you took the time to tell me about vanishing postcards and to tell me about the culture and the people that you are, [01:01:00] uh, Capturing, if you will, for, for all of us, for all of us to enjoy. And I, and if you're listening to this, you need to go check out vanishing postcards. [01:01:08] I've listened to a few episodes and it's fabulous and amazing. Evan. If you wouldn't mind, I would love it. If you would give whatever social media. Uh, that you have so that if people want to find you, that they can. [01:01:22] Evan Stern: Absolutely. So the, um, you know, if you search, uh, vanishing postcards on Instagram, uh, you'll find it there. [01:01:29] Um, it also has a, a, a, a Facebook page, just search vanishing postcards. It should turn up. Um, you can also find me on Instagram as well. I'm at Evan stern NYC. Um, and, um, you know, I thank you so much and oh, and, but most important, most crucially, um, you know, please go find, listen to subscribe to vanishing postcards. [01:01:54] Um, since this is a podcast, uh, you know, whatever, you're listening to this on, I'm quite [01:02:00] confident that you'll find us there. We're on apple, we're on Spotify, we're on all the, uh, you know, whatever platform is out there. We're more than likely on, and I'd be most honored if you'd consider giving us a little. [01:02:12] Izolda Trakhtenberg: Awesome. And I will actually put all of that in the show notes so that if you're listening to this and you've seen the show notes, you'll be seeing the links to all of it. I just, people learn differently. So I like giving both the audio and the sort of, you can read it visual for it. Uh, Evan, again, I'm really grateful that you took the time to chat with me. [01:02:32] Me and I, I have one last question, if that's okay. Of course. It's a question I ask everybody who comes on the show and it's a silly question, but I find that it yields some profound results. Yeah. And the question is this, if you could sky write anything for the whole world to see what would you. [01:02:53] Evan Stern: What would I say for the whole world to see? [01:02:58] Oh my [01:03:00] goodness. Yeah. So I feel like I need to say something profound, like Buddha or something like that now, or Yoda. My goodness. [01:03:11] Izolda Trakhtenberg: I've had people say, eat your veggies. So it does not have to be, [01:03:16] Evan Stern: I mean, it is a cliche. Um, I've, I've heard it many times. Um, but I, I do believe that there is something to be said for the fact that if I were to write this in the sky, I would say luck is the result of preparation meeting opportunity. [01:03:34] I absolutely believe that to be true. Um, I always do my best to be, uh, you know, prepared and, uh, educate myself and, you know, and, and be ready so that, um, you know, when opportunity comes, you know, luck can, can happen. [01:03:53] Izolda Trakhtenberg: I love that. I think that's a great way to end this episode, Evan stern, you are fabulous, and I'm [01:04:00] so glad that you were here. [01:04:01] Thank you. This is the innovative mindset podcast. You have been listening to my wonderful conversation with Evan stern, who is the host of the vanishing postcards podcast, which of course, you know, you need to check out if you're liking what you're hearing, do me a favor, leave a review, let me know comment. [01:04:20] However you'd like to get in touch. I would appreciate it until next time. This is again, Izolda Trakhtenberg reminding you to listen, learn, laugh, and love a whole lot. [01:04:36] thanks so much for joining me today. I really appreciate you being here. Please subscribe to the podcast if you're new and if you like what you're hearing, please review it and rate it and let other people know. And if you'd like to be a sponsor of the show, I'd love to meet you on patrion.com/innovative mindset. [01:04:53] I also have lots of exclusive goodies to share just with the show supporters there today's episode was produced by [01:05:00] Izolda Trakhtenberg and his copyright 2021 as always, please remember, this is for educational and entertainment purposes. Only past performance does not guarantee future results, although we can always hope until next time, keep living in your innovative mindset.   * I am a Brain.fm affiliate. If you purchase it through the above links and take the 20% off, I'll get a small commission. And please remember, I'll never recommend a product or service I don't absolutely love!  

Justyn, Sam, and James are back to discuss all things MNUFC, including: Abila's The new signing from Panama Rey Now You're an All-Star FIFA World Rankings The 0-1 Loss to LA Galaxy Fonts And So Much More If you enjoy the podcast, we encourage you to subscribe, review, and interact with us on Twitter and Facebook @PodLoons. Pod On You Loons! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/podloons/message

We talk about Dylan Wolpers birthday and Minnesota beating Houston. Conference standings half way through the year and EPL predictions See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

  Vern Abila is an accomplished broad-spectrum security, investigative and training professional with nearly 30 years of comprehensive, large scale leadership and operational experience in diversified domestic and international fields. For the past nineteen years, Vern has been the President and CEO of Abila Security & Investigations. Inc. (ASI) and has led ASI from a micro business operating from his home to a successful multi-million-dollar worldwide organization, earning the Colorado Small Minority Businessperson of the year for 2012. Vern's core competencies are corporate complex litigation investigations, threat and vulnerability assessments, surveillance and counter-surveillance operations, specialized critical incident training, logistical support, riot control tactics, overseas courier services, along with a wide variety of low and high-threat protective details, pre-employment screening services. Mr. Abila is considered a subject matter expert by the U.S. Department of State in VIP Protection, Critical Infrastructure, National Leadership and Diplomatic Security for their Anti-Terrorism Assistance Program. The combination of cyber, operational, physical security. Association of Threat Assessment Professionals Relationship between physical and cyber security. Training is not just for the one person, it's for everyone. Does this person belong Role of social media and personal privacy in the security realm. Lots of people trying to tear them down. Looking for people who are trying to find a cause.   Doxxing & Hardening the target. Parents, know what your kids are doing. Very difficult, everyone is public knowledge Find people through relatives, so talk to them. Growing interest in joining the influencer community. Helping schools become more preventative How to harden the target: Threat and vulnerability assessment Build on a plan "Knowing a person" could be a double-edged sword. Don't be single-focused on one aspect How to talk to police. Real talk.

Justyn, Sam, and James are back following Minnesota United's disappointing home opener against Real Salt Lake. Topics include: James' new apartment and Sam's secret mustache Updates on Hunou, Abila, and Fragapane Review of MNUFC's 1-2 home loss to RSL Are we lowering our expectations? Some obligatory Super League talk to close things off If you enjoy the podcast, we encourage you to subscribe, review, and interact with us on Twitter and Facebook @PodLoons. Pod On You Loons! --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/podloons/message

Time to go over the big news in the soccer world and give our predictions on the big matches coming up! This week we talk about Real Madrid winning El Clasico, Harry Kane perhaps leaving Tottenham this summer, the important MLS transfers, who the USMNT starting striker should be, and more!Topics Covered:MLS Transfers: Amaya to RBNY, Abila to MNUFC, Kevin Cabral to LA Galaxy, Alan Franco to Atlanta UnitedReal Madrid win both league El Clasicos for the first time since 2008 / won 3 El Clasicos in a row for the first time in 42 (FORTY-TWO) yearsHarry Kane to leave Spurs this summer?Inter Miami Pellegrini Situation (Designated Player Compliance)Acts of Discrimination: La Liga found no instance of racism in the Cadiz/Valencia situation + Sebastian Lletget homophobia + Liam Moore/Reading social media racial abuse + Swansea/Rangers Social Media BoycottCCL Updates (Columbus Crew, Atlanta United, Philadelphia Union, Toronto FC, Portland Timbers)Euro 2020 (2021) updates on stadium capacity USMNT Corner: What does our striker pool look like, and who's our starting #9, and what does it mean for the USMNT? (Sargent, Dike, Zardes, Altidore, Soto, Ferreira, Hoppe, etc.)Last Week's Predictions: Bayern vs PSG (UCL, 4/07), Club Leon vs Toronto FC (CCL, 4/07), Juventus v Napoli (Serie A, 4/07), Houston Dash v Chicago Red Stars (NWSL, 4/09), Real Madrid v Barcelona (La Liga, 4/10), Gonzaga vs Baylor (NCAA, 4/5)This Week's Predictions: USWNT v France(W) (International Friendly, 4/13), BVB v Man City (UCL, 4/14) , Seattle Sounders v MNUFC (MLS, 4/16), Athletic Club v Barcelona (Copa Del Rey Final, 4/17), Atalanta v Juventus (Serie A, 4/18)Follow our Twitter: https://twitter.com/FinalThirdShowFollow our Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/finalthirdshow/Subscribe to YouTube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBkCP7YIJgZNTeA0F3kEtAATheme Music from https://www.zapsplat.com

Interview with Max! Manager at Tequilas Nightclub! Contact me if interested on being on next time!

144:0.1 (1617.1) SEPTEMBER and October were spent in retirement at a secluded camp upon the slopes of Mount Gilboa. The month of September Jesus spent here alone with his apostles, teaching and instructing them in the truths of the kingdom. 144:0.2 (1617.2) There were a number of reasons why Jesus and his apostles were in retirement at this time on the borders of Samaria and the Decapolis. The Jerusalem religious rulers were very antagonistic; Herod Antipas still held John in prison, fearing either to release or execute him, while he continued to entertain suspicions that John and Jesus were in some way associated. These conditions made it unwise to plan for aggressive work in either Judea or Galilee. There was a third reason: the slowly augmenting tension between the leaders of John’s disciples and the apostles of Jesus, which grew worse with the increasing number of believers. 144:0.3 (1617.3) Jesus knew that the days of the preliminary work of teaching and preaching were about over, that the next move involved the beginning of the full and final effort of his life on earth, and he did not wish the launching of this undertaking to be in any manner either trying or embarrassing to John the Baptist. Jesus had therefore decided to spend some time in retirement rehearsing his apostles and then to do some quiet work in the cities of the Decapolis until John should be either executed or released to join them in a united effort. 1. The Gilboa Encampment 144:1.1 (1617.4) As time passed, the twelve became more devoted to Jesus and increasingly committed to the work of the kingdom. Their devotion was in large part a matter of personal loyalty. They did not grasp his many-sided teaching; they did not fully comprehend the nature of Jesus or the significance of his bestowal on earth. 144:1.2 (1617.5) Jesus made it plain to his apostles that they were in retirement for three reasons: 144:1.3 (1617.6) 1. To confirm their understanding of, and faith in, the gospel of the kingdom. 144:1.4 (1617.7) 2. To allow opposition to their work in both Judea and Galilee to quiet down. 144:1.5 (1617.8) 3. To await the fate of John the Baptist. 144:1.6 (1617.9) While tarrying on Gilboa, Jesus told the twelve much about his early life and his experiences on Mount Hermon; he also revealed something of what happened in the hills during the forty days immediately after his baptism. And he directly charged them that they should tell no man about these experiences until after he had returned to the Father. 144:1.7 (1618.1) During these September weeks they rested, visited, recounted their experiences since Jesus first called them to service, and engaged in an earnest effort to co-ordinate what the Master had so far taught them. In a measure they all sensed that this would be their last opportunity for prolonged rest. They realized that their next public effort in either Judea or Galilee would mark the beginning of the final proclamation of the coming kingdom, but they had little or no settled idea as to what the kingdom would be when it came. John and Andrew thought the kingdom had already come; Peter and James believed that it was yet to come; Nathaniel and Thomas frankly confessed they were puzzled; Matthew, Philip, and Simon Zelotes were uncertain and confused; the twins were blissfully ignorant of the controversy; and Judas Iscariot was silent, noncommittal. 144:1.8 (1618.2) Much of this time Jesus was alone on the mountain near the camp. Occasionally he took with him Peter, James, or John, but more often he went off to pray or commune alone. Subsequent to the baptism of Jesus and the forty days in the Perean hills, it is hardly proper to speak of these seasons of communion with his Father as prayer, nor is it consistent to speak of Jesus as worshiping, but it is altogether correct to allude to these seasons as personal communion with his Father. 144:1.9 (1618.3) The central theme of the discussions throughout the entire month of September was prayer and worship. After they had discussed worship for some days, Jesus finally delivered his memorable discourse on prayer in answer to Thomas’s request: “Master, teach us how to pray.” 144:1.10 (1618.4) John had taught his disciples a prayer, a prayer for salvation in the coming kingdom. Although Jesus never forbade his followers to use John’s form of prayer, the apostles very early perceived that their Master did not fully approve of the practice of uttering set and formal prayers. Nevertheless, believers constantly requested to be taught how to pray. The twelve longed to know what form of petition Jesus would approve. And it was chiefly because of this need for some simple petition for the common people that Jesus at this time consented, in answer to Thomas’s request, to teach them a suggestive form of prayer. Jesus gave this lesson one afternoon in the third week of their sojourn on Mount Gilboa. 2. The Discourse on Prayer 144:2.1 (1618.5) “John indeed taught you a simple form of prayer: ‘O Father, cleanse us from sin, show us your glory, reveal your love, and let your spirit sanctify our hearts forevermore, Amen!’ He taught this prayer that you might have something to teach the multitude. He did not intend that you should use such a set and formal petition as the expression of your own souls in prayer. 144:2.2 (1618.6) “Prayer is entirely a personal and spontaneous expression of the attitude of the soul toward the spirit; prayer should be the communion of sonship and the expression of fellowship. Prayer, when indited by the spirit, leads to co-operative spiritual progress. The ideal prayer is a form of spiritual communion which leads to intelligent worship. True praying is the sincere attitude of reaching heavenward for the attainment of your ideals. 144:2.3 (1619.1) “Prayer is the breath of the soul and should lead you to be persistent in your attempt to ascertain the Father’s will. If any one of you has a neighbor, and you go to him at midnight and say: ‘Friend, lend me three loaves, for a friend of mine on a journey has come to see me, and I have nothing to set before him’; and if your neighbor answers, ‘Trouble me not, for the door is now shut and the children and I are in bed; therefore I cannot rise and give you bread,’ you will persist, explaining that your friend hungers, and that you have no food to offer him. I say to you, though your neighbor will not rise and give you bread because he is your friend, yet because of your importunity he will get up and give you as many loaves as you need. If, then, persistence will win favors even from mortal man, how much more will your persistence in the spirit win the bread of life for you from the willing hands of the Father in heaven. Again I say to you: Ask and it shall be given you; seek and you shall find; knock and it shall be opened to you. For every one who asks receives; he who seeks finds; and to him who knocks the door of salvation will be opened. 144:2.4 (1619.2) “Which of you who is a father, if his son asks unwisely, would hesitate to give in accordance with parental wisdom rather than in the terms of the son’s faulty petition? If the child needs a loaf, will you give him a stone just because he unwisely asks for it? If your son needs a fish, will you give him a watersnake just because it may chance to come up in the net with the fish and the child foolishly asks for the serpent? If you, then, being mortal and finite, know how to answer prayer and give good and appropriate gifts to your children, how much more shall your heavenly Father give the spirit and many additional blessings to those who ask him? Men ought always to pray and not become discouraged. 144:2.5 (1619.3) “Let me tell you the story of a certain judge who lived in a wicked city. This judge feared not God nor had respect for man. Now there was a needy widow in that city who came repeatedly to this unjust judge, saying, ‘Protect me from my adversary.’ For some time he would not give ear to her, but presently he said to himself: ‘Though I fear not God nor have regard for man, yet because this widow ceases not to trouble me, I will vindicate her lest she wear me out by her continual coming.’ These stories I tell you to encourage you to persist in praying and not to intimate that your petitions will change the just and righteous Father above. Your persistence, however, is not to win favor with God but to change your earth attitude and to enlarge your soul’s capacity for spirit receptivity. 144:2.6 (1619.4) “But when you pray, you exercise so little faith. Genuine faith will remove mountains of material difficulty which may chance to lie in the path of soul expansion and spiritual progress.” 3. The Believer’s Prayer 144:3.1 (1619.5) But the apostles were not yet satisfied; they desired Jesus to give them a model prayer which they could teach the new disciples. After listening to this discourse on prayer, James Zebedee said: “Very good, Master, but we do not desire a form of prayer for ourselves so much as for the newer believers who so frequently beseech us, ‘Teach us how acceptably to pray to the Father in heaven.’” 144:3.2 (1619.6) When James had finished speaking, Jesus said: “If, then, you still desire such a prayer, I would present the one which I taught my brothers and sisters in Nazareth”: 144:3.3 (1620.1) Our Father who is in heaven, 144:3.4 (1620.2) Hallowed be your name. 144:3.5 (1620.3) Your kingdom come; your will be done 144:3.6 (1620.4) On earth as it is in heaven. 144:3.7 (1620.5) Give us this day our bread for tomorrow; 144:3.8 (1620.6) Refresh our souls with the water of life. 144:3.9 (1620.7) And forgive us every one our debts 144:3.10 (1620.8) As we also have forgiven our debtors. 144:3.11 (1620.9) Save us in temptation, deliver us from evil, 144:3.12 (1620.10) And increasingly make us perfect like yourself. 144:3.13 (1620.11) It is not strange that the apostles desired Jesus to teach them a model prayer for believers. John the Baptist had taught his followers several prayers; all great teachers had formulated prayers for their pupils. The religious teachers of the Jews had some twenty-five or thirty set prayers which they recited in the synagogues and even on the street corners. Jesus was particularly averse to praying in public. Up to this time the twelve had heard him pray only a few times. They observed him spending entire nights at prayer or worship, and they were very curious to know the manner or form of his petitions. They were really hard pressed to know what to answer the multitudes when they asked to be taught how to pray as John had taught his disciples. 144:3.14 (1620.12) Jesus taught the twelve always to pray in secret; to go off by themselves amidst the quiet surroundings of nature or to go in their rooms and shut the doors when they engaged in prayer. 144:3.15 (1620.13) After Jesus’ death and ascension to the Father it became the practice of many believers to finish this so-called Lord’s prayer by the addition of—“In the name of the Lord Jesus Christ.” Still later on, two lines were lost in copying, and there was added to this prayer an extra clause, reading: “For yours is the kingdom and the power and the glory, forevermore.” 144:3.16 (1620.14) Jesus gave the apostles the prayer in collective form as they had prayed it in the Nazareth home. He never taught a formal personal prayer, only group, family, or social petitions. And he never volunteered to do that. 144:3.17 (1620.15) Jesus taught that effective prayer must be: 144:3.18 (1620.16) 1. Unselfish—not alone for oneself. 144:3.19 (1620.17) 2. Believing—according to faith. 144:3.20 (1620.18) 3. Sincere—honest of heart. 144:3.21 (1620.19) 4. Intelligent—according to light. 144:3.22 (1620.20) 5. Trustful—in submission to the Father’s all-wise will. 144:3.23 (1620.21) When Jesus spent whole nights on the mountain in prayer, it was mainly for his disciples, particularly for the twelve. The Master prayed very little for himself, although he engaged in much worship of the nature of understanding communion with his Paradise Father. 4. More About Prayer 144:4.1 (1620.22) For days after the discourse on prayer the apostles continued to ask the Master questions regarding this all-important and worshipful practice. Jesus’ instruction to the apostles during these days, regarding prayer and worship, may be summarized and restated in modern phraseology as follows: 144:4.2 (1621.1) The earnest and longing repetition of any petition, when such a prayer is the sincere expression of a child of God and is uttered in faith, no matter how ill-advised or impossible of direct answer, never fails to expand the soul’s capacity for spiritual receptivity. 144:4.3 (1621.2) In all praying, remember that sonship is a gift. No child has aught to do with earning the status of son or daughter. The earth child comes into being by the will of its parents. Even so, the child of God comes into grace and the new life of the spirit by the will of the Father in heaven. Therefore must the kingdom of heaven—divine sonship—be received as by a little child. You earn righteousness—progressive character development—but you receive sonship by grace and through faith. 144:4.4 (1621.3) Prayer led Jesus up to the supercommunion of his soul with the Supreme Rulers of the universe of universes. Prayer will lead the mortals of earth up to the communion of true worship. The soul’s spiritual capacity for receptivity determines the quantity of heavenly blessings which can be personally appropriated and consciously realized as an answer to prayer. 144:4.5 (1621.4) Prayer and its associated worship is a technique of detachment from the daily routine of life, from the monotonous grind of material existence. It is an avenue of approach to spiritualized self-realization and individuality of intellectual and religious attainment. 144:4.6 (1621.5) Prayer is an antidote for harmful introspection. At least, prayer as the Master taught it is such a beneficent ministry to the soul. Jesus consistently employed the beneficial influence of praying for one’s fellows. The Master usually prayed in the plural, not in the singular. Only in the great crises of his earth life did Jesus ever pray for himself. 144:4.7 (1621.6) Prayer is the breath of the spirit life in the midst of the material civilization of the races of mankind. Worship is salvation for the pleasure-seeking generations of mortals. 144:4.8 (1621.7) As prayer may be likened to recharging the spiritual batteries of the soul, so worship may be compared to the act of tuning in the soul to catch the universe broadcasts of the infinite spirit of the Universal Father. 144:4.9 (1621.8) Prayer is the sincere and longing look of the child to its spirit Father; it is a psychologic process of exchanging the human will for the divine will. Prayer is a part of the divine plan for making over that which is into that which ought to be. 144:4.10 (1621.9) One of the reasons why Peter, James, and John, who so often accompanied Jesus on his long night vigils, never heard Jesus pray, was because their Master so rarely uttered his prayers as spoken words. Practically all of Jesus’ praying was done in the spirit and in the heart—silently. 144:4.11 (1621.10) Of all the apostles, Peter and James came the nearest to comprehending the Master’s teaching about prayer and worship. 5. Other Forms of Prayer 144:5.1 (1621.11) From time to time, during the remainder of Jesus’ sojourn on earth, he brought to the notice of the apostles several additional forms of prayer, but he did this only in illustration of other matters, and he enjoined that these “parable prayers” should not be taught to the multitudes. Many of them were from other inhabited planets, but this fact Jesus did not reveal to the twelve. Among these prayers were the following: 144:5.2 (1622.1) Our Father in whom consist the universe realms, 144:5.3 (1622.2) Uplifted be your name and all-glorious your character. 144:5.4 (1622.3) Your presence encompasses us, and your glory is manifested 144:5.5 (1622.4) Imperfectly through us as it is in perfection shown on high. 144:5.6 (1622.5) Give us this day the vivifying forces of light, 144:5.7 (1622.6) And let us not stray into the evil bypaths of our imagination, 144:5.8 (1622.7) For yours is the glorious indwelling, the everlasting power, 144:5.9 (1622.8) And to us, the eternal gift of the infinite love of your Son. 144:5.10 (1622.9) Even so, and everlastingly true. * * * 144:5.12 (1622.10) Our creative Parent, who is in the center of the universe, 144:5.13 (1622.11) Bestow upon us your nature and give to us your character. 144:5.14 (1622.12) Make us sons and daughters of yours by grace 144:5.15 (1622.13) And glorify your name through our eternal achievement. 144:5.16 (1622.14) Your adjusting and controlling spirit give to live and dwell within us 144:5.17 (1622.15) That we may do your will on this sphere as angels do your bidding in light. 144:5.18 (1622.16) Sustain us this day in our progress along the path of truth. 144:5.19 (1622.17) Deliver us from inertia, evil, and all sinful transgression. 144:5.20 (1622.18) Be patient with us as we show loving-kindness to our fellows. 144:5.21 (1622.19) Shed abroad the spirit of your mercy in our creature hearts. 144:5.22 (1622.20) Lead us by your own hand, step by step, through the uncertain maze of life, 144:5.23 (1622.21) And when our end shall come, receive into your own bosom our faithful spirits. 144:5.24 (1622.22) Even so, not our desires but your will be done. * * * 144:5.26 (1622.23) Our perfect and righteous heavenly Father, 144:5.27 (1622.24) This day guide and direct our journey. 144:5.28 (1622.25) Sanctify our steps and co-ordinate our thoughts. 144:5.29 (1622.26) Ever lead us in the ways of eternal progress. 144:5.30 (1622.27) Fill us with wisdom to the fullness of power 144:5.31 (1622.28) And vitalize us with your infinite energy. 144:5.32 (1622.29) Inspire us with the divine consciousness of 144:5.33 (1622.30) The presence and guidance of the seraphic hosts. 144:5.34 (1622.31) Guide us ever upward in the pathway of light; 144:5.35 (1622.32) Justify us fully in the day of the great judgment. 144:5.36 (1622.33) Make us like yourself in eternal glory 144:5.37 (1622.34) And receive us into your endless service on high. * * * 144:5.39 (1622.35) Our Father who is in the mystery, 144:5.40 (1622.36) Reveal to us your holy character. 144:5.41 (1622.37) Give your children on earth this day 144:5.42 (1622.38) To see the way, the light, and the truth. 144:5.43 (1622.39) Show us the pathway of eternal progress 144:5.44 (1622.40) And give us the will to walk therein. 144:5.45 (1622.41) Establish within us your divine kingship 144:5.46 (1622.42) And thereby bestow upon us the full mastery of self. 144:5.47 (1622.43) Let us not stray into paths of darkness and death; 144:5.48 (1622.44) Lead us everlastingly beside the waters of life. 144:5.49 (1622.45) Hear these our prayers for your own sake; 144:5.50 (1622.46) Be pleased to make us more and more like yourself. 144:5.51 (1623.1) At the end, for the sake of the divine Son, 144:5.52 (1623.2) Receive us into the eternal arms. 144:5.53 (1623.3) Even so, not our will but yours be done. * * * 144:5.55 (1623.4) Glorious Father and Mother, in one parent combined, 144:5.56 (1623.5) Loyal would we be to your divine nature. 144:5.57 (1623.6) Your own self to live again in and through us 144:5.58 (1623.7) By the gift and bestowal of your divine spirit, 144:5.59 (1623.8) Thus reproducing you imperfectly in this sphere 144:5.60 (1623.9) As you are perfectly and majestically shown on high. 144:5.61 (1623.10) Give us day by day your sweet ministry of brotherhood 144:5.62 (1623.11) And lead us moment by moment in the pathway of loving service. 144:5.63 (1623.12) Be you ever and unfailingly patient with us 144:5.64 (1623.13) Even as we show forth your patience to our children. 144:5.65 (1623.14) Give us the divine wisdom that does all things well 144:5.66 (1623.15) And the infinite love that is gracious to every creature. 144:5.67 (1623.16) Bestow upon us your patience and loving-kindness 144:5.68 (1623.17) That our charity may enfold the weak of the realm. 144:5.69 (1623.18) And when our career is finished, make it an honor to your name, 144:5.70 (1623.19) A pleasure to your good spirit, and a satisfaction to our soul helpers. 144:5.71 (1623.20) Not as we wish, our loving Father, but as you desire the eternal good of your mortal children, 144:5.72 (1623.21) Even so may it be. * * * 144:5.74 (1623.22) Our all-faithful Source and all-powerful Center, 144:5.75 (1623.23) Reverent and holy be the name of your all-gracious Son. 144:5.76 (1623.24) Your bounties and your blessings have descended upon us, 144:5.77 (1623.25) Thus empowering us to perform your will and execute your bidding. 144:5.78 (1623.26) Give us moment by moment the sustenance of the tree of life; 144:5.79 (1623.27) Refresh us day by day with the living waters of the river thereof. 144:5.80 (1623.28) Step by step lead us out of darkness and into the divine light. 144:5.81 (1623.29) Renew our minds by the transformations of the indwelling spirit, 144:5.82 (1623.30) And when the mortal end shall finally come upon us, 144:5.83 (1623.31) Receive us to yourself and send us forth in eternity. 144:5.84 (1623.32) Crown us with celestial diadems of fruitful service, 144:5.85 (1623.33) And we shall glorify the Father, the Son, and the Holy Influence. 144:5.86 (1623.34) Even so, throughout a universe without end. * * * 144:5.88 (1623.35) Our Father who dwells in the secret places of the universe, 144:5.89 (1623.36) Honored be your name, reverenced your mercy, and respected your judgment. 144:5.90 (1623.37) Let the sun of righteousness shine upon us at noontime, 144:5.91 (1623.38) While we beseech you to guide our wayward steps in the twilight. 144:5.92 (1623.39) Lead us by the hand in the ways of your own choosing 144:5.93 (1623.40) And forsake us not when the path is hard and the hours are dark. 144:5.94 (1623.41) Forget us not as we so often neglect and forget you. 144:5.95 (1623.42) But be you merciful and love us as we desire to love you. 144:5.96 (1623.43) Look down upon us in kindness and forgive us in mercy 144:5.97 (1623.44) As we in justice forgive those who distress and injure us. 144:5.98 (1624.1) May the love, devotion, and bestowal of the majestic Son 144:5.99 (1624.2) Make available life everlasting with your endless mercy and love. 144:5.100 (1624.3) May the God of universes bestow upon us the full measure of his spirit; 144:5.101 (1624.4) Give us grace to yield to the leading of this spirit. 144:5.102 (1624.5) By the loving ministry of devoted seraphic hosts 144:5.103 (1624.6) May the Son guide and lead us to the end of the age. 144:5.104 (1624.7) Make us ever and increasingly like yourself 144:5.105 (1624.8) And at our end receive us into the eternal Paradise embrace. 144:5.106 (1624.9) Even so, in the name of the bestowal Son 144:5.107 (1624.10) And for the honor and glory of the Supreme Father. 144:5.108 (1624.11) Though the apostles were not at liberty to present these prayer lessons in their public teachings, they profited much from all of these revelations in their personal religious experiences. Jesus utilized these and other prayer models as illustrations in connection with the intimate instruction of the twelve, and specific permission has been granted for transcribing these seven specimen prayers into this record. 6. Conference with John’s Apostles 144:6.1 (1624.12) Around the first of October, Philip and some of his fellow apostles were in a near-by village buying food when they met some of the apostles of John the Baptist. As a result of this chance meeting in the market place there came about a three weeks’ conference at the Gilboa camp between the apostles of Jesus and the apostles of John, for John had recently appointed twelve of his leaders to be apostles, following the precedent of Jesus. John had done this in response to the urging of Abner, the chief of his loyal supporters. Jesus was present at the Gilboa camp throughout the first week of this joint conference but absented himself the last two weeks. 144:6.2 (1624.13) By the beginning of the second week of this month, Abner had assembled all of his associates at the Gilboa camp and was prepared to go into council with the apostles of Jesus. For three weeks these twenty-four men were in session three times a day and for six days each week. The first week Jesus mingled with them between their forenoon, afternoon, and evening sessions. They wanted the Master to meet with them and preside over their joint deliberations, but he steadfastly refused to participate in their discussions, though he did consent to speak to them on three occasions. These talks by Jesus to the twenty-four were on sympathy, co-operation, and tolerance. 144:6.3 (1624.14) Andrew and Abner alternated in presiding over these joint meetings of the two apostolic groups. These men had many difficulties to discuss and numerous problems to solve. Again and again would they take their troubles to Jesus, only to hear him say: “I am concerned only with your personal and purely religious problems. I am the representative of the Father to the individual, not to the group. If you are in personal difficulty in your relations with God, come to me, and I will hear you and counsel you in the solution of your problem. But when you enter upon the co-ordination of divergent human interpretations of religious questions and upon the socialization of religion, you are destined to solve all such problems by your own decisions. Albeit, I am ever sympathetic and always interested, and when you arrive at your conclusions touching these matters of nonspiritual import, provided you are all agreed, then I pledge in advance my full approval and hearty co-operation. And now, in order to leave you unhampered in your deliberations, I am leaving you for two weeks. Be not anxious about me, for I will return to you. I will be about my Father’s business, for we have other realms besides this one.” 144:6.4 (1625.1) After thus speaking, Jesus went down the mountainside, and they saw him no more for two full weeks. And they never knew where he went or what he did during these days. It was some time before the twenty-four could settle down to the serious consideration of their problems, they were so disconcerted by the absence of the Master. However, within a week they were again in the heart of their discussions, and they could not go to Jesus for help. 144:6.5 (1625.2) The first item the group agreed upon was the adoption of the prayer which Jesus had so recently taught them. It was unanimously voted to accept this prayer as the one to be taught believers by both groups of apostles. 144:6.6 (1625.3) They next decided that, as long as John lived, whether in prison or out, both groups of twelve apostles would go on with their work, and that joint meetings for one week would be held every three months at places to be agreed upon from time to time. 144:6.7 (1625.4) But the most serious of all their problems was the question of baptism. Their difficulties were all the more aggravated because Jesus had refused to make any pronouncement upon the subject. They finally agreed: As long as John lived, or until they might jointly modify this decision, only the apostles of John would baptize believers, and only the apostles of Jesus would finally instruct the new disciples. Accordingly, from that time until after the death of John, two of the apostles of John accompanied Jesus and his apostles to baptize believers, for the joint council had unanimously voted that baptism was to become the initial step in the outward alliance with the affairs of the kingdom. 144:6.8 (1625.5) It was next agreed, in case of the death of John, that the apostles of John would present themselves to Jesus and become subject to his direction, and that they would baptize no more unless authorized by Jesus or his apostles. 144:6.9 (1625.6) And then was it voted that, in case of John’s death, the apostles of Jesus would begin to baptize with water as the emblem of the baptism of the divine Spirit. As to whether or not repentance should be attached to the preaching of baptism was left optional; no decision was made binding upon the group. John’s apostles preached, “Repent and be baptized.” Jesus’ apostles proclaimed, “Believe and be baptized.” 144:6.10 (1625.7) And this is the story of the first attempt of Jesus’ followers to co-ordinate divergent efforts, compose differences of opinion, organize group undertakings, legislate on outward observances, and socialize personal religious practices. 144:6.11 (1625.8) Many other minor matters were considered and their solutions unanimously agreed upon. These twenty-four men had a truly remarkable experience these two weeks when they were compelled to face problems and compose difficulties without Jesus. They learned to differ, to debate, to contend, to pray, and to compromise, and throughout it all to remain sympathetic with the other person’s viewpoint and to maintain at least some degree of tolerance for his honest opinions. 144:6.12 (1625.9) On the afternoon of their final discussion of financial questions, Jesus returned, heard of their deliberations, listened to their decisions, and said: “These, then, are your conclusions, and I shall help you each to carry out the spirit of your united decisions.” 144:6.13 (1626.1) Two months and a half from this time John was executed, and throughout this period the apostles of John remained with Jesus and the twelve. They all worked together and baptized believers during this season of labor in the cities of the Decapolis. The Gilboa camp was broken up on November 2, A.D. 27. 7. In the Decapolis Cities 144:7.1 (1626.2) Throughout the months of November and December, Jesus and the twenty-four worked quietly in the Greek cities of the Decapolis, chiefly in Scythopolis, Gerasa, Abila, and Gadara. This was really the end of that preliminary period of taking over John’s work and organization. Always does the socialized religion of a new revelation pay the price of compromise with the established forms and usages of the preceding religion which it seeks to salvage. Baptism was the price which the followers of Jesus paid in order to carry with them, as a socialized religious group, the followers of John the Baptist. John’s followers, in joining Jesus’ followers, gave up just about everything except water baptism. 144:7.2 (1626.3) Jesus did little public teaching on this mission to the cities of the Decapolis. He spent considerable time teaching the twenty-four and had many special sessions with John’s twelve apostles. In time they became more understanding as to why Jesus did not go to visit John in prison, and why he made no effort to secure his release. But they never could understand why Jesus did no marvelous works, why he refused to produce outward signs of his divine authority. Before coming to the Gilboa camp, they had believed in Jesus mostly because of John’s testimony, but soon they were beginning to believe as a result of their own contact with the Master and his teachings. 144:7.3 (1626.4) For these two months the group worked most of the time in pairs, one of Jesus’ apostles going out with one of John’s. The apostle of John baptized, the apostle of Jesus instructed, while they both preached the gospel of the kingdom as they understood it. And they won many souls among these gentiles and apostate Jews. 144:7.4 (1626.5) Abner, the chief of John’s apostles, became a devout believer in Jesus and was later on made the head of a group of seventy teachers whom the Master commissioned to preach the gospel. 8. In Camp Near Pella 144:8.1 (1626.6) The latter part of December they all went over near the Jordan, close by Pella, where they again began to teach and preach. Both Jews and gentiles came to this camp to hear the gospel. It was while Jesus was teaching the multitude one afternoon that some of John’s special friends brought the Master the last message which he ever had from the Baptist. ...

El triunfo de Boca sobre Lanus por 2 a 1 con goles de Carlos Tevez y Ramón Abila. El empate del granate lo anotó José Sand. Con el relato de Nico Campolongo y el comentario de Ramiro Monjes Capelli.

This episode features a multi-faceted conversation with Gerald Abila, Founder and Executive Director of BarefootLaw. Gerald is an Attorney, Legal Futurist and Consultant on Law and Technology based in Uganda. We discuss BarefootLaw's innovative approach to access to justice, diaspora investment in initiatives on the continent, and the inestimable opportunities in innovation flow from Africa to the rest of the world. Find out more at www.barefootlaw.org.

Welcome to our pilot episode!In this episode Rico keeps it simple and goes over Growthology, accountability, and how they tie into your goals. In this episode you'll hear. 1) What you can expect when listening to Growthology 2) Who is holding you accountable to your goals? 3) The difference between an accountability partner and an accountabilabuddy 4) How you can hold yourself and others accountable to hitting your goals 5) ACTION STEPS to both receiving and giving accountability.Let's learn how to grow our accountability. Together.

In this episode no. 12, I interview lawyer and founder of Barefoot Law in Uganda, Gerald Abila. Founded in 2013, Barefoot Law is a non-profit organization using digital technology in innovative ways to empower people to develop legal solutions for their justice needs. We covered so much in this interview including the specific challenges in sub-Saharan Africa, the type of tech that Barefoot Law uses most, how they reached the most vulnerable members of the community when tech couldn’t, and Gerald's views for the future including what he says is the ultimate law. Gerald shares how he started Barefoot Law when he was in law school and his journey establishing an organisation with no resources.  We also cover more personal reflections on the importance of values and what motivates him. You will want to listen to this episode if you are interested in understanding the connection between AI and social good, law and maths, how to lead an organisation with very few resources and the importance of tailoring your solution to local conditions. This interview will particularly appeal to you if you are a legal tech founder, community lawyer or seeking to understand the best way to leverage existing or emerging technology for positive social impact.  Barefoot Law AI and social good Washington Access to Justice technology principles Sustainable Development Goal 16 Andrea Perry-Petersen – LinkedIn - Twitter @winkiepp – andreaperrypetersen.com.au Twitter - @ReimaginingJ Facebook – Reimagining Justice group

Training the Kingdom’s Messengers 138:0.1 (1538.1) AFTER preaching the sermon on “The Kingdom,” Jesus called the six apostles together that afternoon and began to disclose his plans for visiting the cities around and about the Sea of Galilee. His brothers James and Jude were very much hurt because they were not called to this conference. Up to this time they had regarded themselves as belonging to Jesus’ inner circle of associates. But Jesus planned to have no close relatives as members of this corps of apostolic directors of the kingdom. This failure to include James and Jude among the chosen few, together with his apparent aloofness from his mother ever since the experience at Cana, was the starting point of an ever-widening gulf between Jesus and his family. This situation continued throughout his public ministry — they very nearly rejected him — and these differences were not fully removed until after his death and resurrection. His mother constantly wavered between attitudes of fluctuating faith and hope, and increasing emotions of disappointment, humiliation, and despair. Only Ruth, the youngest, remained unswervingly loyal to her father-brother. 138:0.2 (1538.2) Until after the resurrection, Jesus’ entire family had very little to do with his ministry. If a prophet is not without honor save in his own country, he is not without understanding appreciation save in his own family. 1. Final Instructions 138:1.1 (1538.3) The next day, Sunday, June 23, A.D. 26, Jesus imparted his final instructions to the six. He directed them to go forth, two and two, to teach the glad tidings of the kingdom. He forbade them to baptize and advised against public preaching. He went on to explain that later he would permit them to preach in public, but that for a season, and for many reasons, he desired them to acquire practical experience in dealing personally with their fellow men. Jesus purposed to make their first tour entirely one of personal work. Although this announcement was something of a disappointment to the apostles, still they saw, at least in part, Jesus’ reason for thus beginning the proclamation of the kingdom, and they started out in good heart and with confident enthusiasm. He sent them forth by twos, James and John going to Kheresa, Andrew and Peter to Capernaum, while Philip and Nathaniel went to Tarichea. 138:1.2 (1538.4) Before they began this first two weeks of service, Jesus announced to them that he desired to ordain twelve apostles to continue the work of the kingdom after his departure and authorized each of them to choose one man from among his early converts for membership in the projected corps of apostles. John spoke up, asking: “But, Master, will these six men come into our midst and share all things equally with us who have been with you since the Jordan and have heard all your teaching in preparation for this, our first labor for the kingdom?” And Jesus replied: “Yes, John, the men you choose shall become one with us, and you will teach them all that pertains to the kingdom, even as I have taught you.” After thus speaking, Jesus left them. 138:1.3 (1539.1) The six did not separate to go to their work until they had exchanged many words in discussion of Jesus’ instruction that each of them should choose a new apostle. Andrew’s counsel finally prevailed, and they went forth to their labors. In substance Andrew said: “The Master is right; we are too few to encompass this work. There is need for more teachers, and the Master has manifested great confidence in us inasmuch as he has intrusted us with the choosing of these six new apostles.” This morning, as they separated to go to their work, there was a bit of concealed depression in each heart. They knew they were going to miss Jesus, and besides their fear and timidity, this was not the way they had pictured the kingdom of heaven being inaugurated. 138:1.4 (1539.2) It had been arranged that the six were to labor for two weeks, after which they were to return to the home of Zebedee for a conference. Meantime Jesus went over to Nazareth to visit with Joseph and Simon and other members of his family living in that vicinity. Jesus did everything humanly possible, consistent with his dedication to the doing of his Father’s will, to retain the confidence and affection of his family. In this matter he did his full duty and more. 138:1.5 (1539.3) While the apostles were out on this mission, Jesus thought much about John, now in prison. It was a great temptation to use his potential powers to release him, but once more he resigned himself to “wait upon the Father’s will.” 2. Choosing the Six 138:2.1 (1539.4) This first missionary tour of the six was eminently successful. They all discovered the great value of direct and personal contact with men. They returned to Jesus more fully realizing that, after all, religion is purely and wholly a matter of personal experience. They began to sense how hungry were the common people to hear words of religious comfort and spiritual good cheer. When they assembled about Jesus, they all wanted to talk at once, but Andrew assumed charge, and as he called upon them one by one, they made their formal reports to the Master and presented their nominations for the six new apostles. 138:2.2 (1539.5) Jesus, after each man had presented his selection for the new apostleships, asked all the others to vote upon the nomination; thus all six of the new apostles were formally accepted by all of the older six. Then Jesus announced that they would all visit these candidates and give them the call to service. 138:2.3 (1539.6) The newly selected apostles were: 138:2.4 (1539.7) 1. Matthew Levi, the customs collector of Capernaum, who had his office just to the east of the city, near the borders of Batanea. He was selected by Andrew. 138:2.5 (1539.8) 2. Thomas Didymus, a fisherman of Tarichea and onetime carpenter and stone mason of Gadara. He was selected by Philip. 138:2.6 (1539.9) 3. James Alpheus, a fisherman and farmer of Kheresa, was selected by James Zebedee. 138:2.7 (1539.10) 4. Judas Alpheus, the twin brother of James Alpheus, also a fisherman, was selected by John Zebedee. 138:2.8 (1540.1) 5. Simon Zelotes was a high officer in the patriotic organization of the Zealots, a position which he gave up to join Jesus’ apostles. Before joining the Zealots, Simon had been a merchant. He was selected by Peter. 138:2.9 (1540.2) 6. Judas Iscariot was an only son of wealthy Jewish parents living in Jericho. He had become attached to John the Baptist, and his Sadducee parents had disowned him. He was looking for employment in these regions when Jesus’ apostles found him, and chiefly because of his experience with finances, Nathaniel invited him to join their ranks. Judas Iscariot was the only Judean among the twelve apostles. 138:2.10 (1540.3) Jesus spent a full day with the six, answering their questions and listening to the details of their reports, for they had many interesting and profitable experiences to relate. They now saw the wisdom of the Master’s plan of sending them out to labor in a quiet and personal manner before the launching of their more pretentious public efforts. 3. The Call of Matthew and Simon 138:3.1 (1540.4) The next day Jesus and the six went to call upon Matthew, the customs collector. Matthew was awaiting them, having balanced his books and made ready to turn the affairs of his office over to his brother. As they approached the toll house, Andrew stepped forward with Jesus, who, looking into Matthew’s face, said, “Follow me.” And he arose and went to his house with Jesus and the apostles. 138:3.2 (1540.5) Matthew told Jesus of the banquet he had arranged for that evening, at least that he wished to give such a dinner to his family and friends if Jesus would approve and consent to be the guest of honor. And Jesus nodded his consent. Peter then took Matthew aside and explained that he had invited one Simon to join the apostles and secured his consent that Simon be also bidden to this feast. 138:3.3 (1540.6) After a noontide luncheon at Matthew’s house they all went with Peter to call upon Simon the Zealot, whom they found at his old place of business, which was now being conducted by his nephew. When Peter led Jesus up to Simon, the Master greeted the fiery patriot and only said, “Follow me.” 138:3.4 (1540.7) They all returned to Matthew’s home, where they talked much about politics and religion until the hour of the evening meal. The Levi family had long been engaged in business and tax gathering; therefore many of the guests bidden to this banquet by Matthew would have been denominated “publicans and sinners” by the Pharisees. 138:3.5 (1540.8) In those days, when a reception-banquet of this sort was tendered a prominent individual, it was the custom for all interested persons to linger about the banquet room to observe the guests at meat and to listen to the conversation and speeches of the men of honor. Accordingly, most of the Capernaum Pharisees were present on this occasion to observe Jesus’ conduct at this unusual social gathering. 138:3.6 (1540.9) As the dinner progressed, the joy of the diners mounted to heights of good cheer, and everybody was having such a splendid time that the onlooking Pharisees began, in their hearts, to criticize Jesus for his participation in such a lighthearted and carefree affair. Later in the evening, when they were making speeches, one of the more malignant of the Pharisees went so far as to criticize Jesus’ conduct to Peter, saying: “How dare you to teach that this man is righteous when he eats with publicans and sinners and thus lends his presence to such scenes of careless pleasure making.” Peter whispered this criticism to Jesus before he spoke the parting blessing upon those assembled. When Jesus began to speak, he said: “In coming here tonight to welcome Matthew and Simon to our fellowship, I am glad to witness your lightheartedness and social good cheer, but you should rejoice still more because many of you will find entrance into the coming kingdom of the spirit, wherein you shall more abundantly enjoy the good things of the kingdom of heaven. And to you who stand about criticizing me in your hearts because I have come here to make merry with these friends, let me say that I have come to proclaim joy to the socially downtrodden and spiritual liberty to the moral captives. Need I remind you that they who are whole need not a physician, but rather those who are sick? I have come, not to call the righteous, but sinners.” 138:3.7 (1541.1) And truly this was a strange sight in all Jewry: to see a man of righteous character and noble sentiments mingling freely and joyously with the common people, even with an irreligious and pleasure-seeking throng of publicans and reputed sinners. Simon Zelotes desired to make a speech at this gathering in Matthew’s house, but Andrew, knowing that Jesus did not want the coming kingdom to become confused with the Zealots’ movement, prevailed upon him to refrain from making any public remarks. 138:3.8 (1541.2) Jesus and the apostles remained that night in Matthew’s house, and as the people went to their homes, they spoke of but one thing: the goodness and friendliness of Jesus. 4. The Call of the Twins 138:4.1 (1541.3) On the morrow all nine of them went by boat over to Kheresa to execute the formal calling of the next two apostles, James and Judas the twin sons of Alpheus, the nominees of James and John Zebedee. The fisherman twins were expecting Jesus and his apostles and were therefore awaiting them on the shore. James Zebedee presented the Master to the Kheresa fishermen, and Jesus, gazing on them, nodded and said, “Follow me.” 138:4.2 (1541.4) That afternoon, which they spent together, Jesus fully instructed them concerning attendance upon festive gatherings, concluding his remarks by saying: “All men are my brothers. My Father in heaven does not despise any creature of our making. The kingdom of heaven is open to all men and women. No man may close the door of mercy in the face of any hungry soul who may seek to gain an entrance thereto. We will sit at meat with all who desire to hear of the kingdom. As our Father in heaven looks down upon men, they are all alike. Refuse not therefore to break bread with Pharisee or sinner, Sadducee or publican, Roman or Jew, rich or poor, free or bond. The door of the kingdom is wide open for all who desire to know the truth and to find God.” 138:4.3 (1541.5) That night at a simple supper at the Alpheus home, the twin brothers were received into the apostolic family. Later in the evening Jesus gave his apostles their first lesson dealing with the origin, nature, and destiny of unclean spirits, but they could not comprehend the import of what he told them. They found it very easy to love and admire Jesus but very difficult to understand many of his teachings. 138:4.4 (1542.1) After a night of rest the entire party, now numbering eleven, went by boat over to Tarichea. 5. The Call of Thomas and Judas 138:5.1 (1542.2) Thomas the fisherman and Judas the wanderer met Jesus and the apostles at the fisher-boat landing at Tarichea, and Thomas led the party to his near-by home. Philip now presented Thomas as his nominee for apostleship and Nathaniel presented Judas Iscariot, the Judean, for similar honors. Jesus looked upon Thomas and said: “Thomas, you lack faith; nevertheless, I receive you. Follow me.” To Judas Iscariot the Master said: “Judas, we are all of one flesh, and as I receive you into our midst, I pray that you will always be loyal to your Galilean brethren. Follow me.” 138:5.2 (1542.3) When they had refreshed themselves, Jesus took the twelve apart for a season to pray with them and to instruct them in the nature and work of the Holy Spirit, but again did they largely fail to comprehend the meaning of those wonderful truths which he endeavored to teach them. One would grasp one point and one would comprehend another, but none of them could encompass the whole of his teaching. Always would they make the mistake of trying to fit Jesus’ new gospel into their old forms of religious belief. They could not grasp the idea that Jesus had come to proclaim a new gospel of salvation and to establish a new way of finding God; they did not perceive that he was a new revelation of the Father in heaven. 138:5.3 (1542.4) The next day Jesus left his twelve apostles quite alone; he wanted them to become acquainted and desired that they be alone to talk over what he had taught them. The Master returned for the evening meal, and during the after-supper hours he talked to them about the ministry of seraphim, and some of the apostles comprehended his teaching. They rested for a night and the next day departed by boat for Capernaum. 138:5.4 (1542.5) Zebedee and Salome had gone to live with their son David so that their large home could be turned over to Jesus and his twelve apostles. Here Jesus spent a quiet Sabbath with his chosen messengers; he carefully outlined the plans for proclaiming the kingdom and fully explained the importance of avoiding any clash with the civil authorities, saying: “If the civil rulers are to be rebuked, leave that task to me. See that you make no denunciations of Caesar or his servants.” It was this same evening that Judas Iscariot took Jesus aside to inquire why nothing was done to get John out of prison. And Judas was not wholly satisfied with Jesus’ attitude. 6. The Week of Intensive Training 138:6.1 (1542.6) The next week was devoted to a program of intense training. Each day the six new apostles were put in the hands of their respective nominators for a thoroughgoing review of all they had learned and experienced in preparation for the work of the kingdom. The older apostles carefully reviewed, for the benefit of the younger six, Jesus’ teachings up to that hour. Evenings they all assembled in Zebedee’s garden to receive Jesus’ instruction. 138:6.2 (1542.7) It was at this time that Jesus established the mid-week holiday for rest and recreation. And they pursued this plan of relaxation for one day each week throughout the remainder of his material life. As a general rule, they never prosecuted their regular activities on Wednesday. On this weekly holiday Jesus would usually take himself away from them, saying: “My children, go for a day of play. Rest yourselves from the arduous labors of the kingdom and enjoy the refreshment that comes from reverting to your former vocations or from discovering new sorts of recreational activity.” While Jesus, at this period of his earth life, did not actually require this day of rest, he conformed to this plan because he knew it was best for his human associates. Jesus was the teacher — the Master; his associates were his pupils — disciples. 138:6.3 (1543.1) Jesus endeavored to make clear to his apostles the difference between his teachings and his life among them and the teachings which might subsequently spring up about him. Said Jesus: “My kingdom and the gospel related thereto shall be the burden of your message. Be not sidetracked into preaching about me and about my teachings. Proclaim the gospel of the kingdom and portray my revelation of the Father in heaven but do not be misled into the bypaths of creating legends and building up a cult having to do with beliefs and teachings about my beliefs and teachings.” But again they did not understand why he thus spoke, and no man dared to ask why he so taught them. 138:6.4 (1543.2) In these early teachings Jesus sought to avoid controversies with his apostles as far as possible excepting those involving wrong concepts of his Father in heaven. In all such matters he never hesitated to correct erroneous beliefs. There was just one motive in Jesus’ postbaptismal life on Urantia, and that was a better and truer revelation of his Paradise Father; he was the pioneer of the new and better way to God, the way of faith and love. Ever his exhortation to the apostles was: “Go seek for the sinners; find the downhearted and comfort the anxious.” 138:6.5 (1543.3) Jesus had a perfect grasp of the situation; he possessed unlimited power, which might have been utilized in the furtherance of his mission, but he was wholly content with means and personalities which most people would have regarded as inadequate and would have looked upon as insignificant. He was engaged in a mission of enormous dramatic possibilities, but he insisted on going about his Father’s business in the most quiet and undramatic manner; he studiously avoided all display of power. And he now planned to work quietly, at least for several months, with his twelve apostles around about the Sea of Galilee. 7. Another Disappointment 138:7.1 (1543.4) Jesus had planned for a quiet missionary campaign of five months’ personal work. He did not tell the apostles how long this was to last; they worked from week to week. And early on this first day of the week, just as he was about to announce this to his twelve apostles, Simon Peter, James Zebedee, and Judas Iscariot came to have private converse with him. Taking Jesus aside, Peter made bold to say: “Master, we come at the behest of our associates to inquire whether the time is not now ripe to enter into the kingdom. And will you proclaim the kingdom at Capernaum, or are we to move on to Jerusalem? And when shall we learn, each of us, the positions we are to occupy with you in the establishment of the kingdom — ” and Peter would have gone on asking further questions, but Jesus raised an admonitory hand and stopped him. And beckoning the other apostles standing near by to join them, Jesus said: “My little children, how long shall I bear with you! Have I not made it plain to you that my kingdom is not of this world? I have told you many times that I have not come to sit on David’s throne, and now how is it that you are inquiring which place each of you will occupy in the Father’s kingdom? Can you not perceive that I have called you as ambassadors of a spiritual kingdom? Do you not understand that soon, very soon, you are to represent me in the world and in the proclamation of the kingdom, even as I now represent my Father who is in heaven? Can it be that I have chosen you and instructed you as messengers of the kingdom, and yet you do not comprehend the nature and significance of this coming kingdom of divine pre-eminence in the hearts of men? My friends, hear me once more. Banish from your minds this idea that my kingdom is a rule of power or a reign of glory. Indeed, all power in heaven and on earth will presently be given into my hands, but it is not the Father’s will that we use this divine endowment to glorify ourselves during this age. In another age you shall indeed sit with me in power and glory, but it behooves us now to submit to the will of the Father and to go forth in humble obedience to execute his bidding on earth.” 138:7.2 (1544.1) Once more were his associates shocked, stunned. Jesus sent them away two and two to pray, asking them to return to him at noontime. On this crucial forenoon they each sought to find God, and each endeavored to cheer and strengthen the other, and they returned to Jesus as he had bidden them. 138:7.3 (1544.2) Jesus now recounted for them the coming of John, the baptism in the Jordan, the marriage feast at Cana, the recent choosing of the six, and the withdrawal from them of his own brothers in the flesh, and warned them that the enemy of the kingdom would seek also to draw them away. After this short but earnest talk the apostles all arose, under Peter’s leadership, to declare their undying devotion to their Master and to pledge their unswerving loyalty to the kingdom, as Thomas expressed it, “To this coming kingdom, no matter what it is and even if I do not fully understand it.” They all truly believed in Jesus, even though they did not fully comprehend his teaching. 138:7.4 (1544.3) Jesus now asked them how much money they had among them; he also inquired as to what provision had been made for their families. When it developed that they had hardly sufficient funds to maintain themselves for two weeks, he said: “It is not the will of my Father that we begin our work in this way. We will remain here by the sea two weeks and fish or do whatever our hands find to do; and in the meantime, under the guidance of Andrew, the first chosen apostle, you shall so organize yourselves as to provide for everything needful in your future work, both for the present personal ministry and also when I shall subsequently ordain you to preach the gospel and instruct believers.” They were all greatly cheered by these words; this was their first clear-cut and positive intimation that Jesus designed later on to enter upon more aggressive and pretentious public efforts. * 138:7.5 (1544.4) The apostles spent the remainder of the day perfecting their organization and completing arrangements for boats and nets for embarking on the morrow’s fishing as they had all decided to devote themselves to fishing; most of them had been fishermen, even Jesus was an experienced boatman and fisherman. Many of the boats which they used the next few years had been built by Jesus’ own hands. And they were good and trustworthy boats. 138:7.6 (1544.5) Jesus enjoined them to devote themselves to fishing for two weeks, adding, “And then will you go forth to become fishers of men.” They fished in three groups, Jesus going out with a different group each night. And they all so much enjoyed Jesus! He was a good fisherman, a cheerful companion, and an inspiring friend; the more they worked with him, the more they loved him. Said Matthew one day: “The more you understand some people, the less you admire them, but of this man, even the less I comprehend him, the more I love him.” 138:7.7 (1545.1) This plan of fishing two weeks and going out to do personal work in behalf of the kingdom for two weeks was followed for more than five months, even to the end of this year of A.D. 26, until after the cessation of those special persecutions which had been directed against John’s disciples subsequent to his imprisonment. 8. First Work of the Twelve 138:8.1 (1545.2) After disposing of the fish catches of two weeks, Judas Iscariot, the one chosen to act as treasurer of the twelve, divided the apostolic funds into six equal portions, funds for the care of dependent families having been already provided. And then near the middle of August, in the year A.D. 26, they went forth two and two to the fields of work assigned by Andrew. The first two weeks Jesus went out with Andrew and Peter, the second two weeks with James and John, and so on with the other couples in the order of their choosing. In this way he was able to go out at least once with each couple before he called them together for the beginning of their public ministry. 138:8.2 (1545.3) Jesus taught them to preach the forgiveness of sin through faith in God without penance or sacrifice, and that the Father in heaven loves all his children with the same eternal love. He enjoined his apostles to refrain from discussing: 138:8.3 (1545.4) 1. The work and imprisonment of John the Baptist. 138:8.4 (1545.5) 2. The voice at the baptism. Said Jesus: “Only those who heard the voice may refer to it. Speak only that which you have heard from me; speak not hearsay.” 138:8.5 (1545.6) 3. The turning of the water into wine at Cana. Jesus seriously charged them, saying, “Tell no man about the water and the wine.” 138:8.6 (1545.7) They had wonderful times throughout these five or six months during which they worked as fishermen every alternate two weeks, thereby earning enough money to support themselves in the field for each succeeding two weeks of missionary work for the kingdom. 138:8.7 (1545.8) The common people marveled at the teaching and ministry of Jesus and his apostles. The rabbis had long taught the Jews that the ignorant could not be pious or righteous. But Jesus’ apostles were both pious and righteous; yet they were cheerfully ignorant of much of the learning of the rabbis and the wisdom of the world. 138:8.8 (1545.9) Jesus made plain to his apostles the difference between the repentance of so-called good works as taught by the Jews and the change of mind by faith — the new birth — which he required as the price of admission to the kingdom. He taught his apostles that faith was the only requisite to entering the Father’s kingdom. John had taught them “repentance — to flee from the wrath to come.” Jesus taught, “Faith is the open door for entering into the present, perfect, and eternal love of God.” Jesus did not speak like a prophet, one who comes to declare the word of God. He seemed to speak of himself as one having authority. Jesus sought to divert their minds from miracle seeking to the finding of a real and personal experience in the satisfaction and assurance of the indwelling of God’s spirit of love and saving grace. 138:8.9 (1545.10) The disciples early learned that the Master had a profound respect and sympathetic regard for every human being he met, and they were tremendously impressed by this uniform and unvarying consideration which he so consistently gave to all sorts of men, women, and children. He would pause in the midst of a profound discourse that he might go out in the road to speak good cheer to a passing woman laden with her burden of body and soul. He would interrupt a serious conference with his apostles to fraternize with an intruding child. Nothing ever seemed so important to Jesus as the individual human who chanced to be in his immediate presence. He was master and teacher, but he was more — he was also a friend and neighbor, an understanding comrade. 138:8.10 (1546.1) Though Jesus’ public teaching mainly consisted in parables and short discourses, he invariably taught his apostles by questions and answers. He would always pause to answer sincere questions during his later public discourses. 138:8.11 (1546.2) The apostles were at first shocked by, but early became accustomed to, Jesus’ treatment of women; he made it very clear to them that women were to be accorded equal rights with men in the kingdom. 9. Five Months of Testing 138:9.1 (1546.3) This somewhat monotonous period of alternate fishing and personal work proved to be a grueling experience for the twelve apostles, but they endured the test. With all of their grumblings, doubts, and transient dissatisfactions they remained true to their vows of devotion and loyalty to the Master. It was their personal association with Jesus during these months of testing that so endeared him to them that they all (save Judas Iscariot) remained loyal and true to him even in the dark hours of the trial and crucifixion. Real men simply could not actually desert a revered teacher who had lived so close to them and had been so devoted to them as had Jesus. Through the dark hours of the Master’s death, in the hearts of these apostles all reason, judgment, and logic were set aside in deference to just one extraordinary human emotion — the supreme sentiment of friendship-loyalty. These five months of work with Jesus led these apostles, each one of them, to regard him as the best friend he had in all the world. And it was this human sentiment, and not his superb teachings or marvelous doings, that held them together until after the resurrection and the renewal of the proclamation of the gospel of the kingdom. 138:9.2 (1546.4) Not only were these months of quiet work a great test to the apostles, a test which they survived, but this season of public inactivity was a great trial to Jesus’ family. By the time Jesus was prepared to launch forth on his public work, his entire family (except Ruth) had practically deserted him. On only a few occasions did they attempt to make subsequent contact with him, and then it was to persuade him to return home with them, for they came near to believing that he was beside himself. They simply could not fathom his philosophy nor grasp his teaching; it was all too much for those of his own flesh and blood. 138:9.3 (1546.5) The apostles carried on their personal work in Capernaum, Bethsaida-Julias, Chorazin, Gerasa, Hippos, Magdala, Cana, Bethlehem of Galilee, Jotapata, Ramah, Safed, Gischala, Gadara, and Abila. Besides these towns they labored in many villages as well as in the countryside. By the end of this period the twelve had worked out fairly satisfactory plans for the care of their respective families. Most of the apostles were married, some had several children, but they had made such arrangements for the support of their home folks that, with some little assistance from the apostolic funds, they could devote their entire energies to the Master’s work without having to worry about the financial welfare of their families. 10. Organization of the Twelve 138:10.1 (1547.1) The apostles early organized themselves in the following manner: 138:10.2 (1547.2) 1. Andrew, the first chosen apostle, was designated chairman and director general of the twelve. 138:10.3 (1547.3) 2. Peter, James, and John were appointed personal companions of Jesus. They were to attend him day and night, to minister to his physical and sundry needs, and to accompany him on those night vigils of prayer and mysterious communion with the Father in heaven. 138:10.4 (1547.4) 3. Philip was made steward of the group. It was his duty to provide food and to see that visitors, and even the multitude of listeners at times, had something to eat. 138:10.5 (1547.5) 4. Nathaniel watched over the needs of the families of the twelve. He received regular reports as to the requirements of each apostle’s family and, making requisition on Judas, the treasurer, would send funds each week to those in need. 138:10.6 (1547.6) 5. Matthew was the fiscal agent of the apostolic corps. It was his duty to see that the budget was balanced, the treasury replenished. If the funds for mutual support were not forthcoming, if donations sufficient to maintain the party were not received, Matthew was empowered to order the twelve back to their nets for a season. But this was never necessary after they began their public work; he always had sufficient funds in the treasurer’s hands to finance their activities. 138:10.7 (1547.7) 6. Thomas was manager of the itinerary. It devolved upon him to arrange lodgings and in a general way select places for teaching and preaching, thereby insuring a smooth and expeditious travel schedule. ...

Michael Schein,CEO of MicroFame Media, joins NOL to discuss the power of hype in marketing, and how we can learn effective strategies from people like propaganda artists, con artists, cult leaders and more. It’s a very interesting discussion that will surely change the way you approach your personal brand or company’s marketing. About Michael: Michael is the CEO of MicroFame Media, a content marketing and strategy agency that turns consultants into thought leaders when they don’t have the time or expertise to make it happen on their own. He has created or facilitated the production of content for companies such as eBay, The Medici Group, LinkedIn, Abila, TESLA, Inc., SEER Interactive, Interiors by Steven G., Magento, Vitalyst, Intellect, Arise Virtual Solutions, and Citrix. Michael graduated from the University of Pennsylvania with Honors and got his start at Spin the Bottle, the production company behind VH1 hit show Pop Up Video. He also created, ran, and moderated the New York Tech Alliance’s Interactive Marketing panel series and writes a weekly column for Inc., as well as regularly contributing to Fortune and Huffington Post. He is also the co-host of the popular podcast Access to Anyone. For more information about Michael and his company, please visit: microfamemedia.com

There’s a lot of money in the association space, especially when it comes to helping associations connect their members online. The biggest example of this might be the recent Community Brands merger, bringing together three software companies that collectively serve more than 13,000 associations and nonprofits. Association veteran Maggie McGray recently sounded the alarm on a big problem: Associations themselves, especially small staff associations, are the ones left holding the bag right now. Association software companies and consultants, including those from the community space who saw the money, might be doing well, but small staff associations are highly vulnerable to unexpected costs. Many of them don’t even have one full-time person focusing on their online community and membership efforts, let alone have development resources or space in their budget after already investing in these expensive software solutions, and often training, consultants and conferences to go with it. Are associations being taken advantage of, and taken for granted? We discuss: The lack of in-house community and association talent at association software vendors, as compared to their large sales teams Software vendors who used to pitch their solutions as an all-in-one that are now backing away from that What association management software companies should do from here Big Quotes “From the association staff point of view, there’s a lot of frustration with the shortcomings of [association management software] and them being built by people who’ve never run an association. It’s a software platform and a suite of functionality that has been sold for the past 20 or so years in the association space as basically, ‘If you’re an association, you need this to run your business on.’ They’ve continued to add in the bells and whistles and upsell it as, ‘You want to be all in on this.’ It’s sort of like the entire industry is beholden to this technology to the tune of anywhere from hundreds of thousands to several million to $20 million. A lot of money. Especially when you’re talking about the enterprise versions that are customized out and a lot of consultants involved in that. We’ve all bought into it. We’re all beholden to these companies.” -@maggielmcg “[Software vendors] are making a bunch of money, and they can hire a bunch of sales people and stock up. The associations, your budget is limited. Your resources are limited. Each one of these [software] changes impacts your bottom line, your staff morale, your ability to do other things, your ability to serve members. It’s really a very significant impact. There’s such a disconnect. … I’ve talked to a lot of friends offline about this deal. They’re like, ‘If I have to go back to my board and explain… I just spent two years getting buy-in for this system … if I have to now go back to them in a year and say that we need to switch again because something happened, I’m going to lose my job.'” -@maggielmcg “The problem is that association execs are the ones who are in charge of the platform selection. It’s usually either lead by IT or it’s lead by C-level. It’s pretty much never, ever lead by – it’s usually not even informed by – anybody who understands what an online community is, how it functions, what functionality you need to have.” -@maggielmcg “At least in the for-profit world, whether it’s a user community, whether it’s a brand community, there’s people in marketing. There’s people in customer service. There’s people at a high enough level who are at that table, so if the company is considering investing in a software platform for that, obviously, they want to go to the internal expert who understands what you’re trying to gain from this. In the association world, you don’t have that at all. It’s a software purchase that then is sold as, ‘You just buy this, and it’s magic. It’s member engagement, and you don’t need anybody. You just buy the software and… community!'” -@maggielmcg About Maggie McGary Maggie McGary is social media manager at the American Psychological Association (APA). She has spent more than 15 years in the association world in various marketing and communications roles. Maggie is a frequent presenter at association and industry conferences on the topics of social media and digital communications best practices, as well as a blogger whose guest posts have been featured in numerous publications including The Washington Post and Social Media Today. She is a member of The Community Roundtable and has been blogging/presenting about community management and social media for the past decade. Maggie is also one of the organizers of cmad.co’s Community Manager Appreciation Day celebration. Related Links “Community Brands is Born From the Combination of Three Association and Nonprofit Tech Leaders” press releas Maggie’s website American Psychological Association, where Maggie is social media manager cmad.co’s Community Manager Appreciation Day celebration, which Maggie co-organizes Aptify, Abila and YourMembership, which now all operate as one company, Community Brands “The Community Brands Deal is Great for Vendors; Associations, Not So Much” by Maggie Higher Logic, a sponsor of the show (though not of this episode), who raised a $55 million funding round last year ASAE, the American Society of Association Executives Community Signal episode where we discussed the acceptable rate of incorrect moderation decisions JP Guilbault, president of Community Brands and formerly president and CEO of YourMembership Maggie on Twitter Maggie on LinkedIn Transcript View the transcript on our website Your Thoughts If you have any thoughts on this episode that you’d like to share, please leave me a comment, send me an email or a tweet. If you enjoy the show, we would be grateful if you spread the word. Thank you for listening to Community Signal.

This chat features a Q&A and discussion with industry thought leaders discussing the creation of Community Brands and what it means for the association industry. Please join me as I talk with:  JP Guilbault, the president and CEO of YourMembership, who has been named president of Community Brands (he also leads Abila and Aptify as part of Community Brands) Layla Masri, President of Bean Creative Paul Lundy, President of Fonteva Loretta DeLuca, Founder and CEO of DelCor (along with Delcorians: Gretchen Steenstra and David DeLorenzo) Recorded Live Tuesday 4/11/17 2pm ET  ICYMI - Never miss Association Chat again! You can now subscribe to the Association Chat podcast. iTunes https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/association-chat-podcast/id1221431539   Google Play http://bit.ly/googleassnchat

Rich Dietz, cofounder of WPCause and nonprofit expert stops by to geek out over data and share findings of the recent Donor Loyalty study conducted by Abila

Dr Lucke describes the results of his work on palaeosoils and its implications for climate change in Byzantine and early-Islamic Abila and Umm el-Jimal

Dr Vila, the director of the American Expedition to Abila,describes the team's work on the site from the 1980s onwards and recent fundraising efforts to protect the site's future

Become a thought leader in business w/Michael Schein. This week, on The Conscious Consultant Hour, Sam welcomes Michael Schein. Michael is the CEO of MicroFame Media, a marketing agency that turns consultants into thought leaders when they don't have the time or expertise to do it themselves. He has created or facilitated the production of content for companies such as eBay, LinkedIn, The Medici Group, TEND Strategic Partners, Abila, TESLA, Inc., and SEER Interactive. He also writes a weekly column for Inc and is a contributor to Fortune and Huffington Post. Sam and Michael will be discussing all about how to become a thought leader, and why you should consider it in today's business environment. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/the-conscious-consultant-hour8505/donations

As ISIS, al Qaeda and its offshoots, and other groups spread terror across the globe, it is vital to establish a strong framework for the international law and policy of counterterrorism. This includes understandings and cooperation on surveillance, detention, counterterrorism finance, and the law of espionage. These subjects will be addressed by panelists with both real world and academic experience. -- This panel was presented by the American Branch of International Law Association, the International Law Students Association, and the Federalist Society's International & National Security Law Practice Group at the 2015 International Law Weekend at Fordham University School of Law on November 6, 2015. -- Featuring: Prof. Jamil N. Jaffer, Adjunct Professor of Law and Director, Homeland & National Security Law Program at George Mason University School of Law, former Chief Counsel & Senior Advisor at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, and former Associate Counsel to President George W. Bush; Mr. Matthew Heiman, Vice President, Chief Compliance and Audit Officer, Tyco International; former Attorney Advisor, U.S. Department of Justice National Security Division; former Legal Advisor, Coalition Provisional Authority, Ministry of Justice, Iraq; Mr. Adam R. Pearlman, Associate Deputy General Counsel, U.S. Department of Defense (appearing in his personal capacity and not as a representative of the Department of Defense); Co-Editor of The American Bar Association's publication The U.S. Intelligence Community Law Sourcebook; and Prof. Peter Margulies, Professor of Law, Roger Williams Law School. Moderator: Mr. Vincent Vitkowsky, Partner, Seiger Gfeller & Laurie LLP, member of the Executive Committee of ABILA, and Chairman of the Federalist Society's International & National Security Law Practice Group.

Interview with Executive Director of Aspiration Tech which helps nonprofits use technologyTRANSCRIPTSpeaker 1:You're listening to k a Alex Berkeley 90.7 FM, university of California listener supported radio. And this is method to the madness coming at you from the Public Affairs Department here at Calyx celebrating the innovative spirit of the bay area. I'm your host aliene czar. And today we have Alan Gunn joining us, the executive director of aspiration tech. What's up? Got Her. How you doing? I am well thank you. Thanks for coming to the studio today. Um, and um, uh, Alan is the a r u founder. I am not, you know the founder, but you're the the the leader. I am [00:00:30] aspiration tech. So, um, the first question I always ask the leader of an organization like aspiration tech is, give me the problem statement. What are you trying to solve? Speaker 2:Uh, there are a lot of people working to make positive change in this world. Uh, there's a lot of technology in the world that we know today and the people making positive change in the world rarely are able to make effective use of technology. There's a range of reasons for that from they don't prioritize it to, they get taken advantage of. And I have a somewhat embarrassingly [00:01:00] specific, uh, preoccupation with really focusing on what we call preventive tech care, helping those who are working for social justice to use technology in sustainable ways that supports their mission as opposed to detracting from it. Speaker 1:Yeah. Well that's very concise. Thank you. It's interesting cause I have a little bit experience of this and it's, it's this huge gap between the Social Justice Entrepreneur, I like to call them, who have this really incredible vision and passion. But when you get down to the nuts and bolts of the execution, there's a big gap. [00:01:30] Absolutely. And so how many, um, or tell me first of all, how did aspiration tech come come about? How did this organization get created? Speaker 2:Aspiration was founded in 2001 our founding board chair, Jonathan Pizer, and I'm Melissa Pale Thorpe, was the founding director. They realized that there were not appropriate market dynamics to get the need of nonprofit software created. And so aspiration was initially founded with the idea of actually creating the missing software applications for the U S nonprofit sector. And then, uh, the vision [00:02:00] became more global. Uh, the, the organization sort of realized that as a tiny us NGO, they weren't about to go writing enterprise software. And so, uh, I came in a few years later and sort of reshaped the mission around sort of a different approach to building that same technology capacity. Speaker 1:Okay. And, um, so tell us a little bit about, uh, your client base today. Like how does, how does it work? Have someone come and get services from aspiration tech? Speaker 2:Oh, the simple answer is they ask. Um, we work, uh, with a very broad and diverse [00:02:30] set of stakeholders. We do about half our work in the U S and about the rest, uh, outside the u s around the world. Uh, and we work, as I describe it across the so-called, uh, nonprofit technology supply chain. Grassroots NGOs call us up all the time. One of our most subversive offerings is a free proposal review service. So if a tech vendor has written you a document saying they'll charge you x dollars for deliverable Y, we'll take a look at it and we'll tell you if we think it's a fair deal, we'll look for the hidden intellectual property [00:03:00] clauses and Gotchas and lock-ins. The sad story I tell a lot, because it's true, there's a Bay area nonprofit that we've worked with that uh, the director was leaving and signed a five year, 5,000 a month web hosting contract. Speaker 2:And if you know anything about web hosting, that's a bit high. 500 x exactly. And so, yeah, that's $300,000 down the drain just because they didn't have somebody look at that proposal and didn't put a, an opt out into the contract. And so yeah, I mean, so does [00:03:30] this kind of stuff happen a lot? It does. One of the things that's been most disturbing, I started as an accidental nonprofit techie. I was a silicon valley guy back in the 90s and when I first saw the web, I was like, this could be big. And so I started thinking about how all my Greenpeace housemates and all my other tree hug and friends might use the web. I specialized in criminally ugly websites in the nineties I could build those by hand at volume. We all, we all do that. I look back and I'm proud of my flushing animations and other poorly, poorly conceived design judgments. Speaker 2:But I'm, [00:04:00] as I've come to sort of make it a full time job. The thing that has really struck me as most unfortunate is that every level of the market, there's predators. We maintain what we call a clueless vendors list of all of the people that actually misrepresent their services have hidden lock-ins or otherwise exploit the knowledge differential when they're trying to deal into this market. Wow. It's mind blowing that someone would be so cynical to be, you know, be a Predator on nonprofits. But I guess that there's a, [00:04:30] there's someone for every kind of angle out there. There is. So let me ask you about, um, you see so many different, um, business models and, and uh, nonprofits. What is the biggest gap that you see in the tech stack of all these people coming to you needing help? The great unsolved problem of the nonprofit universe, and this is global, is the a supporter database. Speaker 2:Uh, I point out that there's several hundred of these out there and all of them, pardon my French suck. They are just um, brittle. [00:05:00] Uh, some of them are extremely uh, shortsighted in what they let you do. Their extensibility is limited, but most of them simply don't do what nonprofits want to do. And there is this ongoing tension in nonprofit technology about do you bend to fit the tool or do you keep looking until you find a tool that fits the way you do what you do? So that's one great unsolved problem. I think now you're talking about like, um, a CRM type thing for, for donations. Something as simple as a constituent relationship [00:05:30] management system. It is astoundingly difficult for grassroots nonprofits to find inappropriate one a, the most powerful ones out there are sold by some of the most predatory vendors. I can't say enough non-positive things about Blackbaud, which is a company that deliberately locks nonprofits in, charges them hundreds of thousands of dollars a year and just exploits the fact that nonprofits need fundraising and CRM tools. Wow. And is that their primary focuses on nonprofits. Wow. So, um, when you Speaker 1:come in and you're looking at like someone asked for [00:06:00] your help, what's the process for, uh, kind of the assessment of what [inaudible] Speaker 2:they need? It's a good question. It's very dialogue based and we, our belief is, uh, technology is tragically almost all the time seen as a tech problem. And our belief is that it's always a people problem. And my background between Silicon Valley and what I do at aspiration, I worked for a great organization called the Ruckus Society and got a lot of exposure both there and living in a Greenpeace house. Two principles of community organizing. And so what we work with people to do [00:06:30] is to treat their technology challenges as community organizing opportunities. And by that I mean treats your users as your community members, arguably your marginalized community members. And so much as they don't tend to really get any voice in the technology they use. They tend to get told what tools they're gonna use and it tends to be the wrong tools for what they're trying to get done. Speaker 2:So we work with whoever is what we lovingly call the accidental tech lead or accidental tech decision maker to really get them into an engagement stance and a dialogue process where they actually talk [00:07:00] to the people that need the tools they're trying to identify and treat it as an organizational development growth opportunity rather than just a go to Walmart and get a new thing shopping spree. And that turns out to be a fairly effective model to teach them to fish. Is that tired? Uh, phrase goes, it's really fun to get people into a stance of believing they can actually do their own tech planning. Speaker 1:Interesting. Well, we're talking to Alan Gunn, he's the executive director of aspiration tech, a San Francisco based nonprofit that's focused on helping solve tell tech challenges for nonprofits [00:07:30] in the bay area and beyond. And um, that sounds like a pretty, um, people intensive engagement process. So tell me a little bit about the aspiration tech organization. Like who, who is it besides you? Speaker 2:It is seven of us. We're based in San Francisco at 16th and mission street. We run a happy little workspace called The San Francisco nonprofit tech center and have some great housemates. They're with us. Freedom of the press foundation, open whisper systems, upwell, Ruckus Society, peer to Peer University. [00:08:00] So it's a real fun nonprofit tech space. And uh, we work on a range of things. We've got folks that work on so-called human rights technology, helping people to think about digital security, others who work on capacity building across the state of California. Uh, it's easy to get volunteer tech support here in San Francisco. In fact, too easy, far too many people over deliver overly complex technology solutions. Uh, but our passion is the central valley in the rural parts of the state. So we do as much work as we can in Fresno, Sacramento and, and [00:08:30] down highway five. Basically. We've done a number of events at Coachella and places where you don't normally see a real density of tech folks. We're trying there to really help build local tech skills and really tried to build a statewide network of people that share tech, uh, in ways that we think are sustainable. Speaker 1:So, um, as you go through that, you know, you've written this amazing man has fit manifesto online that I think is really great. I want to ask you some questions about it. And one of the things that you just mentioned is taking concept of applying technology to scale organizations and make them more [00:09:00] powerful, um, to places that maybe this isn't something that they're used to. Um, so you have one in your manifest. So you talk about, um, the language for the end user, which, you know, in my experience is so critical. So tell me a little bit about that part of your ethos here of how do you, how do you engage in a way that's not scary to the executive director of WHO's focused on social justice issues and not the latest Tech Gizmo? Speaker 2:Great question. Um, our analysis, uh, we, we refer to it as, as what we call language [00:09:30] justice. And the idea is that if you look at power and class and privilege dynamics with regard to how technology plays out in this sector, technologists are uniquely privileged class and part of their privilege lies in the fact that they use this specialized language that marginalizes virtually everyone else. They'll drop some jargon, use an acronym, and they do it with a disdain that sort of conveys a don't bother asked me about this, you'd never understand it. Sort of a Hubris and so we work with organizations and activists and we say claim, claim your power, [00:10:00] claim your language power and describe what you think you need technologically in your language. Don't feel like you need to say http. Don't feel like you need to say database, but really try to focus on the strategic things you're trying to get done and the outcomes that you're trying to achieve. Speaker 2:One of the myths of technology, this is both in the nonprofit world and the broader world. A lot of people think that tech knows what you want and knows what you need and can do what you need. I'll go out the refrigerator and the microwave and the sad truth [00:10:30] about software and nonprofit technology in particular, it doesn't. And so we try to get people not to assume the tech will magically deliver a solution, but instead to get them to think strategically about the outcomes they're trying to achieve, the strategy that they'll use to get to those outcomes. And then last, the role of technology in those outcomes. We keep all of the dialogue and the vocabulary of the end user, but put it in formats where that same vocabulary makes sense to the techies. We've got sort of a universal format for describing what tech should do that is designed [00:11:00] both to be readily usable by those writing or delivering solutions, but also fully understandable by those little actually have to use them. Speaker 1:Well, it sounds like your engagement process is pretty well defined that you've, you really thought about it. You guys have been doing this for over a decade, it sounds like. So tell me a little bit about how that works. So if someone says I need help and they come to you and you're going to start talking to them in a language is not tech, but how far do you guys go? Do you guys actually implement the technology or do you just a consulting company or what are you guys, Speaker 2:we don't, we lovingly call ourselves pre procurement. Uh, but we'll stay with you all the way through. And [00:11:30] so what we try to do there, there is the other pathology I've seen over the years. People who do social change work are passionate, shockingly about social change. And so when, when you're talking to them about technology and explaining that it's going to take some time, they get fidgety in the big sense of fidgety. They're not happy with that. And when you say, Hey, if you want to do this right, it's an organizational commitment. It requires focus, they go nuts. And so we have a one step, a time model. We try to get them to focus on who will use the technology and then how they'll use it. And to the community organizing [00:12:00] paradigm. We actually get them to get some of their users actively involved in the process. We run live events where we actually get users to react to technology plans and beat them up in a loving way. And so the idea is to really walk folks through the actual visualization of what the tools will do before they pay the money before they get locked in. Speaker 1:So you guys are really generating the, the architecture and requirements of what the organization is gonna spend its money on to go implement. But then you guys step back, someone else is going to go actually [00:12:30] implement it, but you're there as a consultant throughout. Speaker 2:Exactly. At that point, if I can use a boxing metaphor, we then become the trainer in your corner. You're out there, Mano a Mano with somebody that you've got to contract with to make your website or your database or your other application. Uh, there's a certain game theory to dealing with technology vendors and so we basically coach around that. A good example would be, uh, when you're putting out a request for proposal, many earnest nonprofits will actually put the new number of their full budget. They'll say, we only have $30,000 [00:13:00] to do this. Our first coaching advice is don't say 30,000, save a little bit, come in a little bit lower. If you put out a proposal request for 30 K, they'll all come back at 29, nine 99. And so we tried to teach people to sort of keep some gas in the tank and then once projects get going, show them how to track progress and hold vendors accountable. Most vendors disappear into a void and say, oh, it'll be ready at some point. We try really hard to get early engagement around the deliverables so that [00:13:30] the nonprofits know they're getting what they want and they correct errors earlier in the process. Speaker 1:And Are you advocating for a certain type of, um, development methodology like agile, like in a rapid iterative process? Speaker 2:We describe a lot of what we do is grassroots agile. Um, we, we use that term only when it's appropriate to use it. But the concept in the agile software methodology of iterating and pivoting those words drive me crazy, but they're useful words. Uh, and so we try to get people to do minimum viable versions of things. I often described nonprofits, [00:14:00] they have a technology procurement ethic that parallels what people who live far, far out in the country do when it shopping time. They go into the city and they pack that vehicle is full of stuff as they can so they don't have to go back to the city anytime soon. And that doesn't work with tech procurement. If you do the, I want my website with every bell and whistle now you get what we call bloatware. You get technology that doesn't do what you want and it's hard to drive because it's big and it's complicated. So we try to focus on minimalism. Uh, when in doubt, leave [00:14:30] it out. And just a general sense of what we lovingly call subsistence technology because our belief is in the long haul, the less technology you're moving forward, if it meets your basic needs, that's a more strategic footprint than technology. That quote unquote does everything and costs you huge switching pain and legacy costs as you go to evolve with all these technologies are guaranteed to evolve. Speaker 1:When in doubt, leave it out. I love that one cause I use that because that is an awesome one. All right, so we're, we're speaking with Alan Gunn, the executive director of aspiration [00:15:00] tech here on KLX Berkeley 90.7 FM. This is a method to the madness and I'm your host, Ali and Huizar. Another part of your manifesto that I really loved is, um, and it's something that I think is so important, yet people just miss it, which is the fact that it's not about the software is not about the hardware. It's about the data that, tell me about your kind of, you know, the importance you put on the data and, and why is it so important for nonprofits? Speaker 2:Um, at the end of the day, all technology exists to manage information [00:15:30] in some sense, whether that is your digital music player or your radio or whatever. And one of the tragedies, and I think we point this out in that manifesto, software and hardware have cost associated with them. They are budget line items and most nonprofit budgets data rarely does your list of supporters, your list of, um, data samples from an environmental super fund site. No one really assigns a value to that. And so first order problem is that nonprofits think straight to dollars. And if it doesn't [00:16:00] have a number associated with it, they tend to undervalue it. The thing that has become much more of an issue since we wrote that manifesto is that with the proliferation of data acquisition capabilities, mobile data acquisition and crowd sourcing and cloud x, Y, z non nonprofits are now amassing data sets that actually put the people whose data is amassed at risk. Speaker 2:And you know, we see that in so many ways, there are sort of urban legends that are at least part true. Uh, you know, examples that people that [00:16:30] do, um, heat maps, in other words, they do a Google map of places where hate crimes have occurred. The problem with that is that then gives the haters a pretty good clue on where they can go do hateful things. And so there really is a need to do what is often referred to as responsible data practices. We work with a great organization called the engine room that's moving forward a responsible data program. And the idea is to teach nonprofits that with large data sets comes large responsibility and again, when in doubt leave it out. And so as you're collecting data, uh, [00:17:00] there are many times when you want to be circumspect about how that data could be used against you or others in the future. Speaker 2:One other example I use, uh, we worked with groups in the Central Valley that support undocumented folks, uh, in immigration advocacy work. Uh, we are quite sad when we discovered that they keep those folks contact info in Google spreadsheets and you're like, wow, that's just one Faeza or government subpoena away from getting some people deport it or worse. And so we try to make people aware that just because the tool is easy or just cause it's real nice [00:17:30] to see it all in those rows and columns. Uh, you'll want to think about what you're collecting and you'd just as importantly want to think about where you're storing it. Speaker 1:Yeah. I mean it's such a, it's such a huge problem and it's relatively new to humanity cause we never had this much access to information exactly. But this week apple made their big announcement with their new products and one of them is I think health kit where there are research kit where they're, they've created a framework for um, uh, hospitals do research. You can download an app and they can monitor stuff that you're doing, but there's this huge, [00:18:00] you know, HIPAA issues with that as, you know, be putting all this health information on apple servers and they can do whatever they want with it. It's really a fascinating time to be an understanding kind of the privacy laws around data. Yup. Um, now as you look at all of the different, um, you know, engagements that you're doing, um, what are some of the biggest, uh, kind of, you know, um, transformational or disruptive technology trends that you're seeing and nonprofits that are really starting to, you know, you know, we're [00:18:30] talking about some of the negative side with some of the positive things. The technology is so amazing in terms of its rapid advancement. What are you seeing that wasn't around 10 years ago that is really changed, transforming how effective nonprofits and social entrepreneurs can be? Speaker 2:That's a good question. Uh, I tend because we are technology minimalists, I tend to do less compellingly on questions like this. Uh, I'm old school in the sense that I think what really is a magical truth is that publishing a really effective website is now a well-defined process. I thank [00:19:00] the universe that a thing called wordpress came along and I thank the universe that when you outgrow wordpress, there's a thing called Drupal. And those two software packages really do help. The vast majority of grassroots and mid nonprofits publish extremely professional, powerful websites they have control of. I think you can overstate the ways in which mobile is changing the game. I think mobile, when you look at great organizations, you know Copwatch here in Berkeley that's now able to use mobile devices to hold police accountable. I think that's really exciting, but I think you know [00:19:30] whenever people ask me about exciting developments in tech, I I feel like the buzz kill do the glass half empty guy because mobile is a great example. Speaker 2:The power of what mobile can do. If you look@anorganizationlikewitness.org the human rights organization based in New York, they worked with another nonprofit called the Guardian project to put together some incredible human rights documentations, tools and I've been attack and other groups from Palo Alto has also contributed some incredible software. But the problem is that when you're using those phones, you are giving them in [00:20:00] a tremendous amount of data. Anytime you're connected by an actual mobile signal. And so just as you are documenting and collecting, you are almost always putting yourself at risk. Certainly being surveilled and so we try to teach people, as trite as it sounds, there ain't no magic technology bullets. And with every technology opportunity you must model the present and future costs. So to your question, mobile technology is exciting. I'm grateful as someone focusing increasingly on the so-called human rights technology space. Speaker 2:I think digital [00:20:30] security tools have turned a corner, and I think that there really is now a set of tools that really changed the game in terms of what human rights activists can do to be safe wherever they are. You'll never be fully safe. But when you look at where the tor browser has come to and the fact that you can browse online, when you look at what the Guardian software can do on mobile phones, certainly on Android, and when you look at what open whisper systems has done with their red phone and signal apps, which let you have genuine encrypted voice calls on your iPhone and android [00:21:00] devices. To me that's the most exciting thing because I think at the end of the day it's less about the sexy bell or the sexy whistle. It's more about the tools that really help you continue to be effective at scale. Speaker 2:And I'm a bit of a cynic. I think we're in an interesting honeymoon period in the sense that I think right now we see technology as this wonderful, compelling thing. We live in silicon valley and butterflies fly out of, you know, SD ram cards. But I think in the future we really need to model for a fairly dark world where those tools are actually used to surveil us. They're locked down. People have to connect [00:21:30] to the Internet with a global unique numeric identifier. And so I think it's really critical as we use these tools to focus on those that give us longterm agency and longterm autonomy, the people's tools and to that extent, open source and free software. I believe that depending on Google and apple and Microsoft is death unto itself as overstated as that might sound to some people, those corporations have one thing they got to do well and that's make money for shareholders and God bless them or goddess bless them, they do damn well at that particular pursuit here and now. Speaker 2:But [00:22:00] I think it's critical to understand that when the nonprofits get the freebies from Google or the freebies from Microsoft and one of these days, apple apparently is going to give some freebies to um, those are lock-in tricks. Those are surveillance hooks, those are addictions to unhealthy fatty technology. Foods then in the long run are going to kill the movement. And so we practice a, as an preach, if I may a certain rather strident voice around the fact that we need to be consuming open tools, free software technology controlled by the people, for the people, and making that our priority. [00:22:30] So instead of the shiny air or the newer or the more compelling, let us use the open and the free and the stable and maintain control of our longterm technology destiny. Speaker 1:Well, it's a really a powerful, um, image that you're portraying there. And, um, I almost see like a dystopian future novel coming from you at some point in time. Like you, you've got the vision. We've got to, if only more about it. Only Cory Doctorow hadn't already written it. All right. So, um, we're talking to Alan Gunn. He's an executive director of aspiration tech [00:23:00] here on KLX Berkeley 90.7 FM. And uh, we're talking about is a nonprofit that helps other nonprofits use tech for good. And, um, so let's talk a little bit about, um, some stories. So, um, you're in a consultative capacity. You probably see all sorts of transformations from the time you come in to the time you leave working with a organization. So can you tell us a little bit about a couple of, you know, you know, transformations that you really love that are really encapsulate [00:23:30] the kind of mission of aspiration tech? Speaker 2:I'd be glad to. Um, a story I tell a lot just because they're wonderful people that we adore and we're grateful we get to work with them. There's a wonderful organization in Fresno called Barrios Unidos and they work with young mothers to help balance, ah, workforce development and being able to stay employed with childcare, which is a tough double to pull when you're in your teen or early 20 years. And we first started working with them, goodness, about five years ago, our program director, misty Abila, uh, was [00:24:00] the lead on that. And the idea when we got there, they were really just trying to figure out technology basics and they bought into what we were selling in terms of the process that we advocate. The idea that you, you don't count on the tools, you count on your own ability to drive the tools and you count on the tools changing and trying to design processes that sustain your messaging, your engagement and your information management. And they now come to our events and train other nonprofits and everything they do and they've innovated in ways we could have never imagined. And so Yasmin and all [00:24:30] the folks at Barrios Unidos are an ongoing inspiration to us because they're doing the work that inspires us. They're actually making the world a better place and working with them to figure out appropriate tech is sort of really in a, in a nutshell, what aspiration exists to do Speaker 1:to what kind of innovations have they done. Speaker 2:They're using social media to reach people. They're using mobile phones and clever ways to, it's, you know, I think to a silicon valley ear, it's not that innovative, but I think when you're working with zero technology dollars, just the fact that they're sustaining some very compelling online communications [00:25:00] and really mobilizing people using technology to participate in, to be part of what they do, that to us is a big win. Speaker 1:Yeah. And that was a, the one of the, one of the questions I want to ask and follow up to kind of the biggest disruptors in the nonprofit space was social media, just because the democratization of the ability to access so many people I would think would be a great driver of fundraising capabilities for nonprofits. We've seen all sorts of crowdsourcing and stuff like that. Um, and so that's, you got to see that as a positive, right? I mean, in terms of new [00:25:30] developments or what's your take on that? Speaker 2:Um, it's a tough question. I think social media is an astoundingly powerful infrastructure and I, you know, we certainly advise people to play in those fields, but I think it really depends on a lot of variables. One thing that the fundraising professionals, uh, of which I do not, uh, myself identify as one. Uh, the fundraising professionals will tell you, social media is not actually a really good fundraising mechanism. We certainly talked people down from there. I'm going to make this video and it's going to go [00:26:00] viral. Delusions on a regular basis. Um, if there's anything everyone that we work with agrees on what goes viral cannot be predicted. Uh, you know, and even upworthy, bless their souls, work overtime to drive the stuff that they drive viral. So I, you know, I think on a lot of levels it's important to really think about social media, like all of their technologies in the context of what it is or is not appropriate for a cautionary tale. Speaker 2:I'm sorry, I keep coming back to the buzzkill side of your questions. Look at what happened with the Arab spring. A incredible use of Twitter and social media [00:26:30] to mobilize, to put people into Hater Square, to actually let the people's voice be heard. And then as soon as there was a government turnover, uh, they went back to those Twitter logs and they took those people and they put them in jail. Uh, and a close friend and ally of ours, ally still actually in jail, just got sentenced to a number of years in jail in no small part because of its online a writing. And so I think social media, it's a critical tool and it's a place, you know, one of things we say to people, meet people where your audiences are. A lot of people on Facebook, a lot of people on Twitter, but we encourage people [00:27:00] to really strike a healthy balance because Facebook is a great example of an incredibly powerful tool that will double back to bite you. Speaker 2:There's a cautionary tale from a couple of years ago, uh, Facebook, uh, was, uh, I'm trying to think what year this was. I believe it was pre IPO target. The CEO of target was funding hate legislation in Minnesota, anti gay marriage stuff in Minnesota. And some earnest Facebook users set up a boycott target page, which Facebook instantly froze. It got 75,000 likes in one day. Facebook froze it because, [00:27:30] oops, target is a major advertiser on Facebook and you know, their whole patronizing language was that they wanted to maintain the civility of Facebook. You're like, dude, I can show you a lot of Facebook real estate where that is not being enforced, but a point being a, you know, there's that, that old phrase about, you know, whether or not it's going to work to, you know, use the master's tool to dismantle the master's house. I think we're really playing an unleveraged game to depend on Facebook and corporate social media to bring about change because at the point that we start to bring revolution to bear, they'll close our account. [00:28:00] And I think we need to be humble to the fact that the end of the day, social media is a revolution. It is an evolution. It is a powerful infrastructure, but we must distrust it as much as we leverage it because it's going to be taken away at the point that we use it effectively against power and against the corporations that control it. Especially the advertising corporations that generate the CR prices, the generate the dividends that make the 1% do what they do so wonderfully well. Speaker 1:Yeah. And all these companies, Twitter, Facebook, they're all, you know, publicly traded companies now at the holding of their own shareholders [00:28:30] and they're in the rat race of quarterly reports and all that stuff. So well said. So I wanted that close by. Um, you know, you've, you've stated a powerful case for, uh, you know, a, a manifesto that you have online of how to apply, you know, learnings to nonprofit world, which was probably quite a few people listening who that resonates with. So how can they get involved if someone wants to help aspiration tech's mission, how would you suggest they help? Speaker 2:That's a great question. Uh, we do a lot of trainings [00:29:00] at our tech center. We welcome to come by their free trainings. We love to mentor mentors. You know, we, we don't presume to be the smartest men or in the room, but our belief is that, uh, as we teach others that they can go teach others how to do this stuff and what we consider to be sustainable ways. We as a set of movements and a movement supported by a set of techies with certain value orientations around social justice as opposed to whizzbang shiny. Um, we welcome folks that want to sort of grow in that mentoring role, that teacher role [00:29:30] and that tech support role. Because doing that well is really hard. And I say that as somebody who's been doing it for about 20 years. Um, we're available whether you're in California, on the other side of the world, uh, at aspiration tech. Speaker 2:Dot. There's lots of ways to contact us. We can't always help, but we'll always try to find you someone who can, uh, for those that are more techie oriented. Our annual conference in Oakland, it's in November every year. The last full week before Thanksgiving, a the nonprofit software developers summit is a time where so-called open techies, people that are committed to making open [00:30:00] and free software and other technology come together to meet with one another. But at the end of the day, the answer to your question is, if you think we can help, call us up and we'll do our best to see if we, uh, can prove you're right. Speaker 1:Right on. Well, I appreciate you coming in today, gunner and we, you've been listening to Alan Gunn, the executive director of aspiration tech, a San Francisco based nonprofit, really focused on helping other nonprofits utilize technology for good. You can check them out@aspirationtech.org and you, and this has been method to the madness on KALX Berkeley 90.7 FM. Thanks for listening. [00:30:30] Have a great Friday. Everybody. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.