Podcasts about although john

Brianna encounters a stranger on the NYC subway who inserts himself in her life. Despite her attempts to shun him, he persists. Follow Brianna and her unborn child as they navigate the travails of NYC streets and strangers. For today's show, Melissa and JW talk about the unique circumstances of John Mahoney and his story. Although John was unable to participate in-person for the interview, JW and Melissa discuss the answers he provided in advance. If you'd like to read this story or learn more about John, head over to Etched Onyx Magazine at www.onyxpublications.com. All audio and story material are copyright 2021, all rights reserved.

Lucy Ludwell inherited her father's Virginia residence in 1767. At the time, she was living as a member of the social elite in London with her husband, John Paradise. Although John had been a linguist and scholar of some note, the couple had never seen a substantial improvement in their financial standing. Upon John's untimely death. Lucy was left near destitute and forced to depart London for the residence her father had left her in the old colonial capital of Virginia. Neighbors and community members took notice of Lucy's eccentricities like excessive bathing and aimless carriage rides that never left her back porch. Her strange behaviors were seen as indicators of insanity and the community had her committed to the Public Hospital for Persons of Insane and Disordered Minds. She lingered within its walls for two years before committing suicide. Since then, visitors and those who have stayed within the Ludwell-Paradise house have said they still hear the sound of a woman bathing despite the bathroom being empty. Many stories of unusual hauntings surround not only the private residence but many other of the restored structures of the old colonial capital. This case file, join the Theorists as they tell you less than sober spooky tales of… The Hauntings of Colonial Williamsburg Patreon, Socials, Website and everything ATT here: https://linktr.ee/alientheoristspodcast --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/alientheoriststheorizing/message

John came to precede the Christ as the forerunner predicted in Isaiah -40-3- and referenced by Malachi. Although John denied that he was Elijah promised -John denied that he was the person of Elijah-, but Jesus clearly stated that John was the Elijah promised. He came to call the nation to repentance, being a Levite, John faithfully did the work of a priest.

John Roberson's a well-experienced equities trader, who's been able to harness the power of technology and leverage the skills of his team to maximize his trading operation. Since starting out in 2007, John has been involved in various trading groups, and today he's with Kershner Trading Group (Texas). Although John originated as a discretionary click trader, over the years, he begun to automate more and more. To the point that he now runs a portfolio of 80+ automated models, which do everything from news and earnings, to mean reversion and momentum, to arbitrage and micro structure...

Rev. Harrison Goodman, pastor at Mt. Calvary Lutheran Church in San Antonio, TX, joins host Rev. Timothy Appel to study Mark 1:14-15. John’s imprisonment points to the truth that Jesus will follow John in his suffering and death. Although John is arrested by Herod Antipas, tetrarch in Galilee, Jesus is unafraid to preach the truth in Galilee. The Word of God goes forth unhindered by persecution. Jesus’ inaugural sermon is direct and concise. In Jesus, the time is at hand because God is reigning in Him as king. He sets His people free from asking “When is the king coming?” Instead, Jesus’ people ask, “Where is the King reigning?” and “Who is this King who reigns?” In these ways, Jesus still reigns as King among us by the preaching of His Word. The Word preached among us is the same Word Jesus preached. The Word of God brings us to repentance over our sins and creates trust in the good news of what Jesus has done for us. “The Gospel in Action” is a mini-series on Sharper Iron that goes through the Gospel according to St. Mark. The Evangelist hits the ground running with the very first verse of his Gospel account, and he never lets up the pace. As one deed of Jesus comes right after another, always paired with His authoritative Word, St. Mark proclaims the good news that Jesus Christ is the Son of God, revealed conclusively by His death on the cross.

Today we celebrate a descriptive rare orchid hunter who changed the way orchids were cared for. We'll also learn about the man who was held as a prisoner at the Singapore Botanical Garden during WWII. We’ll hear about the stark funeral instructions left by Carl Linnaeus. We Grow That Garden Library™ with a book about botanical fraud - it’s a fascinating story. And then we’ll wrap things up with the long lost story of a man who didn’t support a diet that included fruits and vegetables.   Subscribe Apple | Google | Spotify | Stitcher | iHeart To listen to the show while you're at home, just ask Alexa or Google to “Play the latest episode of The Daily Gardener Podcast.” And she will. It's just that easy.   The Daily Gardener Friday Newsletter Sign up for the FREE Friday Newsletter featuring: A personal update from me Garden-related items for your calendar The Grow That Garden Library™ featured books for the week Gardener gift ideas Garden-inspired recipes Exclusive updates regarding the show Plus, each week, one lucky subscriber wins a book from the Grow That Garden Library™ bookshelf.   Gardener Greetings Send your garden pics, stories, birthday wishes, and so forth to Jennifer@theDailyGardener.org   Curated News Harvesting Herbs, Healing, and How to Make the Perfect Cup of Herbal Tea | Garden Therapy | Stephanie Rose   Facebook Group If you'd like to check out my curated news articles and original blog posts for yourself, you're in luck. I share all of it with the Listener Community in the Free Facebook Group - The Daily Gardener Community. So, there’s no need to take notes or search for links. The next time you're on Facebook, search for Daily Gardener Community where you’d search for a friend... and request to join. I'd love to meet you in the group.   Important Events January 12, 1898 Today is the anniversary of the death of the 19th-century Belgian botanist, explorer, horticulturist, rare orchid hunter, and businessman Jean Jules Linden. Before he reached 20, Jean began collecting rare orchids in South America. In 1844, Jean discovered the Dendrophylax lindenii or the Ghost orchid in Cuba. But there was an aspect to Jean’s work that was even more important than the orchids he collected - and that was his incredible notes about how these rare orchids grew in the wild. Jean’s careful observations and detailed notes were a revelation to European collectors who could not wait to acquire the latest specimens from around the world. The little details Jean included in his notes transformed the way orchids were grown in Europe. Before Jean’s work, Europe was regarded as an orchid graveyard - a place where orchids were sent to die. Initially, collectors and even trained botanists didn’t fully appreciate how to care for orchids. The standard practice of the time was to treat all orchids as other tropicals: just stick them in a hothouse at high temperatures and hope they survive. Jean’s work helped plant experts and orchid lovers appreciate the errors in their understanding of these plants. Jean’s holistic approach to orchid collection became a benchmark for other botanists. For instance, after Jean’s work, the British botanist John Lindley began including accounts of the native conditions of the plants he collected. When he returned to Brussels, Jean served as the director of the Brussels Zoo and Botanical Garden. Not surprisingly, Jean’s favorite aspect of the job was horticulture. As Jean focused on expanding the gardens, he grew thousands of plants. Jean created three different types of glasshouses with his intimate knowledge of orchids - each with its own distinct temperature range - to match the various native climates Jean had noted while searching for orchids. In addition to a traditional hothouse, Jean’s garden had a temperate house and a cool house. As a result of his specialized care, Jean’s orchids flourished, and Jean soon had a thriving orchid business. At one point, Jean had orchid outlets in Brussels, Ghent, and Paris. And Jean’s orchids won awards at exhibitions across Europe from London to St. Petersburg. Today, thanks to the BioDiversity Heritage Library, you can see digital scans of Jean Jules Linden’s incredibly gorgeous lithographs from his invaluable books on orchids -  Pescatorea and Lindenia. They are truly spectacular. Jean Jules Linden is remembered in many plant names, including the orchids Phalaenopsis lindenii (Orchidaceae) and Polyrrhiza lindenii (Orchidaceae).   January 12, 1906 Today is the birthday of the brilliant botanist, conservationist, and mycologist Edred John Henry Corner. As a young boy, John developed a stutter - something he battled all of his life, and it was the main reason he never pursued teaching or lecturing as a career. Sadly, John attributed his stutter to his parents, who he remembered as harsh and cold. Early in his career, John was mentored by the British botanist, photographer, and botanical illustrator Arthur Harry Church. A devoted archivist, Arthur advised John, “Note everything! Draw everything! Photograph everything!” When John was 23, he seized upon an opportunity to become a mycologist and Assistant Director at the Singapore Botanical Garden. John began work in Singapore in 1929. Thirteen years later, during WWII, Singapore surrendered to the Japanese. Fortunately, John’s wife and son, John Jr., who was nicknamed “Kay,” were evacuated. Although John was conscripted into the Singapore Army, John’s botanical work saved him from serving in the army. John had trained monkeys to collect specimens for him in the jungles when he went out botanizing. However, an unexpected attack by one of his monkeys damaged John’s right arm, and it was this disability that saved John from serving in the Singapore Army. Now before the Japanese arrived in the city, looting had started. Anticipating the worst, John persuaded the Governor to allow him to bring a note to the Japanese requesting that they spare the Botanical Gardens and the Raffles Museum. John’s courageous foresight helped save both of these scientific treasures. As fate would have it, the Japanese man in charge of Singapore was an avid amateur botanist who was determined to maintain the Botanical Garden. For the remaining three years of WWII, John was kept on as a civil prisoner at the Botanical Garden, where he was allowed to work with careful supervision. Unfortunately, this unlikely scenario caused some folks to falsely label John, a traitor. Nevertheless, John continued his work. During his time in Singapore during the Great War, John botanized, worked on his own theories regarding plants and evolution, and wrote a great deal about his discoveries and life in Singapore. John also studied palm trees, developed his theory of forest evolution, and began to study the microscopic structure of seeds. John even managed to produce a flora of Singapore. In hindsight, John’s work during this trying time was foundational to his professional development. Two decades later, John’s popular textbook The Life of Plants was released in 1964. As a best-seller, The Life of Plants featured John’s brilliant writing in addition to his own drawings and photography (he had followed his mentor, Arthur Church’s advice). John’s book was translated into French, German, Italian, and (ironically) Japanese. After the war, John did not stay in Singapore. Instead, John found himself in South America, studying the rain forest on behalf of UNESCO. A pioneer of conservation, John helped ensure that large areas of tropical forest were protected. In 1949, John returned to Cambridge. A year later, it was clear: John’s marriage was over. As Kay turned 19, John rejected his son, and as a result, John never saw Kay again. However, in a final touching gesture, John left a suitcase that was clearly labeled “For Kay, wherever he might be.” After John died, the suitcase was delivered to Kay. As it turns out, the suitcase contained letters, photos, and other artifacts that Kay eventually pieced together to create a captivating memoir of his father’s life and their relationship. Kay’s book, My Father in his Suitcase: In search of E.J.H. Corner, the relentless botanist, was released in 2013. Copies are difficult to find - but there are still a few on Amazon and through private sellers.   Unearthed Words Linnaeus was a modest man and stipulated rules for his funeral arrangements: “Entertain nobody ...and accept no condolences.”  But when he died in January 1778, his instructions were ignored. Even the King of Sweden came to pay his respects at the funeral of the man who gave a name to the onion and to every other plant in the world. — Bill Laws, Fifty Plants That Changed the World, Onion (Allium)   Grow That Garden Library A Rum Affair by Karl Sabbagh  This book came out in 2016, and the subtitle is A True Story of Botanical Fraud. In this book, Karl tells the story of the eminent British botanist John Heslop Harrison who always went by Jack. “Jack proposed a controversial theory: that vegetation on the islands off the west coast of Scotland had survived the last Ice Age. Jack’s premise flew in the face of what most botanists believed - that no plants had survived the 10,000-year period of extreme cold.  But Jack had proof - the plants and grasses found on the isle of Rum. What Jack didn't anticipate, however, was an amateur botanist called John Raven, who boldly questioned Jack’s theory. This is the story of what happened when a tenacious amateur set out to find out the truth and how he uncovered a most extraordinary fraud.” This book is 288 pages of an informative and amusing true story of botanical intrigue. You can get a copy of A Rum Affair by Karl Sabbagh and support the show using the Amazon Link in today's Show Notes for around $9.   Today’s Botanic Spark Reviving the little botanic spark in your heart January 12, 1823 Today is the birthday of the 19th-century American physician and the inventor of the Salisbury steak James Henry Salisbury. James began thinking critically about diet after serving as a doctor in the Civil War. He started to believe that diarrhea and dysentery could be solved by consuming only coffee and beefsteak. After the war, James refined his thinking around food. Believing that vegetables and starchy foods became toxic inside the body and that the structure of teeth proved humans were designed to be mostly carnivorous, James became even more zealous about advising people to eat mostly meat. And so, James recommended limiting vegetables, fruit, starches, and fats to only one-third of the diet. In 1888, James introduced his Salisbury Steak - deep-fried or boiled ground beef with onion, flavored with seasoning and covered with gravy or brown sauce. Along with drinking hot water as a cleanse, James advised eating his Salisbury Steak three times a day and his diet became known as the Salisbury diet. Today, with his anti-vegetable views, James is probably rolling over in his grave to see more people than ever trying their hand at gardening. So this spring, as you’re eagerly sowing that row of radish, carrots, or peas, remember to raise a trowel to ol’ James Salisbury - and keep on planting.   Thanks for listening to The Daily Gardener. And remember: "For a happy, healthy life, garden every day."

John 1:1-18 Although John doesn’t mention it, the manner in which Jesus, The Word, became flesh is very important to our salvation. This morning, as we affirmed our faith, we affirmed this when we said those historic words in the Nicene Creed: “ For us and for our salvation, He came down from heaven; He became incarnate by the Holy Spirit and the Virgin Mary, and was made human.” In the Apostles’ Creed, we affirm that “He was born of the Virgin Mary.” The truth of the virgin birth of Christ is a truth opposed from every side. The world mocks the idea of a virgin birth, viewing it as a primitive, medieval superstition. The devil hates the virgin birth because it teaches both the humanity and the deity of his nemesis, the Lord Jesus Christ. Sadly, many nominal Christians, due to ignorance, doubt it or think it’s incidental. It’s not incidental. It is foundational.

Welcome to 2021, ladies and gentlemen. Although John and I are both forward-thinking individuals, he and I realized something. Yes, it's supremely tempting to blow off the pandemic-themed, quarantined dumpster fire that was 2020 without a single backward glass.  However, we would be remiss if we did not take a moment to reflect before we moved ahead into the new year.  It is with that in mind that I present to you all this very special episode, in which we reflect on the largest lessons we learned in 2020 and our resolutions for the new year. I'll admit, this wasn't the "check the box" resolutions episode I expected. As I noted at the top of this episode, when I finally sat down to prepare for our recording, I was surprised at what I realized were my biggest lessons and my chosen resolutions. Oh, and we talk about this: Enjoy!  Related resources How to hire and onboard a content manager Robert DeNiro's audition for Sonny in The Godfather Important show note As I mentioned a the previous episode, in the coming weeks, we'll be releasing a bunch of episodes John and I recorded over the past few months. For various reasons, we always felt very quickly that they would become obsolete — for example, we would cancel events we were promoting in those episodes, due to the COVID-19 pandemic.  After serious consideration, we've opted to release those episodes anyway. So, please understand that there may be some cases where we reference events that ended up not occurring during certain episodes that we opt to publish down the line, as they make sense. They also may be released out of order, based on their topic. The topics we discussed are still very valuable and evergreen, however, so we hope you'll excuse any momentary confusion.  Until next week!

這個周末，教會慶祝將臨期的第二主日，福音來自馬爾谷一章一至八節。此福音始於「耶穌基督福音的開始」之詞，而當時「福音」經常代表慶祝自稱為神之子的皇帝戰勝或誕生。馬爾谷如此言，指出真正的和平與勝利並非來自世俗君王，而是來自天主子。在今天福音，若翰洗者為耶穌準備道路，用言用身教人。他很謙卑，說自己不堪當為默西亞綁鞋帶，是卑微到連猶太人僕人都不肯做的工作。我們領洗時，原罪、本罪、罪罰一律被赦免，給我們永不磨滅的神印，讓我們接受其他聖事。雖然若翰洗者無權赦免人罪，但他以儀式準備眾人心靈來迎接耶穌。告誡聖事的神效比當初若翰洗者的更大，與聖洗同為得救之柱。我們這將臨期該存心悔改，才能迎接耶穌來臨。 This weekend, the Church celebrates the Second Sunday of Advent and the Gospel reading comes from Mark 1:1-8. Mark's Gospel begins with the words "The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ". In those days, a "Gospel" typically referred to celebrating the victory or birth of an emperor, who claimed to be a son of god. In saying this, Mark pointed out that true peace and victory come not from worldly princes, but from the true Son of God. In today's Gospel, John the Baptist prepares the way for Jesus by teaching through words and actions. He was so humble that he said he was not worthy to untie the sandals of the Messiah, a job deemed too demeaning for even a Jewish slave to perform. When we are baptized, our original sin, personal sin, and the temporal punishment of sin are all erased; we also receive an indelible mark which allows us to receive the other Sacraments. Although John's baptism had no actual authority to forgive sins, he used a liturgy to prepare people's hearts to receive Jesus. The Sacrament of Reconciliation has much greater spiritual graces than John's confessions, and form the pillars of salvation with Baptism. We ought to sincerely repent this Advent, in order to welcome Jesus' coming.

John along with his wife Jenn & their two beautiful children (boy and a girl), a boxer and two cats, reside just south of Boston in the South Shore of Massachusetts. John Fortes also known as The Passive Investor Consultant, founded The Fortes Company which partners with working professionals seeking to invest in a diversified commercial multifamily fund because they don’t have the desire or time to own real estate and fully operate it. By leveraging John’s experience, he has helped families invest in over $70 million in multifamily investments that’s allowed them to secure financial security, preserve and grow their wealth as well as compound their investments as they achieve their financial independence. John is also the host of The Passive Investor Show podcast and showcases the value of investing in real estate funds to provide a true hands-off investing audio experience. The show has become one of the hottest real estate podcasts on iTunes for working professionals looking for a hands-off approach to investing in real estate syndications and funds. Although John loves spending time with his family, another fun fact about John is that he also enjoys refereeing high-level basketball games. Connect with Jhon here: www.johnfortes.com www.fortesco.com ************************************************************ To learn more about what I am doing and how you can partner with my group on future deals check us out at: https://onyxcapitalinvestments.com Join our Facebook group: https://www.facebook.com/groups/45846... Leave us a review on our podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast... Schedule a time to talk with me: https://bit.ly/2XAOkIW

Join German and Oscar Buendia with John Fortes, as they talk about building the right relationships and taking care of investors. John is a very authentic leader, investor, and mentor. He shares a lot of advice about how to scale your business, strategies that will help you improve, and the things that you should avoid doing in the real estate industry. Here’s a breakdown of what to expect in this episode:

John Saunders, Founder of 5Four Digital, honed his SEO, SEM, and PPC digital marketing skills when he started his career working for an agency that provided dealership-level marketing services for automobile manufacturers. When John figured out that he wanted to use his skills for different kinds of projects and a more diverse clientele (SMBs, tech-startups), he started his own company. Today, 5Four focuses on brand identity (logo design and brand guidelines), and website design and development on Shopify, Webflow, and WordPress platforms. In this interview, John explains how to build automated linkages that will increase customer engagement and discusses 3 “shopping” platforms: WordPress, Shopify, and Webflow.  John says WordPress was a game-changer – it made CMS (content management systems) “accessible” for people with lower-level HTML and CSS skills. The platform is flexible enough that amazing sites can be built with either the supplied templates or with custom code. A disadvantage of WordPress is that it requires the use of an extensive array of plugins for website “attributes,” and these and other security measures need to be maintained. Wordpress with a WooCommerce plug-in works well for ecommerce, but John has found that Shopify allows the agency to more quickly scale stores for its clients. One Shopify app, Teelaunch, provides companies with low cost, high-quality print on demand products so customers can create an MVP (minimum viable product, Eric Ries: The Lean Startup,) and build their own brand for less than $1000. Another CMS option, Webflow, can produce outstanding websites. It has a slight learning curve but is easy to use and highly flexible. Although John currently sees Webflow as ”the future,” an organization's decision to use a particular CMS platform should be based on a number of considerations. Through the years, John has developed systems and standard operating procedures which allow him to delegate tasks to his staff or to automate processes, so the work gets done automatically. One tool he has found to be particularly helpful is Zapier, which provides a way to “web-hook” different websites, platforms, and apps. John uses Zapier to cross-integrate his company website contact form with Slack (to notify John that the form has been filled out), and then with Mailchimp to send a “thank you for your interest, here's another form.” Response to that drives another form for scheduling . . . and that information is sent to Colony. John says Zapier can be used to link Facebook to Gmail, Facebook Forms to Google Sheets, with up to 10 such linkages free. John recommends written website SOPs to facilitate task handoffs to clients if the client prefers to maintain the site. 5Four Digital was already running remotely when Covid-19 hit. John's SOPs and integrated technology continue to keep the agency operating smoothly. Many of his team use Asana to manage tasks. He notes that not everything he has done succeeded. However, the failures often provided the tools, resources, and experience he needed for subsequent projects . . . that did succeed. John recently started a company offering downloadable illustrations featuring people of color so sitebuilders have beautiful pictures that promote diversity. BlackIllustrations.com. He is also involved in digital education and sees a lot of that in the future replacing the traditional four-year degree.  John can be found on his personal website at JohnDSaunders.com and @JohnDSaunders on Facebook and Instagram. His agency's website is: https://www.5fourdigital.com/. Transcript Follows: ROB: Welcome to the Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast. I'm your host, Rob Kischuk, and I'm joined today by John Saunders, Founder at 5Four Digital based in Miami, Florida. Welcome to the podcast, John. JOHN: Hey, Rob. Thank you for having me. I'm super excited to be here, man. Thank you. ROB: It's excellent to have you here. Why don't you start us off with an introduction to 5Four Digital and where you specialize. JOHN: Absolutely. My name, of course, as you said, is John D. Saunders. I'm the founder of 5Four Digital. We focus and allocate our resources towards a couple key services. Those are brand identity, which is logo design and brand guidelines, as well as website design and development for Shopify, Webflow, and WordPress. Those are our main focus areas. ROB: That makes perfect sense. WordPress obviously has been around for a very long time, Shopify a decent amount of time. Webflow is a little newer. How has that development of competencies happened? Did you start in one of those areas? How have you decided where to keep your skills sharp? JOHN: Great question. I started in WordPress – man, it was at least 10 years ago. WordPress put CMS, or content management systems, on the map in regards to making it accessible for people that either have an entry level to HTML and CSS or high level. You create these amazing websites either using templates or doing custom code. I started doing that with WordPress, and man, it was an exciting time because I started out and I learned everything I could from YouTube videos and other things like that. This was in the infancy of WordPress, so it was before they even had all these templates and themes. I was able to build a site for my mom, who's a teacher, and we built this tutoring site. Kids were able to go on, fill out the contact form. I was able to take this idea I had in my head and make it something tangible. That's when I was hooked. As the agency grew, we really thought to allocate our resources toward a few key resources, and WordPress was that main one. As ecommerce started to build up and develop, I thought, WordPress is great. We have WooCommerce, plug-ins that integrate well. But I feel like Shopify was the perfect platform because we were able to scale out stores for clients at a quicker level than WordPress. So, we did that with Shopify. Then a couple years ago, we heard about Webflow, which is another content management system or almost like a live builder, and man, I built my first site in Webflow and I was like, this is definitely the future. It's easy to use. Of course it has a learning curve, but ultimately you can build essentially whatever you want in regards to your website, have your own custom CSS in there, and the designs and things we've been able to create with Webflow have been really, really dope. ROB: Right on. If somebody has a WordPress website, they'll probably stick with WordPress for the time being, although any given revision to a WordPress site can certainly be an entire rebuild. But if someone's starting today, how would you help them consider the decision of whether to go with WordPress or whether to go with Webflow? JOHN: That's a great question. If they're an existing business – let's say they've been using WordPress for 5 or 6 years and they just want to do a refresh or redesign their site. They already have historical data or historical SEO attributes to that website, so I probably wouldn't recommend completely changing over to Webflow unless the site was new and they didn't get a ton of traffic. If they're doing over 10,000, 50,000, 100,000 hits per month, we'd probably stay with WordPress and scale out that website in regards to building out a new design. If the business doesn't get a ton of traffic and they're not really worried about pulling all that traffic to the new site, I would absolutely recommend Webflow. One thing I like about Webflow is a lot is the transition in regards to using the platform is easier. You can build out sites how you want. You don't necessarily need a ton of plug-ins, which is one of the issues I have with WordPress; you need plug-ins for a lot of the attributes you need to add to a website. It also takes a lot of constant upkeep. Every month you have to make sure the plug-ins are up to date. You also have to make sure WordPress, the framework, is up to date, and you're open to malware and malicious attacks from people because the CMS is so popular. The good point about that is there's a ton of resources on WordPress and information out there. Thousands of plug-ins, thousands of resources, developers, designers. It's an open source platform that has a lot of people linked to it. With Webflow, it's a little bit newer, so it's smaller. But the level to entry isn't as steep as say WordPress, and it doesn't need that constant upkeep. You can build out your site, you can set up Zapier to set up web hooks between different websites and platforms, and you're pretty much good to go. ROB: Wow, it sounds like you're deep on the Zapier stuff. That's a whole other unlock there. JOHN: Oh man, it's like a cheat code, dude. [laughs] ROB: [laughs] Tell us about that a little bit for folks who aren't as familiar with Zapier and what sort of directions you can take that toolkit. JOHN: I'll give you a precursor. The first thing is I'm a big proponent of standard operating procedures or setting up systems within the business so I can delegate to either staff, team members, or create automation. That way no one has to do it and it just gets done automatically. I'm a big proponent of that. I work from home. I have five team members on our team, and I love to have the freedom to be able to focus on big picture. With that said, Zapier is a great way to connect different platforms easily through a platform seamlessly. I'll explain that. For example, when you visit our agency website and you fill out the contact form, that form automatically pushes to Slack. As soon as the form gets filled out, I get a notification that someone's filled it out on Slack with their information. That keeps me up to date. Secondly, we set up a Zapier so that it integrates with MailChimp. So as soon as someone fills out that form, they get an automatic email response saying, “Hey, thank you for your interest. Would you mind filling out this free form?” Once they fill out that form, then they get another automatic email push that says, “Hey, great, go ahead and book a time here,” and then we've connected Colony. All Zapier does is just connects different apps to each other. You can connect Facebook to Gmail, you can connect Facebook Forms to Google Sheets – the possibilities are endless. I think you can do up to 10 for free and then you can pay for different Zaps. ROB: Very nice. Thinking about WordPress versus Webflow, you get the site designed, you get it developed, you hand it over to the client – is either one of those more conducive to clients being able to manage things themselves? Or is it just the case that clients, even if you give them all the tools, aren't going to manage things themselves to make minor changes in the future? JOHN: It really depends on the client because they're both very user-friendly, especially on the client side, for the most part. It's easy to add blogs. It's easy to update pages once either you're using a third party platform like Oxygen or Divi or Elementor, the page builders. It's pretty easy to use once you get over that initial learning curve. Both WordPress and Webflow have a client-facing side so that they can make updates. So that part is pretty easy. What I like to tell people, especially agency owners, is it's a good idea to set up SOPs, or standard operating procedures, for your clients in regards to the handoff. If you're a web design agency, there's one of two things you can do. You can either manage and host that website for the client, and then they pay a fee every month, or you say, “Hey, here's a repository of my trainings on how to use the platform, how to jump in, how to add blogs. Your team can use this.” Because sometimes you'll build a project and give it to their staff. They might have a marketing team or a content marketing team that can create that content; they just need to know how to use the backend. So, you want to have that in your back pocket so that way when a client is like, “Yeah, we don't really want you to manage it. We just want you to build it out and then hand it off to us,” you already have that repository of operating procedures that you can give them. ROB: That all makes sense. John, if we rewind a few years, how did you come to start 5Four Digital? What's the origin story here? JOHN: For me, I was at an agency. I worked there for about 4 years. I moved up in the ranks and became marketing director. It was an automotive dealership agency, so we dealt primarily with a lot of the car manufacturers – Audi, Land Rover, Ford – at the dealership level. We would do the marketing at the dealership level. Being in that position taught me a lot because I was able to use SEO, SEM, PPC, all these different services under the digital marketing moniker. It helped me develop my skillset. Once I did that, I got to the point where I wanted to work on different types of projects. I got kind of burnt out from the automotive side. I wanted to work with maybe SMBs, tech startups, and that type of thing. That's when I left and I started my own company, 5Four Digital. I was focused on more so on the product as opposed to how it looked. I didn't need to have a fancy office or anything. Honestly, when I started, I didn't really have much money. I was on the ramen diet, and I was saving money because I had segued from a full-time position to doing this on my own. The biggest thing for me was to really focus and allocate my resources towards providing a great product to the client. I didn't have an office. I was working from home, and I started to build my team remotely. When other agency owners were like, “You need an office, you need this, you need that,” I was like, instead of paying $2,500, $3,000, $3,500 – because I am in South Florida – for an office, I can take those resources and I can pay a developer, I can pay a project manager to help scale this business without having to have that burden of a physical location. ROB: So, you were completely ready for the shutdowns this year. Did very much change for you as a business, either with how your team worked, or maybe with some of your clients when some of the COVID-19 shutdowns started to come through? JOHN: I do want to say that a lot of people are going through a lot currently. People are being furloughed, fired from their jobs. It's just a lot. The transition for us prior to COVID and to now hasn't really changed much because we were already running remotely. All the platforms and things that we were using were already conducive to that environment. A lot of our team and our staff work through Asana, our task management system, and that's what we work by. This is when something's due, and team members can work at night, in the day, they can take the day off and take their kids to the park. For me, ultimately you work when you're comfortable because I feel like that's when people work the best, and then we follow the structure of the due date within the task management system. ROB: That makes sense. When I look at your LinkedIn profile, some people are all-in on one thing and some people have a whole portfolio of interesting things they're involved in. What can you share about some of the other projects or businesses that you're involved in that keep your attention and you feel are worth pursuing? JOHN: For me it's about building an agency that not only works well for our clients, but for us internally also. I always recommend those that have the skillset to build an agency because (1) you can help build and develop clients, and then (2) you can build your own products or your own projects that siphon through your agency ecosystem. For us, when we have an idea and we want to build something internally, we're just taking that project or that idea and running it through our client cycle. For example, I have a business called BlackIllustrations.com, which we launched in April, which is a platform that allows folks to download illustrations for their websites, for their projects, featuring people of color. Because I didn't see the market have a lot of that, and as a website builder, there just wasn't a lot of diversity in the illustrations. Now, I've seen some beautiful illustrations, and we've leveraged a lot of them online, but I just didn't see that and I saw that opportunity. When that happened, I put together the process, I told the team, “Hey, this is what we're going to start building out,” and then it's essentially just walking them through that client lifecycle. It's almost like taking the ideas that we have and pushing them through this conveyor belt of the business and then being able to make another business that has its own separate income as an entity. BlackIllustrations.com launched in April; we've already had 40,000+ downloads, over about half a million visitors to the website. I'm really proud of that, and a lot of that comes down to creating those procedures and then running it through that cycle. ROB: That makes a ton of sense. With those different projects, you can imagine that some of them are going to thrive, some of them are going to perhaps not thrive. Some of them over time you might need to put to rest. I wonder maybe if even there's some projects that you have brought through the process, they lived a good life, and then you put them on pause. How do you think about the lifecycle and lifespan of these internal projects? JOHN: Essentially, for me it's really about learning as much as I can from the process. In one example, as an entrepreneur, you know we have a ton of failures. I'm not going to act like everything I touch turns to gold. I had one project in particular – it was a Kickstarter campaign. I was trying to raise funds for an app. This was 5 years ago, 6 years ago maybe. I went through the entire process of hiring a videographer, getting footage, walking through the process of creating this crowdfunding campaign, and it was a lot of fun doing it and experiencing it. Ultimately, we flopped because we didn't get to 100% of the goal. I think we got to around 60%. At first, I was like, man, I'm a failure. I didn't do the right thing. But, ultimately, I learned a lot through that process. I learned how to start a crowdfunding campaign, how to create engaging video that converts folks, and how to leverage an audience. So, I like to look at it as an experience as opposed to a failure, and I'm able to use those resources and those things that I came up with and allocate them later on in the next project. ROB: Each project is its own success, even if the project itself doesn't succeed. In that case, how fortunate to assess demand for an app. It's an inexpensive experiment to launch a crowdfunding campaign versus building the dang app and then hoping somebody likes it. JOHN: Exactly. ROB: Very good. John, you mentioned some lessons you learned there. When you look back over the history of 5Four Digital so far, what are some other lessons you've learned along the way and things you might consider doing differently if you were starting from zero? JOHN: I would look at delegating faster than I did prior. I think in the beginning, especially the first year, first couple years, I was trying to do everything and do it all myself. When I started the agency, we were doing SEO, SEM, Facebook ads, social media, web design, web development. It was a complete agency, full service. Which is great, especially if you have a good amount of employees, but it was just me. So I'm working with clients and one client is doing SEO, one client is doing PPC, one client is doing web design, and it's just a lot of work, especially changing your mind and doing the different things and turning off that creative and turning on the analytical side. It was just a lot. I started to get burnt out. One of the things I wish I did was niche down to a specific set of services. Not even niching down to a specific client set, but only offering a few core services. That would've helped me really streamline my process and be like, “This is the process we go through every time we take on a client” as opposed to doing all these different services myself, especially as a small agency or even a freelancer. It was just a lot. So, I wish that was one thing that I did: focus on a few core services. Secondly, I wish I would've started to make my operating procedures in the initial or in the beginning. Really start to think about, “These are the core services we have. These are the things we want to offer.” But I think it just took me time to get acclimated to providing a high-quality service to clients and then documenting that process. Then the third piece is hiring faster, hiring either a part-timer or an independent contractor in the beginning to help facilitate some of these things instead of trying to do it all myself and taking hours and hours in the wee morning trying to do it. ROB: How did you go about finding some of those fractional or independent contractors that you could trust to do the work in a way that's going to keep your clients happy? Did that involve the clients at all in the conversation of shifting who was doing the work? JOHN: Great question. For me, finding great people – and again, this is a process as well – comes down to not even necessarily their full skillset. A lot of times you'll try to find the perfect candidate in regards to their skills. I try to find a good quality designer, for example, but I also want them to be able to fit into our team dynamic. The fact that they're fun, engaging. The fact that they get their work done, but they're able to balance that and know that it's an open work environment where they'll be able to have fun and enjoy cultivating their creativity. So, for me, it's really finding someone that's a good fit for the team as opposed to just focusing on skillset. ROB: I hear a recurring passion for process. Is that something that has come naturally for you, but you didn't initially apply it to the business? Or has it been something you've discovered in some way as you've built the agency? JOHN: It's definitely something I've discovered while building the agency. There's a book by Michael E. Gerber called The E-Myth, another book by Tim Ferriss called The 4-Hour Workweek – those are two great reads – that talk about building a process so that you can delegate. For me, ultimately, in the agency right now I'm pretty much the project manager. I'm the one that talks to the client, that organizes the projects, that puts in my two cents and my recommendations and helps the team navigate through the buyer journey or the customer journey. I love being in that role because I'm able to pull out of the day to day and focus more so on big picture. I'm able to convey my ideas to the team, and we're able to implement together on what works best.  ROB: I can definitely understand that, and there's probably some future date where you're thinking about that second project manager role that takes that over. That's probably a whole new round of hire. John, you mentioned in your previous agency experience that you had done some work with auto dealers. For people who don't know, that can be a whole segment. A lot of agencies that do auto kind of only do auto. It sounds like you're not doing much of that anymore. One concern I have heard from people who are heavy into that space is some different constraints to the budgets of some of the different dealerships and what they want, and sometimes even the technology. What is your experience with that then, and was there any consideration of that when you decided not to focus on that as much with 5Four? JOHN: Can you repeat the last part of the question? It cut out for a sec. ROB: Oh, sure. How much of that distinction of the constraints of automotive clients drove your decision to focus less on that when you started 5Four? JOHN: Oh man, there's a lot of red tape you have to deal with. Just getting a webpage up or going through a brand discovery session, there's so many people that it has to go through that by the time you get the thing live, it's already dated. [laughs] It was really hard to move and grow the design and the marketing side of it because we had so many constraints in regards to the industry. But nowadays, especially working more so with startups or Series A companies, they have a lot more freedom to move around and upward. If there's new technology that comes out that we want to implement, you don't have to go through three C-level executives to get it done. You can just talk to a couple people, tell them, “Hey, this is how it works,” do a small test – if it works, great. Scale it up. It's a totally different dynamic. ROB: I've also heard a number of complaints about the technology that is even able to serve the auto dealer industry. Is that true, number one? And if so, why do you think it is? I've heard often there's a completely different marketing stack for that particular customer. JOHN: I will say in the last probably 2 to 3 years, there's been a lot of companies doing cutting-edge stuff in the automotive industry. Of course, outside of that you have Tesla, which is doing phenomenal things. But there are platforms, especially like for example Dealer.com, which is an automotive digital marketing company – they crush it, man. They do a lot of these different things – it's almost like Google, but in the automotive industry. They have all these different solutions and resources. So, I will say in the last few years there's been a dynamic shift.  Of course, you have startups coming out like Carvana that are doing a really great job of showcasing and making the process easier for the customer. I think the automotive industry has taken a while to understand it, but a lot of people don't necessarily want to go into the dealership. They don't want to go through that long process. They're trying to accommodate this fast shifting economy. ROB: I understand that. It's nice that there is some future that is not really, really dated marketing stacks for that industry. John, when you look ahead a little bit, what are you excited about that's coming up either for 5Four Digital in particular or for marketing more generally? JOHN: Man, I'm a tech guy, so I love being a part of this process and being in this industry. Some of the biggest things I see coming down the pipeline are one-click or headless ecommerce. A lot of folks have been talking about it. It's an ecommerce experience where you literally push one button and you're able to purchase, similar to what Amazon has and a lot of these sites that are coming out, but it actually works across the entire internet. That's something I've been hearing a lot of buzz about. In regards to the education side of digital, I'm really excited about it. As we move or shift into this new world dynamic, a lot of people are realizing that traditional college degrees might not necessarily be the best bet for us all. There are just so many options. I have my Bachelor's, but there's just so many different opportunities now. You have all of these educators, people like myself and yourself, who are great and skilled and adept that can create courses and teach other people our processes and the things we're doing. So, I'm really excited for the digital education frontier, I guess we could call it. But I think a lot of people are going to start segueing or moving towards that because it's super affordable. You can buy $500, $1,000, $50 bucks for these courses and learn these tangible skills that can pay you well into the six figures. So, I'm ultimately excited for that. ROB: Do you have some of your current projects or future projects in that online education space? JOHN: Yeah, we have a few resources. My biggest thing is providing value, value, value, value up front so that way you can position yourself as a thought leader, you can gain the trust of the people, they actually take your advice and leverage it and use it, and then creating more high-level, detailed courses for those people that are really trying to dive in heavily. We have a couple courses. We have a Web Design Studio Accelerator, which is for people that want to start their own web design accelerator, and then I have other job templates and SOP courses that people can leverage to learn and apply these skills. ROB: Solid. The SOP courses seem like something you can even also show to your team for training. JOHN: Oh yeah, that's what we do. We probably have 100+ videos for our team. We have one business – it's called IllustratorHub.com; the whole business runs on an SOP. I don't do anything with the business. It's automatically updated. Our team manages it, and it's just a great platform and a great example of creating these operating procedures in your business so that way you can thrive. ROB: Wow, that's excellent. Looping back to one thing you mentioned earlier – and I think I let it go a little bit too quickly; you mentioned beyond Webflow and WordPress – we dug into those differences there – but you also mentioned that you do work on the Shopify platform. If you look at their stock, they're not quite Zoom, but they're pretty close. This seems to have been a fairly banner year for that approachable “get an ecommerce store online” platform. What have you seen in terms of either how clients are investing differently in Shopify now or people who are putting stores online that hadn't quite gotten around to it yet? JOHN: I'm glad you brought up the Shopify stock, man, because it makes me feel like I'm Warren Buffett out here. [laughs] I bought 20 shares when it was like $60 bucks because I believed in the company and I saw what they were doing. With Shopify, I think, like you said, this year is their year. So many people are home. They want to start a business. They want something that's easy, that they can leverage, that they can create a high quality product. And that's what Shopify does. You look at some of the top stores, you have Kylie Jenner's Cosmetics, you have Allbirds, I think Warby Parker at one point was on Shopify. You have all these major brands running through this platform. It just goes to show you that it's made for commerce. People that are starting out like, “I want to sell some t-shirts” can open up a Shopify store, they can integrate it with Teelaunch, and then they can have these high-quality print on demand products with their own logo, their own brand on it. It's really low cost out of the gate. You can test and you can create this MVP, or minimum viable product, as Eric Ries would say, the writer of The Lean Startup, and ultimately you can really build your own brand for less than $1,000 bucks. ROB: Is Teelaunch a Shopify plug-in, or how does it work? JOHN: Yes, it's a Shopify app. They have hundreds of products – teacups, t-shirts. They even have air fresheners. It's ridiculous. [laughs] ROB: CafePress used to sort of let you do this, but you were listing stuff on their site. This is your own brand store. You can have your custom underpants, whatever you want. JOHN: Exactly. And they fulfill on your behalf, so if someone goes on your website and your shirt is $24.99, they go and buy that shirt – the app is integrated, so as soon as they make that purchase, it pushes to Teelaunch, they charge you the $12, $10 for the shirt and then the shipping, and then you take the rest for your profit. Then they ship it on your behalf to the customer, so you don't even have to touch the inventory. ROB: Very, very cool. John, when people want to find you and when they want to find 5Four Digital, where should they go to look you up? JOHN: They can find me at JohnDSaunders.co. That's where all of my resources and guides are. Also, I'm on Facebook and Instagram @JohnDSaunders, and that's pretty much where I'm at. ROB: Excellent. What's the “D” for in John D. Saunders? JOHN: David. ROB: Excellent. Perfect. JOHN: I have that because there's a famous ESPN newscaster who passed away a few years ago and his name is John Saunders. So, I had to put that “D” in there to add a little difference. ROB: Yep, I know that name. I remember that sportscaster. John D. Saunders of 5Four Digital, thank you for coming on the Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast.  JOHN: Rob, thank you for having me, man. I'm happy to be here. ROB: Thank you much. Be well. Bye. JOHN: You too. ROB: Thank you for listening. The Marketing Agency Leadership Podcast is presented by Converge. Converge helps digital marketing agencies and brands automate their reporting so they can be more profitable, accurate, and responsive. To learn more about how Converge can automate your marketing reporting, email info@convergehq.com, or visit us on the web at convergehq.com.

3rd Degree Black Belt in Goju-ryu Karate and a specialty in fail weapons, John Givelis, comes on the podcast to talk about martial arts training and what lessons can be applied to the world of OCR.  Although John isn't a racer, he did pit crew for Evan for two of his Toughest Mudder podiums and for 2019's World's Toughest Mudder giving him a unique perspective.  Topics covered include basics of different types of martial arts, if Karate is still applicable in a world full of MMA, opinions on OCR from a pit crew perspective and John also shares his opinion on some of Evan's favorite 90s martial arts movies/shows in a quickfire format.   Episode brought to you by dryrobe, the world's most advanced changing robe and a must have for winter time events.  Order your dryrobe now so you have the custom embroidery done by the time winter rolls around. Music provided by Dino Sinos

Readings* Psalm 17* 1 Kings 11:42—12:19* 2 Corinthians 7:1–16* Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Art. V ¶¶ 192–194FestivalToday we observe the Festival of The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. In contrast to the festival of The Nativity of St. John the Baptist, observed on the 24th of June, this festival commemorates John the Baptist’s beheading under Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. Last of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist announced the imminent coming of Christ, and fulfilled the Old Testament prophesy regarding the return of ‘Elijah’ before the Day of the Lord. Although John the Baptist’s end may seem, to this world, a foolish and ignominious end, his martyrdom was, in truth, a profound and noble participation in the Cross of Christ.ReaderCorey J. MahlerCopyright NoticesUnless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations from the Lutheran Confessions are from Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, copyright © 2005, 2006 by Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission. All rights reserved. To purchase a copy of Concordia, call 800-325-3040.Support the show (https://confident.faith/donate/)

Season 1. Episode 20. Do you know where to find the "Country of Beautiful Sake"? If you answered Japan's AKITA prefecture - you're right! Akita is a rural and rice-proud prefecture in the far north of Japan. This agricultural hub produces a lot of rice and a lot of sake. Timothy explains his encounters with one of the most famous foods from this region - Iburigakko. No Joke, this smoked, pickled daikon radish is one of the most perfect sake pairings you'll ever find. From there, our hosts go on a deep dive into the culture and into two sakes from Akita - Akitabare Shunsetsu and Amanoto Tokubetsu Junmai. It's fun to discuss how these sakes with similar stats come across differently on the palate. You can taste the pride in their rice and rural heritage. Although John and Timothy are missing Japan and bummed they can't travel there now, this won't stop them from planning their next trip. Get out your JR Railpass as Akita is now high on the list.

Sharing Our ExperienceIn Acts 26, we find the apostle Paul standing as a prisoner beforeKing Agrippa. Here, speaking directly to the king, Paul gave his ownpersonal testimony. He talked about his life, not only as a persecutor ofJesus’ followers but also, after his conversion, of his life as a witness toJesus and about the promise of the resurrection of the dead (Acts 26:8).When Paul was converted on the Damascus Road, our Lord spoke tohim and said, “ ‘I have appeared to you for this purpose, to make youa minister and a witness both of the things which you have seen and ofthe things which I will yet reveal to you’ ” (Acts 26:16, NKJV). Sharingour faith is always a dynamic experience. It is telling the story of whatChrist has done for us in the past, what He is doing in our lives today,and what He will accomplish for us in the future.Witnessing is never about us. It is always about Him. He is the Godwho forgives our iniquities, heals our diseases, crowns us with lovingkindness, and satisfies us with good things (Ps. 103:3–5). Witnessingis simply sharing our story of His amazing grace. It is a testimony ofour personal encounter with this God of amazing grace.Read 1 John 1:1–3 and compare it with Galatians 2:20. What similari­ties do you see? How is John’s experience similar to Paul’s?_______________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________________Although John and Paul had different life experiences, they both hada personal encounter with Jesus. Their experiences with Jesus were notones that occurred at a particular point in the past and was then over. Itwas an ongoing, daily experience of rejoicing in His love and walkingin the light of His truth.Is conversion ever a thing of the past alone? Look at Ellen White’sstatement about those who thought their past conversion experience isall that matters: “As if, if they knew something about religion once,they did not need to be converted daily; but we ought every day, everyone of us, to be converted.”—Manuscript Releases, vol. 4, p. 46.Regardless of whatever your past experiences have been, evenif they were powerful and dramatic, why is it important tohave a relationship with the Lord day by day, to sense Hisreality and His goodness and power day by day? Bring youranswer to class on Sabbath.

Title: The Truth In Us Text: II John 1-3 FCF: We often struggle with the surety our faith brings in truth. Prop: Because the truth that resides in us encompasses all we need to be what God wants us to be, we must take comfort that we reside in truth. Scripture Intro: [Slide 1] Turn in your bible to II John. It is bittersweet to say goodbye to I John. It really is worse than I felt after Matthew. Perhaps because it seemed like I John had just begun and then it was finished. I think John could have written 3 or 4 more waves of teaching for us- and I would have been ok with it. But in God’s providence, II John and III John are closely related in theme to I John. So in a way I sort of get my wish. II and III John in many ways continue on with what John has said, but also add a few levels of application and detail that I John lacks. The background for this book is almost identical to I John. Probably written in the early 90s, just before being sent to Patmos as a prisoner. The secessionist crisis was John’s purpose for writing this book as well. Although with a different application. We should review what the secessionists believed just to make sure we are all on the same page. The secessionists were proto-gnostics, believing that Christ did not actually come in flesh, but rather was a Spirit being who served the real Father which was not Yahweh. They believed that sin was not only impossible for them now but that they had never really sinned at all. They also believed that they were part of a spiritual race traced all the way back to Seth. All that salvation was – was awakening to the truth that they were part of this real spirit heritage. In I John, John writes to a church that this group had left. In II John the audience is slightly different. It appears that the audience has thus far been spared this doctrinal aberration and is still holding fast. So John writes, what is really, a warning to them to be on guard and defend the faith. As such, many have reasoned that II John is probably a cover letter sent to a church close to the one written to in I John. Along with this letter, he probably sent I John. We don’t know if this is true or not, but it is plausible. Especially given the shortness of both II and III John. Only 15 verses in II John. And to add more confusion to this, he says at the end – “Though I have many other things to write to you…” You kind of walk away from II John saying – uh yeah John – you could have written A LOT more! But if we read I John with II John as if they came together – we could understand that John has probably reached the limit of what he could communicate with pen and paper. And so we begin II John today – which continues and builds upon what John has already said in I John. I am in verse 1 of II John. I’ll be reading from the NET today but follow along in the version you prefer. Transition: Since this is basically just a greeting that we’ll be discussing today, the sermon will probably be a little shorter than usual. I know you won’t complain too much. But don’t mistake its brevity for unimportance. The message here is highly valuable to set the tone for the rest of the letter. I.) Love for other believers flows from and for the sake of abiding and enduringly present truth, so we must take comfort that this truth resides in us. (1-2) a. [Slide 2] 1 – From the elder i. Although John does not name himself in this book, just as he did not in I John – there is sufficient evidence from church history and comparing style and phraseology to the Gospel of John to strongly indicate that this is John speaking. ii. Calling himself an elder rather than an apostle could potentially have some significance. iii. As we asserted early in our study of I John, these books were probably written later toward the end of the first century. Most likely in the early 90s. iv. This being the case, John calling himself the elder, rather than the apostle suggests one or both of the following. 1. John is quite a bit older than those to whom he is writing. Thus, the elder is less a title of authority and rather a reference to his age. 2. The use of the term elder above apostle could be in reference to the shift in eras. There was an apostolic era where the apostles exercised considerable influence over the formation and edification of the church. However, given this late date of the letter, most likely John is the only apostle yet alive. Therefore, the era of the apostle was all but expired. And the Elder leadership of the church had replaced it. v. Perhaps both are in view. b. [Slide 3] To an elect lady and her children i. Debate rages as to whether this is a particular woman and her children or another way to refer to local assemblies as a mother and her children. ii. Although both “elect” and “lady” are known to be Greek names of women, neither as a name is compelling in the text. iii. Further complicating this is that at the end of the letter John seems to be with her elect sister’s children… so her nephews and nieces? iv. The most satisfying interpretation is that John is not speaking of a particular woman or her children but rather a local assembly. The church as a whole would be the elect lady (the bride of Christ) but the children would be those who are part of that assembly. c. [Slide 4] Whom I love in truth (and not I alone, but also all those who know the truth) i. The truth is a concept that we will elaborate on in verse 2, but for now we must recognize that the truth is what holds John’s love for this local assembly. It is not just that John truly loves them – but rather he loves them in truth. ii. And it is not his love alone but also the love from all others who know the truth. iii. So not only does the truth contain John’s love for this local assembly – but any and all who have this truth also love this local assembly. iv. It leaves us wondering what this truth could be. Let’s keep going. d. [Slide 5] 2 – because of the truth that resides in us i. His love for this local assembly is, in fact, because of or for the sake of that truth. ii. That truth resides, abides, and rests in … us iii. John’s love in truth is because or for the sake of the truth itself which resides in all who know the truth. iv. What is abundantly clear is that John is not talking about something that is true, or even a confession of orthodoxy. v. The full measure of what John means by truth is still quite difficult to pinpoint. So we must press on. e. [Slide 6] And will be with us forever i. Certainly, a confession could be with us forever, but this seems relational. ii. There seems to be more here than merely an expression of orthodoxy or doctrine. iii. This truth resides in us and will be with us forever. iv. Is this truth a person? Is it a work? What is this truth? f. [Slide 7] Passage Truth: Although a simple greeting, John already assures the readers that he loves them. And there can be no greater assurance that he could speak than to tell them that he loves them in truth. Indeed he is not alone. All who know the truth love them. Why? For the sake of abiding and enduringly present truth, they love. This truth seems, then, to be quite important. g. Passage Application: Indeed, so integral is this truth in this opening greeting, that the application for his readers, although not overt, is fairly easy to guess. It mimics the theme of I John. What a comfort to know that this love produced by truth is for the sake of truth that abides in all of them and will remain with all of them. h. [Slide 8] Broader Biblical Truth: The phrase “the truth” is used throughout the scriptures. Certainly it is a noble pursuit. In Judaism and even the Greek and Roman culture, the truth was something sought by everyone. And Of course in John’s gospel Jesus calls Himself the truth. In I John, God the Father is called the True One. There is no question that truth means far more than a list of facts, a creed or a confession. Truth is all encompassing of what it means to be God’s child. John loves them in truth. And all who know this truth love them too. And it is for the sake of this abiding and enduringly present truth that they do love. That is truth with… teeth. i. Broader Biblical Application: And so, as we investigate this truth throughout this text – it should be great joy that this truth resides in us, if it does. Of course, if you have failed I John – II John will not put you at ease. Transition: [Slide 9(blank)] So far we’ve seen that this truth that John speaks of is both the spring that produces love for other believers and this love is for the sake of this abiding truth that will be with us forever. So, if love flows from and for this abiding and enduringly present truth, what else comes from this abiding and enduringly present truth? II.) In this truth and love God’s gift of salvation will be with us, so we must take comfort that this truth resides in us. (3) a. [Slide 10] 3 – Grace, mercy, and peace will be with us from God the Father and from Jesus Christ the Son of the Father in truth and love. i. Again John uses the verb – will be with us. ii. In Greek, word order in a sentence communicates emphasis of thought. English sentences typically follow the same pattern. Subject, verb, object. Otherwise you end up sounding like Yoda “Ran to the church he did” iii. In Greek though, the speaker and writer would emphasize thoughts in a sentence by putting them first. John begins this new sentence with “will be with us” iv. The interesting thing is that John says this in a future tense. v. He is not saying this as a command or a hope, like most greetings to biblical letters– but rather a guarantee. vi. Will be with – US. vii. John includes himself in the guarantee too. viii. Another interesting thing is that this verb is in the third person singular. It would be (he/she/it) will be with us. Now if we carry on through this text we find John mentions 3 things that come from God in truth and love. ix. It perplexed me greatly because 3 things cannot be singular. Unless of course, if we are talking about God Himself He can be 3 persons in one. x. This then, is the secret to the question – what is this truth that John’s love is in? What is this truth that resides in us and will be with us forever? What is this truth in which we love others for its sake? xi. I’d say that John has just added another clue. Grace, mercy, and peace from God and from Jesus Christ His Son is also IN the truth and IN love. So this truth that resides in us, that will always be with us. This truth that produces love for others. This truth contains God’s grace, God’s Mercy, and God’s Peace to us. xii. Grace is God’s action to provide to us regeneration, salvation, sanctification and glorification. Where the grace of God ends and the Spirit of God begins is difficult to pinpoint. xiii. Mercy is God’s action to forgive us of Sin and expiate it from us. xiv. Peace is God’s action to end all hostility with us as He punishes His Son for our sin in propitiation. xv. In these three – the very atonement – our very salvation is summarized. In backward order the Son suffered our fate and expiated our sin, paving the way for the New Covenant. In forward order the way we experience salvation, by the grace work of God to raise us from death to life and to give us mercy from God through the blood and Peace with God. xvi. Grace, Mercy and Peace from God and His dear son, fits into truth and into love. xvii. And as John says, he loves them in truth. xviii. So love fits into truth. xix. In other words – this truth that John speaks of is far beyond simple doctrinal confession or orthodoxy itself. Rather – it is the sum total of the gifts of God to us whereby we are not only saved, but also able to do all that He asks. xx. The truth – is everything. And it resides in us and will be with us forever. b. [Slide 11] Passage Truth: So John guarantees his readers that they reside in this truth. That they will always have this truth. And that in this truth they find love for one another – the love of God. And within this truth and this love, they find the very core of our ongoing salvation. Grace, Mercy and Peace. This truth resides in them. Wow! c. Passage Application: So they can only leave this greeting feeling encouraged and assured that they are part of the this blessed community of those who have this abiding and enduringly present truth and love. This great salvation. d. [Slide 12] Broader Biblical Truth: Even just from our past discussion of I John we have seen how great our salvation that God has given us truly is. And II John starts off the same way – exalting the truth that we have been given in Christ. He is the truth and He is in us and we are in Him. e. Broader Biblical Application: And so we draw great comfort from this. Comfort in this truth that resides in us. Transition: So how then shall we live? Conclusion: [Slide 13(end)] John’s letter is once again given to those whose identity he is sure of. He knows that they are children of an elect lady. He knows that the truth resides in them and will be with them forever. He knows that God’s gift in salvation in every aspect will be with them in truth and love. What a way to start a letter! What a way to set the tone! John has some words of instruction that he is about to get to very soon. But before all that – what words of encouragement it is to know that those to whom he is speaking, have the truth in them. The message of II John dovetails so nicely with that of I John, that we really can move from one to the other as if they were the same letter. Yet even here we have caution laced under the surface. In John’s guarantee, he says very clearly that this truth resides in his readers and will continue to do so. That God’s grace, mercy, and peace will continue to be with them in that truth. And that their love will continue in this truth. If you wanted to turn all this into a conditional sentence you could say – If you love other believers and continue in grace, mercy, and peace from God and His Son, then the truth resides in you. How can we be so sure? Truth is the spring from which our love for other believers flows Love for other believers flows for the sake of this abiding and enduringly present truth. And both truth and love are the source from which God’s grace, mercy, and peace continue to be with us through our lives now and forever and ever. Therefore, truth and love are twin graces given to all God’s children, encapsulating all that God has done for them, and enabling them to be all that He asks them to be. So for those who passed I John’s tests – this is great comfort to know that they too will see God’s love continue to pour out of them. They will continue to see God’s grace, mercy, and peace in their lives because they are His true children in His Son. But for those to whom love does not endure. For those to whom God’s grace, mercy, and peace seem to cease – to these there is no assurance that this truth is in them. And so – are is the truth in you? How would you know? Do you love others who follow Christ? Do you see God’s grace, mercy and peace on your life? John has much more to say in this little letter – but we have to start here. Are you the ones that John is writing to or not? If not, you cannot try harder to produce love or somehow force God to give you grace, mercy and peace. You can only seek God and keep seeking Him. If you are a true child of God – then take comfort. The truth resides in you and will always be with you. And in that truth, love and the ongoing gift of salvation will continue to be with you too. But remember… after this wonderful intro to the letter, John will call to action this church – to stand firm against the onslaught. Be comforted in who you are – but don’t think for a moment that that means you are now allowed to be passive. No Christian – John’s call to arms is coming. We’ll get into it next week.

This is the first of a new approach to interviews in which I aim to talk to roleplaying game activists about games that I am personally less familiar with. John Alan Large is the brain behind Red Dice Diaries, the channel where he provides tips and advice for roleplaying, broadcasts games showing that advice in action, and highlights games that offer innovative mechanisms or assistance to the GM. Although John has uploaded more than 900 videos to YouTube over the past three years, my exposure to Red Dice Diaries came through his podcast of the same name and contributions to the Purple Worm podcast. In recent weeks, John has rebooted the podcast as RDD RPG and it was the first episode - talking his wife Hannah through running a Star Trek game using FATE - that inspired me to want a deeper chat. Red Dice Diaries: reddicediaries.com RDD RPG Podcast: rddrpgpodcast.buzzsprout.com/977239 Roleplay Rescue Theme Song and incidental music by TJ Drennon: patreon.com/TJD Contact Details: Voice Message: anchor.fm/rpgrescue/message Email: hello@rpgrescue.com Patreon: patreon.com/rpgrescue Blog: roleplayrescue.com MeWe Group: mewe.com/join/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue") Facebook Page: facebook.com/roleplayrescue (or search "Roleplay Rescue") Twitter: @ubiquitousrat

Do you want your relationship with your children, spouse & friends to be the strongest they can possibly be during this time of Isolation and beyond? I know I certainly do and that is exactly why I decided to sit down and chat with John Rutter from The Fathering Project to gain valuable and actionable knowledge to enhance our relationships and help us to live our best lives. John has had years of experience studying human behaviour and running mental health and personal development programs. In this episode, he explains in detail the principles of creating stronger, healthier and long-lasting relationships. Although John is talking about principles from the fathering project, these principles are not just applicable to dads. These can be applied in many aspects of our life and in all different relationships. John is an absolute legend and I had a great time chatting and learning from him. Please enjoy this conversation with John Rutter. See you in the next one. Cheers! Rich Helpful links (cause that's the kinda guy I am :p) : The Fathering Project here : https://bit.ly/2XV6vJU Authentic steps: https://bit.ly/2KjejgE --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/the-rich-bryant-show/message

John McAfee, the legendary IT security guru and founder of McAfee Associates joins us today. He is a a man who needs no introduction as he developed the famous McAfee Antivirus which has been used on computers worldwide for decades. John has been quite involved in the crypto space, but most recently has launched a decentralized exchange 'McAfeeDex'. He believes centralized exchanges are the weak point of the crypto industry. Although John doesn't expect miracles at first, he believes decentralized exchanges are the only way forward.

****Warning**** This episode is not for the squeamish. In fact, Jen cried a bit while telling it to Cam. You have been warned.Mornington, Victoria Austria is a quiet coastal town that is located about 35 miles or 57 kilometers south of Melbourne. Many folks from Melbourne take day trips to visit the beaches and wineries that Mornington has to offer.On May 26, 2004, 37 John Sharpe, a lifelong resident of Mornington goes on TV to plead for anyone with any information about his wife and daughter who have been missing since the end of March. Although John seems like a concerned father, his body language makes the public suspicious. There seems to be more to the story that the tale John Sharpe is telling but no one is prepared for the truth.Join Jen and Cam as they discuss the Mornington Monster, Family Annihilator John Sharpe.A big THANK YOU for Podcorn for sponsoring us this week.Go to Podcorn.com and see how they can help your podcast find sponsors!Our Promo this week is from our friends at The True Crime Files thetruecrimefiles.comListener discretion by the always amazing Edward October of OctoberpodVHS https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCZQk-oAsjZNG18y8bX24c6wProducer/Audio editing and production by Nico at wetalkofdreams.comTheme and all music by Nico at wetalkofdreams.com(Nico can also cook and bake. Ladies, he is a catch!)Sources:http://www6.austlii.edu.au/cgi-bin/viewdoc/au/cases/vic/VSC/2005/276.htmlhttps://www.smh.com.au/national/i-killed-wife-and-daughter-with-speargun-husband-20050202-gdklvk.htmlhttps://www.heraldsun.com.au/truecrimeaustralia/crimeinfocus/mornington-monster-john-sharpe-murdered-family-with-speargun-as-they-slept/news-story/b811071182c87306f4ac1defac93d77ehttps://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=10355085https://www.whimn.com.au/talk/people/he-murdered-his-wife-with-a-speargun-4-days-later-he-shot-their-baby-girl/news-story/a8c5798b796c46ca9d3694d00e4fa288https://murderpedia.org/male.S/s/sharpe-john-myles.htmhttps://www.nzherald.co.nz/nz/news/article.cfm?c_id=1&objectid=3585988https://www.nzherald.co.nz/world/news/article.cfm?c_id=2&objectid=10396187https://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/a-real-madness-washed-over-me/news-story/229d0a5d15c3641a251531fafe5876bfhttps://www.heraldsun.com.au/news/law-order/speargun-killer-john-sharpes-elaborate-deceit-and-murder-of-his-pregnant-wife-and-toddler-gracie-shocked-melbourne/news-story/a216d1a7fe8f117ce079e4e1c316c301https://www.amazon.com.au/Why-Did-They-Cheryl-Critchley-ebook/dp/B00XMLMB6ACrime Investigation Australia Season 1 Episode 5

John the Baptist, although Jesus's older cousin, says Jesus existed before him, and that he did not know Him.  Although John knew Jesus in a human way, or knew of Him, he did not know Him in the Biblical way, that is intimately, until an encounter with Jesus that allowed him to know Jesus was God.  We are similar, we know of Jesus before we know Him as Lord, and Encounter Him and come to Know Him. Then we are called to be like John, that is to testify to what Jesus has done for us and point others to Jesus. This homily includes testimonies about when and how members of the congregation came to Know Jesus as Lord. 

January 12, 2020 | This week it’s all about water, flowing Jordan waters, and the waters that nourish our crops and our bodies. Without water, our lives are in danger. We can do without food for a few days, but water is a necessity, even in the care of persons at the descending edges of life. This Sunday we celebrate the baptism of Jesus. Jesus comes to the Jordan river to be baptized. Although John is not eager to baptize one whom he believes to have a unique relationship with God, Jesus insists on being baptized to “fulfill all righteousness,” to be in solidarity with all who struggle to experience God in transformative ways. As Jesus rises from the Jordan, a dove descends and God’s voice is heard, “this is my beloved with whom I am well pleased.” While some believe God’s voice defines Jesus as other than us, a supernatural interruption in the ambiguous human history, I believe that Jesus’ baptism and God’s affirmation is, in fact, an affirmation that Jesus is part of our story and that we share in God’s love just as Jesus did.

Readings* Psalm 63* Psalm 59* Ezekiel 34:1–24* Romans 3:19–31* Large Catechism, Part III ¶¶ 14–24FeastToday we celebrate the feast of the Baptism of Our Lord. As recounted in the third chapter of the Gospel of Matthew (and in parallel passages in Mark, Luke, and John), Christ was baptized by John the Baptist in the Jordan River. Although John initially hesitated when asked to baptize Christ, because Christ was without sin and John knew he was in the presence of one greater than he, Christ spoke His first words in Matthew so that John would agree:“Let it be so now, for thus it is fitting for us to fulfill all righteousness.”On Christ’s Baptism, Luther said that:“[Christ] accepted it from John for the reason that He was entering into our stead, indeed, our person, that is, becoming a sinner for us, taking upon Himself the sins which He had not committed, and wiping them out and drowning them in His Holy Baptism.”This Baptism in the River Jordan marked the beginning of Christ’s ministry.ReaderCorey J. MahlerCopyright NoticesUnless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.Unless otherwise indicated, all quotations from the Lutheran Confessions are from Concordia: The Lutheran Confessions, copyright © 2005, 2006 by Concordia Publishing House. Used by permission. All rights reserved. To purchase a copy of Concordia, call 800-325-3040.Support the show (https://confident.faith/donate/)

Routine Machine by John Lamerton Kevin Appleby has been reading John Lamerton's new book Routine Machine. He said it was one of the best books he's read recently. No feint praise from Kevin, as his Kindle is hot from use. Kevin (not sucking up to John) said "it's the best book he's read this year. We're recording in August 2019 too! What he liked about it was ease of reading. John tells us he has a better editor (Greg) for this book. What is Routine Machine About Another podcast host spotted John's self description of being a lazy entrepreneur. He thought it wasn't ideal. John didn't like the podcast hot's first suggestion but the conversation later came round to the things that John does to enable him to be a lazy entrepreneur. And that was routine. The host said John was the king of routine! http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/King-of-Routine.mp4 All from an aside at the end of a podcast! Although John said he'd never write another book again, he did. On holiday, he wrote stuff into a note book. Improve Your Morning Routine Kevin said it resonated with the work of Hal Eldrod - https://halelrod.com He loves some of the ideas presented in Hal's book. That you leap out of bed at 5am every morning, like it's Christmas Day morning! And you do you "affirmations". Do a workout and drink a smoothie. Sounded fantastic. But for John he could not make it work. Graham plans to swerve Hal's book, and Kevin had a similar reaction to John. Would all this mean Graham had to wear a leotard? http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Graham-in-a-leotard.mp4 So John says the key to routine is optimising YOUR morning routine. Key Takeaways Change one thing. Make it small. Make it easy. Get some momentum. People don't want to be told what to do. You already do stuff on out-pilot. Stuff you do everyday. Make a small improvements. Affirmations - look at this article if you want stuff on affirmations - https://www.huffpost.com/entry/affirmations_b_3527028 Routine IS boring But you are already doing this. Mostly you are staring blankly at Facebook on your phone. Borrow that time. Is a practiced drill? Repeat and optimise. Not unlike Marcelo Bielsa is doing at Leeds United. George Graham did much of this at Arsenal. He optimised a routine long before they started the season. It is learned behaviour. Kevin's Changed What Goes Into His Schedule Kevin made this change. He adds his dog walk with his dog Cooper. He schedules in the stuff you enjoy! John showed us his weekly work schedule that highlighted he took his own dog out at a certain time. Why has the podcast worked? We decided to do a podcast EVERY week. A cumulative effect of having done that. This is podcast #187. We have authority to ask people like John to join us on the podcast. The Book is NOT Just About a Morning Routine How you start influences the way you end the day. If you start the day in your email box. 3 hours passes and you don't then have time to do the most important thing you need to get done. What tips does John have? Identify EACH WEEK'S Most important task. Write That Sales Letter, Graham! http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Write-That-Sales-Letter.mp4 Do not pass go, until you finish it. The Machine part. Just F@@@@ do it! You have to be ruthless. Do the important stuff. This episode is really part two of a two part series. John joined us on our Episode 93 to discuss his Big Ideas book. Listen here. You must have the discipline to do the things that are important to you day in day out.   Get The Book - Routine Machine - Click on the image. Fluffy prose is not what this book will deliver. Instead, you'll find down to earth conversational style. What is John's IDEAL Job Description? http://thenext100days.org/wp-content/uploads/2019/08/Job-Description-Ideal.mp4 SO, WHAT DO YOU WANT OUT OF LIFE AND YOUR BUSINESS?

Readings* Psalm 17* 1 Kings 12:1–19* 2 Corinthians 7:1–16* Apology of the Augsburg Confession, Art. V ¶¶ 192–194FestivalToday we observe the festival of The Martyrdom of St. John the Baptist. In contrast to the festival of The Nativity of St. John the Baptist, observed on the 24th of June, this festival commemorates John the Baptist’s beheading under Herod Antipas, Tetrarch of Galilee and Perea. Last of the Old Testament prophets, John the Baptist announced the imminent coming of Christ, and fulfilled the Old Testament prophesy regarding the return of ‘Elijah’ before the Day of the Lord. Although John the Baptist’s end may seem, to this world, a foolish and ignominious end, his martyrdom was, in truth, a profound and noble participation in the Cross of Christ.ReaderCorey J. MahlerCopyright NoticeUnless otherwise indicated, all Scripture quotations are from the Holy Bible, English Standard Version®, copyright © 2001 by Crossway Bibles, a publishing ministry of Good News Publishers. Used by permission. All rights reserved.Support the show (https://confident.faith/donate/)

JEREMIAH 11-12:Yesterday we heard important verses in chapter 9:23-24, verses that Paul quotes more than once:  “Don’t let the wise boast in their wisdom,or the powerful boast in their power,or the rich boast in their riches.But those who wish to boastshould boast in this alone:that they truly know me and understand that I am the LORD … PSALM 143:It seems that prayer is very neglected these days. Oh yes, we might hear something vague about praying for victims right after some tragedy strikes. But it seems that every church has trouble keeping a prayer meeting going. I myself have trouble keeping my prayer life going. David shows in this psalm that he has learned secrets of effective prayer. Note how his prayer is very like how Jeremiah felt in the two chapters we just read. JOHN 21:This is one of my favorite chapters. John again tells us important information not given in the other gospels. Note that there is a famous exegetical fallacy here. John does use two different words for ‘love’ in the dialog between Jesus and Peter. But this should NOT be taken— as has been so frequently taught, as showing a play on words, or that John was intending different shades of meaning. Instead the use of synonyms is just a feature of John’s style in writing. John does this for poetic variation, like the parallelism in Hebrew poetry. Another example of this in this same passage is the variation of ‘little lambs’ and ‘sheep’. GNT Translation notes:Jer. 12:1 “Lord, if I argued my case with you, you would [be shown//prove to] be right. Yet I must question you about matters of justice. Why are the wicked so prosperous? Why do dishonest people succeed?====Ps. 143:9 I [come//go] to you for protection, Lord; rescue me from my enemies. NLT Translation notes:John 21:7 Then [I—//0] the disciple Jesus loved said to Peter, “It’s the Lord!” When Simon Peter heard that it was the Lord, he put on his tunic (for he had stripped for work), jumped into the water, and headed to shore. [Although John has thinly concealed his identity since chapter 1, it becomes clear in this chapter that he wants to make it clear that the eyewitness he has referred to as ‘the disciple Jesus loved’ was himself. (John did not want to boast of having been a disciple of Jesus, yet at the same time he wanted to show that this book is an eyewitness account.) Using this literary device is odd enough in English. In some languages of the world, translating this device literally would be so confusing that it is better to rephrase these passages so that John speaks in the first person. Translators who do this will add a footnote explaining why John used the third person instead of the first person. In my opinion, for a podcast like this, it will be much clearer for listeners to use the same technique, and this is my footnote explaining my changes to the NLT text.]

John Pettigrew is a "Lemnos boy", but spent most of his life as an orchardist at Bunbartha north of Shepparton, and it was in 2007 that he first became aware of and became a climate change activist.And it was in 2007 that John, along with just a handful of fellow Australians spent some time in Sydney to be trained by former U.S. vice-president and the man behind "The Inconvenient Truth", Al Gore.Although John declares himself as "fully retired", he appears to busier than ever being a part of groups and organizations that do critical and important local work in the Goulburn Valley and others that advocate on the national stage.John is presently the president of the Goulburn Valley Environment Group and on the board of GV Community Energy.

Have you ever had a “Utah event”? I know I have and they aren’t very pleasant. My talk with community member John sheds a ton of light on some very common problems that many of us face as traders. These problems don’t make you stupid, they make you a human…. But, they still need to be addressed and “put under control” at all costs. Although John has struggled, he has now found himself a nice little sweet spot within the markets that has been treating him very nicely over the past couple of years. There are many ways to profit from the market, but one way is to simply get very specialized in one specific location of the market and excel at it. This is exactly what John has learned to do. We’ll talk about this and much more. Let’s go!

In many editions of the Bible, the book of Revelation is given the title "The Revelation of John." Although John is a central figure and writer, Revelation should probably be titled "The Revelation of Jesus," because He is the real subject of the book. Listen as Shawn presents the fourth program from Revelation Speaks Peace.

In many editions of the Bible, the book of Revelation is given the title "The Revelation of John." Although John is a central figure and writer, Revelation should probably be titled "The Revelation of Jesus," because He is the real subject of the book. Listen as Shawn presents the fourth program from Revelation Speaks Peace.

Sin and true Christianity. Although John's letter is tough to hear, it is filled with such tender love.

We’re back! Although John’s in guerilla recording mode on a patio in Florida and Geoff […]

We’re back! Although John’s in guerilla recording mode on a patio in Florida and Geoff […]

This is The Do It For Yourself Podcast.  Each week I sit down with someone who is doing it for themselves and chasing a dream they just couldn’t suppress.  This is often speakers, entrepreneurs, or athletes.  They all share one thing in common, they are overcoming challenges and never giving up.  Someone who is Doing It For Themselves is not selfish in their pursuit, they are simply chasing a dream or working towards a goal because it is something THEY want to do.  They are not forging down a path because society or someone is telling them it’s what they should be doing. My guests this week are John and Laura Torres.  Yes, that is right, my first couples interview!  This was so much fun and I can't wait to share it with you.   John and Laura both have very different avenues that they took to get into triathlon.  John was an elite level swimmer while he was living in Puerto Rico.  He began swimming young and found success in Puerto Rico.  John was afforded the opportunity to come to the U.S. and continue his swimming here at Rutgers University.  After discovering that the English barrier coupled with the course load was a bit too much he walked away from swimming and his education.  This is when John began to put on some weight.  Given John's background in swimming though he always wanted to do a triathlon.  He discovered the NBC broadcast of the Ironman and he knew he wanted to do a triathlon.  After meeting a friend at a social gathering, John learned that she was doing a triathlon and this sparked his interest, he knew it was time.   John completed his training cycling and it was time for his first race.  He was so nervous at the start of the race and he can remember complaining about even being there.  After the race John recalls saying to his friend that he would never do one again.  After a few post race beers however, John's attitude seemed to change and he found himself on the start line again.   Laura on the other hand comes from a running background.  Laura began running as a form of therapy when she was going through some tough times and she learned that running was something that she could always turn to.  This therapy however grew into that of an obsession, Laura couldn't go a day without running and she began to pay the price.  While Laura was training for her goal to compete in the Boston marathon she had a labral tear in her hip and it got to the point where it was painful to even walk.   Laura remembered that she was cycling during some of her run training so she began to go back to that.  She also began to add in some swimming along the way and before long and maybe a little peer pressure from friends, Laura too found herself on the start line of her first triathlon. Laura and John now work together not only as a couple but as a team with John coaching Laura and helping to keep her grounded yet push her to perform at her best.  They balance each other out when it comes to training and Laura is thankful to have that.  They also enjoy racing together though, Laura loves to see John on the course.  Although John swear that she just loves to pass him.  This conversation winds through both journey’s of Laura and John but we also touch on some of the training tips John uses when coaching Laura and structuring his own training schedule.  I hope that you enjoy this conversation and the laughs we share but I also hope you can pick up something for your training as well.    Here is my interview with Laura and John!   John's Instagram Laura's Instagram Do It For Yourself Instagram   Support the show here!

Lil John Roberts is no stranger to the podcast, making this his third appearance with this episode. Although John is one of the most sought after Jazz and R & B Drummers of his generation and has worked with everyone from Stevie Wonder and Janet Jackson to Herbie Hancock and George Duke, we don’t dive too deep […] The post 411 – Lil John Roberts: The next chapter appeared first on Drummer's Resource: Conversations with the world's greatest drummers and music industry pros..

When we talk about giving in the church today, there are many misconceptions. Sometimes people can take the Word and beat people with it on the subject of giving, making it a purely legalistic endeavor. The sermon on the Mount talks about all the ways we are blessed by flipping the idea of blessings on their head. All the ways the world considers someone not blessed, Jesus says we are. The poor in spirit have the kingdom of Heaven. Those who mourn will be comforted. The merciful will be shown mercy. The pure in heart will see God. All of these things show the people had a heart issue - and so do we. Our giving is tied directly to the state of our hearts. Matthew 6:1-4 tells us not to give in order to be seen or to be recognized. It is easy to develop a sort of spiritual pride about how we give of our finances, our time, and how we use our talents for the church when we keep track of our giving in these areas and compare to others. If we are giving to fulfill a need in our hearts for recognition from others or from pride, we need to reevaluate our motivation and take it to God. Our choices are earthy rewards or heavenly rewards, so we should ask ourselves - which one do we want? We can't have both - it's a choice to be recognized on earth or in Heaven. We need to develop a passion for giving and not for the recognition that it brings. The flip side of this is that we are also called to show our works so others can see them and glorify God - as in Matthew 5:15-16. If we keep quiet, how can we give an account? It doesn't have to be this way - we don't have to keep our giving a secret but also shouldn't brag. A good way to think about it is if someone were to take a peek into your life, they will see how you give. It's not seeking praise for ourselves, but being faithful. Hebrews 10:19-20; 23-24 reminds us we have confidence because of the blood of Jesus and we should spur one another toward love and good deeds. We can only do this by giving an account of what He has done in our lives and sharing how He has changed us. In Luke 17, we see the story of the ten lepers who are healed, but only one returns to thank and praise Jesus. It is important when we receive that we be open and tell others how God has worked in our lives so that we give Him the praise He deserves. James 2:14-26 talks about the perceived battle between faith and works. The church culture today is so caught up in works that we can forget the faith in Jesus that should drive those works or it's so caught up in grace that we don't think we have to do anything. Jesus's heart was for us to testify about our faith and how others' works have impacted us. Abraham gave us one of the first examples of faith and works. He walked in faith for years after God promised him offspring, but then was willing to give up his precious son when God asked - walking out his faith. Let's not get caught up in legalism! Revelation 3 is the letter to the church at Philadelphia. Although John tells them he has found little wrong with what they are doing, he still exhorts them that there is work to be done. We can't rest on our faith and not work out our salvation. How we give is a picture of that process. The world doesn't want us to give joyfully when we are facing tribulations. They want us to be quiet and not share our testimony. We don't have the time to waffle over this and allow Satan to use our giving and church culture as a self-rebuke. Our giving should be an overpouring of what God has given us - whether it is finances or time - not in a prideful way, but in obedience and gratitude. Amen!

Chris goes hard on new Year's eve with some heavy truths about John (not present) and discusses Manchester United's tough holiday stretch. Although John likes to say Christmas stretch, smh.

Rob Esse puts a spotlight on Queen musician and songwriter, John Deacon. Known as the quieter member of the band, John contributed sounds, ideas and songs that ended up being some of the most loved, popular music in the band's history. Although John retired from musical activity in the mid-1990's, his musical legacy continues right up to the present day. 

In Club ADHD the Podcast #6, host Russ Le Blanc talks about his never-ending ADHD challenge… AKA, his garage! In the interview portion of the program, we focus on something that often accompanies ADHD… “depression” featuring a talk with John Mielke. John is a well-known radio broadcaster, in the Ottawa area, plus he’s known nationwide as a broadcasting entrepreneur. He’s also a mental health advocate. Although John doesn’t have ADHD, he’s well acquainted with clinical depression. John talks about his life with depression as well as how he deals with the ongoing challenge. If depression accompanies your ADHD, or even if it doesn’t, you won't want to miss this educational and sometimes eye-opening conversation.

In many editions of the Bible, the book of Revelation is given the title "The Revelation of John." Although John is a central figure and writer, Revelation should probably be titled "The Revelation of Jesus," because He is the real subject of the book. Listen as Shawn presents the fourth program from Revelation Speaks Peace.

John Dunaway is a Texas-based merchant mariner who spends six months each year traveling the world as the captain of large cargo ships. Whether cruising the calm, warm waters of Central America or avoiding Somali pirates off the coast of Africa, John’s goal is the same: deliver the cargo efficiently while ensuring the safety of his crew—quite the responsibility for a 32-year-old. When not at sea, John is an avid bird hunter, surfer, and all-around adventurer who uses his downtime to explore everywhere from Jackson Hole to Canyonlands to Antelope Island with his wife and young daughter. Thanks to a talent for photography and writing, John has gained a huge following on Instagram, where he documents his exploits on his account, AbstractConformity. • So you might be asking, what does a ship captain have to do with mountains and/or prairies? Although John may spend most of his time on the high seas, far away from the American West, you’ll notice that his optimistic perspective, focused sense of purpose, and thirst for adventure parallel the attitudes and outlooks of many of my previous podcast guests. Also like other guests, he is well read, a deep thinker, and has a genuine conservation ethic thanks to his close connection to the natural world. Although the objects of our affections may be different, our underlying values and priorities are surprisingly similar. • After almost a year of recording this podcast, I was excited to switch it up a little with this in-depth conversation with John about a subject that was fairly new to me. We start by covering the basics of his job—how one becomes a ship captain, particulars on the size of the ships, and details of day-to-day life on a 90-day ocean voyage. Then we dig deeper into some of his thoughts on leadership, his rituals and superstitions, how fatherhood has changed his outlook, and how he manages the pressure that comes along with being responsible for a massive ship, his crew, and the cargo. He also tells a few crazy stories from Africa and India, and he shares some insights from his recent trips around the American West. As usual, we discuss favorite books, films, and thoughts on conservation. • I found this to be a fascinating conversation, and I’d love to hear what you think. If you have a moment, please shoot me an email and let me know your thoughts. As always, thanks for taking the time to listen; hope you enjoy. ••• http://mountainandprairie.com/john-dunaway/ ••• 3:00 - How John describes his work 4:20 - Details on the ships 5:40 - Length of the typical ocean voyage 8:35 - How John became a ship captain 10:25 - A typical day on an ocean voyage 12:40 - John’s morning routine 19:00 - Superstitions on the ship 21:00 - Details on the crew and boat 22:15 - How John leads his crew 25:20 - Comparing leadership methods of old-timers and younger captains 27:20 - Ernest Shackleton 28:40 - Common misconceptions 30:35 - Most dangerous areas John has visited 31:00 - Adventures with Somali pirates 33:50 - Robberies at port 36:15 - Getting a gun shoved in his chest in Mumbai 38:40 - John’s early years in Brazil and Texas 39:10 - Family ties to ships and the ocean 41:00 - John’s decision to pursue ships as a career 41:55 - John’s advice to young students at the Merchant Marine Academy 43:45 - How fatherhood has changed his perspective 49:30 - How John became a well-known photographer 54:45 - Background on John’s ability as a writer 58:00 - John’s recent adventures in the American West 1:03:30 - What was most striking about the American West 1:07:30 - Favorite books 1:10:15 - Favorite documentaries 1:11:00 - Best piece of advice he’s ever received 1:12:30 - Biggest challenge facing the oceans today 1:15:00 - John’s request to the listeners 1:15:40 - Connect with John online

John the Baptist 135:0.1 (1496.1) JOHN the Baptist was born March 25, 7 B.C., in accordance with the promise that Gabriel made to Elizabeth in June of the previous year. For five months Elizabeth kept secret Gabriel’s visitation; and when she told her husband, Zacharias, he was greatly troubled and fully believed her narrative only after he had an unusual dream about six weeks before the birth of John. Excepting the visit of Gabriel to Elizabeth and the dream of Zacharias, there was nothing unusual or supernatural connected with the birth of John the Baptist. 135:0.2 (1496.2) On the eighth day John was circumcised according to the Jewish custom. He grew up as an ordinary child, day by day and year by year, in the small village known in those days as the City of Judah, about four miles west of Jerusalem. 135:0.3 (1496.3) The most eventful occurrence in John’s early childhood was the visit, in company with his parents, to Jesus and the Nazareth family. This visit occurred in the month of June, 1 B.C., when he was a little over six years of age. 135:0.4 (1496.4) After their return from Nazareth John’s parents began the systematic education of the lad. There was no synagogue school in this little village; however, as he was a priest, Zacharias was fairly well educated, and Elizabeth was far better educated than the average Judean woman; she was also of the priesthood, being a descendant of the “daughters of Aaron.” Since John was an only child, they spent a great deal of time on his mental and spiritual training. Zacharias had only short periods of service at the temple in Jerusalem so that he devoted much of his time to teaching his son. 135:0.5 (1496.5) Zacharias and Elizabeth had a small farm on which they raised sheep. They hardly made a living on this land, but Zacharias received a regular allowance from the temple funds dedicated to the priesthood. 1. John Becomes a Nazarite 135:1.1 (1496.6) John had no school from which to graduate at the age of fourteen, but his parents had selected this as the appropriate year for him to take the formal Nazarite vow. Accordingly, Zacharias and Elizabeth took their son to Engedi, down by the Dead Sea. This was the southern headquarters of the Nazarite brotherhood, and there the lad was duly and solemnly inducted into this order for life. After these ceremonies and the making of the vows to abstain from all intoxicating drinks, to let the hair grow, and to refrain from touching the dead, the family proceeded to Jerusalem, where, before the temple, John completed the making of the offerings which were required of those taking Nazarite vows. 135:1.2 (1496.7) John took the same life vows that had been administered to his illustrious predecessors, Samson and the prophet Samuel. A life Nazarite was looked upon as a sanctified and holy personality. The Jews regarded a Nazarite with almost the respect and veneration accorded the high priest, and this was not strange since Nazarites of lifelong consecration were the only persons, except high priests, who were ever permitted to enter the holy of holies in the temple. 135:1.3 (1497.1) John returned home from Jerusalem to tend his father’s sheep and grew up to be a strong man with a noble character. 135:1.4 (1497.2) When sixteen years old, John, as a result of reading about Elijah, became greatly impressed with the prophet of Mount Carmel and decided to adopt his style of dress. From that day on John always wore a hairy garment with a leather girdle. At sixteen he was more than six feet tall and almost full grown. With his flowing hair and peculiar mode of dress he was indeed a picturesque youth. And his parents expected great things of this their only son, a child of promise and a Nazarite for life. 2. The Death of Zacharias 135:2.1 (1497.3) After an illness of several months Zacharias died in July, A.D. 12, when John was just past eighteen years of age. This was a time of great embarrassment to John since the Nazarite vow forbade contact with the dead, even in one’s own family. Although John had endeavored to comply with the restrictions of his vow regarding contamination by the dead, he doubted that he had been wholly obedient to the requirements of the Nazarite order; therefore, after his father’s burial he went to Jerusalem, where, in the Nazarite corner of the women’s court, he offered the sacrifices required for his cleansing. 135:2.2 (1497.4) In September of this year Elizabeth and John made a journey to Nazareth to visit Mary and Jesus. John had just about made up his mind to launch out in his lifework, but he was admonished, not only by Jesus’ words but also by his example, to return home, take care of his mother, and await the “coming of the Father’s hour.” After bidding Jesus and Mary good-bye at the end of this enjoyable visit, John did not again see Jesus until the event of his baptism in the Jordan. 135:2.3 (1497.5) John and Elizabeth returned to their home and began to lay plans for the future. Since John refused to accept the priest’s allowance due him from the temple funds, by the end of two years they had all but lost their home; so they decided to go south with the sheep herd. Accordingly, the summer that John was twenty years of age witnessed their removal to Hebron. In the so-called “wilderness of Judea” John tended his sheep along a brook that was tributary to a larger stream which entered the Dead Sea at Engedi. The Engedi colony included not only Nazarites of lifelong and time-period consecration but numerous other ascetic herdsmen who congregated in this region with their herds and fraternized with the Nazarite brotherhood. They supported themselves by sheep raising and from gifts which wealthy Jews made to the order. 135:2.4 (1497.6) As time passed, John returned less often to Hebron, while he made more frequent visits to Engedi. He was so entirely different from the majority of the Nazarites that he found it very difficult fully to fraternize with the brotherhood. But he was very fond of Abner, the acknowledged leader and head of the Engedi colony. 3. The Life of a Shepherd 135:3.1 (1497.7) Along the valley of this little brook John built no less than a dozen stone shelters and night corrals, consisting of piled-up stones, wherein he could watch over and safeguard his herds of sheep and goats. John’s life as a shepherd afforded him a great deal of time for thought. He talked much with Ezda, an orphan lad of Beth-zur, whom he had in a way adopted, and who cared for the herds when he made trips to Hebron to see his mother and to sell sheep, as well as when he went down to Engedi for Sabbath services. John and the lad lived very simply, subsisting on mutton, goat’s milk, wild honey, and the edible locusts of that region. This, their regular diet, was supplemented by provisions brought from Hebron and Engedi from time to time. 135:3.2 (1498.1) Elizabeth kept John posted about Palestinian and world affairs, and his conviction grew deeper and deeper that the time was fast approaching when the old order was to end; that he was to become the herald of the approach of a new age, “the kingdom of heaven.” This rugged shepherd was very partial to the writings of the Prophet Daniel. He read a thousand times Daniel’s description of the great image, which Zacharias had told him represented the history of the great kingdoms of the world, beginning with Babylon, then Persia, Greece, and finally Rome. John perceived that already was Rome composed of such polyglot peoples and races that it could never become a strongly cemented and firmly consolidated empire. He believed that Rome was even then divided, as Syria, Egypt, Palestine, and other provinces; and then he further read “in the days of these kings shall the God of heaven set up a kingdom which shall never be destroyed. And this kingdom shall not be left to other people but shall break in pieces and consume all these kingdoms, and it shall stand forever.” “And there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom that all peoples, nations, and languages should serve him. His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and his kingdom never shall be destroyed.” “And the kingdom and dominion and the greatness of the kingdom under the whole heaven shall be given to the people of the saints of the Most High, whose kingdom is an everlasting kingdom, and all dominions shall serve and obey him.” 135:3.3 (1498.2) John was never able completely to rise above the confusion produced by what he had heard from his parents concerning Jesus and by these passages which he read in the Scriptures. In Daniel he read: “I saw in the night visions, and, behold, one like the Son of Man came with the clouds of heaven, and there was given him dominion and glory and a kingdom.” But these words of the prophet did not harmonize with what his parents had taught him. Neither did his talk with Jesus, at the time of his visit when he was eighteen years old, correspond with these statements of the Scriptures. Notwithstanding this confusion, throughout all of his perplexity his mother assured him that his distant cousin, Jesus of Nazareth, was the true Messiah, that he had come to sit on the throne of David, and that he (John) was to become his advance herald and chief support. 135:3.4 (1498.3) From all John heard of the vice and wickedness of Rome and the dissoluteness and moral barrenness of the empire, from what he knew of the evil doings of Herod Antipas and the governors of Judea, he was minded to believe that the end of the age was impending. It seemed to this rugged and noble child of nature that the world was ripe for the end of the age of man and the dawn of the new and divine age — the kingdom of heaven. The feeling grew in John’s heart that he was to be the last of the old prophets and the first of the new. And he fairly vibrated with the mounting impulse to go forth and proclaim to all men: “Repent! Get right with God! Get ready for the end; prepare yourselves for the appearance of the new and eternal order of earth affairs, the kingdom of heaven.” 4. The Death of Elizabeth 135:4.1 (1499.1) On August 17, A.D. 22, when John was twenty-eight years of age, his mother suddenly passed away. Elizabeth’s friends, knowing of the Nazarite restrictions regarding contact with the dead, even in one’s own family, made all arrangements for the burial of Elizabeth before sending for John. When he received word of the death of his mother, he directed Ezda to drive his herds to Engedi and started for Hebron. 135:4.2 (1499.2) On returning to Engedi from his mother’s funeral, he presented his flocks to the brotherhood and for a season detached himself from the outside world while he fasted and prayed. John knew only of the old methods of approach to divinity; he knew only of the records of such as Elijah, Samuel, and Daniel. Elijah was his ideal of a prophet. Elijah was the first of the teachers of Israel to be regarded as a prophet, and John truly believed that he was to be the last of this long and illustrious line of the messengers of heaven. 135:4.3 (1499.3) For two and a half years John lived at Engedi, and he persuaded most of the brotherhood that “the end of the age was at hand”; that “the kingdom of heaven was about to appear.” And all his early teaching was based upon the current Jewish idea and concept of the Messiah as the promised deliverer of the Jewish nation from the domination of their gentile rulers. 135:4.4 (1499.4) Throughout this period John read much in the sacred writings which he found at the Engedi home of the Nazarites. He was especially impressed by Isaiah and by Malachi, the last of the prophets up to that time. He read and reread the last five chapters of Isaiah, and he believed these prophecies. Then he would read in Malachi: “Behold, I will send you Elijah the prophet before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers toward the children and the hearts of the children toward their fathers, lest I come and smite the earth with a curse.” And it was only this promise of Malachi that Elijah would return that deterred John from going forth to preach about the coming kingdom and to exhort his fellow Jews to flee from the wrath to come. John was ripe for the proclamation of the message of the coming kingdom, but this expectation of the coming of Elijah held him back for more than two years. He knew he was not Elijah. What did Malachi mean? Was the prophecy literal or figurative? How could he know the truth? He finally dared to think that, since the first of the prophets was called Elijah, so the last should be known, eventually, by the same name. Nevertheless, he had doubts, doubts sufficient to prevent his ever calling himself Elijah. 135:4.5 (1499.5) It was the influence of Elijah that caused John to adopt his methods of direct and blunt assault upon the sins and vices of his contemporaries. He sought to dress like Elijah, and he endeavored to talk like Elijah; in every outward aspect he was like the olden prophet. He was just such a stalwart and picturesque child of nature, just such a fearless and daring preacher of righteousness. John was not illiterate, he did well know the Jewish sacred writings, but he was hardly cultured. He was a clear thinker, a powerful speaker, and a fiery denunciator. He was hardly an example to his age, but he was an eloquent rebuke. 135:4.6 (1499.6) At last he thought out the method of proclaiming the new age, the kingdom of God; he settled that he was to become the herald of the Messiah; he swept aside all doubts and departed from Engedi one day in March of A.D. 25 to begin his short but brilliant career as a public preacher. 5. The Kingdom of God 135:5.1 (1500.1) In order to understand John’s message, account should be taken of the status of the Jewish people at the time he appeared upon the stage of action. For almost one hundred years all Israel had been in a quandary; they were at a loss to explain their continuous subjugation to gentile overlords. Had not Moses taught that righteousness was always rewarded with prosperity and power? Were they not God’s chosen people? Why was the throne of David desolate and vacant? In the light of the Mosaic doctrines and the precepts of the prophets the Jews found it difficult to explain their long-continued national desolation. 135:5.2 (1500.2) About one hundred years before the days of Jesus and John a new school of religious teachers arose in Palestine, the apocalyptists. These new teachers evolved a system of belief that accounted for the sufferings and humiliation of the Jews on the ground that they were paying the penalty for the nation’s sins. They fell back onto the well-known reasons assigned to explain the Babylonian and other captivities of former times. But, so taught the apocalyptists, Israel should take heart; the days of their affliction were almost over; the discipline of God’s chosen people was about finished; God’s patience with the gentile foreigners was about exhausted. The end of Roman rule was synonymous with the end of the age and, in a certain sense, with the end of the world. These new teachers leaned heavily on the predictions of Daniel, and they consistently taught that creation was about to pass into its final stage; the kingdoms of this world were about to become the kingdom of God. To the Jewish mind of that day this was the meaning of that phrase — the kingdom of heaven — which runs throughout the teachings of both John and Jesus. To the Jews of Palestine the phrase “kingdom of heaven” had but one meaning: an absolutely righteous state in which God (the Messiah) would rule the nations of earth in perfection of power just as he ruled in heaven — “Your will be done on earth as in heaven.” 135:5.3 (1500.3) In the days of John all Jews were expectantly asking, “How soon will the kingdom come?” There was a general feeling that the end of the rule of the gentile nations was drawing near. There was present throughout all Jewry a lively hope and a keen expectation that the consummation of the desire of the ages would occur during the lifetime of that generation. 135:5.4 (1500.4) While the Jews differed greatly in their estimates of the nature of the coming kingdom, they were alike in their belief that the event was impending, near at hand, even at the door. Many who read the Old Testament literally looked expectantly for a new king in Palestine, for a regenerated Jewish nation delivered from its enemies and presided over by the successor of King David, the Messiah who would quickly be acknowledged as the rightful and righteous ruler of all the world. Another, though smaller, group of devout Jews held a vastly different view of this kingdom of God. They taught that the coming kingdom was not of this world, that the world was approaching its certain end, and that “a new heaven and a new earth” were to usher in the establishment of the kingdom of God; that this kingdom was to be an everlasting dominion, that sin was to be ended, and that the citizens of the new kingdom were to become immortal in their enjoyment of this endless bliss. 135:5.5 (1500.5) All were agreed that some drastic purging or purifying discipline would of necessity precede the establishment of the new kingdom on earth. The literalists taught that a world-wide war would ensue which would destroy all unbelievers, while the faithful would sweep on to universal and eternal victory. The spiritists taught that the kingdom would be ushered in by the great judgment of God which would relegate the unrighteous to their well-deserved judgment of punishment and final destruction, at the same time elevating the believing saints of the chosen people to high seats of honor and authority with the Son of Man, who would rule over the redeemed nations in God’s name. And this latter group even believed that many devout gentiles might be admitted to the fellowship of the new kingdom. 135:5.6 (1501.1) Some of the Jews held to the opinion that God might possibly establish this new kingdom by direct and divine intervention, but the vast majority believed that he would interpose some representative intermediary, the Messiah. And that was the only possible meaning the term Messiah could have had in the minds of the Jews of the generation of John and Jesus. Messiah could not possibly refer to one who merely taught God’s will or proclaimed the necessity for righteous living. To all such holy persons the Jews gave the title of prophet. The Messiah was to be more than a prophet; the Messiah was to bring in the establishment of the new kingdom, the kingdom of God. No one who failed to do this could be the Messiah in the traditional Jewish sense. 135:5.7 (1501.2) Who would this Messiah be? Again the Jewish teachers differed. The older ones clung to the doctrine of the son of David. The newer taught that, since the new kingdom was a heavenly kingdom, the new ruler might also be a divine personality, one who had long sat at God’s right hand in heaven. And strange as it may appear, those who thus conceived of the ruler of the new kingdom looked upon him not as a human Messiah, not as a mere man, but as “the Son of Man” — a Son of God — a heavenly Prince, long held in waiting thus to assume the rulership of the earth made new. Such was the religious background of the Jewish world when John went forth proclaiming: “Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand!” 135:5.8 (1501.3) It becomes apparent, therefore, that John’s announcement of the coming kingdom had not less than half a dozen different meanings in the minds of those who listened to his impassioned preaching. But no matter what significance they attached to the phrases which John employed, each of these various groups of Jewish-kingdom expectants was intrigued by the proclamations of this sincere, enthusiastic, rough-and-ready preacher of righteousness and repentance, who so solemnly exhorted his hearers to “flee from the wrath to come.” 6. John Begins to Preach 135:6.1 (1501.4) Early in the month of March, A.D. 25, John journeyed around the western coast of the Dead Sea and up the river Jordan to opposite Jericho, the ancient ford over which Joshua and the children of Israel passed when they first entered the promised land; and crossing over to the other side of the river, he established himself near the entrance to the ford and began to preach to the people who passed by on their way back and forth across the river. This was the most frequented of all the Jordan crossings. 135:6.2 (1501.5) It was apparent to all who heard John that he was more than a preacher. The great majority of those who listened to this strange man who had come up from the Judean wilderness went away believing that they had heard the voice of a prophet. No wonder the souls of these weary and expectant Jews were deeply stirred by such a phenomenon. Never in all Jewish history had the devout children of Abraham so longed for the “consolation of Israel” or more ardently anticipated “the restoration of the kingdom.” Never in all Jewish history could John’s message, “the kingdom of heaven is at hand,” have made such a deep and universal appeal as at the very time he so mysteriously appeared on the bank of this southern crossing of the Jordan. 135:6.3 (1502.1) He came from the herdsmen, like Amos. He was dressed like Elijah of old, and he thundered his admonitions and poured forth his warnings in the “spirit and power of Elijah.” It is not surprising that this strange preacher created a mighty stir throughout all Palestine as the travelers carried abroad the news of his preaching along the Jordan. 135:6.4 (1502.2) There was still another and a new feature about the work of this Nazarite preacher: He baptized every one of his believers in the Jordan “for the remission of sins.” Although baptism was not a new ceremony among the Jews, they had never seen it employed as John now made use of it. It had long been the practice thus to baptize the gentile proselytes into the fellowship of the outer court of the temple, but never had the Jews themselves been asked to submit to the baptism of repentance. Only fifteen months intervened between the time John began to preach and baptize and his arrest and imprisonment at the instigation of Herod Antipas, but in this short time he baptized considerably over one hundred thousand penitents. 135:6.5 (1502.3) John preached four months at Bethany ford before starting north up the Jordan. Tens of thousands of listeners, some curious but many earnest and serious, came to hear him from all parts of Judea, Perea, and Samaria. Even a few came from Galilee. 135:6.6 (1502.4) In May of this year, while he still lingered at Bethany ford, the priests and Levites sent a delegation out to inquire of John whether he claimed to be the Messiah, and by whose authority he preached. John answered these questioners by saying: “Go tell your masters that you have heard ‘the voice of one crying in the wilderness,’ as spoken by the prophet, saying, ‘make ready the way of the Lord, make straight a highway for our God. Every valley shall be filled, and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; the uneven ground shall become a plain, while the rough places shall become a smooth valley; and all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’” 135:6.7 (1502.5) John was a heroic but tactless preacher. One day when he was preaching and baptizing on the west bank of the Jordan, a group of Pharisees and a number of Sadducees came forward and presented themselves for baptism. Before leading them down into the water, John, addressing them as a group said: “Who warned you to flee, as vipers before the fire, from the wrath to come? I will baptize you, but I warn you to bring forth fruit worthy of sincere repentance if you would receive the remission of your sins. Tell me not that Abraham is your father. I declare that God is able of these twelve stones here before you to raise up worthy children for Abraham. And even now is the ax laid to the very roots of the trees. Every tree that brings not forth good fruit is destined to be cut down and cast into the fire.” (The twelve stones to which he referred were the reputed memorial stones set up by Joshua to commemorate the crossing of the “twelve tribes” at this very point when they first entered the promised land.) 135:6.8 (1502.6) John conducted classes for his disciples, in the course of which he instructed them in the details of their new life and endeavored to answer their many questions. He counseled the teachers to instruct in the spirit as well as the letter of the law. He instructed the rich to feed the poor; to the tax gatherers he said: “Extort no more than that which is assigned you.” To the soldiers he said: “Do no violence and exact nothing wrongfully — be content with your wages.” While he counseled all: “Make ready for the end of the age — the kingdom of heaven is at hand.” 7. John Journeys North 135:7.1 (1503.1) John still had confused ideas about the coming kingdom and its king. The longer he preached the more confused he became, but never did this intellectual uncertainty concerning the nature of the coming kingdom in the least lessen his conviction of the certainty of the kingdom’s immediate appearance. In mind John might be confused, but in spirit never. He was in no doubt about the coming kingdom, but he was far from certain as to whether or not Jesus was to be the ruler of that kingdom. As long as John held to the idea of the restoration of the throne of David, the teachings of his parents that Jesus, born in the City of David, was to be the long-expected deliverer, seemed consistent; but at those times when he leaned more toward the doctrine of a spiritual kingdom and the end of the temporal age on earth, he was sorely in doubt as to the part Jesus would play in such events. Sometimes he questioned everything, but not for long. He really wished he might talk it all over with his cousin, but that was contrary to their expressed agreement. 135:7.2 (1503.2) As John journeyed north, he thought much about Jesus. He paused at more than a dozen places as he traveled up the Jordan. It was at Adam that he first made reference to “another one who is to come after me” in answer to the direct question which his disciples asked him, “Are you the Messiah?” And he went on to say: “There will come after me one who is greater than I, whose sandal straps I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose. I baptize you with water, but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit. And his shovel is in his hand thoroughly to cleanse his threshing floor; he will gather the wheat into his garner, but the chaff will he burn up with the judgment fire.” 135:7.3 (1503.3) In response to the questions of his disciples John continued to expand his teachings, from day to day adding more that was helpful and comforting compared with his early and cryptic message: “Repent and be baptized.” By this time throngs were arriving from Galilee and the Decapolis. Scores of earnest believers lingered with their adored teacher day after day. 8. Meeting of Jesus and John 135:8.1 (1503.4) By December of A.D. 25, when John reached the neighborhood of Pella in his journey up the Jordan, his fame had extended throughout all Palestine, and his work had become the chief topic of conversation in all the towns about the lake of Galilee. Jesus had spoken favorably of John’s message, and this had caused many from Capernaum to join John’s cult of repentance and baptism. James and John the fishermen sons of Zebedee had gone down in December, soon after John took up his preaching position near Pella, and had offered themselves for baptism. They went to see John once a week and brought back to Jesus fresh, firsthand reports of the evangelist’s work. * 135:8.2 (1503.5) Jesus’ brothers James and Jude had talked about going down to John for baptism; and now that Jude had come over to Capernaum for the Sabbath services, both he and James, after listening to Jesus’ discourse in the synagogue, decided to take counsel with him concerning their plans. This was on Saturday night, January 12, A.D. 26. Jesus requested that they postpone the discussion until the following day, when he would give them his answer. He slept very little that night, being in close communion with the Father in heaven. He had arranged to have noontime lunch with his brothers and to advise them concerning baptism by John. That Sunday morning Jesus was working as usual in the boatshop. James and Jude had arrived with the lunch and were waiting in the lumber room for him, as it was not yet time for the midday recess, and they knew that Jesus was very regular about such matters. 135:8.3 (1504.1) Just before the noon rest, Jesus laid down his tools, removed his work apron, and merely announced to the three workmen in the room with him, “My hour has come.” He went out to his brothers James and Jude, repeating, “My hour has come — let us go to John.” And they started immediately for Pella, eating their lunch as they journeyed. This was on Sunday, January 13. They tarried for the night in the Jordan valley and arrived on the scene of John’s baptizing about noon of the next day. 135:8.4 (1504.2) John had just begun baptizing the candidates for the day. Scores of repentants were standing in line awaiting their turn when Jesus and his two brothers took up their positions in this line of earnest men and women who had become believers in John’s preaching of the coming kingdom. John had been inquiring about Jesus of Zebedee’s sons. He had heard of Jesus’ remarks concerning his preaching, and he was day by day expecting to see him arrive on the scene, but he had not expected to greet him in the line of baptismal candidates. 135:8.5 (1504.3) Being engrossed with the details of rapidly baptizing such a large number of converts, John did not look up to see Jesus until the Son of Man stood in his immediate presence. When John recognized Jesus, the ceremonies were halted for a moment while he greeted his cousin in the flesh and asked, “But why do you come down into the water to greet me?” And Jesus answered, “To be subject to your baptism.” John replied: “But I have need to be baptized by you. Why do you come to me?” And Jesus whispered to John: “Bear with me now, for it becomes us to set this example for my brothers standing here with me, and that the people may know that my hour has come.” 135:8.6 (1504.4) There was a tone of finality and authority in Jesus’ voice. John was atremble with emotion as he made ready to baptize Jesus of Nazareth in the Jordan at noon on Monday, January 14, A.D. 26. Thus did John baptize Jesus and his two brothers James and Jude. And when John had baptized these three, he dismissed the others for the day, announcing that he would resume baptisms at noon the next day. As the people were departing, the four men still standing in the water heard a strange sound, and presently there appeared for a moment an apparition immediately over the head of Jesus, and they heard a voice saying, “This is my beloved Son in whom I am well pleased.” A great change came over the countenance of Jesus, and coming up out of the water in silence he took leave of them, going toward the hills to the east. And no man saw Jesus again for forty days. 135:8.7 (1504.5) John followed Jesus a sufficient distance to tell him the story of Gabriel’s visit to his mother ere either had been born, as he had heard it so many times from his mother’s lips. He allowed Jesus to continue on his way after he had said, “Now I know of a certainty that you are the Deliverer.” But Jesus made no reply. 9. Forty Days of Preaching 135:9.1 (1505.1) When John returned to his disciples (he now had some twenty-five or thirty who abode with him constantly), he found them in earnest conference, discussing what had just happened in connection with Jesus’ baptism. They were all the more astonished when John now made known to them the story of the Gabriel visitation to Mary before Jesus was born, and also that Jesus spoke no word to him even after he had told him about this. There was no rain that evening, and this group of thirty or more talked long into the starlit night. They wondered where Jesus had gone, and when they would see him again. 135:9.2 (1505.2) After the experience of this day the preaching of John took on new and certain notes of proclamation concerning the coming kingdom and the expected Messiah. It was a tense time, these forty days of tarrying, waiting for the return of Jesus. But Joh

John Carney is a third generation property investor and developer.  He has invested in the US, Australia, and Indonesia A published author and sought-after international keynote speaker, John’s attractive presentation, and book, Real Estate is a Team Sport. The Nine Players You Need to Profit, outlines the steps to become a smarter, more successful property investor. Born in Cleveland, Ohio, yet moved to Melbourne with his Australian wife in 2009 following the aftermath of The Global Financial Crisis. Although John was working in real estate while being enticed by top tier international commercial real estate firms, he decided to start his own business with local Australian partners and his US-based real estate network. America Property Source was born in 2010 and continues to flourish and evolve today. In this episode, we learned that America Property Source was built as a turnkey provider that allows the overseas investor to “pick from the menu” of real estate service providers.  Due to soaring property prices in Australia, it is difficult if not almost impossible to invest for cash flow.  Situations such as this often cause the investing community to look elsewhere for opportunity. This book serves well as a desk reference for me (Tyler) in keeping me on point with strategies to build my team and improve my resources for my clients.  The book is a step by step blueprint to finding, screening and then making selections based on the person who is the “right fit” for your team.  The good fit is someone who you get to be stuck on a plane ride with for a long time that only felt like a short trip upon reaching your destination. In the book, John discusses the value (and mindset) in hiring skilled professionals to help you build your portfolio.  He goes on to say how shopping by price should not matter initially, instead find someone whose personality is compatible with yours. An example is used regarding the author using an attorney to help structure a deal and to help avoid pitfalls even during the negotiation process.  The mindset shift was an eye-opening way of thinking for me. You can reach John via his website at JohnCarneyOnline.com where links to his social media can are located.

Reigning from the small town of Tyner, NC, John McCraig Overton, Delmonte Jordan, and Antonio Copeland not only share a love for music, but they also share a bond that links them more than music ever could. Although John and Delmonte were born on the same day and one hour apart, John is Delmonte's uncle. Virtually raised as brothers, they would later meet Antonio at a restaurant where they all worked. They went from flipping burgers to flipping beats and rhymes and that would eventually become life for these three gentlemen. Speaking of life, these young men faced the typical trials and tribulations that most youth do growing up in North Carolina but their passion for sports, video games, and girls kept them on the right path. They understood at a young age that getting money was their main objective and they wanted to get it through something the invoked passion in the people around them and not fear. Since that point, Da Gwop Krew has been on a relentless mission to get that gwop. Art is the author of Scammed: 3 Steps to Help Your Elder Parents and Yourself, and has also been a speaker on elderly fraud prevention and recovery at both the state and national level. He has spoken for 4 years in a row at the Missouri National Association of Social Workers symposium, and he recently presented at the national conferences for the National Association of Social Workers in Washington, DC, and Cambridge Financial Research in Scottsdale, AZ. He has trained on topics related to elderly fraud recovery and prevention to professional groups and senior organizations, and has consulted with scam victims’ families locally and nationally. Drawing on his own experience helping his 83 year old stepfather recover from a series of devastating scams, and his clinical skills as a practicing therapist, gives him a unique perspective on this growing problem.

Sherlock Holmes and the Adventure of the Norwood Builder (Scene 3) John McFarlane Continues His Story Police Detective Lestrade's comments and opinion irritate Holmes, so Holmes gets quite sarcastic and cutting with Lestrade. For example, Lestrade says, "I came on here myself to do my duty." He strongly feels it is his responsibility to arrest John McFarlane. To this, Holmes responds, "Then you plainly must do your duty, my dear Lestrade. He's yours." The idea of a murder and arson case, and the possibility that young John McFarlane is being framed (set up to make it look like he committed the crime when he didn't) and won't find justice if it is left up to detectives like Lestrade, grabs Holmes' interest. That is significant as Sherlock Holmes only takes on cases that peak his interest. Holmes assures John that he will take on the case. Although John still gets arrested by Lestrade, he has the great detective on his side. Bumbling Police versus Skillful Detective Sherlock Holmes is quite professional, but has no police training. What he does have are the skills of observation and deductive reasoning. With these tools, he sets himself up as a private detective. This is quite typical of classical detective stories. Later cozy detective stories explored the possibility of using other kinds of people to fill the detective role. These amateur detectives  have a skill or they have personal connections to help them solve a case. Some examples of amateur detectives are news reporters or news photographers. Their natural connection to reporting on crimes brings them in contact with crime scenes, and witnesses to interview. From their real job of news reporting, they also know the chief of police, firefighters, and other key people whose expertise the reporter/detective can draw on. Other amateur detectives have been mystery writers, nosy neighbors with lots of time on their hands, and even someone with a strong personal interest in solving the case. Perhaps they were a friend or relative of the victim, and they see the police trying but getting nowhere, so they become personally involved. In contrast to the resourceful, logically thinking detective are the bumbling police officers. They try hard, but lack the skill needed to successfully solve the case. Since he is willing to take on the case, it is likely that Holmes at least has a feeling that John McFarlane is innocent. But he won't commit to this point of view. He needs facts and evidence. He enters his investigation with an open mind. He guards against jumping to conclusions. Making assumptions and jumping to conclusions is what Lestrade and his men do time and time again. And that is basically the difference between the bumbling police officers and the skillful detective. Have fun learning the keywords with English-Chinese Flashcards and Games.DL001-DL003: Keywords, Part A on QuizletDL004-DL007: Keywords, Part B on Quizlet Why does Holmes allow Lestrade to arrest John McFarlane? Please leave a reply in the comments below.

After studying Kenesiology and spending a short time in physical therapy, John Mason moved into the pharmaceutical industry. A 20-year career followed, with experience in sales, marketing, and sales management. Although John had a successful career, he found he had detoured a long way from the personal care he originally set out to provide. John wanted something with more direct patient contact. By combining a passion for patient care and knowledge of the healtcare industry, he decided to become a BrightStar owner. Now John is delivering on the promise he made to himself many years ago - to help people. John and his team have over 30 years of combined experience in the healthcare industry, and they are committed to providing the help you need. John and his team know what it's like to care for aging or ill family, and they treat their clients the same way they would treat their own loved ones, with dignity, caring, and respect.