Podcasts about Cling

Day 1,675.Today, after more deadly daytime raids strike Kyiv – with people climbing out the windows of burning buildings – we hear how Poland is changing its rules of engagement regarding drones entering its airspace as the number of incursions continue to rise across Europe. Then we do a deep dive into the future of modern warfare and defence procurement following a new long read by the former Secretary of the US Army and The Telegraph's exclusive interview with Ukraine's Drone Chief, Robert ‘Magyar' Brovdi.Contributors:Francis Dearnley (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @FrancisDearnley on X.Dominic Nicholls (Host on Ukraine: The Latest). @DomNicholls on X.Antonia Langford (Freelance Journalist in Kyiv). @Antonialford on XProducer: Rachel PorterSenior Producer: Lilian FawcettVideo Producer: Sophie O'SullivanSocial Producer: Tom SteedStudio Director: Meghan SearleExecutive Editor: Francis DearnleyCreated by David KnowlesNOW IN FULL VIDEO WITH MAPS & BATTLEFIELD FOOTAGE:Every episode is now available on our YouTube channel shortly after the release of the audio version. You will find it here: https://www.youtube.com/@UkraineTheLatestCONTENT REFERENCED:RAND paper: Tomorrow's Victory and the Army of the Future: Forecasting the Next Steps in Ukraine's Military Evolutionhttps://www.rand.org/pubs/commentary/2026/09/tomorrows-victory-and-the-army-of-the-future.html?project=&utm_campaign=&utm_content=1789510664&utm_medium=rand_social&utm_source=twitterRussia attacks scientists in strikes on Kyiv (Antonia Langford for The Telegraph)https://www.telegraph.co.uk/world-news/2026/09/28/russia-attacks-scientists-kyiv-national-academy-fire/Rewiring the Arsenal of Democracy (Dan Driscoll for Foreign Affairs)https://www.foreignaffairs.com/united-states/rewiring-arsenal-democracy-war-dan-driscollFrontline Club Event with the Kyiv Independent on 1st October (Francis Dearnley moderating):https://www.eventbrite.co.uk/e/panel-discussion-ukraine-inside-their-war-tickets-2000033706656?aff=oddtdtcreatorThe Kyiv Independent Live in London on 2 October:https://tickets.kyivindependent.com/events/thekyivindependentlive/2281999/r/frontlineDavid Knowles's episode dedicated to Babyn Yar:https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/gas-shortages-finally-hit-moscow-as-kyiv-intensifies/id1612424182?i=1000728581605If you're interested in sponsoring Dom's upcoming defence event, email our colleagues at events@telegraph.co.ukEMAIL US:Contact the team on ukrainepod@telegraph.co.uk. We continue to read every message, and seek to respond to as many as possible.HIGHLIGHTS:Scientists cling to burning building after Russian raidUkraine's Operation Vivaldi liberates occupied villages Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

https://wels2.blob.core.windows.net/tmb-ehv/03-0927db.mp3 Listen to Bible reading Through My Bible Yr 03 – September 27 Proverbs 4 – 5 An Address to Sons: Your Parents Teach You Wisdom Proverbs 4 1 Listen, you sons, to a father's discipline. Pay attention so that you will gain discernment, 2 because I have given you good instruction. Do not abandon my teaching. 3 When I was a son living with my father, a tender and only child with my mother, 4 he used to instruct me and say to me, “Cling to my words with all your heart. Obey my commands so that you may live. 5 Acquire wisdom. Acquire understanding. Do not forget, and do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 6 Do not abandon it, and it will watch over you. Love it and it will guard you.” 7 The beginning of wisdom is to obtain Wisdom. Give up everything you have, in order to gain Understanding. 8 Cherish her, and she will exalt you. She will honor you when you embrace her. 9 She will set a garland of grace on your head. She will present you with a beautiful crown. Fifth Address to a Son: The Difference Between the Wicked and the Righteous 10 Listen, my son, and accept my words, so that the years of your life will be many. 11 I have instructed you in the way of wisdom. I have led you along straight paths. [1] 12 When you walk, your stride will not be hindered. Even if you run, you will not stumble. 13 Hold on to discipline. Do not let go. Guard it, because it is your life. 14 Do not travel on the path of the wicked. Do not walk in the way of evil people. 15 Avoid it! Do not travel on it! Turn away from it. Pass it by. 16 For they cannot sleep     unless they have been doing wrong, and they are robbed of sleep     unless they are making someone stumble, 17 because wickedness is the food they eat, and violence is the wine they drink. 18 But the path of the righteous is like the light of dawn, shining brighter and brighter until it is day. 19 The way of the wicked is like gloomy darkness. They never know where they will stumble. Sixth Address to a Son: Advice for a Righteous Life 20 My son, pay attention to my words. Open your ears to what I say. 21 Do not let them escape from your sight. Keep them deep in your heart, 22 because they are life for those who find them and healing for the entire body. [2] 23 Above all else, guard your heart carefully, because your life flows from it. 24 Turn your mouth away from perverted speech, and keep devious lips far away from you. 25 Let your eyes look straight ahead. Let your gaze [3] be directly in front of you. 26 Make a level pathway for your feet, and all your ways will be secure. 27 Do not swerve to the right or the left. Turn your feet away from evil. Seventh Address to a Son: Wisdom Teaches You to Avoid Adultery Proverbs 5 1 My son, pay attention to my wisdom. Open your ears to my understanding, 2 so that you may hold on to insight, so your lips may guard knowledge, 3 because the lips of an immoral woman drip with honey, and her words are [4] as smooth as olive oil, 4 but in the end she is as bitter as wormwood [5] and as sharp as a double-edged sword. 5 Her feet go down to death. Her steps lead to hell. [6] 6 She gives no thought to the path of life. [7] Her ways wander, but she doesn't realize it. 7 Now, you sons, listen to me. Do not turn away from the words of my mouth. 8 Keep your way far from her. Do not go near the doorway of her house. 9 If you do, you will give your wealth to others and your years to a cruel person. 10 If you do, your work will satisfy strangers, and the results of your labor will end up in another man's house. 11 You will groan when your end comes, when your body and flesh are consumed. 12 Then you will say, “Oh, how I hated discipline, and my heart despised warnings! 13 I did not listen to my teachers' voices, and I did not open my ears to hear my instructors. 14 I soon [8] reached total ruin in the midst of the assembly of the community.” Encouragement to Faithfulness in Marriage 15 Drink water from your own cistern. Drink running water from your own well. 16 Why should the water from your springs flow out into the street, your streams of water into the public squares? 17 They should be yours, yours alone. They are not for strangers to share with you. 18 Let your fountain be blessed. Obtain your joy from the wife you married in your youth, 19     who is a loving doe and a graceful deer. Let her breasts satisfy you at all times. Always be intoxicated with her love. 20 Why should you be led astray, my son, by an immoral woman? Why embrace a woman who is not your wife? 21 For the ways of a man are in front of the eyes of the Lord, and he weighs all of his paths. 22 The evil deeds of the wicked man will capture him, and he will be bound by the ropes of his sin. 23 He will die for lack of discipline, and he will go astray because of his great stupidity. Footnotes Proverbs 4:11 Or on the right track Proverbs 4:22 Literally all of his flesh Proverbs 4:25 Literally your eyelids Proverbs 5:3 Literally her palate is Proverbs 5:4 Wormwood is a toxic, bitter-tasting drink (absinthe). Proverbs 5:5 Or the grave. The Hebrew word is sheol. Proverbs 5:6 Or she does not make the paths of life level Proverbs 5:14 Or almost The Holy Bible, Evangelical Heritage Version®, EHV®, © 2019 Wartburg Project, Inc. All rights reserved.

"Faith in Affliction" September 27, 2026                                              Matthew 15:21-31 Pastor Tony Felich  Sermon Application [file]   ----more---- Matthew 15:21 And Jesus went away from there and withdrew to the district of Tyre and Sidon. [22] And behold, a Canaanite woman from that region came out and was crying, “Have mercy on me, O Lord, Son of David; my daughter is severely oppressed by a demon.” [23] But he did not answer her a word. And his disciples came and begged him, saying, “Send her away, for she is crying out after us.” [24] He answered, “I was sent only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel.” [25] But she came and knelt before him, saying, “Lord, help me.” [26] And he answered, “It is not right to take the children's bread and throw it to the dogs.” [27] She said, “Yes, Lord, yet even the dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table.” [28] Then Jesus answered her, “O woman, great is your faith! Let it be done for you as you desire.” And her daughter was healed instantly.[29] Jesus went on from there and walked beside the Sea of Galilee. And he went up on the mountain and sat down there. [30] And great crowds came to him, bringing with them the lame, the blind, the crippled, the mute, and many others, and they put them at his feet, and he healed them, [31] so that the crowd wondered, when they saw the mute speaking, the crippled healthy, the lame walking, and the blind seeing. And they glorified the God of Israel.    When trials drive us to Christ, we discover that His mercy is greater than our need.         •  Come to Christ with your need. (21-22)       •  Cling to Christ when you don't understand. (23-25)         •  Trust the abundance of Christ's mercy. (26-31)

Our culture increasingly treats good and evil as matters of personal preference. Romans 12:9 calls Christians to a different way of life: genuine love, hatred of evil, and steadfast devotion to what is good. Dave Jenkins explains why God's character and Word provide the only trustworthy standard for morality. He also considers how biblical love holds truth and compassion together, how believers can practice daily discernment, and how union with Christ enables Christians to pursue lives that glorify God. For more from Anchored in the Word, please visit: https://servantsofgrace.org/anchored-in-the-wordpage/

Powerful Message By Pastor Blake Andrews 

https://media.urclearning.org/audio/janbazian/msj-2026-09-13_isaiah-22.mp3

Abhor Evil, Cling to GoodRomans 12:9Sunday (9-6-26) night's Bible Study

Remember that we have not always had Jesus.Cling to the cross as our common ground.Abide in the same household. Vintage Church, we must be with Jesus together.Join the family!Be a family!References: https://vintagechurchnola.com/messages/being-with-jesus-together/

Remember God loves you so much he sent his Son Jesus Christ to take the punishment for your sins. You are of great value. Jesus loves you and He is just a prayer away! This episode includes AI-generated content.

“And Moses swore on that day, saying, ‘Surely the land on which your foot has trodden shall be an inheritance for you and your children forever, because you have wholly followed the Lord my God.'” Joshua 14:9Ridgecrest exists to reach the lost, build the believer, and connect the people of God to the mission and purpose of God. The Heart Truth podcast is just one way we seek to accomplish our mission online and you can help us by leaving reviews on your podcast platform of choice or by sharing these devotions with someone you know.To let us know how we can pray for you or to find out more about Ridgecrest, take a minute to fill out our Connection Card linked below. https://my.rbcdothan.org/connectioncardIf you'd like to receive our daily devotionals in your inbox, sign up HERE free of charge: https://mailchi.mp/4bcc8628406b/daily-heart-truth-devotionsThe Journey Podcast:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@JourneyPodRBCSubstack: https://thejourneypodcast.substack.comApple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-journey/id1785079800 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0syXQWFX6IhTZjeJsHWxtM?si=c4c7397b153248f6Ridgecrest Sermons podcast:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/ridgecrest-baptist-church-sermons/id1517442154Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3Ir5YcahI8G2SiIjrycB8W?si=0bc532b4f72c4facFind us online Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/RidgecrestDothanInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/ridgecrestbaptist/profilecard/?igsh=MWRrZHZwdXprYzhwZw==YouTube: www.youtube.com/@rbcdothanTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@rbcdothan?_t=ZP-8wfPSkVSuYo&_r=1Our website https://www.rbcdothan.orgWATCH LIVE Sunday and Wednesday: https://rbcdothan.online.church

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Losing Confidence After Stroke: Why It Happens and How to Get It Back Jaemin Frazer has spent nearly two decades and around 16,000 coaching hours on a single question: what is actually going on when a capable person stops trusting themselves? He founded The Insecurity Project to work on it directly. He is not a stroke survivor – and that turns out to be the reason this conversation is useful, because he arrives without any assumptions about what stroke recovery is supposed to look like. What he does have is a precise account of what happens to a person when their ordered world collapses, which is, more or less, the definition of a stroke. “I Just Want to Be Who I Was” Almost every survivor says some version of this. Six weeks out, six years out – the sentence barely changes. Jaemin’s response is to ask what is actually being requested. His answer: not the past. Certainty. They’re looking for certainty. They’re looking for comfort. They’re looking for safety. They’re looking through rose coloured glasses in many ways, because no one’s life was perfect before anything. That last part is the uncomfortable bit. The life you want back had its own problems. What memory offers is not a better life but a known one – and the nervous system will take known over good almost every time. Certainty Is the Real Request Humans need certainty the way they need food and shelter. We don’t function in chaos. But we also can’t get certainty from the outside world, because the outside world doesn’t have any to give. It never did. The stroke didn’t remove your certainty; it removed your ability to keep believing in it. Which leaves one option. As Jaemin puts it: The most resourceful form of certainty is to embrace uncertainty and back yourself. That distinction – external certainty versus internal certainty – is the whole conversation. When your sense of safety lives outside you, you have to control your circumstances to feel all right, and after a stroke your circumstances are largely uncontrollable. When it lives inside you, circumstances can do what they like. This is the same territory covered in stroke recovery mindset (https://recoveryafterstroke.com/stroke-recovery-mindset/), approached from a completely different angle. Self-Doubt Is Useful. Insecurity Is Not. Jaemin draws a hard line between the two, and it’s worth holding onto. Self-doubt is accurate information about a skill gap. If you can’t yet climb the stairs unaided, self-doubt is what stops you attempting it alone. It says nothing about your worth. It’s wisdom. Insecurity is different. Insecurity is the belief that a failure would expose something defective about you. Jaemin argues that most people misdefine it – it isn’t fear of judgement, failure, or rejection. It’s one level deeper: No one’s actually afraid of being rejected. They’re afraid of: if I put my best foot forward and it’s not enough, and then people don’t accept me – what does that confirm about my own inadequacy? The threat isn’t out there. It’s a verdict you’ve already passed on yourself, waiting for the world to co-sign it. What Insecurity Costs Your Recovery This is where it stops being philosophy. Jaemin frames insecurity as a resource problem. Proving yourself, defending yourself, covering and compensating – all of it consumes energy. When life is going well there’s enough spare capacity that you never notice the drain. After a stroke, there is no spare capacity. A stroke puts you into survival mode, and now you’ve got no resources to survive, because all your best resources are directed elsewhere to make sure no one sees your inadequacy. Survivors already know that fatigue after stroke is not ordinary tiredness. An injured brain rewiring itself is metabolically expensive. Every unit of energy spent managing how you appear to other people is a unit unavailable for healing. Attending to the emotional side of recovery isn’t separate from the physical work – it’s what frees up the capacity to do it. That connection runs through emotional recovery after stroke (https://recoveryafterstroke.com/emotional-recovery-after-stroke-dr-bradley-nelson/) as well. Why Your Friends Push Back Many survivors have to change how they live – what they eat, what they drink, where they go, who they spend time with. And many report losing friends over it. Jaemin’s framing here is bracing. Resistance from the people around you isn’t a malfunction. In any story worth telling, the character who transforms does so by overcoming obstacles, and those obstacles almost always arrive in the form of other people. Remove the resistance and nothing in the hero is enlarged. So when someone says you’ve changed and doesn’t mean it kindly, they are – without intending to – handing you the exact thing you need to become someone who no longer requires their approval. Grief and Insecurity Are Not the Same Thing This distinction matters, and conflating them causes real harm. Losing the use of a limb is a genuine loss. Grief is the appropriate response, and it deserves acknowledgement rather than management. The damage begins when the loss becomes a statement about your worth. I can’t run, therefore I’m not a runner, therefore who am I? That is no longer grief – that’s insecurity wearing grief’s clothes, and it needs a different response entirely. Survivors working through that identity question will recognise it in craniotomy stroke recovery and identity reset (https://recoveryafterstroke.com/craniotomy-stroke-recovery-identity-reset/), and it sits close to the ground covered in anxiety after stroke (https://recoveryafterstroke.com/anxiety-after-stroke/). That’s Not the Tragedy. That’s the Setup. The line Jaemin returns to twice in the episode is this: being lost and confused doesn’t disqualify you from a meaningful life. It’s what qualifies you to begin one. Nobody reaches adulthood with an accurate picture of who they are. Everyone arrives confused. The confusion isn’t damage to be repaired before you can start – it’s the starting position. This reframes the disorientation of early recovery as the opening move rather than evidence that something has gone permanently wrong. The same reframe underpins post-traumatic growth in stroke recovery (https://recoveryafterstroke.com/post-traumatic-growth-stroke-recovery/). And Jaemin is firm that this is solvable – not managed, not coped with. Solvable. Because the inadequacy you’ve been protecting everyone from isn’t real. It’s a conclusion you drew as a child and have been gathering evidence for ever since. There is no monster under the bed. Only the idea of one. Where to Start Start by being precise. When you catch yourself saying I lost my confidence, ask what you actually mean. Confidence at what? In front of whom? What exactly are you afraid would be revealed? Abstract language hides the levers. Precise language shows you where they are. Closing Links If this episode is useful to you, Bill’s book The Unexpected Way That A Stroke Became The Best Thing That Happened covers ten tools for recovery and personal transformation – you can find it at https://recoveryafterstroke.com/book. If you would like one-on-one support with your own recovery, you can apply at https://recoveryafterstroke.com/momentum. If this show has helped you, you can support it at https://patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. Footer Disclaimer This blog is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. Please consult your doctor before making any changes to your health or recovery plan. Losing Confidence After Stroke – Jaemin Frazer (Interview) You don’t need your old life back. You need to trust yourself again – and Jaemin Frazer explains exactly why that feels impossible after stroke. Highlights: 00:00 Introduction – Losing Confidence After Stroke 08:54 Embracing Uncertainty and Personal Resourcefulness 20:43 The Role of Self-Doubt and Insecurity 38:26 Transformational Journeys: Overcoming Obstacles 46:14 The Hero’s Journey and Storytelling 52:07 Understanding Bullies and Personal Growth 59:21 The Role of Parents in Identity Formation 01:11:17 The Cost of Insecurity in Recovery 01:20:55 Finding Purpose Beyond Insecurity Transcript: Introduction – Losing Confidence After Stroke Jaemin (00:00) A stroke puts you into survival mode, and now you’ve got no resources to survive because all your best resources are directed elsewhere So then it costs you everything. It costs you your future. It costs you your ability to heal, to make sense of this, to come out the other side and reinvent or do whatever you need to be present for yourself. It’s a slow descent into madness really, if all your best resources are proving and defending, covering and compensating, then you stop being human, you stop being alive, you stop being present, you become hypervigilant around what others are thinking, and your world keeps getting smaller. Bill Gasiamis (00:35) Welcome back to Recovery After Stroke. I’m Bill Gasciamas. Before anything else, thank you to everyone supporting the show on Patreon, becoming a YouTube member, and to everyone supporting it in all other ways. Sharing episodes, leaving reviews, sending them to someone who needs them, buying the book. This show has reached over a million and a half downloads because of people doing exactly that. And I don’t take it for granted. If you’ve ever caught yourself saying, I just want to be who I was, this episode is going to sit with you for a while. My guest today is Jaemin Fraser. Jaemin is a coach, the founder of the Insecurity Project, a TEDx speaker, and as of this year, a novelist. He spent nearly two decades, around 16,000 coaching hours, on one problem. What happens to a person when they stop trusting themselves and what it costs them? Jaemin has not had a stroke. I want to be upfront about that because it’s the reason this conversation goes where it does. He came to it without any assumptions about what recovery is meant to look like. And what he brought instead is a very precise account of what happens to anyone whose ordered world falls apart overnight. We get into why wanting your odd life back is really a request for certainty. The difference between self-doubt, which is useful, and insecurity, which isn’t, why insecurity draws down the exact energy your brain needs to heal. What’s really going on when friends push back on your habits and why being lost and confused isn’t the tragedy, it’s the setup. Three quick things before we start, my book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened, covers ten tools for recovery and personal transformation. It’s available at recoveryafterstroke.com/book. If you’d like one-on-one support with your own recovery, I walk I work with a small number of stroke survivors at a time. Structure, accountability, and genuine guidance from someone who’s been through it, you can apply at recoveryafterstroke.com/momentum. And if this show has helped you and you want to help me get to a thousand episodes, you can support it either as a YouTube member or by going to patreon.com/recoveryafterstroke. I want to make sure that No strike survivor. has to ever go through what I went through when I first started my recovery, and that was not having any information about how to proceed after I got sent home from hospital. Now it’s time for the interview. Bill Gasiamis (03:14) Jaemin Fraser, welcome to the podcast. Jaemin (03:15) Thanks for having me, Bill. Bill Gasiamis (03:17) Absolute pleasure, mate. I wanted to ask, actually I want to start with the person listening. They’re anywhere from six weeks to twenty years post stroke, right? and what they say is they want to be back to their old life. In your experience, when someone says, I just want to be who I was, what are they actually asking for? Jaemin (03:39) Hmm, well, I think they’re looking for certainty. They’re looking for comfort. They’re looking for safety. Yeah, they’re looking through rose colored glasses in many ways because no one’s life was perfect before anything. So the fantasy of if I could go back to where I was, it deletes a whole bunch of stuff around the reality of where you were in the first place. But I think that the desire is it’s certainty, safety, peace, comfort. That’s what a person is driven to find some way or other. Bill Gasiamis (04:16) W what do you think it is about certainty? A and what does that even mean? Like I There was, you know, before my experience with stroke, there wasn’t anything that was certain. Is it an illusion? Is certainty an illusion? Because I definitely don’t feel certain about anything going forward either. but kind of not in a bad way. Like I don’t have a bad relationship with the lack of certainty. It’s just. It i it’s just not real. Like I feel like it might be an illusion. Jaemin (04:53) Well, I love Anthony Robbins take on this. I think his six core needs model is his finest contribution to the personal development space and his earliest versions of this, because I think if you were to do a search, Tony Robbins six core needs, what you’re going to get today is an idea that there’s a hierarchy of needs. So you could do a test to work out which needs are most important for you based on your personality type. That’s not how we first introduced them. And I am convinced it’s not actually how it works. So just a quick summary. He says, doesn’t matter what age, what sex, what culture, what stage of life, because you’re human, just as important as food, shelter, clothing is the need for certainty. Firstly, we are creatures who do not survive in chaos. We need some sense of control, order. We thrive in the familiar. We need a sense of what’s happening next. So we organize ourselves and we find certainty. We cannot survive without it. Interestingly though, we also need uncertainty. these six needs operate in paradox. Piers, are you familiar with the six core needs? Bill Gasiamis (06:07) I’m not actually. Jaemin (06:08) and variety is the first two and they operate in paradox pairs. So certainty pulls you one way, but we also need variety. If you have 100 % certainty, you’re completely bored and Bill Gasiamis (06:18) Uh-huh. Jaemin (06:19) you would ruin things. You’d mess it up so that there would be something to do. So we need uncertainty, surprise, spontaneity, adventure. But if you have 100 Bill Gasiamis (06:30) You’d mess it up i is is is messing it up because you need uncertainty, is that that sounds like like self sabotage. Jaemin (06:41) Well, it is if it’s unresourceful. is if you haven’t, I mean, the aim of the game is to find high quality internal resource, ways to meet these needs. If you don’t find that, then unconsciously, you’ll still find a way to meet these needs and it will be through sabotage, dysfunction, know. So certainty and variety are the first two. The second two are significance and love. So all humans need a sense of significance, need to know, I matter? Am I more than just a name and number? Do I have value? Is there any point to me? Now that’s a journey away from the tribe because we’re also relational beings. So we don’t survive in isolation. We need love, belonging, connection, warmth, touch. So if you have 100 % love and connection, you lose your separateness. And if you have 100 % significance, then you’re completely lonely and isolated. But we do need both. Embracing Uncertainty and Personal Resourcefulness So certainty, variety, significance, love, and then the final two are contribution and growth. So humans do feel the need to make a difference, add value, give back, leave a legacy, solve problems. So contribution is about adding value to others. And then growth is adding value to yourselves, to ourselves. Every living thing grows, you either grow or die. So this is the need that drives us to do more, to have more, to see more, to expand our experience. one way shape or another. it’s a strange thing to need certainty back to certainty. It’s a strange thing to need certainty for survival in an uncertain world because you then can’t help but cling to things that aren’t really certain and try and control them. Cling to a job you don’t like, cling to a memory that feels familiar, cling to a relationship that’s dysfunctional. cling to stuff that you know, because it makes you feel certain and makes you feel safe. There’s a predictability around it. What you’re describing is not that you’ve done away with the need for certainty. It’s that you have a certainty in your ability to handle the real world. So you don’t need to cling to things being a certain way. You don’t need to force things to be back the way they were. You’re like, that’s ridiculous. Here I am now and I’m certain. that I am a resourceful person, a creative person, a good person, a clever person, I’ll work it out. The real world will happen to me. I’ll wake up, I’ll open my eyes and I’ll handle it. That’s what I’m certain about. So the most resourceful form of certainty is to embrace uncertainty and back yourself. Bill Gasiamis (09:26) To be certain about uncertainty. Jaemin (09:28) There be certain uncertainty. That is the only certainty. It’s, you there’s you think, what is certain? well, the sun’s going to come up tomorrow. For some people, it’s not. Some people, this will be the last sunrise they ever see. No one’s expecting that, but it happens. So we’re not entitled to any more time, any more opportunity. That’s not certain. It’s not guaranteed. So yeah, the only certainty is it’s all uncertain. So then you must find certainty within, and that will require you to examine your own. your your capability, your own resourcefulness and to grow up and mature in your own sense of who you really are. Bill Gasiamis (10:06) Yeah. I have this saying that I picked up from somewhere. Some dude in the Middle East, like I think in the 40s or 50s, said this thing. I forget his name. I I always wanted to remember his name so I can give him credit, but it goes like exp expect the best, prepare for the worst. And it kind of feels like that’s how I handled my uncertainty when, you know, the doctor turns up day one. Of a bleed in the brain diagnosis and says, gives you the most vague version of the diagnosis and said to me, there’s a shadow on your brain. It could be a cancer, it could be a sea it could be a tumor that’s benign, it could be a bleed in the brain. Like, any questions? And I was like, Well. Jaemin (10:57) There’s a few. Bill Gasiamis (11:01) I don’t know, at eleven PM on a Friday night. Maybe not. Let’s talk in the morning. but it’s like And then after that came a lot of uncertainty. We didn’t know what a family life was gonna be like. We didn’t like know what my work life was gonna be like. We didn’t know whether I’d be around. We didn’t know any of the things that I kind of knew the day before, which I took for granted that I knew, which was only that w without knowing that there’s something wrong in my head and that potentially I’m unwell, I knew that. Tomorrow was going to be pretty much the same as yesterday. And there’s going to be some movement in a couple of similar directions, maybe a few odd ones and different ones. And I suppose that expect the best prepare for the worst was me embracing uncertainty, the certainty of uncertainty. Does that saying kind of capture that spirit? Jaemin (12:03) It certainly does. However, the challenge is no surprise. I’m going to talk about insecurity being a challenge because then it comes back to them. But then what do you believe about yourself? You know, do you feel like you’re actually up for the challenge? Do you have the resourcefulness? What is the story you tell around your own capacity, your capability, your intelligence, your value? Because to fear inadequacy then undermines your confidence in your own ability to handle the real world. And therefore you must then cling to external certainty and long for things to go back the way they were so that you can be safe. Because you don’t trust yourself to be up for the challenge. Bill Gasiamis (12:50) Yeah. It’s a real interesting conundrum because before I was unwell I didn’t contemplate life, me and how I interact with life or the possibility of nail life. I didn’t I didn’t contemplate that whole relationship and then you’re thrust in it and it seems like people that I’ve interviewed at least the four hundred odd stroke survivors that I’ve interviewed have not got the resources backfilled in preparation for when that day comes, and then you feel inadequate, insecure, perhaps, whatever the word is, that you can even handle this. I’ve never met anyone who said, I know, I was 100% certain that I was going to handle this diagnosis from my doctors. Can you prepare for the worst? Like that whole going back to that statement again, that saying, is there a way that we can even prepare for the worst when we don’t even know what the worst is? Is it even is it sounds like it might be might be a futile pursuit? Jaemin (14:07) Whoa. I I think you and I here today are doing that exact thing, you know, with internal resourcefulness. We don’t know what tomorrow is bringing. So in some ways we are certain in our capacity to, you know, hope for the best, prepare for the worst. So that’s not futile. I don’t consider that futile at all. And I think that is the only job is to resource yourself for the real world, is to grow up, is to become mature. The way that I think about that is self-sufficiency. You when you’re young, you’re growing through stages of development and really learning self-sufficiency. Can you feed yourself? Can you dress yourself? Can you learn yourself? Can you drive a car? Can you earn money? And they’re all the things, physical, financial, self-sufficiency, but people are… seem, you know, it’s see when it comes to emotional, intellectual, psychological self sufficiencies, like what is that? How does that even work? And so they come into their adult world, being able to earn money, being able to drive a car, out, address themselves, you know, wipe their own ass. Great. But when it comes to validating their own existence, when it comes to sourcing their own certainty, when it comes to deeply loving and accepting themselves, when it comes to being the one that approves of themselves, that sees themselves. you know, adults are typically ill prepared for that, you know, stroke Bill Gasiamis (15:38) Mm-hmm. Jaemin (15:38) or no stroke. And so, you know, you know, we’re talking about when a stroke happens, but people have all kinds of catastrophes they’re not prepared for, you know, and things are fine because their ordered world is safe and predictable. And then next day it’s not. And they look inside and they’ve never developed the resources, the internal resources of adulthood that helps them stand solid when the world is falling around apart. about them. you know, primarily that is the work of the insecurity project. It’s these conversations around existential angst, which people don’t prepare for because their world’s ordered. But when your world falls apart, then you really see how unprepared you are to handle difficulty and the worst case scenario if you have not examined your own sense of who you are. Bill Gasiamis (16:29) Mm-hmm. The world being ordered, it can be ordered in a dysfunctional way as well, right? Jaemin (16:39) Well, that’s, yes, that’s exactly what happens because we need certainty. I love thinking about these six core needs as a vacuum. In our atmosphere, a vacuum is always filled. So someone says to me, I don’t need that much certainty. You know, I’m more of a risk taker, I’m adventurous, or they might, someone else might be the opposite. I need so much certainty, I’m very risk averse. you know, someone looks at one of my clients recently looked at me and says, you’re a free spirit. You’re adventurous. It’s different. It’s different from me. You know, I’m very analytical. I’m risk averse. I’m safety conscious. But if you zoom out and have a look at both of us, I need just as much certainty as that person. Exactly. I can’t survive without certainty. I can’t survive without order. It’s just that I’ve found a high quality, internal adult way to order my world so that I have internal safety. which then frees me to go into the world and experience uncertainty and play. Whereas this other person has not found an internal way to create order. So they’re clinging to all the dysfunctional external forms of order. Hate their Bill Gasiamis (17:47) Wow. Jaemin (17:47) job, relationships falling apart, don’t like their relationship with money, know, problems here, difficulties there, but it’s familiar. So I better cling to it because I know it. There you go, there’s some certainty for you. Bill Gasiamis (18:03) I love what you said, like that internal sense of certainty Jaemin (18:06) Hmm Bill Gasiamis (18:07) seems to be the biggest l skill lacking in many, many people. If you have internal sense of certainty, then you don’t have to control the outside world. You put the dishwasher plate in the wrong direction. You know, when we loaded the dishwasher, y this might be revealing. you park the car in the wrong bay, or you know, all these little things that people kind of cling to to make their world feel right if they see it like that. If everyone just did the task the way that they needed to do it, then I wouldn’t have a problem, right? But if you have internal certainty and you can be more flexible, I think Tony Robbins talks about being having multiple ways to be to be. being more flexible, then you realize that there are infinite number of ways that things can be loaded into a dishwasher, for example, even though there are certainly some ways that won’t be able to wash the dishes effectively, perhaps, but there are many ways, and the other person’s ways not necessarily the wrong way or the odd way or or the incorrect way, right? Jaemin (19:30) Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (19:31) I think I resonate with that immediately, that internal sense of certainty. And then the external world becomes easier to navigate. Is that is that Jaemin (19:44) Well, does because then play becomes possible and you don’t need things to be anything other than they are, know, good, bad or indifferent. You have an experience that looks terrible. Well, are you sure it’s terrible? Or could there be learning? Could there be a gift? Could there be an opportunity? Might you meet someone? Might your life change in an unexpected way? Like who’s to say a bad experience is actually a bad experience if you’re free to encounter it as it is. The Role of Self-Doubt and Insecurity That’s what becomes possible if you have internal safety and that you do back yourself to handle that. And I think it’s an abstract concept for most people because they’ve never faced their fear of their deep inadequacy. And so it’s always undermined. They would love to take internal certainty, but their conviction, if they’re really honest, and it’s hard to be honest, because this stuff gets pretty well suppressed. Their honest fear is that there is a problem with them. There is an inadequacy. They are not up to the challenge. So if they rely on themselves, they will be found lacking and wanting. So therefore they must look outside themselves. That’s their only option. Bill Gasiamis (20:53) Got it. You’ve worked with high performers for hundreds and maybe thousands of hours, right? if one of them walked into you into a meeting with you and said, I had a stroke and I lost my confidence, what what’s the first thing you ask them? Jaemin (21:15) What do you mean? That would be the first thing that I asked them. I understand a little about a stroke. think I would understand enough about that part of the sentence, but I’m more curious around the second part of the sentence. I love Jordan Peterson’s thinking in so many ways. And he says, listen, be precise in your speech because things that go unnamed become monsters that consume you. So that would be where I would start. What do you mean I lost this happened and that made me do this? Are you sure? That’s how it actually worked. What do you mean? Let’s have a look. Let’s have a look. So that’s my whole world is someone comes to me with a level of abstraction. They use language that’s abstract. And when you use abstract language, you cannot see any of the levers that can be pulled. And so you end up feeling hopeless and overwhelmed. When you be precise, when you have a look, you actually begin to see the mechanics, the structures that are actually influencing your experience. And when you see them precisely, the levers become apparent, like, I could actually adjust that. I could turn this, I could change this. Therefore now I’m back in control of my own experience of my reality. So yeah, that’s where I say, what do you mean? What are you talking about exactly? Bill Gasiamis (22:37) I love that. It’s it reminds me of when I hear the word the one of the most common words I hear in my interview, stroke recovery, stroke conversations. And I I’m specifically talking about stroke because that’s my niche, right? That’s my audience, that’s the podcast. But I know this is a situation kind of that I experience also broadly outside of my stroke podcast world. my children, others that I come across is I hear the word depression and anxiety. And it’s an umbrella word that people place on so many experiences and nobody ever even really knows if if I challenge if I have the permission and and I’m in a room with the right person to challenge them and ask them, well, do you do you know what the definition of depression is? And do you know what the definition of anxiety is? Nobody can really give you that. And they’ve taken a word and they apply it to an experience that may have been completely separate from the intended definition of a word like depression and anxiety. And I I kind of feel like that’s what you’re saying. Like somebody says, I’m I’m depressed, like, okay, like, why? How? How do you know that? Jaemin (24:00) It’s exactly anxiety is a great story because I go, well, hang on. How did you, how are you anxious? And anxiety requires a backstory to survive. So I’m curious, you know, are you anxious tying your shoes? No. how do you do not anxiety? Well, I don’t know. No one cares. I can’t fail. I’ve done it a million times. there you go. That’s interesting. So the, the areas that you are not anxious about, there’s no possibility of being found inadequate. Curious. So the areas you are anxious, you’re only anxious because there’s something about the activity you’re involved in, which you feel threatened, personally threatened that someone might see your flaw. So let’s not worry about the anxiety, it’s downstream. Tell me about this perceived flaw. Tell me about this thing that you think is wrong with you. Are you sure that’s even there? The great humor of my work in the same as what you’re saying, know, insecurity. Talking about fear, my first question to people, what are you afraid of? And no one knows. People are experiencing fear. They can tell you that much. So what you’re running and hiding, but what are you running and hiding from? yeah, it’s just this, you know, I just feel so, like, okay, interesting. So you’re running and hiding. What about if we go and have a look at what it is you’re running and hiding from? You might be surprised. In fact, You will be surprised. promise you it’s not what you think it is. And you’ve just been running and hiding for so long. You’ve just become convinced that there’s a thing here that you ought to keep running and hiding from. I’m not so sure. Bill Gasiamis (25:41) Yeah. That what are you afraid of? That’s a very interesting question. Again, you know, I find myself in the hot seat here. And every time I ventured down something new, it was interesting now ’cause I’m reflecting like how often insecurity came up. You know, the first few episodes of the podcast were, my God, people are going to judge it, they’re gonna say it’s no good, you don’t know how to interview, all that kind of stuff. And the the best thing to do was just put it out there. And if somebody did say that was handle it. And if somebody didn’t say that, well then there was nothing to handle. So just do it anyway. And I remember then also with my book, I’m not an author. I did I’m not a scholar. I’ve never done any of that stuff. But I wrote my first book, The Unexpected Way That a Stroke Became the Best Thing That Happened. It’s a pretty loaded title. And I knew it was gonna ruffle some feathers. But I put it out there and the very first comment that I got from the very first post that I made was a negative one. And what I realized was that pattern was similar in that when I started the podcast, I had the exact same concern that it might happen and it did. People did give me negative feedback. But then it seems to me now now that I’ve learnt a few times, you know, what happens when you put yourself out there for the first time when you tell the world this is what I’ve created, you know, I’m sharing my creation is part of the journey has to be something that’s gonna test your insecurity. It might not be a negative comment or so but it but it might be like bad sales or it might be nobody listens or whatever. So it sounds like insecurity is necessary in some cases to kind of overcome, to tackle it, to overcome it, so that you can be better at tackling it and overcoming it and achieve more things. Do you know what I’m saying? Did I explain that correctly? Jaemin (27:54) Yeah, I think I understand. I don’t think I agree with you though. Bill Gasiamis (27:58) Okay. Jaemin (27:59) So here’s how I’d think about it. I’d separate self-doubt and insecurity into slightly different categories. Bill Gasiamis (28:07) Okay, so you picked up self doubt there. Jaemin (28:10) So, so self doubts are really important quality of wisdom. So for instance, I’ve got a mate who races super bikes, you know, say he got injured this weekend and he says, Jaemin, you know, there’s still four rounds left. Can you sub in for me and race my super bike next week? And I’m like, yeah, yeah, yeah, yeah. Now I’ve never raced a super bike before. I do have a motorbike license, but you know, if I didn’t have severe self doubt, I’d be delusional. I’d be a crazy person and I would be, you know, dangerous to myself and the world. So self doubt doesn’t, doesn’t tell me I’m a bad person. It just highlights the limit of the things I’m good at. So, so the real function of self doubt to me is more what you’re describing. It’s, it’s the limit says, you’re not actually very good at this. Now that doesn’t say anything about your essence, your value and your worth. Would you like to be good at this? And I go. Actually, no, great. Well, then don’t do it. Don’t do it because it’ll go bad. I’m like, Yeah, I’d actually like to be good at it. excellent. Well, you have a massive skill gap. So go take however long to learn the skills and fill the skills so that you can come back with genuine confidence with earn confidence so that you could compete in this arena and do well. That’s that’s a wisdom conversation. Now insecurity is this personal piece. It’s like, I’m gonna put myself out there. people are gonna judge, laugh, critique, and then they’ll see who I really am. They will see my flaws, my flaws, my inadequacies will now be exposed to the world. Now it’s personal. And so to me, the definition of insecurity is really important here because people think insecurity is somehow related to the fear of what others think about them, the fear of being judged, the fear of failing, the fear of being rejected. Bill Gasiamis (30:04) Hmm. Right. Jaemin (30:05) Really imprecise. That’s not that’s not insecure at all. It’s just one or two levels deeper than that. You know, say for instance, the fear of failure, which is a typical one. And no one’s actually afraid of failing. They’re afraid of the personal implications of failure. I if I try my best at something, and then it doesn’t work. Huh? What have I just revealed to the world about me the problem with me? Same as rejection. No one’s actually afraid of being rejected. They’re afraid of, if I put my best foot forward and it’s not enough, and then people don’t accept me, huh, what does that reveal? What does that prove? What does that confirm about my own inadequacy? So then insecure. Bill Gasiamis (30:47) about what I about what I think are my inadequacies. Because it’s not about the other Jaemin (30:50) Exactly, that’s insecurity. Insecurity is… Bill Gasiamis (30:53) person’s thinking, it’s me, what I think, and then they’re confirming my inadequacy that I’ve Jaemin (30:56) confirming it. That’s it. That’s it. Bill Gasiamis (30:58) generated and created, which is not even real. Jaemin (31:01) That’s exactly right. That’s the thing, which is hilarious. But when you see that now the levers become apparent, because if the fear is out there, then you got to control the world constantly and obsess about it. But if the fear is here and you created it, then the levers are very apparent. You could then go examine this perceived inadequacy, trace it back to when you first described it and examine it at its roots. Like you could go on a structural engineering quest back into the the substance of your own sense of you, the language you’ve used to describe yourself and check it, check it for integrity, check it for gaps, check it for misunderstandings. Like that’s the fun of what I get to do. It’s take what appears to be abstract, mysterious, messy, unknowable and treat it like a structural engineer just by examining the structure of language. Bill Gasiamis (31:57) People don’t do that much, do they? Jaemin (31:59) No, no, no. And people are insecure about being insecure. So like when I launched the insecurity project, my business coach said, that’s the worst thing I’ve ever heard. Like you’ve picked the most difficult, scary topic and put it at the front. No one’s going to be putting their hands up saying, Jay, when I’m insecure, can you help me? Like it’s existential angst. It’s the human condition. We want to be good. We’re just afraid that we’re not. So we run and we hide and we cover and compensate. So yeah, it’s a hard topic to face and yet the great joke is there’s no actual reason for it to be hard other than the confirmation bias we’ve given ourselves buying into our own bullshit, confirming our own fiction, exasperating our own misunderstanding. So there is no monster under the bed. It’s just the idea of a monster that terrifies us. Bill Gasiamis (32:55) we influenced in that way by external sources or is that a a human a human thing like that that we are kind of pre-programmed to do just because of that whole safety issue because you know safety comes in in a variety of different things. You know, you have to be safe from people entering your home, you know, back in the day and harming you and your family and taking your belongings. If you’re in a war torn area, you have to be safe from, you know, the invaders and that kind of stuff. But also this discussion that we’re having seems to me, as you keep going into those little beautiful deep places, it seems to me that Again, it’s about us creating like many barriers of safety around us and thinking that that’s the perhaps not even thinking like in just instinctively creating this kind of like multi layered safe structure that we can’t be harmed in. Jaemin (34:06) brilliant way of describing it. And that is the instinct. We are hardwired for safety. You cannot like this idea, more courage, less fear, feel the fear and do it anyway. It’s such a nonsense as though you could turn off your need for safety. Bill Gasiamis (34:20) Mm-hmm. Jaemin (34:21) It’s chemical, it’s biological, it’s psychological, it’s unconscious. And that as the child, the child starts in a very carefree, non-transactional experience of being themselves. I’m just here, not. doing the dishes and not mowing the lawn and not contributing to my ecosystem in any way, shape or form. And yet I’m being rewarded, loved, nurtured, cared for, praised, fed. Hmm, turns out it’s fine to be me. I can be relaxed and at ease being me, me as I am without performing, without achieving, without contributing is enough. Great. And then, then you, you know, you get somewhere past two, you know, somewhere around that the game breaks down. And all of a sudden you’re expected to participate, to perform, to conform, to behave. And no child’s prepared for that. No one’s ready for that. Such a surprise. And so the first time the child gets surprised, embarrassed, disappointed, upset, scolded, it’s such a confusing experience, but all the alarm, those safety warning lights are going off through their whole being. There’s a danger you didn’t know about. You. must pay attention and here’s the thing the danger is in you the danger is you’re not who you need to be to survive in this world so don’t be you ever again like be other than you be better than you be different than you do not ever show up present and unguarded ever again or it will turn to shit so yes it’s safe so then you build this safe world this safe persona these safe structures these familiar places where people think you’re good, think you’re smart, think you’re strong. Also, they never see the thing that you don’t want them to see, which would be the ultimate danger and then you die. Yeah, it’s entirely about a biological, chemical, psychological need for safety that is unavoidable. Bill Gasiamis (36:21) Hmm. It what came up in my mind while you were chatting about that is often stroke survivors need to make some radical changes in their life, the way they go about their nutrition, who they hang out with, the stuff they listen to and read, the whole the whole thing. Like, know, it’s sometimes it’s a line in the sand moment and everything changes, and you’ve got to change everything I did. And One of the challenges that stroke survivors have, well, I’ll talk about me. I had the challenge of, well, I needed to stop smoking and I needed to stop drinking. But all my extended family and friends were smokers and drinkers. And stroke survivors often comment about how they lose friends after a stroke. And we’re I and I’ve kind of tried to unravel that a few times and understand what it is that makes it difficult for people to evolve and and adapt and grow and stop the behaviors that perhaps led to a stroke, you know, so that they don’t have another one. And family and friends often do that. They kind of intervene in a way which says, Well, what do you mean we can’t have a drink when we go out? Like that’s we always go and have a drink. And then that person has has to explain themselves, perhaps, or conform again, just to be part of the group. The question is, are we also dealing with the insecurities of our family and friends when we find a way to overcome our own insecurities, perhaps, about something, and then we start to change and evolve and move forward? Are they are those people feeling like Transformational Journeys: Overcoming Obstacles They’re left behind. Th sometimes the sometimes the sentences that people hear when they try and stop smoking or drinking in a particular situation are you’ve changed. You know, like it’s a bad thing. But it’s not said in a positive way. People experience it on both sides of the coin in a negative way. The person who’s saying to their friend who’s had a stroke, who’s trying to not have another one, is saying, You’ve changed and I don’t like the way you’ve changed. And the person changing is hearing I’m changing and now people are having a bad experience because I’m changing. Like What’s all that about with that other person in our life? Jaemin (38:59) Such a great question. Can I, genuine question, can I take five minutes to answer that question? Bill Gasiamis (39:07) You can, absolutely. Jaemin (39:09) because I think this opens up a possibility for a window into a whole different experience of life if you’re willing to go down this thought experiment. Bill Gasiamis (39:23) I am. Let me switch my header off. It’s getting too hot in here. Jaemin (39:31) So I’ve just finished writing my first novel. It’s a five year project. I thought it was impossible. And then it out it wasn’t. It turns out I learned a lot about myself and the process of writing. And it’s been a thoroughly delightful experience. But great storytelling, great fiction writing typically follows some kind of hero’s journey trajectory. You’ve got a small, weak, lost, strange hero who for whatever reason says yes to a cold wood venture and embarks on a journey of self-discovery and eventually has to go do the thing that only they can do along the way they meet a wisdom character. You know, there’s a Gandalf, there’s a Yoda, there’s a Dumbledore, Mr. Miyagi, but eventually the hero’s got to go face the biggest fear and do the thing that’s impossible. And when they do, they come out the other side transformed and then they return home with that transformation and their whole world benefits. So, so it is the process of transformation. It’s the process of potential. It’s the process of destiny. It’s the process of seeing a person fulfilled in their experience of themselves. So a writer is bringing you in, in along for that journey. Now, if the writer transforms the hero magically or supernaturally, it’s a horrible story. You know, if the writer goes, you know, here’s the weak person. They went to sleep and they woke up the next day transformed. Who knows what happened. It was just, you’re like, really? What’s the point of that story? Like, that’s a horrible story. If the transformation happens in a way that’s supernatural or magic, it’s false. The transformation happens through overcoming of obstacles. The weakling becomes strong by overcoming resistance. And the resistance is almost always through the form of characters. So the writer says, stage, write the bully and to stage, write the villain, the parent, the trickster, the joker, the judge, the king, like, and so the hero doesn’t know the story is being written about them. And so experiences all these characters very personally and wishes the characters would go away. But the audience kind of sees the gift in the character, sees the opportunity. You know, when the audience sees a bully harassing a victim, what the audience is rooting for is that the victim would rise up and punch the bully in the nose. And something transformational happens if that victim ever does, you know, they actually then receive the bully’s gift. All along the bully had this gift of personal power delivered in the form of oppression. And because the victim had to find such deep strength that they didn’t even know existed to rise up and finally say this ends here, they’ll never be the victim again. And so in that way they’re transformed. So you could make a case to go, thanks, bully for being a good bully because you made my life so hard. I didn’t think it was possible to overcome you. Thank you. It’s not personal. So a writer then is not going to write an empathetic bully, you know, a very emotionally intelligent, compassionate, they’re going to write a thug. They’re going to write a dullard. They’re going to write someone who’s big and does not change. And even though the, the hero wants to bully the change. If the bully changes, if the bully goes to a spiritual retreat and comes home and change man and then apologizes and makes it up to the victim, it’s kind of nice, but the audience is going, but the victim didn’t have to become stronger in any way. So they’re still just as strong and the next bully is coming and they’re no better prepared. So all that to say, love, I love treating our own lives like this hero’s journey story. I love gamifying the experience. I love going. You know, this insecurity, a lot of people think if only I had a different experience at childhood, then I wouldn’t be so insecure now. If only there weren’t so many difficult people blocking my path, then it would be easier for me. Like, what, do you mean? Like that’s, that’s not the tragedy. That’s the setup. That’s how the game begins. Like that’s how the tensions created so that you have a gift of being able to overcome. So these people exist for you. And yes, they’re in your way. Great. Yes, they’re making it hard. Perfect. But we only play hard games. Like if you’re, you’re playing footy and it’s, you know, last year’s premieres versus the under 10s girls side and you win, you, that’s a very embarrassing experience. Like you don’t eat. That’s a horrible thing. You, know, this year’s premieres, you know, sorry, last year’s premieres versus the team that’s got undefeated this year and you win that game. You know, that’s, that’s a meaningful experience. and yeah, I love this idea that everyone comes into their twenties and thirties lost and confused. And most people are really upset about that. Wishing that their experience up till then had been different and feeling disqualified from a meaningful life because of what’s happened, because of who said this and who’s done that. But if you just zoom out and say it like a hero’s journey or a beautiful game, then then you realize, no, no, no, being lost and confused, oppressed, you know, that doesn’t disqualify you. That’s what qualifies you to go play. Now you can begin, now you can begin this journey of self-discovery to go all the way back to the beginning and see who you’ve always been all along. So it’s a very different way of thinking about life, but I’m constantly confronted with people who treat the stuff that’s happened to them as wounds. And the best you could ever hope for is that eventually you could bring healing to yourself and it become a visible scar that doesn’t really afflict you. Whereas this says, yeah, what if those things, what if life doesn’t happen to you? It happens for you. And the real gift is your own opportunity to rediscover who you’ve always been by overcoming obstacles and especially in the form of people and especially in the form of insecure people. who of course are going to make your journey difficult. Of course, you know, not everyone’s cheering you on. Eventually the heroes got to go alone. Eventually they’ve got to. If they don’t go alone, then they can’t do the thing that only they can do. The Hero’s Journey and Storytelling Bill Gasiamis (46:01) Yeah. Man, that was well well worth the f the the time that you allocated to answer it because it’s such an important part of recovery after anything. and In fact, I learnt about the Heroes Journey after my brain surgery. So we’re talking about I don’t know. I think I got out of hospital for after brain surgery in late 2014. And I think it was around 2017 I did a particular course that I was in. It was a behavioral modeling course and it was about modeling a behavior that we thought was one worth other people learning and repeating. And the The person who was running the course, awesome friend of mine and mentor and teacher, a gentleman called Marvin Oka, he spoke about the hero’s journey as part of this course to teach us about like how to tell a story. And I hadn’t grasped the concept very well. but because of that course, my first book was able to become a reality. It took four years for me to. make that happen. And I released it in twenty twenty twenty three, somewhere there. And since then I’ve done a bit of a deep dive into the hero’s journey and understanding how to take people through a story. And my next book is structured that way. There’s a moment where life is quote unquote normal and then there’s an event and then there’s everything, you know, there’s been a spanner thrown in the works and everything is not like it used to be. And now there is this post-traumatic growth experience that you can go on. And if you know you’re going on it, it’s easier to go on it. But some people are not aware that they might be going on this journey. They’re just programmed from a previous way of doing life that these things are all terrible and bad and they’re not good. And there’s no growth and there’s no learning and there’s no opportunity. But there but there is, but we just framed it. in our past way of thinking and that’s not applicable now, even though we’re still trying to apply it, apply it, apply it. And what you said about the the bully, I remember at school, if if I was a victim, bullies used to seek me out like like a mosquito knows who to go and sting, right? Jaemin (48:40) Yeah Bill Gasiamis (48:42) But then the first bully I punched in the nose was was it. That was the key to unlocking the whole how other people perceived me in those types of situations. And then none of the bullies turned up to have a go because they weren’t gonna get or or perhaps they saw that my response was going to affect their insecurities about themselves. Right. and realistically when I was going through stroke, stopping smoking, stopping drinking, stopping attending the particular venues where smoking and drinking happened so that I can avoid smoking and drinking. It meant that certain people couldn’t associate with me anymore. And It’s not that they were bullies, but when I learnt how to manage that situation once, the others that now I that I now interact with don’t require us to interact in a way that includes smoking and drinking in a particular venue. We can have just as meaningful interactions without the smoking and drinking, without being in that venue, just being in a different location. Doing a different thing. And and there’s no n and and no one feels bad about that interaction. I don’t feel about bad about it because I’m not partaking in something that the other person wants me to partake in. And the other person’s not feeling bad because they’re partaking in something that I’m not partaking in. And we’re there for the same reason. We’re there for the catch up. We’re not there for the smoking and the drinking. Jaemin (50:26) Yeah, and that’s often the way when you break through an archetypal character, a bully is a great example. It’s not uncommon that there becomes a level of respect, a mutual respect post that violence or post the standing up for yourself. And it’s not unheard of that bullies and victims become friends and respect each other. And so there Bill Gasiamis (50:50) Mm. Jaemin (50:50) must become a line in the sandwich like, whatever it costs me, If I, you know, the smoking drinking example, if you never talked to me ever again, if you cannot, then that will be okay. But I cannot go here ever again. And I won’t and you cannot make me and I won’t be made. And so there it is. Great. That your audience is watching that cheering. Yes, transformed. Never be victim again. And then on the other side of that, it’s often surprising what happens in those relationships. And it’s not uncommon for mutual respect, even though It’s not guaranteed and you have to be willing to let go of it completely. Because yeah, the hero’s got to go alone. Bill Gasiamis (51:33) we we’re talking about it like, you know, you know, we’re kinda having a a t a philosophical conversation, an intellectual conversation. We’re doing all of this stuff. And I remember being literally on the football pitch fighting with a kid, and then once we’d thrown the punches and everyone had done what they had to do in that moment, it was are we are we done? All good? And and it was. We were done. And we were all good. And it was instinctive. Like I wasn’t even ten years old or eleven years old or something. And yeah, then we got along forever. Understanding Bullies and Personal Growth Jaemin (52:08) A quicker side, but on the very same thread, if you keep thinking about characters like archetypes, do you know the hardest, but the most exciting, the most wonderful and the most, the biggest opportunity that the person in your life or the people in your life to treat as characters, not the bullies, any idea what makes the top of my list in terms of the characters with the biggest opportunity for growth. Bill Gasiamis (52:39) Just I’m kinda drawn to say family, my family, but Jaemin (52:42) family and parents make the top of the list. And I think Bill Gasiamis (52:46) Yeah, right. Jaemin (52:47) Sigmund Freud’s greatest contribution was that the nest is the hardest challenge for the human to break free from the nest is number one. And all this function ultimately comes from the nest, the familial relationships, exerting unconscious pressures from the parent of the child and the child with the parent outliving their usefulness. And so But in the same way, like no victim when they’re being bullied wants to see it like an archer, like wants to say it like a gift. They want to be rescued or they want the bully to change. It’s impossible to face a bully. Same with the parents. It’s like, don’t understand. This is my dad. You don’t understand. Like it’s just, you know, blood is thicker than water. You got to be there for family. Like it’s just how it’s Bill Gasiamis (53:30) Mm. Jaemin (53:30) always been. The way my parents make me feel like no one wants that tension. and would hope that the tension just goes away. But if you see it like a great story, it provides the greatest opportunity for your own sovereignty. You know, the bully’s gift is personal power. The parent’s gift is sovereignty. Because when you were born into their world, it’s like you’re born into a kingdom, king and queen on the throne, and it’s their arbitrary rules. In this world, this is how we do it. You don’t like it, bugger off down the street. But here, you know, do this, don’t do that. Why, dad? Don’t ask why, just do what I say. So the parental relationship, parents are right even when they’re wrong. And that’s a really important distinction for the nature of those relationships. And so you are a subject inside a kingdom, their rules, their map of the world, their right, even when they’re wrong. And it’s incredibly hard to break free from that to create your own map of the world and Bill Gasiamis (54:29) Mm. Jaemin (54:29) for you to be the king. But if you see it like a setup and a game, well then, Freud says, you must live as though your father is dead. You must depose the king. So Bill Gasiamis (54:42) Mm. Jaemin (54:42) if the king gets off the throne, if the king bows down to you, if the king goes, you your map of the world now is better than my map of the world, your way of thinking is better than my way of thinking, then there’s no challenge, there’s no resistance to overcome. So my favorite way of describing the role of the parents then is actually, It’s not to love and support and empower. They might do all that, but their central function in the hero’s journey is to confuse you about who you really are. Bill Gasiamis (55:12) Wow. Jaemin (55:13) so that the game can begin. Like everyone comes into their 20s lost and confused and the primary confuses our parents because they impose their map of the world. They have their own sense of who you are and what you ought to do. And it doesn’t suit a single person to be born into the family they’re born into. And yet here you are having to adapt and fit in to a pre-existing ecosystem with rules, values, culture, and then you’re given that name. So it’s like, You are this, this is who you are. It’s like, no, it’s just a bit of Bill Gasiamis (55:46) Wow. Jaemin (55:47) language like Jaemin Fra- I’m not Jaemin Fraser. What do you mean? Like, I was born into a family and those words were put on me. That’s not who I am. And so the confusion of growing up thinking that’s exactly who I am, this is the limit of my experience of life. And I cling to this as my whole certainty. is so wonderful because it’s the ultimate resistance to break out of, to examine the structure of that, to examine the confusion and really go back and reparent yourself and really be the one who actually knows who you’ve always been and to nurture that into the real world and then to become sovereign. And you know you’re sovereign when you become the one who’s right, even when they’re wrong. So you’ve got friends and family saying, what do you mean? It’s not. You need to be able to have a smoke. got to be able to drink. That’s what everyone does. Not in my kingdom, we don’t. In my kingdom, Bill Gasiamis (56:39) Mm. Jaemin (56:39) we don’t smoke and we don’t drink. You’re an idiot. That’s stupid. Well, I’m the king and this is my sovereignty. And if you want to come play in my world, this is how it works. And so, so many people are faced with those challenges. Then they keep pulling back from the edge because of their relational cost, hoping, wishing the world would go easier on them. But if you see it like a story in a game, it’s like, it’s a setup. It’s all a setup. So you could be the one who unconfuses yourself by having to overcome the relational resistance in your world and discover who you’ve always been. Bill Gasiamis (57:15) And we know it innately because we’ve all had that dad, mom, whomever, like I did what I had to do when I was in your house. Now this is my house. Now they this is how it applies. If you don’t Jaemin (57:26) Yeah. Yeah. Bill Gasiamis (57:27) like it, you don’t like it. Like I’ve actually thrown my dad out of my house in my twenties, when we moved out because my wife and I got married and we had kids and whatever, and they’d come over and visit to see the grandkid. You know, my dad would do the whole over helicopter grandparenting, you know. You know, the kids cold or the kids this and the kids that, you know, we lived this with this kid twenty four hours a day, seven days a week for five, six years, you know, like we knew its needs, you know, my my son’s needs. And my dad just wouldn’t have it that we what we were saying wasn’t that we were saying was correct or was okay or was fine or whatever, you know, we were it was everythi

New Music Monday host, Kim Gray, sits down with Naarm/Melbourne-based grunge band, Select All, to chat about their new single and upcoming music. Support the show: https://buymeacoffee.com/tunefmSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

(Karuna Buddhist Vihara) This guided meditation, dhamma talk, comments, questions and responses was offered on August 22, 2026 for “How do I apply the Dhamma to THIS!?!” 00:00 - 10:30 GUIDED MEDITATION 10:30 - 37:12 DHAMMA TALK 37:12 - 1:28:23 COMMENTS, QUESTIONS & RESPONSES

(Karuna Buddhist Vihara) This guided meditation, dhamma talk, comments, questions and responses was offered on August 22, 2026 for “How do I apply the Dhamma to THIS!?!” 00:00 - 10:30 GUIDED MEDITATION 10:30 - 37:12 DHAMMA TALK 37:12 - 1:28:23 COMMENTS, QUESTIONS & RESPONSES

  Have you ever had trouble getting cling film to stick to the bowl and not your hands? Or what about fly paper? There's a lesson in both if we're willing to find them. Click below for resources on Release from Unity.  

Rick McKee

When life feels overwhelming and ongoing storms leave you feeling like all hope is lost, finding the strength to keep going can feel impossible. Discover how to handle long seasons of struggle, trust God when things go from bad to worse, and hold onto what floats when everything around you breaks apart. Learn how God carries you through the wreck and safely to shore.Chapters:00:00 Storms We Face00:32 Cancun Rain Story03:38 Sunlight And Vitamin D05:39 When Storms Drag On07:46 Jesus In The Storm09:16 Acts 27 Backstory12:34 Fourteen Day Shipwreck16:23 Reef Hit and Breakup17:10 Surviving on Debris17:40 Malta Shipwreck Site18:37 Storms Last Longer20:33 Stay Close and Repent21:23 Worse Before Better22:56 Cling to What Floats24:30 Purpose Won't Drown27:59 Hope Through the WreckINTRODUCE YOURSELF

2 August 2026 | This week Pastor Evan returns to continue our Genesis sermon series preaching from Genesis 19:1-3 on the sin patterns and behaviors we cling to.

Romans 12:9-21New King James VersionBehave Like a Christian9 Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good. 10 Be kindly affectionate to one another with brotherly love, in honor giving preference to one another; 11 not lagging in diligence, fervent in spirit, serving the Lord; 12 rejoicing in hope, patient in tribulation, continuing steadfastly in prayer; 13 distributing to the needs of the saints, given to hospitality.14 Bless those who persecute you; bless and do not curse. 15 Rejoice with those who rejoice, and weep with those who weep. 16 Be of the same mind toward one another. Do not set your mind on high things, but associate with the humble. Do not be wise in your own opinion.17 Repay no one evil for evil. Have regard for good things in the sight of all men. 18 If it is possible, as much as depends on you, live peaceably with all men. 19 Beloved, do not avenge yourselves, but rather give place to wrath; for it is written, “Vengeance is Mine, I will repay,” says the Lord. 20 Therefore“If your enemy is hungry, feed him;If he is thirsty, give him a drink;For in so doing you will heap coals of fire on his head.”21 Do not be overcome by evil, but overcome evil with good.

Galatians 1:6-9

Psalm 63 invites Christians today to cling to God. Because of the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ, we are not only given the eternal hope of heaven in the future, but we are also given the opportunity to have a personal relationship with God now. Just like king David clung to God and was upheld by God's powerful hand, we can also pursue after God's presence and trust He is able to sustain us in His mighty hands.

Life is full of mountains and valleys. One day we’re standing on the mountaintop, taking in the view and thanking God for how good life feels. The next, we’re walking through a valley we never saw coming, wondering how we got here and how we’ll ever make it through. That’s life. No one gets a permanent address on the mountaintop, and no one stays in the valley forever. We all experience seasons of joy and seasons of sorrow, seasons of abundance and seasons of struggle. There are moments when we feel strong, confident, and full of faith, and there are moments when we’re tired, discouraged, and simply trying to take the next step. The mountains and the valleys are both part of the journey. Does this mean we hate the valleys and only live for the mountaintops? If so, we’re wasting much of our lives. It’s like the person who chooses misery all week long and only lives for the weekend. Or the person who is continually chasing greener grass, only to get there and find it’s always greener somewhere else. They’re waiting for life to begin when life has been happening all along. Sometimes I wonder if we’re guilty of doing the same thing spiritually. We endure the valleys and merely survive them while we wait for God to get us back to the mountain. We decide the mountaintop is where God is blessing us and the valley is where he’s forgotten us. We assume one is good and one is bad. But what if we’re wrong? What if God never intended for us to love one and despise the other? What if he designed both? God is in control of all things, so why does he allow these low valleys in life? Why doesn’t he take us to the mountaintop experiences and let us stay there? Why not total bliss all the time? Why can’t everything just be good and stay good? My husband and I have often joked over the years of raising three kids that when the rare moment comes along when all three are doing great at the same time—with no problems—we hold our breath. Experience has taught us it doesn’t last long. It’s our mountaintop. It’s bliss. It’s rare. We know we’re here, but we also know we probably don’t get to stay here. Before long, back down into the valley we’ll go with at least one of them. Have you ever noticed that’s the way life seems to work? We just can’t keep things at their very best for very long. The job is good, then the job is hard. The marriage is happy, then the marriage is struggling. Our bodies are healthy, then suddenly they aren’t. The bank account is full, then an unexpected expense arrives. We finally catch our breath, and then life takes it away again. The mountains are beautiful, but they’re temporary. The valleys are difficult, but they’re temporary too. And that’s not a flaw in God’s design. It’s part of it. If mountaintops became permanent, we would begin to worship the view instead of the God who brought us there. If valleys never came, we would never learn surrender and trust. The mountain gives us perspective, but the valley gives us depth. God has never promised us a life of uninterrupted mountaintops. What he has promised is something far better—His uninterrupted presence. He’s God on the mountain, and he’s God in the valley. He isn’t waiting for you at the top. He’s walking with you wherever you are. And perhaps that’s the invitation—not to spend our lives trying to escape the valleys or cling to the mountains, but to learn to look for God in both. 1 Kings 20:28, “The LORD says, ‘Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.” If you just pluck this one scripture out, it won’t make sense. So, let’s study the context and see what God is telling us. Israel are God’s people who seek him and trust him. They have enemies constantly trying to defeat them. One of those enemies is the kingdom of Aram who’s King is Ben-Hadad. The Arameans greatly outnumbered the Israelites, yet the Israelites had just defeated them in battle. As the Aramenas were trying to understand their battle and how they could have lost to an army so beneath them, they came to the conclusion it was because of the Israelites’ God. Verse 23, they said “Their gods are gods of the mountains. That is why they were too strong for us. But if we fight them in the valleys, surely we will be stronger than them.” With that in mind, the Arameans planned their next attack on God’s people in a valley. A valley, a low spot, where the Israelites’ mountaintop God would have no reign and no power. They didn’t doubt God’s existence, they doubted his authority over both the mountain and the valley. BUT THEY WERE WRONG! Our LORD isn’t just a mountaintop God. He’s not limited by good experiences and positive outcomes. He’s not just in the highs – he’s in the lows. His jurisdiction is not limited by location or circumstance. And this is why the LORD said in verse 28, “Because the Arameans think the LORD is a god of the hills and not a god of the valleys, I will deliver this vast army into your hands, and you will know that I am the LORD.” Essentially God is saying, “You’ve seen me work on the mountain, NOW WATCH ME WORK IN THE LOW VALLEYS TOO!” This is a lesson not only for the enemy, but for God’s people. “Stop thinking I will only give you victory up here, I can work in the lows too!” This was more than God winning a battle, this was God revealing himself. What? You think God has boundaries? You think there’s somewhere he doesn’t rule? Somewhere out of his reach? Somewhere his power isn’t effective? Something too hard or too big and beyond his dominion? You think there’s a place God can’t give victory. GIRL, JUST WATCH HIM. Today, we often live exactly as the Aramean’s who thought God was only the God of the mountain. We believe: God is with me when my marriage is good! God is with me when my body is healthy! God is with me when the money is there! God is with me when all the kids are doing well! God is with me when my prayers are answered! Yes, he’s with me … I can see him … look at all this goodness in my life! I’m on the mountaintop! But life doesn’t stay there, and soon we’re in a low valley and we begin asking: Where is God? Why isn’t he helping me? Has he left me? Did I do something wrong? Is he punishing me with this deep dark valley of hardship and struggle? And really what we’re wondering is if God stayed on the mountain and he’s not with us in the valley. But I want to give you one memorable fact that will stay with you forever. NOTHING GROWS ON THE MOUNTAINTOP. Have you ever climbed a really tall mountain – I’m talking a legit mountain. Have you noticed the higher you go, the thinner the air gets. And as you continue the climb, it just becomes rocky. No trees. No fruit. No grass. No flowers. The view is remarkable and it feels great to stand on top of the mountain, but NOTHING GROWS UP THERE. That, my friends, is life. You don’t grow in your moutaintop moments. When everything is so perfectly good, you’re not growing. And that’s why God doesn’t leave you up there. He lovingly brings you back down to the valley because in the valley is where YOU GROW! Trees grow in the valley. Fruit is produced in the valley. Flowers are in abundance in the valley. It’s the low places where we grow. I find it interesting that God could have simply prevented the second battle altogether. Instead, He allowed Israel to go right back into another fight. Why? Because there was something about Himself He wanted revealed that could only be revealed in the valley. God isn’t better on the mountain. He’s simply different there. The mountain may reveal His majesty, but the valley reveals His faithfulness. What God is showing us is regardless of the place we are in life, regardless of the highs and lows, he is the LORD over every place. Just as the mountain doesn’t make him God, neither do the valleys of life diminish him. He is just as present, just as powerful, and just as soverign in the lowest and hardest of valleys in your life as he is on the highest and most victorious mountain. I have a beautiful friend currently battling a relentless and ugly cancer. This cancer has dragged her through one heck of a dark valley. But here in this valley, she has discovered God’s presence unlike ever before. She has learned He is her only hope. She has learned peace that doesn’t make sense. She has learned full surrender and unwavering faith. That’s what valleys do to us, and I have to believe that’s one of the reasons God allows them. He reveals Himself in such personal and powerful ways. Perhaps her mountaintop moments will come and she will stand whole, healthy, and healed with a long, beautiful life ahead of her. Oh, how I pray she experiences that. But here’s what I know—she won’t grow up there. She’s growing down here. And maybe that’s why God doesn’t allow us to permanently live on the mountaintops. We would enjoy him there, but we wouldn’t NEED him there. We would celebrate him there, but we wouldn’t CLING to him there. It is in the valley where we discover he really is enough. It’s in the valley where we learn he wasn’t kidding when he said he would never leave us or forsake us. It’s in the valley where we find his strength made perfect in our weakness. It’s in the valley where we discover his peace isn’t dependent on our circumstances and his goodness isn’t diminished by our suffering. Mountaintops are where we often celebrate God. Valleys are where we come to know him. So perhaps we’ve had it wrong all along. Perhaps the goal isn’t to spend our lives desperately trying to escape the valleys and cling to the mountains. Perhaps the goal is to stop asking, “How do I get out of here?” long enough to ask, “Lord, what are You revealing here?” Because He’s still the LORD here. The valley has never been outside of his jurisdiction. It has never been beyond his reach. It has never been beneath his attention. And just as He told the Arameans thousands of years ago, I believe he is still saying to his people today, “You think you’ve seen me work before? Just watch me work here too.” So, if you find yourself standing on a mountaintop today, breathe it in. Thank him for the view. Celebrate the joy. Receive it as a gift. And if you find yourself in a valley today, don’t despise it. Don’t assume you’ve been abandoned there. Don’t waste this season merely trying to survive it. Look for him there. Because he isn’t just waiting for you on the next mountaintop. He’s already standing beside you in the valley. He is the LORD of both. Don’t spend your life trying to escape the valleys or trying to cling to the mountains, but learn to look for God in both. Follow Pamela on Instagram – https://instagram.com/headmamapamela Or Facebook – https://www.facebook.com/pamela.crim Find out more about BIG Life – http://biglifehq.com

Preacher: Seth Jacobs

   Cling to that which is good!Listen to what the Bible says, from Romans(click for podcast)chaw' muSHa' taH Hutlh hypocrisy. Abhor vetlh nuq ghaH mIghtaHghach. Cling Daq vetlh nuq ghaH QaQ.Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor that which is evil. Cling to that which is good.Online BibleListen to the Word, it helps us navigate the stars and beyond.

I. Remember God's past provision II. Devote present faithfulness to God III. Dwell upon God's future promises

Turning | Ruth 1   Overview   Life rarely unfolds the way we imagined it would. Childhood dreams often collide with unexpected loss, disappointment, broken relationships, illness, and grief. In this message, Liz walks through Ruth chapter 1, showing that every person eventually arrives at a crossroads where they must decide what direction they will take. Will they turn away from God? Return to Him while remaining bitter? Or fully turn toward Him in faith? The opening chapter of Ruth is filled with tragedy, but it also introduces the first rays of hope. Liz reminds us that God is often working long before we can see it. Even in our deepest pain, He is preparing redemption. While suffering is real, it is never the end of the story for those who trust Him. Christ is the ultimate fulfillment of the hope first hinted at in Ruth's journey. Introduction: When Life Doesn't Turn Out the Way We Planned Liz begins by reflecting on the excitement of leaving home after high school and the dreams she carried into adulthood. Like many people, some dreams came true while many unfolded very differently than she expected. She invites everyone to think about their own lives: What dreams did you have? Which ones became reality? Which ones never happened? Are there moments you wish you had made different decisions? Those questions prepare us to enter Ruth chapter 1. Naomi had what most people would consider the ideal life: Living in God's Promised Land A husband Two sons Security A future Then famine came. Instead of trusting God in the Promised Land, Naomi's family fled to Moab—a place associated with Israel's enemies. What began as a search for survival became a journey into devastating loss. One by one Naomi lost: Her husband Both of her sons Her security Her future Her hope Liz paints Naomi's grief vividly, helping listeners feel the crushing weight of losing nearly everything she loved. She challenges listeners to consider how closely Naomi's story resembles many of our own lives. While our losses may look different, everyone eventually experiences broken dreams, unanswered prayers, painful relationships, sickness, discouragement, or grief that leaves us wondering where God is. The central question of the chapter becomes: When life falls apart, what direction will you turn? 1. Godly Grief Liz explains that Naomi and Orpah both experienced unimaginable pain, but neither initially responded by grieving with God. Naomi returned to Bethlehem physically, but emotionally she remained trapped in bitterness. She even rejected her own name ("Naomi," meaning pleasant) and asked to be called "Mara," meaning bitter. Rather than seeing grief as something to avoid, Liz teaches that grief itself is holy when it is brought before God. God never asks His people to pretend they aren't hurting. Instead, Scripture repeatedly shows God's people lamenting. David filled the Psalms with tears. Jesus Himself wept at Lazarus' tomb. Our grief becomes holy when we allow it to draw us closer to the heart of God instead of further away. Liz shares her own story of years of severe back pain while serving as missionaries in Hungary. Endless doctor visits and chronic suffering left her repeatedly asking, "Why, God?" She explains that pain naturally tempts us toward bitterness because pain makes us forget two important truths: God sees us. God wants to sit with us in our suffering. Bitterness grows when we refuse to mourn honestly before God. Godly grief, however, allows us to mourn what God mourns—the brokenness of a fallen world and the separation sin has created. Instead of accusing God, we are invited to cry with Him. Instead of hiding our pain, we are invited to bring it before Him. God does not reject grieving people. He welcomes them. Bible Verses Ruth 1:20–21 Hebrews 4:15–16 Psalms (David's laments) John 11 (Jesus weeping at Lazarus' tomb) Key Quotes "There is a holiness to weeping." "When we weep, we join God in mourning things that are not the way they are supposed to be." "Instead of bitterness, choose godly grief." "Take your discouragement and disappointment to the Lord." 2. Choose the God Choosing You Liz contrasts the three women in Ruth 1. Orpah turns back. Naomi returns physically but remains bitter. Ruth turns fully toward God. Ruth had every earthly reason to go back. She was a Moabite. She worshipped false gods. She had no promise of security in Israel. She had no guarantee of acceptance. Yet she chose faith over familiarity. Liz shares her testimony about attending a Christian camp after losing her grandmother. She remembers watching a pastor lovingly embrace two young girls, and something awakened inside her heart. She realized she longed for a Father who delighted in her. That moment helped her understand that God had been pursuing her all along. In the same way, Ruth was not simply choosing God. God had already been drawing Ruth toward Himself. Liz encourages listeners to recognize this same truth. God is not waiting reluctantly for us to come. He is already pursuing us with love. Every person eventually stands where Ruth stood: Will we return to what is familiar but lifeless? Or will we trust the God who is calling us into new life? Faith often means stepping into an unknown future because we trust the One leading us. Bible Verses Ruth 1:15–17 Key Quotes "Ruth chose the God who was choosing her." "She turned to the God who had turned toward her." "There is a God choosing you—and you can choose Him too." 3. Choose to Cling to the King Who Knows Your Pain Ruth not only turned toward God. She clung to Him. Liz explains that Jesus understands suffering better than anyone. He experienced: Rejection Loneliness Betrayal Physical pain Grief Abandonment Because Jesus entered human suffering Himself, Christians never suffer alone. Liz points to Isaiah 53, describing Jesus as the "Man of Sorrows." She also shares the story of missionary Elisabeth Elliot, whose husband Jim Elliot was murdered while taking the Gospel to an unreached people group. Rather than responding with hatred, Elisabeth eventually returned to those same people to tell them about Jesus. Liz shares Elisabeth Elliot's powerful words: "Out of the deepest pain has come the strongest conviction of the presence of God and the love of God." That is the invitation of the Gospel. We are not invited to ignore pain. We are invited to cling to the Savior who understands it completely. Rather than carrying grief alone, we lean into Christ's presence. We discover that He does not merely watch our suffering. He enters it with us. Bible Verses Isaiah 53 Key Quotes "We are loved by the God who knows pain." "When pain hurts too much to bear, turn to the cross." "We don't mourn alone—but with One who understands." Conclusion: The Barley Harvest Was Beginning Although Ruth chapter 1 begins in famine, death, and sorrow, it ends with an unexpected sentence: Naomi and Ruth arrived in Bethlehem "as the barley harvest was beginning." What looked like a simple travel detail becomes a powerful picture of hope. While Naomi believed her life was over, God had already been preparing her future. Months before she arrived: Fields had already been plowed. Seeds had already been planted. Rain had already fallen. Harvest was already growing. God had been working long before Naomi could see it. Liz reminds listeners that the story doesn't end with Ruth chapter 1. Eventually: Ruth marries Boaz. Naomi's family line is restored. A child is born. That family line ultimately leads to Jesus Christ. God used Naomi's pain to prepare the coming of the Savior. Likewise, God uses Christ's suffering to bring salvation to the world. The promise for believers is not that life will always end happily here on earth. The promise is even greater. Jesus is our ultimate hope. One day He will bring us into the true Promised Land where there will be: No more sorrow No more pain No more death Life in abundance forever Until then, we continue to turn toward Him, grieve with Him, and cling to the King who understands our pain. Discipleship Group Questions Naomi, Orpah, and Ruth each responded differently to suffering. Which of their responses do you most identify with, and why? Liz described the difference between bitterness and godly grief. What does it practically look like to grieve with God instead of becoming bitter? Ruth chose to trust God even though she could not see what lay ahead. Where is God asking you to trust Him despite uncertainty? Isaiah 53 reminds us that Jesus is "a man of suffering, familiar with pain." How does knowing that Jesus understands your pain change the way you approach Him during difficult seasons? The chapter ends with the barley harvest beginning—a picture that God had already been preparing hope before Naomi could see it. Can you think of a time when you later recognized that God was working behind the scenes during one of your hardest seasons?

Sr. Pastor A. A. Jackson shared this message live at the Island Nursing and Rehab' Center in Holtsville, NY on 7/12/26.  It is based mainly on Numbers 23:19.  What does it really mean to hold onto God's promises?  This message is a testimony of how Heaven defines waiting on the Lord. The post Chapter 4: Certainty – Cling to God's Word appeared first on Realm of Agape Christian Church.

I started with sharing this beautiful wedding invitation from our friends. And I said that the quality and beauty of an invitation tells you a lot about who is inviting you, what you are being invited to, and how much that person values you. Jesus being sent from heaven to earth is the greatest invitation I can think of. All people are invited by the God of the universe to be in a marriage relationship with Him, and Jesus showed how much God values us by paying the eternal cost for sin with His body on the cross. The invitation of the gospel is not just to go to heaven one day in the future, but it is also to enjoy a personal relationship with God now. If it sounds too good to be true, you're starting to get it. And if the Christian life is about relationship and not our performance, then we can freely cling to Him with everything we are and everything we have. We can trust that the same hands that once held nails in them are the same hands that are strong enough to hold us forever.

Following Jesus requires more than appearances—it calls for wholehearted devotion. In Acts 5:11–16, we see how God protected the unity and witness of the early church, producing reverence, bold faith, and continued gospel growth. In this verse-by-verse study, Pastor Curtis Henry explores the aftermath of Ananias and Sapphira, the fear of the Lord, and the powerful work God continued to do through the apostles. This message challenges us to let go of the world, cling to Christ, and live fully surrendered to Him. If you're looking for a church home, we'd love to welcome you to Harvest Church in Arroyo Grande. Join us Sundays at 9am & 11am as we grow in God's Word, worship Jesus, and experience authentic Christian community. For more information, visit www.agharvest.org.

How do you navigate a leadership transition in ministry or a faith-driven business without dropping the baton? In this episode, we dive into the painful yet crucial reality of succession planning for ministries and faith-based organizations to ensure your kingdom impact multiplies even after you step away. Every founder, pastor, and faith-driven business owner will eventually face a leadership transition, but few are truly prepared for the change. Whether you are navigating a pastoral change proactively or picking up the pieces after an unexpected exit, succession planning is fundamentally a discipleship plan . True kingdom business continuity isn't just about protecting your position—it's about learning how to handle the personal identity shifts, painful wrenchings, and surprising gifts that come with finding your next God-given assignment.Key Takeaways:• Succession is Discipleship: Why a healthily structured succession plan is actually a vital spiritual practice for mentoring the next generation of leaders.• The Identity Trap: How to separate your eternal identity in Christ from your temporary professional assignment or title.• Building Continuity: Why leadership teams should start discussing their last day on the job from their very first day.• Navigating the Pain of Change: Practical steps to transition staff members gracefully, avoiding toxic exits that damage your ministry's witness.Connect with Us:Apple Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/the-business-as-mission-podcast-with-mike-baer/id1551867793Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/0Gp5SOOHFggJ67vPA5qxkDTiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@officialbampodcastFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/officialbampodcastInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/officialbampodcast/#BusinessAsMission #BAM #MarketplaceCalling

David Johnson discusses Romans 12:9—“Let love be without hypocrisy. Abhor what is evil. Cling to what is good.”

Episode #329 of 15 Minutes and a Big Idea. A Podcast by The Mended Collective. In this episode, we examine 1 Corinthians 15:29-34. Big Idea: Actions Betray Beliefs 1) Baptism for the Dead Implies Resurrection 2) Persecution Necessitates Hope 3) Cling to the Knowledge of God Facebook Page:  https://www.facebook.com/15bigidea/?view_public_for=110691360592088 The Mended Collective: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCSlUSkU2N0UEy4Bq1HgpFEQ Email: 15bigideapodcast@gmail.com Theme Music: "Advertime" by Rafael Krux

Cling to the Faith Mark Donaldson Sermon given by Pastor Mark Donaldson on June 28, 2026 at ElmCreek Community Church in Maple Grove, MN. Scripture: Psalm 11

We opened this episode of The Dr. Peter Breggin Hour acknowledging the weight of our times. For the past week, we've explored how to live meaningfully amid chaos, threats, and cultural unraveling. That conversation remains vital. But reality does not pause for comfort. This week, we returned to the difficult terrain with our friend J.J. Carroll — a man of uncommon courage, a former law enforcement officer with decades on the border and in fugitive operations, a truth-teller who was recently fired for daring to speak plainly on the very issues he lived. J.J.'s experiences are not abstract. They have been forged in daily encounters with violence in the six months he worked with ICE in 2025-2026 and the violence he faced for 24 years as a Border Patrol Officer, arresting drug cartel members on the Southern border. He describes a nation where the demographic transformation is not subtle policy but visible, measurable destruction. J.J. is a firsthand witness to the continued open borders, net increases in illegal immigration, and jobs going overwhelmingly to non-Americans while native-born citizens, especially White males, are sidelined. Government data he cites paints a stark picture: hundreds of arrests daily, yet a system so backlogged that true mass deportations feel like a distant promise rather than a current reality. We do not shy away from these realities on this show. America was built by a specific people with a specific culture — a White, Christian, European-rooted nation that achieved greatness through shared values, faith, rule of law, and high-trust communities. Pretending otherwise dishonors history and endangers the future. As J.J. powerfully states, demographics shape destiny. When you import millions from cultures with vastly different norms, lower average IQs, and incompatible worldviews — often without any expectation of assimilation — you do not enrich; you transform, and not for the better. Europe is learning this lesson in blood and social collapse. We ignore it at our peril. Even now, the mayhem is surging onto our shores. The rising tide of migrant violence and social breakdown is unmistakable across Europe and England, where no-go zones, knife crime, and gang rapes have become grim daily realities. Here in the United States, the pattern repeats in major cities like New York and beyond. The many stories of murders, rapes, and other violence by illegal immigrant populations are not isolated tragedies; they are the predictable consequence of policies that prioritize unassimilated foreign populations over the safety and future of our own children. We have a huge country to manage with almost 350 million souls living here from all parts of the world. There are issues with continued illegal border crossings, international drug trafficking into the US, and massive issues of fraud and theft on a level never before identified that threatens to demolish us and invites totalitarianism to come and take charge. The Judeo-Christian foundational culture that created America and those individuals who were all part of it are being shredded by our political and intellectual elite and other cultures coming from far different places in the world who want no part of what we have here in terms of civilization. A significant number of these people have no understanding of respect for human life, the rule of law, the US Constitution, basic rules of life, or rules of the road that we take for granted. How does that ignorance translate into the daily lives of citizens? No respect for human life translates into murder, including the deliberate attacks on people who are strangers by perpetrators using trucks, knives, guns, and other weapons. No understanding of, agreement with, and respect for the rule of law translates into fraud and theft on a massive basis, employing lying, subterfuge, and cunning to swindle, cheat, and steal from individuals and from American citizens through federal theft. In California, several massive, multi-million-dollar fraud rings involving illegal immigrants and transnational criminal organizations have recently been dismantled by federal authorities for stealing taxpayer-funded welfare, COVID-19 relief, and tax revenue. Similar large-scale fraud operations tied to Somali communities have also plagued Minnesota, further draining public resources intended for American citizens. This cultural incompatibility extends even to everyday infrastructure. Illegal immigrant commercial drivers, often poorly trained, unlicensed, or operating stolen or improperly maintained vehicles, are contributing to chaos on our highways. Serious accidents, deadly pile-ups, and overwhelmed emergency services have increased in areas with high concentrations of such drivers, adding yet another layer of preventable danger to American families who simply want to travel safely on roads built and maintained by prior generations. As Elizabeth Nickson has powerfully documented in her recent Substack column “White Boy's Summer,” the impact across Europe has been devastating. Decades of mass migration have been accompanied by a deliberate political project that has taught many newcomers to view the native populations — the very citizens who built and sustain these societies as producers, taxpayers, and keepers of the culture — with resentment and outright hatred. (See: White Boy's Summer) The Spiritual Dimension This is not merely political or economic. It is spiritual. We agreed that there is a degree of evil walking the world that we have not seen before. Both concepts of evil and love have been banished from intellectual discussion, laughed at as old-fashioned. Cultural relativism — the idea that all cultures and moral systems are equally valid with no objective standard by which to judge them — is the opposite of these terms. Allan Bloom's 1987 bestseller, The Closing of the American Mind, sounded the warning but was quickly buried in intellectual and media circles with a wave of multiculturalism, DEI, calls of racism to silence critics, and a focus on bending reality with transgenderism and other tales that have left devastation in their path. J.J. speaks as a believer who sees Satan as the source of evil roaming the earth, a force that delights in the slaughter of the innocent — 63 million abortions, the mutilation of children under transgender ideology, and the darkest allegations tied to elite networks like those surrounding Jeffrey Epstein. The failure to fully release the Epstein files, despite promises and power, is a profound betrayal. When those in authority protect the powerful at the expense of justice for children, the system stands condemned. Peter and I have long warned about the moral free fall — the erosion of the Ten Commandments in public and private life, the suppression of love and conscience, the celebration of evil in entertainment and elite circles. Occult influences, ritualistic abuses, and a rejection of God create a void that darkness eagerly fills. We see it in the boldness of anti-human spectacles at major events and in the quiet despair of families watching their children be targeted. We Refuse Despair We do not exempt leaders from scrutiny. While Donald Trump remains the strongest border president in modern memory, serious disappointments linger — continued promotion of mRNA technology, the absence of full accountability for past crimes, and an emperor-like tone in some foreign policy pronouncements. Real change requires more than one man. It demands people willing to reclaim their inheritance. Yet we refuse despair. Peter reminded us of the Black Robed Regiment — the ministers who fueled the American Revolution with Judeo-Christian conviction. The Black Robed Regiment was the courageous pastors and clergy of the Revolutionary era. They preached biblical principles of liberty, justice, and resistance to tyranny from their pulpits and from town to town in Colonial days, leading up to the American Revolution, while dressed in their distinctive black robes. These men were instrumental in shaping the fundamental, encompassing worldviews of individual freedom, liberty, and release from tyranny. These courageous and hardy pastors, ministers, and clerics rallied the American people, framing the fight for independence as a sacred duty and providing the moral and spiritual backbone of our nation's birth. We need a similar revival today: a return to the fundamentals of faith, family, and constitutional order. J.J. finds hope in his teenage son's generation and the friends he drives around — young people who are more politically engaged and spiritually aware than many in prior generations. They are turning away from the emptiness of the sexual revolution, materialism, and identity chaos, and they want none of it. Across the country, our youngest generations — Gen Z and Alpha — are showing signs of a quiet but powerful shift, returning to God, traditional churches, and core American values of family, self-reliance, and ordered liberty. Reports and surveys document rising interest in Christianity, declining support for extreme gender ideology, and a renewed appreciation for the Founding principles that made this nation exceptional. Young girls, too, are increasingly rejecting the glitter culture of hyper-sexualization and fluid identity in favor of something more grounded and enduring. Small Is Beautiful: Love in Action In the face of such overwhelming disorder, the answer begins at home. Make your home a sanctuary. Love your spouse fiercely. Raise your children in truth. Plant apple trees — literally, as Peter and I recently did in our backyard. Build a real community where you are. Civility, trust, and decency radiate outward from strong families. As Peter emphasized at the close, the world's evil fades by comparison to the love we put into it. God will measure us by that love. In a time when elites peddle division and death, we counter with creation, fidelity, and courage. This conversation with J.J. Carroll is raw, unflinching, and necessary. We invite you to listen to the full episode. Let it stir you — not to hopelessness, but to renewed commitment. Speak truth. Reject the lies about our nation's Founding and character. Protect the innocent. Cling to God. And never apologize for loving your people, your culture, and your children's future. We continue our series on living faithfully in dark days — see our recent “Small Is Beautiful” piece on Substack. Your presence here, your subscriptions, and your own acts of courage sustain our work. We love you, dear audience. Stay strong. The fight is generational, but good men and women — and a sovereign God — are not easily defeated.

The Riders of the Purple Sage provide musical talent with, Riding Down that Old Texas Trail. Then before the drama begins, they return with, Cling to a Memory. The western…

Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/your-daily-portion-with-l-david-harris--2912188/support.About Your Daily PortionYour Daily Portion with L. David Harris is a Bible-centered teaching ministry committed to helping people engage Scripture daily with clarity and purpose. This program is a service of Your Daily Portion Ministries, Inc., and is made possible through the faithful support of listeners and viewers.If this teaching blesses you, consider supporting the work so it can continue reaching others around the world through radio, podcasts, and digital platforms.Support the ministry:

Since the days of Aesop, stories about animals have been used to explore distinctly human values, virtues, and vices. On this episode of Critics at Large, Vinson Cunningham, Naomi Fry, and Alexandra Schwartz consider such childhood classics as E. B. White's “Stuart Little” and C. S. Lewis's “Chronicles of Narnia” series, as well as “The Sheep Detectives,” a recent entry in this canon that centers on a flock who learn poignant lessons about life and loss. Works of adult literature, too, have explored the animal-human bond. Our tendency to project onto animals translates to the real world in strange ways, with figures like Timmy the Whale and Punch the Monkey going viral on our social feeds even as our day-to-day lives are more detached from the natural world than ever before. But the distance between us can be instructive, too. “Reckoning with their similarity to us and also their total strangeness to us . . . that's where works about animals really get me,” Schwartz says. “Not just as a direct transfer onto the human experience but also this other thing that really does enrich our lives: to be in contact with species that are not our own.”Read, watch, and listen with the critics:Homer's Odyssey“Stone Fox,” by John Reynolds Gardiner“The Mare,” by Mary Gaitskill“The Sheep Detectives” (2026)“Stuart Little,” by E. B. White “Bambi” (1942)“The Lion King” (1994) C. S. Lewis's “Chronicles of Narnia” Series“Tom and Jerry” (1940-67)Aesop's Fables“Frederick,” by Leo Lionni“ ‘Wake Up Dead Man' and the Whodunnit Renaissance” (The New Yorker)“Zootopia” (2016) “Why Earnestness Is Everywhere” (The New Yorker)“Babe” (1995)“Tiger King” (2020-21)“Monkey Business in ‘Chimp Crazy,' ” by Vinson Cunningham (The New Yorker)I am Bunny on TikTokNew episodes drop every Thursday. Follow Critics at Large wherever you get your podcasts.Critics at Large is a weekly discussion from The New Yorker which explores the latest trends in books, television, film, and more. Join us every Thursday as we make unexpected connections between classic texts and pop culture. Learn about your ad choices: dovetail.prx.org/ad-choices

Since Donald Trump's return to the White House, hardly a day goes by in which there is not some brazen, precedent shattering action by the president or his allies. Indeed, the orders, directives, proposals and court rulings are coming at such a rapid pace that it's easy to become numb to them and what they might portend for our country. Fortunately, many excellent journalists continue to chronicle and analyze these developments. One of the best is States Newsroom Democracy Reporter Jonathan Shorman. And recently, Newsline caught up with Shorman for an extended conversation about some of the most important current stories. In Part One of our conversation with Shorman, we dug into President Trump's unprecedented effort to establish a special fund that would enable him to dispense taxpayer money to allies of his who he says were harmed by the Biden administration. We also looked at the aggressive gerrymandering efforts that Trump and his fellow Republicans have undertaken this year in hopes of preserving a narrow GOP majority in the U.S. House in the fall elections. In Part Two of our chat, we dug deeper into the politics surrounding the fall elections, the big challenges that Republicans face given the state of the economy and the fact that Trump himself will not appear on the ballot, and some of the controversial actions Trump has taken or threatened to take in order to directly impact who can vote and how they do it. Click here to listen to the full interview with States Newsroom national democracy reporter, Jonathan Shorman Click here to read more of Shorman’s reporting on NC Newsline.  

In this 4th episode of What We Were Never Taught, we explore one of the most recognizable patterns in relationships: why some people tend to cling when they feel disconnected, while others pull away when emotions become intense. Drawing from attachment theory in a simple and accessible way, this episode breaks down how different attachment styles—secure, anxious, avoidant, and fearful-avoidant—shape the way people respond to closeness, conflict, and emotional stress in relationships. Through clinical examples and real-world relationship patterns, we explore how these dynamics are not personality flaws, but learned strategies for managing emotional safety and connection. Many couples find themselves caught in a pursue–withdraw cycle, where one partner seeks reassurance while the other seeks space—both trying, in their own way, to feel safe. The episode emphasizes a key message: attachment styles are not fixed identities or life sentences. They are learned patterns of relating that can be understood, worked with, and changed over time through greater emotional awareness and communication skills. This conversation continues the core mission of the podcast—helping people understand the emotional skills they were never taught, so they can build stronger, healthier, and more connected relationships.

In this episode of Pray the Word on Joshua 22:5, David Platt calls us to cultivate a wholehearted love, obedience, and devotion to God.Explore more content from Radical.

Garrett Kell, Pastor of Del Ray Baptist Church

Snowflake stock surges as the cloud-software company reports strong earnings and strikes a $6 billion deal with Amazon. Plus: Shares of Hormel Foods, whose brands include Planters, Skippy and Spam, soar amid strong quarterly results. Alexis Green hosts. Sign up for the WSJ's free What's News newsletter. An artificial-intelligence tool assisted in the making of this episode by creating summaries that were based on Wall Street Journal reporting and reviewed and adapted by an editor. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

We like to think the future can be figured out if we just gather enough information. Pick the right expert, read the right forecast, find the right framework, and the fog will lift. Simone Stolzoff argues that this impulse often works against us. In his new book How to Not Know, he makes the case for getting better at uncertainty—not as a slogan, and not as an excuse to believe nothing, but as a practical skill: knowing when to act without perfect information, when to distrust easy answers, when to revise your beliefs, and when uncertainty might point toward something worth discovering. The conversation covers why people cling to conspiracy theories, what cults offer that ordinary life does not, why experts are so bad at predicting the future, how the replication crisis changed psychology, what relationships teach us about irreversible choices, and why the unknown is not only frightening, but also where possibility begins. Simone Stolzoff is a San Francisco–based journalist and author. His work has appeared in The New York Times, The Atlantic, and on the TED stage. He is a graduate of Stanford University and the University of Pennsylvania. His debut book, The Good Enough Job, has been translated into more than a dozen languages. His new book is How to Not Know: The Value of Uncertainty in a World That Demands Answers.

In episode 2057, Jack and Miles are joined by co-host of Pod Yourself A Gun & Mad Yourself A Man, Vince Mancini, to discuss… RFK Jr. Is Concerned About Teenagers’ Sperm, Stephen Miller In Tactical Retreat, Do We Really Need More Westworld? The White House Is Literally Toxic New Report Finds and more! RFK Jr: "In 1970, men had twice the sperm count as our teenagers do today" RFK Jr. Says Men in the '70s Had Twice as Much Sperm as Teenage Boys Today: 'Existential Crisis' Do teens today really have half as much sperm as men in the ‘70s? What docs say about RFK Jr.’s claims Trump has a proposal to expand fertility benefits. Here's how that would work White House Uses Absurd New Excuse for Trump, 79, Sleeping Trump touts accomplishment of protecting IVF, calls himself 'father of fertility' Stephen Miller’s Secret Plot to Cling on to Power David Koepp Redraws Michael Crichton’s ‘Westworld’ For Warner Bros Film Steven Spielberg Issues Timothée Chalamet Dig, Teases Western In Development & Upcoming ‘Disclosure Day,’ Gives His Take On Existence Of Alien Life At SXSW How Dare They Reboot Westworld Without Finishing the TV Series 8 Hilariously WTF Backstories Behind Your Favorite Shows The making of Jurassic Park Westworld (1973) 4K UHD Review Rubble from Trump ballroom dumped at DC golf course has toxic metals, data shows Republicans propose $1 billion in taxpayer dollars to secure Trump ballroom Trump Says His Ballroom Only Costs More Because It’s More Awesome White House project dumps dirt on local golf course Soil at D.C. Golf Course Where East Wing Debris Was Dumped Contains Toxic Metals Why is the White House carting dirt to a golf course? It’s a D.C. mystery My Quest to Find the East Wing Rubble Trump fundraiser shares plans for ‘Garden of Heroes,’ golf course as takeover looms Top Trump fundraiser enlisted in new nonprofit for president’s sculpture garden and golf course as legal challenges abound Lawsuit aims to halt Trump administration’s takeover of D.C. golf course Uncertainty Over D.C. Public Golf Courses After Lease Termination LISTEN: THESE DEEDS, FOR MY PLACE IN HELL by Camo ManeSee omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

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Jonah's spirituality was fine for his old world and his old situations. But when he's faced with a new situation, it just collapses.  Then, when he's in the belly of the fish, Jonah begins to reflect and pray, and as the prayer moves along, we see he has a spiritual breakthrough. Now the new situation is something he can handle. How do we, too, move to the next level?  By looking at Jonah's prayer we learn about 1) the key to spiritual transformation, 2) the method of spiritual transformation, 3) the marks of spiritual transformation, and 4) the continual need for it. This sermon was preached by Dr. Timothy Keller at Redeemer Presbyterian Church on September 30, 2001. Series: The Church in the City. Scripture: Jonah 2:1-3:3. Today's podcast is brought to you by Gospel in Life, the site for all sermons, books, study guides and resources from Timothy Keller and Redeemer Presbyterian Church. If you've enjoyed listening to this podcast and would like to support the ongoing efforts of this ministry, you can do so by visiting https://gospelinlife.com/give and making a one-time or recurring donation.

FOLKS, I'm joined by Karla and Radu for a great ep. Though I am pretty annoying in the first situation. Hey, that's life. Thanks for listening :)(0:00) - Banter(14:06) - AITA for feeling bad for wanting to break up?(22:02) Neediness is actually nice in a relationship(34:19) - My 25f bf 35m has become way too clingy(43:18) I'm ridiculous clingy when I meet someone I likeBEST way to Submit a sitch or comment: https://www.reddit.com/r/AITApod/Email - amitheahole@gmail.com Join Patreon! https://patreon.com/aitapodWhat's on Patreon?- 250+ Bonus eps- NO ADS and accurate timestamps- Complain and comment DIRECTLY to Danny :D TikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@aitapodInstagram - https://www.instagram.com/aita_pod/