Podcasts about earth am i here for

Today on BOLD STEPS, Pastor Mark Jobe is calling us to step up in our faith and take on the fights God is calling us to take. If you have your Bible with you, you're going to want to open to Judges chapter 7 … where we're learning from the story of Gideon about how powerful our God truly is … even when we feel practically powerless.  It's an empowering message from Mark's series called What on Earth Am I Here For? The lesson is titled … What's Holding Me Back? Today's Bold Steps Gift: 50 Most Important Bible QuestionsSupport the show: https://www.moodyradio.org/programs/bold-steps-with-dr-mark-jobe/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Aside from making money, what is the purpose of your business? The combination of generating a profit and being a business with purpose can't be beaten in spreading awareness and appreciation of your brand. Giving back with authenticity generates goodwill, clients, and referrals—and having an overarching goal that aligns with your values with help to sustain your soul when things get tough. Connect | Resources Connect with Stacy ·      Instagram @allweinrealtor ·      Facebook: @stacy.allwein ·      Website: allweinteam.com ·      Phone: 301-606-6716 Recommended resources ·      Book: The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren ·      Podcast episode: Ep. 478 Be a Business of Purpose and Profit (with Giveback Homes) Visit our Resource Library for free resources, including e-books, printables, and lead magnets to attract new leads. Have a question you'd like us to answer? Send us an email at podcast@remindermedia or shoot us a DM on Instagram @staypaidpodcast.

ENCORE RECORDINGIn this episode you'll hear about three important guidelines for living your life with meaning and direction.Readingshttps://bible.usccb.org/bible/readings/020424.cfmBook Reference The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?   By Rick Warren

For virtually every human being, there's a gap between where they are currently, and where they're *capable* of getting. Sometimes that gap can be small (and closing). Sometimes it can feel gigantic, especially without the right work ethic or motivation, mindset, and soft skill set. But bridging that gap between reality and potential is exactly what our latest guest is an expert in.   Jason Ma is the preeminent Chief Mentor of Next-Gen Leaders and CEO of ThreeEQ. With deep expertise in elite college admissions, college life, executive, and parent coaching, Jason has guided and transformed 1:1 the lives of numerous Gen Z and elder leaders from teens to CEOs, while easing legacy and succession planning in wealthy families.    Listen to the full conversation for more on the secrets behind some of the most successful leaders' motivation, how to overcome imposter syndrome even when you do reach your goals, why humility is so important to leadership, and more.   Here's a Glimpse of What You'll Learn:    What drove Jason to become a foremost coach/mentor in addition to hismigrate from tech and global business repertoireto the coaching sector How Jason guides in overcominges the common challenge of motivation — including for kids with ultra-successful parents  Why Jason believes no human being has reached their full potential, plus the importance of “pragmatic humility”  How to teach someone humility  Why it's so important to want to “aggressively learn” and grow How Jason helps others overcome imposter syndrome Why Jason is a “secret weapon” for helping students getting into top universities with stronger, pragmatic emotional, social, and leadership intelligence (“3EQ”) Why mindset is one of the top challenges that CEOs struggle with The two principles that Jason lives by, how that also guides his work, and Jason's definition for what “character” is How Jason's faith has impacted his work and business How Jason is measuring success in his multiple businesses and in his life Several book recommendations from Jason, including more about his own book    Resources Mentioned in This Episode:  ThreeEQ website “What They Don't Teach You at Harvard Business School: Notes from a Street-smart Executive” by Mark H. McCormack “Thriving on Chaos: Handbook for a Management Revolution” by Tom Peters “Trillion Dollar Coach: The Leadership Handbook of Silicon Valley's Bill Campbell” by Eric Schmidt, Jonathan Rosenberg, and Alan Eagle “The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?” by Rick Warren Buy a copy of “Lost at CEO: An Entrepreneur's Guide to Strategy” by Carl J. Cox  40 Strategy Contact 40 Strategy Carl J. Cox on LinkedIn  

I may be cheering you on as you think and play bigger, but my guest for this episode could give me a few professional tips! Charity Barton is the University of Tulsa Cheer coach, a Director at TU's Collins College of Business, and an entrepreneur who believes in the power of storytelling. Not only is Charity a gifted and charismatic speaker, she is a TEDx alumna. Her Talk, “How to Fix Your Unhealthiest Relationship”, focuses on the effects of media consumption on mental health and self perception, and how to develop a healthier lifestyle through media literacy — a timely and necessary topic!While Charity has experienced many shifts in her life, she has also consciously created breathing room that allows her to consider her best next steps. During our conversation, Charity and I dig into the ways in which taking gap years has helped to shape her path forward and allowed her to shift out loud on her own terms. We also discuss Charity's experiences along the road to TEDx Tulsa and how she is redefining her relationship with mass media for the better.Listen now to discover: How Charity's ‘why' changed in terms of seeking her degree, and how this shift affected her decisionCharity's TEDx process and how she prepared for this prestigious stage Powerful tips for interacting with media in a healthier wayGuest bio: Charity Barton is a former University of Tulsa cheerleader and alumna with a B.A. in Communications. She is a Director at TU's Collins College of Business and the TU Cheer coach. She has a Master's in Mass Communications, and recently gave her first TEDx Talk, titled “How to Fix Your Unhealthiest Relationship.”Timestamps:01:57  Intro02:51  Meet Charity Barton04:34  Gap year lessons06:50  Influences behind her shifts10:36  Spain & France15:10  TEDx Tulsa20:27  Unhealthiest relationship23:54  Changing the input26:51  Storytelling shift33:33  Good/bad storytelling38:40  Education & leadership41:18  What's next?Links:Charity Bartonhttps://cboriginal.comhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3e_q01Ym9FkInstagram: @iamchar.ityThe Skin I'm In by Sharon Flakehttps://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/skin-im-in-sharon-g-flake/1100552129The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warrenhttps://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Driven-Life-What-Earth/dp/031033750XDon't Drop the Mic: The Power of Your Words Can Change the World by T. D. Jakeshttps://www.barnesandnoble.com/w/dont-drop-the-mic-t-d-jakes/1137427897Discover your tactical leadership toolkit: https://www.exceptionalleaderslab.comInterested in working with me or having me speak at your event? Visit: https://tracyspears.comMy resource library: https://tracyspears.com/blog—Connect with me:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/tracylspearsFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/TracySpearsSpeakerTwitter: @tracylspearsInstagram: @tracylspears

We all feel stuck in life sometimes; like we're not moving forward or achieving what we'd hoped to. In this episode, Sandy looks at ways we can move on from that feeling of being stuck.  Some of her tips are: Stop comparing Be victorious, not the victim Being grateful  Working in and/or finding your passion Being real about the season of your life You can listen to Sandy's time management episodes here: Part 1 Part 2 Purchase 'What on Earth Am I Here For?' by Rick Warren. Purchase 'Fasting' by Jentezen Franklin. This podcast is a production of Brisbane's 96five and So Many Answers Counselling Service. If you have a question that you would like Sandy to address, please email hello@somanyanswers.com. Find more 96five podcasts by searching for 96five in your podcast app, by downloading the 96five app, or at 96five.com.Support the show: https://www.96five.com/donate/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Rafael's book recommendations:The Purpose-Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?by Rick WarrenHold Me Tight: Seven Conversations for a Lifetime of Loveby Sue JohnsonBook of Proverbsby SolomonRafael's favorite chapters:— John 14-17 Read Here— Matthew 5-7 Read HereBooks by Rafael:Vivir sin temor a caerby Rafael AyalaSanando las heridas del almaby Rafael Ayala

The final purpose of our lives is to accomplish God's mission of saving the world. Now, it is not through us we save the world, but it is through Jesus. But when Jesus ascended to heaven, he left us with the greatest mission of all time to spread his good news to everyone.This sermon is a part of our sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For?ABOUT THIS SERIESWhat on Earth Am I Here For? is all about discovering God's purpose for your life and what it means to live a lifestyle for Him.This is the seventh sermon of the sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For? You can watch the full sermon here: https://youtu.be/0OJHcGwJ4CY?t=1612NEXT STEPSIf you have a next step you would like to take, go to https://bit.ly/FCCNextSteps.WE'RE OPENWe're continuing to monitor guidelines and best practices for gathering safely. Learn more about everything we're doing to keep you safe and how you can help by using hand sanitizer, washing your hands often, and more. Learn more at https://fccbrazil.org.Like, comment & subscribe to stay updated with the latest content!FOLLOW First Christian Church:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/firstchristianchurchofbrazilindianaFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/fccbrazilInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/fccbrazilTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/fccbrazilTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fccbrazil?

The fourth purpose of your life is to serve God. This one is much more personal, but it remains the same goal for everyone. When learning how we are made to serve God, we have to figure out how God has shaped us. Listen in to hear Chris help us understand how God has shaped us for serving Him.This sermon is a part of our sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For?ABOUT THIS SERIESWhat on Earth Am I Here For? is all about discovering God's purpose for your life and what it means to live a lifestyle for Him.This is the sixth sermon of the sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For? You can watch the full sermon here: https://youtu.be/0OJHcGwJ4CY?t=1612NEXT STEPSIf you have a next step you would like to take, go to https://bit.ly/FCCNextSteps.WE'RE OPENWe're continuing to monitor guidelines and best practices for gathering safely. Learn more about everything we're doing to keep you safe and how you can help by using hand sanitizer, washing your hands often, and more. Learn more at https://fccbrazil.org.Like, comment & subscribe to stay updated with the latest content!FOLLOW First Christian Church:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/firstchristianchurchofbrazilindianaFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/fccbrazilInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/fccbrazilTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/fccbrazilTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fccbrazil?

The third purpose God has for your life is to become like Christ. We are to model the behaviors and mindset of Jesus. He was fully God and fully man and even though it is impossible to be as good as Him, we are to try. Thankfully, God's grace is big enough, so that we might try to be like Christ.This sermon is a part of our sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For?ABOUT THIS SERIESWhat on Earth Am I Here For? is all about discovering God's purpose for your life and what it means to live a lifestyle for Him.This is the fifth sermon of the sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For? You can watch the full sermon here: https://youtu.be/0OJHcGwJ4CY?t=1612NEXT STEPSIf you have a next step you would like to take, go to https://bit.ly/FCCNextSteps.WE'RE OPENWe're continuing to monitor guidelines and best practices for gathering safely. Learn more about everything we're doing to keep you safe and how you can help by using hand sanitizer, washing your hands often, and more. Learn more at https://fccbrazil.org.Like, comment & subscribe to stay updated with the latest content!FOLLOW First Christian Church:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/firstchristianchurchofbrazilindianaFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/fccbrazilInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/fccbrazilTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/fccbrazilTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fccbrazil?

Many people believe their purpose is personal to how God created them, and to a certain extent, it is. But instead of looking back, we have to look at where we are now. What is our job, what are we good at, and what relationships do we have? God has placed you where you are for a reason and He has a purpose for you here and now.This sermon is a part of our sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For?ABOUT THIS SERIESWhat on Earth Am I Here For? is all about discovering God's purpose for your life and what it means to live a lifestyle for Him.This is the fourth sermon of the sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For? You can watch the full sermon here: https://youtu.be/0OJHcGwJ4CY?t=1612NEXT STEPSIf you have a next step you would like to take, go to https://bit.ly/FCCNextSteps.WE'RE OPENWe're continuing to monitor guidelines and best practices for gathering safely. Learn more about everything we're doing to keep you safe and how you can help by using hand sanitizer, washing your hands often, and more. Learn more at https://fccbrazil.org.Like, comment & subscribe to stay updated with the latest content!FOLLOW First Christian Church:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/firstchristianchurchofbrazilindianaFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/fccbrazilInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/fccbrazilTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/fccbrazilTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fccbrazil?

We were all created with a purpose. At the end of it all, everyone's main purposes are to love God and love people. The Bible is clear on what every Christian should strive for and if 2we live making every decision to love God and love people, we are on the right track to fulfilling His purpose for us.This sermon is a part of our sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For?ABOUT THIS SERIESWhat on Earth Am I Here For? is all about discovering God's purpose for your life and what it means to live a lifestyle for Him.This is the third sermon of the sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For? You can watch the full sermon here: https://youtu.be/0OJHcGwJ4CY?t=1612NEXT STEPSIf you have a next step you would like to take, go to https://bit.ly/FCCNextSteps.WE'RE OPENWe're continuing to monitor guidelines and best practices for gathering safely. Learn more about everything we're doing to keep you safe and how you can help by using hand sanitizer, washing your hands often, and more. Learn more at https://fccbrazil.org.Like, comment & subscribe to stay updated with the latest content!FOLLOW First Christian Church:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/firstchristianchurchofbrazilindianaFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/fccbrazilInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/fccbrazilTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/fccbrazilTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fccbrazil?

If we are going to be given a purpose, we are going to need to know how to worship God. While God has a purpose for all of us, we first need to know what He wants our purposes united around. He doesn't want us to accomplish things so we get to be worshiped. Everything we do should worship Him. Learn more about being created to worship God with Chris GreggThis sermon is a part of our sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For?ABOUT THIS SERIESWhat on Earth Am I Here For? is all about discovering God's purpose for your life and what it means to live a lifestyle for Him.This is the second sermon of the sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For? You can watch the full sermon here: https://youtu.be/0OJHcGwJ4CY?t=1612NEXT STEPSIf you have a next step you would like to take, go to https://bit.ly/FCCNextSteps.WE'RE OPENWe're continuing to monitor guidelines and best practices for gathering safely. Learn more about everything we're doing to keep you safe and how you can help by using hand sanitizer, washing your hands often, and more. Learn more at https://fccbrazil.org.Like, comment & subscribe to stay updated with the latest content!FOLLOW First Christian Church:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/firstchristianchurchofbrazilindianaFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/fccbrazilInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/fccbrazilTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/fccbrazilTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fccbrazil?

There are many different approaches to life, but which is best? Does the Bible tell us? The Bible has a lot to say about how we approach life and what our purpose is in life. Listen in to hear Chris Gregg discuss three questions about our approach to life and what the Bible has to say.This sermon is a part of our sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For?ABOUT THIS SERIESWhat on Earth Am I Here For? is all about discovering God's purpose for your life and what it means to live a lifestyle for Him.This is the first sermon of the sermon series, What on Earth Am I Here For? You can watch the full sermon here: https://youtu.be/0OJHcGwJ4CY?t=1612NEXT STEPSIf you have a next step you would like to take, go to https://bit.ly/FCCNextSteps.WE'RE OPENWe're continuing to monitor guidelines and best practices for gathering safely. Learn more about everything we're doing to keep you safe and how you can help by using hand sanitizer, washing your hands often, and more. Learn more at https://fccbrazil.org.Like, comment & subscribe to stay updated with the latest content!FOLLOW First Christian Church:YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/firstchristianchurchofbrazilindianaFacebook: http://www.facebook.com/fccbrazilInstagram: http://www.instagram.com/fccbrazilTwitter: http://www.twitter.com/fccbrazilTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@fccbrazil?

As we finish our “What on Earth Am I Here For?” series, Pastor Justice teaches us how doubt and faith can be a part of God's plan for our lives.Join us every Sunday at 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am (PST) I BELIEVE: If you said YES to Jesus, we'd love to connect with you and get some resources in your hands. Head to https://rb.gy/uhwyy3 and let us know!PRAYER: If you need prayer, we'd love to pray with you. Head to https://www.freedom.church/prayerGIVE: If you would like to support Freedom Church financially and join with us as we Adopt The City text ‘FREEDOMCHURCH' to 77977 || https://www.freedom.church/give TELL US ABOUT IT: We would love to hear how God is touching your life. Share your story with us here: https://rb.gy/hbnq12SUBSCRIBE: For the latest sermons click here: https://rb.gy/8mihnkStay Connected:Website: https://www.freedom.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomchurchFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedomchurc...Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@freedom.churchMobile App download: https://subsplash.com/freedomchurch/app#FreedomChurch #Sermons #2022Sermon #OnlineChurch #Faith #Jesus #JusticeColeman #Preaching #Live

As we finish our “What on Earth Am I Here For?” series, Pastor Justice teaches us how doubt and faith can be a part of God's plan for our lives. Join us every Sunday at 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am (PST) I BELIEVE: If you said YES to Jesus, we'd love to connect with you and get some resources in your hands. Head to https://rb.gy/uhwyy3 and let us know! PRAYER: If you need prayer, we'd love to pray with you. Head to https://www.freedom.church/prayer GIVE: If you would like to support Freedom Church financially and join with us as we Adopt The City text ‘FREEDOMCHURCH' to 77977 || https://www.freedom.church/give TELL US ABOUT IT: We would love to hear how God is touching your life. Share your story with us here: https://rb.gy/hbnq12 SUBSCRIBE: For the latest sermons click here: https://rb.gy/8mihnk Stay Connected: Website: https://www.freedom.church Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomchurch Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedomchurc... Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@freedom.church Mobile App download: https://subsplash.com/freedomchurch/app #FreedomChurch #Sermons #2022Sermon #OnlineChurch #Faith #Jesus #JusticeColeman #Preaching #Live

jaime.torchiana@exemplaryperformance.comFlow Research Collective — Leading Voice In PerformanceAmazon.com : stephen cope the great work of your lifeThe Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?: Warren, Rick: 9780310337508: Amazon.com: Books Amazon.com : stephen cope the great work of your life

As we continue our “What on Earth Am I Here For?” series, Pastor Justice teaches us how serving with a good attitude like Jesus helps discover our purpose.Join us every Sunday at 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am (PST) I BELIEVE: If you said YES to Jesus, we'd love to connect with you and get some resources in your hands. Head to https://rb.gy/uhwyy3 and let us know!PRAYER: If you need prayer, we'd love to pray with you. Head to https://www.freedom.church/prayerGIVE: If you would like to support Freedom Church financially and join with us as we Adopt The City text ‘FREEDOMCHURCH' to 77977 || https://www.freedom.church/give TELL US ABOUT IT: We would love to hear how God is touching your life. Share your story with us here: https://rb.gy/hbnq12SUBSCRIBE: For the latest sermons click here: https://rb.gy/8mihnkStay Connected:Website: https://www.freedom.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomchurchFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedomchurc...Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@freedom.churchMobile App download: https://subsplash.com/freedomchurch/app#FreedomChurch #Sermons #2022Sermon #OnlineChurch #Faith #Jesus #JusticeColeman #Preaching #Live

As we continue our “What on Earth Am I Here For?” series, Pastor Justice teaches us how serving with a good attitude like Jesus helps discover our purpose. Join us every Sunday at 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am (PST) I BELIEVE: If you said YES to Jesus, we'd love to connect with you and get some resources in your hands. Head to https://rb.gy/uhwyy3 and let us know! PRAYER: If you need prayer, we'd love to pray with you. Head to https://www.freedom.church/prayer GIVE: If you would like to support Freedom Church financially and join with us as we Adopt The City text ‘FREEDOMCHURCH' to 77977 || https://www.freedom.church/give TELL US ABOUT IT: We would love to hear how God is touching your life. Share your story with us here: https://rb.gy/hbnq12 SUBSCRIBE: For the latest sermons click here: https://rb.gy/8mihnk Stay Connected: Website: https://www.freedom.church Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomchurch Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedomchurc... Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@freedom.church Mobile App download: https://subsplash.com/freedomchurch/app #FreedomChurch #Sermons #2022Sermon #OnlineChurch #Faith #Jesus #JusticeColeman #Preaching #Live

As we continue our “What on Earth Am I Here For?” series, Pastor Justice teaches us how serving with a good attitude like Jesus helps discover our purpose. Join us every Sunday at 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am (PST) I BELIEVE: If you said YES to Jesus, we'd love to connect with you and get some resources in your hands. Head to https://rb.gy/uhwyy3 and let us know! PRAYER: If you need prayer, we'd love to pray with you. Head to https://www.freedom.church/prayer GIVE: If you would like to support Freedom Church financially and join with us as we Adopt The City text ‘FREEDOMCHURCH' to 77977 || https://www.freedom.church/give TELL US ABOUT IT: We would love to hear how God is touching your life. Share your story with us here: https://rb.gy/hbnq12 SUBSCRIBE: For the latest sermons click here: https://rb.gy/8mihnk Stay Connected: Website: https://www.freedom.church Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomchurch Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedomchurc... Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@freedom.church Mobile App download: https://subsplash.com/freedomchurch/app #FreedomChurch #Sermons #2022Sermon #OnlineChurch #Faith #Jesus #JusticeColeman #Preaching #Live

As we continue our “What on Earth Am I Here For?” series, Pastor Justice teaches us how serving with a good attitude like Jesus helps discover our purpose.Join us every Sunday at 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am (PST) I BELIEVE: If you said YES to Jesus, we'd love to connect with you and get some resources in your hands. Head to https://rb.gy/uhwyy3 and let us know!PRAYER: If you need prayer, we'd love to pray with you. Head to https://www.freedom.church/prayerGIVE: If you would like to support Freedom Church financially and join with us as we Adopt The City text ‘FREEDOMCHURCH' to 77977 || https://www.freedom.church/give TELL US ABOUT IT: We would love to hear how God is touching your life. Share your story with us here: https://rb.gy/hbnq12SUBSCRIBE: For the latest sermons click here: https://rb.gy/8mihnkStay Connected:Website: https://www.freedom.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomchurchFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedomchurc...Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@freedom.churchMobile App download: https://subsplash.com/freedomchurch/app#FreedomChurch #Sermons #2022Sermon #OnlineChurch #Faith #Jesus #JusticeColeman #Preaching #Live

As we continue our “What on Earth Am I Here For?” series, Pastor Justice talks about the different spiritual ages and how we can grow from the 3 ‘Ts'. Live from the Freedom CenterPastor Justice ColemanJoin us every Sunday at 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am (PST) I BELIEVE: If you said YES to Jesus, we'd love to connect with you and get some resources in your hands. Head to https://rb.gy/uhwyy3 and let us know!PRAYER: If you need prayer, we'd love to pray with you. Head to https://www.freedom.church/prayerGIVE: If you would like to support Freedom Church financially and join with us as we Adopt The City text ‘FREEDOMCHURCH' to 77977 || https://www.freedom.church/give TELL US ABOUT IT: We would love to hear how God is touching your life. Share your story with us here: https://rb.gy/hbnq12SUBSCRIBE: For the latest sermons click here: https://rb.gy/8mihnkStay Connected:Website: https://www.freedom.churchInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomchurchFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedomchurchsfvTik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@freedom.churchMobile App download: https://subsplash.com/freedomchurch/app

As we continue our “What on Earth Am I Here For?” series, Pastor Justice talks about the different spiritual ages and how we can grow from the 3 ‘Ts'. Live from the Freedom Center Pastor Justice Coleman Join us every Sunday at 8:30am, 10:00am, 11:30am (PST) I BELIEVE: If you said YES to Jesus, we'd love to connect with you and get some resources in your hands. Head to https://rb.gy/uhwyy3 and let us know! PRAYER: If you need prayer, we'd love to pray with you. Head to https://www.freedom.church/prayer GIVE: If you would like to support Freedom Church financially and join with us as we Adopt The City text ‘FREEDOMCHURCH' to 77977 || https://www.freedom.church/give TELL US ABOUT IT: We would love to hear how God is touching your life. Share your story with us here: https://rb.gy/hbnq12 SUBSCRIBE: For the latest sermons click here: https://rb.gy/8mihnk Stay Connected: Website: https://www.freedom.church Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/freedomchurch Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/freedomchurchsfv Tik Tok: https://www.tiktok.com/@freedom.church Mobile App download: https://subsplash.com/freedomchurch/app

Yes!  You are in!  Why are you here?  Why do we go to war?  Deep questions.  That is what we tackle. Flawed dudes getting real and pursuing Truth, here is your Play of the Day...Word!  Thank you Pastor Rick, you are on a roll!  If you dug that, please check out 'Daily Hope', simply search that and it will be your first result, I bet.  That 'Play of the Day' came from "What on Earth Am I Here For? - Part 1", published on the 24th of February 2022.Love that Mark Twain quote.  Two of the most important days is the day you were born and then discovering why.  I'll add on to that.  Discovering and accepting who is your savior from this brutal, broken, frustrating planet is thee most important day.  Interesting that this publishes on the day Russia invades Ukraine.  What will happen?  World War?  I don't know.  God knows.  As my Brother Casey the Jogging Jesus says, the Bible tells you what has happened, is happening and will happen.   We flawed humans create wars.  Wars between countries, between families, between marriages.  It is what flawed humans do.  Should we be surprised?  And the ignorant say we don't need a guide.As many people make fun and mock us.  I simply retort in a factual way.  Atheists, you bet on hopelessness.  We bet on Hope.  Atheists bet on self-centeredness.  True "Christians" bet on something much, much larger than themselves.  Side note, we all wrestle with 'self-centeredness and pride' to a degree.  We simply have a guide and choose to tune into it or not - the Owner's Manual for Life, the Bible.  We bet on Love.  Love for the creator that created you.  Love for others (whether they like us or not).  So counter intuitive.  Some of us want to cancel, some of us want to love and encourage.Okay, so here is one of the dopest verses, can you say dope verse?  Hmmmm, this is probably why I rub some of you the wrong way.  Let's just say this, it is an epic verse, Psalm 139:  13-1813 For you created my inmost being;    you knit me together in my mother's womb.14 I praise you because I am fearfully and wonderfully made;    your works are wonderful,    I know that full well.15 My frame was not hidden from you    when I was made in the secret place,    when I was woven together in the depths of the earth.16 Your eyes saw my unformed body;    all the days ordained for me were written in your book    before one of them came to be.17 How precious to me are your thoughts,[a] God!    How vast is the sum of them!18 Were I to count them,    they would outnumber the grains of sand—    when I awake, I am still with you.There's a saying out there, We may think we have accidental pregnancies.  However, God does not make accidental lives.  That's something to put in your contemplation pipe and smoke it.  Your parents may have not have planned you.  Yet your Heavenly Father, absolutely planned you.  You are not here by accident.  You are here for a reason.  You have a purpose.  Jeremiah 1:5...“Before I formed you in the womb I knew[a] you,    before you were born I set you apart;For you beating yourselves up right now, all your past mistakes and regrets, Rom 8:28 is for you. 

Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston and our neighborhood churches or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com.Welcome dear church to Communion Sunday. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are a generous God. In the small things, you gave us an extra hour to sleep, and in the big things, you gave us your son. And Jesus, we thank you that you gave us yourself and the Holy Spirit we thank you for your presence here with us and we thank you for writing this book. Words that define reality, define love, define sacrifice, define generosity. We love your word and we thank you that you're the author of this book. You're in the room. And I pray as we hear from your word that you interpret to us what it means, to us where we are and how to apply this. I pray that you give us a vision for generosity. The same vision that's in your heart and I pray that you bless our time in the holy word. Amen.Grace is generous gift giving. That's the title of the sermon. That's the big idea. Grace is generous gift giving. I've realized recently that a lot of Christians miss out, a lot of people miss out on some of God's greatest blessings because they don't listen to God's word the way you should. A lot of people read God's word, listen to God's word. Some things said to some people by some people a long time ago. And if that's how you approach scripture, it's always going to be theoretical, it's always going to be, this is what it means to me, it's always going to be standing over in judgment over God's word. I do not listen to scripture like that. I do not read scripture like that. I know the God who wrote it and I walk with Him on a daily basis. I'm just so thankful that God is so gracious to me as to speak to me, as to communicate with me and He cares about me.Someone said that no one cares how much until they know how much you care. And God cares about me so I listened to His word. I sit there with God and I say, "You're the author, you're in the room." What does it mean? Here's how I view preaching. I view preaching as me living vicariously through Cameron Hanes. If you don't know Cameron Hanes, he's living the life that I would be living if I were not called to be a pastor. He's a hunter. You can find him on Instagram. He's got 1.2 million followers. He's a hunter and he hunts humanely. He's a bow and arrow guy. So I view myself as I go hunting into the mountain to get the moose and then I carry it back on my back and then I dress it up, and then I cut it up, and I slice it up and then I throw it on the grill. And that's what this is, that's what preaching is. And I do not chew it for you. You have to chew it yourself or else you choke on it.I made a conscious decision to change the way I preach because I'm tired of doing the homework for you. I'm tired of regurgitating to you what you can get in the ESV Study Bible. You want historical context, literary context, you want a definition of the Greek or the Hebrew word? Open an ESV Study Bible, read it. From now on, I just assume that every single one of you has read every single word in the Bible and if there's something that you do not understand, you go into the bottom of ESV, there's cheat codes to explain it to you. I say you got to do your own homework. I say this because I send out a newsletter every Saturday and at the bottom I put the text a link to the chapter. So what am I doing? I assume that you have read it but the data shows that you have not because then I see the click through-rate in MailChimp, which is 2.3%. Having is only 2.3% of the churches with me when I am... I assume you have read. So do your homework.It's like in college where the lecture makes so much more sense if you've read the material the night before. You know what I'm saying? And then you're like, "Oh, the professor got it from the book." That's what I'm saying. I told you a couple weeks ago that we're at war. And the reason why I said that is because a lot of people don't realize that we're at war and the weapons of the enemy are weapons of mass distraction to just get you distracted from what matters. Just hours of your day, you're thinking about the Metaverse, just something out there instead of real life. That's why you need to know the sword of the Spirit, you need to know this word. So it's a conscious decision because I want to spend more time in the sermon doing application and testimony. Because when I listen to a sermon, my favorite part of the sermon is where the guy up there is like, "Before he tells me how to live, I want to know that he actually lived it."So you need testimony to do that. And today, a lot of the sermons give me testimony of the blessing that it is to be generous. And I've thought about this for a very long time. I'm 38 years old and I've experienced life from the perspective of meeting generosity and I've experienced generosity from the perspective of giving and living generously. My parents emigrated to the States in 1989. My dad was 30, my mom was 27. They have three kids, fourth on the way, $700 net worth. We were recipients of generosity. And I watched my dad from this place where he received generosity grow into a place of tremendous generosity. It's hard to be generous in a day like ours. And when I talk about generosity, I'm not just talking about money, I'm talking about wealth. And wealth consists of two parts. They sound the same; presence and presents. That's wealth. Presents. Let's talk about money, presents, with a ts at the end. Presents, this is money, this is gifts, this is things, this is services.It's hard to be generous in a time where inflation, hyperinflation. Now we're going into recession so security payments are going up by 5.9%. If you look at us car market, it's a lot higher. I think we just printed another trillion dollars. Is there going to be recession? Yeah. What else are you worried about? Gas prices, job turmoil, you might have to pick up and move. Real estate, who knows? Kids, you might have to switch schools. You're talking about generosity, you want me to give money. And then there's presence. This is your time. That's our greatest commodity. It's time, it's words, it's ideas, it's encouragement, it's discipleship. It's hard to be generous with that presence in the day when there's members in the church who haven't seen their family in two years. And just being with people is just awkward right now. And then what's the alternative? It's video meetings. And if I have to sit through one more video meeting I will get Bell's palsy.That tic, the nervous tic I get when I'm in a video meeting, that's probably going to be permanent. Okay with people, okay presence, you don't know where they stand on COVID. You do know where they stand on COVID. It's hard to be generous with words when you haven't complimented a person in years. This is my philosophy of complimenting someone. When I see that they're trying, you did something different, I'm going to notice, if I notice it. Usually I have a million things in my mind but if I notice it like, "Hey, you got a haircut? Hey man, happy haircut." If a girl is like, I just know how much it costs to do your hair. I'm like, "Oh, man. That looks good."It's hard to compliment people in a day where... It's awkward. Masks make communicating so hard, especially for internationals or someone with a speech impediment. You want to text. My gift game is through the charts. I got all kinds of pictures on already. That's why we have to talk about driven generosity because no one costs into generosity. You have to talk about a vision for generosity now, here and now, but also in your life. Are you on a trajectory? Do you have a vision in your heart to be generous because that's what love is. It's generosity. That's what grace is. Grace is unmerited favor. And you can't talk about love if you can't talk about treasure. This is why Jesus said, "Wherever your heart is, that's where your treasure is." You can't talk about love if you do not talk about wealth. So that's why we're talking about it.2nd Corinthians chapter eight. I'm going to assume you have read it. As I mentioned, this is the reading of God's holy and infallible authoritative word. May you write these eternal truths on your heart. And also if you have not read it, I challenge you after to go and read the whole chapter. I'm going to read this as we go along and relisten to the sermon because that's another thing, I assume that if you're a member or if you go here, you do not miss sermons because we pour our life, our heart into these sermon, and we're leading the church through the preaching of God's word. We're leading. So if you're a member and you're on vacation... The average member of this church goes to church half the time, half the Sundays. Stuff just comes up. You got to take a weekend trip. "Yeah, I can't live in the city." You got to go New Hampshire, you go to the White Mountains.You just travel the world and you miss and you come back, you're like, "This is a different church. I didn't go to this church. I became a member of this church?" Yeah, keep up. That's what I'm saying. All right. 1st Corinthians 16, this is the context, verses one through four. It's there if you want. St. Paul said this, he said, "The Gospel was planted in Jerusalem through Jesus Christ." Now there's a church in Jerusalem, Jesus' brother, his younger brother, half brother James, becomes a pastor. And then God sends the Holy Spirit upon the church and then God said to them, "Go and preach the gospel in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, to the ends of the earth." They didn't so God sends persecution so they start actually doing their job. And because of the persecution in Jerusalem and because there's a famine at the time, the church isn't doing well, they can't even work, they can't find jobs because people find out that you're a Christian, now all of a sudden you're fired.So St. Paul then, he hears about the church of Jerusalem, and then he's been planting churches in Ephesus, Colossi, Philippi, in Corinth. He plants these churches and he knows that they are prospering financially. And he says, "Hey, the church in Jerusalem has a need so I'm going to ask you to collect finances and then send one representative from your church. Don't give me the money." He says, "Send one representative to Jerusalem with the finances. I will accompany you." And by accompanying you, that shows us that he has no mercenary interest in the matter. It's not for him at all but he's risking life and limb to accompany them to go to Jerusalem and he actually ends up in prison because... So it shows that he's generous with his life to be generous to the church of Jerusalem. And also what he's doing is he's healing tension, racial tension between the Jewish church and the Gentile churches. What he's saying is, "We're one big family." That's the context. Three points. Grace is generous gift giving. Grace is generous gift giving.First of all Grace is, and that's what he starts with. This the first one. We want you to know brothers about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. Grace, unmerited favor, God saved them. They added nothing to their salvation. Grace, God predestined them before the foundation of the world. Draws them, elects them, they become Christians, it's all grace, all their sins forgiven, by the grace of God that has been given among the churches, Macedonia for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy so they're experiencing affliction as well. They're persecuted as well. Their abundance of joy. They have so much joy that God saved them. And they're extreme poverty, they don't have much money. They're afflicted, they have extreme poverty in Macedonia that have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. He's saying, "The church is poor." And if that tiny little church plant in Macedonia, that church plant is younger than the church in Corinth, if they were generous because they're wealthy in generosity, shouldn't you be more generous than a baby church?" That's what he's saying.And he's talking about grace. There's a difference between grace and mercy. Mercy is you don't get what you deserve, you don't get help. Grace says you get what you don't deserve. You get pulled over, you're doing 79 and 35 and the cop says you deserve a $450 speeding ticket. If you don't know what I'm alluding to, listen to last week's sermon. And the cop shows up and he's like, "Here's your ticket, $450." But then he tears it up and he says, "Oh, well. Why are you speeding?" And you say, "I'm speeding because my dad set my curfew at 10:00 PM." And he said, "I'm going to take your keys away because my dad said that nothing good happens after 10:00 PM." And I'm like, "Ah, that's when the good stuff started happening." And then the cop says, "I get it. I had a dad like that." And then the cop gives you $450. That's great. Did you deserve that gift? You did not.So St. Paul says, generosity starts on knowing. I deserve hell, but God promises me heaven. Jesus paid all my debts and He redeemed me. I have access to the treasures of Jesus Christ because I belong to him. Once you receive the forgiveness, you are willing to give whatever God causes you to give. They're dirt poor but the rich enjoy their overflow and wealth of generosity. Do you have a vision? Are you driven with a vision for generosity? Are you driven for this? I'm not talking about just working enough to meet your needs. I'm talking about work enough to meet someone else's needs. I once heard that Rick Warren, who wrote The Purpose Driven Life, now it's a different title. What on Earth Am I Here For? It was the best selling book of all time. Hardback books after the Bible. Best selling. He made bank. And then I heard that he turned into a reverse tither where he didn't just give 10%, he gave 90%. I remember hearing that and thinking, "Oh my. Imagine doing that." And I had this desire, I'm like, "Lord, I would love to one day to be the reverse tither."And then I became a pastor. I became a church planter in Boston. How big does your 10% have to be? But I haven't lost the vision because I believe in a God of miracles. If your crypto investments go to $10 million overnight, are you going to tithe? Are you going to give a million dollars to the church? And if you can't be generous with theoretical money. This is absolute real talk because in the same way that 2.3% of the church actually clicks the link, 2.3% of the church actually gives. So there's 10 people that give most of the giving. We'll get to the tithing. I'm just going to plant this here, make you feel a little uncomfortable knowing that we'll get there. By the time we get there you're going to forget that you were uncomfortable, okay? And what are you doing to make the vision a reality? Whoever doesn't work shouldn't eat, Scripture says. And if you do work, you're going to work hard enough to have something else to share.You work hard enough to put yourself in a position where you can be exorbitantly, lavishly, liberally generous. Not conserving, just conserving everything that you're given. So you got to ask your yourself whenever you're making... I just want to plant the vision in your heart and then it's going to be you and the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit. Once you add, "Lord, how can I be driven to be more generous? Will this decision helped me become more generous?" And then you weight decision. Even when you're young, you weigh which school to go to and what to major in, how many loans to take out and how long it's going to take you to pay off the loans so that you can be lavishly generous. This vision it's not how you change your life today.It's a philosophy of life. Verse three continues, for they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means like the widow with the two mites and Jesus watched her give money to the Temple of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints and this not as we expected but they gave themselves first to the Lord. And then by the will of God to us. They first gave and said, "God, I'm yours. You did everything to make me yours. I'm yours and everything I have is yours so Lord, what would you have me do with what you have given me, both my dollars in my days? My time, my treasure, my talent. Everything, Lord, it's all yours." And when you have that mindset and you hear of a need, you say, "Please, let me help you." He uses the word beg. They begged. You don't think of beggars as giving, as generous. And he says, "They're begging me to take their finances to help this other church."What a vision. It's like when you start a company and it's tremendous, and the idea is tremendous. It's going to help so many people, and then someone hears it's a great idea and they're like, "Please, let me invest. Let me invest. I'm begging you, let me invest." Because you know that this investment is going to turn into something a lot more. That's what it means to give in this world. It's an investment for heaven. God keeps track of everything. I've given money away I don't even remember, I don't remember. And then somebody writes to me like, "Hey, you changed my life that one time." My family is from Ukraine and Estonia. I remember we went to visit a family member Ukraine. Their annual salary, she was an engineer, she makes $500 a year. $500, here you go, cash. It changed her life. What's $500 here? Three days of rent? You know what I'm saying? Generosity has to be precise. If you really want to be generous, you always you have extra. You're waiting for the opportunity.You hear of a need and you're like, "Yeah. What's your Venmo?" I'm going to meet the need because God has met mine. Timing is everything. How can I help? And not just finances. If you're in college, you don't have much to finances but you have time. You can be present with people. Timing is everything. How can I help with this posture of heart? What would change your day today? What do you need from me right now? How can I help? And you got to get to know people and practically this is why community groups are so important because in community group you get to know people and then at prayer request time, they're like, "Hey, can you pray for this situation? I need help." So it takes humility to get to know people, it takes humility to pray for people, and it takes humility to actually voice your need. And then it takes humility to receive the gift because there's always this mentality of, yeah. But then I owe you. No. You don't. This is a gift. You didn't deserve it. Just don't forget it. Just say thank you. Just thank you.Are you adding value to someone's life with your wealth? That's true generosity. You can't meet everyone's every need but you can at least pray. That's the bare minimum. I'll think about you. I'll expand my brain energy to actually pray for you and continue to pray for you. For example for me, what do I need? My wife hates buying prisons for me because she's like, "What can you give a man who has everything?" And I hate buying presents for her, different reason. She's not hearing this service, praise God. I can be transparent. I bought her a purse one time. Nice. Leather. Big. She doesn't like big purses. I had no idea so I gave it to her. She took it back. She took it back. Don't take it back. If it was a gift just pretend you like it, okay? So what do I need? I need prayer. I ask that you pray for me, I ask that you pray for me by name. I ask that you pray for my family, I ask that you pray for the Sikkemas and the Hoots, Pastor Shane and Pastor Andy.I ask that you pray for the staff. I ask you pray for the members of this church, and I ask you to pray for a building. I was at a pastor's meeting and they're like, "Hey, can you fill out the survey?" And it's all your personal information. They said, "What's the greatest need in your town, in your city?" I wrote church building with a school. I've been here for 12 years and if people had not moved away at the rate that they were moving away, we would have a church of thousands. It'd be a different conversation. So in the back of my mind, I'm always thinking subconsciously, what will make this a church that you're like, "I will not move away." What would that take? And in my mind, I imagine a church building so nice that you're like, "Why would I go anywhere else? I'm going to figure out how to stay here." So I ask that you pray for that.St. Paul talks about this. He talks about his generosity, the generosity with his people Macedonians and then he brings in Titus. Accordingly we urge Titus that as he had started so he should complete among you this act of grace. So Titus is there and he's like "You started the collection. Let's finish the collection so that Titus with representatives from your church can go bring this to Jerusalem. Second is generous verses seven through nine. He uses the phrase excel in generosity. 2nd Corinthians 8:7, But as you excel, you excel. Does that word do anything to you emotionally? Well, if you work with Excel, it does. He says, "In the same way that you excel in faith." I know a lot of Christians like this. "I just want to know about God, I just want to know God's word, I want to memorize the whole thing." Yeah. Keep going, "Excel in speech, excel in knowledge, in all earnestness, in our love for you-- see that you excel in this act of grace also."I went to seminary with these people who have never really done anything in... I went to seminary after working for two years in the business world and I worked in government and I realized I got to seminary, none of these people know life. They don't understand how the real world works and that's why the pastors are like, "I don't want to talk about money." This is what people think about all the time. This is what you do at your job all the time. In some sense, you're thinking about creating value and getting value. He says, "Excel in this act of grace." Not just the faith part. A lot of people they take faith so seriously that it never becomes real so it's just theoretical and works. And some people are all about works theoretically. Some people somewhere should give something. That's why the government should tax everybody and the government should figure out how to be generous so that I don't have to be.That's why whenever I hear Elon Musk gave this amount of money and then all these haters show up and they're like, "Yeah, but that's only 0.001% of his net worth." What if we made your generosity public? I want to come on in on that tweet. He's talking about generosity. Giving, excelling, liberal giving. It's as important to the faith as works is it is works, it's faith with works. It's all intertwined. And by the way, generosity is not tithing. Tithing is giving 10% of your income to your local church before uncle Sam or FICA takes their cut. That's tithing. Giving 10%. Tithing is not generosity. Tithing is just not stealing from God. It's Malachi three. You look it up. He says we are to give, and I will go against any theologian who says otherwise with the like, oh, new covenant, it was the Old Testament, not the New Testament. In the old Testament the tithe remains and then they had temple tax and all kinds of stuff. It was actually computed it was 27 and a half percent, whatever it is.Did Jesus Christ talk about tithing? He just assumed it. He assumed if you love your local church, you will give to your local church because you believe in it. And do you have a verse? Yeah, Matthew, 23:23. Jesus condemning the Pharisees. Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees hypocrites. They were the conservatives. The sad you sees were the liberals. These are the conservatives and Jesus hits both sides. "You're so conservative with your money." He's saying, "Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for you tithe mint, dill, cumin. They had a little garden. They get 10 leaves of mint. One goes to the temple." They neglected the weightier matters of the law. Justice, mercy, faithfulness.These, you ought to have done the justice, the mercy, faithfulness, the most important stuff without neglecting the others, the tithe. Do we care about justice and mercy and faithfulness? We do. Do we care about justice? I stand against any form of oppression, any form of oppression. Any form of oppression I stand against so should you, but also you got to care about giving because money flows when you love something, when you believe in something. You invest in what you believe naturally, you invest in what you love naturally. Take my money, take my wealth. Let me just apply this to dating. So all the single people, but also the married people you listen too because I'm teaching generosity here. So young men, I'm going to start with young men. You like a girl, you like a girl. She's a Christian because why would you marry a non-Christian? Marriage is hard enough.You like a girl and you know that she likes you, that's important because a lot of people just assume, you're single, I'm single, I'm of the other gender so you definitely like me. No. If you can't even read that she likes you or not, you definitely aren't ready for marriage because women communicate very differently than men do. So you got to read her, you got to read the signs. You can't be oblivious to the stuff. And if you are, you come talk to me and I will tell you, "Bro, she literally emailed me and said, Pastor Jan, please tell this person to stop. I don't like him." And then Pastor Jan is going to say, "You know what? Here's a few things that you can work on." Okay. You like a girl. She likes you. You ask her out on a date. You ask her out for dinner and you go somewhere nice. Not too nice. Not too swanky.Good food, good ambiance. You're having good conversation. Lead with the questions. Lead the conversation. You ask her about her life, about her dreams, about her vision, her beliefs, what she likes, you're a student because that's what marriage is. And then the check comes, how are we paying for this? Bro if there's any hesitation in your heart, I didn't expect her to order appetizers. If you have to do that, you're not ready. You're in the wrong place. You should be at your job, at your second job. You should be at your side hustle. There's 16 hours in the day and you're single. What else do you do with your time? Now, also you got to tip. You pay for it and you tip well, not based on, ooh, if they didn't serve me right. Have you ever been in the food industry? Some of the hardest work ever. You tip and you tip well and you'll let her know I'm a boss because that's what a girl wants.Split the bill. Let me just analyze this. It's such a cultural issue because I come in with Slavic bag. On Slavic back it's completely different. Completely. If I said I had to talk about this at church, if I said that to any of my Russian brothers, they'd be like, "Why?" They'll be like, "Oh, Americans. They don't know." You don't know. Tanya, my wife Tanya, in the first sermon, I said that she dated a guy who gave her a gift then she texted me during the sermon. She's like, I never dated him. It was just a birthday present. But this guy shows up and he wanted a date or she didn't go on a date yet. She thought he was boring because girls like to laugh and he had no sense of humor, but he had money.So he bought her a gold watch on her birthday. It didn't work. She kept the watch and she gave it to my daughter, Sophia, who still has the watch. But I had to ask, I'm like, "She's high maintenance because how big does a rock have to be to marry a girl like that?" Back to the cultural analysis, the splitting the bill you're hedging bets. And if you're hedging bets this might not work out. So I don't want to take a hit on my net worth. If you're hedging bets and you don't view this as I'm investing, if you're hedging your bets, you're in the wrong spot. You should have been at community group with her, getting to know her. Because when you get married, you got one bank account anyway so get married and your chances are higher if you pay for the bill, that's one thing. The phrase, let's go Dutch, is splitting the bill. Do you know that phrase? Let's go Dutch.Pastor Shane, who is Dutch told me that that's inaccurate. He said, "No. True Dutch people do not go Dutch in the restaurant because true Dutch people do not go out to eat. They go fishing, which is a much better date." What I'm saying is, if you really love, there's got to be generosity. And ladies, just a word, please have the humility to let the guy pay because marriage is getting an order. There's an order to creation. There's God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, husband, wife, children, angels, demons and demons became demon Satan became Satan because he wouldn't get an order where you as the wife, as a woman, you're saying is, I will follow you. I will follow your lead if you're going to lead like that, if you're going to lead with generosity.No one wants to be married to a stingy person. No one wants to be married to a mooch. No one wants to be friends with the mooch. A person who all the do is mooch off of you. They go to your house and they always come with empty hands. And you're like, at some point I'm going to stop inviting you into my house. And usually those mooches are theoretically very generous. In their heart they're like, I'm bringing my presence. Yeah bro but you got to bring presence to. This is the act of grace. That's what St. Paul is talking about. You excel in the act of grace. Do you have a vision to Excel? I say this, not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. Love can be proven. It can be tested. And you can tell if you love when your time and your talents and treasure, everything just flows into the direction of the one whom you love. And Paul uses the example of generosity, Macedonians to inspire the Corinthians verse nine, for you know the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ.This is what it's all rooted in. You know the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that though He was rich yet for your sake He became poor so that you by His poverty might become rich. This is the greatest act of generosity in the universe. The God of this universe, the son of God who always existed, there was never a time that He was not. He did not start being when he was born. No, no. When He was born and He took on flesh. That's His incarnation. That's when His humanity started, but Jesus always was. So you've got the whole doctrine Jesus Christ. He was the Christ here in a nutshell, one person, two natures. And we have the greatest motive. We have the greatest motive for the greatest act to ever happened. Why did Jesus do this? Because He loves us and He wants to make us rich. Jesus wants to make you wealthy so He bankrupts himself to make you wealthy. Jesus Christ was poor on purpose.I've heard of people get really rich and then they get poor but it's never on purpose unless you're dying and then you're a philanthropist and you give everything away. My dad says that money is like oxygen. You only need it when you're alive. But Jesus Christ did this intentionally. And by the way, people looked at Jesus Christ and they're like, "Bro, you're poor." And He's like, "But I own everything." And by the way He could have also used, He had a very particular set of skills that He could have used to enrich Himself on earth. He could have started a tremendous wine business or a baker but he chose not to. He chose to bring a different kind of wealth into the world, a wealth that really matters. That's what he did so He loved and He died. So Jesus Christ was rich.We live in a world that demonizes wealth because we idolize it. Jonathan Edwards has this thing where he talks about the cycle of idolization and demonization where you idolize something, this is my savior and you realize it can't save you, you begin to demonize it. The world does this with money. We do this with people. And this is why one of the things I say as a pastor all the time, do not idolize me. I'm not the guy. I'm not Jesus. I'm just here literally just talking about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. It's not about me. It's about Jesus. I walk with Jesus and I'm going to tell you how I walk with Jesus but it's not about me. So do not idolize me because I've seen and then all of a sudden we're not friends. Same thing the world does with money. Is it inherently wrong to be rich? No, of course not. Is it inherently wrong to be poor? No. Jesus was both.There's righteous rich and righteous poor and there's unrighteous rich and unrighteous poor. And Jesus Christ said, "I came in here. I look poor but I was wealthy." Because you can be poor and wealthy at the same time. You go to countries that are not as materially prosperous as ours and you look at their life and they live a richer life. I was reading Solzhenitsyn this week. Solzhenitsyn he is famous for The Gulag Archipelago, where he was imprisoned. And by the way, if you want to really understand what the world is going through, read him. And one of the things that he said was when he got out of The Gulag, out of the prison for speaking truth, he got out of the prison and he would write in prison and he would memorize everything that he wrote and then he would burn the papers and then when he got out, he wrote it all down and he brought his best friends into his little cabin with a dirt floor and he for five hours recited his work because that's all he could give them.And their life was changed because they were enriched. That's what Jesus is saying. What does Jesus want in return for his word? For his work? He wants gratitude. Just like each one of us when we're generous to someone just say, thank you. Romans one, they didn't thank God, we didn't thank God. That's what sin is. Sin is in gratitude toward God. Jesus says, worship me, glorify me. Verse five, and this not as we expected but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. Generosity to others as the embodiment of Christ incarnation of his embodiment. What's the most generous thing that you can do to someone? The highest level of generosity. What is the absolute generous thing you can do to someone is help them understand the greatest act of generosity for them, help them understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, my sins, everybody.And He wants to forgive you so that you will have life with Him now, eternal life that begins now and for all of eternity. There is no greater gift that you can give anybody than the word of the gospel. There's no greatest act of generosity and that's why I need to say the following. A very famous quote was thrown around in the church all the time and it goes like this, preach gospel at all times and use words if necessary. Francis of Assisi, it's attributed to him but he never wrote it. It's actually very anachronistic.(silence)It's an oxymoronic quote because how did you get that quote in my mind? Did you come up to me and put your hand on my shoulder and infuse and inject those words into my mind. Did you buy me lunch and through that sandwich or just in my mind? No, you use words. And I hear what you're saying. I understand what you're saying but you're saying, you're using words. The problem is that quote, a lot of people use it as an excuse to justify the fact that they have never shared the gospel with another human being. Well you're being a mooch. You're being stingy with your greatest gift.So share the gospel. That's the point. Speaking the gospel's the most compassionate, the most empathetic, the most kind generous thing you can do. It's also the most savage thing you can do. In a world that says, "No, you can't talk about that." You're like, "Oh yeah, I'm going to talk about that." You need to believe in Jesus, repent of your sin because you're going to hell. I don't want you to. Let's go to heaven instead together. Savage. Savage love. So what I'm trying to say is don't Assisi-fy Christianity. Let's do what Jesus did. Jesus didn't just give us fruit from the tree of life. He welcomes us into the garden and shows us where to get it. Three is gift giving. And this is 2nd Corinthians 8:10 through 11. These verses are just an application of St. Paul of these principles.So I'm going to read them fast and I might skip some. In this matter I give my judgment. This benefits you who a year ago started not only to do this work, but also desire to do it so now finish doing it as well. So that your readiness and desire may be mashed by your completing it out of what you have. They had begun to gather lapsed, perhaps false teachers came in, perhaps they won the money themselves, but he says, I want you to give now because everyone's generous theoretically until you have to cut the check, until you have to hit the send button, until you have to actually take from yourself and give to another. Verse 12, for if the readiness is there it is acceptable according to what a person has not according to what he does not have.What he's saying is it's not about the amount, it's about your desire to give. He doesn't care who gives what. I have no idea who gives what at Mosaic. I have no idea. I don't have access to any of the finances. I have no idea. I only know how much one family gives. That's my family. And I look at that number every once in a while. I'm like, is this commensurate with how much I love? Verse 13, for I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened but that as a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their need so their abundance may supply your need that there may be fairness. What he's saying is, right now, you are more prosperous than those people, so you should share. We teach little kids at home, hey, you guys share. It's not your Legos and it's not her Legos. It's my Legos.This is how you know that a child is maturing because a child actually turns around at mom who your whole life and I'm saying, did you eat? Are you hungry? Did you eat? Did you eat? You try and say, "Mom, did you eat?" There's a maturity in generosity. Verse 15. This is really a principle and he gets it from the old Testament. As it is written, whoever gathered much had nothing left over and whoever gathered little had no lack. And here he goes to when Israel is in the wilderness freed from captivity but they don't have access to food because they're in a desert. They ask God, God sends manna. So every day manna would fall from heaven. I think of manna as a Los Amigos burrito. That's how I think of manna from heaven, the surf and turf, praise God. So burritos are falling from heaven every single morning.And people they go up to grab their burrito. How many burritos are you going to eat? And you know that this burrito is actually going to go bad tomorrow so you can't save it. And you have a decision to make you grab your three burritos for the day, a very nutritious meal. There's a lot of burritos on the floor. You have decision to make. If you are an able bodied, healthy human being. The question, am I going to gather more for whom? Well, it's not for me because it's going to go bad. Am I going to gather for someone else? Perhaps was weak or frail or perhaps it was responsibilities at home like a single parent where I don't have time to go out and gather burritos.And the most industrious, the most driven would say, "You know what? This is an opportunity for me to serve my brothers and sisters. I am going to gather as much as I can to be as helpful as I can." Well that kind of vision for your life, it changes a person. It changes your capacity. One day you gathered 10 burritos, the next day you gathered 12. A year goes by and you're gathering 400 because you need to figure out how to organize people. Now you're managing other gatherers of burritos and after a while you develop the skillset of how the world works, leadership, et cetera, et cetera and then you get into the promised land and you have a certain skill set that other people do not. And this is where the gleaning laws come in. God knew this and he knew that the most industrious, the most diligent, the most self-driven and most ambitious are going to build businesses.So God says, "Look, when you build a business, when you got a farm, do not harvest absolutely every single bit. Don't maximize your profits." I want you to start a business from the perspective of generosity. And he says, "Leave things on the outskirts for the widow, the orphan and the immigrant." The American church today has lost the vision of the gleaning laws. So if you start a company, are you driven by generosity? Are you driven by greed like Facebook is, like Google is, like Apple is. If you publish an app in the app store or Google play, you know how much they take? They take 30%. They didn't build it.Let me speak to my fellow entrepreneurs. My culture creators, influencers, hustlers. Let me speak to founders. I know the heart of a founder, a heart of a founder is like a heart of a father. You are always thinking about your baby consciously or subconsciously. You have dreams about your baby. Build with generosity. To my fellow employees who work for bosses, I want you to understand that when you clock out, your boss does not. You stop thinking. You're like, "I don't get paid to think about this. I don't get paid to answer this email." Well your boss does not. So there's got to be generosity. A generous employees, generous bosses, generous CEOs, managers, generous consumers. I know a guy who's the most generous guy I have ever met. I'm going to tell you a story about him after. He's generous toward everybody except for Chipotle.They mess up his order and he is on the customer service line demanding extra burritos. Bro, generous tip. You got to tip. Most basic thing you can do. Generous lawyers, generous nurses and doctors, generous scientists, generous teachers, politicians, developers, builders, executive consultants, analysts, students, professors, generous in the food industry, generous in the international relations, generous bankers, investors, VCs, designers, artists, musicians, architects, childcare professionals. I've said pastors, athletes, comedians, and everyone I left out. And I want to speak here about someone that everyone leaves out, stay at home moms. My wife was a stay at home mom. You know in Russian what they say? What is your wife doing? And they say doma sidit. She sits at home?Come in my house for a day. Sits at home. My wife is a homemaker. That's her full-time job. That was a conscious decision. We live on one income. Why is it her full-time job? Because it's a full-time job to be my wife. So husbands if your wife works a full-time job, do not demand from her that being a mom and a wife is a full-time job. If you want it to be a full-time job, make it her full-time job. This sermon I like because this topic I like because it throws everyone for a loop. Where's Pastor Jan politically on? Let me just explain where I am politically, because the last few sermons when I go real talk people are like, "Where is he politically?" I went to Brown University. Even in the Ivy leagues it's the most liberal one. Everyone's like, "Oh, you went to Brown. Oh, that's weird. That's just weird."They don't have a business school on purpose. It doesn't help the endowment. So I went to Brown University, but I will go to church on Sundays at a Russian Baptist church as conservative in every perspective as possible. They were Republicans before they even learned English to know that they're Republicans. They're Republicans before they learned the word. So at church, I am the lib and at Brown everyone's like, "What is wrong with you?" There were tree huggers before that became a thing. And Bush was President and I bashed Bush and my dad called me a lib for bashing Bush.And then the libs love Bush now so was my dad a lib? That's where I am politically. Here's my analysis of being in these two worlds. Liberals are strong in works theoretically. The ideas when they hit the pavement, they don't work. They want someone else to be generous. Let's talk about your generosity. And conservatives, they're theoretical in the faith part. God, faith, family, freedom. Great. Let's talk about the faith. All of you need to repent. All of you. Satan sometimes comes as a Republican and sometimes he comes as a Democrat. And I'm an equal opportunity preacher. All of them need to repent, everybody. Trust in Jesus. That's what I'm saying.2nd Corinthians, I say that because on the one hand, I'm like, generosity. On the other hand, I'm thinking about homeschooling my kids. So where am I politically? I don't look at things through political lenses. I look at things through biblical lenses which makes it hard for people to make sense sometimes. 2nd Corinthians 8:16 through 18. But thanks be to God who put into the heart of Titus. So now he's talking about Titus generosity. The same earnest care I have for you for he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he's going to you of his own accord so Titus is generous with his time. With him we're sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. Great thing to be famous for. Was Paul generous? Of course he was, but he's not talking about his generosity here. He talks about Titus. The brother of preach the gospel. He's talking about the Macedonians.Being generous specifically when people do not deserve it. That's what we're talking about. My friend Walt is one of the most generous people I've ever met. He was our video guy so I'm going to talk about Walt for a second. I bought new couches for my basement from Bob's Furniture. Tremendous place. I bought these new couches. They're supposed to get delivered. So I'm waiting. I'm supposed to get delivered 3:00 PM. They got delivered at 10:30 PM so I'm like, these guys do not deserve anything. It was raining. I saw the guys, they pulled up to my place. I'm like, "Hey, why are you guys late?" And they said, "We got Storrow-ed." You know what that means? Yeah, look it up. They got Storrow-ed. I look at the truck. Yeah, they got Storrow-ed. The truck was too tall for the bridges on the Storrow. I'm like, oh, okay. This is the first time.And then it's raining. They're bringing the couches in. They scratched the mop. Either take my doors off. They wouldn't do that and I brought half the couch in and then Walt comes to me, there's three guys and he's like, "Hey, do you have any cash?" I was like, "For what?" Cash. "To tip them." I said, "Number one, it's not your couch. Number two, they didn't deserve it." And he said, "Yeah, that's why it's a gift." He gave each guy 20 bucks. 20 bucks and I gave him diet Cokes after. That's generosity. 2nd Corinthians 8:19, not only that but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out the act of grace as being ministered by us for the glory of himself in the show of good will. And then he continues in verse 20. We take this course meaning Paul himself is going to be with them, but he's not holding the money, representatives from each church are going so that no one's asking questions. That's verse 20.We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that's being administered by us for we aim at what is honorable, not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of man. So he's saying, I'm taking extra precautions so that no one has any questions. So there's no malfeasance. That's what he's doing. So this is very unique because St. Paul has an open heart. I want to be generous but he's got an open mind. He understands the way this fallen world works and he understands that there's measures to take to make sure that no one's asking questions. It's a discerning generosity. Jesus said, "Be gentle as doves but shrewd as serpents." Because what is generosity? What is grace? It's giving people a gift that they do not deserve but if you are a generous person, what can happen is people just start expecting you.You're supposed to be generous to me. And if they're expecting it, now it's not a gift. It's cheap grace, you paid for it, but it's cheap because they don't value it because they feel entitled to it. And this is why a lot of Christians get taken advantage of because you are not discerning that a lot of people are still sinners. You're a sinner, they're a sinner, all's a sinner. So there's an aspect of total depravity. So sometimes to these people, the most loving thing you can do is say, "Hey, get a job and I'll help you get a job." Because sometimes helping actually hurts and the most generous thing to do is not help. Let me just give you an illustration from one of my least favorite things to do in the world, washing dishes. I do not do it often but when I do wash the dishes, I expect everyone to notice.Because as soon as you've stopped noticing, I stop washing. And here in lie, the source of so much of the gender role struggles. It's a secret, I'm here to reveal the secret to you. Men and women view dishwashing differently. Women washed the dishes after they eat, men wash the dishes before they eat. Because man if you washing the dishes just gave you a lot of things, supply and demand. If I supplied too much then the price goes down. So this is the way, why wash the dishes every day and my wife might stop noticing when I can wash the dishes once a week and she's ecstatic?And the point is notice when people are generous to you. Just say thank you. Don't take it for granted because then it's not a gift anymore. St. Paul view generosity through concentric circles, generous to the Lord, generous to the church. He wasn't married. So I got to bring in a few concentric circles. I'm generous to the Lord. That's my first circle. My second circle is, how can I be generous to my wife? My third circle is, how can be generous to my daughters? My fourth circle is, how can I be generous to my grandchildren?Then I say, how can we generous to my parents, siblings, friends, coworkers, community group, church members, attenders, neighbors and I want to be a reverse tither. So how much we need? God's got it. Verse 23, as for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker. For your benefit as for our brothers, they're messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. So the churches are the glory of Christ so why wouldn't we invest? So prove before the churches of your love and of your boasting about you to these men. Give proof of your love in the context of finances. I'll close with the story before we go into communion, a story of Doyva and Rufina Angira. Rufina was from Siberia. Doyva was from Finland. They met in Narva, Estonia in the '80s. My dad was Doyva's manager at a factory that my dad worked at.And one of my dad's jobs was to give out bonuses at the end of the month, depending on who worked the best. Well there were drunks in the factory because everyone had to work. So if you got fired on one job, you just get another job and it's not about performance by you just showing up so they wouldn't really work. So he would take their bonuses and give it the Doyva. Salary was 200 rubles a month. My dad would make sure that it's an extra 50, 60 rubles a month extra for Doyva. The reason why that's important is because Doyva had eight kids and they were so poor that the whole family could not go outside for a walk because they didn't have enough sets of clothing. So my dad was generous to this guy. My dad shared with me this week, he said, one time, the first time he did it, Doyva will get his check-in and he's looking at it and he had bad eyesight. He's trying to figure out why is the number wrong?And then it finally hit him and he looks at my dad and he says, "May God bless you for that generosity." Well, one of the things that Doyva did was he was writing to the US Senate for a decade. He had been writing since the late '80s for a decade. Hey, I can't live in the Soviet Union as a Christian. I can't feed my family. I need refugee status to come to the United States. And he was granted it and he moved to Providence, Rhode Island. And he's the one that actually invited my family. He forced my dad to give them all the information. And then when my sister Aida was born, she was born in '88. My dad got the invitation and then finally he applied and he got a visa.So our family, with $700 in my dad's pocket, my family immigrated to the United States in Providence, Rhode Island and Doyva, I'll never forget, he came to pick us up in his beater and he was so happy to be in the land of milk and honey. That generosity, alleged generosity but then the cycle continued. My dad made it a mission in his life to help immigrants. How many times have you heard of immigrants coming? There was always finances. There was always groceries. He would help them and he would hire them. We live in a country where everyone's talking about theoretical generosity. We have 11 million undocumented immigrants living here amongst us. Are you generous to your neighbor? Receive the grace of Jesus Christ. If you haven't, grace is a generous gift giving. This isn't just a phrase, it's philosophy of life. Jesus lived like this so let us live like this.

Audio Transcript: This media has been made available by Mosaic Boston Church. If you'd like to check out more resources, learn about Mosaic Boston and our neighborhood churches or donate to this ministry, please visit mosaicboston.com. Welcome dear church to Communion Sunday. Let us pray. Heavenly Father, we thank you that you are a generous God. In the small things, you gave us an extra hour to sleep, and in the big things, you gave us your son. And Jesus, we thank you that you gave us yourself and the Holy Spirit we thank you for your presence here with us and we thank you for writing this book. Words that define reality, define love, define sacrifice, define generosity. We love your word and we thank you that you're the author of this book. You're in the room. And I pray as we hear from your word that you interpret to us what it means, to us where we are and how to apply this. I pray that you give us a vision for generosity. The same vision that's in your heart and I pray that you bless our time in the holy word. Amen. Grace is generous gift giving. That's the title of the sermon. That's the big idea. Grace is generous gift giving. I've realized recently that a lot of Christians miss out, a lot of people miss out on some of God's greatest blessings because they don't listen to God's word the way you should. A lot of people read God's word, listen to God's word. Some things said to some people by some people a long time ago. And if that's how you approach scripture, it's always going to be theoretical, it's always going to be, this is what it means to me, it's always going to be standing over in judgment over God's word. I do not listen to scripture like that. I do not read scripture like that. I know the God who wrote it and I walk with Him on a daily basis. I'm just so thankful that God is so gracious to me as to speak to me, as to communicate with me and He cares about me. Someone said that no one cares how much until they know how much you care. And God cares about me so I listened to His word. I sit there with God and I say, "You're the author, you're in the room." What does it mean? Here's how I view preaching. I view preaching as me living vicariously through Cameron Hanes. If you don't know Cameron Hanes, he's living the life that I would be living if I were not called to be a pastor. He's a hunter. You can find him on Instagram. He's got 1.2 million followers. He's a hunter and he hunts humanely. He's a bow and arrow guy. So I view myself as I go hunting into the mountain to get the moose and then I carry it back on my back and then I dress it up, and then I cut it up, and I slice it up and then I throw it on the grill. And that's what this is, that's what preaching is. And I do not chew it for you. You have to chew it yourself or else you choke on it. I made a conscious decision to change the way I preach because I'm tired of doing the homework for you. I'm tired of regurgitating to you what you can get in the ESV Study Bible. You want historical context, literary context, you want a definition of the Greek or the Hebrew word? Open an ESV Study Bible, read it. From now on, I just assume that every single one of you has read every single word in the Bible and if there's something that you do not understand, you go into the bottom of ESV, there's cheat codes to explain it to you. I say you got to do your own homework. I say this because I send out a newsletter every Saturday and at the bottom I put the text a link to the chapter. So what am I doing? I assume that you have read it but the data shows that you have not because then I see the click through-rate in MailChimp, which is 2.3%. Having is only 2.3% of the churches with me when I am... I assume you have read. So do your homework. It's like in college where the lecture makes so much more sense if you've read the material the night before. You know what I'm saying? And then you're like, "Oh, the professor got it from the book." That's what I'm saying. I told you a couple weeks ago that we're at war. And the reason why I said that is because a lot of people don't realize that we're at war and the weapons of the enemy are weapons of mass distraction to just get you distracted from what matters. Just hours of your day, you're thinking about the Metaverse, just something out there instead of real life. That's why you need to know the sword of the Spirit, you need to know this word. So it's a conscious decision because I want to spend more time in the sermon doing application and testimony. Because when I listen to a sermon, my favorite part of the sermon is where the guy up there is like, "Before he tells me how to live, I want to know that he actually lived it." So you need testimony to do that. And today, a lot of the sermons give me testimony of the blessing that it is to be generous. And I've thought about this for a very long time. I'm 38 years old and I've experienced life from the perspective of meeting generosity and I've experienced generosity from the perspective of giving and living generously. My parents emigrated to the States in 1989. My dad was 30, my mom was 27. They have three kids, fourth on the way, $700 net worth. We were recipients of generosity. And I watched my dad from this place where he received generosity grow into a place of tremendous generosity. It's hard to be generous in a day like ours. And when I talk about generosity, I'm not just talking about money, I'm talking about wealth. And wealth consists of two parts. They sound the same; presence and presents. That's wealth. Presents. Let's talk about money, presents, with a ts at the end. Presents, this is money, this is gifts, this is things, this is services. It's hard to be generous in a time where inflation, hyperinflation. Now we're going into recession so security payments are going up by 5.9%. If you look at us car market, it's a lot higher. I think we just printed another trillion dollars. Is there going to be recession? Yeah. What else are you worried about? Gas prices, job turmoil, you might have to pick up and move. Real estate, who knows? Kids, you might have to switch schools. You're talking about generosity, you want me to give money. And then there's presence. This is your time. That's our greatest commodity. It's time, it's words, it's ideas, it's encouragement, it's discipleship. It's hard to be generous with that presence in the day when there's members in the church who haven't seen their family in two years. And just being with people is just awkward right now. And then what's the alternative? It's video meetings. And if I have to sit through one more video meeting I will get Bell's palsy. That tic, the nervous tic I get when I'm in a video meeting, that's probably going to be permanent. Okay with people, okay presence, you don't know where they stand on COVID. You do know where they stand on COVID. It's hard to be generous with words when you haven't complimented a person in years. This is my philosophy of complimenting someone. When I see that they're trying, you did something different, I'm going to notice, if I notice it. Usually I have a million things in my mind but if I notice it like, "Hey, you got a haircut? Hey man, happy haircut." If a girl is like, I just know how much it costs to do your hair. I'm like, "Oh, man. That looks good." It's hard to compliment people in a day where... It's awkward. Masks make communicating so hard, especially for internationals or someone with a speech impediment. You want to text. My gift game is through the charts. I got all kinds of pictures on already. That's why we have to talk about driven generosity because no one costs into generosity. You have to talk about a vision for generosity now, here and now, but also in your life. Are you on a trajectory? Do you have a vision in your heart to be generous because that's what love is. It's generosity. That's what grace is. Grace is unmerited favor. And you can't talk about love if you can't talk about treasure. This is why Jesus said, "Wherever your heart is, that's where your treasure is." You can't talk about love if you do not talk about wealth. So that's why we're talking about it. 2nd Corinthians chapter eight. I'm going to assume you have read it. As I mentioned, this is the reading of God's holy and infallible authoritative word. May you write these eternal truths on your heart. And also if you have not read it, I challenge you after to go and read the whole chapter. I'm going to read this as we go along and relisten to the sermon because that's another thing, I assume that if you're a member or if you go here, you do not miss sermons because we pour our life, our heart into these sermon, and we're leading the church through the preaching of God's word. We're leading. So if you're a member and you're on vacation... The average member of this church goes to church half the time, half the Sundays. Stuff just comes up. You got to take a weekend trip. "Yeah, I can't live in the city." You got to go New Hampshire, you go to the White Mountains. You just travel the world and you miss and you come back, you're like, "This is a different church. I didn't go to this church. I became a member of this church?" Yeah, keep up. That's what I'm saying. All right. 1st Corinthians 16, this is the context, verses one through four. It's there if you want. St. Paul said this, he said, "The Gospel was planted in Jerusalem through Jesus Christ." Now there's a church in Jerusalem, Jesus' brother, his younger brother, half brother James, becomes a pastor. And then God sends the Holy Spirit upon the church and then God said to them, "Go and preach the gospel in Jerusalem, in Judea, in Samaria, to the ends of the earth." They didn't so God sends persecution so they start actually doing their job. And because of the persecution in Jerusalem and because there's a famine at the time, the church isn't doing well, they can't even work, they can't find jobs because people find out that you're a Christian, now all of a sudden you're fired. So St. Paul then, he hears about the church of Jerusalem, and then he's been planting churches in Ephesus, Colossi, Philippi, in Corinth. He plants these churches and he knows that they are prospering financially. And he says, "Hey, the church in Jerusalem has a need so I'm going to ask you to collect finances and then send one representative from your church. Don't give me the money." He says, "Send one representative to Jerusalem with the finances. I will accompany you." And by accompanying you, that shows us that he has no mercenary interest in the matter. It's not for him at all but he's risking life and limb to accompany them to go to Jerusalem and he actually ends up in prison because... So it shows that he's generous with his life to be generous to the church of Jerusalem. And also what he's doing is he's healing tension, racial tension between the Jewish church and the Gentile churches. What he's saying is, "We're one big family." That's the context. Three points. Grace is generous gift giving. Grace is generous gift giving. First of all Grace is, and that's what he starts with. This the first one. We want you to know brothers about the grace of God that has been given among the churches of Macedonia. Grace, unmerited favor, God saved them. They added nothing to their salvation. Grace, God predestined them before the foundation of the world. Draws them, elects them, they become Christians, it's all grace, all their sins forgiven, by the grace of God that has been given among the churches, Macedonia for in a severe test of affliction, their abundance of joy so they're experiencing affliction as well. They're persecuted as well. Their abundance of joy. They have so much joy that God saved them. And they're extreme poverty, they don't have much money. They're afflicted, they have extreme poverty in Macedonia that have overflowed in a wealth of generosity on their part. He's saying, "The church is poor." And if that tiny little church plant in Macedonia, that church plant is younger than the church in Corinth, if they were generous because they're wealthy in generosity, shouldn't you be more generous than a baby church?" That's what he's saying. And he's talking about grace. There's a difference between grace and mercy. Mercy is you don't get what you deserve, you don't get help. Grace says you get what you don't deserve. You get pulled over, you're doing 79 and 35 and the cop says you deserve a $450 speeding ticket. If you don't know what I'm alluding to, listen to last week's sermon. And the cop shows up and he's like, "Here's your ticket, $450." But then he tears it up and he says, "Oh, well. Why are you speeding?" And you say, "I'm speeding because my dad set my curfew at 10:00 PM." And he said, "I'm going to take your keys away because my dad said that nothing good happens after 10:00 PM." And I'm like, "Ah, that's when the good stuff started happening." And then the cop says, "I get it. I had a dad like that." And then the cop gives you $450. That's great. Did you deserve that gift? You did not. So St. Paul says, generosity starts on knowing. I deserve hell, but God promises me heaven. Jesus paid all my debts and He redeemed me. I have access to the treasures of Jesus Christ because I belong to him. Once you receive the forgiveness, you are willing to give whatever God causes you to give. They're dirt poor but the rich enjoy their overflow and wealth of generosity. Do you have a vision? Are you driven with a vision for generosity? Are you driven for this? I'm not talking about just working enough to meet your needs. I'm talking about work enough to meet someone else's needs. I once heard that Rick Warren, who wrote The Purpose Driven Life, now it's a different title. What on Earth Am I Here For? It was the best selling book of all time. Hardback books after the Bible. Best selling. He made bank. And then I heard that he turned into a reverse tither where he didn't just give 10%, he gave 90%. I remember hearing that and thinking, "Oh my. Imagine doing that." And I had this desire, I'm like, "Lord, I would love to one day to be the reverse tither." And then I became a pastor. I became a church planter in Boston. How big does your 10% have to be? But I haven't lost the vision because I believe in a God of miracles. If your crypto investments go to $10 million overnight, are you going to tithe? Are you going to give a million dollars to the church? And if you can't be generous with theoretical money. This is absolute real talk because in the same way that 2.3% of the church actually clicks the link, 2.3% of the church actually gives. So there's 10 people that give most of the giving. We'll get to the tithing. I'm just going to plant this here, make you feel a little uncomfortable knowing that we'll get there. By the time we get there you're going to forget that you were uncomfortable, okay? And what are you doing to make the vision a reality? Whoever doesn't work shouldn't eat, Scripture says. And if you do work, you're going to work hard enough to have something else to share. You work hard enough to put yourself in a position where you can be exorbitantly, lavishly, liberally generous. Not conserving, just conserving everything that you're given. So you got to ask your yourself whenever you're making... I just want to plant the vision in your heart and then it's going to be you and the Holy Spirit and the Holy Spirit. Once you add, "Lord, how can I be driven to be more generous? Will this decision helped me become more generous?" And then you weight decision. Even when you're young, you weigh which school to go to and what to major in, how many loans to take out and how long it's going to take you to pay off the loans so that you can be lavishly generous. This vision it's not how you change your life today. It's a philosophy of life. Verse three continues, for they gave according to their means, as I can testify, and beyond their means like the widow with the two mites and Jesus watched her give money to the Temple of their own accord, begging us earnestly for the favor of taking part in the relief of the saints and this not as we expected but they gave themselves first to the Lord. And then by the will of God to us. They first gave and said, "God, I'm yours. You did everything to make me yours. I'm yours and everything I have is yours so Lord, what would you have me do with what you have given me, both my dollars in my days? My time, my treasure, my talent. Everything, Lord, it's all yours." And when you have that mindset and you hear of a need, you say, "Please, let me help you." He uses the word beg. They begged. You don't think of beggars as giving, as generous. And he says, "They're begging me to take their finances to help this other church." What a vision. It's like when you start a company and it's tremendous, and the idea is tremendous. It's going to help so many people, and then someone hears it's a great idea and they're like, "Please, let me invest. Let me invest. I'm begging you, let me invest." Because you know that this investment is going to turn into something a lot more. That's what it means to give in this world. It's an investment for heaven. God keeps track of everything. I've given money away I don't even remember, I don't remember. And then somebody writes to me like, "Hey, you changed my life that one time." My family is from Ukraine and Estonia. I remember we went to visit a family member Ukraine. Their annual salary, she was an engineer, she makes $500 a year. $500, here you go, cash. It changed her life. What's $500 here? Three days of rent? You know what I'm saying? Generosity has to be precise. If you really want to be generous, you always you have extra. You're waiting for the opportunity. You hear of a need and you're like, "Yeah. What's your Venmo?" I'm going to meet the need because God has met mine. Timing is everything. How can I help? And not just finances. If you're in college, you don't have much to finances but you have time. You can be present with people. Timing is everything. How can I help with this posture of heart? What would change your day today? What do you need from me right now? How can I help? And you got to get to know people and practically this is why community groups are so important because in community group you get to know people and then at prayer request time, they're like, "Hey, can you pray for this situation? I need help." So it takes humility to get to know people, it takes humility to pray for people, and it takes humility to actually voice your need. And then it takes humility to receive the gift because there's always this mentality of, yeah. But then I owe you. No. You don't. This is a gift. You didn't deserve it. Just don't forget it. Just say thank you. Just thank you. Are you adding value to someone's life with your wealth? That's true generosity. You can't meet everyone's every need but you can at least pray. That's the bare minimum. I'll think about you. I'll expand my brain energy to actually pray for you and continue to pray for you. For example for me, what do I need? My wife hates buying prisons for me because she's like, "What can you give a man who has everything?" And I hate buying presents for her, different reason. She's not hearing this service, praise God. I can be transparent. I bought her a purse one time. Nice. Leather. Big. She doesn't like big purses. I had no idea so I gave it to her. She took it back. She took it back. Don't take it back. If it was a gift just pretend you like it, okay? So what do I need? I need prayer. I ask that you pray for me, I ask that you pray for me by name. I ask that you pray for my family, I ask that you pray for the Sikkemas and the Hoots, Pastor Shane and Pastor Andy. I ask that you pray for the staff. I ask you pray for the members of this church, and I ask you to pray for a building. I was at a pastor's meeting and they're like, "Hey, can you fill out the survey?" And it's all your personal information. They said, "What's the greatest need in your town, in your city?" I wrote church building with a school. I've been here for 12 years and if people had not moved away at the rate that they were moving away, we would have a church of thousands. It'd be a different conversation. So in the back of my mind, I'm always thinking subconsciously, what will make this a church that you're like, "I will not move away." What would that take? And in my mind, I imagine a church building so nice that you're like, "Why would I go anywhere else? I'm going to figure out how to stay here." So I ask that you pray for that. St. Paul talks about this. He talks about his generosity, the generosity with his people Macedonians and then he brings in Titus. Accordingly we urge Titus that as he had started so he should complete among you this act of grace. So Titus is there and he's like "You started the collection. Let's finish the collection so that Titus with representatives from your church can go bring this to Jerusalem. Second is generous verses seven through nine. He uses the phrase excel in generosity. 2nd Corinthians 8:7, But as you excel, you excel. Does that word do anything to you emotionally? Well, if you work with Excel, it does. He says, "In the same way that you excel in faith." I know a lot of Christians like this. "I just want to know about God, I just want to know God's word, I want to memorize the whole thing." Yeah. Keep going, "Excel in speech, excel in knowledge, in all earnestness, in our love for you-- see that you excel in this act of grace also." I went to seminary with these people who have never really done anything in... I went to seminary after working for two years in the business world and I worked in government and I realized I got to seminary, none of these people know life. They don't understand how the real world works and that's why the pastors are like, "I don't want to talk about money." This is what people think about all the time. This is what you do at your job all the time. In some sense, you're thinking about creating value and getting value. He says, "Excel in this act of grace." Not just the faith part. A lot of people they take faith so seriously that it never becomes real so it's just theoretical and works. And some people are all about works theoretically. Some people somewhere should give something. That's why the government should tax everybody and the government should figure out how to be generous so that I don't have to be. That's why whenever I hear Elon Musk gave this amount of money and then all these haters show up and they're like, "Yeah, but that's only 0.001% of his net worth." What if we made your generosity public? I want to come on in on that tweet. He's talking about generosity. Giving, excelling, liberal giving. It's as important to the faith as works is it is works, it's faith with works. It's all intertwined. And by the way, generosity is not tithing. Tithing is giving 10% of your income to your local church before uncle Sam or FICA takes their cut. That's tithing. Giving 10%. Tithing is not generosity. Tithing is just not stealing from God. It's Malachi three. You look it up. He says we are to give, and I will go against any theologian who says otherwise with the like, oh, new covenant, it was the Old Testament, not the New Testament. In the old Testament the tithe remains and then they had temple tax and all kinds of stuff. It was actually computed it was 27 and a half percent, whatever it is. Did Jesus Christ talk about tithing? He just assumed it. He assumed if you love your local church, you will give to your local church because you believe in it. And do you have a verse? Yeah, Matthew, 23:23. Jesus condemning the Pharisees. Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees hypocrites. They were the conservatives. The sad you sees were the liberals. These are the conservatives and Jesus hits both sides. "You're so conservative with your money." He's saying, "Woe to you Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites for you tithe mint, dill, cumin. They had a little garden. They get 10 leaves of mint. One goes to the temple." They neglected the weightier matters of the law. Justice, mercy, faithfulness. These, you ought to have done the justice, the mercy, faithfulness, the most important stuff without neglecting the others, the tithe. Do we care about justice and mercy and faithfulness? We do. Do we care about justice? I stand against any form of oppression, any form of oppression. Any form of oppression I stand against so should you, but also you got to care about giving because money flows when you love something, when you believe in something. You invest in what you believe naturally, you invest in what you love naturally. Take my money, take my wealth. Let me just apply this to dating. So all the single people, but also the married people you listen too because I'm teaching generosity here. So young men, I'm going to start with young men. You like a girl, you like a girl. She's a Christian because why would you marry a non-Christian? Marriage is hard enough. You like a girl and you know that she likes you, that's important because a lot of people just assume, you're single, I'm single, I'm of the other gender so you definitely like me. No. If you can't even read that she likes you or not, you definitely aren't ready for marriage because women communicate very differently than men do. So you got to read her, you got to read the signs. You can't be oblivious to the stuff. And if you are, you come talk to me and I will tell you, "Bro, she literally emailed me and said, Pastor Jan, please tell this person to stop. I don't like him." And then Pastor Jan is going to say, "You know what? Here's a few things that you can work on." Okay. You like a girl. She likes you. You ask her out on a date. You ask her out for dinner and you go somewhere nice. Not too nice. Not too swanky. Good food, good ambiance. You're having good conversation. Lead with the questions. Lead the conversation. You ask her about her life, about her dreams, about her vision, her beliefs, what she likes, you're a student because that's what marriage is. And then the check comes, how are we paying for this? Bro if there's any hesitation in your heart, I didn't expect her to order appetizers. If you have to do that, you're not ready. You're in the wrong place. You should be at your job, at your second job. You should be at your side hustle. There's 16 hours in the day and you're single. What else do you do with your time? Now, also you got to tip. You pay for it and you tip well, not based on, ooh, if they didn't serve me right. Have you ever been in the food industry? Some of the hardest work ever. You tip and you tip well and you'll let her know I'm a boss because that's what a girl wants. Split the bill. Let me just analyze this. It's such a cultural issue because I come in with Slavic bag. On Slavic back it's completely different. Completely. If I said I had to talk about this at church, if I said that to any of my Russian brothers, they'd be like, "Why?" They'll be like, "Oh, Americans. They don't know." You don't know. Tanya, my wife Tanya, in the first sermon, I said that she dated a guy who gave her a gift then she texted me during the sermon. She's like, I never dated him. It was just a birthday present. But this guy shows up and he wanted a date or she didn't go on a date yet. She thought he was boring because girls like to laugh and he had no sense of humor, but he had money. So he bought her a gold watch on her birthday. It didn't work. She kept the watch and she gave it to my daughter, Sophia, who still has the watch. But I had to ask, I'm like, "She's high maintenance because how big does a rock have to be to marry a girl like that?" Back to the cultural analysis, the splitting the bill you're hedging bets. And if you're hedging bets this might not work out. So I don't want to take a hit on my net worth. If you're hedging bets and you don't view this as I'm investing, if you're hedging your bets, you're in the wrong spot. You should have been at community group with her, getting to know her. Because when you get married, you got one bank account anyway so get married and your chances are higher if you pay for the bill, that's one thing. The phrase, let's go Dutch, is splitting the bill. Do you know that phrase? Let's go Dutch. Pastor Shane, who is Dutch told me that that's inaccurate. He said, "No. True Dutch people do not go Dutch in the restaurant because true Dutch people do not go out to eat. They go fishing, which is a much better date." What I'm saying is, if you really love, there's got to be generosity. And ladies, just a word, please have the humility to let the guy pay because marriage is getting an order. There's an order to creation. There's God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit, husband, wife, children, angels, demons and demons became demon Satan became Satan because he wouldn't get an order where you as the wife, as a woman, you're saying is, I will follow you. I will follow your lead if you're going to lead like that, if you're going to lead with generosity. No one wants to be married to a stingy person. No one wants to be married to a mooch. No one wants to be friends with the mooch. A person who all the do is mooch off of you. They go to your house and they always come with empty hands. And you're like, at some point I'm going to stop inviting you into my house. And usually those mooches are theoretically very generous. In their heart they're like, I'm bringing my presence. Yeah bro but you got to bring presence to. This is the act of grace. That's what St. Paul is talking about. You excel in the act of grace. Do you have a vision to Excel? I say this, not as a command, but to prove by the earnestness of others that your love also is genuine. Love can be proven. It can be tested. And you can tell if you love when your time and your talents and treasure, everything just flows into the direction of the one whom you love. And Paul uses the example of generosity, Macedonians to inspire the Corinthians verse nine, for you know the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ. This is what it's all rooted in. You know the grace of our Lord, Jesus Christ, that though He was rich yet for your sake He became poor so that you by His poverty might become rich. This is the greatest act of generosity in the universe. The God of this universe, the son of God who always existed, there was never a time that He was not. He did not start being when he was born. No, no. When He was born and He took on flesh. That's His incarnation. That's when His humanity started, but Jesus always was. So you've got the whole doctrine Jesus Christ. He was the Christ here in a nutshell, one person, two natures. And we have the greatest motive. We have the greatest motive for the greatest act to ever happened. Why did Jesus do this? Because He loves us and He wants to make us rich. Jesus wants to make you wealthy so He bankrupts himself to make you wealthy. Jesus Christ was poor on purpose. I've heard of people get really rich and then they get poor but it's never on purpose unless you're dying and then you're a philanthropist and you give everything away. My dad says that money is like oxygen. You only need it when you're alive. But Jesus Christ did this intentionally. And by the way, people looked at Jesus Christ and they're like, "Bro, you're poor." And He's like, "But I own everything." And by the way He could have also used, He had a very particular set of skills that He could have used to enrich Himself on earth. He could have started a tremendous wine business or a baker but he chose not to. He chose to bring a different kind of wealth into the world, a wealth that really matters. That's what he did so He loved and He died. So Jesus Christ was rich. We live in a world that demonizes wealth because we idolize it. Jonathan Edwards has this thing where he talks about the cycle of idolization and demonization where you idolize something, this is my savior and you realize it can't save you, you begin to demonize it. The world does this with money. We do this with people. And this is why one of the things I say as a pastor all the time, do not idolize me. I'm not the guy. I'm not Jesus. I'm just here literally just talking about Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus, Jesus. It's not about me. It's about Jesus. I walk with Jesus and I'm going to tell you how I walk with Jesus but it's not about me. So do not idolize me because I've seen and then all of a sudden we're not friends. Same thing the world does with money. Is it inherently wrong to be rich? No, of course not. Is it inherently wrong to be poor? No. Jesus was both. There's righteous rich and righteous poor and there's unrighteous rich and unrighteous poor. And Jesus Christ said, "I came in here. I look poor but I was wealthy." Because you can be poor and wealthy at the same time. You go to countries that are not as materially prosperous as ours and you look at their life and they live a richer life. I was reading Solzhenitsyn this week. Solzhenitsyn he is famous for The Gulag Archipelago, where he was imprisoned. And by the way, if you want to really understand what the world is going through, read him. And one of the things that he said was when he got out of The Gulag, out of the prison for speaking truth, he got out of the prison and he would write in prison and he would memorize everything that he wrote and then he would burn the papers and then when he got out, he wrote it all down and he brought his best friends into his little cabin with a dirt floor and he for five hours recited his work because that's all he could give them. And their life was changed because they were enriched. That's what Jesus is saying. What does Jesus want in return for his word? For his work? He wants gratitude. Just like each one of us when we're generous to someone just say, thank you. Romans one, they didn't thank God, we didn't thank God. That's what sin is. Sin is in gratitude toward God. Jesus says, worship me, glorify me. Verse five, and this not as we expected but they gave themselves first to the Lord and then by the will of God to us. Generosity to others as the embodiment of Christ incarnation of his embodiment. What's the most generous thing that you can do to someone? The highest level of generosity. What is the absolute generous thing you can do to someone is help them understand the greatest act of generosity for them, help them understand that Jesus Christ died on the cross for your sins, my sins, everybody. And He wants to forgive you so that you will have life with Him now, eternal life that begins now and for all of eternity. There is no greater gift that you can give anybody than the word of the gospel. There's no greatest act of generosity and that's why I need to say the following. A very famous quote was thrown around in the church all the time and it goes like this, preach gospel at all times and use words if necessary. Francis of Assisi, it's attributed to him but he never wrote it. It's actually very anachronistic. (silence) It's an oxymoronic quote because how did you get that quote in my mind? Did you come up to me and put your hand on my shoulder and infuse and inject those words into my mind. Did you buy me lunch and through that sandwich or just in my mind? No, you use words. And I hear what you're saying. I understand what you're saying but you're saying, you're using words. The problem is that quote, a lot of people use it as an excuse to justify the fact that they have never shared the gospel with another human being. Well you're being a mooch. You're being stingy with your greatest gift. So share the gospel. That's the point. Speaking the gospel's the most compassionate, the most empathetic, the most kind generous thing you can do. It's also the most savage thing you can do. In a world that says, "No, you can't talk about that." You're like, "Oh yeah, I'm going to talk about that." You need to believe in Jesus, repent of your sin because you're going to hell. I don't want you to. Let's go to heaven instead together. Savage. Savage love. So what I'm trying to say is don't Assisi-fy Christianity. Let's do what Jesus did. Jesus didn't just give us fruit from the tree of life. He welcomes us into the garden and shows us where to get it. Three is gift giving. And this is 2nd Corinthians 8:10 through 11. These verses are just an application of St. Paul of these principles. So I'm going to read them fast and I might skip some. In this matter I give my judgment. This benefits you who a year ago started not only to do this work, but also desire to do it so now finish doing it as well. So that your readiness and desire may be mashed by your completing it out of what you have. They had begun to gather lapsed, perhaps false teachers came in, perhaps they won the money themselves, but he says, I want you to give now because everyone's generous theoretically until you have to cut the check, until you have to hit the send button, until you have to actually take from yourself and give to another. Verse 12, for if the readiness is there it is acceptable according to what a person has not according to what he does not have. What he's saying is it's not about the amount, it's about your desire to give. He doesn't care who gives what. I have no idea who gives what at Mosaic. I have no idea. I don't have access to any of the finances. I have no idea. I only know how much one family gives. That's my family. And I look at that number every once in a while. I'm like, is this commensurate with how much I love? Verse 13, for I do not mean that others should be eased and you burdened but that as a matter of fairness, your abundance at the present time should supply their need so their abundance may supply your need that there may be fairness. What he's saying is, right now, you are more prosperous than those people, so you should share. We teach little kids at home, hey, you guys share. It's not your Legos and it's not her Legos. It's my Legos. This is how you know that a child is maturing because a child actually turns around at mom who your whole life and I'm saying, did you eat? Are you hungry? Did you eat? Did you eat? You try and say, "Mom, did you eat?" There's a maturity in generosity. Verse 15. This is really a principle and he gets it from the old Testament. As it is written, whoever gathered much had nothing left over and whoever gathered little had no lack. And here he goes to when Israel is in the wilderness freed from captivity but they don't have access to food because they're in a desert. They ask God, God sends manna. So every day manna would fall from heaven. I think of manna as a Los Amigos burrito. That's how I think of manna from heaven, the surf and turf, praise God. So burritos are falling from heaven every single morning. And people they go up to grab their burrito. How many burritos are you going to eat? And you know that this burrito is actually going to go bad tomorrow so you can't save it. And you have a decision to make you grab your three burritos for the day, a very nutritious meal. There's a lot of burritos on the floor. You have decision to make. If you are an able bodied, healthy human being. The question, am I going to gather more for whom? Well, it's not for me because it's going to go bad. Am I going to gather for someone else? Perhaps was weak or frail or perhaps it was responsibilities at home like a single parent where I don't have time to go out and gather burritos. And the most industrious, the most driven would say, "You know what? This is an opportunity for me to serve my brothers and sisters. I am going to gather as much as I can to be as helpful as I can." Well that kind of vision for your life, it changes a person. It changes your capacity. One day you gathered 10 burritos, the next day you gathered 12. A year goes by and you're gathering 400 because you need to figure out how to organize people. Now you're managing other gatherers of burritos and after a while you develop the skillset of how the world works, leadership, et cetera, et cetera and then you get into the promised land and you have a certain skill set that other people do not. And this is where the gleaning laws come in. God knew this and he knew that the most industrious, the most diligent, the most self-driven and most ambitious are going to build businesses. So God says, "Look, when you build a business, when you got a farm, do not harvest absolutely every single bit. Don't maximize your profits." I want you to start a business from the perspective of generosity. And he says, "Leave things on the outskirts for the widow, the orphan and the immigrant." The American church today has lost the vision of the gleaning laws. So if you start a company, are you driven by generosity? Are you driven by greed like Facebook is, like Google is, like Apple is. If you publish an app in the app store or Google play, you know how much they take? They take 30%. They didn't build it. Let me speak to my fellow entrepreneurs. My culture creators, influencers, hustlers. Let me speak to founders. I know the heart of a founder, a heart of a founder is like a heart of a father. You are always thinking about your baby consciously or subconsciously. You have dreams about your baby. Build with generosity. To my fellow employees who work for bosses, I want you to understand that when you clock out, your boss does not. You stop thinking. You're like, "I don't get paid to think about this. I don't get paid to answer this email." Well your boss does not. So there's got to be generosity. A generous employees, generous bosses, generous CEOs, managers, generous consumers. I know a guy who's the most generous guy I have ever met. I'm going to tell you a story about him after. He's generous toward everybody except for Chipotle. They mess up his order and he is on the customer service line demanding extra burritos. Bro, generous tip. You got to tip. Most basic thing you can do. Generous lawyers, generous nurses and doctors, generous scientists, generous teachers, politicians, developers, builders, executive consultants, analysts, students, professors, generous in the food industry, generous in the international relations, generous bankers, investors, VCs, designers, artists, musicians, architects, childcare professionals. I've said pastors, athletes, comedians, and everyone I left out. And I want to speak here about someone that everyone leaves out, stay at home moms. My wife was a stay at home mom. You know in Russian what they say? What is your wife doing? And they say doma sidit. She sits at home? Come in my house for a day. Sits at home. My wife is a homemaker. That's her full-time job. That was a conscious decision. We live on one income. Why is it her full-time job? Because it's a full-time job to be my wife. So husbands if your wife works a full-time job, do not demand from her that being a mom and a wife is a full-time job. If you want it to be a full-time job, make it her full-time job. This sermon I like because this topic I like because it throws everyone for a loop. Where's Pastor Jan politically on? Let me just explain where I am politically, because the last few sermons when I go real talk people are like, "Where is he politically?" I went to Brown University. Even in the Ivy leagues it's the most liberal one. Everyone's like, "Oh, you went to Brown. Oh, that's weird. That's just weird." They don't have a business school on purpose. It doesn't help the endowment. So I went to Brown University, but I will go to church on Sundays at a Russian Baptist church as conservative in every perspective as possible. They were Republicans before they even learned English to know that they're Republicans. They're Republicans before they learned the word. So at church, I am the lib and at Brown everyone's like, "What is wrong with you?" There were tree huggers before that became a thing. And Bush was President and I bashed Bush and my dad called me a lib for bashing Bush. And then the libs love Bush now so was my dad a lib? That's where I am politically. Here's my analysis of being in these two worlds. Liberals are strong in works theoretically. The ideas when they hit the pavement, they don't work. They want someone else to be generous. Let's talk about your generosity. And conservatives, they're theoretical in the faith part. God, faith, family, freedom. Great. Let's talk about the faith. All of you need to repent. All of you. Satan sometimes comes as a Republican and sometimes he comes as a Democrat. And I'm an equal opportunity preacher. All of them need to repent, everybody. Trust in Jesus. That's what I'm saying. 2nd Corinthians, I say that because on the one hand, I'm like, generosity. On the other hand, I'm thinking about homeschooling my kids. So where am I politically? I don't look at things through political lenses. I look at things through biblical lenses which makes it hard for people to make sense sometimes. 2nd Corinthians 8:16 through 18. But thanks be to God who put into the heart of Titus. So now he's talking about Titus generosity. The same earnest care I have for you for he not only accepted our appeal, but being himself very earnest, he's going to you of his own accord so Titus is generous with his time. With him we're sending the brother who is famous among all the churches for his preaching of the gospel. Great thing to be famous for. Was Paul generous? Of course he was, but he's not talking about his generosity here. He talks about Titus. The brother of preach the gospel. He's talking about the Macedonians. Being generous specifically when people do not deserve it. That's what we're talking about. My friend Walt is one of the most generous people I've ever met. He was our video guy so I'm going to talk about Walt for a second. I bought new couches for my basement from Bob's Furniture. Tremendous place. I bought these new couches. They're supposed to get delivered. So I'm waiting. I'm supposed to get delivered 3:00 PM. They got delivered at 10:30 PM so I'm like, these guys do not deserve anything. It was raining. I saw the guys, they pulled up to my place. I'm like, "Hey, why are you guys late?" And they said, "We got Storrow-ed." You know what that means? Yeah, look it up. They got Storrow-ed. I look at the truck. Yeah, they got Storrow-ed. The truck was too tall for the bridges on the Storrow. I'm like, oh, okay. This is the first time. And then it's raining. They're bringing the couches in. They scratched the mop. Either take my doors off. They wouldn't do that and I brought half the couch in and then Walt comes to me, there's three guys and he's like, "Hey, do you have any cash?" I was like, "For what?" Cash. "To tip them." I said, "Number one, it's not your couch. Number two, they didn't deserve it." And he said, "Yeah, that's why it's a gift." He gave each guy 20 bucks. 20 bucks and I gave him diet Cokes after. That's generosity. 2nd Corinthians 8:19, not only that but he has been appointed by the churches to travel with us as we carry out the act of grace as being ministered by us for the glory of himself in the show of good will. And then he continues in verse 20. We take this course meaning Paul himself is going to be with them, but he's not holding the money, representatives from each church are going so that no one's asking questions. That's verse 20. We take this course so that no one should blame us about this generous gift that's being administered by us for we aim at what is honorable, not only in the Lord's sight, but also in the sight of man. So he's saying, I'm taking extra precautions so that no one has any questions. So there's no malfeasance. That's what he's doing. So this is very unique because St. Paul has an open heart. I want to be generous but he's got an open mind. He understands the way this fallen world works and he understands that there's measures to take to make sure that no one's asking questions. It's a discerning generosity. Jesus said, "Be gentle as doves but shrewd as serpents." Because what is generosity? What is grace? It's giving people a gift that they do not deserve but if you are a generous person, what can happen is people just start expecting you. You're supposed to be generous to me. And if they're expecting it, now it's not a gift. It's cheap grace, you paid for it, but it's cheap because they don't value it because they feel entitled to it. And this is why a lot of Christians get taken advantage of because you are not discerning that a lot of people are still sinners. You're a sinner, they're a sinner, all's a sinner. So there's an aspect of total depravity. So sometimes to these people, the most loving thing you can do is say, "Hey, get a job and I'll help you get a job." Because sometimes helping actually hurts and the most generous thing to do is not help. Let me just give you an illustration from one of my least favorite things to do in the world, washing dishes. I do not do it often but when I do wash the dishes, I expect everyone to notice. Because as soon as you've stopped noticing, I stop washing. And here in lie, the source of so much of the gender role struggles. It's a secret, I'm here to reveal the secret to you. Men and women view dishwashing differently. Women washed the dishes after they eat, men wash the dishes before they eat. Because man if you washing the dishes just gave you a lot of things, supply and demand. If I supplied too much then the price goes down. So this is the way, why wash the dishes every day and my wife might stop noticing when I can wash the dishes once a week and she's ecstatic? And the point is notice when people are generous to you. Just say thank you. Don't take it for granted because then it's not a gift anymore. St. Paul view generosity through concentric circles, generous to the Lord, generous to the church. He wasn't married. So I got to bring in a few concentric circles. I'm generous to the Lord. That's my first circle. My second circle is, how can I be generous to my wife? My third circle is, how can be generous to my daughters? My fourth circle is, how can I be generous to my grandchildren? Then I say, how can we generous to my parents, siblings, friends, coworkers, community group, church members, attenders, neighbors and I want to be a reverse tither. So how much we need? God's got it. Verse 23, as for Titus, he is my partner and fellow worker. For your benefit as for our brothers, they're messengers of the churches, the glory of Christ. So the churches are the glory of Christ so why wouldn't we invest? So prove before the churches of your love and of your boasting about you to these men. Give proof of your love in the context of finances. I'll close with the story before we go into communion, a story of Doyva and Rufina Angira. Rufina was from Siberia. Doyva was from Finland. They met in Narva, Estonia in the '80s. My dad was Doyva's manager at a factory that my dad worked at. And one of my dad's jobs was to give out bonuses at the end of the month, depending on who worked the best. Well there were drunks in the factory because everyone had to work. So if you got fired on one job, you just get another job and it's not about performance by you just showing up so they wouldn't really work. So he would take their bonuses and give it the Doyva. Salary was 200 rubles a month. My dad would make sure that it's an extra 50, 60 rubles a month extra for Doyva. The reason why that's important is because Doyva had eight kids and they were so poor that the whole family could not go outside for a walk because they didn't have enough sets of clothing. So my dad was generous to this guy. My dad shared with me this week, he said, one time, the first time he did it, Doyva will get his check-in and he's looking at it and he had bad eyesight. He's trying to figure out why is the number wrong? And then it finally hit him and he looks at my dad and he says, "May God bless you for that generosity." Well, one of the things that Doyva did was he was writing to the US Senate for a decade. He had been writing since the late '80s for a decade. Hey, I can't live in the Soviet Union as a Christian. I can't feed my family. I need refugee status to come to the United States. And he was granted it and he moved to Providence, Rhode Island. And he's the one that actually invited my family. He forced my dad to give them all the information. And then when my sister Aida was born, she was born in '88. My dad got the invitation and then finally he applied and he got a visa. So our family, with $700 in my dad's pocket, my family immigrated to the United States in Providence, Rhode Island and Doyva, I'll never forget, he came to pick us up in his beater and he was so happy to be in the land of milk and honey. That generosity, alleged generosity but then the cycle continued. My dad made it a mission in his life to help immigrants. How many times have you heard of immigrants coming? There was always finances. There was always groceries. He would help them and he would hire them. We live in a country where everyone's talking about theoretical generosity. We have 11 million undocumented immigrants living here amongst us. Are you generous to your neighbor? Receive the grace of Jesus Christ. If you haven't, grace is a generous gift giving. This isn't just a phrase, it's philosophy of life. Jesus lived like this so let us live like this.

Kyle Kelly joins the guys at 17Twenty in studio this week.  If you're in the DFW construction market, you know Kyle as the nicest guy in the room.  But if you don't know Kyle, you'll learn about his journey from Boerne, to Texas A&M, a stint as the president of the student body, lessons learned from a season of door-to-door sales, and the eventual travels to Dallas to join the construction industry.  The guys spend a fair amount of time talking about Kyle's political action, involvement with the process, and encouragement to those in the industry to get involved.This is just a super conversation with a super dude.  You're going to love getting to know more about Kyle, learning some lessons from his journey, and being encouraged to focus on the things that really matter. // Show Notes //TEXO's Construction Safety Professionals Conferencehttps://bit.ly/2Zpt6BwCherish, by Gary Thomashttps://amzn.to/3pAxUitThe Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren https://amzn.to/3pAydtD

The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren Summary #4

The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren Summary #4

The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren Summary #2

The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren Summary #1

Week 3 of our Churchwide Bible Study | Rick Warren's "What on Earth Am I Here For?

Week 2 of our Churchwide Bible Study | Rick Warren's "What on Earth Am I Here For?

Chey Castro, luxury real estate guru, graduated with a perfect GPA from ASU with a degree in Finance and went on to receive a Master's Degree in Accountancy from Notre Dame. He has worked for some of the finest real estate brokerages in the Valley and recently launched the Chey Castro Group at eXp Realty. Like many of our guests, Chey has experienced the thrills of a red hot real estate market and the agonizing lows of the downturn. This episode digs into the personal challenges that are byproducts of such a rollercoaster and how, with his Christian faith, he has emerged better than ever! On this episode, Chey gets real on several issues, such as: · going from ASU to Notre Dame · his early years at DMB Associates · Silverleaf/DC Ranch · family adversity and addiction · becoming a born again Christian · his near-death experience · bouncing back with God · his big news! EXP Realty EPISODE RESOURCES Chey's website https://www.cheycastro.com/ Instagram @cheycastro33 https://www.instagram.com/cheycastro33/ Facebook https://www.facebook.com/chey.castro.9 The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren https://www.amazon.com/Purpose-Driven-Life-What-Earth/dp/031033750X Impact Church (Scottsdale) https://www.impactchurch.com/ Ephesians 3:20 - Now to him who is able to do immeasurably more than all we ask or imagine, according to his power that is at work within us, 21 to him be glory in the church and in Christ Jesus throughout all generations, for ever and ever! Amen. REAL TALK IS SPONSORED BY VIP Mortgage https://ryanmadrid.vipmtginc.com/ sGrow CRM https://sgrowcrm.com/ Xunami https://xunami.net/

Week 1 of our Churchwide Bible Study | Rick Warren's "What on Earth Am I Here For?

In this episode Sal, Adam & Justin cover 15 reasons why you may not feel well and what to do about it. 15 Surprising Reasons You Don't Feel Well. (1:38) #1 – Not drinking enough water. (2:33) #2 – Following the wrong diet for your body. (5:47) #3 – Not consuming enough sodium. (9:27) #4 – You may be having too much caffeine. (12:25) #5 – You might be taking too many supplements. (19:35) #6 – You are working out too much. (23:41) #7 – You are not changing your workouts. (27:12) #8 – Your sleep quality sucks! (30:58) #9 – You may be indoors too much. (36:46) #10 – Wasting time on social media. (40:48) #11 – You may be surrounding yourself with bad people. (43:56) #12 – Having no purpose. (47:57) #13 – You do not take any responsibility. (50:43) #14 – Maybe you are lacking focus. (54:56) #15 – You need to lighten up a little. (57:18) Related Links/Products Mentioned June Promotion: MAPS Prime, Prime Pro, and the Prime Bundle 50% off!  **Promo code “JUNEPRIME” at checkout** Visit Paleo Valley for an exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! **Code “Mindpump15” at checkout for 15% discount** Visit Drink LMNT for an exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! The Breakdown Recovery Trap, Why You Aren't Progressing – Mind Pump Blog How Phasing Your Workouts Leads to Consistent Plateau Free Workouts – Mind Pump Blog Why You Need to Mix Rep Ranges After Periods of Training – Mind Pump Blog Mind Pump #1345: 6 Ways To Optimize Sleep For Faster Muscle Gain And Fat Loss Visit ChiliPad for an exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! The health benefits of strong relationships Mind Pump #1415: 7 Ways To Find Purpose Start with Why: How Great Leaders Inspire Everyone to Take Action The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? The Alchemist The Accountability Ladder - Talent Strategy Group Mind Pump Podcast – YouTube Mind Pump Free Resources People Mentioned Arthur Brooks (@arthurcbrooks)  Instagram

Get a dose of your daily positivity as the goddesses Allyson and Julietta talk with a vibrant and zesty spirit, Vimari Roman Daruvalla, a professional life coach! After over 20 years of a successful career, she found herself bored, frustrated and discouraged.   After starting her first company, she soon discovered that her true passion has always been mentoring and strategizing the success of others. In 2014, she got certified and founded Be Productive Coaching. Most influential book(s): The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? Rick WarrenWebsite: www.beproductivecoaching.comFacebook: https://m.facebook.com/BeProductiveCoaching/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/BeProductivecoaching LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/vimariroman/ Mentioned in the show: Free Mental Fitness Positive Intelligence Info and Assessment:https://documentcloud.adobe.com/link/review?uri=urn:aaid:scds:US:4adcae85-55b8-47f2-9c50-946aab36a0a8375 Dance Studio: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC1p1udFuE1Gk7hRzgpbVVZADance Doctor: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC4fpZzRpthQiY9FN19Pi6YSubscribe To The Voices of The Goddess Channel HERE:https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCUoaguKw8KZtMtig1hSOJSAFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Voices-of-the-Goddess-356165865475415Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/voicesofthegoddess/Voices of The Goddess with Julietta the Magical PT and Allyson a Holistic Nutritionist, is a show that  supports modern day goddesses in developing their super powers and acquiring the tools they need to achieve all their desires. Allyson, a Michigander, moved to South Florida in 1993 with her fiancé, Nick. Married for 27 years with two children, Nicholas 24 and Lexi  21.  A SAHM for 24 years and now an empty nester, Allyson has discovered her true passion as a Holistic Nutritionist. Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/healthylifestyleinandoutInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/allysonkmancini/?hl=enJulietta grew up in Wisconsin and graduated with a Physical Therapy degree from University of Wisconsin-Madison. When not busy treating patients or teaching Voila Method in the US and internationally, she is making healing crystal art and jewelry, creating spiritual/healing paintings, or planning underground dining experiences. A contributing author in the best-selling book UNSTOPPABLE: Leverage Life Setbacks To Rebuild Resilience For Success. https://bodyandsoul-pt.com/   http://julietta.love/ https://soulcandycrystals.com/ https://www.facebook.com/TheMagicalPThttps://www.facebook.com/Juliettalove-108449684234840https://www.instagram.com/themagicalpt/

In this episode of The Outspoken Podcast, host Shana Cosgrove talks to Joyous Huggins, Cyber Security Analyst, about her successes planning and moving forward. Joyous talks about being the founder of both Defender Academy and the coaching program Hack Joyously. She also shares her experiences growing up in foster care, joining the Navy, and her interests in helping others.   QUOTES “Planning for my future is really what gave me the discipline to succeed. Period.” -Joyous Huggins [36:24] “I’m one of those people, even if I don’t like you, or even if I think you’re annoying, there’s something positive in everyone. There’s something that can be learned from everyone.” -Joyous Huggins [41:00] “Stop seeking side approval for skills and knowledge that you already have.” -Joyous Huggins [51:20]    TIMESTAMPS [00:04] Intro [01:37] Meet Joyous Huggins [02:07] What Joyous Does as a Vulnerability Analyst [07:01] Joyous’ Childhood [13:38] Life After High School and College [18:45] Joining the U.S. Navy [22:19] Joyous Buying and Managing a Home [24:41] Finishing College and After Graduation [26:51] Goals and Celebrations [29:30] After Leaving the U.S. Navy [37:22] Defender Academy [45:03] Moving to Baltimore and Shana’s Influence on Joyous [47:55] Hack Joyously [49:26] Office Navigation Advice from Joyous [51:47] Confidence at Work and Getting Fired [56:29] Wrap-Up Questions and Plans to Adopt [01:07:27] Outro   RESOURCES https://www.bugcrowd.com/ (Bugcrowd) https://www.hackerone.com/ (HackerOne) https://www.atlassian.com/software/jira/service-management/features/service-desk (Jira) https://www.servicenow.com/ (ServiceNow) https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/?ql=4 (Microsoft) https://www.apache.org/ (Apache) https://wordpress.com/ (Wordpress.com) https://www.linux.org/ (Linux) https://www.amazon.com/Last-Black-Unicorn-Tiffany-Haddish/dp/1501181823 (The Last Black Unicorn) by Tiffany Haddish https://www.littlecritter.com/ (Little Critter Books) by Mercer Mayer https://www.amazon.com/gp/bookseries/B00CKCWJZU/ref=dp_st_078579638X (Bailey School Kids Book Series) by Marcia T. Jones and Debbie Dadey https://www.boxcarchildren.com/ (The Boxcar Children) by Gertrude Chandler Warner https://www.umd.edu/ (University of Maryland) https://www.amazon.com/Nice-Girls-Dont-Corner-Office/dp/1455546046 (Nice Girls Don’t Get the Corner Office) by Lois P. Frankel https://www.amazon.com/Child-Called-Childs-Courage-Survive/dp/1558743669 (A Child Called It: One Child’s Courage to Survive) by Dave Pelzer https://www.purposedriven.com/ (The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?) by Rick Warren   RELEVANT LINKS https://www.linkedin.com/in/joyhuggins/ (Joyous Huggins on LinkedIn) https://twitter.com/_joyous_?lang=en (Joyous on Twitter) https://twitter.com/academydefender?lang=en (Defender Academy on Twitter)

Evangelism What is the difference between your ministry and your mission? Your ministry is in the church. Your mission is in the world. Your ministry is to believers. Your mission is to unbelievers. In sixth and final week of What on Earth Am I Here For? we finish with the topic of evangelism and reveal […] The post What On Earth Am I Here For? Evangelism appeared first on Navigation Church.

This is episode 138 of the Pam Sowder Podcast, with your host, Pam Sowder! Pam has over 2 decades of field and corporate experience and was voted one of the most influential women in direct selling. She helps match the daily needs of distributors to everyday life challenges. Pam is joined by someone from her hometown today! Brian Bosché is the CEO and co-founder of The Purpose Company; a management consultancy aimed at helping leaders and their teams discover their exact purpose and experience a total life breakthrough. His newest book, The Purpose Factor: Extreme Clarity for Why You're Here and What to Do About It, was named as one of USA Today’s top 20 books for taking your life to the next level in 2021! If you’re struggling with finding your life’s purpose, revamping your business, or sustaining consistent growth (both personally and professionally) you won’t want to miss out on this conversation with Brian Bosché! In this conversation, Brian shares how we can begin to discover our life’s purpose, how we can shift our mindset and lifestyle habits to become more productive than ever, advice on overcoming trauma, and how to discover your origin story. He also shares why ‘following your passion’ is bad advice, the 7 to 1 rule, why simply finding your purpose is not enough, and how you can leverage the power of vulnerability. You will definitely need to get out your pen and paper for this one!   Key Takeaways [:01] About today’s episode with special guest Brian Bosché. [:43] Pam welcomes Brian to the podcast! [1:09] How can we find our purpose? And why is it so important to find your purpose? [2:13] Did Brian ever make the mistakes of thinking his purpose was to simply ‘make money?’ [3:16] Why did Brian’s first business fall apart? Why was ‘making it all about the money’ actually selling himself short? [4:28] How did Brian revamp his life and business? [7:05] Can anyone change their lives? [8:28] Brian shares how we can begin to put into practice active change and growth (both personally and professionally) — and how we can sustain it! [10:21] How can we begin changing our mindset and lifestyle habits? [12:16] Remember to hit subscribe and submit your questions to PamSowder.com! [12:32] Brian shares more tips on how we can begin to shift our mindset in powerful ways. [13:59] Why is ‘follow your passion’ bad advice? [16:28] Why simply finding your purpose is not enough! [18:31] Where to order your copy of Pam’s book, Rich Girl, Poor Girl! [18:54] One of the four elements of purpose that Brian talks about is your origin story. What is an origin story and how do you find out what yours is? [22:32] Brian shares some of the ways he dealt with his trauma before overcoming it, and how he navigated his way to overcoming his trauma. [25:11] The power of vulnerability. [25:50] Brain explains the 7 to 1 rule and how to leverage it. [29:51] What in your life needs to go? [30:00] Brian offers a final piece of advice for listeners. [31:03] Where to find Brian and his book online!   Mentioned in this Episode It Works The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?, Rick Warren The Purpose Company ‘7-Figure Purpose: Live at Your Full Potential and Step Into Your Purpose’ Facebook Group Rich Girl Poor Girl: How to Become the Rich Girl You Were Always Meant to Be, by Pam Sowder The Purpose Factor: Extreme Clarity for Why You're Here and What to Do About It, by Brian Bosché and Gabrielle Bosché   Continue on your Adventure Find more episodes on PamSowder.com/Listen Reach out to her at: PamSowder.com/Connect   Reach out on Social Media! Follow Pam @ItWorksPam on Twitter — Tweet her and use #askpam #pamsowder!  

Ministry What matters in life is not how long you live, but how you live.  What matters most is the donation of your life.  In week five of “What on Earth Am I Here For?” we see that you were shaped to serve God through ministry. Ephesians 2:10, Philippians 2:17, Matthew 20:26-28, Mark 8:35, Proverbs […] The post What On Earth Am I Here For? Ministry appeared first on Navigation Church.

Fellowship In week three of Purpose Driven Life we discover that you were formed for God’s family through fellowship.  The number one reason God wants us to love each other is so the world will see our love and will want to become a part of God’s family too.  God wants us to love each […] The post What on Earth Am I Here For? Fellowship appeared first on Navigation Church.

This week we are welcoming Pastor Logan Schwandt on to the podcast. Logan is the Associate Pastor at Faith Community Church (Stateline campus) in South Beloit, IL. Listen in as we chat about his testimony, ministry and his new podcast - The Brok3n Podcast.Recommended Resources:The Brok3n PodcastThe Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

APPLY NOW to work with me! https://brookethomas321708.typeform.com/to/cHCppKqW thefaithfreebie.com Join Brooke's mental wellness team: myamareglobal.com/10039/en-US/ Follow Brooke on Social Media https://www.brookethomas.com/ facebook.com/groups/liveoutloudtribe/ instagram.com/liveoutloudbrooke linkedin.com/in/thomasbrooke How do Brooke and her husband Brett foster close relationships with their daughters and each other, prioritize their health and wellness, and run three successful businesses at the same time? Listen in as the Thomas's share the 8 areas of focus they use to set goals and map out an action plan for the year! In this episode, you will learn about… Why Brooke and Brett partner with God to work toward their BIG dreams How to define what success looks like for you and set a timeline to get there Leveraging a coach or mastermind to speed up the process The eight categories Brooke and Brett focus on to build an action plan for the year How to set goals in the area of business, finances, health and personal development How Brooke and Brett prioritize their marriage and family relationships Why it's crucial to schedule time for faith and worship How Brooke and Brett calendar block time for the things they value most and then reverse engineer a work schedule around those priorities Show Notes Curious how Brooke and her husband Brett set themselves up for success year after year? How do they foster close relationships with their daughters and each other, prioritize their health and wellness, and run three successful businesses at the same time? The Thomas's sit down at the beginning of each new year and set goals in eight key categories. And they partner with God through the process, making their faith the foundation of everything they do. On this episode of The Live Out Loud Show, Brett and Brooke walk us through the eight areas of focus they use to map out a life of significance, explaining how they action cast a vision for the year and then chart a course achieve those dreams. They challenge you to make God your CEO and invite Him into the process, defining BIG goals based on what success looks like for you and setting a clear timeline to get there. Listen in for insight on leveraging a community to accelerate your success and learn how to calendar block time for the things you value most—and then reverse engineer your work schedule around those priorities! Connect with Brett Thomas Brett on LinkedIn Brooke & Brett's Network Marketing Team Resources Believe Bigger: Discover the Path to Your Life Purpose by Marshawn Evans Daniels Pure Physique Burn Boot Camp Still: 7 Ways to Find Calm in the Chaos by Jenny Donnelly X: Multiply Your God-Given Potential by John Bevere The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren Brooke's Morning Power Hour Workbook Email brooke@brookethomas.com

What on Earth Am I Here For!? Part 7 by Pastor Ryan Kaylor

Host Jim Nicklas interviews his friend, Brandon Smith, on God's forgiveness. Brandon shares how he became addicted to immorality, drugs, and alcohol and how they affected his life. Brandon begins his story in this, the first of two episodes.Brandon Smith grew up in Acworth, three houses away from his future wife. Growing up, he raced motocross for Team Kawasaki. He started dating Jennifer in high school. When Jennifer became pregnant with their first child, Brandon quit racing motocross and they got married. Brandon was 20 and Jennifer was 18 and life was difficult. After two years, Brandon was offered a chance to race motocross for a week in the Caribbean with some racing friends. They introduced him to cocaine. When he got home he moved on to meth and heroin. Brandon hid his addiction from his family.   Jennifer caught on that Brandon was in trouble and she confronted him at her parent's home. Brandon went into an out-patient treatment center but got high in the parking lot every night. Brandon had a spiritual awakening at church and was born again. His cravings and temptations were gone. He went through a long period of spiritual growth. He went from trucking for his father to working at the Home Depot for some structure in his life. Brandon went to therapy and also marriage counseling with his wife. They were active in the church. He didn't have the Christian discipline he wanted to have, though.   Brandon talks about the evil that he allowed into his life, starting with pornography as a young man. Some people put up a good facade but feel miserable privately. Jim asks listeners to encourage each other and affirm the good choices people make. We all need God's grace and forgiveness in our lives.   When Brandon was working at Home Depot, his parents made his home payments and one time, bought groceries for him. He was humiliated. One night he put a gun in his mouth and would have pulled the trigger but his wife pulled in the driveway and he put the gun away.For a safety violation, Brandon got fired from Home Depot and started to work for his father-in-law doing commercial concrete curbs and gutters. After three years he asked to branch into flatwork. His in-laws were resistant so he went into business for himself. Brandon and his family continued to be involved in the church, including marriage retreats, youth camps, and a mission trip with his son to Nicaragua. Jennifer was home-schooling the children up to high school. But Brandon felt like he was going through the motions for appearances. Meanwhile, he had taken up social drinking. He drank outside with friends and then ducked inside to drink alone before going out again. His business was good but then '08–'09 hit and their jobs went from millions of dollars to nothing. Brandon took a job selling roofing in Texas, after a hurricane. He was by himself and lonely and bought vodka by the gallons. Brandon talks about being pulled over driving “hammered” drunk by a Texas Ranger two nights in a row for a burned-out light. The Ranger did not detect alcohol. Brandon saw it as God firing a shot “across the bow,” but it didn't faze him. He continued driving drunk. He got to where he didn't care what happened to him; whether he lived or died. Brandon fixed a wiring problem with the light because he knew he would drive drunk the third night and the Ranger would finally catch him. Jim asks listeners to take the responsibility of being a husband, father, and leader seriously and to sacrifice selfish and willful choices. Jim affirms Brandon's vulnerability in admitting his sins.Brandon arranged a concrete job back home over the phone with some of his work crew. He made enough to pay his mortgage two days before his home was to be auctioned off. Brandon stayed in Texas for five months but Jennifer convinced him the family needed him home. Brandon drove his RV with a friend from Huston to Atlanta, drinking all the way. He cut back on drinking, for a while, but drank every weekend. Then he started drinking on Wednesday, then Wednesday through Sunday, then seven days a week. Jennifer put up with his sins and he wasn't feeling the consequences. It was not unusual for Brandon to drink half a gallon of vodka in an evening. Then he started drinking in the afternoon and then at lunch. So far, he was still maintaining his business. Brandon began drinking at 5:00 a.m. and continued throughout the day.   Jim Nicklas draws Part 1 of this interview to a close.Call to Action: Jim invites listeners to come back for Part 2 of this interview. Listen on Spotify or Apple Podcasts, give it a five-star review, subscribe, share it, and help get this word out of God's grace and forgiveness. See our Website: MenBuildMen.comEmail: Info@MenBuildMen.com Marks of a Man on Facebook Jim Nicklas on Instagram   Brandon Smith on Facebook: @brandon.smith.10048 Brandon Smith on Instagram: @smithbrando60 Team Kawasaki Motocross The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren  

In this podcast with Robbie, we discussed various topics of increasing importance on the changing landscape of business models and what all it entails. Lots of businesses are struggling to get their business model right. Robbie went into details on some pitfalls and some challenges. In this book, she lays out a clear and actionable summary with stories and playbooks that are easy to follow for the readers. It's a great watch for anyone who cares to learn about forever transactions. Robbie's Book: The Forever Transaction: How to Build a Subscription Model So Compelling, Your Customers Will Never Want to Leave by Robbie Kellman Baxter https://amzn.to/2HBjJG7 Robbie's Recommended Read: Selling With Noble Purpose: How to Drive Revenue and Do Work That Makes You Proud by Lisa Earle McLeod, Elizabeth Lotardo https://amzn.to/3jpitCU Humor, Seriously: Why Humor Is a Secret Weapon in Business and Life (And how anyone can harness it. Even you.) by Jennifer Aaker , Naomi Bagdonas https://amzn.to/35Ez0xO 1776 by David McCullough https://amzn.to/31PxNmK John Adams by David McCullough https://amzn.to/3hXoQ0f The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren https://amzn.to/31TNmKk Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance by Bob P. Buford (Author), Jim Collins (Foreword) https://amzn.to/2DoXQb3 Some of the many questions we covered: 1. Explain your journey to your current role? 2. Could you share something about your current role? 3. What does your company do? 4. What is the future of work, worker, and workplace? 5 How has the membership economy disrupted how we do business today? 6. What made you write this book? 7. What were some of the surprises you met during your journey through this book? 8. If I want to test myself through the subscription economy, what are my starting pointers? 9. What are some of the failures your encounter? 10. What is a picture-perfect scenario for covering your business model? 11. How prepared are consumer expectations when the business decides to shift its business model? 12. Why did you write THE FOREVER TRANSACTION after already writing THE MEMBERSHIP ECONOMY? 13. Why are subscriptions so popular right now? 14. How does the culture of a subscription-oriented organization differ from that of a more traditional organization? 15. What are some KPIs for successful implementation? 16. How to check if your business model is ripe for a subscription? 17. What are some cases where subscription is not appropriate? 18. What are 1-3 best practices that you think is the key to success in your journey? 19. Do you have any favorite read? 20. As a closing remark, what would you like to tell our audience? Robbie's BIO: Robbie Kellman Baxter is a bestselling author, speaker, and consultant with more than 20 years of experience providing strategic business advice to major organizations including Netflix, the Wall Street Journal, and Electronic Arts. In the past ten years, her company Peninsula Strategies has advised over 100 organizations on subscription and growth strategy. Her first book, The Membership Economy was an international bestseller. Her new book, The Forever Transaction, was released in April 2020. It has been described as a true game-changer taking readers through every step of the subscription business process—from initial start-up or testing of a new model to scaling the operation for long-term growth and sustainability to revamping your culture so everyone works together to optimize customer lifetime value. For more information about Robbie go to https://www.robbiekellmanbaxter.com. About #Podcast: Work 2.0 Podcast is created to spark the conversation around the future of work, worker, and workplace. This podcast invite movers and shakers in the industry who are shaping or helping us understand the transformation in work.

What on Earth Am I Here For!? Part 6 by Pastor Ryan Kaylor

What on Earth Am I Here For!? Part 5 by Pastor Ryan Kaylor

Walt Rakowich(@WaltRakowich) on Lead with Transformative Influence in times of Change Work 2.0 Podcast #FutureofWork #Work2dot0 #Podcast On youtube: https://youtu.be/SHiCyk-7ce8 In this podcast, Walt Rakowich discussed his book Tranfluence, the insights it carries, and shared how his journey has helped him save his company that took a nosedive from $70 share to $3 share. He shared how the art of transfluence has helped him and could help many other businesses stay afloat and thriving through transformative times. Walt's Book: Transfluence: How to Lead with Transformative Influence in Today's Climates of Change by Walt Rakowich https://amzn.to/31O4ssS Walt's Recommended Read: 1776 by David McCullough https://amzn.to/31PxNmK John Adams by David McCullough https://amzn.to/3hXoQ0f The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren https://amzn.to/31TNmKk Halftime: Moving from Success to Significance by Bob P. Buford (Author), Jim Collins (Foreword) https://amzn.to/2DoXQb3 Some of the many questions we covered: 1. Explain your journey to your current role? 2. Could you share something about your current role? 3. What does your company do? 4. What is Transfluence? 5. Why write this book? 6. What this book is for? 7. What are some role models when it comes to Transfluence? 8. When do you know that you are facing a transfluence problem? 9. How to change the culture? 10. What if you are not a leader? How would you influence them? 11. What if you recently joined a company with strong cultural roots and Transfluence is not their strong suit, how to influence then? 12. Is it a good model in crises or could a company building on the principal of Transfluence tend to perform better? 13. What did you do as a leader to give your people hope when Prologis went from one of the best to one of the worst-performing stocks? 14. Why do you believe leaders need to show vulnerability now more than ever? 15. How does a crisis inform the way employees watch and listen to their leader? 16. What does it take to lead in the three dynamic climates you describe? The Climates of Access, Diversity, and Acceleration. 17. What advice do you have for emerging leaders in taking the next step in their leadership journey? 18. What are 1-3 best practices that you think is the key to success in your journey? 19. Do you have any favorite read? 20. As a closing remark, what would you like to tell our audience? Walt's BIO: Walt Rakowich is a leadership speaker and former executive of Prologis, a global real estate company that was near collapse when he took over as CEO in 2008. During the economic downturn, the Prologis stock had dropped from over $70 per share to approximately $2 per share in 10 months, making it the third-worst performing company in the S&P 500. After Walt joined as CEO, he quickly implemented a change in culture through transparency, orchestrating a dramatic turnaround and restoring its position in the industry. He is the author of TRANSFLUENCE: How to Lead with Transformative Influence in Today’s Climates of Change (Post Hill Press, September 29, 2020). In addition to speaking to audiences on a range of leadership topics, Walt also serves on a number of corporate and philanthropic boards. Before starting his business career, Walt attended Pennsylvania State University where he received his BS in accounting. He went on to earn his MBA from Harvard Business School. In his free time, Walt enjoys traveling, mentoring youth, and participating in a wide range of community service initiatives. He and his wife Sue have two adult children and reside in Colorado. About #Podcast: Work 2.0 Podcast is created to spark the conversation around the future of work, worker, and workplace. This podcast invite movers and shakers in the industry who are shaping or helping us understand the transformation in work.

What on Earth Am I Here For!? Part 2 by Pastor Ryan Kaylor

What on Earth Am I Here For!? by Pastor Ryan Kaylor

I read a quick extract from my best book of all time, The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For by Rick Warren. This book has guided me and has so much to share, so enjoy! Check out the link to get it from Amazon. https://www.amazon.com/dp/031033750X/ref=cm_sw_r_cp_awdb_btf_t1_FefBFbTZXERB4

Have you ever felt like you're stuck moving forward in your calling, but you don't know why? Or maybe you keep feeling like you're not ready yet, or not educated enough yet, or not ______ yet. I've learned that there are three key areas where we tend to hold back in pursuing all that God has for us, so I'm calling them out and sharing some practical ways to move past the fears and lies that we believe. Let's get unstuck together! Be sure to follow me @listensispodcast on Instagram and share this episode if you enjoy it! Here are a few resources I highly recommend if you're trying to find your purpose or walk out in your calling:The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren - https://amzn.to/2ZBwTbQ Dream Big: Know What You Want, Why You Want It, and What You’re Going to Do About It by Bob Goff - https://amzn.to/32rXOJeDaring Greatly: How the Courage to Be Vulnerable Transforms the Way We Live, Love, Parent, and Lead by Brene Brown - https://amzn.to/2ZwYrPy Here are some key verses to reference from the episode:Psalm 139:14Romans 8:31Ephesians 2:10Ephesians 1:4Philippians 3:13-14Joshua 1:9Colossians 2:10

This is an audio podcast of the full online-only service from May 31, 2020. We wrapped up the series "What on Earth Am I Here For?"

This is an audio podcast of the full online-only service from May 10, 2020. We were in the series "What on Earth Am I Here For?"

This is an audio podcast of the full online-only service from May 17, 2020. We were in the series "What on Earth Am I Here For?"

This is an audio podcast of the full online-only service from May 24, 2020. We were in the series "What on Earth Am I Here For?"

On this episode Nick speaks with Dr. Bryan Ruocco. The two discuss the power of the human body and how to improve on a healthy lifestyle. Dr. Ruocco’s reccomendations: BOOKS: The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren PODCASTS: The Doctors Farmacy by Dr. Mark Hyman LIFE VERSES: The Power that made the body heals the body.

In this episode of Quah (Q & A), Sal, Adam & Justin answer Pump Head questions about how having more muscle speeds up your metabolism, how to spot a good at-home workout plan versus a poorly planned one, favorite healthy food swaps, and book recommendations for the quarantine. Mind Pump's despicable movie rentals from back in the day. (7:30) How taking ZBiotics can assist with the current rise in alcohol consumption. (16:15) Doug the mule. (19:15) Sal's ‘lockdown' health hacks. (21:13) Fun Facts with Justin. (25:00) Why has In N Out closed down? (27:45) Amazon employees are striking over COVID-19 fears. (28:56) How free money is too good to be true. (29:46) How companies/industries are pivoting during this crisis. (33:21) The Mind Pump spouse questionnaire. (36:55) Breaking down Jessica's first trimester. (40:50) Italy is flattening the curve. (43:10) Home-schooling updates with Mind Pump. (43:41) #Quah question #1 – You have mentioned that the more muscle you have the faster your metabolism can be. Can you please explain this a little bit further? (49:13) #Quah question #2 - How can you spot a good at-home workout plan versus a poorly planned one? Almost everything I've seen online has me doing burpees until my knees give out. (57:45) #Quah question #3 – What are some of your favorite healthy food swaps? For example, I use greek yogurt as a replacement for sour cream. (1:07:54) #Quah question #4 – Do you have any book recommendations for the quarantine? (1:14:03) Related Links/Products Mentioned April Promotion: MAPS Prime/Prime Pro ½ off! **Code “PRIME50” at checkout** Barstool Sports The Bay Area is drinking 42% more alcohol than usual while sheltering in place Visit ZBiotics for an exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! Mind Pump 1252: Confessions of a Sports Agent Visit Joovv for an exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! Is beaver anal secretion used in YOUR ice cream? Expert reveals the surprising things you may find in food Fast-food chains are mysteriously closing, and Chick-fil-A is the latest to get hit Striking Amazon Worker Fired For 'Putting The Teams At Risk,' Employee Says He Tried To Protect Workers' Lives Flowbee Italy's coronavirus cases slow for fourth day in a row – but Spain's death toll jumps past 4,000 Mind Pump 1027: 3 Steps to Speed Up Your Metabolism Mind Pump 548: Ben Pakulski is Giving Away 100 Pounds of Pure Muscle Special Promotion: MAPS Anywhere ½ off!! **Code “WHITE50” at checkout** Mind Pump 1082: The Truth About Beachbody® A New Earth: Awakening to Your Life's Purpose – Book by Eckhart Tolle Fingerprints of the Gods – Book by Graham Hancock Little Blue Truck board book – Book by Alice Schertle How an Economy Grows and Why It Crashes – Book by Peter D. Schiff Great Teams: 16 Things High Performing Organizations Do Differently – Book by Don Yaeger Nobody Knows How to Make a Pizza – Book by Julie Borowski Bishop Barron on the Coronavirus Quarantine The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? - Book by Rick Warren Mind Pump Free Resources People Mentioned Layne Norton, PhD (@biolayne)  Instagram Ben Pakulski (@bpakfitness)  Instagram Bishop Robert Barron (@bishopbarron)  Instagram  

Dr. Nathan Regier welcomes Tom Henry who is currently the learning and development coordinator for Whole Foods Market; his background is remarkable and he has vast professional experience in retail, leadership and executive development. The experience of retail has tremendously changed in the past 35 years, including the retail implosion of the 80 ́s and 90 ́s leading to the rise of the digital economy.   Tom Henry is an avid believer in conscious capitalism and he’s become a respected voice in his community, his services both within Whole Foods and outside in the broader business community is truly inspiring. In today’s interview, he will share the principles of conscious capitalism while diving deep in the concepts of collective consciousness, diversity, inclusion, conflict, transformation, values and needs.    Key Takeaways: [2:20] Tom Henry shares his experience in Berlin where he was invited to talk about conscious capitalism. [5:06] Tom Henry talks about the origins of his interest in conscious capitalism.  [6:45] Conscious capitalism is about a higher purpose and that business is best when is not just about profit. [8:05] The four tenets of conscious capitalism. [09:46] The loss of purpose we experience as a society it is a consequence of the struggle of the world economies. [11:01] It is not about what we do, but about who we are and how we are when we are doing it. [11:10] First principle: Acknowledging your higher purpose. [13:51] Do what you can where you are. [14:50] Second principle: We think we are separate individuals, but we are actually just one collective consciousness. [18:02] When we observe something, we are part of it. [19:26] The ultimate diversity and inclusion is when you are able to see yourself as the other next to you. [21:04] The third principle: Transformation occurs through dialogue. [22:57] Values reflect our needs and motivations. [24:44] Tom Henry shares how the four core principles come alive in Whole Foods Market. [26:54] When there is no conflict in a company it could be a result of people being passive or hiding. [29:19] What do you want to be? Do you want to be right or do you want to be whole? [30:38] Tom Henry shares his perception of compassion. [32:43] Lighting round. [38:37] Nate’s three key takeaways from this conversation: We are in this together. Transformation occurs through dialogue. Values unite and beliefs separate.   Mentioned in this episode: The Compassion Mindset The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?, by Rick Warren Barrett Values Centre, Personal Values Assessment Tom Henry on Linkedin

This week, Sam Falco is hosting the podcast once again! He’s invited on his colleague and friend, Adam Ulery, who is a Senior Agile Coach at AgileThought. Adam is a perpetually curious, continuous learner who is always willing to encourage others to try new things (as he very often does himself). He is very focused on helping organizations clarify and meet their business outcomes, and loves to help companies become resilient and rediscover their curiosity.   Today, they’re sharing their best tips for new Scrum Masters. When Sam and Adam were new Scrum Masters they found that there were not a lot of experienced Scrum Masters that were accessible to them. In fact, they didn’t even have access to many of the common resources that exist today! So today they want to share all that they’ve learned over the course of their careers and lend a hand to all of the new Scrum Masters out there!   Key Takeaways Tips for the new Scrum Master: Seek to understand where the team is in terms of their Scrum maturity level Observe the team without immediately trying to make changes to the way the team does things to inform yourself about where they are Ask yourself: ‘How well is what they’re doing working for them? Are they working well together as a team?’ If these things look good in-person even though they could look incorrect on-paper you may not want to change these things Do some sort of an assessment with the team to establish a baseline for where they are and how they’re executing Scrum (then periodically reassess down the line) Have the team self-assess Create a shared team vision Regardless of your experience level, educate yourself on the craft Get involved with a community group to improve your area of practice (and if there isn’t one where you are, start one) Indulge in books around your craft — they’re a great resource for taking you to the next level Go to conferences, big or small Tips for the new Scrum Master who is assigned to a pre-existing team: Start by working with them on the areas that need improvement (based off of an assessment) by getting the team’s input and having the team decide what they’d like to work on (assuming they’re mature enough to want to do that) Receive constant feedback by creating an open channel with the team to communicate Have transparency with what you’re doing there and what you want for them How to become a more effective Scrum Master: Find a mentor Be a mentor — just because you’re new doesn’t mean you have nothing to offer Become a speaker — you’ll discover you know more than you thought you did   Mentioned in this Episode: The Scrum Guide The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People: Powerful Lessons in Personal Change, by Stephen R. Covey Tampa Bay ScrumMasters Guild Ken Schwaber Agile Project Management with Scrum, by Ken Schwaber Software Estimation Without Guessing: Effective Planning in an Imperfect World, by George Dinwiddie The Water Dancer, by Ta-Nehisi Coates   Adam Ulery’s Book Picks: Antifragile: Things That Gain from Disorder, by Nassim Nicholas Taleb Killing Sacred Cows: Overcoming the Financial Myths That Are Destroying Your Prosperity, by Garrett B. Gunderson and Stephen Palmer The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren The DevOps Handbook: How to Create World-Class Agility, Reliability, and Security in Technology Organizations, by Gene Kim, Patrick Debois, John Willis, and Jez Humble   Want to Learn More or Get in Touch? Visit the website and catch up with all the episodes on AgileThought.com! Email your thoughts or suggestions to Podcast@AgileThought.com or Tweet @AgileThought using #AgileThoughtPodcast!

In this episode of Quah (Q & A), Sal, Adam & Justin answer Pump Head questions about whether squats and lunges are bad for your knees, squatting on a Smith machine, how to setup and execute a close grip bench press, and using net carbs when counting your macros. XFL comeback date is set. Will the guys be watching? (5:54) Old ‘fit' awesome looking people. (8:37) Do you communicate with the intent to impress or influence? (14:34) Old people rage stories. (17:03) Why is Gwyneth Paltrow selling a candle that smells like a certain body part? Would the guys buy it? (21:57) Sex after kids. (28:22) Mind Pump reminisces on Rush and their drummer Neil Peart. (34:56) Sal's a big ‘wing' guy. (37:52) Tesla hitting new highs in the stock market! (40:45) Can a wristband tell you what you should and shouldn't eat based on your DNA? (42:47) #Quah question #1 – Are squats and lunges bad for your knees? (47:03) #Quah question #2 – Is squatting on a Smith machine still beneficial if your gym doesn't have a free weight squat rack? (54:13) #Quah question #3 – Apart from the hand position, how are the setup and execution a close grip bench press and a standard bench press different? (1:00:19) #Quah question #4 – Can you explain net carbs? Is this even important to consider when counting your macros? (1:03:11) People Mentioned Hunter McIntyre (@huntthesheriff)  Instagram Jason Phillips (@jasonphillipsisnutrition)  Instagram Adam Ray (@adamraycomedy)  Instagram   Related Links/Products Mentioned January Promotion: MAPS HIIT ½ off! **Code “HIIT50” at checkout** Grace and Frankie | Netflix Official Site The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? - Book by Rick Warren Are you a Mind Pump Listener? Get NCI's Top Selling Thyroid MASTERCLASS...for free! Gwyneth Paltrow's got a $75 "smells like my vagina" candle Rush Drummer Neil Peart Dead at 67 - Rolling Stone Visit Butcher Box for this month's exclusive Mind Pump offer! Musk nears $346 million payday as Tesla market value soars DnaNudge wristband tells you what you should and shouldn't eat The ONLY Way You Should Be Doing Lunges! (Build GREAT Legs) - Mind Pump TV How to Box Squat to Improve Your Squat Form – Mind Pump TV The Only Way You Should Be Doing Bulgarian Split Squats! (BUTT GROWTH) - Mind Pump TV Mind Pump Free Resources

Dave Ebert is a comedian and founder of Well Versed Comedy, and a fellow podcaster. Today, Dave shares the story of how he learned improv in professional wrestling, faced depression and suicidal thoughts, and found a new start in comedy. Dave is transparent about going through the dark seasons and we spend a few minutes talking about why the funniest people are sometimes the most depressed. It's a tragedy that needn't persist. Dave is passionate about helping those on the brink while also bringing some laughter and cheer. How the Lord brought him here is a fun story. Listen to Dave's story now! Stories Dave shared: Growing up in Illinois and moving to Virginia The lack of discipleship he had as a child Dealing with depression and contemplating suicide Why he used humor to cover up his real feelings What to signs of depression to look for in your funny friends Getting into professional wrestling How professional wrestling set him up for improv Learning how to not treat God like a genie Getting mad at God when he didn't show up Starting over again in Illinois Starting Well Versed Comedy and finding himself Using his “sacred scars” to help others Great quotes from Dave: We're too afraid to get our hands dirty and find out the truth. On the mountain there were two choices, I can take my life or I can give my life. I've got quite a few of those sacred scars that I'm using through various things I'm involved in. Take that next breath. Take that next step. Live that next hour. Live that next day. Because it's worth it and God will use it once you're ready to give it over to him. Resources we mentioned: Dave's website Well Versed Comedy The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? by Rick Warren My appearance on Dave's show Gifts4Glory Reach out to Dave if you're struggling with suicidal thoughts: Dave@gifts4glory.com Related episodes: Mike Savage and God's Great Self-Sacrifical Love Julie Court and the Power of Forgiveness Jim Barnard Finds Hope in Suffering through Community The post Dave Ebert and A Funny Way to Overcome Depression appeared first on Eric Nevins.

In Episode 35, “Lessons Learned from the Test,”  Kim talks about the lessons we can learn from the tests in life.   Our specific scripture text for today is Judges 2:20-3:2, with special emphasis on 2:22 and 3:2.   20 So the Lord burned with anger against Israel. He said, “Because these people have violated my covenant, which I made with their ancestors, and have ignored my commands, 21 I will no longer drive out the nations that Joshua left unconquered when he died. 22 I did this to test Israel—to see whether or not they would follow the ways of the Lord as their ancestors did.” 23 That is why the Lord left those nations in place. He did not quickly drive them out or allow Joshua to conquer them all. 1 These are the nations that the Lord left in the land to test those Israelites who had not experienced the wars of Canaan. 2 He did this to teach warfare to generations of Israelites who had no experience in battle.    Kim uses Chapter 28 of Pastor Rick Warren's “The Purpose-Driven Life:  What on Earth Am I Here For?” book to help apply some of the lessons for today.  Her favorite quote in the book is this: “While we worry about how fast we grow, God is concerned about how strong we grow. God views our lives from and for eternity, so he is never in a hurry.”   Kim also referenced the lyrics to an old country song entitled “Somebody's Knockin',” and you can find the lyrics at https://genius.com/Terri-gibbs-somebodys-knockin-lyrics     For a deeper dive into the book of Joshua, join Kim as she teaches “Finding Courage for Life's Battles: Life Lessons from the Book of Joshua.”   To take her FREE 3-Day Online Bible Study entitled “Let  God Transform U through His Word: Why Is Personal Bible Study So Important to Your Christian Life?”.   Check out Kim's website at https://gettinghealthyall4hisglory.com for blog posts and her PDF Printable collection.   Remember, “It's Always a Trust & Obey Kinda Day!”

In this episode of Quah, sponsored by Organifi (organifi.com/mindpump, code "mindpump" for 20% off), Sal, Adam & Justin answer Pump Head questions about the benefits of one rep maxes, frequent small meals vs infrequent large meals, what it means to be strong beyond just the physical component, and how to find your purpose in life. Recap of the live event in Manhattan Beach, competitive team time, getting caught in a vortex & MORE. (6:30) How Four Sigmatic is crushing it! (19:11) Public opinion vs. reality: Fair Oaks Farms animal abuse scandal explained. (23:25) Organifi, a great place to work. (33:50) The next big UFC fight: Justin Bieber calls out Tom Cruise. (36:37) It's official: NASA is opening the International Space Station to tourists. (38:56) Study: Exercise as the primary treatment if you have a mental disorder. (42:42) Study shows how the nervous system can transmit information across multiple generations. (48:15) #Quah question #1 – How do you guys feel about one rep maxes for yourself and for your clients? I'm into powerlifting and strongman so I see them as necessary, but what about for overall health? (51:04) #Quah question #2 – What are the benefits of having smaller meals throughout the day vs large less frequent meals? Or is it just a personal preference? (1:00:34) #Quah question #3 - What does it mean to be a strong man to you? What does it mean to be a strong woman beyond just the physical component? (1:08:46) #Quah question #4 – What would you guys suggest for someone to find their purpose in life? (1:20:11) People Mentioned Ben Greenfield (@bengreenfieldfitness)  Instagram Tero Isokauppila (@iamtero)  Instagram Justin Bieber (@justinbieber)  Instagram Shanna Mota (@lilmota)  Instagram Drew Canole (@drewcanole)  Instagram Mark Manson (@markmansonnet)  Instagram   Related Links/Products Mentioned June Promotion: MAPS Strong ½ off!! **Code “STRONG50” at checkout* Check out Mind Pump Live to get tickets for their next live event! Visit Four Sigmatic for the exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! **Code “mindpump” at checkout** Visit Organifi for the exclusive offer for Mind Pump listeners! **Code “mindpump” at checkout** Meet the 34-year-old founder who naps on a nail bed and is selling millions of dollars of mushroom products 3 people charged in connection to Fair Oaks Farms animal abuse video The 20 Best Workplaces in Retail 2018 | Fortune Justin Bieber challenges Tom Cruise to MMA fight in bizarre tweet It's Official: NASA Is Opening The International Space Station to Tourists Exercise: Psych patients' new natural prescription Israeli study: Nervous system can transmit messages to future generations Are You Strong? | T Nation Man's Search for Meaning – Book by Viktor E. Frankl Mind Pump 1050: Mark Manson- The Subtle Art of Not Giving a F*ck Start with Why - Book by Simon Sinek The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? - Book by Rick Warren Mind Pump Free Resources

Last Sunday Dr. Dave began our new worship series, "What on Earth Am I Here For?" by talking about how we are each called by God. Take a listen!

“Everybody already has what they need, but sometimes we lose sight of it.” — Dermot Buffini              While people may be familiar with Brian Buffini, in this episode we get to know Dermot Buffini, the CEO of Buffini & Company. Before Dermot joined the company, he held sales positions and owned his own company. Although he started at the bottom of Buffini & Company, over the years he’s risen through the ranks and had led it for the past few years. Brian Buffini recently sat down with Dermot to learn what makes Buffini & Company continue to grow year after year.   As the leader of a company that serves several thousand clients in 37 countries, Dermot is uniquely positioned to talk on leadership and the role relationships have played in both is personal success and the success of Buffini & Company. They also discuss Take Over Tuesday, where each month Dermot takes over The Brian Buffini Show to interview a successful business leader and share their story and strategies for success. Get ready to learn and laugh!   Inspirational quotes from today’s interview: “It’s all about building the relationship and building trust.” — Dermot Buffini “We have more people who are small business owners who want to know how to implement the system.” — Dermot Buffini “People need clarity. We’re getting hijacked on our way to our destination all the time.” — Dermot Buffini “Everybody already has what they need, but sometimes we lose sight of it.” — Dermot Buffini “I learn through other people’s experiences.” — Dermot Buffini “Transactional relationships burn people out.” — Dermot Buffini “The relationships you make within the organizations shape what you do best.” — Dermot Buffini “Give to give, don’t give to get.” — Dermot Buffini   Mentioned in this episode: Jack Welch-Jack: Straight from the Gut Rick Warren-The Purpose Driven Life: What are Earth Am I Here For   Connect with Brian Buffini http://www.brianbuffini.com Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/brianbuffini Twitter: https://twitter.com/brianbuffini Buffini Show Insiders: http://www.thebrianbuffinishow.com/insiders Love what you heard? Share it with your friends! http://bit.ly/BrianBuffiniShow Click here to buy our Podcast theme music, “The Cliffs of Moher” by Brogue Wave. http://www.broguewave.com http://www.facebook.com/broguewave

We're reading "What on Earth Am I Here For?" by Rick Warren – A 40-day church-wide book reading campaign to discover God's purpose and plan for our lives. | Pastor Sam Walker

We're reading "What on Earth Am I Here For?" by Rick Warren – A 40-day church-wide book reading campaign to discover God's purpose and plan for our lives. | Pastor Sam Walker

We're reading "What on Earth Am I Here For?" by Rick Warren – A 40-day church-wide book reading campaign to discover God's purpose and plan for our lives. | Pastor Sam Walker

We're reading "What on Earth Am I Here For?" by Rick Warren – A 40-day church-wide book reading campaign to discover God's purpose and plan for our lives. | Pastor Sam Walker

We're reading "What on Earth Am I Here For?" by Rick Warren – A 40-day church-wide book reading campaign to discover God's purpose and plan for our lives. | Pastor Sam Walker

We're reading "What on Earth Am I Here For?" by Rick Warren – A 40-day church-wide book reading campaign to discover God's purpose and plan for our lives. | Pastor Sam Walker

Today's show is definitely for power achievers. Turn your business around or give your life or career a boost by shifting the right energies in the right direction.  Pat Council will share 5 success energies that will give your life the boost it needs. Change your vision by uncovering the best in yourself.  There is only one thing that can stop success from flowing in your direction and that is you.  Get the answers that will switch the flow of success straight towards you.  When you understand the 5 success energies that are shared in today's show, you will make the shift necessary to win and it you will be able to make the shift with ease.  Get ready to connect with your personal success.  Simply by choosing to, you can cause a major shift in your heart and mind on a daily basis and also begin to release an entirely different resonance. Using these energies will make it easier to change the image you have of yourself and for your life.  When you can vibrate a different life, the changes you want will show up.  Being able to see your life on a higher level will give you a grander understanding.  Find out ways to open yourself up and start receiving amazing results and enjoying an amazing life.   Resources Mentioned on the Show: Get Cash for Your Business. Click here The Purpose Driven Life:  What on Earth Am I Here For.  Click here Breakthrough to the Success Zone.  Click here 

You are in for such a treat today!  Kari Kampakis is one amazing lady.  Wife of 1 and Mama to 4 darling girls, she is also an incredibly talented writer.  You may have heard of her when her powerful blog post, 10 Truths Young Girls Should Know went viral.  She’s honest, open and fun.  I think you’re going to love getting to know Kari! Key Ideas:  Part 1 – Interview highlights The benefits of an unexpected journey Finding Mentors Her favorite productivity secret Hint:  It’s painless! Friendships – finding honest ones How to be totally awesome! Part 2 – Set Yourself Up for Success Sleep Enough Plan, then Schedule Clear out the clutter Get busy and enjoy it all Website Links www.karikampakis.com  All the good stuff from Kari www.handsfreemama.com  LOVE this blog! www.jeanniecunnion.com  Another keeper! Wonderful.  And her book is stunning too. www.thehouseofhendrix.com  So awesome. I love all of these connections.  Kari’s leading you in the right direction with these amazing women! Kari’s Recommended Reading 10 Ultimate Truths Girls Should Know, by Kari! This is sooooo good! The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For?, by Rick Warren Mere Christianity, by C.S. Lewis Connect with Kari On Facebook On Twitter Encouraging Word of the Week:  Ecclesiastes 3:1-8  “A Time for Everything” “There is a time for everything,     and a season for every activity under the heavens: A time to be born and a time to die, a time to plant and a time to uproot, A time to kill and a time to heal,     a time to tear down and a time to build, A time to weep and a time to laugh,     a time to mourn and a time to dance, A time to scatter stones and a time to gather them,     a time to embrace and a time to refrain from embracing, A time to search and a time to give up,     a time to keep and a time to throw away, A time to tear and a time to mend,     a time to be silent and a time to speak, A time to love and a time to hate,     a time for war and a time for peace.” The post #041: Kari Kampakis and Success Tips (Podcast) appeared first on Christy Largent.

I’m excited to be bringing Autumn Kerr to you this week. She’s the executive director of Visiting Orphans, a Nashville-based ministry that partners with orphanages, schools, and ministries around the world that care for children and communities. They organize short-term trips for churches, schools, and other organizations to places like Costa Rica, Ecuador, El Salvador, Ethiopia, Kenya, and Ukraine. In our time together, Autumn shared several stories of God’s amazing grace in her life and ministry. (https://i0.wp.com/engagingmissions.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Be-an-advocate.jpg) [bctt tweet="Be an advocate!"] (https://i0.wp.com/engagingmissions.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/Consider-it-pure-joy-my.jpg)In this week’s interview you’ll discoverOne scripture that many people dislike but has been a key to Autumn’s life How a job change turned into an opportunity for God’s provision and a new direction How she was able to make it through the process of adopting a boy from Ethiopia as a single woman How reading The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031033750X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=031033750X&linkCode=as2&tag=emrs-20)set her up for her first mission trip What her team has done over the last year and how they are able to create ministry teams out of people who have never met Where you can go to learn more and get involved How you can increase your support for a missionary or ministry without increasing your financial commitment The advice that has helped Autumn be available to do her best at the things God has called her to do The significance of hundreds of painted tree leaves The habit that has allowed her to start a personal blog and is the key to raising her adopted son as a single mother Resources: Visiting Orphans (http://visitingorphans.org/) My Single Adoption (http://mysingleadoption.blogspot.com/) Book Recommendation: Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601423225/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1601423225&linkCode=as2&tag=emrs-20) How she would take advantage of the situation if she found herself in a new country. Her recommendation for how to let God guide decisions [bctt tweet=“Consider it all joy..."] ResourcesVisiting Orphans (http://visitingorphans.org/) My Single Adoption (http://mysingleadoption.blogspot.com/) A Discipleship Journey: A Guide for Making Disciples That Make Disciple-Makers (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1935245538/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1935245538&linkCode=as2&tag=emrs-20) Sun Stand Still: What Happens When You Dare to Ask God for the Impossible (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/1601423225/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=1601423225&linkCode=as2&tag=emrs-20) The Purpose Driven Life: What on Earth Am I Here For? (http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/031033750X/ref=as_li_ss_tl?ie=UTF8&camp=1789&creative=390957&creativeASIN=031033750X&linkCode=as2&tag=emrs-20) Disclosure of Material Connection: Some of the links in the post above are “affiliate links.” This means if you click on the link and purchase the item, I will receive an affiliate commission. Regardless, I only recommend products or services I use personally and believe will add value to my readers. I am disclosing this in accordance with the Federal Trade Commission’s 16 CFR, Part 255 (http://www.access.gpo.gov/nara/cfr/waisidx_03/16cfr255_03.html): “Guides Concerning the Use of Endorsements and Testimonials in Advertising.”

The Purpose Palm Sunday Reenactment March 24, 2013   Music Director: Dr. Mark Hussung Pianist: Sharon McGinley                  Organist: Gail Hickman Sound Room: Dale Williams; Projection: Libby Miller; Lights: Wayne Hinkle   Emmanuel Ensemble, Director: Karen Smith Flute: Sara Smallman; French Horn: Karen Smith; Trumpet: Bob Ogle; Trombone: Jeff Smith; Tuba: Brian Smallman   Rhythm Section, Director: Jeff Smith Bass: Jeff Smith; Keyboard: Sharon McGinley; Percussion: Bryan Patterson, David Humphrey   Emmanuel Kids Children’s Church, Wee Worship, Music Makers and Musikgarten   Cast of Characters (Presented as they appear) Jesus                                                                                                                                    Michael Burleson Nicodemus                                                                                                                               Scott Waisner Disciples       Joe Cagle, Dusty Shamblin, Darryl Hendricks, Norman Eskridge, Fred Wilson, Dale Gentry                            Greg Schloesser, James Larrance, James Hodge, Jason McCoy, Brad Jones, Bryan Miller   Mary                                                                                                                                   Sharon McGinley Martha                                                                                                                                     Susan Waisner Women                                Joan Jones, Judith Muncy, Jeanne Miller Fox, Lisa Patterson, Karen Williams Peter                                                                                                                                   Darrell Hendricks         The title for our reenactment this year is The Purpose.  The program opens with a conversation between Jesus and Nicodemus seated around a table.  The scene changes as they will are joined by a host of characters and children in celebration of the triumphant entry into Jerusalem.  Then Jesus is seated on the Seat of the Rabbi as at the entrance to the city.  He is entertained by children singing.  From the Seat of the Rabbi Jesus instructs his followers on prayer and the life of faith.  Allow your imagination to fill in the blanks as we share this most precious story together.  Join in the music and prayer.  Sing praises to God for the gift of His love.  Following the morning offering we will hear from some of the women who ministered to Jesus.  They will be setting the stage for the Lord Supper.  As they depart Peter come to the stage to remember and sing.  Jesus and the other Disciples will join him as the scene turns to The Remembrance when everyone will be invited to join in receiving the bread and cup.  The program ends with Jesus and the Disciples leaving for the Garden of Gethsemane.       The five purposes From Rick Warren’s book What on Earth Am I Here For? form the structure of The Purpose.  The order has been changed to fit our presentation.  We start with “You Matter to God” and that’s why Jesus came.  Jesus made the way of deliverance available for all so that we could fulfill our purpose.  We are made for Worship, Discipleship, Ministry, Fellowship, and Evangelism.  It is in the expression of their purpose that believers find fulfillment in life.