Podcasts about EPC

In episode 465 of The Reformed Brotherhood, hosts Tony Arsenal and Jesse Schwamb explore Jesus's parable of the wheat and tares (weeds) from Matthew 13. This thought-provoking discussion examines Christ's startling teaching that good and evil will always coexist within the visible church until the end of time. The brothers carefully unpack the theological implications of Jesus's command not to separate wheat from weeds prematurely, challenging our natural tendency to judge others while offering wisdom about God's sovereign plan for final judgment. This episode wrestles with difficult questions about church purity, assurance of salvation, and how believers should approach the reality of false professors within Christ's church—providing biblical guidance for faithfully enduring in a mixed communion. Key Takeaways The Coexistence of True and False Believers: Jesus teaches that the visible church will always contain a mixture of genuine believers and false professors until the final judgment. The Danger of Premature Judgment: Christ explicitly warns against attempting to completely purify the church before the harvest (end of age) because doing so would damage the wheat (true believers). Proper Biblical Interpretation: Unlike some parables, Jesus provides a detailed allegorical explanation of this parable—the sower is Christ, the field is the world, the good seed represents believers, and the weeds are the sons of the evil one. The Challenge of Discernment: One of the most difficult theological pills to swallow is that it's often impossible to perfectly distinguish between true and false believers. Final Judgment as God's Prerogative: The separation of wheat from weeds is reserved for the angels at the end of the age, not for current church leaders or members. The Reality of False Assurance: Some professing Christians may have false assurance of salvation while genuinely believing they are saved. The Importance of Theological Integrity: Public theologians and pastors have a moral responsibility to be transparent about their theological convictions and changes in their beliefs. Deeper Explanations The Difficult Reality of a Mixed Church Jesus's teaching in the parable of the wheat and weeds directly challenges our natural desire for a perfectly pure church. By instructing the servants not to pull up the weeds lest they damage the wheat, Christ is establishing an important ecclesiological principle that will hold true until His return. This means that no matter how rigorously we apply church discipline or how carefully we examine profession of faith, we will never achieve a perfectly pure communion this side of eternity. The visible church—which can be understood as those who profess faith and are baptized—will always include both true and false believers. This reality should cultivate humility in how we approach church membership and discipline. Jesus isn't suggesting that all attempts at church purity are wrong (as other Scripture passages clearly call for church discipline), but rather that perfect purification is impossible and attempts at achieving it will inevitably damage true believers. This teaching directly refutes movements throughout church history (like Donatism) that have sought absolute purity in the visible church. The Problem of Discernment and Assurance One of the most challenging aspects of this parable is Christ's implicit teaching that true and false professors can appear nearly identical, especially in their early development. Like tares growing alongside wheat, false believers can profess orthodox doctrine, participate in church life, and exhibit what appears to be spiritual fruit. This creates profound implications for how we understand assurance of salvation. As Tony notes, while "assurance is the proper and rightful possession and inheritance of every Christian," there's also the sobering reality of false assurance. Some may sincerely believe they are saved when they are not, raising difficult questions about self-examination and spiritual discernment. This doesn't mean believers should live in perpetual doubt, but rather that we should approach assurance with both confidence in God's promises and healthy self-examination. True assurance must be grounded in the finished work of Christ rather than merely in our experiences or behaviors, while false assurance often lacks this proper foundation. The brothers wisely note that final judgment belongs to God alone, who perfectly knows who belongs to Him. Memorable Quotes "The visible church is set before us as a mixed body. Maybe everybody else's churches, but certainly not my church, like the one that I actually go to on the Lord's day. So it seems like there might be this shocking statement possibly that he has for us, whether you're Episcopalian or Presbyterian or independent or Baptist or Christian life assembly, whatever it is, that no matter what we do to purify the church, our churches, we're never gonna succeed in obtaining a perfectly pure communion." - Jesse Schwamb "I think that's what I find shocking. It is like a massive statement of reality that is at equal points totally sensible. And other times we would think, 'well, surely not in the church Lord, like of all the places, like aren't we talking about a kind of purity of your people?' ...and what I think he's striking at, which I do find a little bit wild, is that Jesus is essentially saying, at least to my ear, anything we try to do, even the purest preaching of the gospel, is not gonna prevent this in every age of the church." - Jesse Schwamb "I'm affirming that assurance is the proper and rightful possession and inheritance of every Christian." - Tony Arsenal Full Transcript Jesse Schwamb: Welcome to episode 465 of The Reformed Brotherhood. I am Jesse. Tony Arsenal: And I'm Tony. And this is the podcast with ears to hear. Hey brother. Jesse Schwamb: Hey brother. Guess what? It looks like you and I are taking another trip back to the farm on this episode. Tony Arsenal: Yes. For a couple episodes. Jesse Schwamb: For a couple episodes. Yeah. [00:01:01] Exploring Jesus' Parables in Matthew 13 Jesse Schwamb: Because what, Jesus will not stop leading us there. We're looking at his teachings, specifically the parables, and we're gonna be looking in Matthew chapter 13, where it seems like, is it possible that Jesus, once again has something very shocking for us to hear? That is for all the ages. 'cause it seems like he might actually be saying, Tony, that good and evil will always be found together in the professing church until the end of the world. Like in other words, that the visible church is set before a mixed body. I mean. Maybe everybody else chose churches, but certainly not my church, like the one that I actually go to on the Lord's day. So it seems like there might be this shocking statement possibly that he has for us, whether you're Episcopalian or Presbyterian or independent or Baptist or Christian life assembly, whatever it is, that no matter what we do to purify the church, our churches, we're never gonna succeed in obtaining a perfectly pure communion. Could that possibly be what Jesus is saying to us? I don't know what we're gonna find out. Tony Arsenal: We are. We are gonna find out. Jesse Schwamb: It's gonna be definitive. And if now that makes sense. If you don't even know why we're looking at Jesus' teachings, you could do us a favor even before you go any further. And that is just head on over in your favor, interwebs browser to or reform brotherhood.com, and you can find out all of the other episodes, all 464 that are living out there. There's all kinds of good stuff, at least we think so, or at least entertaining stuff for you to listen to. And when you're done with all of that in a year or two, then we'll pick it up right back here where we're about to go with some affirmations or some denials. [00:02:39] Affirmations and Denials Jesse Schwamb: So Tony, before we figure out what Jesus has for us in Matthew 13, in the parable of the weeds, or the tears, or the tears in the weed, what gets all of that? Are you affirming with, are you denying against, Tony Arsenal: I am denying. First of all, I'm denying whatever this thing is that's going on with my throat. Sorry for the rest of the episode, everyone. Um, I'm denying something that I, I think it is. How do I want to phrase this? Um, maybe I'll call it theological integrity, and maybe that's too strong of a word, but maybe not. So the listener who's been with us for a little while will remember that a while back. Um, you know, we've, we've talked about Matthew Barrett and he was a Baptist, uh, who's heavily involved in sort of the theology, proper controversies. He wrote Simply Trinity, which is just a fantastic book. He was a teacher or a professor at Midwestern, um, Baptist Theological Seminary. And he recently, um, uh, converted is not the right word. I hate calling it a conversion when you go from one faithful Bible tradition to another. But he recently, um, changed his perspective and joined the Anglican Church. And at the time I kind of, you know, I kind of talked about it as like, it's a little bit disappointing, like the reasons he cited. [00:03:57] Theological Integrity and Public Disclosure Tony Arsenal: Where I'm bringing this into a matter of sort of theological integrity. And it's not, it's not just Matthew Barrett. Um, there's other elements of things going on that I'll, I'll point to too is it's often the case when someone who is in some form of professional theological work or professional vocational ministry, that as they start to change perspectives, um, there comes to be like an inflection point where they should notify whoever it is that they are accountable to in that job or vocation, uh, uh, and then do the right thing and step down. Right? And so with Matthew Barrett, um. He continued to teach systematic theology at a Baptist Theological Seminary, which has a faith statement which he was obligated to affirm and hold in good faith. He continued to teach there for quite some time, if, you know, when he, when he published the timeline and he's the one that put all the timelines out there. So it's not like people had to go digging for this. Um, he continued to teach under contract and under that, that faith statement, um, for quite some time after his positions changed. I remember in college, um, sim very similar situation, one of my professors, um, and I went to a Baptist college. It was a General Baptist college. Um, one of my professors became Roman Catholic and for quite some time he continued to teach without telling anyone that he had converted to Roman Catholicism. Um. And I think that there's a, there's a, a level of integrity that public theologians need to have. Um, and it, it really makes it difficult when something like this happens to be able to say that this is not a moral failing or some sort of failure. Um, you know, James White has jumped on the bandwagon very quickly to say, of course we told you that this was the way it was gonna lead. That if you affirm the great tradition, you know, he was very quick to say like, this is the road to Rome. And I think in his mind, um, Canterbury is just sort of one, one stop on that trip. Um, it becomes very hard after the fact to not have this color and tarnish all of your work before. 'cause it starts to be questions like, well, when, when did you start to hold these views? Were you writing, were you, were you publicizing Baptist theology when you no longer believed it to be the truth? Were you teaching theology students that this is what the Bible teaches when you no longer thought that to be true? Um. Were you secretly attending Anglican services and even teaching and, and helping deliver the service when you were, you know, still outwardly affirming a Baptist faith statement. And the reason I, I'll point out one other thing, 'cause I don't want this to be entirely about Matthew Barrett, but there's a big, uh, hub glue going on in the PCA right now. Um, a guy named Michael Foster, who some of our audience will probably be familiar with, um, he and I have had our desktops in the past, but I think he and I have come to a little bit of a, of a uneasy truce on certain things. He, uh, went to work compiling a, a list and there's some problems with the data, like it's, it's not clean data, so take it for what it's worth. But he compiled a list of. Every publicly available church website in the PCA. So something like 1800 websites or something like that. Huge numbers. And he went and looked at all of the staff and leadership directories, and he cataloged all the churches that had some sort of office or some sort of position that appeared to have a, a woman leading in a way that the Bible restricts. And that more importantly, and starting to say it this way, but more importantly, that the PCA itself restricts. So we're not talking about him going to random church websites and making assessments of their polity. We're talking about a, a denomination that has stated standards for who can bear office and it's not women. Um. So he compiled this and people in the PCA are coming out of the woodwork to basically defend the practice of having shepherdess and deacons. There was one that he cataloged where, um, the website actually said, uh, that was the pastor's wife and the title was Pastor of Women. Um, and then as soon as it became public that this was the case, they very quickly went in and changed the title to Shepherd of Women or Shepherdess of Women or something like that. So it's, it's really the same phenomena, not commenting, you know, I think we've been clear where we stand on the ordination of female officers and things like that, but not that all that withstanding, um, when you are going to be a part of a body that has a stated perspective on something and then just decide not to follow it, the right thing to do the, the upstanding morally. Uh, in full of integrity move would be to simply go to another denomination where your views align more closely. PCA churches, it's not super easy, but it's not impossible to leave the PCA as an entire congregation and then go somewhere like the EPC, which is the Evangelical Presbyterian Church, which still on the spectrum of things is still relatively conservative, but is in general is in favor of, uh, female officers, elders, and diegans. So I, I think, you know, and you see this with podcasters, there was the big, there was a big fu and Les became a Presbyterian, and then when Tanner became a Presbyterian on the pub, I think it is, um, incumbent on people who do any form of public theology and that that would include me and Jesse when our views change. There comes a point where we need to disclose that, be honest about it, um, and not try to pretend that we continue to hold a view that we don't be just because it's convenient or because it might be super inconvenient to make a change. I don't even want to pretend to imagine the pressures, uh, that someone like Matthew Barrett would face. I mean, you're talking about losing your entire livelihood. I, I understand that from an intellectual perspective, how difficult that must be, but in some ways, like that kind of comes with the territory. Same thing with a pastor. You have a Baptist pastor or a Presbyterian pastor. It can go both ways, I think. I'm more familiar with Baptist becoming Presbyterians. I don't, I don't see as many going the other direction. But you have a, a Baptist pastor who comes to pay to Baptist convictions and then continues to minister in their church for, I've, I've seen cases where they continue to minister for years, um, because they don't, they don't have the ability to now just go get a job in a Presbyterian context because there's all sorts of, um, training and certification and ordination process that needs to happen. Um, so they just continue ministering where they are, even though they no longer believe the church's state of, you know, state of faith statement. So that's a lot to say. Like, let your yes be yes and your no be no, and when we really all boil it down. So I think that's enough of that. It, it just sort of got in my craw this week and I couldn't really stop thinking about it. 'cause it's been very frustrating. And now there are stories coming out of. Doctoral students that, um, that Barrett was teaching who have now also become Anglican. Um, so, you know, there starts to be questions of like, was he actively pros? I mean, this is like Jacob Arminius did this stuff and, and like the reform tradition would look down on it, where he was in secret in like sort of small group private settings. He was teaching convictions very different than the uni. I'm talking about Arminius now. Not necessarily Barrett. He was teaching convictions very different than the, the stated theology of the university he taught for, and then in public he was sort of towing the line. You have to ask the question and it is just a question. There's been no confirmation that I'm aware of, but you have to ask the question if that was what was going on with Barrett, was he teaching Baptist theology publicly and then meeting with, with PhD students privately and, and sort of convincing them of Anglican theology. I don't know. I'm not speculating on that, but I think it, the situation definitely right, brings that question to mind. It forces us to ask it. Um, and had he. Been transparent about his theological shifts sooner than that may not be a, a question we have to ask. Um, the situation may not be all that different, but we wouldn't have to ask the question. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that's totally fair. I mean, disclosure is important in lots of places in life and we shouldn't think that theological dis disclosure, especially like you're saying among our teachers, among our pastors, it is a critical thing. It's helpful for people to know when perspectives have changed, especially when they're looking to their leaders who are exhibiting trust and care over their discipleship or their education to express that difference. If there's been a mark, change it. It's worth it. Disclose, I'm guessing you don't have to over disclose, but that we're talking about a critical, we're talking about like subversive anglicanism, allegedly. Yeah. Then. It would be more than helpful to know that that is now shaping not just perspective, but of course like major doctrine, major understanding. Yeah. And then of course by necessary conviction and extension, everything that's being promulgated or proclamation in the public sphere from that person is likely now been permeated by that. And we'd expect so. Right. If convictions change, and especially like you're talking about, we're just talking about moving from, especially among like Bible believing traditions, just raise the hand and say loved ones, uh, this is my firm conviction now. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I think if someone walks up to you and says, do you think that we should baptize babies? And you're like, yeah, I think so. Then you probably shouldn't be teaching at a Baptist seminary anymore. Like, seems like a reasonable standard. And that seems to be what happened, at least for some period of time. Um, you know, and, and it, that's not to say like, I think, I think there are instances where the church, a given church or um, or a university or seminary or, or whatever the situation might be, can be gracious and recognize like, yeah, people's perspectives change and maybe we can find a way for you to continue to finish out the semester or, you know, we can bridge you for a little while until you can find a new, a new job. Um, you know, we'll, we'll only have you teach certain courses or we'll have a guest lecturer come in when you have to cover this subject that is at variance and like, we'll make sure we're all clear about it, but it doesn't seem like any of that happened. And that's, um, that's no bueno. So anyway, Jesse. What are you affirming and or denying Tonight? [00:13:43] Music Recommendations Jesse Schwamb: I'm just gonna go with something brief. I suppose this is an affirmation of me. I'm saying that like somewhat tongue in cheek, but maybe it's, wait, I'll rephrase. It's because this will be more humble. I'm affirming getting it right, even more than I thought. So I'm just gonna come back to the well and dip it into something that I mentioned on the last episode. So the keen listener, the up-to-date listener might remember. And if you're not up to date, uh, just let this be fresh for you. It'll, and I, it's gonna be correct because now I have posts, you know, I'm on the other side of it. I've clear hindsight. I am affirming with the album Keep It Quiet by Gray Haven, which I affirmed last week, but it came out on the same day that the episode released. And since you and I don't really like record in real time and release it like exactly as it's happening, I only did that with some, a little bit of reservation because I only heard they only released three songs in the album. And I thought I was overwhelmed that they were, they were so good that I was ready to jump in and loved ones. Oh, it, it turns out. I was so correct and it was, it's even better than I thought. So go check it out. It's Grey, GRE, YH, and they are, this is the warning, just because I have to give it out there and then I'll balance it with something else for something for everybody here today. So, gr Haven is music that's post hardcore and metal core. You're getting two cores for the price of one, if that is your jam. It has strong maleic sensibilities. It's very emotional, it's very experimental. But this new album, which is called, um, again, keep It Quiet, is like just a work of arts. It real like the guitar work is intricate haunting, lovely, and it's bold, like very intentional in its structure and very el loose in its construction. It's got hook driven melodies and it's got both heart and soft. It really is truly a work of art. So if you're trying to, to put it in your minds, like what other bands are like this? I would compare them to bands like, every Time I Die, Norma Jean, let Live Hail the Sun. If you just heard those as combinations of words that don't mean anything to you, that's also okay. No worries. But if you're looking for something different, if you're looking for something that's maybe gonna challenge your ear a little bit, but is like orchestral and has all of these metal core post hardcore, melodic, textured movements, there's no wasted notes in this album. It's really tremendous. If that's not your thing. I get, that's not everybody's thing. Here's something else I think would be equally challenging to the ear in a different way. And that is, I'm going back to one other album to balance things out here, and that's an album that was released in 2019 by Mark Barlow, who I think is like just. So underrated. For some reason, like people have slept on Mike Barlow. I have no idea why he put together an album with Isla Vista Worship called Soul Hymns, and it's like a distinct soul and r and b album of praise with like these really lovely like falsetto, harmonies. It's got these minimalistic instrumentation, warm keys, groove oriented percussion, like again, like these false soul driven melodies. It's contemplative. It's got a groove to it. This is also equally a beautiful album for a totally different reason. So I think I've given two very book-ended, very different affirmations, but I think there's something for everybody. So my challenge to your loved ones is you gotta pick one or the other. Actually, you could do both, but either go to Gray Havens, keep it quiet, or go to Mike Bellow's Soul hymns. I do not think you will be disappointed. There's something for everybody on this one. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, it was funny because as you were saying the names of those bands, I literally was thinking like Jesse could be speaking Swahili and I wouldn't know the difference. And then you, you, you know me well, yeah. Uh, I haven't listened to Gray Haven. Uh, I probably will give it a couple minutes 'cause that's how it usually goes with songs that meet that description. Uh, I can always tell that the music that Jesse recommends is good from a technical perspective, but I never really, I never really vibe with it. So that's okay. But I mean, lots of people who listen to our show do so check that out. If, if you ever. Want a good recommendation for music. Jesse is the pers so much so that he can recommend amazing music before it's even available and be a hundred percent correct, apparently. That's right. So Jesse Schwamb: affirm with me everybody, because turns out I was right. Uh, it was easy to be correct when of course I had all of that fair sightedness by being able to listen to those. Yeah, those couple of songs, it, this is a kind of album. Both of these, both of these albums. When I heard them, I reacted audibly out loud. There are parts of both of 'em where I actually said, oh wow. Or yeah, like there's just good stuff in there. And the older you get, if you're a music fan, even if you're not, if you don't listen to a lot of music, you know when that hook gets you. You know when that turn of melody or phrase really like hits you just, right. Everybody has that. Where the beat drops in a way. You're just like, yes, gimme, you make a face like you get into it. I definitely had that experience with both of these albums and because. I've listened to a lot of music because I love listening to music. It's increasingly rare where I get surprised where, you know, like sometimes stuff is just like popular music is popular for a reason and it's good because it's popular and it follows generally some kind of like well established roots. But with these albums, it's always so nice when somebody does something that is totally unexpected. And in these, I heard things that I did not expect at all. And it's so good to be surprised in a way that's like, why have I never heard that before? That is amazing. And both of these bands did it for me, so I know I'm like really hyping them up, but they're worth it. They're, they're totally worth it. Good music is always worth it. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. I, uh, I think that is a good recommendation. I will check those out because, you know, you're a good brother. I usually do, and I trust your judgment even though it, you'll like the second one. Yes. Hopefully. Yeah. Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: You'll like the second one. Second one is like, just filled with praise and worship. And like, if, if you're trying to think, like say, here's how I'd couch the proper atmosphere for Mark Barlow's soul hymns you're having, you know, it's, it's a cold and chilly. A tal evening, the wind is blowing outside. You can hear the crisp leaves moving around on the pavement and the sun has gone down. The kids are in bed, the dinner dishes are piled up in the sink. But you think to yourselves, not tonight. I don't think so, and you just want that toneage to put on. You want that music as you dim the lights and you sit there to just hang out with each other and take a breath. You don't just want some kind of nice r and b moving music. You don't want just relaxing vibes. You want worshipful spirit filled vibes that propel your conversation and your intimacy, not just into the marital realm, but into worship and harmony with the triune God. If you're looking for that album, because that situation is before you, then sol hymns is the music you're looking for. Tony Arsenal: See, I'm gonna get the, I'm gonna get the recommendations backwards and I'm gonna sit down with my wife with a nice like evening cup of decaf tea and I'm gonna turn the music on. Yes, it's gonna be like, yes. That was me screaming into the microphone. That was not good for my voice. Well, the good news is it's gonna, it's gonna wake the kids up. That's, I'm gonna sleep on the couch. That's, it's gonna be bad. That's, Jesse Schwamb: honestly, that's also a good evening. It's just a different kind of evening. It's true. So it's just keep it separated again, uh, by way of your denial slash affirmation. Tony disclosure, I'm just giving you proper disclosure. Everybody know your music KYM, so that way when you have the setting that you want, you can match it with the music that you need. So it's true. Speaking of things that are always worth it. [00:21:30] Parable of the Weeds Jesse Schwamb: I think the Bible's gotta be one of those things. Tony Arsenal: It's true. Jesse Schwamb: And this is like the loosest of all segues because it's like the Sunday school segue into any topic that involves the scriptures. We're gonna be in Matthew 13, and how about we do this? So this is one of these parables and in my lovely ESV translation of the scriptures, the, we're just gonna go with the heading, which says the parable of the weeds. You may have something different and I wanna speak to that just briefly, but how do we do this, Tony? I'll hit us up with the parable and then it just so happens that this is one of the parables in the scripture that comes with an interpretation from our savior. It's true. How about you hit us up with the interpretation, which is in the same chapter if you're tracking with us, it's just a couple verses way. Does that sound good? Tony Arsenal: Let's do it. Jesse Schwamb: Okay. Here is the parable of the weeds. Jesus puts another parable before them saying The kingdom of heaven may be compared to a man who sewed good seed in his field. But while his men were sleeping, his enemy came and sewed weeds among the weeds and went away. So when the plants came up and bork rain, then the weeds also appeared, and the servants of the master of the house came and said to him, master, did you not sow good seed in your field? How then does it have weeds? He said to them, an enemy has done this. So the servant said to him, then, do you want us to go and gather them? Then he said, no. Lest in gathering the weeds, you root up the wheat along with them, but let them grow together until the harvest and at harvest time, I will tell the reapers, gather the weeds first, and bind them in bundles to be burned, but gather the wheat into my barn. Tony Arsenal: Alright, so then jumping down. To verse 36. We're still in Matthew 13, he says, then he left the crowds and went into the house and his disciples came to him saying, explain to us the parable of the weeds of the field. He answered, the one who sows the good seed is the son of man. The field is the world, and the good seed is the sons of the kingdom. The weeds are the sons of the evil one, and the enemy who sowed them is the devil. The harvest is the end of the age, and the reapers are the angel. Just as the weeds are gathered and burned with fire, so will it be at the end of the age, the son of man will send his angels and they will gather out of his kingdom, all that, all causes of sin in all lawbreakers and throw them into the fiery furnace. It is that in that place there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth. Then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. He who has ears let him hear. Jesse Schwamb: So let me start with just like a little bit of language here, which I've always loved in this passage because where else in like the contemporary context, do you get the word tear? Yeah. Aside if you're like using a scale, and that's a totally different definition. I like this. I like the word tear. It force, it forces to understand that what's common to our ear, why that's being used, it often is translated weed. Here's just like my, my little like linguistic addition to the front end of our discussion and is the reason I like it is because here does have a specific definition. If like you were to look this up in almost any dictionary, what you're gonna find is it's like a particular type of weed. It's actually like an injurious weed that is indistinguishable in its infant form from the outgrowing of green. So I like that because of course that is exactly why. Then there's all this explanation of why then to not touch anything in the beginning because one, it causes damage to it looks like everybody else. I just thought I'd put that out there as we begin our discussion. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, yeah. You know, I, um, I am a homeowner and I don't own the land that I'm on, but I'm responsible for the land that I'm on. And we have this really gnarly weed problem. There's this, uh, sort of floor growing, uh, carpeting weed called, uh, I think it's called like a carpeting knob, head weed or something like that. Some really descriptive thing. And I went out there the other day and there's really nothing you can do about this other than to rip it up. But I went out there the other day to start to pull some of it up and it totally wrecks the yard. Like it totally pulls up the grass, it destroys the sod. And when you're done, this is why it's kind of nice that I don't have, I'm not responsible for the land as I'm not gonna have to pay to resod the land. But when you're done pulling up this weed, you have to resod the whole place. You have to regrow all the grass because it, first, it takes over for the grass, and then when you rip it up, it rips the roots of the grass up as well. And so this parable, um, on one level is immediately obvious, like what the problem is, right? The situation is such. That the good, uh, the good sower, right? He's a good sower. He knows what he's doing. He understands that simply ripping up the weeds. Even if you could distinguish them right, there's this element that like at an early stage, they would be very difficult, if not impossible to distinguish from, uh, from wheat. Even if you could distinguish them, you still wouldn't be able to pull up the weeds and not do damage to the grain. And so we, we have this sort of like, um, conflict if you wanna follow like literary standards, right? We have this conflict and as we come to sort of the climax of this, of this plot is when all of a sudden we see that, that the problem needs a resolution and there is a resolution, but it's not necessarily what we would think it would be. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, I think that's what I find shocking. It is like a massive statement of reality that is that like equal points or equal times totally sensible. And other times we would think, well why surely not in the church Lord, like of all the places, like aren't we talking about a kind of purity of your people, the very people that you're assembling together, the chief of which is Christ and the apostles being the building stones and Christ of course being the cornerstone. And I, I think that's what I find and I wonder the people hearing this, if they thought like, well, surely Lord, that not be the case like you are bringing in and ushering in this new kingdom. Isn't this new kingdom gonna be one of absolute purity? And, and what I think he's striking at, which I do find a little bit wild, is that Jesus essentially saying, at least to my ear, anything we try to do, even like the purest preaching of the gospel, is not gonna prevent this in every age of the church. The same state of the things that's existed in that is in the time of the early fathers. In the first century, and the church as it stands right now in the land and the time of the reformers, and of course with the best ministers at this hour right now and on your next Lord's day, and everyone after that, there is always and ever will be a visible church or a religious assembly in which the members are not all wheat. Yeah. And then I like what you're saying. It's this idea that. There's a great harm that's gonna come about if you try to lift them up because you cannot tell. So, and this is what's hard, I think this does influence like how we interact with people online. Certainly how we interact with people in our own congregations, but we are going to have no clear convicted proofs. We might only have like probable symptoms if we're really trying to judge and weigh out to discern the weeds from the weeds, which at most can only give us some kind of conjectural knowledge of another state. And that is gonna sometimes preemptively judge cause us to judge others in a way that basically there's a warning against here. It, it's, it's not the right time. And ba I think mainly from the outside where I find like this parable coming together, if there's like maybe a weird Venn diagram of the way Christians read this and the way unbelievers hear this, the overlap between them is for me, often this idea of like hypocrisy and you know. When people tell me that the church is full of hypocrites, either like Christian or non-Christian, but typically that's a, a, you know, statement that comes from the non-Christian tongue. When people say that the church is full of hypocrites, I do with a little bit of snark, say it's definitely not full of hypocrites. There are always room for more in the church and, and there's like a distinction of course between the fact that there is hypocrisy in the Christian or whether the Christian is in fact or that person is a hypocrite. So like when I look through the scriptures, we see like Pharaoh confessing, we see Herod practicing, we see Judas preaching Christ Alexander venturing his life for Paul. Yeah, we see David condemning in another, what he himself practiced and like hezeki glorifying and riches Peter. Doing all kinds of peter stuff that he does, and even all the disciples forsaken Christ, an hour of trouble and danger. So all that to say, it goes back to this like lack of clear, convicted proofs that I think Jesus is bringing forward here, but only probable symptoms. And I'm still processing, of course, like the practicality of what you're saying, Tony, that in some ways it seems like abundantly clear and sensible that you should, you're, you're gonna have a problem distinguishing. But our human nature wants to go toward distinguishing and then toward uprooting sometimes. And the warning here is do not uproot at the improper time. And in fact, it's not even yours to uproot because God will send in the laborers to do that at the time of, of harvest. And so there will be weeds found among the wheat. It's just like full stop statement. And at the same time it's warning, do not go after them now. Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I, I'm sure this, um, I, I'm sure this will spill over into a second conversation, but we, I think we have to talk a little bit about the interpretation here before we, before we even like talk more about the parable itself, because if you're not careful, um, and, and. I need to do a little bit more study on this, but it, it's interesting because Matthew almost seems to want you to sort of blend these parables together a little bit. Jesse Schwamb: Yes. Tony Arsenal: Right. These, these, there's three, um, there's three, maybe four if you count the parable of the treasure in the field. But there's three agricultural parables that have to do with sowing seed of one, of, one way or another. And in each one the seed is something different. And I, it almost seems to me. And then on top of that, the parables are like interwoven within each other. So like right smack in the middle of this, we have the parable. Uh, is given. Then the next parable of the mustard seed, which we're gonna talk about in a future episode, is given, and then the explanation of this parable of the tears is given. Um, and so we have to talk a little bit about it and sort of establish what the seed is, because we just spent three weeks talking about the seed in the par of the sower. Um, or the parable of the, of the soils. And in that parable, the seed was the word of God in this parable. And this is where I think sometimes, um, and again, this is like the doctrine of election in parable form, right? Yes. I think sometimes we read this and we, we misstep because the seed is not, uh, is not the word of God in this. The seed is the believers. Jesse Schwamb: Yes. Tony Arsenal: Right. So the good seed is sewn into, uh, into the field, which, you know, I think maybe there'll be some, we, we can save this for, for next week. But a little sneak peek is, it's not always clear exactly what the field is. Right. And I think we often, we often talk about the field as though it's the church that doesn't necessarily align a hundred percent with how Christ explains the parable. So we'll have to, we'll have to talk through that a little bit. I affirm that it is the church in, in a, a broad sense. Um, but, but the, the way that Christ explains it slightly different, but the, the seed is sewn into the world. The sons of the kingdom of heaven are sowed into the, into the world. And then the seed of the enemy, the bad seed, is the sons of the devil that's also sewn into the world. And so these two seeds grow up next to each other. If we think about the seed here as though it's the word of God, rather than the, the actual believers and unbelievers that elect in the ate, we're gonna make some missteps on how we understand this because we're not talking about, um, the, the seed being, you know, doctrine being sewn into the world. And some of it grows up good and some of it grows up bad or good doctrine and bad doctrine. We're talking about the believers themselves. Sorry, Jesse is mocking my rapid attempt to mute before I cough, which I, I did. That was pretty good. Jesse Schwamb: Yeah, that was, that was pretty good. Listen, this is real. Podcasting is how it goes. Yeah, I'm with you. Thank you for pulling out that distinction. 'cause it is critical. We, we have some overlap of course, with Jesus being really ascribed as the farmer, the son of man, right. He's sowing this good seed, but not the word. It's believers or the sons of the kingdom. And it is into his field, which is the world. Part of that world of course, is necessarily the church, right? But while everybody's sleeping, this enemy, the devil, he comes, he sows weeds or unbelievers, the sons of the evil one among this weed, they grow, go up together. And of course, like if I were servants in this household, I'd ask the same thing, which was like, should we get the gloves out? Yeah. Just pull those bad boys out. Like and, and so again, that's why I find it very so somewhat shocking that. It's not just, you could see like Jesus saying something like, don't worry about it now because listen, at the end of all time when the harvest comes, uh, I'm gonna take care of it. Like it's just not worth it to go out now. Right. That's not entirely The reason he gives, the reason is lest they uproot the wheat by mistake. So this is showing that the servants who are coming before Jesus in the parable, in this teaching here to really volitionally and with great fidelity and good obedience to him to want to please him to do his will. He there, he's basically saying, you are not qualified to undertake this kind of horticulture because you're just not either skilled enough or discerning enough to be able to do it right. Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Yeah. And you know, I think, um. Maybe just a word of meth methodology too. Um, this parable also flies in the face of all of the, like, parables are not allegories, kind of kind of people. Um, and this is, we talked about this in our introductory episode. You have to take each parable for what it's worth, this parable very much is explained like a traditional allegory, right? Right. [00:35:39] Understanding the Parable's Symbols Tony Arsenal: It's got, it's got several different elements and Christ goes through and the first thing he does is tell you what each element represents, right? The sower is the son of man, the field is the word. The good seed is the sons of the kingdom of the weed. It's like, he's like clicking down all of the symbols and then he explains how all of it works together and like a good, all like a good allegory. Once you understand what each element and each symbol is, the rest of it actually is very self-explanatory, right? When you understand who's what in the parable. The outcome and the sort of the punchline writes itself as it were. And I think this is one of those parables that we would do. [00:36:18] Challenging Our Sensibilities Tony Arsenal: I think we would do well to sort of let marinate a little bit because it does challenge a lot of our sensibilities of what, um, what is real in the world, what is real in terms of our interaction with the world, right? What's real in terms of the role of unbelievers in the life of a Christian, um, whether we can identify who is or isn't an unbeliever. Um, I think we, you know, I, I'm not one of those people that's like, we should assume everyone's a Christian. And I'm certainly not one of those people who's like, we should assume nobody is a Christian. But I think there are a lot of times where we have figures either in public or people in our lives. Like personal acquaintances that have some sort of outward appearance. And, and that's like the key here that that distinction between weeds is a, is not a great translation as you said. Right. Because right. That distinction between wheat and weeds, to go to my analogy, like it's very clear what is grass and what is this like carpeting, knob weed. Like there's no, there's no doubt in my mind, which is the weed and which is the grass. Um, that's not what we're talking about here. And so it does, it does say here, I mean, it implies here that it's not going to be easy to distinguish the difference between exactly. The, a son of the kingdom and a son of the evil one. And I think that's a, that's a. A theological pill that is very difficult to swallow. Yes. [00:37:43] Personal Reflections on Identifying Christians Tony Arsenal: Because a lot of us, um, and this goes back to like what I, what we were saying in the last, the last parable, A lot of us were reared in our Christian faith on sort of this idea that like, you can check your fruit or you can check other people's fruits and you can determine, you can easily identify who's a Christian and who's not. I remember when I was in high school, you know, I got, I was converted when, when I was 15 and, um, I got to high school and it felt very easy to me to be able to identify the people who were play acting Christianity and the people who were real Christians. That felt like the most natural thing in the world to me. Um, it, it's an interesting story, but one of the people that I was absolutely sure was not a Christian. That he was just doing kinda civic Christianity. He was in confirmation 'cause his parents wanted him to. Um, and I had good reason to believe that at the time he was very worldly. He, he, um, did not seem to be serious about his faith at all. There was good reason to make the assessment that I did. And then I ran into him on Facebook like 15 years later and he's a pastor at the Lutheran Church and he's, you know, he loves the Lord Jesus Christ. And he would not explain it as though he had a later conversion story. It's not as though he would say like, well yeah, in high school I pretended to be a Christian. And then, you know, I got through college and uh, I really became like I got converted. He would, would grow this, or he would explain this as slow, steady growth from an immature state that knew the facts of the gospel and in a certain sense trusted that Jesus was his savior and didn't fully understand the ramifications of that. I mean, who did at 15 years old? Mm-hmm. Um. And, and that it was a slow, steady growth to the place that he's in now. [00:39:21] The Difficulty of Distinguishing Believers Tony Arsenal: So I, I think we should take seriously, and maybe this is the takeaway for this week at least, and we can, we can talk about it more, is we should take seriously the fact that the Sons of the Kingdom and the Sons of the evil one in this parable are not only inseparable without doing damage, but in many ways they are not easily distinguishable. Jesse Schwamb: Right. On. Tony Arsenal: Um, and that, that's a baked into the parable. And I think we do spend a fair amount of time and I, I'll. I'll throw myself on on this. You know, this, we, I'm not just saying we, um, we as a genuine statement, like I have participated in this. I'm sure that I still do participate in this sometimes intentionally. Other times, uh, subconsciously we spend a fair amount of time probably in our Christian lives trying to figure out who is a Christian who's not. And it's not as though that is entirely illegitimate, right? The, the, as much as we kind of poke at the, the, um, workers in this who sort of are kind of chumps, right? They're sort of like the idiots in this. They, they don't seem to know how this happened. They propose a course of action that then the master's like, no, no, that's not, that's not gonna work. They can tell the difference, right? They can see that some are weeds and some are are weeds, and they're asking, well, what do we do about it? But at the same time he is saying like, you're not really competent to tell the difference, Jesse Schwamb: right? On Tony Arsenal: a good, uh, a good. Competent farmer could probably go out and take all the weeds out. Just like a really good, I dunno, landscape technician, I'm not sure what you would call it. I'm sure someone could come into my yard and if I paid them enough money they could probably fix this knobby grass, weed, whatever it is. Um, infestation. They could probably fix it without damaging the lawn. Like there are probably people that could do it. I am not that competent person and the workers in this are not that competent person. And I would say by and large in our Christian life, we are not that competent person to be able to identify who is and who isn't, um, a Christian who is or isn't a son of the kingdom versus a son of the devil. Jesse Schwamb: And there's sometimes like we just get history reprised, or it's like, again, the same thing microwaved over and served to you three or four times as leftovers. So it's also gonna remember like any as extension that like any attempt to like purify the church perfectly, and this has happened like donatism in the fourth century I think, or even like now, certain sectarian movements are completely misguided. Yeah. And Jesus already puts that out ahead of us here. It's almost like, do not worry what God is doing because God again is, is doing all the verbs. So here's a question I think we should discuss as we, we move toward like the top of the hour. And I think this is interesting. I don't know if you'll think it's interesting. I, I kind of have an answer, but I, I'll post it here first. [00:42:01] Visible vs. Invisible Church Jesse Schwamb: So the setup like you've just given us is two things. One, we got the visible church, we talk about the visible church. I think a lot across our conversations. Yeah. And we might summarize it, saying it's like the community of all who profess faith, maybe even the community of all who are baptized. Right. Possibly. Yeah. And it's going to include then necessarily as Jesus describes it here, true and false believers. So that's one group. Then we've got this invisible church, which as you said is the elect. Those who are known perfectly to God. So the good seed is those elect true believers. The weeds, then the weeds to me, or the tears, even better, they sound a lot like that. Second and third soils that we talked about previously to some, to some degree. I'm not, I'm not gonna lump them all in because we talked about receiving the word and it taking root, all that stuff, but to some degree, and also probably like a soil one. But here's, here's the way I would define them up and against or in contradistinction to the elector believers. They're the reprobate. They're false professors or they're children of the evil one. Now here's the question, Doni, Alex, I, I think this is very interesting. I'm trying to build this up for like more dramatic effect. 'cause now I'm worried it's not that good. The question is, I'm going to presume that this good seed, the elect, true to believers, the confidence of perseverance of the saints, the justification in sanctification of God's children is in fact though we at some points have our own doubts, it is made fully aware and known to the good seed. That is, we should have, as you and I have talked about before, the confidence that God has in fact saved his elect. So the question that on the other side is for the ta, do the tears always know that they are the tears? Tony Arsenal: Yeah, I mean, you know, I think, um, I've said this before and I, I mean it, and I think it takes probably more. More discussion than we have time for tonight. And and that's fine because we can do as many episodes on this as we want to. 'cause this is our show and you can't stop us actually. Jesse Schwamb: Correct. [00:43:56] Assurance of Faith and False Assurance Tony Arsenal: Um, I've said before that assurance is the proper and rightful possession and inheritance of every Christian. Jesse Schwamb: Amen. Tony Arsenal: Right. So I, I am not one to say that the technical terminology is that assurance is not of the essence of faith. Um, I think we have to be really careful when we say that it's not, but we have to be equally careful when we say that it is. Because if we say that assurance is of the essence of faith, then what that means is someone who doesn't have assurance, doesn't have faith. Um, the reason I say that we can say that is because there's a sense that that's true, right? If you don't believe you're saved, then you don't believe you're saved and you don't trust that you're saved. But that doesn't mean that you always have full awareness of that confidence. And, you know, I think, um, I think. I think you're, you're right that, um, it may not always be, let me put it this way. I, I think that we have to consider the entire life of a Christian when we're, when we're making that analysis. And in a certain sense, like, I'm not even sure we should be making that analysis. That's kind of the point of the, the, um, the parable here, or at least one of the points. But, um, when that analysis is made, we'll, we'll channel a little bit of RC sprawl. It's not as funny when he's actually, uh, gone. I don't really mean channel RC sprawl. We will, uh, speak in the tradition of RC sprawl, um, in the final analysis, whatever that means. Whenever that is. You have to consider the whole life of a Christian, the whole life of a believer. And so there may be times in the life of a believer where they don't possess that full assurance of faith or that that full assurance is weak or that it seems to be absent. But when we look at the entire life of a believer, um, is it a life that overall is marked by a confident trust, that they are in fact children of God? Um, that a confident, uh, a confident embracing of what the spirit testifies to their spirit, to, to borrow language from Romans, I think in, in the life of a true elect Christian, um, that with the perseverance of the saints, uh, with the persistence of the saints and the preservation of the saints, um, I think that yes, those who are finally saved, those who are saved unto salvation, if you wanna phrase it that way. They finish the race, they claim the prize. Um, that assurance will be their possession in their life as a Christian. Jesse Schwamb: Right on. Tony Arsenal: All of that to say, I think there are, are, there's a good case to be made for the fact that there is also people who have false assurance, right? And this is where it takes a lot more, you know, finagling and jockeying and theological explanation of how can we know we have true assurance versus false assurance. You know, it's kinda like that question, like, does an insane person know they're insane? Well, does a false, does someone with false assurance know that their assurance is false? I don't think, I don't think so. Otherwise, it wouldn't be false assurance. Um, if they knew it wasn't real assurance, then they wouldn't have any kind of assurance. So I, I think I agree with you at least where, where I think you're going is that we do have to, we do have to make some judgements. We have to look at our own life, right? Um, there is an element of fruitfulness in this parable, right? We'll talk about that. I, I think we'll get into that next week. But it's not as though this is entirely disconnected from the parable of the soils. Both of them have a very similar kind of. End point. [00:47:20] Final Judgment and Eschatology Tony Arsenal: At the end of all things, at the end of the harvest, when the end of the age comes, and the reapers, the angels are sent, what they're gathering up are fruitful Christians, right in the parable, he sends out the, it's funny be, I love my dispensational brothers and sisters, but in this parable, like the rapture is the rapture of the unbelievers, right? The angels go out and reap the unbelievers first. The, the weeds are bundled up and thrown into the fire, and then the, the fruitful wheat is gathered into the barns. Um, there is this delineation between the fruitless weeds and the fruitful wheat or the, the grain that has borne, you know, borne fruit. That is part of what the, the outward. Elements of this parable are, so we should talk about that more, of what is this trying to get at in terms of not just the difference between weeds and wheat and how that maps up to those who are in Christ versus those who are not in Christ, but also like what is this telling us about the, the end of the age eschatology. All of that's baked in here and we haven't even scratched the surface of that Jesse Schwamb: yet. Yeah, we, we, I, and we just can't, even on this episode, probably, you're right, we're gonna have to go to two so that, I guess it's like a teaser for the next one. I'm told they're with you. It's interesting. I've been thinking about that, that question a lot. And I do like what you're saying. You know, at the end here, it's almost as if Christ is saying at the time of harvest, things become more plain, more evident In the beginning. The chutes are gonna look really, really similar, and you're gonna go in and you're gonna think you're guessing properly or using your best judgment, and you're gonna get it wrong in the end when he sends out those who are harvesting. I liken this passage here in the explanation as you read to us starting in verse 36, how there's this comparison of heat and light. And so there is the heat and light of the fiery furnace into which, as you said, all of those who are the children of the enemy will be gathered up and burned. And then there's that contrast with in verse 43, then the righteous will shine like the sun in the kingdom of their father. So there is like a reward that comes from the bearing of the fruit and that made evidence by a different type of heat and light. So I do struggle with this question because. It's easy to answer in some ways if we're defining the weeds in pirate or the tears in pirates as false professors typically. Let's say false professors of a nefarious kind, then it seems pretty plain that somebody, right, that the enemy has implanted certain people to stir up trouble with the intention to stir up trouble that is in fact their jam. Or they know that even if they're putting on heirs, that they're in fact play acting that the hypocrisy is purposeful and that it is part of like the missional efforts that they're doing to disrupt what God is doing in the world. So I might think of somebody like when we go, when we're looking in, um, Exodus, and we find that at least to some degree, all of Pharaoh's magicians can replicate everything that Moses is doing. Moses doing that by the power of God. But the magicians are so good and whatever means they're using, but they know, I presume they know they're not, they're not using Yahweh, they're not drawing their power or their influence from Yahweh. Tony Arsenal: Right? Jesse Schwamb: But it's so convincing to the people that Pharaoh is like, eh. Obviously I've seen that before because we just, we just did that here. Come back with your next trick until God flexes his mighty muscles in a really profound way, which cannot be replicated. And at some point there's a harvest that happens there. There's a separation between the two, those who are truly professing, the power that comes from God, the one true God, and those that are just replicating the cheap copy, the one that's just pure trickery and smoke and mirrors. So. That's an easy category. I'm with you. And I'm not saying that this is an invitation to bring the kind of judgment here that we've just spoken against. I'm not condoning this. What I do find interesting though is if the enemy is crafty, is it possible that they're always going to be forms of terror in the world that do feel that they have very strong conviction and belief about biblical things? Maybe there's, there's strong hobby horses or there are misguided directions here that pull us apart, that become distractions. Or maybe it's just even attitudes, uh, things that can be divisive, disruptive, derogatory that again, pull us away. For making the plain things, the main things and the main things, the plain things, which in some ways draws us back to like the whole purpose of you and I talking every week, which is we wanna get back to what the scripture teaches. We wanna follow the our Lord Jesus Christ very, very closely. I'm gonna clinging to the hymn of his rob as we walk through life so that we do not fall to those kind of false convictions. So I'm not, please hear me, loved ones. I'm not trying to call into question your faith as Tony just said. I am saying that there, this is kind of scary, just like we talked about. There are elements of the parables of the, of the soil that were equally scary. And so it's just in some ways to say, we gotta keep our heads not theological, swivel. We, we gotta be about the Lord's business, and we gotta be about understanding through prayer and study and communion with him, what it is that he wants to teach us in the purest way, knowing that the church itself and the world, of course, is never going to be entirely pure. At the same time, it is our responsibility to, as you already said, test for ourselves to understand what is that true gospel of the Lord Jesus Christ. Because some tears are going to be maybe easy to identify and with without, you know, throwing too much shade or. I was gonna say spilling the TI don't think that works here, but I'm not young anymore, so I'm trying to use or or put on blast. Yeah. I'm looking at you Mormons or Jehovah's witnesses. Like it's, it's easier there to be like, yeah, right, this is wrong. It is a false profession, but we've just gotta be careful even in our own hobby, horses not deviates into ground. I think that doesn't preclude us from being children of the light and children of the kingdom, but can still be disruptive or uh, you know, just distracting. But either way, yeah. I think what's scary to me about this is exactly what you said, Tony, is, is could it be that there are people that are very sincere about the Christian faith, but are sincerely wrong? Tony Arsenal: Yeah. Jesse Schwamb: And what does that mean for God's elected purpose? What does that mean for our understanding of how to interact in our churches in the world? Does that make sense? Tony Arsenal: It does. And I'm not sure whether you were trying to set up the, what might be the first genuine reformed brotherhood cliffhanger, but you did. Because we're on minute 54 of a 60 minute podcast, and, uh, there's no way we're gonna get into that and not go for another 60 minutes. So, Jesse, I, I'm, I'm glad that we are taking our time. Um, I know that sometimes it's easy when you put out a schedule or you put out a sort of projected content calendar to feel like you have to stick to it. But I wanna give these parables, the time they deserve and the effort and the, uh, the, uh, study and the discussion that they deserve. And I think the questions you're posing here at the end of this episode are really, really important. And they are questions that this parable forces us to ask. Right, right. It's not as though we're just using this as a launching pad. Um. If the workers can't tell the difference between the, the seed and the, or the, the weeds and the weeds, it's reasonable to think that the weeds themselves may not be able to tell the difference. Right? The sons of the evil one, um, are probably not in this parable, are probably not the people like in the back, like doing fake devil horns, right? And like, you know, like there's, there's probably more going on that we need to unpack and, and we'll do that next week. Jesse Schwamb: I love it. So we've got some good stuff coming then, because we've gotta, this is like, do you ever remember when you were in, uh, you know, doing your undergraduate postgraduate work, you'd get like a topic or an assignment or a paper and you'd be super stoked about it and you start reaching it, be like, okay, researching it. And you'd be like, all right, I've got some good topics here. And then you get into it, you're like, oh, but I'm gonna have to talk about this. And Oh, like before I could talk, I'm gonna have to explain this. Sometimes when we get into these, as you and I have been talking, that's what it feels li

Sandro, founder of KWARKX, shares how his team is bringing utility-scale solar to chain via NFT membership passes that let anyone participate in project returns—without the usual high minimums. We cover: why Cardano (sustainability, security, decentralization), what on-chain access actually looks like (claimable pools, 10-year participation), and the nuts & bolts of real projects (e.g., a 51 MW Netherlands solar park with 20 MW battery storage powering ~35,000 homes). Sandro explains the surge of RWA interest, grid/storage realities, subsidies vs. open market power sales, and KWARKX's Project Catalyst journey. We also talk expansion (NL, Austria, Italy, Germany), regulation (MiCA & Dubai VARA), and the roadmap: exhibitions, partnerships, and the goal to fund first parks directly on-chain.Timestamps[00:00] Origin story: solar EPC roots → NFTs as access keys[00:02] Problem: Renewable projects require high buy-ins; KWARKX lowers the barrier[00:03] Why Cardano: mission fit, security (no hacks), governance, PoS sustainability[00:05] Reality of renewables: utility-scale builds, storage changes the game[00:06] Case study: 51 MW NL solar + 20 MW battery; ~900M kWh over 20 yrs[00:08] Peak demand patterns; storage & dam “battery” concepts[00:10] Investor access: NFT = membership pass; claimable ADA pool over 10 yrs[00:12] Transparency: on-chain claims, pool visibility, traceability[00:13] Customers: grid entities/governments, NFT community, broader RWA crowd[00:15] Subsidies vs. free-market power sales; cross-border electricity flows[00:16] How big can it get? Launchpad for other assets (real estate tokenization, etc.)[00:18] Challenges: regulation (MiCA, VARA), community growth, filtering bad actors[00:19] Project Catalyst: winning ~300k ADA, milestones, shipping the MVP[00:22] Cardano projects Sandro rates: World Mobile, Minswap, JPEG Store, Catalyst[00:23] Expansion map: Netherlands, Austria, Italy, Germany (+ Asia/Gulf interest)[00:25] Real-world reality: building in mud/rain; site vlogs; “from the trenches”[00:27] Roadmap (18–24 mo): Token2049, global expos, marketing, first on-chain funding[00:29] The ask: smart capital, strategic partners, supplier co-builds, community supportConnecthttps://x.com/sandrokwarxs https://x.com/KWARXSLinktree: https://linktr.ee/kwarxs Be a guest on the podcast or contact us - https://www.web3pod.xyz/DisclaimerNothing mentioned in this podcast is investment advice and please do your own research. Finally, it would mean a lot if you can leave a review of this podcast on Apple Podcasts or Spotify and share this podcast with a friend.

In this first episode of our three-part series on Gospel Hospitality, Dean is joined by Brad Strait, Lead Pastor of Cherry Creek Presbyterian Church and the host of the upcoming 46th General Assembly. Together, they explore what it truly means to embody the heart of hospitality as followers of Christ. Brad and Dean discuss the biblical foundations of gospel hospitality, what Scripture teaches about welcoming the stranger, and how hospitality is not just a cultural nicety but a reflection of God's own character. They also look forward to the ultimate hospitality we will be granted in heaven, where every tribe and tongue will be gathered around the table of the Lord. This episode reminds us that gospel hospitality is more than opening our doors. It's opening our lives to others, just as God has welcomed us through Christ.

Ajapahyan Sentenced, Moldova, EPC, Peace Act, Dismantling the Armenian MilitaryGroong Week in Review - October 5, 2025TopicsAjapahyan Sentenced: 2 Years in JailMoldova Election LessonsEPC in Copenhagen, WSF in WarsawPeace ActDismantling Armenia's MilitaryGuestBenyamin PoghosyanHostsHovik ManucharyanAsbed BedrossianEpisode 477 | Recorded: October 6, 2025https://podcasts.groong.org/477Subscribe and follow us everywhere you are: linktr.ee/groong

“In this very special 200th episode of In All Things, our producer and guest host Gianna Lazzaro sits down with Dean to reflect on the incredible journey of the podcast so far. Dean shares stories about the podcast's humble beginnings, recording in a closet, and how it has grown into a platform that connects and encourages the EPC family around the world.   Dean also reflects on his nearly five years as Stated Clerk, the joys of serving the denomination, and how he has seen God at work across the EPC. Together, Gianna and Dean look back at the impact of In All Things over its first 200 episodes and reaffirm the importance of the podcast's core verse from Colossians 1, which continues to shape every conversation.   Thank you for being part of this journey. We couldn't have reached this milestone without you! Follow the EPC on social media to stay connected by clicking HERE

Live from RE+ Las Vegas 2025! On episode 34 of the League, David Magid and Benoy Thanjan covered the top clean energy trends we're seeing: Vehicle-to-Grid (V2G) innovation — Acura's 2026 luxury EV showcases how EV batteries can provide backup power, resilience, and even revenue for homeowners while integrating into virtual power plants. EPC + supply chain bottlenecks — With new ITC rules and project rushes, developers must coordinate early with EPCs and suppliers to avoid costly delays. M&A momentum — Madison Energy Infrastructure just acquired NextEra Energy Resources DG platform, signaling strong demand for distributed generation. At RE+ we're also seeing retail electricity pricing climb sharply, especially in PJM, making solar even more competitive as the lowest-cost, fastest-to-build source of electricity.  A big thank you to Honda for letting us record this episode from their booth — it was the perfect backdrop to talk about innovation, resilience, and the future of clean energy. Give us 5 minutes and we'll give you the top insights in clean energy.    Host Bio: David Magid David Magid is a seasoned renewable energy executive with deep expertise in solar development, financing, and operations. He has worked across the clean energy value chain, leading teams that deliver distributed generation and community solar projects. David is widely recognized for his strategic insights on interconnection, market economics, and policy trends shaping the U.S. solar industry. Connect with David on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/davidmagid/   Host Bio: Benoy Thanjan Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy, solar developer and consulting firm, and a strategic advisor to multiple cleantech startups. Over his career, Benoy has developed over 100 MWs of solar projects across the U.S., helped launch the first residential solar tax equity funds at Tesla, and brokered $45 million in Renewable Energy Credits (“REC”) transactions. Prior to founding Reneu Energy, Benoy was the Environmental Commodities Trader in Tesla's Project Finance Group, where he managed one of the largest environmental commodities portfolios. He originated REC trades and co-developed a monetization and hedging strategy with senior leadership to enter the East Coast market. As Vice President at Vanguard Energy Partners, Benoy crafted project finance solutions for commercial-scale solar portfolios. His role at Ridgewood Renewable Power, a private equity fund with 125 MWs of U.S. renewable assets, involved evaluating investment opportunities and maximizing returns. He also played a key role in the sale of the firm's renewable portfolio. Earlier in his career, Benoy worked in Energy Structured Finance at Deloitte & Touche and Financial Advisory Services at Ernst & Young, following an internship on the trading floor at D.E. Shaw & Co., a multi billion dollar hedge fund. Benoy holds an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University and a BS in Finance and Economics from NYU Stern, where he was an Alumni Scholar. Connect with Benoy on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/benoythanjan/ Learn more: https://reneuenergy.com   If you have any questions or comments, you can email us at info@reneuenergy.com.

Fruits of the Spirit: Peace outPhilippians 4:4-7Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: Only God can give us true, lasting peace in our lives

At Climate Week NYC continues, the hottest topic is the question of how to meet growing demand for electricity while cutting emissions. In New York State, electricity use is expected to increase by 25% over the next 15 years. To meet that demand, the state plans to add tens of gigawatts or renewables. But that is not enough. It also wants more “dispatchable, emissions-free” power to keep the grid stable, and that includes new nuclear reactors.Back in June, Governor Kathy Hochul asked the New York Power Authority to move ahead with at least 1 gigawatt of new nuclear generation. And the New York State Energy Research and Development Authority (NYSERDA) is exploring what it needs to do to make that happen. Doreen Harris is President and CEO, and she explains to host Ed Crooks that nuclear is a central pillar of an emissions-free power mix.She says New York's plan isn't about bringing back old reactors like the ones at the Indian Point nuclear plant, controversially closed in 2021. The state wants new designs that are safer, modular, and more efficient. NYSERDA is leading a “Master Plan for Responsible Advanced Nuclear Development”, expected to be published by end of 2026, to explore technologies ranging from large reactors to small modular and micro reactors. Ed and Doreen discuss the plan, and the barriers and opportunities for nuclear in the US.Support from federal, state and local governments is going to be essential to make new nuclear construction a reality. But backing from the private sector will also be essential. Nick Campanella is a Senior Equity Research Analyst at Barclays investment bank. He says new nuclear investment will move forward only if three pieces line up: clear policy support, customers willing to buy the power, and an EPC ready to build the plant.Nick and Ed discuss the cost overruns and delays that have plagued nuclear projects in the West. Hyperscalers might be able to get costs down by committing to multiple reactor builds at once. The ‘first-of-a-kind' project is always risky. The ‘nth-of-a-kind' developments that benefit from the lessons learned on previous projects should be more predictable, and less costly. Nick believes it is quite possible that a final investment decision to build at least one new nuclear plant in the US is very possible before the end of 2026. If that happens, the first project to go ahead could be for large plants, not small or micro reactors. The US grid doesn't need tens of megawatts; it needs thousands.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Send us a textRichard Donnell, Executive Director at Zoopla joined Anna Clare Harper to share what the latest rental market data means for investors, and how to underwrite real estate deals with the right rent growth assumptions.Topics include:Rent growth has slowed - why and what next for UK rentalsUnderwriting rents to earnings, not history or inflationThe most invest-able places (and EPC grades) Renters Rights Bill opportunities and risksWe also covered what strategy Richard would invest inWith the benefit of market-leading data:“I'd put £100m into mid-market second-hand homes Near cities in the Midlands and North.”Thanks to Alto Software Group, sponsors of this mini-seriesSponsor offer: bit.ly/offer-altoGuest website: zoopla.co.uk Guest LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-donnell/ Host LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/annaclareharper/Host website: annaclareharper.com

Are small buy-to-let landlords finished… or is this exactly the moment to lean in? In this candid conversation, Ant Lyons (Your Property Network) sits down with veteran investor and PIN founder Simon Zutshi to cut through the doom and gloom around the Renters' Rights Bill, Section 24, EPC changes, rising rates—and why, despite it all, there's still a powerful role for the small, professional landlord. Simon shares his “five golden rules,” how he's adapting his own portfolio (and why most new purchases now go into Ltd companies), and the practical moves you can make this quarter to find motivated sellers, structure win-win deals, and buy for cash flow first. If you've been on the fence, this is your confidence injection. What you'll learn The real impact of the Renters' Rights Bill & Section 24—and how pros are adapting Why vulnerable tenants may be hit hardest (and how good landlords can still help) EPC realities for older stock and what “good enough” looks like Buying criteria that works in 2025–2026: cash flow, demand, buffer When flipping is risky—and how to future-proof by holding for income Why now is a contrarian buying window (and how to spot motivated landlords) How to “sweat the asset” (HMOs, SA) and compete on quality, not a race to the bottom Simon's offer-and-follow-up playbook to actually get deals agreed Timestamps 0:00 Intro — Is the small landlord finished? 1:30 The policy landscape: RRB, Section 24, taxation reality 6:40 Who really pays the price? Tenants, courts, and insurance options 11:20 EPC changes and older stock—what's realistic 14:30 Company structures, treating it like a business 17:30 Buy for cash flow (not hope): shifting criteria into 2026 21:40 Quality HMOs vs “average” stock 23:40 Contrarian window: why Simon is buying now 29:20 New builds vs value-add: where returns really come from 39:10 Simon's checklist: motivated sellers, demand, cash flow, long-term, buffer 43:55 Offer strategy & relentless follow-up About our guest Simon Zutshi is the founder of Property Investors Network (PIN), bestselling author of Property Magic, and a full-time investor with three decades of experience through multiple cycles.

Fruits of the Spirit: The joyful Christian1 Peter 1:6-9Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: We are commanded to rejoice in faith

Fruits of the Spirit: Love is the greatest1 Corinthians 13:1-13Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: God is love, and so must we be

Burns & McDonnell food and beverage manufacturing project managers Dan Blake and Niyush Sharma discuss how EPC/design-build project delivery is helping protein manufacturers tackle facility expansion challenges such as tighter timelines, rising construction costs, supply chain delays, and regulatory pressure. They share integrated approaches to meat and poultry facility expansion projects to help speed up builds, control costs, and reduce risk.

ATOME PLC (AIM:ATOM) CEO Olivier Mussat talked with Proactive's Stephen Gunnion about the company's landmark offtake agreement for its Villeta Project in Paraguay. The project is described by Mussat as the first industrial-scale, fully dedicated green fertiliser facility. Powered by renewable energy, it will convert green hydrogen into ammonia and ultimately produce 260,000 tons per year of calcium ammonium nitrate fertiliser. Mussat explained, “Offtake means who is going to buy your product, at what price, and for how long? Because that determines the bankability of your project.” He confirmed that ATOME has signed a ten-year take-or-pay agreement with Yara, one of the world's largest fertiliser companies, covering 100% of production, with an option to renew. He highlighted that Yara sells over 6 million tons of fertiliser annually in Latin America, making it a significant long-term partner. The CEO emphasised that this partnership ensures guaranteed revenues before construction even begins, which is a critical factor in securing financing. He noted that ATOME has already purchased land, completed environmental and social impact assessments, and agreed on EPC terms with Casale. The next steps will focus on finalising financing with equity led by Hy24 and debt discussions involving institutions such as IDB, FMO, the European Investment Bank, and IFC. Visit Proactive's YouTube channel for more company interviews and updates. Don't forget to like this video, subscribe, and enable notifications so you never miss future content. #ATOME #GreenFertilizer #VilletaProject #Yara #RenewableEnergy #GreenHydrogen #Ammonia #SustainableAgriculture #ProjectFinance #ProactiveInvestors

Inflation is up and its down. We have revisions and a weakening jobs market. 10yr Treasury trying to break below 4%. And a new top dog is crowned. Our guest, Peter Schiff of Europacific Global. NEW! DOWNLOAD THE AI GENERATED SHOW NOTES (Guest Segment) Peter Schiff began his investment career as a financial consultant with Shearson Lehman Brothers in 1987. A financial professional for over twenty years, he joined Euro Pacific Capital, Inc. (EPC) in 1996 and has served as its President since January 2000. Peter Schiff is a widely recognized economic and financial analyst and has appeared frequently on Fox News, Fox Business, CNBC, CNN, and other financial and political news outlets. Peter is a highly recommended broker by many leading financial newsletters and investment advisory services and achieved national notoriety in 2008 as being one of the few economists to have accurately forecast the financial crisis well in advance. Between 2004 and 2006 he had made numerous high-profile statements predicting the bursting of the real estate bubble, significant declines in national real estate prices, the collapse of the mortgage market and the banking sector, the bankruptcy and bailout of Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac. Peter has authored several best-selling books including Crash Proof, Crash Proof 2.0, How and Economy Grows and Why it Crashes, The Little Book of Bull Moves in Bear Markets, and The Real Crash. He also served as an economic advisor to the 2008 Ron Paul presidential campaign. Check Out EuroPacific Capital Follow @andrewhorowitz Check this out and find out more at: http://www.interactivebrokers.com/ Looking for style diversification? More information on the TDI Managed Growth Strategy - HERE Stocks mentioned in this episode:(MSFT), (ORCL), (AMZN), (GLD), (NEM)

Wat doe je na je pensioen? Als je Gijs Boudewijn heet, dan is het antwoord: gewoon verder bouwen aan de toekomst van het Europese betalingsverkeer. Zijn eerste 100 dagen “pensioen” zitten erop, en dat betekent voor de Nieuwe Knikkers een mooie aanleiding om hem op te zoeken.We praten met Gijs over zijn nieuwe rol als voorzitter van de European Payments Council (EPC), de club achter het SEPA-betaalschema. Hoe ziet hij de toekomst van SEPA in een wereld waarin stablecoins, digitale valuta en geopolitieke spanningen steeds nadrukkelijker een rol spelen?We gaan ook in op het belang van samenwerking in Europa, iets waar Gijs zich al jaren hard voor maakt, én de uitdagingen die hierbij komen kijken. Hoe breng je nationale belangen samen onder één Europese betaalvisie? Welke veranderingen ziet hij voor de EPC als organisatie in deze snel veranderende context?Een aflevering vol strategische inzichten, Europese nuance en een vleugje Hollandse nuchterheid.-----------------------------Deze aflevering is mede-mogelijk gemaakt door Endava, software engineering for a digital age.

Is there a collaboration problem in retrofit within the social housing sector? That was the premise for this conversation with Rafe Bertram, an architect and retrofit expert—appearing in a personal capacity—who was very surprised when I posed the question because he's found collaboration to be a strength in the sector, at least in London.In the end it led to a conversation about what he's learned from the experiences he's had working on retrofits in the social housing sector, in his community, and even doing big flashy Apple stores.The most interesting bit though is the strategy he's using to reduce the cost of retrofit, with his theory of reactive planning. It's an approach that takes a systematic integrated asset management approach and adds strategic opportunism into the mix in a way that enables him to piggyback essential works, like roof replacement, and use them as a catalyst for getting into a building to do the sustainability stuff that's usually a lower priority.Notes from the showRafe Bertram on LinkedinRetrofit Kentish Town The Good Homes Alliance websiteRafe's finance report for the Good Homes Alliance — “The Green Shift – The existing financial incentives for higher environmental performance of new homes” (October 2023) More links to articles about green building, favourable finance, and better valuations:Homebuyers pay a ‘green premium' of up to £40,000 for the most energy efficient properties (September 2021)—Lloyds Banking GroupHalifax includes EPC ratings in maximum lending calculationsHalifax to use EPC rating in affordability calculationsOctopus reducing interest rates for finance capital: 4 criteria = 1.25% discount, 6+ criteria = 2.00% discount**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this podcast, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sortsSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

Fruits of the Spirit: In step with the SpiritGalatians 5:22-25Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: God invites us to work with him to become fruitful

Episode Summary: Tim Montague, host of Clean Power Hour and author of Wired for Sun: The Commercial Solar Playbook, joins Benoy to share how commercial solar projects can be structured for long-term success. The conversation covers how to quickly qualify opportunities, manage interconnection risk, and scope EPC contracts to protect margins. Tim also breaks down how the Big Beautiful Bill influences C&I project economics and what developers can do to scale repeatable business models in 2025 and beyond.   Biographies Benoy Thanjan Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy, solar developer and consulting firm, and a strategic advisor to multiple cleantech startups. Over his career, Benoy has developed over 100 MWs of solar projects across the U.S., helped launch the first residential solar tax equity funds at Tesla, and brokered $45 million in Renewable Energy Credits (“REC”) transactions. Prior to founding Reneu Energy, Benoy was the Environmental Commodities Trader in Tesla's Project Finance Group, where he managed one of the largest environmental commodities portfolios. He originated REC trades and co-developed a monetization and hedging strategy with senior leadership to enter the East Coast market. As Vice President at Vanguard Energy Partners, Benoy crafted project finance solutions for commercial-scale solar portfolios. His role at Ridgewood Renewable Power, a private equity fund with 125 MWs of U.S. renewable assets, involved evaluating investment opportunities and maximizing returns. He also played a key role in the sale of the firm's renewable portfolio. Earlier in his career, Benoy worked in Energy Structured Finance at Deloitte & Touche and Financial Advisory Services at Ernst & Young, following an internship on the trading floor at D.E. Shaw & Co., a multi billion dollar hedge fund. Benoy holds an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University and a BS in Finance and Economics from NYU Stern, where he was an Alumni Scholar. Tim Montague Tim Montague is a solar developer, solar & storage expert, coach, and consultant with over 30 years of experience in technology, sustainability, and triple bottom line business. As President of the Clean Power Consulting Group and host and creator of the Clean Power Hour podcast, Tim has helped dozens of technology entrepreneurs and businesses grow and create a positive impact. His motto is "Let's grow solar & storage!"   Stay Connected: Benoy Thanjan Email: info@reneuenergy.com  LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com   TIm Montague  Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/cleanpowerhour/ Website:  https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/ Wired for Sun Book:  https://www.amazon.com/Wired-Sun-Strategy-Step-Step-ebook/dp/B0FJSG8PVH/ref=sr_1_1?crid=1YQGJET8LZJZ1&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.lOW0xetQ9-e5e90Is3zg2u_EBixUOl0Uyc_jsS7vy1c-PnTltAG4CgFpskZnAU_6vGp-wONOQGFOnKmBs_DRkjRNa4A7QigAo9QP5bOBZJAL5IHLwLSBzR8Oui2tqMvvZ5_GL_mwVoEd4y2ljPsHME4z--Ik7kg2t8e3g997ncfuxdKtANXQBqpiBMgV2mDWIJ2vv1i32hMZLThNvc5PNTnvnOld_YK1nF0Eivd-k4U.9NObYCnV1_Y08b4ImlNskcKPcBhJ9_IZIhrQ18t1yS0&dib_tag=se&keywords=wired+for+sun&qid=1757334378&sprefix=wired+fo+r%2Caps%2C1389&sr=8-1

Luke Part 75: Switching tracksLuke 19:1-10Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: Jesus calls us to switch from death to life

If two people could combat our growing urban disconnection, it is Adam White and Andrée Davies of Davies White Limited. I met them at our first Biophilic Design Conference at the Barbican, and immediately warmed to their infectious passion for better landscape design. Design which helps reimagine spaces from playgrounds to hospitals through a beautiful and playful biophilic lens, pulling on our emotional responses to nature. They construct, if you will, beautiful narratives of human-nature coexistence. Instead of viewing landscapes as static backdrops, they help encourage us to understand them as dynamic, living systems that actively shape human experience and ecological health. I think it's the creativity I love most about their work. The balance of science, planning and artistry. Their approach is rooted in a deep understanding of ecological systems and human psychology. With projects ranging from micro-forest playgrounds to hospital gardens, each is designed to restore our biophilic fundamental relationship with the natural world. Take their recent West London micro-forest playground project. By densely planting trees and creating intricate ecological landscapes, they're not merely designing a play area, but constructing a living classroom. The project embodies their core belief: that understanding nature begins with immersive, tactile experiences. Those of us who live and breathe biophilic design, this philosophy aligns with scientific research. Studies consistently demonstrate that exposure to natural environments reduces stress, enhances cognitive function, and promotes emotional well-being. Adam himself references Florence Williams' "The Nature Fix", which explores how nature can make us "happier, healthier, and more creative". Also, their approach supports the positive economic argument for biophilic design. Their pocket park project in London demonstrated that nature-rich spaces can increase property values and biodiversity simultaneously. Plus, a collaboration with Anglian Water explored how housing developments could integrate resilient, nature-focused landscapes, and they are advocating a new “Resilient Garden” rating, which like the EPC rating on a house, could add value to a property if reported along with a house sale. I think this is a brilliant idea. It will get real estate developers and property owners totally thinking differently about their homes and land. This "resilient garden and landscape accreditation scheme" would be an ecological equivalent to energy ratings for buildings. This could revolutionise how we value and integrate natural systems into our built environment Policy is slowly catching up. The introduction of a Natural History GCSE this September (which they both, along with others, including Mary Colwell I interviewed a couple of years back) represents a significant milestone. "If children don't understand nature, they won't appreciate it, and if they don't appreciate it, they won't protect it," Adam recalls Sir David Attenborough telling him – a statement that has become a guiding principle for their work. "We don't stop playing because we grow old. We grow old because we stop playing," Adam reminds us, and their hospital design interventions are creative, beautiful and indeed playful. By creating gardens with living elements like water pumps, rabbits, and carefully selected native plants, they transform clinical spaces into healing ecosystems. These actively support patient recovery. As climate change accelerates, landscape architecture becomes a critical tool for resilience. Their designs are also adaptive systems that can mitigate environmental challenges while supporting human and ecological well-being. What I love about their work is that they challenge the notion that sustainable design is prohibitively expensive. By using creative, low-cost interventions like raised planting containers and willow pods, they demonstrate that ecological design can be accessible and scalable. I have to call out one specific example of climate resilience from their work, and that is at Nene Park Trust in Cambridgeshire. They used swales to manage water collection during heavy rainfall. These swales are designed to be both functional and interactive, with bridges and stepping stones that children can use to cross them. Their conscious approach to help with water management through strategically designed swales, planting of resilient vegetation that can thrive in changing conditions and creating a playful landscape that serves both ecological and recreational purposes really deserves visiting and using as an exemplar of best practice. They've been working with the park trust for 15 years, and when they revisited the site recently, they were impressed by how the planting had thrived in conditions that might typically challenge other landscapes. Andrée shared that we need a better understanding "nature's time" - recognising that landscapes develop and improve over years, with plants establishing and becoming more robust over time. This approach is inherently climate-resilient, as it focuses on creating adaptable, living systems rather than static, rigid designs. As the next generation of designers emerges – armed with natural history education and a deep ecological consciousness – we hope we can anticipate even more transformative approaches to landscape design. The message is clear. Design is not about creating spaces for humans but creating spaces with humans as PART of a complex, interconnected ecological system. Biophilic landscape architecture is a powerful tool for healing our disconnection from the natural world.RHS Back to Nature - Design Engagement - https://www.davieswhite.co.uk/nature-play-workshop Davies White Ltd Landscape Architects - https://www.davieswhite.co.uk/ If you like this, please subscribe!Have you got a copy of the Journal? You can now subscribe as a member of the Journal of Biophilic Design or purchase a gorgeous coffee table reference copy or PDF download of the Journal journalofbiophilicdesign.comor Amazon and Kindle. Biophilic Design Conference www.biophilicdesignconference.comCredits: with thanks to George Harvey Audio Production for the calming biophilic soundscape that backs all of our podcasts. Listen to our podcast on Audible, Amazon Music, Spotify, iTunes, YouTube and all the RSS feeds.https://www.facebook.com/journalofbiophilicdesign/https://twitter.com/JofBiophilicDsnhttps://www.linkedin.com/company/journalofbiophilicdesign/https://www.instagram.com/journalofbiophilicdesign

Luke Part 74: Mission PossibleLuke 18:18-34Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: God specializes in making the impossible possible

The EPC 2030 Shake Up: What Letting Agents Need to Know Big changes are looming for Energy Performance Certificates, and if you're in lettings or property management, this could be one of the most important updates you face before 2030. In this episode, we're joined by Nicol Nightingale, a seasoned letting agent in Leicester, to unpack what's really going on behind the headlines. Nicol shares her experience managing a large portfolio of electric only properties, why the current EPC system has been a long standing frustration, and how upcoming changes could turn everything on its head. From recalculations that may suddenly favour electric over gas, to the possible hike in improvement cost caps from £3,500 to £15,000 per property, this is a conversation that every UK property professional should hear. Filmed in May 2025, this is your chance to get ahead of the curve before the rules change. Listen now and let us know what you think in the comments, are you ready for the EPC overhaul?

As AI workloads reshape the data center landscape, speed to power has overtaken sustainability as the top customer demand. On this episode of the Data Center Frontier Show, Editor-in-Chief Matt Vincent talks with Brian Melka, CEO of Rehlko (formerly Kohler Energy), about how the century-old power company is helping operators scale fast, stay reliable, and meet evolving energy challenges. Melka shares how Rehlko is quadrupling production, expanding its in-house EPC capabilities, and rolling out modular power blocks through its Wilmott/Wiltech acquisition to accelerate deployments and system integration. The discussion also covers the balance between diesel reliability and greener alternatives like HVO fuel, hybrid power systems that combine batteries and engines, and strategies for managing noise, emissions, and footprint in urban sites. From rooftop generator farms in Paris to 100MW hyperscale builds, Rehlko positions itself as a technology-agnostic partner for the AI era. Listen now to learn how the company is helping the data center industry move faster, smarter, and more sustainably.

Luke Part 73: The power of prayerLuke 18:1-17Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: Prayer should be persistent, humble, and accessible

Episode Summary: Benoy Thanjan sits down with his co-host Nate Jovanelly, Founder & CEO of SunRaise Capital, to break down how the Big Beautiful Bill is reshaping residential solar. They discuss Section 25D's removal, the surge in solar + storage, and innovative financing models like prepaid leases.   Biographies Benoy Thanjan Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy, and a strategic advisor to multiple clean energy startups. Over his career, Benoy has developed over 100 MW of solar projects across the U.S., helped launch the first residential solar tax equity funds at Tesla, and brokered $45 million in Renewable Energy Credits (REC) transactions. Prior to founding Reneu Energy, Benoy was the Environmental Commodities Trader in Tesla's Project Finance Group, where he managed one of the company's largest environmental commodities portfolios. He originated REC trades and co-developed a monetization and hedging strategy with senior leadership to enter the East Coast market. As Vice President at Vanguard Energy Partners, Benoy crafted project finance solutions for commercial-scale solar projects. His role at Ridgewood Renewable Power, a private equity fund with 125 MW of U.S. renewable assets, involved evaluating investment opportunities and maximizing returns. He also played a key role in the sale of the firm's renewable portfolio. Earlier in his career, Benoy worked in Energy Structured Finance at Deloitte & Touche and Financial Advisory Services at Ernst & Young, following an internship on the trading floor at D.E. Shaw & Co., a multi billion dollar hedge fund. Benoy holds an MBA in Finance from Rutgers University and a BS in Finance and Economics from NYU Stern, where he was an Alumni Scholar.   Nathan Jovanelly Nate is the CEO and Founder of SunRaise Capital's mission is to provide affordable and accessible renewable energy options to homeowners, while reducing carbon footprints and creating a sustainable future for generations to come. They achieve their mission by partnering with industry leading solar installers to provide our customers with the best possible solar experience at competitive rates. As the CEO of an innovative residential solar lease company, he spearheads strategic initiatives aimed at harmonizing the objectives of our funding partners, installation teams, and homeowners. With a relentless focus on alignment, he cultivates collaborative relationships to ensure mutual success and satisfaction across all stakeholders. Through innovative leadership and a commitment to transparency, he drives sustainable growth while delivering exceptional value to our investors, installers, and customers alike.   Stay Connected: Benoy Thanjan Email: info@reneuenergy.com  LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com   Nathan Jovanelly SunRaise Capital Website:  https://www.sunraisecapital.com/ Linkedin:  https://www.linkedin.com/in/natejov/ Email:  nate@sunraise.com   Thank you to AMS Renewable Energy for Sponsoring this Episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast!  This episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast is brought to you by our sponsor—AMS Renewable Energy. AMS is a top-tier solar EPC that operates with the precision and mindset of a commercial general contractor. Headquartered in the Bronx, New York—and licensed nationwide—AMS has over 30 years of construction experience, tackling even the most complex solar projects with unmatched expertise and craftsmanship. Whether it's a challenging C&I rooftop, ground mount, or full turnkey solution, AMS is committed to best-in-class service and results that last. If you're looking for a solar EPC partner who understands construction inside and out—AMS Renewable Energy should be at the top of your list. Learn more at [ams-renewable.com] and tell them the Solar Maverick sent you!   Nate's other interviews on the Solar Maverick Podcast SMP 205: Revolutionizing Solar Finance: How SunRaise Capital Attracts Investors to Residential Solar Projects? https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smp-205-revolutionizing-solar-finance-how-sunraise/id1441876259?i=1000702871242   SMP 194:  2025 Solar Outlook https://solarmaverick.podbean.com/e/smp-194-2025-solar-outlook/   SMP 176:  REplus takeaways https://solarmaverick.podbean.com/e/smp-176-replus-takeaways/   SMP 166: Residential Solar Trends https://solarmaverick.podbean.com/e/smp-166-residential-solar-trends/    SMP 150: How SunRaise Capital is innovating residential solar financing? https://solarmaverick.podbean.com/e/smp-150-how-sunraise-capital-is-innovating-residential-solar-financing/    Solar Maverick Episode 147:  RE+ Takeaways https://solarmaverick.podbean.com/e/smp-147-re-conference-takeaways/    Solar Maverick Episode 139: Opportunities and Challenges with the PJM Solar Market https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=u14GHBkqcqo    Solar Maverick Episode 134: 2023 Solar Predictions https://solarmaverick.podbean.com/e/smp-134-2023-solar-predictations/   SMP 131:  How Technology and Software are innovating the Solar Industry? https://solarmaverick.podbean.com/e/smp-131-how-technology-and-software-is-innovating-the-solar-industry/    SMP 100: US Residential Solar, Storage, and Electric Vehicle Trends https://solarmaverick.podbean.com/e/smp-100-us-residential-solar-storage-and-electric-vehicles-trends/    SMP 74: Impact on COVID-19 on Residential Solar https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/smp-74-impacts-of-covid-19-on-residential-solar/id1441876259?i=1000475840259      SMP 58:  Residential Solar Financing and Other Interesting Topics https://podcasts.apple.com/tc/podcast/smp-58-residential-solar-financing-other-interesting/id1441876259?i=1000459212910    SMP 20:  The Solar Intrapreneur Story:  How Nate helped IGS become one of the biggest solar asset owners in the US https://podcasts.apple.com/tc/podcast/smp-20-solar-intrapreneur-story-how-nate-helped-igs/id1441876259?i=1000432329129    

Welcome back to Ask Rob & Rob, where we help tackle your property questions. Let's dive into the answers...  (0:49) Dee's been offered three mortgage deals with product fees of 5%, 3%, and 0% - but calculations suggest the highest fee might actually be the cheapest overall. Should Dee stick with his current lender's options or shop around?  (3:58) The EPC's have expired on Ryan's two properties. One letting agent says renew now, another says wait until a new tenancy. Who's giving the correct advice?  Enjoy the show?  Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts - it really helps others find us!  Sign up for our free weekly newsletter, Property Pulse  Send us your question here – just hit record!.  Find out more about Property Hub Invest

Industrial Talk is onsite at DistribuTech 2025 and talking to Allan Schurr, Chief Commercial Officer at Enchanted Rock about "Microgrids and onsite generation". Scott MacKenzie interviews Allan Schurr, Chief Commercial Officer at Enchanted Rock, about their on-site generation solutions using natural gas reciprocating engines. Enchanted Rock provides backup power for data centers and other industrial customers, offering services to the grid when needed. They have 370 microgrid sites and 2,000 generators, with the largest sites having over 100 generators. Schurr discusses the benefits of natural gas over diesel, the importance of proactive maintenance using data analytics, and the potential for nuclear power in the future. Enchanted Rock is vertically integrated, handling EPC, manufacturing, O&M, and market-facing work. Action Items [ ] @Scott MacKenzie - Connect with Allan Schurr on LinkedIn. [ ] @Scott MacKenzie - Provide Allan Schurr's contact information (email: aschurr@enchantedrock.com) on the Industrial Talk podcast website. Outline Introduction and Welcome Scott MacKenzie introduces the Industrial Talk podcast, highlighting its focus on industry professionals and innovations. Scott thanks the listeners for joining and mentions the podcast's sponsor, Siemens, and their involvement in the Dallas event. Scott introduces the guest, Allan Schurr, Chief Commercial Officer at Enchanted Rock, and sets the stage for the conversation. Allan Schurr's Background Allan Schurr shares his background, starting with his work in the power generation department at PG&E and moving to customer-side energy solutions. He discusses his experience with deregulation in California and his roles at various companies, including Silicon Energy, Itron, IBM, and Edison International. Allan mentions his current role at Enchanted Rock and his extensive experience in the energy sector. Enchanted Rock's Solutions and Market Position Allan explains Enchanted Rock's focus on on-site generation using natural gas reciprocating engines for backup power. He highlights the company's ability to provide services to the grid and their involvement in large projects, particularly with data centers. Scott and Allan discuss the challenges faced by data centers in terms of power requirements and the need for backup solutions. Grid Stress and Data Center Solutions Allan elaborates on how data centers can provide backup power during grid stress and the benefits of on-site generation. He explains the role of grid operators in managing capacity and the potential for data centers to provide interconnection faster. Scott and Allan discuss the technical aspects of dispatching on-site generation and the advantages of natural gas over diesel. Vertical Integration and Market Strategy Allan details Enchanted Rock's vertical integration, including EPC, manufacturing, O&M, and market-facing work. He emphasizes the importance of assurance in providing backup power and the company's ability to finance projects if needed. Scott and Allan discuss the role of on-site generation as a peaker reserve and the benefits of scarcity pricing models. Future of Energy and Technological Advancements Scott and Allan discuss the future of energy, with a focus on nuclear power and its potential to become a significant part of the energy mix. They touch on the role of solar, batteries, and dispatchable gas assets in the energy landscape. Allan...

In this first episode of our special two-part miniseries on church administration, Dean sits down with Greg Flagg, Executive Associate Pastor at Sierra Presbyterian Church in Nevada City, California. Greg shares from his experience as an Executive Pastor to discuss the often-unsung role that church administrators play in building healthy, sustainable ministries. From navigating HR challenges in small churches to identifying support structures that help pastors and staff flourish, Greg highlights how executive pastors serve as a backbone for their congregations. He and Dean also explore current trends in church administration, the value of intentional leadership development, and the importance of gatherings and networks for XP Admins across the EPC. Whether you're an executive pastor, a lead pastor, or someone curious about what happens behind the scenes of your church, this episode sheds light on the crucial (and complex) work of church administration.

Luke Part 72: Revelations of the KingdomLuke 17:20-37Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: Jesus is the Kingdom of God

Commissioning Matter - Establishing a Culture of CollaborationWho on the AEC team can deliver strategic guidance, direction, and leadership for the functional aspects of homes and buildings? This is the role of a Commissioning Agent (CxA) and it's a role that matters now more than ever. The term "commissioning" itself means to "entrust into the safekeeping of someone", with its origins dating back to the mid-14th century, signifying "authority entrusted to someone, delegated authority or power". When it comes to home and buildings, who do we entrust to make sure everything functions as intended and in a way that meets w/ owner satisfaction? This podcast will explore how commissioning plays a similar vital cohesive role in the architecture, engineering, and construction (AEC) industry.Today, we'll delve into what Commissioning is, and what a Commissioning Agent (CxA) does. We'll also cover how commissioning works in practice and where this role is headed in the future. Join Kristof and he and Wes Van Rite unpack this important and timely topic.Wesley Van RiteWesley Van Rite is Principal at Engineered Projects Consulting, LLC. EPC fills in the gaps where most consultants operate. Wes performs in the grey area between architects, engineers, owners, and contractors. He uses his experience in various aspects of construction to facilitate conversations, resolve issues, and improve performance. Ultimately, his role builds a better project through the trust and cooperation of the project team and by being non-adversarial, respectful, and understanding. Offering Commissioning, Consulting, and Passive House Services.With over two decades in Building Science, he has had the privilege of learning from and collaborating with some of the best in the field. His passion lies in working on high-performance building projects, and he believes professionals in the construction industry have an ethical responsibility to build better. With current technology, resources, and knowledge, it's possible to create more resilient, efficient buildings without significant cost increases.TeamHosted by Kristof IrwinEdited by Nico MignardiProduced by M. Walker

One of the most important elements of the International Religious Freedom Act of 1998 is the requirement for the U.S. Secretary of State to designate the world's worst violators of religious freedom as Countries of Particular Concern and to enact accountability measures as a result of those designations. Subsequent legislation created a Special Watch List for other countries with significant violations and created a new category of Entities of Particular Concern for nonstate actors that commit such violations and control territory. However, the State Department last released its designations nearly two years ago, in December 2023—and they are now set to expire later this year. On today's episode of the USCIRF Spotlight Podcast, USCIRF Commissioner Stephen Schneck joins Deputy Director of Research and Policy Kurt Werthmuller to discuss the importance of the State Departments CPC, SWL, and EPC designations, as well as to share reflections on his time as USCIRF Chair over the previous year. Read USCIRF's 2025 Annual Report—including its current CPC, SWL, and EPC recommendations—and the U.S. legislation behind these designations.With Contributions from:Kurt Werthmuller, Deputy Director of Research and Policy, USCIRFVeronica McCarthy, Public Affairs Specialist, USCIRF

We're joined by our new friends from Building Atlas, Nick Taylor and Olga Khroustaleva, who join us for a conversation about commercial retrofit—the non-residential kind. They've got a data driven business Building Atlas that helps commercial asset owners to plan pragmatic retrofit pathways for commercial real estate.This isn't just important because of how much energy the non-residential sector consumes, it's also because 70% of non-residential building assets are on course to become stranded assets because of their EPC rating and MEES regulation.They are simplifying a complex problem into something that's comprehensible—aggregating experience (and data) to give broad brush stroke direction that's useful. They've also published a paper about retrofit strategy for commercial buildings: The Beauty in Boring Buildings: The Business Case for Retrofit Beyond Flagship Assets.Notes from the showNick Taylor on LinkedIn Olga Khroustaleva on LinkedIn The Building Atlas website Their recent paper — The Beauty in Boring Buildings: The Business Case for Retrofit Beyond Flagship AssetsUK Government MEES guidance — Non-domestic private rented property: minimum energy efficiency standard - landlord guidance**SOME SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**We don't actually earn anything from this podcast, and it's quite a lot of work, so we have to promote the day jobs.Follow us on the Zero Ambitions LinkedIn page (we still don't have a proper website)Jeff and Dan about Zero Ambitions Partners (the consultancy) for help with positioning and communications strategy, customer/user research and engagement strategy, carbon calculations and EPDs – we're up to all sortsSubscribe and advertise with Passive House Plus (UK edition here too)Check Lloyd Alter's Substack: Carbon UpfrontJoin ACANJoin the AECB Join the IGBCCheck out Her Retrofit Space, the renovation and retrofit platform for women**END OF SELF-PROMOTING CALLS TO ACTION**

He must become greater with Elder Scott Bowman

Luke Part 71: Full-featured faithLuke 17:11-19Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: We owe God continual thanksgiving

Episode Overview In this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast, Benoy Thanjan speaks with Robb Jetty, CEO of REC Solar.  Rob shares insights from his 23-year journey in renewable energy, REC's behind-the-meter and utility-scale development strategy, and the company's active role in greenfield projects, energy storage, and asset repowering. Benoy Thanjan Benoy Thanjan is the Founder and CEO of Reneu Energy and he is also an advisor for several solar startup companies.  He has extensive project origination, development, and financial experience in the renewable energy industry and in the environmental commodities market.   This includes initial site evaluation, permitting, financing, sourcing equipment, and negotiating the long-term energy and environmental commodities off-take agreements. He manages due diligence processes on land, permitting, and utility interconnection and is in charge of financing and structuring through Note to Proceed (“NTP”) to Commercial Operation Date (“COD”). Benoy composes teams suitable for all project development and construction tasks. He is also involved in project planning and pipeline financial modeling. He has been part of all sides of the transaction and this allows him to provide unique perspectives and value. Benoy has extensive experience in financial engineering to make solar projects profitable. Before founding Reneu Energy, he was the SREC Trader in the Project Finance Group for SolarCity which merged with Tesla in 2016.  He originated SREC trades with buyers and co-developed their SREC monetization and hedging strategy with the senior management of SolarCity to move into the east coast markets.  Benoy was the Vice President at Vanguard Energy Partners which is a national solar installer where he focused on project finance solutions for commercial scale solar projects.  He also worked for Ridgewood Renewable Power, a private equity fund, where he analyzed potential investments in renewable energy projects and worked on maximizing the financial return of the projects in the portfolio.  Benoy also worked on the sale of all of the renewable energy projects in Ridgewood's portfolio.   He was in the Energy Structured Finance practice for Deloitte & Touche and in Financial Advisory Services practice at Ernst & Young.  Benoy received his first experience in Finance as an intern at D.E. Shaw & Co., which is a global investment firm with 37 billion dollars in investment capital. He has a MBA in Finance from Rutgers University and a BS in Finance and Economics from the Stern School of Business at New York University.  Benoy was an Alumni Scholar at the Stern School of Business.  Robb Jetty Rob Jetty is the Chief Executive Officer of REC Solar, a leading independent power producer (IPP) and clean energy developer focused on delivering innovative behind-the-meter and small utility-scale solar and storage solutions across the U.S. With over 23 years of experience in the renewable energy industry, Rob has built a career spanning the full lifecycle of clean energy development—from founding a regional EPC firm in 2002 to holding senior leadership roles at some of the industry's most influential organizations, including Recurrent Energy, General Electric, and EDF Renewables. As CEO of REC Solar, Rob is steering the company's strategic growth following its 2023 acquisition by ArcLight Capital Partners. Under his leadership, REC is focused on expanding its operating fleet through greenfield development, M&A, and repowering of aging solar assets. The company operates more than 150 solar projects totaling approximately 300 MW across 16 states. Rob's deep understanding of project development, corporate procurement, and grid-scale renewables enables REC to serve diverse sectors including food & beverage, cold storage, special districts (MUSH market), and fleet electrification. Notably, the company led the development of a solar-powered EV bus charging hub for the Anaheim Transportation Network, and a microgrid at Kona Village Resort in Hawaii, supporting resilience and clean energy access.   Stay Connected: Benoy Thanjan Email: info@reneuenergy.com  LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com   Robb Jetty LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/robertjetty/ Website: https://recsolar.com/ REC Solar Case Studies:  https://recsolar.com/resources/case-studies/

Send us a textTired of the endless chase for more traffic? Discover a smarter approach to affiliate marketing that can dramatically boost your revenue using visitors you already have.We dive deep into the world of Earnings Per Click (EPC) optimization – a strategy that lets you increase affiliate earnings without attracting a single new visitor. Learn how to identify which merchants are truly delivering value, why positioning matters more than you might think, and how to strategically place your highest-performing partners for maximum returns.This episode breaks down exactly how to analyze your affiliate reports to find golden opportunities hiding in plain sight. You'll discover why some merchants consistently outperform others and how to leverage these insights across your site. I share real examples from my experience running broadbandco.uk, where strategic merchant positioning based on EPC data significantly boosted our bottom line.Beyond the basics, we explore advanced techniques including page-level optimization strategies that account for different visitor intentions, seasonal adjustments to keep your earnings optimized year-round, and even how to build automated systems that continuously optimize your merchant positioning based on performance data.Whether you're just starting your affiliate marketing journey or managing established sites, this approach offers immediate potential for revenue growth. Stop leaving money on the table and start making your existing traffic work harder for you. Subscribe now and transform how you think about affiliate optimization!SEO Is Not That Hard is hosted by Edd Dawson and brought to you by KeywordsPeopleUse.com Help feed the algorithm and leave a review at ratethispodcast.com/seo You can get your free copy of my 101 Quick SEO Tips at: https://seotips.edddawson.com/101-quick-seo-tipsTo get a personal no-obligation demo of how KeywordsPeopleUse could help you boost your SEO and get a 7 day FREE trial of our Standard Plan book a demo with me nowSee Edd's personal site at edddawson.comAsk me a question and get on the show Click here to record a questionFind Edd on Linkedin, Bluesky & TwitterFind KeywordsPeopleUse on Twitter @kwds_ppl_use"Werq" Kevin MacLeod (incompetech.com)Licensed under Creative Commons: By Attribution 4.0 Licensehttp://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/4.0/

Luke Part 70: Our duty to our LordLuke 17:1-10Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: Disciples have duties to carry out

Luke Part 69: A window into the afterlifeLuke 16:19-31Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: God's Word is fully enough to save us or damn us

Welcome back to this episode of the Craft & Puro Podcast. New format in full effect and getting better. Slight mic issue jump 15 seconds ahead and we are full bore! We fire up a few year old sampler that ended up becoming a fantastic cigar for EPC. Paired pool side with Bookers 2025-02 and the new Wild Turkey 8yr. We catch up and enjoy a great day of cigars, banter and fun. Sit back, relax and grab yourself a libation and a cigar and enjoy this episode! Downlaod the episode here https://www.buzzsprout.com/2514419/episodes/17467102 To support the show and to catch all the bonus content, head on over to www.patreon.com/craftandpuro. Enjoy this episode and Mahalo!

In this special Independence Day episode of In All Things, Dean is joined by pastor, author, and teacher Zack Eswine for a thoughtful conversation on what it means to live faithfully at the intersection of Christianity and citizenship. Together, they explore the complex tensions between faith and politics, and offer encouragement for believers navigating our modern political landscape.   Whether you're feeling overwhelmed by political division or searching for clarity on how to engage as a Christian, this episode offers grounded insight and a grace-filled perspective on our modern world.  

Is the London property market making an unexpected comeback? Tune into this month's market update, as Rob & Rob unpack the surprising stats from the capital, share a warning for landlords about looming EPC changes, and reveal some positive developments in the buy-to-let mortgage market.  (0:45) Surprising data for London's housing market.  (5:58) Is the rental boom over?  (8:55) Finally, some good news for buy to let mortgages.  (10:35) The latest updates on the Renters Rights Bill.  (12:05) Landlord EPC ignorance – what?!  (13:53) Hub Extra  Links mentioned:  House prices:  Rightmove house price index  House prices in every London borough after unexpected jump in average property value  Number of million-pound homes for sale doubles since 2019   Rental market:  Hamptons Letting Index  Zoopla UK Rental Market Report  Mortgages:  Buy To Let investors have vastly improved mortgage choice  Other:  Renters Rights Bill may not take effect for months  Landlord EPC ignorance “may hamper government energy goals”  Enjoy the show?  Leave us a review on Apple Podcasts - it really helps others find us!  Sign up for our free weekly newsletter, Property Pulse  Find out more about Property Hub Invest

Luke Part 68: Friends, money, and the futureLuke 16:1-18Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: Use your money to make a friend in Jesus

Rediffusion d'un des épisodes les plus écoutés du Podcast du Marketing.J'ai commencé ma carrière dans un grand groupe qui avait beaucoup d'argent.On dépensait des fortunes en tests consommateurs.J'en ai fait des dizaines.A prendre des notes derrière une vitre teintée, comme dans les films policiers. Sauf que là je ne cherchais pas le coupable idéal, mais le client idéal…J'adorais ça. Et j'ai appris énormément de choses sur mes consommateurs. J'ai construit des marques entières sur ce qui se disaient dans ces tests consommateurs. Les informations qui en ressortaient n'avaient pas de prix.Ou plutôt si, elles avaient un prix. Le prix fort. Un cabinet d'études, ça coûte bonbon…Bon mais comment fait-on quand on n'est pas une multinationale riche à millions?Et bien on fait des tests consommateurs…Cette semaine je reçois Camille Jullien, la co-fondatrice des champagnes EPC, et elle m'explique comment elle a fait pour construire toute sa marque sur des tests consommateurs alors qu'elle n'avait pas de budget…  Hébergé par Ausha. Visitez ausha.co/politique-de-confidentialite pour plus d'informations.

Join us for our last episode of Season 4 and our last day of General Assembly. Guest host and podcast producer Gianna Lazzaro sits down with Michael Davis, the EPC's Assistant Stated Clerk, for a behind-the-scenes look at what it takes to plan and execute a successful General Assembly. To watch the replay of our General Assembly worship services, plenary sessions and business sessions, click HERE.

Are you ready for the biggest shift happening in utility-scale solar right now?The transition from central to string inverters is revolutionizing how we build and operate massive solar farms across America. In this eye-opening episode, Luke Schlichte, Utility Sales Representative at CPS America (Chint Power Systems), breaks down why this technological shift is happening and what it means for the future of utility solar.Luke reveals the stark reality of underperformance plaguing utility-scale solar in the US, where some 200MW projects have experienced as low as 14% uptime after their first year. The culprit? Central inverters creating catastrophic single points of failure that can take entire megawatt blocks offline for weeks or even months at a time.Key topics covered in this episode:Why string inverters eliminate catastrophic downtime risksThe financial impact of inverter choice on long-term asset performanceHow CPS's 350kW string inverter (the world's most powerful) is changing the gameDistributed vs. skidded design approaches for utility solarMaintenance and servicing advantages that save time and moneyWhy specialized technician shortages make string inverters essentialReal-world case studies of projects switching from central to stringLuke explains how modern high-power string inverters like CPS's 350kW unit offer the modularity benefits of string technology while matching the economics of central inverters. With features like 15 MPPTs per inverter and full power output up to 45°C, these aren't your typical rooftop string inverters.Whether you're an asset owner, EPC contractor, or anyone involved in utility-scale solar development, this episode provides crucial insights into technology choices that can make or break project profitability. Luke shares how CPS's unique approach of studying returned inverters in their labs drives continuous innovation and why they view themselves as partners for the entire project lifecycle.Connect with Luke SchlichteLinkedIn: Luke SchlichteWebsite: CPS America Support the showConnect with Tim Clean Power Hour Clean Power Hour on YouTubeTim on TwitterTim on LinkedIn Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com Review Clean Power Hour on Apple PodcastsThe Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: CleanPowerHour@gmail.com Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America's number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

Welcome to our weekly Renewable Energy Briefing! Stay informed on the latest industry trends. Join us for a comprehensive analysis that combines expert commentary with up-to-the-minute news, offering you a strategic overview of the renewable energy market. Don't miss out on the crucial details that can impact your investment decisions. Tune in weekly for your essential dose of Renewable Energy insights! Episode #26 Briefing Highlights: Benoy was at a great new conference, the Mid-Atlantic Solar and Storage Conference. -The main topics were IRA, tariffs, how credit transferability may work in the future, impacts of the 2024 PJM capacity auction, SREC values in NJ being lowered, potential removal of grandfather provisions in California net metering program. $12 billion sale of generation assets from LS Power to NRG was completed bringing NRG's total capacity to 25GW Quanta was awarded a $1.5 billion contract to provide EPC services for Invenergy's Grainbelt Expressway transmission project. If you have any questions or comments, you can email us at info@reneuenergy.com.

Today on the Clean Power Hour, Tim Montague sits down with Carl Moose, partner at Greenlight Energy Solutions, to explore how businesses and homeowners in the Midwest are transforming their biggest liability, their roof, into a profitable energy asset.Carl, a former banker turned solar developer, reveals why Illinois has become one of the top 10 distributed generation markets in the US, despite not being known as a traditional "solar state." He breaks down the Climate and Equitable Jobs Act (CEJA) that created a 10-year runway of healthy renewable energy credits, making solar financially compelling for residential, commercial, and community solar projects.Key insights you'll discover:Why 50% of roofs need reconditioning before solar installation and how to overcome this major obstacleThe "airline fuel futures" strategy for locking in energy costs with solarHow space-age satellite technology is trickling down to make rooftop solar more efficient than everThe three-part business case: turning liabilities into assets, fixing variable expenses, and leveraging federal/state incentivesWhy net metering changes are driving the storage opportunity in IllinoisReal-world ROI scenarios showing 4-5 year payback periods with 15+ years of additional savingsCarl also shares the evolution of Greenlight Energy Solutions, from a traditional construction company to a full-service solar EPC, and explains their "BMW not Chevrolet" approach to quality components and installation.Whether you're a facility owner looking to reduce operating costs, a solar professional seeking market insights, or simply curious about the energy transition happening in America's heartland, this episode delivers actionable intelligence on one of the country's hottest solar markets.Connect with Carl MooseLinkedIn: Carl MooseEmail: carl@greenlightenergy.solarWebsite: Greenlink Energy Solutions Support the showConnect with Tim Clean Power Hour Clean Power Hour on YouTubeTim on TwitterTim on LinkedIn Email tim@cleanpowerhour.com Review Clean Power Hour on Apple PodcastsThe Clean Power Hour is produced by the Clean Power Consulting Group and created by Tim Montague. Contact us by email: CleanPowerHour@gmail.com Corporate sponsors who share our mission to speed the energy transition are invited to check out https://www.cleanpowerhour.com/support/The Clean Power Hour is brought to you by CPS America, maker of North America's number one 3-phase string inverter, with over 6GW shipped in the US. With a focus on commercial and utility-scale solar and energy storage, the company partners with customers to provide unparalleled performance and service. The CPS America product lineup includes 3-phase string inverters from 25kW to 275kW, exceptional data communication and controls, and energy storage solutions designed for seamless integration with CPS America systems. Learn more at www.chintpowersystems.com

After a 40-year career in trust banking, John Maurer was ready to retire—or so he thought. Instead, God had other plans: a second calling into global missions, Business as Mission (BAM), and now life leadership coaching. In this conversation, Mike Baer and John unpack how the Lord redirected John's path, why the Church often misses the connection between Sunday and Monday, and how coaching helps BAM practitioners around the world thrive—not just in business, but in life.John shares the story behind his unexpected shift from EPC missions leader to Ziglar-certified coach, what real coaching means (and how it differs from mentoring or consulting), and why helping people rediscover their dreams is a holy calling. If you're nearing retirement, feeling disconnected from your work, or wondering what's next—this episode offers clarity, encouragement, and a fresh take on living with eternal purpose.If you've enjoyed the Business as Mission podcast, please follow us so you won't miss any episodes and give us a rating wherever you listen. We'd also ask you to consider underwriting the costs of the podcast by supporting us at the Spotify link below, on Patreon (https://www.patreon.com/thebusinessasmissionpodcast), or Buy Me a Coffee (https://buymeacoffee.com/businessasmissionpodcast).

On this episode of The Horizon, John Chang interviews Marcelo Margain, managing partner at Eagle Property Capital (EPC), to explore how Mexican capital is fueling U.S. multifamily investments. Marcelo shares how EPC sources 85% of its capital from Mexico, leveraging investor interest in dollar-denominated assets and U.S. economic stability. He emphasizes the value of EPC's conservative investment strategy, fixed-rate financing, and their in-house management platform, which drives tenant satisfaction and high retention rates. Marcelo also highlights the firm's unique community-focused value-add approach and discusses their upcoming $300M Fund VI, targeting Sunbelt markets like Dallas, Houston, Orlando, and Tampa. Marcelo Margain Current role: Managing Partner at Eagle Property Capital Based in: Mexico Say hi to them at: LinkedIn profile or eaglepropertycapital.com Get a 4-week trial, free postage, and a digital scale at ⁠https://www.stamps.com/cre⁠. Thanks to Stamps.com for sponsoring the show! Post your job for free at https://www.linkedin.com/BRE. Terms and conditions apply. Join the Best Ever Community  The Best Ever Community is live and growing - and we want serious commercial real estate investors like you inside. It's free to join, but you must apply and meet the criteria.  Connect with top operators, LPs, GPs, and more, get real insights, and be part of a curated network built to help you grow. Apply now at ⁠www.bestevercommunity.com⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices