Podcasts about EPC

Sheldon Kimber is CEO and Founder of Intersect, a provider of power solutions to the industries of tomorrow. In his prior role as COO of Recurrent Energy, he led the company's development, origination, EPC, and operations activities globally and helped lead its expansion from a five person start-up to a leading, utility-scale developer, eventually delivering 2GW of COD. Sheldon joined Recurrent Energy in 2007 having previously worked at Calpine, Goldman Sachs, and Accenture. He holds a BA from Kenyon College and an MBA from UC Berkeley Haas School of Business, where he taught project finance for almost 10 years. Top 3 Value Bombs 1. Choose investors for alignment, not valuation. The right partners share your vision and support your governance. 2. Curiosity drives innovation. A culture of 'why not?' opens new pathways to scale and resilience. 3. Earn your edge through experience. Success comes from putting in the reps, learning the system, and then building something better. Check out the website to find Sheldon's blog and contact info. They are hiring across multiple roles - Intersect Sponsors HighLevel - The ultimate all-in-one platform for entrepreneurs, marketers, coaches, and agencies. Learn more at HighLevelFire.com. Intuit QuickBooks - Transform your cash flow and your business. Check out QuickBooks Money Tools today. Learn more at QuickBooks.com/money. Terms apply. Money movement services are provided by Intuit Payments Inc., licensed as a Money Transmitter by the New York State Department of Financial Services.  

Alex Modon is CEO and Co-founder of Unlimited Industries, a company transforming infrastructure development through AI-driven automation. Unlimited tackles one of the biggest bottlenecks in climate and industrial innovation: the outdated, risk-averse world of engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC). Traditional EPCs are often misaligned with the needs of first-of-a-kind projects. Unlimited flips the script by using AI to generate thousands of design permutations, drastically cutting feedback loops, iteration time, and overall cost. Alex shares how his background in software, combined with childhood exposure to industrial environments, inspired him to take on this hard problem—and why he believes the only way to build faster is to rebuild the entire system from the ground up.Episode recorded on July 29 (Published on Dec 3)In this episode, we cover: ⁠[03:15] An overview of EPCs[05:05] How EPCs make money[07:06] Why FOAK projects face EPC challenges[10:02] Reducing marginal cost of engineering design with AI[12:35] Alex's pivot from software to infrastructure[15:39] Why EPCs resist adopting AI tools[19:14] Unlimited's capital projects platform explained[23:41] How Unlimited manages physical construction[26:36] The company's vision of fully autonomous construction in the future[28:08] Why physical abundance drives Alex Enjoyed this episode? Please leave us a review! Share feedback or suggest future topics and guests at info@mcj.vc.Connect with MCJ:Cody Simms on LinkedInVisit mcj.vcSubscribe to the MCJ Newsletter*Editing and post-production work for this episode was provided by The Podcast Consultant

This episode of the UEG Podcast takes place at the EPC meeting in the summer of 2025. Our host Egle Dieninyte sits down with Professor Marco Del Chiaro, Surgical Oncologist and global lead of the upcoming Guidelines on Pancreatic Cystic Neoplasms. Tune in as they discuss why a unified, evidence-based approach is essential in this complex field, the challenges of managing cystic pancreatic lesions with limited high-quality data, and the balance between clinical judgement and guideline recommendations. Professor Del Chiaro also reflects on the limitations of current evidence, the evolving role of biomarkers, and how collaboration across continents may finally help standardise diagnosis, surveillance, and treatment for these patients. Insightful, candid, and forward-looking — this episode offers a rare behind-the-scenes view into how global consensus in pancreatic disease is built.

The fourth podcast in the 2025 F.E. podcast series was an interview with Thomas Byrne, Minister of State for European Affairs and Minister of State for Defence, by Barry Colfer, Director of Research at the IIEA in Dublin. The podcast is part of the Future-proofing Europe Project which is kindly funded by the Department of Foreign Affairs. The theme of the podcast was Ireland's Presidency of the Council of the EU in the second half of 2026. Minister Byrne commenced the interview by describing his long-standing experience and interest in European Affairs and explained the roles and responsibilities of the Presidency which include chairing a wide range of meetings at every level in Dublin, Brussels and Luxembourg and representing the EU and the Member States at various international summits during the term of the Presidency. At domestic level, several government departments are already working on the administrative arrangements and preparations needed to run an efficient and impactful Presidency and to find consensus on policies of major import. As to the public visibility of the Presidency, he said it would mainly be capture by the arrival of EU leaders for an informal European Council and for a meeting of the European Political Community, (EPC) in Ireland during its Presidency with leaders from up to 47 European countries. A further 22 informal Ministerial meetings, a quarter of which would be held outside Dublin, and 250 other working group meetings would be hosted around Ireland led by civil servants and Ministers. They would complement the work of the Committee of Ambassadors to the EU, (COREPER) in meetings in Brussels and Luxembourg. The Minister said that he had opened a consultation portal to elicit citizens' views on what Ireland's priorities should be, and to invite them to suggest a theme for Ireland's Presidency. He expressed a strong interest in engaging the public interest in the Presidency. In terms of Presidency priorities, he said that some are already part of the ongoing legislative agenda in the EU and will need to be advanced. Others will derive from the agreed Presidency trio programme which involves the Irish, Lithuanian and Greek Presidencies over an 18month period, the purpose of which is to maintain continuity and consistency across the three Presidencies. As to likely priorities, which will be formally announced in June 2026, the Minister mentioned values, such as democracy and rule of law, competitiveness, the Single Market and simplification agenda, security and defence, the MFF and Enlargement. As well as capturing the imagination of citizens the main objective then would be move forward as an honest broker representing the voices of all Member States and to see where Ireland can have an impact on shaping the agenda and achieve consensus on major portfolios, all of which would enhance the reputation of the country, both from an administrative and diplomatic point of view.

Allen, Joel, and Yolanda share their annual Thanksgiving reflections on a year of major changes in wind energy. They discuss industry collaboration, the offshore wind reset, and upcoming changes in 2026. Thanks to all of our listeners from the Uptime team! Sign up now for Uptime Tech News, our weekly email update on all things wind technology. This episode is sponsored by Weather Guard Lightning Tech. Learn more about Weather Guard’s StrikeTape Wind Turbine LPS retrofit. Follow the show on Facebook, YouTube, Twitter, Linkedin and visit Weather Guard on the web. And subscribe to Rosemary Barnes’ YouTube channel here. Have a question we can answer on the show? Email us! Welcome to Uptime Spotlight, shining Light on Wind Energy’s brightest innovators. This is the Progress Powering Tomorrow. Allen Hall: Welcome to the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast. I’m your host, Alan Hall in the Queen city of Charlotte, North Carolina. Joel Saxon’s up in Wisconsin, and Yolanda Padron is down in Texas, and this is our yearly Thanksgiving edition. Thanks for joining us and, and on this episode we always like to look back at the year and, uh, say all we’re thankful for. We’ve had a number of podcast guests on more than 50, I think total by the time we get to conferences and, uh, all the different places we’ve been over the past year. Joel, it does seem like it’s been a really interesting year. We’ve been able to watch. The changes in the wind industry this year via the eyes of [00:01:00]others. Joel Saxum: Yeah. One of the things that’s really interesting to me when we have guests on is that we have them from a variety of parts of the wind industry sector. So we have ISPs, you know, people running things out in the field, making stuff happen. We’ve got high level, you know, like we have this, some CEOs on from different, uh, people that are really innovative and trying to get floating winged out there. They have like on, we had choreo generation on, so we, so we have all different spectrums of left, right center, Europe, well us, you name it. Uh, new innovative technology. PhD smart people, uh, doing things. Um, also, it’s just a, it’s just a gamut, right? So we get to learn from everybody who has a different kind of view on what’s Allen Hall: happening. Yolanda, you’ve been in the midst of all this and have gone through a big transition joining us at Weather Guard, lightning Tech, and we’re very thankful for that, for sure. But over the last year, you’ve seen a lot of changes too, ’cause you’ve been in the seat of a blade engineer and a [00:02:00] large operator. What do you think? Yolanda Padron: Uh, something I am really thankful for this year is, and I think a lot of owner operators are, is just knowing what’s coming up. So there was a lot of chaos in the beginning before the big beautiful bill where everyone theorized on a lot of items. Um, and, and you were just kind of stuck in the middle of the court not really knowing which direction to go in, but. Now we’re all thankful for, for what? It’s brought for the fact that everyone seems to be contributing a lot more, and at least we all know what direction we’re heading in or what the, what the rules are, the of the game are, so we can move accordingly. Joel Saxum: Yeah. I got some clarity. Right. I think that, but that happened as well, like when we had the IRA bill come in. Three, four years ago, it was the same thing. It was like, well, this bill’s here, and then you read through it. I mean, this was a little bit opposite, right? ’cause it was like, oh, these are all [00:03:00] great things. Right? Um, but there wasn’t clarity on it for like, what, six months until they finalized some of the. Longer on some of the, some of the tax bills and what it would actually mean for the industry and those kind of things. So yeah, sorting this stuff out and what you’ve seen, you’re a hundred percent correct, Yolanda, like all the people we talked to around the industry. Again, specifically in the US because this affects the us but I guess, let me ca caveat that it does affect the global supply chain, not, you know what I mean? Because it’s, it’s not just the, the US that it affects because of the consumption here. So, but what we have heard and seen from people is clarity, right? And we’re seeing a lot of people starting to shift strategy a little bit. Right now, especially we’re in budgeting season for next year, shifting strategy a little bit to actually get in front of, uh, I know like specifically blades, some people are boosting their blades, budgets, um, to get in front of the damages because now we have a, a new reality of how we need to operate our wind farms. The offshore Allen Hall: shift in the United States has really had a [00:04:00] dramatic impact. On the rest of the world. That was, uh, a little unexpected in the sense that the ramifications of it were broader, uh, just because of so much money going into offshore projects. As soon as they get pulled or canceled, you’ve have billions of dollars on the table at that point. It really affects or seen it. Ecuador seen it. Anybody involved in offshore wind has been deeply affected. Siemens has seen it. GE has clearly seen it. Uh, that has. In my opinion, probably been the, the biggest impact. Not so much the big beautiful bill thing, but the, uh, ongoing effort to pull permits or to put stoppages on, on offshore wind has really done the industry some harm. And honestly, Joel, I’m not sure that’s over. I think there’s still probably another year of the chaos there. Uh, whether that will get settled in the courts or where it’s gonna get settled at. I, I still don’t know. [00:05:00] But you’ve seen a big shift in the industry over in Europe too. You see some changes in offshore wind. It’s not just the US that’s looking at it differently. Yeah. Globally. I think offshore wind Joel Saxum: right now is in a reset mode where we, we went, go, go, go, go, go get as much in the water as we can for a while. And this is, I’m, I’m talking globally. Um. And then, and now we’re learning some lessons, right? So there’s some commercial lessons. There’s a lot of technical lessons that we’re learning about how this industry works, right? The interesting part of that, the, the on or the offshore wind play here in the States. Here’s some numbers for it, right? So. It onshore wind. In the states, there’s about 160 gigawatts, plus or minus of, uh, deployed production out running, running, gunning, working, spinning all day long. Um, and if you look at the offshore wind play in planned or under development, there’s 66 gigawatts of offshore wind, like it’s sitting there, right? And of that 66, about 12 of them are permitted. Like [00:06:00] are ready to go, but we’re still only at a couple hundred megawatts in the water actually producing. Right. And, and I do want, say, this is what I wanna say. This is, I, I think that we’re taking a reset, we’re learning some things, but from, from my network, I’m seeing, I got a, a whole stack of pictures yesterday from, um, coastal offshore, Virginia Wind. They’ve, and they looked promising. They looked great. It was like a, it was a marshaling facility. There was nelle stacked up, there was transition pieces ready to go. Like, so the industry is still moving forward. It’s just we’re we need to reset our feet, um, and, and then take a couple steps forward instead of those, the couple steps back, Allen Hall: uh, and the industry itself, and then the employees have been dramatically reduced. So there’s been a lot of people who we’ve known over the past year, they’ve been impacted by this. That are working in different positions, look or in different industries right now, uh, waiting for the wind industry to kind of settle itself [00:07:00] out to, to figure out what the next steps are That has been. Horrible, in my opinion. Uh, uh because you’re losing so much talent, obviously. And when you, when you talk to the people in the wind industry, there’s like, oh, there’s a little bit of fat and we can always cut the fat. Yeah, yeah, yeah. But we’re, we’re down to the bone. We’re cutting muscle right now. We’re into some bones, some structure. That is not what I anticipated to happen. But you do see the management of these companies being. Uh, very aggressive at the minute. Siemens is very aggressive. Vestas is very aggressive about their product line and, and getting availability way up. GE has made huge changes, pretty much closing LM wind power, uh, and uh, some things happening in South Carolina that we probably people don’t know about yet, but there’s so much happening behind these scenes that’s negative and we have to acknowledge it. It’s not great. I worry about everybody that has been [00:08:00] laid off or is, is knows their job is gonna go away at the end of the year. I struggle with it all the time and I, I think a lot in the wind industry do. But there’s not a lot to do about it besides say, Hey, uh, we’ve gone through this a couple of times. Wind has never been bountiful for 50 years. It’s bountiful for about 10, then it’s down for about five and it comes back for 10. It’s that ebb and flow, but you just hate to be involved with that. It’s particularly engineering ’cause this industry needs engineering right Joel Saxum: now. All of us on this podcast here have been affected by ups and downs in the industry at some point in time in our life, in in major ways. I guess one of the positive things I have seen that from an operator standpoint, and not as much at the latter half of this year, but at the beginning half of this year is when some of these OEMs were making cuts. There was a lot of people that landed at operators and asset owners that were huge assets to them. They walked in the door with. Reams of knowledge about how, [00:09:00] you know, how a ge turbine works or how the back office process of this works and they’re able to help these operators. So some of that is good. Um, you get some people spread around in the industry and some knowledge bases spread around. But man, it’s really hard to watch. Um, your friends, your colleagues, even people that you, that you don’t know personally just pop up on LinkedIn, um, or wherever. And. That they’ve, they’re, they’re looking for work again. Allen Hall: Yolanda, how do you look at 2026 then, knowing what’s just happened in 2025? Is there some hope coming? Is there a rainbow in the future? Yolanda Padron: I think there’s a rainbow in the future. You know, I, I think a lot of the decisions were made months ago before a lot of people realized that the invaluable, how invaluable some of that information in people’s heads is. Uh, particularly, I mean, I know we’ve all talked about the fact that we’re all engineers and so we, we have a bit of bias that way. Right. But, uh, [00:10:00] just all of the knowledge that comes in from the field, from looking at those assets, from talking to other engineers now, which is what, what we’re seeing more and more of, uh, I think, I mean. So there’s going to have to be innovation, right? Because of how, how lean everybody is and, and there’s going to have to be a lot more collaboration. So hopefully there, there should be some, some good news coming to people. I think we, we need it a little Joel Saxum: bit. You know, to, to, to pair on with what you’re saying there, Yolanda, like, this is a time right now for innovation and collaboration. Collaboration, right. I want to touch on that word because that is something that we, we talk about all the time on the podcast, but you also see the broader industry talking about it since I’ve been in it, right. Since I think I came in the wind industry, like 2019. Um, you hear a lot of, uh, collaboration, collaboration, collaboration. But those were like, they were [00:11:00] fun, like hot air words, like oh yeah, but then nobody’s really doing anything. Um, but I think that we will start to see more of that. Alan, you and I say this a lot, like at the end of the day, once, once the turbines are in the ground as an asset owner, you guys are not competing anymore. There’s no competition. You’re competing for, for green space when you’re trying to get the best wind resource. I get that. Um, but I mean, in the central part of the United States, you’re not really competing. There’s a lot of hills out there to stick a turbine on. Uh, but once they’re, once they are spinning. Everybody’s in the same boat. We just wanna keep these things up. We wanna keep the grid energized, we wanna do well for renewable energy and, um, that collaboration piece, I, I, I would like to see more and more of that in 2026. And I know from, from our chairs here, we will continue to push on that as well. Yolanda Padron: Yeah. And just so many different operators, I mean sure they can see themselves as, as being one against the other. Right. But. When you talk [00:12:00] to these people and it, I think people in the past, they’ve made the, the mistake of just being a little bit siloed. And so if you’re just looking at your assets and you’re just looking at what your OEM is telling you of, oh, these problems are new and unique to you, which I’m sure a lot of people hearing us have heard that. You can stay just kind of in that zone of, oh no, I, I have this big problem that there’s no other way to solve it except for what some people are telling me or not telling me, and I’m just going to have to pay so much money to get it done and take the losses from generation. Uh, but there’s so many people in the industry that have a hundred percent seen the issues you’ve seen. Right. So it’s, it’s really, really important to just talk to these people, you know? I mean, just. Just have a, a simple conversation. And I think some of the issue might be that some people don’t know [00:13:00] how to get that conversation started, right? And so just, just reach out to people, someone in the same position as you go to Wilma, you know, just talk to the person next to you. Joel Saxum: I mean, like I said about visibility, like we’re here too. Like the, the three of us are sitting here. We’ve got our. We’re always monitoring LinkedIn and our emails like if you, if you have a problem, we, we had one this morning where I, Alan, you got a message from someone, I got a message from someone that was like, Hey, we’ve got this root bolt issue. Can you help us with it? We’re like, Hey, we know two companies that can, let’s just connect them up and, and make that conversation happen. So we’re happy to do the same thing. Um, if, if you have an issue, we have a, a Allen Hall: broad reach and use us as Joel has mentioned a thousand times on the podcast. If you don’t know where a technology lies or where a person is that you need to reach out to, you need to go to the Uptime podcast. You can search it on YouTube and probably get an answer, or just reach us on LinkedIn. We’re all willing [00:14:00] to give you advice or help or get you in the right direction. We’ve done it all year and we’ve done it for years. Not everybody takes us up on that opportunity. It’s free. We’re just trying to make this world just a tiny bit better. Yolanda Padron: No one has the time or the money right now to reinvent the wheel, right? So I mean, it just doesn’t make sense to not collaborate. Allen Hall: I think we should discuss what will happen to all the people that have left wind this past year willingly or unwillingly. And what that means for the industry, in my opinion. Now there is more knowledge than ever walking on the streets and probably doesn’t have an NDA to tie them up. ’cause it’s been long enough that the industry hasn’t tapped into, the operators have not grabbed hold of the people who designed the blade that, uh, manufactured the blade that looked at. The LEP solutions that looked at all the bearings and all the different gear boxes that they evaluated and were involved in the testing of those [00:15:00] things. Those people are available right now and a little bit of LinkedIn shopping would give you access to, uh, really invaluable wealth of information that will make your operations work better, and you may have to be willing to pay for it a little bit. But to tap into it would save you months and months and months of time and effort and, uh, limit having to add to your engineering staff because they will work as consultants. It does seem like there’s an opportunity that maybe the operators haven’t really thought about all that much because they haven’t seen too much of it happening yet. Occasionally see the, the wise old operators being smart about this, they’ve been through these loops before and are taking advantage of it. Don’t you see? That’s like 2026 is is is the year of the consultant. I a hundred percent Joel Saxum: agree with you, Alan. Um, I saw a TEDx talk oh, years ago actually now. Uh, but it was about the, what the future of worker looks like, the future of [00:16:00] work and the future of work at that time for those people giving that TEDx talk was workers on tap. Basically consultants, right? Because you have subject matter experts that are really good at this one thing, and instead of just being that one thing good for just this one company, they’re pulling back and going, I can do this, this, this, and this for all these companies. So we have, um, we have a lot of those in the network and we’re starting to see more and more of them pop up. Um, at the same time, I think I’ve seen a couple of groups of them pop up where, uh, you didn’t have. When I look at ISPs, um, I’m always kind of like, oh man, they could do this a little bit better. They could do this a little bit better. And I, I recently heard of an ISP popping up that was a bunch of these like consultant types that got together and we’re like, you know what? We have all this knowledge of all these things. Why not make this a, a company that we can all benefit from? Um, and we can change the way some things are done in the wind industry and do it a little bit better, uh, a little bit more efficiently. Allen Hall: Does that change the way we think about technicians also. [00:17:00] We had the Danish Wind Power Academy on the podcast a couple of months ago talking about training and specific training for technicians and engineers for that matter on the turbines that are at their sites and how much productivity gain they’re getting from that. And we’ve recently talked about how do I get a 10% improvement? Where does that 10% lie? Where is that? And a lot of times we get offered the 1%, the half a percent improvement, the 10% lies in the people. If you know who to ask and you get your people spooled upright, you can make multiple percentage point changes in your operation, which improves your revenue. But I think that’s been left on the table for a long time because we’ve been in build, build, build. And now that we’re into operate, operate, operate. Do you see that shift happening? Do you see O operators starting to think about that a little bit that maybe I should train up my technicians on this? Intercon turbine Joel Saxum: that they’re not familiar with. In my [00:18:00] opinion, I think that’s gonna be a 2027 reality. Because we’re seeing this, your, your right now what? You know we have this cliff coming where we’re gonna see in, in the face of the current regulations in the US where you’re gonna see the. Development kind of slow, big time. And when that happens, then you can see the focus start to switch onto the operating assets. So I don’t think that’s a 26 thing, I think that’s a 27 thing. But the smart operators, I believe would be trying to take some of that, take control of some of that stuff. Right. Well we see this with the people that we know that do things well. Uh, the CRS team at EDF with their third party services and sala, Ken Lee, Yale, Matta, and those guys over there. They’re doing a, I don’t wanna lose any other names here, Trevor Engel. Like, I wanna make sure I get a Tyler. They’re all superstars, they’re fantastic. But what they’re doing is, is is they’re taking, they’re seeing what the future looks like and they’re taking control. I think you’ll see, you’ll, you’ll see an optimization. Um, companies that are investing in their technicians to train [00:19:00] them are going to start getting a lion’s share of the work, because this time of, oh, warm bodies, I think is, is they’re still gonna be there, right? But I think that that’s gonna hopefully become less and less. Allen Hall: Yolanda, I want to focus on the OEM in 2025, late 2025, and moving into 2026 and how they deal with the developers. Are you thinking that they’re going to basically keep the same model where a lot of developers are, uh, picking up the full service agreements or not being offered a turbine without a full service agreement? Will that continue or do you see operators realize that they probably don’t need the OEM and the historical model has been OEMs manufacture products and provide manuals in the operations people and developers read the manuals and run the turbine and only call over to the OEM when they need really severe help. Which way are we gonna go? Yolanda Padron: I think on the short term, it’ll still be very FSA focused, in my opinion, [00:20:00] mainly because a lot of these operators didn’t necessarily build out their teams, or didn’t have the, the business case wasn’t there, the business model wasn’t there. Right. To build out their internal teams to be able to, to do the maintenance on these wind turbines as much as an OEM does. Uh. However, I do think that now, as opposed to 10 years ago when some of these contracts started, they have noticed that there’s, there’s so many big things that the OEN missed or, or just, you know, worked around, uh, that really has affected the lifetime of some of these blades, some of these turbines. So I think the shift is definitely happening. Uh, you mentioned it with EDF NextEra, how, how they’re at a perfect spot to already be there. Uh, but I think at least in the US for some of these operators that are a lot [00:21:00] more FSA focused, the shift might take a couple of years, but it’s, it surely seems to be moving in that direction. Joel Saxum: So here’s a question for you, Ilana, on that, on that same line of thinking. If we, regulation wise, are looking to see a slow down in development, that would mean to me that the OEMs are gonna be clamoring for sales over the next few years. Does that give more power to the operators that are actually gonna be buying turbines in their TSA negotiations? Yolanda Padron: I think it should, right. I mean, the. If they, if they still want to continue developing some of these, it and everyone is fighting, you know, all of these big OEMs are fighting for the same contracts. There’s, there’s a lot more kind of purchase power there from, from the operators to be able [00:22:00] to, to, you know, negotiate some of these deals better. Stay away from the cookie cutter. TSA. That the OEMs might supply that are very, very shifted towards the OEM mindset. Joel Saxum: You, you’re, you’re spot on there. And if I was a developer right now, I’d be watching quarterly reports and 10 k filings and stuff at these operators to make sure, or to see when to pounce on a, on a, a turbine order, because I would wait to see when in, in the past it’s been like, Hey, if we’re, it doesn’t matter who you are, OEM, it has been like we’re at capacity and we have. Demand coming in. So we can pick and choose. Like if you don’t buy these turbines on our contract, we’ll just go to the next guy in line. They’ll buy ’em. But now if the freeboard between manufacturing and demand starts to keep having a larger delta, well then the operators will be able to go, well, if you don’t sell it to me, you’re not, there isn’t another guy behind me. So now you have to bend to what I want. And all the [00:23:00] lessons that I’ve learned in my TSA negotiations over the last 20 years. Yolanda Padron: Something relating to Alan’s point earlier, something that I think would be really, really interesting to see would be some of these developers and EPC teams looking towards some of those contract external contractor consultants that have been in the field that know exactly where the issues lie. To be able to turn that information into something valuable for an operating project that. Now we know has to operate as long as possible, Allen Hall: right? Without repower, I think two things need to happen simultaneously, and we will see if they’ll play out this way. OEMs need to focus on the quality of the product being delivered, and that will sustain a 20 year lifetime with minimal maintenance. Operators need to be more informed about how a turbine actually operates and the details of that technology so they can manage it themselves. Those two things. Are [00:24:00] almost inevitable in every industry. You see the same thing play out. There’s only two airplane companies, right? There’s Boeing and Airbus. They’re in the automobile world. There’s, it gets fewer and fewer every year until there’s a new technology leap. Wind is not gonna be any different, and I hope that happens. OEMs can make a really quality product. The question is, they’ve been so busy developing. The next turbine, the next turbine, the next turbine. That have they lost the magic of making a very, very reliable turbine? They’ll tell you, no, we know how to do it. Uh, but as Rosemary has pointed out numerous times, when you lose all your engineering talent, it gets hard to make that turbine very robust and resilient. That’s gonna be the challenge. And if the OEMs are focused on. TSAs it should be, but the full service agreements and taking care of that and managing all the people that are involved with that, it just sucks the life out of the OEMs, I think, in terms of offering the next great product. [00:25:00]Someone showed me the next GE Joel Saxum: one five. Oh, I would love to see it. Do you believe that? Okay, so I, we’ll shift gears from oe, uh, wind turbine OEMs to blade manufacturers. LM closing down shops, losing jobs, uh, TPI bankruptcy, uh, 99% of their market cap eroding in a year is there and, and, and the want for higher quality, better blades that are gonna last. Is there space, do you think there’s space for a, a blade manufacturer to come out of nowhere, or is there just someone’s gonna have to scoop some of these factories up and and optimize them, or what do you think the future looks like for blade Allen Hall: manufacturers? The future is gonna be vertically integrated, and you see it in different industries at the moment where they’re bringing in technology or manufacturing that would have typically been outsourced in the two thousands. They’re bringing it back underneath their roofs. They’re buying those companies that were vendors to them for years. The reason they’re doing that is they [00:26:00] can remove all the operational overhead. And minimize their cost to manufacture that product. But at the same time, they can have really direct oversight of the quality. And as we have seen in other industries, when you outsource a critical component, be it gear, boxes, bearings, blades, fall into that category, those are the critical items for any wind turbine. When you outsource those items and rely upon, uh, uh, companies that you don’t have direct control over, or not watching day to day, it can go awry. Management knows it, and at some point they’re willing to accept that risk. They know that the cost is right. I gotta build this, uh, turbine. I know I’m working three generations ahead, so it’s okay, I’ll, I’ll live with this for the time being, but at some point, all the staff in the OEMs needs to know what the quality component is. Is it being delivered on time? Do I have issues out in the field with it? Do I keep this supply chain? Do I, and do I build this in house blades? [00:27:00] I think eventually. Like they were years ago, were built in-house. Uh, but as they grew too quickly, I think everybody will agree to that Joel Saxum: capacity. Yeah, Allen Hall: right. They started grabbing other factories that they didn’t know a lot about, but it gave them capacity and ability able to make sales. Now they’re living with the repercussions of that. I think Siemens is the obvious one, but they’re not the only one. GE has lived through something very similar, so, uh, vertical integration is going to be the future. Before we wrap the episode, we should talk about what we’re thankful for for this year, 2025. So much has happened. We were in Australia in February, weather guard moved in April to North Carolina. We moved houses and people, and the whole organization moved from Massachusetts and North Carolina. Joel got married. Yolanda got married. We’ve been all over the world, honestly. Uh, we’ve traveled a great deal and we’re thankful for everybody that we’ve met this year, and that’s one of the pleasures of doing this podcast is I just [00:28:00] get to meet new people that are very interesting, uh, and, uh. Talk, like, what’s going on? What are you thinking? What’s happening? It just feels like we’re all connected in this weird way via this podcast, and I, I, I’m really thankful for that and my always were saying Thanks. I will go through my list. I’m thankful for my mom. I’m thankful for my wife Valerie, who pretty much runs Weather Guard, lightning Tech, and Claire, who is my daughter who does the podcast and has been the producer, she graduated this year from Boston College. With honors that happened this year. So I’m very thankful that she was able to do that. And my son Adam, who’s earning his doctorate degree out in San Diego, always thankful for him ’cause he’s a tremendous help to us. And on the engineering side, I’m thankful to everybody we have with us this year. We brought Yolanda on, so we’re obviously thankful that, uh, she was able to join us. Of course, Joel Joel’s been here a couple of years now and helping us on sales and talking to everybody [00:29:00] in the world. We’re super thankful for Joel and one of the people we don’t tell behind the who’s behind the scenes on our side is our, our, uh, manufacturing person, Tammy, um, and Leslie. They have done a tremendous job for us over the years. They don’t get a lot of accolades on the podcast, but people who receive our strike tape product, they have touched. Tammy and Leslie have touched, uh, Tammy moved down with us to North Carolina and we’re extremely grateful that she was able to do that. Another person behind the scenes for us is Diane stressing. She does her uptime tech news newsletter. So the high quality content doesn’t come from me, it comes from Diane ’cause she can write and she’s an excellent newsletter writer. She helps with a ton of our content. She’s behind the scenes and there’s a lot of people at, at, uh, weather, car Lightning Tech that are kind of behind the scenes. You don’t get to see all the time, but when you do get an email about uptime, tech news is coming from Diane. So we’re super grateful for her. We’ve been blessed this year. We [00:30:00] really have. We’ve brought on a lot of new friends and, uh, podcast has grown. Everything has done well this year, so we’re super happy. Joel, what are you thankful for? Joel Saxum: I would start it the same way. Uh, my, my new. Sorry, my new wife as of last May, Kayla, she is the, the glue that holds me together, uh, in our household together, in this kind of crazy world that we’re in, of the ups and downs and the travels and the moving and grooving. Um, she keeps, she keeps me grounded. She keeps our family grounded. So, um, uh, I, I don’t think I can thank her enough. Uh, and you know, with that being said, we are always traveling, right? We’re, we’re here, we’re there. We’re. All around the world, and I am thankful for that. Um, I’m thankful for the people that we meet while we get to travel, the cultures and the, the experiences and the people that want to share with us and the knowledge gained from, uh, the conversations, whether it be in a conference room or over a beer.[00:31:00] Um, uh, the, the people that we have, uh, grown into this uptime network and, um, I know like my personal network from the past and of course everybody that will come in the future. I think that’s where, you know, the, the, if you know me, you know that I’m very much an extrovert, uh, talking with people and, and getting those conversations gives me energy. Um, and I like to give that back as much as I can. So the, all of the people that I’ve run into over the, over the past year that have allowed me to monologue at them. Thank you. Sorry. Apologies. Um, but, uh, yeah, I mean, it’s, it’s hard to. I think this, this is a, this is always why Thanksgiving is like a six hour long thing in the United States, eight hour long thing. You have dinner at three and you hang out with your friends and family until 10, 11:00 PM because it gives you time to reflect on, um, the things that are awesome in life. Right? And we get bogged down sometimes in our, you know, in the United States. We are [00:32:00] work, work, work, work works. First kind of society. It’s the culture here. So we get bogged down sometimes in the, you know, we’re in the wind industry right now and it’s not always. Um, you know, roses and sunshine, uh, but ha having those other people around that are kind of like in the trenches with you, that’s really one thing I’m thankful for. ’cause it, it’s, it’s bright spots, right? I love getting the random phone calls throughout the day of someone sharing a piece of information or just asking how you’re doing or connecting like that. So, um, that, that would be the, the thing I’m most thankful for, and it puts it into perspective here, to a me up home in Wisconsin, or my, my not home. Home is Austin, but my original hometown of northern Wisconsin, and I’ve got to see. Quite a few of my, my high school buddies are, yeah, elementary school buddies even for that matter over the last couple weeks. And, um, that really always brings me back to, to a bit of grounding and puts, puts life in perspective. So, uh, I’m really appreciative for that as well. Yolanda, newly married as well, and welcome to the club. Yolanda Padron: Thank [00:33:00] you. Yeah, I’m really, really thankful for, for Manuel, my husband, uh, really. Really happy for our new little family. Uh, really thankful for my sisters, Yvonne and Carla and my parents. Um, my friends who I like to think of as my chosen family, especially, you know, here in Austin and then, and in El Paso. Uh, really, really thankful for, for the extended family and for, for weather card for, for this lovely opportunity to just. Learned so much. I know it’s only been almost two months, but I’ve, I’ve just learned so much of just talking to everybody in the industry and learning so much about what’s going on everywhere and just getting this, this whole new outlook on, on what the future holds and, and what exactly has happened and technology wise, and I’m thankful for [00:34:00] this year and how. How exciting everything’s going to be. So, yeah, thankful for you guys. Allen Hall: And we don’t wanna forget Rosemary and Phil, uh, they’ve been a big part of 2025. They’ve worked really hard behind the scenes and, uh, I appreciate everything they’ve done for the podcast and everything they’re doing for. Us as a company and us as people. So big shout out to Rosemary and Phil. So that’s our Thanksgiving episode. Appreciate everybody that’s joined us and has enjoyed the podcast in 2025 and will continue to in 2026. The years coming to an end. I know the Christmas holidays are upon us. I hope everybody enjoys themselves. Spend a little bit of time with your family. And with your coworkers and take a little bit of time. It’s been a pretty rough year. You’re gonna need it. And that wraps up another episode of the Uptime Winner Energy podcast, and we appreciate you joining us here today. If anything has triggered an idea or a question. As we’ve mentioned, reach out to us on LinkedIn. That’s the easiest way to get ahold of [00:35:00] us and don’t ever forget to subscribe. So click that little subscribe button so you don’t miss any of the Future Uptime podcast episodes, and we’ll catch you here next week on the Uptime Wind Energy Podcast.

Send us a textWe unpack the most common landlord questions from forums and give clear, practical answers you can evidence. From who chooses the tenant to EPC rumors, deposit pitfalls, and rent rises, we share what to do, what to document, and what to avoid.• landlord retains final say on tenant selection, no discrimination, consistent affordability criteria• provide and certify safe cooking facilities, control installation, document compliance• meter photos and timely notifications prevent liability for outgoing tenants' utilities• smoke and CO alarms must be restored promptly once notified, evidence all actions• protect deposits within 30 days or face one to three times penalties per breach• insured vs custodial deposit schemes, control versus simplicity trade-offs• EPC only required when marketing, plan low-cost upgrades, watch 2030 policy shifts• maintain gas safety during possession efforts, record all access attempts• serve notices via email if permitted, plus hand delivery with timestamped photos• raise rents annually with Section 13 and comparables, avoid painful catch-up jumps• rent guarantee insurance covers arrears and legal costs, claim before 30 days, not retrospectiveVALUABLE RESOURCES: Let me help you build your property business, Check out how I can support your investing now. Visit https://www.thepropertyunleashed.com/home My Property Investing Community called Property Education To Action, This is the best place to achieve your property goals and build the life you desire. https://educationtoaction.com You can learn and take action on your property goals for just £1 Visit www.educationtoaction.com to explore free Property Ebooks and guides in Rent-to-Rent, Serviced Accommodation, Deal Sourcing, PLOs and more and also our FREE training masterclasses to help you generating a sustainable income through property. https://www.facebook.com/groups/816926952556608 to meet like-minded property investors and be a part of the community. CONNECT WITH ME: Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/mark.fitzgerald.7921Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/markfitzgeraldentrepreneur/Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/mark-fitzge...

Psalm 88: The darkest depthsRev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: Christ is our hope in dark times

In the concluding episode of our Essentials series, Dean sits down with esteemed church historian Dr. Mark Noll to explore the rich historical and theological context surrounding the Essentials of our Faith. Together, they trace the development of Presbyterianism in America, reflect on the global identity of the EPC, and consider how balancing truth and grace has always been central to our confessional life. Drawing from centuries of church history, Dr. Noll and Dean discuss how past movements of faith and reform can guide the EPC in navigating present and future challenges. Their conversation reminds us that the Essentials are not only a foundation to preserve but a living testimony of God's ongoing work in His Church around the world. This episode offers both historical insight and pastoral encouragement for anyone seeking to understand how the EPC's theological roots inform its present mission and unity in Christ.

In this episode of the Solar Maverick Podcast, host Benoy Thanjan talks with Jon Semingson, President of Peak Demand, a leading recruitment firm focused on renewable energy and clean technology. Jon shares an inside look at how the intense growth of solar, storage and broader renewables is reshaping the talent market, what companies are doing right and wrong when hiring, and what candidates should focus on to stand out. Benoy and Jon also dive into how recent policy changes and the “Big Beautiful Bill” landscape are influencing demand for specific skill sets, plus key takeaways from this year's RE+ Las Vegas and what they signal about the future of the clean energy workforce. What You'll Learn In This Episode How Peak Demand became a go-to recruiting partner for solar, storage and clean energy companies The most in-demand roles in today's renewable energy market How policy shifts and incentives are changing hiring needs across development, EPC, asset management and finance Compensation and hiring trends for 2025 and beyond How remote work, hybrid models and geographic flexibility are affecting recruiting strategies Common mistakes solar and storage companies make when trying to hire top talent Practical tips for candidates who want to break into or move up in the renewable energy industry Key themes Jon and Benoy saw at RE+ and what they reveal about where the industry is headed How founders and executives can build teams that scale with rapid growth and market volatility   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. Jon Semingson Jon Semingson is the President of Peak Demand, a recruitment firm specializing in renewable energy, clean technology and the broader energy transition. Peak Demand partners with developers, IPPs, EPCs, manufacturers and investors to help them hire top talent across leadership, commercial, technical and operational roles. Peak Demand focuses on long-term partnerships, understanding both company culture and candidate motivations to build teams that can scale in a fast-moving, highly competitive market like solar and storage.   Stay Connected: Benoy Thanjan Email: info@reneuenergy.com  LinkedIn: Benoy Thanjan Website: https://www.reneuenergy.com Website:  https://www.solarmaverickpodcast.com   Jon Semingson  Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/solarrecruiter/       Website:  https://peakdemandinc.com/   Email:  jon@inpeakdemand.com   If you enjoyed this episode, please rate, review and share the Solar Maverick Podcast so more people can learn how to accelerate the clean energy transition.   Join Us for the Winter Solstice Fundraiser!  I'm excited to invite you to our Winter Solstice Fundraiser, hosted by Reneu Energy and the Solar Maverick Podcast on Thursday, December 4th from 6–10 PM at Hudson Hall in Jersey City, NJ! https://www.tickettailor.com/events/reneuenergy/1919391 This event brings together clean energy leaders, entrepreneurs, and friends to celebrate the season while raising funds for the Let's Share the Sun Foundation, which installs solar and storage systems for families and communities in need in Puerto Rico. We'll have: -Great food and drinks -Amazing networking with solar and sustainability professionals -Sports memorabilia auctions (with proceeds benefiting Let's Share the Sun) -An inspiring community focused on making an impact through solar energy If you or your company would like to get involved as a sponsor, please message us at info@reneuenergy.com.  

Today's conversation is with someone who has spent her life lifting women higher. Nancy Griffin—former Procter & Gamble manager, community leader, and now longtime wealth advisor—has dedicated her career to helping women claim their worth, protect their health, and build the kind of wealth that supports a joyful, generous life. Inspired by her trailblazing mother, Nancy founded Women, Worth & Wellness® back in 1994 with a simple but powerful belief: health and wealth are inseparable. For decades, she's been educating women on everything from heart health to charitable giving, guiding them to grow not just their net worth, but their self-worth. Nancy is a connector, an influencer, and a champion for Daring & Caring Leaders. Her courage, determination, and joy infuse everything she touches—whether she's supporting women through major life decisions, partnering with health organizations, or encouraging women to step into leadership with confidence. You'll hear why trusted advisors matter, how women can build lasting legacy, and why Nancy believes every woman deserves to feel fabulous, informed, and on top of her game every single day.  So Call IT in!  “Call IT in With Dar!” The LoveTunerThe Lovetuner is a simple flute is considered to be the vibration of love and compassion.Disclaimer: This post contains affiliate links. If you make a purchase, I may receive a commission at no extra cost to you.Support the showFull Show Notes can be found at CallITInPodcast.comPhoto credit: Rebecca Lange Photography Music credit: Kevin MacLeod Incompetech.com (licensed under Creative Commons) Production credit: Erin Schenke @ Emerald Support Services LLC. Grab Dar's Flight Deck Oracle Card DeckTake Dar's Archetype Quiz

Psalm 38: From heartbreak to hallelujahRev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: Laments lead us to healing

In this episode, our guest is Daisy Vardy, co-founder of ForeseEnergy, a 100% minority women-owned cleantech EPC company based in British Columbia. Daisy shares her company's inspiring journey and mission to decarbonize transportation by retrofitting diesel fleets—from mining trucks and postal vans to tugboats and cranes—with state-of-the-art electric drive systems and battery swapping technologies. She discusses how their end-to-end solutions extend the life of vehicles, reduce emissions, and lower operational costs by up to 90%. Daisy also explains how ForeseEnergy is leading initiatives in second-life battery repurposing, autonomous vehicle retrofits, microgrids for rural communities, and collaborations with Indigenous Nations. Her story is a compelling testament to female-led innovation, sustainable development, and the power of strategic partnerships in accelerating the energy transition. Please join to find more. Connect with Sohail Hasnie: Facebook @sohailhasnie X (Twitter) @shasnie LinkedIn @shasnie ADB Blog Sohail Hasnie YouTube @energypreneurs Instagram @energypreneurs Tiktok @energypreneurs Spotify Video @energypreneurs

Dixon's Landon Knigge was named all-state by the Illinois High School Football Coaches Association after a record-breaking senior season. Newman, EPC, Forreston, Amboy, Milledgeville, Polo and West Carroll also had all-state selections from the area.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/friday-night-drive--3534096/support.

In this conversation, Talha Faiz, co-founder of Candid Intelligence, discusses the journey of building a platform that compresses months of pre-construction engineering into hours. He shares insights on the challenges faced in the EPC industry, the importance of understanding user needs, and the technical hurdles in developing AI-driven solutions. Talha emphasizes the need for companies to be AI curious and highlights the potential for technology to transform the energy sector. The discussion also touches on personal experiences, lessons learned as a founder, and the future vision for Candid Intelligence.   Takeaways Candid Intelligence compresses months of engineering into hours. Understanding user needs is crucial for software adoption. The construction industry faces significant inefficiencies in software. AI can help bridge the gap between engineering and technology. Validating ideas with real users is essential for product development. Technical challenges include reading complex diagrams and documents. AI curiosity is more important than being AI native. The energy sector is ripe for technological transformation. Founders must focus on solving real problems for users. Passion and deep knowledge in a field can lead to unexpected opportunities.   Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Candid Intelligence 00:54 Founders' Background and Early Discoveries 02:47 Identifying Industry Problems 05:32 Building the Prototype and Validating Ideas 07:39 Target Audience and Project Stages 10:16 Proudest Moments and Technical Challenges 11:48 Computer Vision and AI in Engineering 20:23 Becoming AI Native: Best Practices 23:17 Lessons Learned as a Founder 24:49 Opportunities in Engineering 27:59 Vision for Candid and Future of Energy 31:18 Rapid Fire Round and Closing Thoughts  

In this episode, Dean is joined by Don Fortson, one of the EPC's leading authorities on our denomination's history and doctrine. Together, they explore the deep relationship between the Essentials of Our Faith and the Westminster Confession of Faith, unpacking how these foundational documents work together to shape the theological core of the EPC's Constitution. Don and Dean discuss the importance of doctrinal integrity, the role of confessional subscription in the life of the church, and how the EPC's distinctive approach preserves both unity in the essentials and liberty in non-essentials. Through their conversations, listeners will gain a richer understanding of why what we believe – and how we hold those beliefs – matters deeply for the church's witness and health today.

A few years ago, industry and political leaders embraced hydrogen as a solution to a laundry list of hard-to-abate decarbonization challenges — steel production, ammonia production, and more. But hydrogen failed to come down in costs and policymakers pulled back support. Ultimately, the bubble burst.  So what does it take to drive down the costs of low-carbon hydrogen and rebuild momentum? In this episode, Shayle talks to Raffi Garabedian, co-founder and CEO of Electric Hydrogen. (Shayle is on the board of Electric Hydrogen and Energy Impact Partners, where Shayle is a partner, invests in the company). Shayle and Raffi cover topics like: Why the hype bubble burst: political pullback, high renewables costs driven by AI demand, and high CapEx  The real cost problem: Why engineering, procurement, and construction (EPC) costs have remained persistently high Competing approaches: Why Electric Hydrogen chose supersized electrolyzers over modular units The China question: Why hydrogen's EPC costs will limit the impact of cheap Chinese electrolyzers Real numbers: Realistic cost targets for fossil parity and Electric Hydrogen's current pricing Where hydrogen wins: Markets where Raffi says green hydrogen can achieve fossil parity by the early 2030s, including Brazilian fertilizer Resources: Latitude Media: is 45v guidance killing green hydrogen production? The Green Blueprint: Electric Hydrogen's bet on supersized electrolyzers Latitude Media: Electric Hydrogen is building through the market downturn   Latitude Media: Hydrogen's narrow pathway to positive climate impacts   Latitude Media: Why the Electric Hydrogen-Ambient merger is a sign of things to come Fill out our short podcast listener survey for a chance to win a $100 Amazon gift card. Credits: Hosted by Shayle Kann. Produced and edited by Daniel Woldorff. Original music and engineering by Sean Marquand. Stephen Lacey is our executive editor.  Catalyst is brought to you by EnergyHub. EnergyHub helps utilities build next-generation virtual power plants that unlock reliable flexibility at every level of the grid. See how EnergyHub helps unlock the power of flexibility at scale, and deliver more value through cross-DER dispatch with their leading Edge DERMS platform, by visiting energyhub.com. Catalyst is brought to you by Bloom Energy. AI data centers can't wait years for grid power—and with Bloom Energy's fuel cells, they don't have to. Bloom Energy delivers affordable, always-on, ultra-reliable onsite power, built for chipmakers, hyperscalers, and data center leaders looking to power their operations at AI speed. Learn more by visiting BloomEnergy.com.

A Powerwall delivery truck flipped. No fire. No smoke. Seemed safe.They tossed those Powerwalls into a landfill. Four days later—explosion!That incident didn't just make headlines; it changed Tesla's fire strategy. In this Tactical Tuesday, retired Battalion Chief Kathleen McCaffery explains how that one mistake led Tesla to create a Global Fire Liaison role—and why every developer, EPC, and AHJ should borrow the playbook.Kathleen walks through the real science of lithium-ion incidents and the simple operational changes that stop projects from turning into disasters. It's short, practical, and built for people who build.This episode is a rare peek behind the curtain of Tesla Energy's fire safety strategy—and a must-listen for developers, installers, and fire safety professionals building battery storage projects in 2025 and beyond.You'll learn:

In the second episode of our Essentials series, Dean sits down with Dr. Clifton Ward, Associate Professor of Church History and Theology, to explore the enduring theological depth and practical significance of the Essentials of Our Faith. Together, they unpack the relationship between the Essentials and the Westminster Confession, tracing how both shape our understanding of Reformed theology and the unity of the Church. Their conversation highlights the importance of the Holy Spirit in illuminating truth, guiding the Church in charity and conviction, and binding believers together across generations and traditions. Dean and Clifton also reflect on how the EPC's Essentials foster unity amid diversity, and how these core affirmations of faith can serve as a spiritual anchor for the next generation of believers seeking a firm foundation in an ever-changing world.

#EP317 The solar industry faces a defining moment in Q4 2025. While regulatory challenges create uncertainty, well-capitalized players treat this period as a buying opportunity. Daniel Dus, CEO and founder of Cleantech Industry Resources (CIR), breaks down the market dynamics and explains how his company's global expertise positions it to thrive during industry consolidation.Daniel Dus founded CIR to provide development, construction, and operations services for solar and battery storage projects. His team of 140 professionals across three offices in India and the United States brings proven experience from building some of the world's largest solar installations, including work with Adani Green Energy as it scaled from startup to 16 gigawatts in operation.Key Discussion Points:The current solar market has split into thirds: one-third undercapitalized and struggling, one-third in wait-and-see mode, and one-third aggressively acquiring projects with strong capital backing - creating opportunities for companies like CIR that can execute complex transactions.CIR serves 150 clients across the solar value chain, providing everything from interconnection studies and permit-ready planset packages to full EPC services, with particular expertise in rescuing distressed projects and navigating complex utility requirements.CIR's competitive advantage comes from its India-based technical teams, who have worked on massive international projects, bringing world-class expertise at competitive rates to US developers who struggle with margin compression.Solar Fight Night, Dus's passion project since 2008, has raised nearly $2 million for clean energy nonprofits through 24+ events. The 2025 event at Las Vegas's Zouk Nightclub drew over 3,300 attendees, the largest crowd in the event's history.Tim Montague is an affiliate of CIR and welcomes developers and EPCs to contact him for more information about working with CIR. [Book here: https://calendly.com/tim-montague/30min]Connect with Daniel Dus, CIR LinkedIn: www.linkedin.com/in/danielrdusWebsite: cleantechindustryresources.comSolar Fight Night: www.solarfightnight.org/ 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

Fruits of the Spirit: Gentleness the giant1 Thessalonians 2:3-8Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: Gentleness is a giant fruit of the Spirit

In this episode of the Scottish Property Podcast, Nick and Steven are back together for the November 2025 Market Update — discussing everything from their recent trip to Dubai to the latest UK housing data, rental trends, and budget rumours that could shake up the property market.From reflections on life abroad to concerns over government tax policy, this episode dives deep into what's really happening across Scotland's property landscape — with candid insights, real-life examples, and a few laughs along the way.

In the first episode of our series on The Essentials of Our Faith, Dean sits down with Bob Stauffer, who was present at the very first General Assembly of the EPC. Together, they look back on the denomination's formative years, exploring the streams of thought that flowed into the river of the EPC's development and the theological and cultural moments that gave rise to who we are today. Bob shares his firsthand perspective on the early vision of the EPC, the conversations that shaped our identity, and the foundation that led to the creation of the Essentials of Our Faith. This episode provides both historical insight and heartfelt reflection on how God's providence has guided our denomination from the beginning, laying a firm foundation for generations to come.

Fruits of the Spirit: The faithful friendMatthew 25:20-23Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: God is faithful to make us faithful

Sterling got a fifth win after beating Rock Island 42-14. EPC got its fifth win, Rock Falls fell just short to Rockford Lutheran and more in Friday's Sauk Valley football roundup.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/friday-night-drive--3534096/support.

In the final episode of our Gospel Hospitality series, Dean and Brad Strait conclude their conversation by reflecting on Jesus as the ultimate stranger: the one who entered our world to bring us home. Together, they explore the extravagant love and radical acceptance taught throughout Scripture and what it means for the Church to embody that same spirit of welcome today. Brad and Dean discuss the importance of creating a safe and gracious space within the Church for those who are seeking, questioning, or longing for belonging. Through stories, Scripture, and personal reflection, they remind us that gospel hospitality mirrors the heart of God who invites everyone to the table, not because they've earned it, but because they are loved.

Ready to grow your property business without the hype? Start your free two-month membership trial with This Property Life today! https://bit.ly/this-propertylife-memebership——————————————————————In this episode, Sarah Blaney and Nick Claydon return to the topic of Energy Performance Certificates (EPCs), shifting the focus from England and Wales to the Scottish property market. What You'll Learn:Key differences between EPC requirements in Scotland vs. England and WalesWhat the new heat retention rating (HRR) system means for landlordsThe impact of proposed changes on different types of housing stockPractical strategies for choosing compliant, investment-friendly propertiesWhy ex-local authority homes may offer the best opportunities for investorsTimestamps[01:50] - Current EPC Standards in Scotland[03:32] - Introduction of the Heat Retention Rating (HRR)[04:20] - Clean Energy and Heating Systems[05:51] - The Unintended Consequences of Policy[07:47] - EPC Validity Period Shrinks to Five Years[08:37] - Types of Housing Stock in Scotland[12:01] - Investment Recommendations[15:48] - Should You Panic or Prepare?This Episode is Kindly Sponsored by:Visit thispropertylife.co.uk for more resources, networking events, and industry insights.Follow Sarah Blaney Socials:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/sarahpropertyandbusiness/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sarah.blaney.1232Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sarah.in.property/Follow Nick Claydon Socials:LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/nick-c-651a141a1/ Follow This Property Life Podcast on Socials:Website:https://thispropertylife.co.uk/ Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/this-property-life-podcast/id1540075591 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ULlN2eRKWojGRAkiSa0mZ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/this-property-life-podcast/about/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thispropertylifeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtmPj98bC6swNuYRCaUGPUg Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Energy security represents one of Taiwan's most pressing challenges. With virtually no domestic fossil fuel resources and limited renewable energy potential relative to its needs, the island imports approximately 98% of its energy. The semiconductor fabrication plants that drive the economy are particularly energy-intensive, requiring uninterrupted power supplies to maintain their precision manufacturing processes. Any disruption in electricity can halt production lines worth billions of dollars, making grid stability and efficient power generation not merely infrastructure concerns but fundamental pillars of Taiwan's economic competitiveness. This reality has driven the island to pursue cutting-edge power generation technologies, including advanced combined cycle plants that can deliver maximum efficiency from imported natural gas. One such plant, the Sun Ba II facility, entered commercial operation in May 2025. It was recently recognized as a 2025 POWER Top Plant award winner. “That this project got recognized with your power plant award, I think this is really a nice story and a nice finish I would never have expected when I came here,” Thomas Ringmann, director of Business Development with Siemens Energy, said as a guest on The POWER Podcast. Sun Ba II is a 2 x 1 multi-shaft configuration, which means there are two gas turbines and two heat recovery steam generators (HRSGs) serving one steam turbine. The gas turbines and the steam turbine each have their own generators. “We have used in this project our latest and biggest gas turbine—the SGT-9000HL,” Ringmann explained. “The steam turbine is a SST-5000, so that's a triple-pressure steam turbine with a combined HP [high-pressure] and IP [intermediate-pressure] turbine, and a dual-flow LP [low-pressure] turbine. Also, we had an air-cooled condenser, condensing the steam from that steam turbine, and we had a three-pressure reheat HRSG, which was of Benson-type technology.” The project began at the peak of the COVID pandemic, which presented a large challenge. “Every project meeting, every design meeting, every coordination meeting were all done online,” Andy Chang, project manager with Siemens Energy, said. “Everything was done online, because nobody can travel. We just had to figure this out.” Effective collaboration among project partners was a key to success. “The collaboration is not only with our consortium partner—CTCI, an EPC [engineering, procurement, and construction] company—but actually with also the customer, Sun Ba Power,” Ewen Chi, sales manager with Siemens Energy, said. “Everybody has the same target, which is to bring power on grid as soon as possible. So, with this same-boat mentality—everybody sitting in the same boat and rowing toward the target—actually helped the project to be successful and to overcome many challenges.” Chang agreed that on-time completion was only possible with all parties maintaining a collaborative spirit. “This power plant right now is predominantly running on baseload operation,” Ringmann reported. “So, given that high grade of operations along with a high gas price, the efficiency of our turbines actually is a key contributor to an economic value of the customer.” Meanwhile, the lessons learned from this first deployment of HL technology in Taiwan are being applied to a new project. Siemens Energy and CTCI are now collaborating on the Kuo Kuang II power plant, which is under construction in Taoyuan, northern Taiwan. “Because we have this momentum and this mentality from Sun Ba II execution, now each side, they decided that they will keep their core team member from both sides, and they will continue to cherish this partnership with the next project,” Chang reported.

Oregon got its fifth win as Jakobi Donegan ran for 140 yards and two TDs. EPC fell to Lena-Winslow, West Carroll handed South Beloit its first loss and more in Friday's Sauk Valley football roundup.Become a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/friday-night-drive--3534096/support.

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

In this second episode of our Gospel Hospitality series, Dean and Brad Strait return to dive deeper into what it means to show hospitality, not only with our homes but also with our hearts and minds. Together, they explore the idea of intellectual hospitality – how we can engage others with both grace and conviction, even when we disagree. Bran and Dean discuss the importance of humility and curiosity in conversations, how to navigate different environments with a spirit of welcome, and how Jesus himself modeled hospitality through his interactions with people across every walk of life. This episode invites listeners to reflect on how Christ-like hospitality calls us to listen well, speak graciously, and embody truth with gentleness in an increasingly divided world.

Power Moves: Inside Energy Innovation and Consulting with Ashton Fox In this episode, Cat sits down with Ashton Fox, President of Onix Energy, to explore how consulting and executive leadership are reshaping the future of energy. With an impressive career spanning renewable energy, natural gas, and electricity supply, Ashton brings a wealth of experience on scaling organizations, transforming business models, and leading companies through high-stakes change. Ashton shares how he helped transform a negative-revenue startup into a $150M powerhouse, scaled solar and renewable operations across new markets, and shifted an energy supplier from 10% to 100% renewables. But beyond the numbers, he dives into what it really takes to be a transformational leader: building trust, managing culture during rapid growth, and creating sustainable strategies that last. Key Insights You'll Learn Energy Leadership: How Ashton navigated the transition from fossil fuels to renewables while maintaining profitability and growth. Scaling with Purpose: Lessons on expanding a company's footprint from one market to six while multiplying revenue by 15x. The Consulting Mindset: Why consulting skills are crucial for energy executives — from solving complex problems to guiding strategic pivots. Sustainability in Action: How to implement efficiency programs that save clients 25% on energy costs while driving impact. Executive Lessons: Ashton's take on building recurring revenue streams, transforming company culture, and positioning businesses for long-term success. This conversation is a must-listen for consultants, executives, and anyone interested in how innovation, leadership, and consulting expertise intersect in one of the world's most important industries.

Fruits of the Spirit: Acts of kindnessTitus 3:3-7Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: Kindness draws people to Christ

In this episode of AI with Maribel Lopez, Maribel sits down with Ian Bramson, Vice President of Global Industrial Cybersecurity at Black & Veatch, to explore the growing intersection between artificial intelligence and operational technology (OT) security.From power grids and oil refineries to manufacturing plants, critical infrastructure systems are becoming increasingly connected—and therefore more vulnerable. Ian shares how Black & Veatch is helping industrial organizations rethink cybersecurity from the ground up, integrating protection early in the design and build process rather than bolting it on later.Together, Maribel and Ian discuss the evolution of OT threats, the rise of AI in both defense and attack scenarios, and why cybersecurity must be seen as a core business function, not an afterthought.

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

Ready to grow your property business without the hype? Start your free two-month membership trial with This Property Life today! https://bit.ly/this-propertylife-memebership——————————————————————In this episode of This Property Life, Sarah Blaney and Nick Claydon break down the ongoing discussions around EPC (Energy Performance Certificate) changes in England and Wales. With rising concerns about the cost of property upgrades and the future of rentability, the hosts offer practical advice for landlords and investors, aiming to reduce panic and provide clarity. What You'll Learn:EPC ratings for rentals will rise to a C by 2028 for new tenancies and 2030 for all tenanciesShould landlords with a D or below rating act now to avoid future compliance issuesThe £15,000 cap on EPC upgrades may not be enough in high-cost areasHow the political changes could delay or alter the implementation of EPC rulesGrandfather rights may provide enough time for landlords to adjust to the new standardsHow will the housing supply shortage impact the availability of rental propertiesTimestamps[00:00] - Introduction[01:27] - Episode Overview[03:33] - Breakdown of Energy Performance Certificate[05:06] - Practical Steps for Landlords[09:27] - Discussion on Political Uncertainty[13:06] - Cost Cap and Regional Disparities[14:45] - Housing Market Impact on Tenants[18:03] - The Importance of Long-Term Outlook[19:54] - Final Thoughts and AdviceThis Episode is Kindly Sponsored by:Visit thispropertylife.co.uk for more resources, networking events, and industry insights.Follow This Property Life Podcast on Socials:Website:https://thispropertylife.co.uk/ Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thispropertylife/# Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564457166712&locale=en_GB Apple: https://podcasts.apple.com/gb/podcast/this-property-life-podcast/id1540075591 Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/6ULlN2eRKWojGRAkiSa0mZ LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/this-property-life-podcast/about/ Tiktok: https://www.tiktok.com/@thispropertylifeYouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCtmPj98bC6swNuYRCaUGPUg Twitter: https://x.com/propertylifepod Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Fruits of the Spirit: The clothes of patienceColossians 3:12-14Rev. Justin OlivettiMain idea: Patience is a set of clothes we wear daily

“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

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.

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)

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

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    

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...