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Truth allows choice. Rev Cindy Fuller, Feb 22, 2026, Inner Quest Church, Alpharetta, Ga www.innerquestchurch.org
Hear Adam's message recorded from the evening Ash Wednesday gathering at our 326 Fuller space. To start the season of Lent, he digs into the question, "how do we think about sin?" Psalm 51 illustrates God's mercy for us and the idea that but for the mercy of God, we'd be toast. How might using the Psalms as prayer tools and taking sin and God's mercy seriously shape our Lenten season and beyond?
Mike interviews Angela Fuller — mom, fitness instructor, American Ninja Warrior competitor, and competitive gymnast. They talk about why adult gymnastics matters to Angela and how she returned to athletics after a serious back injury, pregnancies that worsened her discs, and being told she might need a spinal fusion.She shares how her best friend's terminal breast cancer diagnosis pushed her to go after her dreams again, leading her to train her way back, compete on American Ninja Warrior (after four years of applying and standing out among more than 70,000 applicants), and join an adult gymnastics team.Angela also discusses parenting while actively pursuing her own goals and why she encourages other parents to jump into their dreams before they feel ready and to prioritize self-care.Speed round: gymnastics, parenting, dogs, video games, pizza, artificial intelligence, exercise, and celebrities.00:14 Why Adult Gymnastics Matters: Injury, Motherhood & Comeback01:00 Chasing Big Dreams: American Ninja Warrior + Returning to Gymnastics02:32 How Competing Changed Parenting & Mental Health04:32 Breaking the ‘Too Old' Myth: No Expiration Date on Gymnastics06:20 Speed Round Find Angela here:https://www.instagram.com/colofitnesschick/?hl=enhttps://linktr.ee/angela_fullerThis podcast is brought to you by Matters.com. A new social media and collaboration platform - launching soon. Join thousands getting the Matters.com newsletter — world news, fresh perspectives, and early beta access.
The ANCOR Foundation launched the Leadership Academy on May 1, 2017 to nurture emerging leaders who are building their careers in services and supports for people with disabilities. Over the course of two years, the Foundation provides training and mentoring opportunities to support mid-career professionals in cultivating their areas of expertise and thought-leadership to build influence and reputation in the national I/DD community as the next generation of leaders.In this episode you'll hear from three graduates of the program, Rachel Fuller (Skills, Inc.), Liz Armentrout (Systems Unlimited), and Jordan Eddings (LikeSkills, Inc.). They'll discuss what drew them to the opportunity, their experiences, learnings and challenges during the program, the camaraderie built with others in their class, and so much more.Listen to how the council aims to help us collectively raise our voices in the worldwide human rights movement in support of people with I/DD!=================This podcast is produced by ANCOR, the leading voice in Washington, DC, for providers of services for people with disabilities. Views expressed during the podcast do not necessarily reflect the position of ANCOR.To learn more, visit ancor.org.=================Intro and outro music provided by YouTube Audio Library Intro Music ⓒ V for Victory - Audionautix Outro Music ⓒ Dirt Rhodes - Kevin MacLeod
Send a textWith a practice that integrates sculpture, moving image, performance and painting, Sydney based artist Todd Fuller is, at his core, a draughtsman. Underpinning all aspects of his practice is a love of drawing and a belief in its power as a democratic medium to connect, engage and delight audiences. For ten years, Fuller has been crafting hand-drawn animations that grapple with love and loss, as well as ideas of place, identity and community. Often narrative in form, these award winning works are derived from Fuller's experiences with different communities, sites and histories. He has been awarded a number of residencies that have informed and developed his practice, including time spent at Bundanon Trust, Hill End, Grafton Regional Art Gallery, as well as international stints at the Cite Internationale des Arts in Paris, the British School of Rome, and recently the NG Creative Residency in Provence.A graduate of Sydney's National Art School, Fuller has exhibited widely across Australia over the last ten years. He was a finalist in the 2019 Sir John Sulman Prize, won the prestigious Jacaranda Acquisitive Drawing Award in 2018, and his work is present in various public and private Australian collections, including the Parliament House Art Collection, Artbank, Sydney Harbour Trust, and numerous regional art galleries. Alongside his national success, Fuller has gained international attention, with his works in exhibitions in the United States, Italy, France, South Korea, Bangladesh, England, Singapore and Malta.Fuller's practice extends into curatorship and arts production, having held roles with Waverley Council, Biennale of Sydney, Sculpture in the Vineyards and d/Lux Media Arts. The areas under investigation within his curatorial practice overlap with his artistic output. Just Draw, the 2016 exhibition Fuller curated with Lisa Woolfe, which toured regional galleries, showcased artworks that exemplified the varied nature of contemporary drawing practices, a subject close to Fuller's heart. He is one half of interdisciplinary performance collective Flatline, and one third of the Hardenvale - our home in Absurdia touring initiative.Find out more from his website https://www.toddfuller.com.au
What if one of your most valuable CX analysts isn't even a person? Agility requires not just collecting data, but closing the gap between insight and action at scale. This means empowering every level of the organization, from the frontline to the C-suite, with the right information at the right time to make smarter, faster decisions. Today, we're going to talk about moving beyond the score. We'll explore how Generative AI is shifting the discipline of customer experience from a reactive, score-chasing exercise to a proactive, problem-solving engine. We'll get practical about how a very lean team at a massive organization can leverage these tools to drive real business impact, especially when faced with an overwhelming amount of data. We are here in Las Vegas at Medallia Experience 2026 and to help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Alyse Fuller, Customer Experience Program Manager at United Rentals. About Alyse Fuller Alyse Fuller on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alysefuller/ Resources United Rentals: https://www.unitedrentals.com/ Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code AGILE at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/agile The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/versionnextnow Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Palm Springs, Feb 23-26 in Palm Springs, CA. Go here for more details: https://etailwest.wbresearch.com/Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://www.thecrmc.com/ Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://advertalize.com/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstromDon't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.showCheck out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company
In this episode of Restoried, we sit down with Jamie Fuller to hear her family's unexpected journey into kinship care. It's a story shaped by loss, faith, and God's redemptive work. What Jamie thought would be a season of empty nesting turned into something she and her husband, JP, never imagined. They welcomed their two nephews after the tragic loss of their parents. Jamie shares honestly about what it's like to suddenly step into trauma-informed parenting while also grieving the life she thought she would have. She talks about the emotional weight, the impact on her whole family, and the loneliness that can come with caring for kids from hard places. One of the most powerful parts of Jamie's story is how finding people who truly understood changed everything. From her first Hope Bridge moms' night to attending Mobilize Ohio, Jamie describes what it meant to finally be in rooms where she didn't have to explain her story. It was a place where she and JP felt seen, supported, and less alone. This episode is a reminder that healing takes time, that joy and grief can exist at the same time, and that community really matters. If you're walking a foster or kinship journey or supporting families who are, this conversation is for you. Mobilize Ohio and Hope Bridge are places where your story can make sense, too. Episode Highlights: Jamie's Story Kinship Care Trauma Informed Parenting Mobilize Ohio Finding Community Find More on Hope Bridge: Visit Our Website Follow us on Instagram Follow us on Facebook Register for Mobilize Ohio 2026 Register for Mobilize Ohio 2026
What if one of your most valuable CX analysts isn't even a person? Agility requires not just collecting data, but closing the gap between insight and action at scale. This means empowering every level of the organization, from the frontline to the C-suite, with the right information at the right time to make smarter, faster decisions. Today, we're going to talk about moving beyond the score. We'll explore how Generative AI is shifting the discipline of customer experience from a reactive, score-chasing exercise to a proactive, problem-solving engine. We'll get practical about how a very lean team at a massive organization can leverage these tools to drive real business impact, especially when faced with an overwhelming amount of data. We are here in Las Vegas at Medallia Experience 2026 and to help me discuss this topic, I'd like to welcome, Alyse Fuller, Customer Experience Program Manager at United Rentals. About Alyse Fuller Alyse specializes in seeking solutions that elevate the customer journey across every touchpoint. She believes in coordinating insights from customers with ideas from internal teams to drive customer experience (CX) improvements that align with broader organizational goals. By translating real-world experiences into actionable strategies, she contributes to the responsive, efficient, and customer-centric culture at United Rentals. Alyse Fuller on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alysefuller/ Resources United Rentals: https://www.unitedrentals.com/ Take your personal data back with Incogni! Use code AGILE at the link below and get 60% off an annual plan: https://incogni.com/agile The Agile Brand podcast is brought to you by TEKsystems. Learn more here: https://www.teksystems.com/ Catch the future of e-commerce at eTail Palm Springs, Feb 23-26 in Palm Springs, CA. Go here for more details: https://etailwest.wbresearch.com/ Drive your customers to new horizons at the premier retail event of the year for Retail and Brand marketers. Learn more at CRMC 2026, June 1-3. https://www.thecrmc.com/ Enjoyed the show? Tell us more at and give us a rating so others can find the show at: https://advertalize.com/r/faaed112fc9887f3 Connect with Greg on LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/gregkihlstrom Don't miss a thing: get the latest episodes, sign up for our newsletter and more: https://www.theagilebrand.show Check out The Agile Brand Guide website with articles, insights, and Martechipedia, the wiki for marketing technology: https://www.agilebrandguide.com The Agile Brand is produced by Missing Link—a Latina-owned strategy-driven, creatively fueled production co-op. From ideation to creation, they craft human connections through intelligent, engaging and informative content. https://www.missinglink.company
Marriage needs to be assembled correctly! This message dives deep into how to do conflict, honor, order, and build one another with the right tools!
Marriage needs to be assembled correctly! This message dives deep into how to do conflict, honor, order, and build one another with the right tools!
This episode breaks down the latest NRL trials from a SuperCoach 2026 perspective, headlined by a huge scoop with Fuller and the growing question of whether he's becoming a must-have option.We also unpack Trey Mooney's dominant showing, what the “last touch” rule could mean for Nicho Hynes' relevance, Patston's encouraging signs, and mixed takeaways from Kini, the Sharks, and the Eels. As always with trials, context matters, so we focus on what could translate into the season and what may simply be noise.This episode breaks down the latest NRL trials from a SuperCoach 2026 perspective, headlined by a huge scoop with Fuller and the growing question of whether he's becoming a must-have option.We also unpack Trey Mooney's dominant showing, what the “last touch” rule could mean for Nicho Hynes' relevance, Patston's encouraging signs, and mixed takeaways from Kini, the Sharks, and the Eels. As always with trials, context matters, so we focus on what could translate into the season and what may simply be noise.This episode is part of The Seven Tackle Set, the NRL SuperCoach podcast from SuperCoach Insight, formerly Insight Fantasy Sports.Check out the other shows from the pre-season: https://youtube.com/playlist?list=PL1cFHlQFzCbxZL8bSACsca6S5ty-6Y11A&si=BT0gM1j82wbB2xbOJoin our FREE discord here: https://discord.gg/6fDXWnBHMCGet your FREE consult with Ryan from Astute Newstead: https://tally.so/r/n005AQHostsSC BrainInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/braintalksball/Twitter: https://x.com/BrainTalksBallSC WhispererInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/scwhisperer/Twitter: https://x.com/SCWhispererSC MattrixInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/sc_mattrix/Twitter: https://x.com/SC_MattrixSeven Tackle SetInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/seventacklesetnrl/Twitter: https://x.com/7TackleSetNRLPatreonIf you want the full experience and actual weekly edges, our Patreon is where everything lives.Exclusive podcasts and articles, weekly team reveals and trades, subscriber Q&A, consensus position rankings, premium Discord access, and direct 1-1 access to the hosts…Join here: https://www.patreon.com/12428569/joinChapters0:00 Trial Weekend Recap + All Stars Overview0:30 Draft Talk + Team Banter3:55 Trey Fuller Fullback News4:26 Triple Fullback Strategy6:28 Team Structures: Hookers, Halves, Builds7:19 Trey Fuller SuperCoach Hype8:08 Nico Hines Role Concerns10:06 Trindle Gamble Debate11:34 Josh Paterson Minutes Review13:42 Jayden Campbell Watch14:31 Keeney Performance Check15:37 Connor Watson Sleeper Pick16:16 Casey McLean Reaction17:46 Trey Mooney Value Talk19:22 Jake Simpkin Role Watch19:56 Brit Nikora Discussion21:12 Joe Chan vs Lasati Role Battle22:53 Royce Hunt Banter23:45 Eels vs Sharks Trial Takeaways26:05 Eels Standouts28:10 Wrap + Community Questions28:46 League Code + Prizes29:01 Patreon + Discord Plug30:16 Next Week Trial Preview30:21 Fantasy Content Preview32:12 OutroFind our socials, sponsors, all our shows, join our community and become a subscriber here: https://linktr.ee/InsightFantasySports Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
The One Who Redefines Family-Derik Fuller
Mike and Kenny review and spot faith presented in the Academy Award nominated and latest film by director Yorgos Lanthimos. Bugonia marks another colaboration between Lanthimos and two time Best Actress winner Emma Stone, whose second Oscar was for Lanthimos's film Poor Things. Stone stars as Michelle Fuller, a powerful CEO of a pharmaceutical company. Jesse Plemons, a 2021 Best Supporting Actor nominee co-stars as conspiracy theory obsessed beekeeper Teddy Gatz. Aiden Delbis also co-stars as Teddy's autistic cousin Don. Likening her actions to Cology Collapse Disorder where healthy beehives suddenly collapse, Teddy believes Fuller is an Andromedan alien who is intent to destroy or force humanity into subserivence. Teddy convinces Don to assist him in kidnapping and holding Fuller hostage in an effort to be transported to the Andromedan spaceship. Faith Spotted: As with bee hives, communities, whether faith or societal, can function, grow and live for an extended period and then quickly become dysfuntional collapse and die. Typically growth happens when the wellbeing of the collective is prioritized over the needs, fears, or desires of the individual. Fracturing happens when in response to the community facing challenge or change, and individuals or portions of the community begin to act in ways that offer them comfort and assurance based on memories of past glory and success. Teddy resembles in the description of John the Baptist who comes in from the wilderness with a new message. While John was preparing the way for the new message that was the Gospel of Christ, not every outsider with a new message is to be followed. The patience of God not to do away with creation or humanity even though it is likely what is derserved. Although there is the flood account in Scripture, there have been other times when God has been tempted to do away with nations or communities, yet resisted the temptation. The continued rejection by humanity of God's grace, love and righteousness (desire) is a source of unimaginable pain to God. Because God's love is complete and perfect, the loss and pain God feels when we reject and retaliate are immeasureable. Yet God continues to love. Dysfunctional communities such as cults etc. are based on and grow out of fear of real or perceived threats and challenges facing members. Such fear leads to a desire and need to seek to control or to follow those indviduals and groups who promise stability and control over that which is unknown or unstable, regardless of the cost. The promise of the Gospel is that life does not end in death, collapse and a tomb, but rather continues through the hope and assurance of ressurection to new life.
Businessman Rick Jackson jumps into the GOP race for Governor, and everything goes wild. Two polls indicate a strong start for Jackson: Cygnal and Co/Efficient GAGOP Chair and National Committee members clear path for RNC to line up behind Jones? Congressman Barry Loudermilk will not seek reelection. Who is and isn't running? In CD 14, Trump makes his choice. About that FBI warrant in FulCo.
ARTS R US RAISSA QUINE FULLER ARTIST SCULPTOR PAINTER FEBRUARY 15 2026
Patreon sample: This week in our history deep dive we are examining the life of Dr Solomon Carter Fuller, credited as the first Black Psychiatrist in the USA. Born of formerly enslaved parents, Dr Fuller grew up to become a psychiatrist, neurologist, and professor at Boston College. His groundbreaking research in the discovery of Alzheimer's disease is still the foundation of much research and treatment today. Go to www.thelavenderproject.org to support this month's highlighted nonprofit, providing legal and practical assistance for Black Trans Americans. 50% of donations from Patreon members who join this month will go to The Lavender Project as long as they remain donors. That's why they get 50% more episode today than the general public.
Episode 22 of Matt Likes Beer focuses on one of Matt's all-time favorite beer styles: the Strong Bitter. The featured beer is Trooper, the iconic Iron Maiden collaboration brewed by Robinsons Brewery in Cheshire, England, a beer Matt has been drinking—and defending—for years. Matt opens by clarifying a common misconception: while many drinkers refer to beers like this as “ESBs,” that name is technically reserved for Fuller's ESB. Under BJCP guidelines, Trooper is properly evaluated as 11C Strong Bitter, the strongest subcategory within the British Bitter family—though still very much a low-ABV, balance-driven beer. The episode explores Matt's long history with Trooper, including how its rarity and style alone made it an instant purchase when he first encountered it years ago. That history leads into a fascinating discovery: the vast global Iron Maiden beer lineup, brewed with multiple partners worldwide and spanning everything from lagers and IPAs to stouts, sake pilsners, and imperial beers—far beyond the single Trooper label most fans recognize. Using BJCP 11C Strong Bitter guidelines, Matt conducts a full judging breakdown, highlighting the beer's brilliant clarity, deep copper color, caramel-forward malt profile, restrained earthy hop character, and deceptively dry finish. While the beer hits many stylistic markers, excess sweetness and slightly muted bitterness hold it back in competition terms, resulting in a final score of 34 out of 50 (Very Good). As with many episodes, Matt emphasizes the distinction between judging to style and drinking for enjoyment. Despite the lower-than-expected score, he makes it clear that Trooper remains a beer he will gladly continue to drink whenever it's available. The episode then delivers a collection of savage one-star reviews, ranging from stale malt complaints to over-the-top Iron Maiden insults, providing some much-needed levity.
In this powerful friendship panel, leaders from Awaken Church share practical wisdom on building strong, healthy friendships in every season of life—from singleness to marriage to parenthood. With honesty about rejection, offense, boundaries, and intentionality, they unpack what it truly takes to cultivate life-giving community.
In this powerful friendship panel, leaders from Awaken Church share practical wisdom on building strong, healthy friendships in every season of life—from singleness to marriage to parenthood. With honesty about rejection, offense, boundaries, and intentionality, they unpack what it truly takes to cultivate life-giving community.
Piers discusses how the scrapping of the RMA could threaten Wairarapa's Dark Sky Reserve, the subscription based driver service that cold be a world first, a refugee from the Democratic Republic of Congo on a safe life in Masterton and Greytown debuts a cocktail festival.
The Sheriff's topics include the capture of a murder suspect wanted in Indiana, Spring thaw means fog, the birthday of Scouting and a scam targeting nurses.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Adventurer Mardi Fuller made history in 2021 as the first Black person to hike all 48 of New Hampshire's 4,000 foot peaks in winter. The White Mountains are defined by steep, exposed trails, deep snow, extreme winds, and rapidly changing weather that demand constant attention to navigation and risk.Connect with Mardi: InstagramThank you to our sponsor:Capital One and the REI Co-op® Mastercard® Hosted by Simplecast, an AdsWizz company. See pcm.adswizz.com for information about our collection and use of personal data for advertising.
Are the Dolphins genuine premiership contenders in 2026, or is the hype getting ahead of reality? With plenty of experts tipping them to take another step, the spotlight is firmly on how high this group can climb.We break down their forward pack depth, the impact of key players returning to full fitness, and the biggest selection call of all: who gets the fullback jersey between Hamiso Tabuai-Fidow and Trai Fuller.EXCLUSIVE TIPS ON UNIBET (18+)Sign Up Now: https://bit.ly/4rwLSzq00:00 Intro 00:25 2025 Season Review 00:54 2026 Signings & Returns 03:37 Who Should Start At Fullback? 04:52 Players In Spotlight08:21 Where Will They Finish?Follow us @TheCastPatrol on all social media platforms to keep up to date with all things CAST and more. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.
Shine your light! Rev Cindy Fuller, Inner Quest Church, Alpharetta, GA www.innerquestchurch.org
This week, we discuss the medicinal and edible uses of the Schisandra family. These plants are extremely important to Asian herbal medicine and have edible berries that are considered to be one of the most delicious foods known to man. One variety is native to my region but has no documented medicinal or edible use..... I will have to experiment with it this year and hope I survive!Also, I am back on Youtube Please subscribe to my channel: @judsoncarroll5902 Judson Carroll - YouTubeTune of the week:Black and Tan Blues on guitarI show you how to play Blind Boy Fuller's "Black and Tan". Fuller was a legendary North Carolina guitar player and singer. A protegee of Blind Blake, he ruled the Durham piedmont blues scene until his untimely death at age 36. His playing was dynamic, complex and energetic.https://youtu.be/1ctcBGtrdo8Email: judson@judsoncarroll.comBecome a supporter of this podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/podcast/southern-appalachian-herbs--4697544/supportRead about The Spring Foraging Cookbook: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2024/01/the-spring-foraging-cookbook.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CRP63R54Medicinal Weeds and Grasses of the American Southeast, an Herbalist's Guidehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/medicinal-weeds-and-grasses-of-american.htmlAvailable in paperback on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47LHTTHandConfirmation, an Autobiography of Faithhttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2023/05/confirmation-autobiography-of-faith.htmlAvailable in paperback on Amazon:https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0C47Q1JNKVisit my Substack and sign up for my free newsletter:https://judsoncarroll.substack.com/Read about my new other books:Medicinal Ferns and Fern Allies, an Herbalist's Guide https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/11/medicinal-ferns-and-fern-allies.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BMSZSJPSThe Omnivore's Guide to Home Cooking for Preppers, Homesteaders, Permaculture People and Everyone Else: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/10/the-omnivores-guide-to-home-cooking-for.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0BGKX37Q2Medicinal Shrubs and Woody Vines of The American Southeast an Herbalist's Guidehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/06/medicinal-shrubs-and-woody-vines-of.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B2T4Y5L6andGrowing Your Survival Herb Garden for Preppers, Homesteaders and Everyone Elsehttps://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/04/growing-your-survival-herb-garden-for.htmlhttps://www.amazon.com/dp/B09X4LYV9RThe Encyclopedia of Medicinal Bitter Herbs: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/03/the-encyclopedia-of-bitter-medicina.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0B5MYJ35RandChristian Medicine, History and Practice: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2022/01/christian-herbal-medicine-history-and.htmlAvailable for purchase on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09P7RNCTBHerbal Medicine for Preppers, Homesteaders and Permaculture People: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/2021/10/herbal-medicine-for-preppers.htmlAlso available on Amazon: www.amazon.com/dp/B09HMWXL25Podcast: https://www.spreaker.com/show/southern-appalachian-herbsBlog: https://southernappalachianherbs.blogspot.com/Free Video Lessons: Herbal Medicine 101 - YouTube https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PL7QS6b0lQqEclaO9AB-kOkkvlHr4tqAbs
Communication is more than exchanging words it shapes our relationships, mindset and overall happiness.In this episode of Coaching In Session, Michael Rearden sits down with Jem Fuller, global adventurer, coach, author, and retreat leader, to explore how conscious communication transforms personal and professional life. Jem shares insights on how modern communication has become transactional and self-centered, and why making others feel appreciated can lead to deeper connections, reduced stress, and enhanced well-being.They discuss cultural differences in communication, the role of kindness in everyday interactions, and how small, intentional acts of appreciation can foster fulfillment and success. This episode is ideal for anyone seeking to improve relationships, unlock personal potential, and cultivate a life of meaning through authentic connection and mindful communication.What You'll Learn in This Episode• How modern communication has lost its cordiality• Why communication often becomes transactional or self-centered• How making others feel appreciated boosts personal happiness• The science behind kindness, gratitude, and well-being• How cultural differences impact communication styles• Why effective communication is key for personal and business growth• Small acts of kindness reduce anxiety and depression• The importance of being approachable and accessible• How communication can open doors and remove barriers• Understanding the 'why' behind communication fosters growthKey Takeaways✅ Conscious communication strengthens relationships✅ Kindness and appreciation improve mental well-being✅ Cultural awareness enhances connection✅ Communication is foundational to personal and professional growth✅ Small gestures can create lasting impact✅ Approachable behavior fosters trust and collaboration✅ Mindful communication supports authenticity✅ Gratitude and acknowledgment enhance happiness✅ Understanding the purpose behind communication is key✅ Consistent practice builds personal and social mastery Resources & Guest Links
Griot Professor James Small returns to our classroom on Thursday morning. Professor Small will explain the significance of the 100th anniversary of Black History Month. Before Professor Small. Neeley Fuller's son, Marc Fuller, along with Mr. Fuller's podcaster, Robert Gatewood, will reminisce on this, the anniversary of Mr. Fuller's transition. Morgan State University professor Edward Robinson will also check in. Dr. Robinson will handicap Sunday's Super Bowl, the NFL coaching selection (no Blacks picked), and NIL's impact on HBCU student-athletes.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
“If you want to know what's wrong with America, look no further than ‘White evangelicals.' Their sellout to the Republican Party is the cause of all that ails us.” Trip Fuller Am I the only one who gets weary of the hypocritical duplicity of oxymoronic “Christians” such as Mr. Fuller? I mean, seriously, how could such a self-declared “scholar” be so clueless?
Listen to the Spiritual Guidance which can guide all things. Rev Cindy Fuller, Inner Quest Church, Alpharetta, Ga www.innerquestchurch.org
A lot of us aren't just tired—we're worn down. In a world that keeps demanding more attention, more productivity, and more endurance, our nervous systems are struggling to keep up. This episode kicks off our season on wellness by starting at the most basic place recovery happens: sleep.You can also watch the very first Brain Blown Podcast episode on video on our YouTube channel!>> Support the Brain Blown on Patreon>> Have questions, stories, or topics you want us to cover? Email us at info@brainblownpodcast.com.>> Learn more at www.brainblownpodcast.comREFERENCES:Falup‑Pecurariu, C., Diaconu, Ș., Țînț, D., & Falup‑Pecurariu, O. — Neurobiology of Sleep (Review)National Institute of Neurological Disorders and StrokeLee, A. E., Ancoli-Israel, S., Eyler, L. T., Tu, X. M., Palmer, B. W., Irwin, M. R., & Jeste, D. V. — Sleep Disturbances and Inflammatory Biomarkers in Schizophrenia: Focus on Sex DifferencesPocivavsek, A., & Rowland, L. M. — Basic Neuroscience Illuminates Causal Relationship Between Sleep and Memory: Translating to SchizophreniaPeever, J., & Fuller, P. M. — Neuroscience: A Distributed Neural Network Controls REM SleepAulsebrook, A. E., Jones, T. M., Rattenborg, N. C., Roth II, T. C., & Lesku, J. A. — Sleep Ecophysiology: Integrating Neuroscience and EcologySimon, K. C., Nadel, L., & Payne, J. D. — The Functions of Sleep: A Cognitive Neuroscience PerspectiveUrry, E., & Landolt, H.-P. — Adenosine, Caffeine, and Performance: From Cognitive Neuroscience of Sleep to Sleep PharmacogeneticsKay, D. B., & Buysse, D. J. — Hyperarousal and Beyond: New Insights into the Pathophysiology of Insomnia Disorder through Functional Neuroimaging StudiesZielinski, M. R., McKenna, J. T., & McCarle, R. W. — Functions and Mechanisms of SleepMarques, D. R., Gomes, A. A., Caetano, G., & Castelo-Branco, M. — Insomnia Disorder and Brain's Default-Mode Network
God wants to do a new thing! If we want new results in our life, we need to upgrade our operating system!
God wants to do a new thing! If we want new results in our life, we need to upgrade our operating system!
What does it really mean to live and lead with purpose in today's complex world?In this episode of Mirror Talk: Soulful Conversations, Tobi is joined by leadership coach, author, and facilitator Jem Fuller, whose extraordinary life journey spans barefoot backpacking across the Indian subcontinent and senior leadership roles within multinational organisations. Together, they explore conscious leadership, communication, resilience, and how to create flow, clarity, and meaning in both life and work.Jem shares how travel and cultural immersion shaped his understanding of shared humanity, why communication is the foundation of healthy workplace cultures, and how leaders can build resilience through mindset, mindfulness, and small daily habits. This conversation is a powerful invitation to rethink success, lead with self-awareness, and serve something greater than yourself.In This Episode, You Will DiscoverHow life at the extremes shaped Jem's leadership philosophyWhy communication is essential for trust, collaboration, and cultureHow diversity strengthens creativity and problem-solvingWhat conscious and servant leadership really meanPractical ways to build resilience through habits and mindsetWhy mindfulness and gratitude enhance leadership presenceHow to discover and evolve your purpose and mission in lifeKey TakeawaysWe share far more in common than we realiseFear often comes from misunderstanding and unfamiliarityCommunication shapes culture and psychological safetyGreat leaders prioritise the greater good over personal gainResilience is built through small, consistent daily practicesMindfulness strengthens clarity, emotional regulation, and flowPurpose is not fixed. It evolves as you growSound Bites“We have far more in common than we think.”“A good leader believes in something greater than themselves.”“Diversity is not optional. It is essential.”“Small habits, practised consistently, change everything.”“You get to create your purpose in life.”Chapters and Timestamps00:00 Introduction to Flow, Success, and Conscious Leadership02:10 Jem's Life Between Extremes07:20 Lessons from Barefoot Backpacking and Travel12:40 Shared Humanity, Fear, and Difference16:00 Why Communication Shapes Leadership and Culture23:30 Understanding Communication Styles28:50 Creating Thriving Workplace Cultures31:10 What Defines a Good Leader35:00 Building Resilience Through Habits and Mindset41:30 Mindfulness, Gratitude, and Perspective47:00 Finding Purpose and Mission in Life51:20 Jem's Work, Retreats, and How to ConnectAbout Jem FullerJem Fuller is a leadership coach, author, and facilitator who works with CEOs and senior leaders across government, private, and not-for-profit sectors. He helps leaders develop conscious leadership, resilience, and healthy workplace cultures.Jem is also the founding director of an international leadership retreat company, guiding leaders on Conscious Leader programs in the Indian Himalaya, Bali, the Kimberley, and Costa Rica. His diverse life experiences inform a deeply human and grounded approach to leadership and personal growth.Connect with Jem FullerWebsite: https://jemfuller.comInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/jemfuller/Linktree: https://linktr.ee/jemfullerYour transformation begins the moment you decide to look within.Let this book walk with you.
Public School District Consolidation is a current issue. The Vermont Legislature has debated school consolidation for more than 150 years. Brattleboro's Vermont Governor Levi Fuller weighed in on the issue back in 1892...here's the story...
In this episode of RevOps Champions, host Brendon Dennewill sits down with Peter Fuller, Founder of Workflow Academy and a leading expert in revenue operations, CRM systems, and workflow automation. Peter shares his unconventional path from studying Russian literature to building a RevOps consultancy and training ecosystem, and why the “human” side of RevOps will only become more important as AI adoption accelerates.Peter breaks down the three pillars he teaches (ask better questions in plain English, “measure twice cut once” with clear scoping, and only then build), and explains why most AI initiatives fail: not because the tools don't work, but because leaders chase hype instead of focused, high-ROI use cases. He offers a practical approach for 2026: empower your internal tinkerer, carve out time, and prove ROI on one micro-solution before turning AI into a company-wide strategy. The conversation is a grounded, refreshingly contrarian take on where AI actually helps RevOps teams today, especially in reporting, dashboards, SQL, and automation, without sacrificing relationships, trust, and real human context.This episode is essential listening for RevOps leaders, operators, and executives who want to cut through AI noise, prioritize what matters, and deploy automation in ways that genuinely improve performance without distracting the business.What You'll LearnWhere AI is creating real leverage in RevOps today, and where it quietly falls shortWhy the most critical parts of RevOps still depend on human judgment and trustA simple framework for approaching RevOps work without jumping straight to toolsHow to experiment with AI in a way that minimizes risk and maximizes learningHow to separate real opportunity from AI hype and vendor-driven urgencyWhat leaders should prioritize in 2026 to explore AI without derailing core operationsResources MentionedCerebro AnalyticsLovableMoon Knox ChatGPTClaudeWorkflow AcademyAspireshipZohoIs your business ready to scale? Take the Growth Readiness Score to find out. In 5 minutes, you'll see: Benchmark data showing how you stack up to other organizations A clear view of your operational maturity Whether your business is ready to scale (and what to do next if it's not) Let's Connect Subscribe to the RevOps Champions Newsletter LinkedIn YouTube Explore the show at revopschampions.com. Ready to unite your teams with RevOps strategies that eliminate costly silos and drive growth? Let's talk!
Our guest on this episode of The Member Engagement Show is Erin Fuller, Global Head of Association Solutions for MCI Group in Geneva, Switzerland and Chief Strategy Officer for MCI USA. As we head into 2026, Erin discusses learnings from the MCI Association Engagement Index, tipping us off to the forces shaping associations in the year ahead. Topics include: The generational changes in association membership Global trends for associations Customized educational pathways The sub cohort of Gen Z called Gen Q Association-specific uses of AI more organizations can embrace Changes to events, continuing education, and credentialing How successful associations think about non-dues revenue How associations can expand into global markets Why associations should move from membership as a status to membership as a service Helpful Links MCI Association Engagement Index (Updated Data & 10-Year Retrospective Coming Soon!) Higher Logic Association Member Experience Report
God gave us a unique identity and a unique purpose. As we discover it and speak God's promises over our life, we will live in our calling. As we pursue God, He writes our story and what a masterpiece it is designed to be.
Send Jay comments via textAre you ready to trade overwhelm for clarity and turn the empty nest into a launchpad for a richer life? In this enlightening episode, we sit down with writer, simplicity advocate, and author of Beyond Decluttering, Suzanne Searcy Johnson, who shares how moving into a 399-square-foot tiny home opened the door to deeper friendships, steadier purpose, and clearer decision-making.Suzanne's inspiring journey spans nine years of small steps that built her courage—from decluttering a three-bedroom townhouse to testing out a smaller apartment, and finally settling in an Austin agrihood centered around an organic farm. She reveals a practical framework that makes minimalism meaningful by highlighting four key connections: nature, relationships, spirit, and self.Our discussion redefines "right-sizing" your living space, reminding us that the best home is the one that aligns with your current life stage—be it 2,500, 1,200 square feet or 399. Highlights & Key Takeaways:Redefine simplicity by removing what blocks the life you want.Understand the four pillars of connection: nature, relationships, spirit, and self.Build courage through small, incremental steps.Discover the concept of right-sizing your home to reflect your current stage of life.Suzanne Searcy Johnson Bio: Suzanne Searcy Johnson is a writer, poet, and simplicity advocate. She helps people simplify by honoring their internal, relational, spiritual, and environmental connections as outlined in her latest book, “Beyond Decluttering: 40 days to experiencing simplicity through connection.” An empty nester, Suzanne lives in Austin, TX in a tiny home with her cat. Contact her, explore her books, or sign up for her newsletter at her website below.Find Suzanne Online: Instagram, Facebook, TikTok, Website, Beyond Decluttering Book,Support the showBECOME A VIP SUBSCRIBER (Join Today!) Bonus Content for Subscribers Only Episode Shoutouts Thank You Emails Private Meet & Greets via Zoom + More ENJOY THE SHOW?Don't miss an episode, subscribe via Apple Podcasts or follow on Spotify and many more. Review us on Love the Podcast, Apple Podcasts, or Spotify -- reviews and ratings help others find us and we'd appreciate your support greatly. LOVE THE SHOW?Get THIS EMPTY NEST LIFE swagCONNECT WITH JAYEmail, LinkedIn, Instagram, TikTok
God gave us a unique identity and a unique purpose. As we discover it and speak God's promises over our life, we will live in our calling. As we pursue God, He writes our story and what a masterpiece it is designed to be.
Join us as Pastor Tommy starts our new sermon study on the book of Hebrews.To get connected visit https://www.midtownvineyardchurch.com...To Donate https://midtownvineyard.churchcenter.... Download the church center app to stay in the loop https://churchcenter.com/setup Discover more at https://www.midtownvineyardchurch.com... Find us on Instagram: / midtownvineyard Find us on Facebook: / midtownvineyardmbSermon Notes: Rightnowmedia.com
Investor Fuel Real Estate Investing Mastermind - Audio Version
In this conversation, Josh Fuller discusses his journey in the real estate industry, focusing on his unique business model that connects everyday wholesalers with hedge funds. He emphasizes the importance of mindset, personal development, and strategic networking in achieving success. Josh shares insights on the challenges of the current market, the significance of sticking to specific investment criteria, and the value of mentorship in navigating the complexities of real estate. He also outlines his future plans for expanding his business and automating processes to enhance efficiency. Professional Real Estate Investors - How we can help you: Investor Fuel Mastermind: Learn more about the Investor Fuel Mastermind, including 100% deal financing, massive discounts from vendors and sponsors you're already using, our world class community of over 150 members, and SO much more here: http://www.investorfuel.com/apply Investor Machine Marketing Partnership: Are you looking for consistent, high quality lead generation? Investor Machine is America's #1 lead generation service professional investors. Investor Machine provides true 'white glove' support to help you build the perfect marketing plan, then we'll execute it for you…talking and working together on an ongoing basis to help you hit YOUR goals! Learn more here: http://www.investormachine.com Coaching with Mike Hambright: Interested in 1 on 1 coaching with Mike Hambright? Mike coaches entrepreneurs looking to level up, build coaching or service based businesses (Mike runs multiple 7 and 8 figure a year businesses), building a coaching program and more. Learn more here: https://investorfuel.com/coachingwithmike Attend a Vacation/Mastermind Retreat with Mike Hambright: Interested in joining a "mini-mastermind" with Mike and his private clients on an upcoming "Retreat", either at locations like Cabo San Lucas, Napa, Park City ski trip, Yellowstone, or even at Mike's East Texas "Big H Ranch"? Learn more here: http://www.investorfuel.com/retreat Property Insurance: Join the largest and most investor friendly property insurance provider in 2 minutes. Free to join, and insure all your flips and rentals within minutes! There is NO easier insurance provider on the planet (turn insurance on or off in 1 minute without talking to anyone!), and there's no 15-30% agent mark up through this platform! Register here: https://myinvestorinsurance.com/ New Real Estate Investors - How we can work together: Investor Fuel Club (Coaching and Deal Partner Community): Looking to kickstart your real estate investing career? Join our one of a kind Coaching Community, Investor Fuel Club, where you'll get trained by some of the best real estate investors in America, and partner with them on deals! You don't need $ for deals…we'll partner with you and hold your hand along the way! Learn More here: http://www.investorfuel.com/club —--------------------
Is there something communication-related in your own life that you're struggling with or would like advice on? If so, leave a comment and Phil will dedicate an episode to solving that problem!
" We need to do things that the other people aren't doing because that's how you make ways, that's how you revolutionize, that's how you pave a new path for the other people that think like you, but maybe don't have the strength at this point yet to pave the way." -Sharrin Fuller In this episode, Sharrin Fuller, strategic advisor and founder of Glass Wallet Ventures, shares why she believes the future of bookkeeping is client-facing, relationship-driven, and systemized. She breaks down how she scaled smarter, reduced her team, embraced technology, and rebuilt her firm to run smoothly with less effort. Sharrin also shares the thinking behind her book, Unfollow The Rules: The Messy Truth About Burnout, Bad Decisions And Building Until It Worked and why challenging traditional models matters more than ever for firm owners. In this interview, you'll learn: Why scaling smarter beats hiring more staff How technology replaces tasks but not relationships What bookkeepers must do to stay relevant as AI advances To learn more about Sharrin, click here. Connect with her on LinkedIn. Buy her book, Unfollow The Rules, at this link. Time Stamp 00:00 – Why only client-facing roles matter in the future 01:03 – Sharrin's career journey & building multiple firms 03:47 – What inspired her book Unfollow The Rules 11:23 – Scaling smarter without adding people 12:23 – Reducing a team from 12 to 2 without losing clients 14:45 – Challenging traditional business models 19:53 – How to decide what to outsource or automate 24:08 – The downside of fast-changing technology 27:56 – What Sharrin is building next & where to find her Your expertise has more value than you think, so Own Your Authority at The Successful Bookkeeper Summit 2026! It's a high-energy two-day virtual experience for bookkeepers ready to lead with confidence and elevate their impact. Join inspiring leaders on November 4th–5th to gain actionable strategies, powerful tools, and the clarity to shape the work you want, not just keep up with it. Don't miss this incredible opportunity! REGISTER TODAY!
Learn to Love your Brother man. Rev Cindy Fuller, Inner Quest Church, Alpharetta, Ga www.innerquestchurch.org
Have you ever wondered what it’s like to capture the essence of legendary musicians through the lens of a camera? Join host Buzz Knight in this captivating episode of takin' a walk as he welcomes renowned photographer James Fuller, who shares his remarkable journey of photographing iconic artists like Bruce Springsteen. Fuller’s stories are not just about images; they are about the moments that define music history. He reflects on the serendipity of being in the right place at the right time and how his early work with Springsteen became a cornerstone of his career. As the conversation unfolds, Buzz Knight dives deep into the pressures of excellence that come with capturing the essence of such legendary musicians. Fuller’s meticulous approach to his craft shines through, especially when he discusses the intricate process behind publishing his book, Spirit in the Light. This episode is a treasure trove for anyone passionate about music history, photography, and the art of storytelling. The evolution of music photography is explored, alongside the unique tales behind some of Fuller's most memorable shots. But that’s not all! Buzz Knight also brings insights from musicians like Raine Maida of Our Lady Peace who was on Music Saved Me with Lynn Hoffman and Chris Young on Takin A Walk Nashville with Sarah Harralson, who share their own artistic journeys and the deeper meanings behind their music. The intersection of music, photography, and storytelling creates an enriching tapestry that showcases how these artists convey their passions through their crafts. Whether you’re a fan of classic rock history, indie music journeys, or simply interested in the stories behind albums, this episode of takin' a walk offers a wealth of music history insights. Discover how iconic songs are born, the emotional healing that music brings, and the cultural impact of these legendary musicians. Join us as we walk through the vibrant landscape of music and photography, exploring the creative journeys of those who shape our musical heritage. Don’t miss this enlightening Buzz Cuts episode of Buzz Knight’s podcast, where every conversation is a step into the heart of music history. Tune in now and immerse yourself in the stories behind the music that has defined generations!Support the show: https://takinawalk.com/See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.
Welcome back to another episode of the unSeminary podcast. We're talking with Andrew Hopper, Lead Pastor of Mercy Hill Church in North Carolina. Planted in 2012 with just 30 people, Mercy Hill has grown into a multi-campus, fast-growing church known for its gospel clarity and sending culture. In this conversation, Andrew shares why adoption and foster care have become central expressions of Mercy Hill's mission—and how those practices flow directly out of the gospel. He also unpacks the heart behind his book, Chosen: Building Your Family the Way God Builds His. Is your church unsure how to engage big social needs without drifting from the gospel? Are you looking for a way to mobilize people beyond church walls while keeping discipleship front and center? Andrew offers a clear framework for doing both. Doing good as a sign of the kingdom. // Andrew addresses a common tension churches feel between community engagement and disciple-making. Mercy Hill refuses to treat these as competing priorities. Acts of service—whether foster care, adoption, or family restoration—are not the kingdom itself but signposts pointing to it. Meeting tangible needs creates openings for gospel conversations. These ministries don't replace evangelism; they amplify it by demonstrating the heart of God in visible ways. A church’s collective heartbeat. // Mercy Hill's deep involvement in adoption, foster care, and family restoration didn't start as a top-down strategy but emerged organically from the gifts and passions within the church. Many leaders and members have adopted children themselves, shaping the church's collective heartbeat. Rather than attempting to address every social issue, Mercy Hill chose to focus deeply on a few—believing churches are most effective when they lean into the specific good works God has prepared for them. This focus has mobilized hundreds of families and created a powerful witness in their community. Rope-holding and shared responsibility. // Not everyone is called to adopt or foster, but everyone can hold the rope. Drawing from the William Carey analogy, Mercy Hill equips members to support families on the front lines through prayer, childcare, meals, financial help, and presence. Over time, they've learned that rope-holding works best when built on existing relationships rather than formal assignments. The goal is to ensure no family fights alone in what Andrew describes as intense spiritual warfare. Big vision with baby steps. // Mercy Hill isn't afraid to cast a bold vision—whether for global missions, adoption, or church planting—but they pair that vision with accessible next steps. Prayer nights, giving opportunities, short-term service, and relational support allow people to grow into greater obedience over time. High challenge without guilt creates healthy discipleship. Why Andrew wrote Chosen. // Andrew wrote Chosen: Building Your Family the Way God Builds His not to promote a program, but to give churches a theological foundation for engaging adoption and foster care. The book weaves together Andrew's family story, Mercy Hill's journey, and a deeply gospel-centered motivation rooted in Scripture. Designed to be used individually or in groups, Chosen includes discussion questions and practical guidance for churches or small groups wanting to explore this calling in community. Andrew's prayer is that the book would catalyze thousands of Christian families to participate meaningfully in caring for vulnerable children and families. Gospel-driven motivation. // Underneath everything is Andrew's conviction that gospel motivation outlasts guilt. Behavior rooted in grace goes further than behavior driven by pressure. Adopted people adopt people. Chosen people choose people. That theological clarity fuels Mercy Hill's sending culture, their community impact, and their ongoing growth. To explore Andrew's resources on adoption, foster care, and grab his book, Chosen, visit andrewphopper.com/chosen or follow him on Instagram @andrewphopper. You can learn more about Mercy Hill Church at mercyhillchurch.com. Thank You for Tuning In! There are a lot of podcasts you could be tuning into today, but you chose unSeminary, and I'm grateful for that. If you enjoyed today's show, please share it by using the social media buttons you see at the left hand side of this page. Also, kindly consider taking the 60-seconds it takes to leave an honest review and rating for the podcast on iTunes, they're extremely helpful when it comes to the ranking of the show and you can bet that I read every single one of them personally! Lastly, don't forget to subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, to get automatic updates every time a new episode goes live! Thank You to This Episode’s Sponsor: Portable Church Your church is doing really well right now, and your leadership team is looking for solutions to keep momentum going! It could be time to start a new location. Maybe you have hesitated in the past few years, but you know it's time to step out in faith again and launch that next location. Portable Church has assembled a bundle of resources to help you leverage your growing momentum into a new location by sending a part of your congregation back to their neighborhood on Mission. This bundle of resources will give you a step-by-step plan to launch that new or next location, and a 5 minute readiness tool that will help you know your church is ready to do it! Click here to watch the free webinar “Launch a New Location in 150 Days or Less” and grab the bundle of resources for your church! Episode Transcript Rich Birch — Hey friends, welcome to the unSeminary podcast. We have got a multi-time guest on, and you know what that means. That means that I really respect, deeply admire, and want you to listen up, and today is no exception. Excited to have Andrew Hopper with us. He is the lead pastor of a church that they should be following, that you should be following. He’s a lead pastor of Mercy Hill Church with five locations, if I’m counting correctly, in North Carolina, and is repeatedly one of the fastest growing churches in the country. I love this church on many levels. They’re centered on the gospel and have a radical commitment to sending people to the nations. They have a desire to make disciples and multiply churches. Andrew, welcome to the show. So glad you’re here.Andrew Hopper — Man, I’m so pumped to be here. Love the podcast. Really appreciate it, man.Rich Birch — Yeah, I’m honored that you would come back. For folks that that don’t know Mercy Hill, give me a bit of a kind of an update. Tell us a little bit about the church.Andrew Hopper — Yeah.Rich Birch — Maybe update us from last time you were on.Andrew Hopper — Yeah, man. So just real quick, planted in 2012. We had 30 people, all you know kind of young professional age, and man, just really believe that God could do something incredible ah through, you know just through our our open hands, and he did.Andrew Hopper — And so it’s been 13 years. It’s crazy. We’ve been sort of pushing the same boulder up the same mountain for 13 years, just flywheel kind of concept and keep pushing. And ah the Lord has done an incredible thing, like you said, five campuses. And man, just moved into a new home and hub. That was from last time we had a chance. That’s been really great. Andrew Hopper — We were in a rented location for a long time as our main like broadcast campus. We’re a video-based multi-site. And so um it’s ah it was a three or four-year journey to raise the money and build this new facility. But we’re in, and the Lord has really blessed that with tons of new people, highest baptisms, sent ones, first time guest numbers, all everything that we’ve done. This has been a, you know, we’ve gone been on a ride – praise God for that. It’s it’s, um, it’s for his sake and his renown, but this year has been unlike the others. So it’s been…Rich Birch — Yeah, you were saying beforehand, it’s like 30 or something like 30 some percent year over year growth. That’s insane to keep up with.Andrew Hopper — It is man. And the, and the giving does not, uh, you know, the giving doesn’t happen.Rich Birch — Reflect that yet.Andrew Hopper — So it’s, it’s like, we’re trying to do ministry on a budget of a church that’s 3000, but a church that’s running 4,500. And it’s like, how do you do that effectively without killing everybody?Rich Birch — Nice.Andrew Hopper — All your staff, I mean, so, but we’re, we’re learning, man, we’re figuring it out. It’s fun. We got, we just planted our sixth church. So that’s apart from the campuses. This is first time, Rich, we’ve planted a church in our own city.Rich Birch — Oh, nice. That’s cool.Andrew Hopper — It’s been really, a really cool dynamic and it’s been fun. He’s doing great. Man, it was a college student that we met when he was 19 years old at North Carolina AT&T 10 years later. He’s an elder here. He’s done a lot of different things. And man, he goes and plants a new church in Greensboro about five minutes from one of our campuses and they’re doing great.Rich Birch — Wow. Yeah, that’s so good. Well, the thing, there’s lots I love about Mercy Hill, but one of the things that I’ve loved about your church from the you know the chance we’ve had to journey a little bit over the years about it is you just have real clarity around the mission, this idea of making disciples, multiplying churches. It’s like that has been rock solid from the beginning. When you think about we want churches to have discipleship at its core, this idea of a church that actually grows people up in their relationship with Christ. What matters most at the foundation? How are you keeping that so foundational to you know what’s happening at Mercy Hill?Andrew Hopper — Yeah, I think um I think that we always sort of bought into kind of what we see in Acts 2 as a little bit of a flywheel. We call it gather, group, give, go. A lot of churches have something like that.Andrew Hopper — The the difference, I think, at Mercy Hill a little bit than what I see ah in in in a lot of churches that we help mentor and coach is that 2020 hit and everybody was like, man, what is a church? What is discipleship? What are we going to do now? And and people were kind of… And I do think it was and it wasn’t, you know, it wasn’t just me. I mean, our, you know, our executive pastor Bobby, he was really integral in this. We sort of really doubled down on no, I kind of think the church is going to come back. Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And I kind of think what we were doing is sort of what our church is set up to do. It kind of a brand thing. We are sort of a big box sending brand. And that, you know, for us, when we look at Acts 2, we’re like, dude, the gathering, there’s no more there’s no more important hour for discipleship and evangelism. And I know there’s a lot of things written against that. And people are kind of almost like downplaying it. Andrew Hopper — We’re just like, man, we just don’t believe it. We believe people need to be in a group. You know, we they need generosity is lead step in discipleship, give. And we got to teach people that there’s a mission bigger than themselves. And if we do that, it’s going to funnel more people into the gathering. Andrew Hopper — So I think fundamentally what I would say, we need to get, you know, we could talk about our value, you know we can talk about values to gospel and [inaudible] identity, but I think landing on you know, it’s very hard now to, to not get a word salad book form or thing. When you ask somebody, how are you making disciples? It can just be like…Rich Birch — Right. Very vacuous. Who knows what that means? Yeah.Andrew Hopper — For us, it’s just been a very clear, simple process.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — Like, man, we believe if someone is in the gathering, if they’re in relationship, if they’re being pushed on generosity, and if they’re living for a mission bigger than themselves, that’s a current of maturity that will move them. They just get in the stream, they’ll move.Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah. Yeah. It’s so good.Andrew Hopper — that’s kind of So you know for us, I think that’s as, you know we’ve we’ve tried to simplify things there.Rich Birch — Yeah. And, and your last episode, I’ve pointed a ton of people to it, uh, to really, and we really unpack a lot of what you talked about there in more detail.Andrew Hopper — Right. Yeah.Rich Birch — You’re going to want to go back and, uh, and listen to that. You’ve reached as a church, you’ve reached a lot of people who don’t grow up in church that it’s like, there’s a lot of people who are there. You know, we used to say we ain’t your mama’s church, but mama didn’t go to church, you know? So, you know, and it’s been a long time that people were there. What challenges have you seen, you know, helping move people from curiosity into real ongoing discipleship? So like, I think there are, we’re seeing a swell of attendance across the country. People are like, oh, I’m kind of interested in this, but we got to move them from just, oh, this is something interesting to like, oh, I’m actually want to grow my relationship with Jesus.Andrew Hopper — Yeah, I mean, and it’s it’s funny too, Rich, you probably have a better bird’s eye view of this than I do. But I feel like churches that have been faithfully growing for like the last 10 years, they’re not really doing a lot different now. Or even though there’s this big swell happening, what I do think is that some churches have sort of decided like, oh, clarity does matter.Rich Birch — Yes. Yeah, that’s true.Andrew Hopper — And don’t try to be friends with the culture. We’re going to speak in and be prophetic. And, you know, even even to the you know Proverbs 25:26 says, you know, there’s there there’s no there’s no benefit in a muddied spring. You know, it’s like you got to be sort of you got to figure out if we’re going to be clear.Andrew Hopper — So, I you know, for me, I think like and you’re right, we do reach most of the people that we reach that are in the camp that you’re talking about our college age. We reach a lot of people, though, ah that are, you know, they’re they’re coming back to the faith because they’re a southerner.Rich Birch — Sure.Andrew Hopper — You know, they they kind of they kind of were, you know, they they did have some church in their background. They’re coming back. Their kids are not only born, but they’re realizing they’re sinners and they don’t have answers. They’re trying to figure that out.Rich Birch — Right. Right.Andrew Hopper — They’re coming back to church.Andrew Hopper — And, you know, I think the biggest thing that moves people from like interest into a decision point is just being very clear on this is what the gospel is. This is the life it compels you to. Are you going to be in or out?Andrew Hopper — One of the things we say at Mercy Hill a lot is like, man, if you’re if you’re just intrigued, you know, if you’re interested, you’re not going to stay at Mercy Hill because we’re never going to let you, you’re going to get pushed every week. And it’s like, man, people are not really in or like that. I’m not going to do that. You know, they’re just like, no I’m not going to sit here and get like pushed every single week on something I don’t really… And the flip side is when people say, all right, you know what? Stake in the ground. I’m in.Rich Birch — Yeah, we’re doing this, yep.Andrew Hopper — I wanna look like this, I want to build my life on this. It’s like, well, now, you know, it’s it’s man, I’m hopefully, you know, putting tools in the belt every single week to live that life.Rich Birch — Yeah. Yeah, it’s good. I do think there was a time where people wandered into our churches where I don’t think that happens as much anymore. I think people, when they arrive, they come with questions, with live active questions that they’re trying to wrestle with, kind of regardless of where they’re they’re at in their journey.Andrew Hopper — Yeah.Rich Birch — And they’re what you to your point around, you know, there’s no benefit in a muddy stream. People aren’t looking for anything that sounds like, well, what do you think? Because the reason why they’re there is because they’re asking questions. And so, you know, they’re they’re looking for clarity, like I think you’re saying. Rich Birch — Well one of the things I love about your church is there’s a high commitment to, you’re you’re you’re tearing down what I think is a false dichotomy. Sometimes I think when churches come to this idea of outreach or making a difference in their community, there’s this there can be this gap or false dichotomy between doing good in our communities and making disciples. Like we gave that up at some point. We were like, you can’t, you know, we can’t do both of those things for some reason. Why, why did we do that? Why did we, as churches say, we can’t both make a difference in our communities and also make disciples?Andrew Hopper — Yeah, I think it’s, I actually have a lot of sympathy for the fundamentalist leaning. I know it sounds a little bit weird. Rich Birch — No, that’s fine.Andrew Hopper — Churches that led from the, you know, from the good do good in your city kind of thing. I don’t think they’re right, but I do have sympathy for that because I understand how quickly that sort of, you know, is so hijacked by liberal, by theological liberalism to where it’s finally man we’re digging wells and wherever but we’re not talking about who the true source of living water is. Like we don’t want to be offensive we just want to do good without speaking the whole you know you know live your life as a Christian only use words if necessary, whatever, you know. And and I so I understand why people kind of fled and have fled that.Andrew Hopper — Like, you know, I’ve even had our church before when I when I talk about adoption or we we have a ministry, and a ministry called No More Spectators. We’re like moving people towards community ministry. And we had people kind of going on like, oh, my gosh, this seems like a sign of like churches start going this way and then they lose the gospel.Andrew Hopper — And I’m like, well, the reason you’re kind of feeling like that is because a lot of churches have done that. You know, you’re not [inaudible] like that just out of nowhere. Now, of course, I think it’s a little bit immature and we’ve got to push through. The way we talk about it, Rich, is, man, we want to do good in our community as signs of the kingdom coming.Andrew Hopper — They are not building the kingdom. You know, if we go repaint a house or house a homeless person, one day that person would parted with that house, whether they, you know, get messed up and leave or whether they do great and then would die one day, you know.Andrew Hopper — Or, if we have, ah you know, if we go and, and you know, we’re going to, for example, we have ah ah a family in our church that they need a ramp built because, man, the the brother is struggling with MS and he’s, they’re they’re fighting it like Christians do. We’re going to go do that. You know, we’re going to go build that ramp. That ramp’s going to rot and die one, you know, rot and rot away one day. And, you know, whether it’s 100 years from now or whatever.Andrew Hopper — Like it’s not literally the kingdom. But when the outside world sees us engage and, you know, our church will talk about this primarily when we think about community ministry, we think about it in terms of adoption, foster care and families count, which I can talk to you about. I think it’s bringing a sign of the kingdom that is to the community around us to say, hey, this is not the gospel. But it sure points to the gospel. Rich Birch — Right, right.Andrew Hopper — You know, it’s a pretty good signpost of like, yeah, there’s a kingdom coming where kids aren’t separated from their parents, you know. And and so that’s kind of the way that we think about, it’s not, you know, it’s not the kingdom. It’s a sign of the kingdom that is coming.Rich Birch — Yeah, let’s let’s dive in. So adoptions, foster care, families count. These are not small issues. Like you started with like putting a ramp on, painting somebody – those are like, okay, I can organize my head around that. And then we jump to what I think are obviously significant. How, it can be easy, I think, for church leaders it can be easy where, you know, we got a lot of fish to fry in our own backyard. When you see big problems like that, help us unpack that. Why do you as a lead pastor, why are you passionate about these issues? Why are these the things that you’ve chosen?Andrew Hopper — I think it’s, man, I think it’s great. I mean if you can’t if you don’t mind I’ll go back and give you a little bit of context. I’m a context [inaudible]… Rich Birch — Yeah, absolutely. Let’s do it. Yeah. Andrew Hopper — …number one so I always want to frame it in where we’ve been. But the short answer to the question is I think that every church because it is made up of individual believers that have individual gift matrix, you know they’re they’re gifted the church is gifted in a unique way because the people which are the church are gifted in a unique way, right? Andrew Hopper — And so to me, you know, slapping, you know, a top down every single church has to to manifest signs of the kingdom in X way, which, for for example, I’m not to pick on it, but like, you know, the whole diversity church kind of movement. I love you know, if that’s your brand, that’s awesome. That’s great. Go, go bring signs of the kingdom in that area. But you know what people do is they take their thing and then slap it on every single church. You know, this is the sign of the kingdom that you have to manifest.Andrew Hopper — I don’t think that. It takes every kind of church to reach a city because there’s all you know, there’s every kind of people in the city. Right? For us, though, and I think for a lot of churches that that maybe are are made up a little bit like we are, I think there is a lot of meat on the bone for adoption, foster care, families count ministry. And I think churches could be greatly helped by latching on to maybe, you know, something in particular, maybe this, maybe this specifically. How we got there, Rich, was we had we had, you know, huge movement in our church in 2019. I was very convicted.Andrew Hopper — Some of the exponential stuff was coming out, you know, mobilizing people outside the walls of the church. And I really was, man, I was just really affected by that. And I don’t want the dichotomy, you know, I don’t want, well, you your people serve in the church and not outside the church. It’s like, no, most people serve outside the church. If you watch them, they are serving inside the church as well. It’s it’s like a it’s like, man, you know, just just because serving inside the church is not the finish line, don’t demonize it because it is a starting place.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — So it’s like, I don’t like that kind of whole thing. But but it did affect me to say, OK, what are we doing to push to the outside? So we we we did a thing. You would have loved this, man. But it except for the fact that it didn’t really work that good. OK, it was awesome.Andrew Hopper — It was, we still have the domain name – nomorespectators.com – I had the tagline: Jesus didn’t die to create spectators. He died to create servants, not spectators, workers, not watchers. We, man, you could go to nomorespectators.com and, you know, it was like, it was like a funnel for all of these community ministry opportunities in our city. So it was, you know, people from the housing, you know, authority type stuff would post things. And it was, it was all this kind of, it had a bunch of stuff in it. Andrew Hopper — In the end of the day, great idea. It was a little too complex. Our people latched on to the foster care, pregnancy network, you know, ended up being families count, Guardian ad Litem and adoption. So our guy that was over all that at the time our sending director, which is hard for me to have a good idea that ends up dying hard, okay that’s just tough for me.Rich Birch — You had a great sticky statement and everything. Come on.Andrew Hopper — I’m the king of sunken cost bias. Okay. Like, I’m like, dude. And so finally around 2020, he came to me and he said, bro, I know this is hard for you. Cause it was like a two year initiative. He’s like, this is hard. He said, No More Spectators needs to just turn into Chosen. And it needs to be like, you had this idea for 30 different things. It just, this needs to be our niche, man. You know, we we don’t do a lot of these other things, but we do this really well.Andrew Hopper — And it was hard for me. Ultimately, it was great wisdom by them, not me. And we started going down that road. And partly, I think it’s because, Rich, is heart is near to my heart. I have an adopted daughter. A lot of our staff have adopted kids. We just have a guy right now. Our associate director of first impressions at the Rich campus is in Texas right now, you know, bringing their daughter home.Andrew Hopper — I mean, so it’s just, and so it’s sort of started to morph into, and the the the big thing I’ll say, and I, you know, I’ve been talking a lot here, but the big thing I’ll say is, if you think about the way I just ah described all that, it doesn’t start with the need in the community. It starts with the gift matrix of the church. The poor we will always have with us. Like there there is no there’s no scenario until Jesus comes back that there’s no kids that need to be adopted, you know.Rich Birch — Right, right.Andrew Hopper — And it’s just the reality of it. And so there’s always going to be need in the community. It’s more about, okay, what are the Ephesians 2:10 works that your church, because the church is made up of people who are individually called, what are the you know what are those works that God has set out for your church? Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — And, you know, so for us, we just felt like, dude, this is a a heartbeat thing. Our people got more, they get more fired up. The greatest thing I’ve ever been able to mobilize our people for prayer for is go to the abortion clinic and pray. I mean, a thousand people on their face in the pavement. It’s like, it just strikes a chord with our church and who we are. So we wanna run after that.Rich Birch — Yeah. Well, I love that. And we’re going to dig out a bunch of this, but let’s think about it first from a perspective of somebody who’s maybe attended your church. They just started. They’re they’re relatively new, you know. The idea of something as weighty as adoption or foster care, that’s a big ask. And you know when you yeah how do I experience that as someone who’s just new? What are some ways that I could get plugged in? What does that look like? That, that, cause I, I’m hard, it’s hard to imagine that I go from zero to, to, you know, adoption, you know, how do I end up or flying to Texas to, you know, pick up a kid. That’s a lot. Help me understand. How are you, cause I know you guys are so good at moving people along from kind of where they are to where you’re hoping to – what’s that look like? What’s the kind of, how do you bring people along in this?Andrew Hopper — Man, totally. I think you’re right. I think it’s a combination of big vision on one end and then baby steps on the other. But the big vision matters.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — Like we don’t want to be scared of the big vision. So, you know, for example, our weekender process, which I know you talked about some, you know, that weekender process, you know, people literally for years, we would give them a passport application in the weekender process. Because we’re like you’re at this church you’re probably going to be overseas at some point on a mission trip. And so to me it’s like people are like dude that probably scares the crap out of people. And it’s like well, I mean we want to make sure they know what they’re getting into, you know. We’re not telling them they got to do that tomorrow… Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — …but that is the, and then and then there’s all these baby steps, right? Like hey come to you know, every February we do Sent weekend. Come to the prayer night. Like that’s a baby step. That’s not you getting on a plane to go to Nepal. But you know hey we’re doing this missions offering at the end of the year, like maybe get you know. So there’s all these I would say that our the way we think about Chosen ministry, which again: adoption, foster care, families count, and rope holding, which is a big part of this discussion… Rich Birch — Okay. Andrew Hopper —…is that way. It’s big vision on the front end so we’re never going to tell somebody, hey you know, I know you could never do this. Like I’ll never…I think people can do it and they should. Or or you know more Christians than are should. At the same time we’re also not guilting anybody. Like so I’m I you know the the first thing I’ll tell people is like, hey, you know we start talking about adoption. I always say always say, hey, we have not lined up a bunch of little kids in the lobby for you to take one home today, okay. And then I’ll tell them, that’s next week.Rich Birch — That’s great.Andrew Hopper — Okay, so yeah but and we we try hard to like put some levity in it. Man, we’re not everybody’s not going to do that. In fact, a minority, of a small minority is going to do it. But everyone can be involved and there are baby steps.Andrew Hopper — So we try to highlight giving, man. Like if you someone adopts from Mercy Hill, we pay 25% of their adoption. Okay.Rich Birch — Wow. Yep.Andrew Hopper — If they’re a member and they’re in a community group, they get 25%. All right, well, you know, we’re going to connect that. Like, man, you you are never going to adopt. You feel like that’s, but it’s like, well, I give $100 a month to the church. Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — Well, hey, what? You know, you’re you are you are supporting.Rich Birch — We’re making a difference.Andrew Hopper — We do parents night out, you know, for all of our foster and adoptive parents. We do it quarterly. It’s like, hey, those are opportunities to come and serve, man. You can serve the meal you can do. We do rope holding, which I know we’ll probably talk about. But but the the idea of rope holding is just like, man, I’m not going to do this, but I can be in the corner for somebody. They’re in my community group. I want to be their first call if they need a babysitter or they need, you know, a gift card, or whatever they need.Andrew Hopper — So I think, man, we try to do big vision. You know, we’re going we’re going to set a huge vision, you know, for 2030 for 2030. Actually, we just hit our vision for 2025, which is 200 adoptive or foster families. There’s a lot of ways people can be involved with it.Rich Birch — So good. There’s, I think thing I would encourage friends who are listening in, you really should be following Mercy Hill, Andrew, because I do think you’re a very unique communicator where you, and you just described it. And I think to you, it’s just like, that’s just what you do. But this idea of like, you’re calling people to a high bar, but you’re not leveraging shame, guilt. you know, it’s, and I think so many times our language can kind of lean in that direction. Or we can, if we really are trying to push people towards something, or we can just undersell the vision. You know We can be like, oh, it’s not that it’s not that big of a deal. You know It’s not for everybody. So I would encourage people to listen in.Rich Birch — Talk to me about rope holding. How is that, what’s that look like? Unpack what that looks like a little bit.Andrew Hopper — Yeah, so rope so the the the rope-holding analogy, which a lot of your listeners probably gonna already know this, but you know William Carey, Andrew Fuller, William Carey, father of modern missions, he’s he he he makes the statement, “I’ll dangle at the end of the rope in the pit, if you’ll hold the rope,” talking to Fuller. And Fuller held the rope for him. Like, you know, Carey the mission field, Fuller’s raising money, preaching sermons, organizing mission boards. So that’s kind of the picture. Right.Andrew Hopper — So we say, all right, not everybody is going to go down into the pit of foster care adoption, even even families count. I mean, these are these are massive spiritual warfare battlegrounds you know um which is one of the reasons why our church wants to be involved so much. I mean you if you want to talk about getting to the you can do all the rhetoric in the world, brother, you want to get to the very bottom of societal issues, you you be involved in somebody’s story that’s trying that’s trying to get their kids back from the foster care system. You’re trying to help them with that. I mean, every you could fatherlessness, poverty, drug abuse. I mean, everything you can think, you know.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — So this this is just spiritual war. So what we tell people is like, hey, man. If we got people that are mobilizing for for adoption and foster care, we better have people in their corne,r because the enemy is going to bring his war machine.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And we see it all the time. I mean, you’re going to see, you know, a family steps in to adopt and you’re going to start seeing them, you know, there can be sickness. They can have marital problems. They can have financial things that come up. They can begin to believe lies, frustrations. I mean, There’s just so they can become, you know, their their heart can start getting hard toward the system. I mean, there’s so many things that come at them. And so what we say is we need people in their corner, right. Andrew Hopper — Now, it’s funny because like the way our church has operated was at first we said, all right, we’re going to we’re going to do, you know, the the community group is going hold the rope for the people. And and that that was fine. The problem is when we really kicked off this ministry, so many people got involved that it became overwhelming to the group. So we said we got to start this… Rich Birch — Right. Andrew Hopper — …rope holding ministry. The rope holder ministry is good. It’s like, what does a rope holder do? They kind of do whatever the person needs them to do. Rich Birch — Right. Andrew Hopper — So there are examples of the rope holding ministry going really well, where it’s like, hey, man, they’re they’re helping with ah child care with the other kids when they’re going to foster care appointments in court. And or, hey, we’re we’re helping you do some things around the house whenever you’re overseas doing your adoption, which is going to put you three weeks in country. You know, there are some good examples like that. Andrew Hopper — But the other thing that we’ve learned is, you know, foster care and adoption families that are that are walking through this, they’re going through a very trying time. And to just pair them with somebody they don’t know and say, hey, look, here’s your supporter, it can be a little bit like, oh, that’s awesome, and then they never reach out to them.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — They never reach out – the rope holder’s ready.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — But it’s just like, dude, I don’t I don’t know you. And this is a hard time.Rich Birch — Who are you? Yeah, yeah.Andrew Hopper — And so what we’re trying to figure out now as we reboot that rope holder idea is, you know, how how do you kind of integrate relationships they’ve already had? Almost like, hey, do you have this massive pool of people called rope holders? Or when an adoptive family comes up, you say to them, hey, who can we shoulder tap, rope holder for you.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — And then we’ll train them.Rich Birch — Oh, that’s cool. Yeah.Andrew Hopper — But not have this pool, but say for you, we’ll put them in. So that’s kind of what we’re, so as part of our reboot for 2030, you know, that’s sort of what’s in our mind right now.Rich Birch — Yeah, that’s cool.Andrew Hopper — We have a whole playbook for the way we’ve done it, which anybody, you know, if anybody wants any of those things, they can go to AndrewPHopper.com/chosen. And I can send you any of that stuff we have, but on the rope holder side, you know, just full transparency, we’re still, you know, kind of, of you know, and I’m sure it’ll always be that way that we make an improvement.Rich Birch — Yeah, always trying to make it better. Yeah. And I want to, yeah, at some point in this journey, you decided, hey, we’ve got to put this vision and framework into writing, like we and you actually ended up writing a book, and friends who are listening in, I want to encourage you to pick up a copy of this book. Listen, we’re almost half an hour in. I know you’re interested in this. This is the kind of thing you, Andrew’s a trusted leader. He’s, I’ve had a chance to take a peek at the book. This will be super helpful for you. But, but that’s a lot of effort to put this together into a book. What pushed you from just leading this ministry to ultimately saying, hey, I want to capture this into a resource that could help other people?Andrew Hopper — Well, you know, Rich, I never really saw myself as like a writer, just like a practitioner, man. Let’s just keep keep working on the thing and going.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And truthfully, I got approached. Hey, would you have any interest in writing? You know, New Growth Press is the one that’s editing this book and putting it out. And it was funny, though, because the second I was asked, I was like, man, I know what we should do [inaudible] that should be what we should do. It’s it’s our it’s it’s my story’s family story with our special needs child that we’ve adopted. It’s our church’s journey. But more important than either of those two things, it’s a grounding in the gospel-centered motivation. Because I think that is what is so important. We don’t do guilt motivation. And you know, cute kids and sad, cute kids and and sad stories are good reasons, but they you need a great reason, because it’s hard. Rich Birch — That’s good. Yep.Andrew Hopper — You know, and the great reason is of course, adopted people adopt people. And so we delve way into the helplessness of our spiritual condition, how God adopted us and then how, you know, that provides a deep motivation for us to go and do the same for others.Rich Birch — Can you unpack that a little bit more? Because I think this is, ah to me, a core part of the book that I think is really helpful. Even if you’re maybe listening in, you’re thinking, okay, I’m not sure adoption or foster care is necessarily the thing, but you unpack this idea of gospel rather than guilt. And can you talk us through, you know, how, yeah, just talk us through that part, that concept a bit more. Just double click on that a little bit.Andrew Hopper — Yeah. So, you know, when we think about behaviors that flow from the Christian life, there’s really only two ways to think about it, right? Like one of them is we try to do things in order that God would approve of us, you know, that he would, you know, he would, ah he would, he would let us in his family, you know, those those types of things. And we, you know, this is for a lot of Baptistic world, which I am, this was kind of like, wow, this is really revolutionary, but that was 20 years ago – Keller and all that. You know, we just started understanding what more of a gospel center motivation. Andrew Hopper — Of course, the other way to think about Christian behaviors is you are part of the family because of what Christ has done for you. And the family has a culture. The family works a certain way. There’s fruit that will pop out in your life, not so that you can gain entrance into the vine. That’s not how it works. Like, ah you know, you don’t you don’t produce fruit to get in the vine. You produce fruit because you’re in the vine. Andrew Hopper — And so, you know, when we think about like like Titus 2, for example, we think about how the grace of God appears to all men, teaching us not just salvation, but teaching us to obey his commands. So there’s something about salvation that and is inherent to the gospel-centered motivation of of of going out, living the Christian life. You know, it’s it’s kind of the John Bunyan idea when they said, man, if you, you know, if you keep preaching this gospel message, people are going to do whatever they want to do. And he said, no, if I keep preaching this gospel message, people are going to do whatever God wants them to do. Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — You know, and so I think what we’ve done in this book is just say, hey, that that is true universally in our Christian life. Like if I’m not tithing and I’m stingy, I can do motivation in two ways. Number one, how dare you, you piece of trash that you never, you know why would you never give? Look what God, you know, blah blah blah, blah, blah, guilt, guilt, shame, shame. Right. Andrew Hopper — Of course, the other way to say is like, man, what kind of riches has God given you in the gospel? And what kind of inheritance do you now have as a son of the king? It’s like, all right, that’s powerful, you know, and it will it will take us places that guilt never can. Guilt will work for a while. You can put fire under somebody and it’ll move them. But if you put it in them, they’ll run through a wall, you know. Rich Birch — So true.Andrew Hopper — And so it’s like it’s like, hey, OK, so you could do it with all these different things. We’ve tried to take this book and do that with adoption to say, all right.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — We know James 1:27, we need to care for the fatherless and the orphan. We understand. I mean, dude, there ain’t, when you talk about metaphors, there’s two big ones, marriage and adoption, you know? And so if you want to do adoption well, we can do it from two motivations. One motivation is look how many kids need. That’s all and that’s all true. That moves my heart. You know, look, can you believe this story of this kid? And that’s fine.Andrew Hopper — Of course, you could do guilt, too. Like, how dare you, you know, have this nice, happy family and not go adopt a little poor orphan kid. You know, you could do guilt. All those things will be fine. They’ll put fire under you a little bit. But if you want to put the fire in someone that is going to carry them through the long haul of all this stuff, I think it’s better to start with: All right. There’s kids that need to be chosen. Were you chosen?Andrew Hopper — You know, so like one of the you know, one I’ll give you an example. We know of a family here in the tribe. They’ve got an awesome son that is 20-something years old, kids got Down syndrome, and they adopted him from Ecuador. And his story was one day a carpenter was working on this building and he heard cries coming out of a dump, like a trash heap. This child had just been born and been left you know with his deformities had just been left for the dumpster. Andrew Hopper — And they brought him to the orphanage. And next thing you know, you know about three or four years later, he got adopted by this family that we know. And that family’s father, he said, Eddie’s story is my story. I was pulled from a trash heap by a carpenter. And if you it’s like that is powerful. Rich Birch — Right. Yes.Andrew Hopper — You know, when you start thinking about, man, in my sin, I was one who had no part and parcel in the kingdom of God. I was headlong in rebellion. I had rejected. I was not a son. And God lavished his love upon me, that I would be called his child. And if if that has happened to me spiritually, how could I not want to do that? Or at least help those. you know I’m not saying that’s a call for everybody, but be involved in others that are doing that as well.Andrew Hopper — And so that’s what we say. Adopted people, adopt people, chosen people, choose people. And hey, I didn’t answer your last question. Rich Birch — That’s fine.Andrew Hopper — Okay. Your last question was, why did we write the book? Very simply, I think more people just need to think about what I just said. You know, and I think churches do. And I think that if, you know, a lot of churches have adoption-minded people and a little bit of of fuel in that fire might create some really cool ministry in that church. And this book lays really well for being like, man, make it a small group resource for eight weeks. You know, it’s got questions at the end of each chapter.Andrew Hopper — Like my my prayer is that this book would catalyze tens of thousands of Christian adoptions. Rich Birch — Wow. Andrew Hopper — And that’s why we wrote the book.Rich Birch — Yeah. It’s and I thought the same thing as I was looking through it, that this would be a great resource for a small group, a great resource as a staff training thing. Because again, I think there’s two things happening on two levels. From my perspective, there’s what you’re actually talking about – adoption, but then there’s how you talk about it. And I think even both of those, I think could be interesting as a as a staff team to kind of unpack and think about. How do we ensure that what we’re doing is so gospel-infused. That’s part of why i love you as a communicator. I think you do such a good job on that. It’s just fantastic. So I would strongly encourage people to pick it up.Rich Birch — Help me understand the connection. So Mercy Hill is known for, or at least from my perspective, known as a sending church. You know, the thing, one of the and I’ve told again, I told you this before, you’re the first church leader I’ve ever bumped into that has connected new here guests to number of missionaries sent. This like idea of like this funnel of how do we move people all the way along to that? I think that’s incredible. How does that kind of sending culture and adoption, how does that fit together? How does that help kind of fuel the flywheel of what’s happening at Mercy Hill?Andrew Hopper — Well, you you helped me think about this when you came and did our one day for our for our Breaking Barriers group, you know, for the pastoral trainings that we do. Because in your church growth book, you talk about how, ah you know, community ministry is used as an evangelism tool. I’m not, I’m probably butchering the way you talk about it.Rich Birch — Yep. Yep. Oh, that’s good. Yep. That’s great.Andrew Hopper — That was like a big light bulb for me because because we we definitely do that, but we have not leveraged the communications of that.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — And so, um you know, for us now, what we’re trying to really think about is how does our adoption of foster care ministry and rope holding and families count ministry, how does that create open? We call them open doors, right? Rich Birch — Yep.Andrew Hopper — Like, how does it create open doors, questions in the community, where people come in? And we’ve seen it. You know, so like when we’re talking about the sending culture, that pipeline starts when new people get interested in faith, they get interested in church.Andrew Hopper — And, you know, like, for example, we we had a guy, we just did a historic video. Man, he’s saved, baptized, serving now, ah or, you know, family, young family, prototypical Mercy Hill guy, like, man, just you know blue collar heart, white collar job, just that. I mean, just everything we talk about. Right. He’s our he’s kind of our guy. And the way he got connected was his boss had signed up to be a rope holder. And it just blew his mind. Like, why would a guy take limited time and go help these families? I mean, he of course, he thought it was a good thing. But it really intrigued them. Andrew Hopper — And so we’ve tried to we’re trying to leverage more of the communication side. It’s tricky. You don’t want to be like, hey, look at us you know in the community. At the same time, I’m like, man, this year, you know when we’re going to do a pretty significant upgrade to some of the there our foster care system has, there’s a house that has a backyard and the backyard is where families come to play with kids, play with their kids they’re trying to get back from the foster care.Rich Birch — Right. Yep.Andrew Hopper — And we’ve said like, you know what, man, if these parents are putting in, that needs to be like the best, the best backyard, and you know?Rich Birch — Right. Yeah, absolutely. 100%.Andrew Hopper — And so, you know, we’re, we’re going to do a significant investment in some, you know, whatever…Rich Birch — Play structures and yeah. Andrew Hopper — …like a, you know, whatever, like a pergola type thing. They’re going put a shed out there. All going to connect it, pavers, all that stuff is what we want to do. And, you know, we’re, we’re looking at that and I’m going like, yeah, I mean, I get it. Like you don’t let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, but at the same time, that’s not for us. That’s for people that are interested to say like, why would a church do that? You know, like why do they care so much?Andrew Hopper — And it’s because, Hey, sign of the kingdom. We want to build families through adoption. We want to restore families through foster care and families count. This is part of that. So we’ve tried to we’ve tried to use it as a way. And I would really encourage church leaders to think about that. Like, hey, is your community ministry actually an evangelism strategy?Rich Birch — Right. Yeah, that’s good. Love that. And yeah, I would encourage you continue to encourage you to think through those things because I do think that there’s, we’ve seen that there’s huge opportunity for folks who don’t normally attend church. They’re interested the way I’ve said in other contexts is they see it as a good thing. We see it as a God thing. We’re not going to fight them over the semantics of it at the front end. Because like you say it’s it’s the kingdom puncturing through that grabs their attention and you’re like oh what what you know what’s going on there? It’s a first step – how do we encourage those people? Rich Birch — Like on that backyard project, I no doubt if you’re rallying a bunch of guys to go work there, I know that there are guys in your church who have friends who they could invite who don’t attend church who maybe would never walk in your church who’d say, hey, will you come and work for a Saturday for a couple hours and swing a hammer and help us do this thing? Let me explain what this is about.They absolutely would show up, right? 100% they’d show up and and they’ll get intrigued by that. And they’ll be like, oh, what’s going on there? That’s that’s fantastic. Rich Birch — Well, friends, unabashedly, I want you to pick up copies of, not just a copy, copies of this book. So where do we want to send people to pick up copies, that sort of thing?Andrew Hopper — Yeah, man, they can just go to andrewphopper.com/chosen. Rich Birch — Perfect. Yep.Andrew Hopper — The book’s out so they can pick up a copy. I mean, it’s also just like on Amazon or whatever, but that link will take you straight to New Growth Press.Rich Birch — Right.Andrew Hopper — So, yeah, man, would love it. Would love to hear from anybody who’s using it well in a church context um to catalyze Christian adoption.Rich Birch — Love it. Anything else you want to share just as we close and how can people track, go to the website, other places we want to send them as we close up today.Andrew Hopper — Also on Instagram, we have a lot of stuff on Instagram, andrewphopper on Instagram. Yeah, the last thing I would say as a closing thought, Rich, is you know, the Christian adoption boom has sort of happened 20 years ago. People started talking about this a lot more. And now you can feel in some of the podcast world and all that, there’s a bit of a backlash, not not to don’t do it, but also like, hey, no one told us how hard this was going to be. Andrew Hopper — You’re dealing with traumatic situations, kids that have been brought, you know, I mean, it’s, it’s crazy. One thing I try to do in this book is I try to say, Hey, that’s not a good reason to take our ball and go home, you know.Rich Birch — That’s good.Andrew Hopper — Instead we just need to try to shoot as straight as we can. And I do that in this book, man. It is hard. It’s you’re on the front lines of spiritual war. I mean, it’s almost like, dude, the, the, the greatest transfer of faith from one generation to another happens in the home. We love it when adults get saved. I get that. But let’s be honest. Statistically, where does it normally happen? Right. Rich Birch — Yeah. Kids. Andrew Hopper — And so if you got a home that’s broken apart, that Christians are trying to put back together, what did we think Satan was going to do? You know, and so instead of taking our ball and going home, let’s just call it what it is, and then ask the Lord to steel our spine… Rich Birch — That’s good. Andrew Hopper — …and to move forward with the mission. So, yeah, man, I’d love for people to pick it up. And I appreciate the time to talk about it today.Rich Birch — Andrew, thanks so much. Appreciate you. Just want to honor you for the work you do. You’re a great leader. And I love how God’s using you and your church to make a difference. Thanks for being on the show today.Andrew Hopper — Thanks, brother.
In this ID The Future, host Casey Luskin concludes a two-part conversation with University of Warwick professor and author Steve Fuller reflecting on the 20th anniversary of the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial, a case that examined the constitutionality of teaching intelligent design in public schools. Fuller discusses his experience serving as an expert witness for the defense. He defends his support of a policy that merely informed students of alternative theories to Darwinian evolution. He explains why high school is an ideal time to encourage an open mind toward science. Then he pivots to discuss the deeper issue of institutional censorship in science and how establishment science functions as a religion. He characterizes intelligent design as "anti-establishment" and suggests there's hope for a more pluralistic approach to science in the near future. This is Part 2 of a two-part interview. Source
On this episode of ID the Future, host Casey Luskin begins a two-part conversation with University of Warwick professor Steve Fuller to reflect on the historical and philosophical foundations of intelligent design (ID) and the 20th anniversary of the Kitzmiller v. Dover trial. Fuller, an expert witness in the Dover trial and a scholar in the history and philosophy of science, challenges the popular "conflict thesis" that suggests that science and religion are perpetually at war. Instead, he describes a different historical understanding where modern science originated from a theological foundation, noting pioneers like Newton and Galileo, who viewed the universe as an intelligible machine designed by a divine mind. This tradition suggests that the very project of science was launched by the belief that human minds, created in the image and likeness of God, are capable of uncovering the logical laws governing reality. The conversation delves into why intelligent design should be viewed as a rich, interdisciplinary research tradition rather than a modern invention. Fuller explores the concept of biomimicry as a form of reverse engineering nature to uncover the hidden engineering elements within organisms. While Luskin notes that ID can be approached through purely scientific observations of intelligent agency, Fuller argues that theology remains a vital component because it explains why the designer uses "code" or the "logos"—be it in DNA or mathematical laws—as a creative medium. This insightful first part of a two-part series highlights how ID integrates biology, engineering, and information science to offer a comprehensive explanation for the complexity of the natural world. Source
This episode is a year-end exhale.Becky + Jon are joined by the incredible Lindsey Fuller for a cozy, heartfelt conversation as we gently close out 2025 and look toward a more grounded, intentional 2026. Together, we pause to reflect, breathe, and reconnect with what really matters.Lindsey brings honest wisdom on navigating burnout, the constant noise of the world, and why hope and genuine community aren't optional—they're essential. You'll hear what self-care actually looks like (hint: it goes way beyond bubble baths), plus a refreshing take on the messy-but-beautiful work of healing together.Expect laughter, real talk, a few surprise shout-outs, and plenty of encouragement to step into the new year with clarity, intention, and peace. If you're craving a reset—or just a reminder you're not alone—this one's for you