Podcasts about me there

If you've ever thought:Podcasting is so saturated - there's no space for meThere are too many people podcasting about what I want to talk aboutNo one would listen to my perspectiveWhy would I start or even continue my podcast if there are people talking about the same or similar topics?Then friend, this episode was MADE for you! Hit play because trust me, this is a must listen. Ready to launch your podcast? https://pamelakrista.com/podcast-launch/Need a podcast manager (me!) to help you edit, upload and schedule your podcast episodes: https://pamelakrista.com/podcast-managementFree monthly networking calls for moms who podcast: https://pamelakrista.com/podcast-networkingConnect with Pamela:Website: https://www.pamelakrista.comInstagram: @pamelakrista Email: hello@pamelakrista.comFull list of all my equipment, tools & resources

March 9, 2025Preparation for WorshipTime for GatheringOpening Hymn “Lead On O King Eternal”Lead on O King Eternal the day of march has comeHenceforth in fields of conquest Thy tents shall be our homeThro' days of preparation Thy grace has made us strongAnd now O King eternal We lift our battle songLead on O King Eternal till sin's fierce war shall ceaseAnd holiness shall whisper the sweet Amen of peaceFor not with swords loud clashing nor roll of stirring drumsWith deeds of love and mercy the heav'nly kingdom comesLead on O King Eternal we follow not with fearsFor gladness breaks like morning where'er Thy face appearsThy cross is lifted o'er us we journey in its lightThe crown awaits the conquest lead on O God of mightAmen!Prayer of PraiseSong of WorshipPrayers of the Church and the Lord's PrayerOffering and DoxologyScripture Lesson Matthew 13:16-23Sermon Face Like FlintClosing Hymn “Reckless Love”Before I spoke a word You were singing over meYou have been so so good to meBefore I took a breath You breathed Your life in meYou have been so so kind to meChorusO the overwhelming never-ending reckless Love of GodO it chases me down fights 'til I'm found leaves the ninety-nineI couldn't earn it and I don't deserve it still You give Yourself awayO the overwhelming never-ending reckless Love of GodWhen I was Your foe still Your love fought for meYou have been so so good to meWhen I felt no worth You paid it all for meYou have been so so kind to me (Chorus)There's no shadow You won't light up mountain You won't climb up coming after meThere's no wall You won't kick down lie You won't tear down coming after me (2x's)(Chorus)BenedictionFellowship• Sunday Morning Study: Experiencing God | 9 AM in the Sunshine Room• Sunday Prayer | 9:30 AM in the Sunshine Room• Tuesday Bible Study with Emil & Anneke| Everyone 12 PM, Ladies 6PM in the Sunshine Room and via Zoom• Wednesday Issues Hour | 11 AM in the Sunshine Room and via Zoom• Fellowship Cruise: Thursday, March 13th | 550 Port O Call Way. Boarding at 5:30 PM. Tickets $50, please see KarenBoatright to get your tickets.• F3 Ladies Luncheon: Tuesday, March 18th | 12 PM at Fish. Individual checks, please sign up.• F3 Book Club: Friday, March 21st | 10 AM at 7515 Pelican Bay Blvd. The Let Them Theory by Mel Robbins.• Funeral Service for Ed Wilcox: Saturday, March 22nd | 11 AM here at the church.• Free Men's Steak Cookout: Thursday, March 27th | 4:30 PM at Falconer's home. Please sign up.• Ladies Dinner: Thursday, March 27th | 5:30 PM at Bellini. Please sign up, individual checks.• Justin's Place Graduation: Thursday, March 27th | 6 PM at Covenant Church of Naples.• Member Spotlight: Sunday, March 30th | Join us after service as we learn more about Ray & Fran King.• Thank you to Sue Cheslik for providing the cookies today.

Welcome to Songs of Experience: A Bob Dylan Podcast, where we explore the man and the music one song at a time.Henry welcomes Twin Cities musician, Peter Hayward to talk and sing about "Early Roman Kings," from Dylan's 2012 album Tempest.Check out Peter's amazing music and follow him here: https://linktr.ee/peterhayward Early Roman KingsWritten by: Bob DylanAll the early Roman Kings in their sharkskin suitsBowties and buttons, high top bootsDriving the spikes in, blazing the railsNailed in their coffins in top hats and tailsFly away little bird, fly away, flap your wingsFly by night like the early Roman KingsAll the early Roman Kings in the early, early morn'Coming down the mountain, distributing the cornSpeeding through the forest, racing down the trackYou try to get away, they drag you backTomorrow is Friday, we'll see what it bringsEverybody's talking ‘bout the early Roman KingsThey're peddlers and they're meddlers, they buy and they sellThey destroyed your city, they'll destroy you as wellThey're lecherous and treacherous, hell bent for leatherEach of them bigger than all men put togetherSluggers and muggers wearing fancy gold ringsAll the women going crazy for the early Roman KingsI'll dress up your wounds with a blood clotted ragI ain't afraid to make love to a bitch or a hagIf you see me coming and you're standing thereWave your handkerchief in the airI ain't dead yet, my bell still ringsI keep my fingers crossed like the early Roman KingsI'll strip you of life, strip you of breathShip you down to the house of deathOne day you will ask for meThere'll be no one else that you'll want to seeBring down my fiddle, tune up my stringsGonna break it wide open like the early Roman KingsI was up on black mountain the day Detroit fellThey killed them all off and they sent them to hellDing Dong Daddy, you're coming up shortGonna put you on trial in a Sicilian courtI've had my fun, I've had my flingsGonna shake ‘em all down like the early Roman Kings  Follow us @songsofbobIf you would like to support hosting my podcasts, please check out my Patreon where for $5 I will give you a shout out on the podcast of your choice. For $10, in addition to the shout-out I'll send you a surprise piece of vintage Bob Dylan merch! Thank you to my Patrons, Rob Kelly, Roberta Rakove, Matt Simonson and Christopher Vanni.Email us at songsofbobdylan@gmail.comSubscribe: YouTube, Apple Podcasts, Spotify

Experiencing grief and loss in our culture is often tough because no one really talks about it so few really know how to cope with it or even how to talk to the grieving.  ADHD adds a layer of challenge to this. In this episode, we explore the unique ways ADHD impacts the grief process as well as how to cope with grief and loss. Without this work, grief and loss builds up over the years and can come out in unexpected ways - both emotionally and physically. You'll walk away from this episode with compassion for your grief journey as well as clarity on how to grieve well to be able to start to string together more and more moments of joy after loss. If you know someone who is grieving, please share this episode with them for support. Here are some books I found helpful, thought please read at your own discretion as not all books helpful for me will be aligned or helpful for you: “Understanding Your Grief” by Alan Wolfelt “The Afterlife of Billy Fingers:  How My Bad-Boy Brother Proved to Me There's Life After Death” by Annie Kagan “You Cannot Die” by Ian Currie (a bit dry at first, considers life after death including reincarnation) “Motherless Daughters: The Legacy of Loss” by Hope Edelman (while primarily written for childhood loss of a mother, this was still useful) “It's OK That You're Not OK:  Meeting Grief and Loss in a Culture That Doesn't Understand” by Megan Devine (recommended by my grief group leader and I eventually read it later in 2019)   As always, thanks for listening!  I'd love it if you would leave a review. I have created two (pretty low quality - LOL) tutorials on how to leave a review on Apple podcast or Spotify in case you would like assistance.   And, if you enjoyed this episode be sure to follow if you aren't already and share with others with whom you think it will resonate. Connect with me on social media! Instagram:  @i_am_jen_barnes Youtube: @Jenbarnes Learn more about how we can work together:  www.jenbarnes.org DISCLAIMER:  This podcast is for informational purposes only and should not be considered legal health or medical advice.  We are not responsible for any losses, damages, or liabilities that may arise from the use of this podcast. This podcast is not intended to replace professional medical advice or psychotherapy.   If you are experiencing a medical or mental health emergency please contact emergency services in your area.  If you are in the USA, dial 988 for the Suicide and Crisis line or 911 for a medical emergency.  

YOU SAY by Lauren DaigleI keep fighting voices in my mind that say I'm not enoughEvery single lie that tells me I will never measure upAm I more than just the sum of every high and every lowRemind me once again just who I am because I need to knowOoh-ohYou say I am loved when I can't feel a thingYou say I am strong when I think I am weakAnd you say I am held when I am falling shortAnd when I don't belong, oh You say I am YoursAnd I believe (I)Oh, I believe (I)What You say of me (I)I believeThe only thing that matters now is everything You think of meIn You I find my worth, in You I find my identityOoh-ohYou say I am loved when I can't feel a thingYou say I am strong when I think I am weakAnd you say I am held when I am falling shortWhen I don't belong, oh You say I am YoursAnd I believe (I)Oh, I believe (I)What You say of me (I)Oh, I believeTaking all I have, and now I'm laying it at Your feetYou have every failure, God, You have every victoryOoh-ohYou say I am loved when I can't feel a thingYou say I am strong when I think I am weakYou say I am held when I am falling shortWhen I don't belong, oh You say I am YoursAnd I believe (I)Oh, I believe (I)What You say of me (I)I believeOh, I believe (I)Yes, I believe (I)What You say of me (I)I believeI'VE BEEN SEARCHIN SO LONGby Chicago--sung by Leonid and Friends… As my life goes on, I believeSomehow something's changedSomething deep insideOoh, a part of meThere's a strange new light in my eyes (there's a strange new light)Things I've never knownChanging my lifeChanging me… I've been searching so longTo find an answerNow I know my life has meaning, oh yeah… Now I see myself as I amFeeling very freeLife is everythingOoh, it's meant to beWhen my tears have come to an endI will understand (yes I will)What I left behindPart of me… I've been searching so longTo find an answerNow I know my life has meaning… Wait a minuteSearching (don't you know I'm searching?)For an answerTo the questionOh, yeahWho am I? (Yeah yeah, yeah, yeah)(Ooh, yeah, yeah, yeah)Baby (baby)It's trueIt's only natural (it's only natural, baby)… Good thingsIn lifeTake a long time

The devil is not the only one relentlessly pursuing us. God is too. In the words of the song, Wreckless Love, There's no shadow You won't light upMountain You won't climb upComing after meThere's no wall You won't kick downLie You won't tear downComing after me Reckless Love Cory Asbury https://youtu.be/Sc6SSHuZvQE?si=_T5PGgupoUhwJoMv

A study exclusively reported on by EWTN News reveals religious institutions and dioceses are spending big dollars to help pay off the student loan debts of their priests and religious – Montse Alvarado reports on the details and we delve into the topic with The Labouré Society's John Flanagan and Sr. Josephine Garrett, CSFN. Roselle Reyes examines how work visas and green cards can be a stumbling block to the U.S.' reliance on foreign-born priests serving in parishes. Athletes, missionaries, and a former Olympian are bringing the light of Christ to the 2024 Paris games – Mark Irons reports. We sit down with Luke Russert, author of “Look for Me There”, to hear how he leaned on his Catholic faith amid the sudden loss of his father, broadcast legend Tim Russert.

“I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love”Jeremiah 31:3 “ the Lord appeared to him from far away.  I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”God loves us with an everlasting love.  Did you know that?  Did you know that there is nothing you can do to lose God's love?  Sometimes I know that we feel unlovable.  Sometimes that's after we have done something that we feel is wrong and sometimes that's after someone else has done or said something to us.  However, God never stops loving us.  He loved us before we were even born and His love is everlasting, it never goes away.  I remember hearing a story once, I think it might have been Jeff Cavins, in the Great Adventure Bible Story, but I am not sure.  Anyway, whoever was telling the story was talking about how God does not need anything from us.  This was vastly different from the other Gods at the time.  The other Gods got more power the more people worshipped them.  They were almost fighting for people to worship them.  Some of them even required human child sacrifices.  However, our God was completely self sufficient and did not need anything from us.  I remember the person saying that this is the reason that some people turned from those other God's to our God, the one true God.  They turned to God because of His everlasting love.  They turned to God because He loved them just for who they were.  They did not need to do anything to earn that love.  That love was just there.  This was something they had not experienced before.  The next line in the verse is also an important line.  “Therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”  This is important because God is always faithful to His word.  This is something we talked a lot about last week but I think it is important to touch on it again as it is amazing.  I think sometimes we may think that God stops loving us when we sin in some way.  Or that he stops answering our prayers when we have sinned against Him.  However, this verse dispels that belief.  God continues His faithfulness to us, even when we mess up.  Look how many times He was faithful to the Israelites after they messed up.  In Matthew 18:21-22 it says, “Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”  If Jesus is telling us to forgive seventy-seven time, then how much more will our father in heaven forgive us?There is a song called “Reckless Love” by Cory Asbury.  It is a great song about how amazing God's love is.  The song first talks about how good God has been to him.  The chorus says, Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.  Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the 99.  And I couldn't earn it, I don't deserve it, still You give yourself away”  When he mentions leaves the 99 is talking about Matthew 18:12-14 when Jesus tells the parable, “What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”  God does not want to lose any of his sheep.  He will not stop looking for us when we are lost.  He will not stop loving us and hoping that we turn back to Him.  Then the song goes on to say, “When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me.  You have been so, so good to me.  When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me.  You have been so, so kind to me”  This is so true, when we have sinned and pulled away from God, or fractured our relationship with Him, He is still fighting for us and still loving us.  When we don't feel worthy, God is still there doing all He can for us.  This last part of the song is my favorite and it is a part I think we all need to hear because it the truth.  “There's no shadow You won't light up, mountain You won't climb up, coming after me.  There's no wall You won't kick down, lie You won't tear down, coming after me.”  There is nothing that God won't do to chase after His children to try and save them.  He gave His only son on the cross for us.  There is nothing hidden in the darkness that will prevent him from finding you.  There's no wall He won't kick down and lie He won't tear down.  I think I like that part the best because when I think of it I think of a father searching everywhere for his child.  Have you even seen the movie “Taken” with Liam Neeson?  In the movie Liam Neeson is a father who's daughter goes to Europe on vacation with a friend.  However, in the movie his daughter is taken by sex traffickers.  She calls her dad when she sees someone breaking into the house.  Liam is some type of government spy in the movie and he stops at nothing to get his daughter back.  He does whatever it takes to find her and get her back.  If a mere human will go through all of that to get his daughter back, how much more do you think your Father in heaven will do to get you back?  I know people who have often wondered if they are worth loving.  When I tell them the things I am telling you, they say that they know God feels that way about other people, but they tell me I don't understand what they have done, or where they have been.  If you are listening to this and you think that this is true for some people, but that it is not true for you, I want you to hear me.  GOD LOVES YOU!!  He loves you right where you are at.  You don't have to change in anyway for Him to love you.  He loves your perfectly right now, right where you are at.  Also, God's love is everlasting.  It never fades.  It is always there no matter what we do or what happens to us.  Also, God remains faithful to us.  He keeps His promises.  If we are lost He will come and chase after us and find us.   He will be there for us whenever we decide to turn back to Him.  He will welcome us home with open arms and he will say to us, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”Dear heavenly father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. We thank you for loving us with an everlasting love, with a reckless love that will chase us down and leave the 99 to come and save us. Lord God we're so very thankful that you love us so much and even though we can't earn your love and definitely don't deserve your love you give it to us freely anyway. Lord I ask that you reach out to anyone hearing this that has trouble believing you could love them. I ask that you surround them with your love, that you rain down love and grace on them.  I ask that you open their minds and hearts to the idea of you loving them just as they are.  Lord, I ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, AmenHere are the lyrics for Reckless Love by Cory Asbury:Before I spoke a word, You were singing over meYou have been so, so good to meBefore I took a breath, You breathed Your life in meYou have been so so kind to meOh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of GodOh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the 99And I couldn't earn itI don't deserve it, still You give yourself awayOh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of GodWhen I was Your foe, still Your love fought for meYou have been so, so good to meWhen I felt no worth, You paid it all for meYou have been so, so kind to meOh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of GodOh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the 99And I couldn't earn itI don't deserve it, still You give yourself awayOh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of GodThere's no shadow You won't light upMountain You won't climb upComing after meThere's no wall You won't kick downLie You won't tear downComing after meThere's no shadow You won't light upMountain You won't climb upComing after meThere's no wall You won't kick downLie You won't tear downComing after meThere's no shadow You won't light upMountain You won't climb upComing after meThere's no wall You won't kick downLie You won't tear downComing after meOh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of GodOh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the 99I couldn't earn it, I don't deserve it, still You give yourself awayOh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

Don't Change! Become!Today, I felt led to start with this poem I read the other day because it beautifully demonstrates that we don't always understand what God is doing. We think we are a mess, we feel like we are falling apart, we feel like God has abandoned us, and yet God is ALWAYS right there in the middle of it all! He knows exactly what He is doing and wants us to trust Him in the process. This poem gives us some insight into that process.  I feel it makes it a little easier to trust when we have a bit of understanding. This conversation is between someone and God.Me: Hey God.God: Hello.....Me: I'm falling apart. Can you put me back together?God: I would rather not.Me: Why?God: Because you aren't a puzzle.Me: What about all of the pieces of my life that are falling down onto the ground?God: Let them stay there for a while. They fell off for a reason. Take some time and decide if you need any of those pieces back.Me: You don't understand! I'm breaking down!God: No - you don't understand. You are breaking through. What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go. Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me?God: Only the very best pieces of you.Me: I'm scared of changing.God: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING!Me: Becoming who?God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those things fall off of you. I love you! Don't change! ... Become! Become! Become who I made you to be. I'm going to keep telling you this until you remember it. Me: There goes another piece.God: Yep. Let it be. Me: So ... I'm not broken?God: Of course Not! - but you are breaking like the dawn. It's a new day. Become!!!~Author John Roedel I know many of you are struggling right now. Whether it is with health issues, money issues, or in the process of losing old friends and making new friends, I think this poem shows us that God can use these hard times to help us step into the person we are meant to be. The person He knows we are capable of being. There are several things I love about this poem. The first is the gentleness of God. He is so good. I think this poem demonstrates the love that God has for us. He didn't say no when she asked if God would put her back together. He said He would rather not. He then went on to explain why He felt that way. Notice how He didn't get short with her. He didn't seem irritated or annoyed with her. We often imagine God feels that way about us. We tell ourselves that He is tired of us coming and asking the same thing. We imagine He wondering why we can't seem to get it together already. If we are honest, we have felt that way about our loved ones before. God is not us. He doesn't have to wonder why we can't get it together. He knows. He made us. He knows everything we have ever done and everything we will ever do.I also love that God doesn't tell her never again to pick up the pieces that fell off. He tells her to take some time and decide whether she needs them. Maybe you are going through this shedding process right now. Maybe you are losing friends, workers, loved ones, or even material things. God isn't telling you that they are gone forever. He is saying take some time and see if you need them. Do they bring joy into your life? Do they make you a better person? Do they help you grow closer to the Lord? Are they helping you on your journey to heaven?If the answer to some of these questions are yes, maybe you can pick them back up again. Take the time to ask questions. Pay attention to the answers. Don't pick them back up again because it is hard without them. Don't pick them up again because it is easier with them or you miss them. It is normal to want to. When you are tempted to pick back up the ones that are not good for you, remember what the poem said, “What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go.The last part that I want to draw your attention to is what the poem says about changing. Listen to that part again. “Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me?God: Only the very best pieces of you.Me: I'm scared of changing.God: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING!Me: Becoming who?God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those things fall off of you. I love you! Don't change! ... Become! Become! Become who I made you to be. I'm going to keep telling you this until you remember it.”Isn't that just like God? He keeps telling us something until we believe Him. And for most of us, He has to tell us a lot. God is telling you, yes you, right now that He is with you in this. He tells you that He sees you, not for who you think you are, but who you really are. He sees the you that He created you to be even if you aren't there yet. He knows your journey and isn't frustrated that you aren't there yet because He knows exactly when you will arrive there. He knows exactly what obstacles you are struggling with. We actually had a word or prophecy at my Thursday morning prayer group in June 2024.  God assured us, “I am there among your trials and your joys. I am the God who loves you, who cares. I am never displeased or impatient with you. I place my hope in you.”This message is not just for my prayer group. This is a message for all of His children. This is something I believe he really wants us to know. We get impatient with our children. We get disappointed with them. God is telling us He is not like that. He knows our innermost thoughts. He knows everything we are going through. He knows our hearts. He knows how badly we want to do the right thing, and yet we tend to do the wrong thing. This is not unique to you. That is all of us. If Paul, who is credited with writing about half of the New Testament books, can admit to this, we can be sure we all struggle with this problem. In Romans 7:19-20 Paul said, “For I do not do the good I want, but the evil I do not want is what I do. Now if I do what I do not want, it is no longer I that do it, but sin which dwells within me.” God knows we are broken. He knows we struggle. He doesn't get disappointed. Instead, He celebrates every time we don't give in to temptation. Every time we mess up, we can bring that to God with the assurance that He welcomes us with open arms and celebrates because we came home instead of being upset we messed up.Dear Heavenly Father, we ask you to bless everyone listening to this episode. Dad, we thank you so much for loving us so much, for always being there for us, for helping us become who you created us to be, for your patience with us as we become that person, and for forgiving us again and again. You are so wonderful. You are our perfect father, and we are so grateful for all you do for us! Dad, could you give us the strength not to pick back up those pieces that have fallen that we don't need? It is hard to leave them there when our life seemed easier with them. Give us the strength to keep moving forward without them. Dad, could you also fill us up to the tipitey top with hope that things will be ok because it doesn't always feel like it will be. Help us to feel you right because of us. Maybe hold our hand as we walk side by side. That way, we know you are there. We love you, Dad, and we ask all of this in Jesus's mighty name; amen!!Thank you so much for joining me on this journey to walk boldly with Jesus. If this podcast has blessed you in some way, would you consider making a donation or sending it to others? Also, check out the link below for my mentoring group. Today's devotional is a small part of last week's mentoring session. Our topic for this month is Come As You Are. I would love to see your face on Zoom next Tuesday. I look forward to meeting you here again on Monday. Remember, Jesus loves you just as you are, and so do I! Have a blessed weekend!Today's Word from the Lord was received in June 2023 by a member of my Catholic Charismatic Prayer Group. If you have any questions about the prayer group, these words, or how to join us for a meeting, please email CatholicCharismaticPrayerGroup@gmail.com. Today's Word from the Lord is, “Continue to worship me each and every moment. Worship is your strength. I will give you the courage, wisdom, and power you need. I am with you until the end of your time and the beginning of our time together.” www.findingtruenorthcoaching.comCLICK HERE TO DONATECLICK HERE to sign up for Mentoring CLICK HERE to sign up for Daily "Word from the Lord" emailsCLICK HERE to sign up for free audio training about inviting Jesus into your daily lifeCLICK HERE to buy my book Total Trust in God's Safe Embrace

In this episode, Jim Farley talks with journalist Luke Russert, the son of journalists Tim Russert and Maureen Orth. They delve into Luke's journey around the world and his experience of dealing with the loss of his father at a young age.  Follow Jim:  YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@Jim.Farley Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jimfarley98/ Threads: https://www.threads.net/@jimfarley98 LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/jim-farley/ Twitter/X: https://twitter.com/jimfarley98 00:00 Introduction and Journey to Alaska 00:21 The Loneliest Road on Earth 00:34 The Story Behind Luke's Book 01:24 The Search for Identity and Dealing with Loss 02:08 The Significance of 'Look for Me There' 02:48 The Concept of Road Trips 03:29 The Journey of Self-Discovery 04:52 The Dream Drive 05:27 The Unexpected Journey to Writing a Book 06:31 Dealing with the Loss of a Father 08:43 The Long Road Trip and Its Impact 08:51 The Influence of Parents and the Journey of Self-Discovery 11:56 The Connection with Mother During the Trip 14:07 Keeping the Memory of Loved Ones Alive 17:43 The Pressure of Upholding a Legacy 25:28 Closing Remarks Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Maggie Peña is the Chief Experience Officer at Interlace Health (the next generation of FormFast), a 30 year old privately held healthcare IT firm that delivers scalable and cost-effective forms automation and eSignature solutions for healthcare organisations. She brings 22 years of experience in IT to her role and leads one third of Interlaces Health's employees.  With a fierce focus on customer satisfaction and retention, Maggie created and built Interlace Health's customer support team and its customer implementation strategy, she built out the company's fully Spanish-speaking team for project implementation, and ongoing customer support, and she has managed the company's managed services program to create efficiencies for customers. She believes in a proactive approach to customer service, and it shows with happy and successful customers. Under Maggie's leadership, Interlace Health currently has a 97.4% customer retention rate.  Maggie serves as a co-leader for the HIMSS Clinician Burden Reduction Task Force and was recently named Becker's 2023 Women in Health IT to Know list.   Questions • Could you share a little bit about your journey, how you got to where you are today. • Can you tell our listeners maybe three key things that you've done consistently that you believe has contributed to the success of achieving a 97.4% customer retention rate? • Can you tell us maybe some of the criteria that you use to select those customers? What type of customer do you look for to ensure that they are the ones that you're joining your counsel? • Now, could you also share with our listeners what is the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in your business? • Now we'd also like for you to share with us maybe one or two books that you've read. It could be a book that you read a very long time ago or even one that you read recently, but it has had a great impact on you. • As a customer, what are maybe three things that are critical for you to actually say, yes, this was a great customer experience. • Can you also share with our listeners, what's the one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about? Either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people. • Are there are some key behaviours or competencies that you look for when you're hiring persons for those roles as customer support? • Where can listeners find you online? • Now, before we wrap our episodes up, we always like to ask our guests, do you have a quote or saying that during times of adversity or challenge, you will tend to revert to this quote if for any reason you get derailed or you get off track? This quote kind of helps to get you back on track. Do you have one of those? Highlights Maggie's Journey Me: So, just wanted to take some time before we jump into the meat of our conversation for you to share with our listeners a little bit about your journey. I know we would have read your bio, but we always like to ask the guests in their own words, if you could share a little bit about how you got to where you are today.   Maggie shared that it has been an interesting journey. When she started college, she wanted to be an accountant. But after her first accounting course, she quickly realized that was not her calling. So, the path that really paved her way to where she is today started in the financial industry during her junior year working part time for a local bank and the IT department, processing operations for almost 30 banks throughout the state, working with a Unisys mainframe and green screen terminals for the very first time. And she thinks she just might have dated herself, but that's okay.  So, all kidding aside, it was a great learning experience nonetheless. By then, she had switched majors and was now pursuing a degree in Computer Information Systems. And her time at the bank confirmed and validated her interest in technology and how we can use technology to automate processes to increase efficiencies and customer service as we knew it back then, now that customer experiences tends to be a newer word, back in the day, we were thinking at it as customer service.  She was lucky enough to stay at the bank for almost 7 years until the bank was acquired by an international bank with plans to move their IT operations someplace else. At that point, she knew that it was time to move on and look for something else. So, she joined a local health care system, also working in their IT department supporting the business and financial side of the hospital. After about a year, Interlace Health, formerly FormFast as said came into her life when the hospital purchased a forms automation solution. So, fast forward a couple of years, she had the opportunity to join the NRA Health team and have now been there for almost 13 years.   Key Strategies that Contributed to the Success of Achieving a 97.4% Customer Retention Rate Me: So, in your bio, it says that you've managed to achieve a 97.4% customer retention rate. Can you tell our listeners maybe three key things that you've done consistently that you believe has contributed to that success?    Maggie shared that at Interlace Health, they believe in putting people first, so that is their mission. They put people over paperwork, and it has reflected on the solutions that they provide their customers and the solution is that they innovate and so on, so forth. But even in the services, she has a belief that software alone doesn't cut it anymore, it just doesn't. Anyone can have a similar product or a similar solution as you, it really comes down to the level of service that you provide your customers and the experience that they encounter throughout the entire journey.  So, first and foremost, they put people first, always there for their customers, they have also built a dedicated team within the services department at Interlace Health, always to be their specialized in what they do, enabled to deliver personalized and attentive support to their customers, they are there with them, they understand their business, they understand their needs, and they're always available.  Again, to address it, regardless of what the need may be, the COVID pandemic was huge, it was terrible, but it was an opportunity for them to be there for their customers and continue providing the service, and not just the service, but continue providing the same level of service to enable them to continue providing the care that they needed to provide even more so during those difficult times.   And then three, they embrace feedback from their customers, the good, the bad, and the Ugly, like the saying. They're always there, they have established a Customer Success Council and it's composed of their most engaged, knowledgeable customers who advises on their products or solutions, they share the best practices. And quite frankly, they give candid feedback. It's not always what they want to hear, but at the end of the day is what they want to hear, because their feedback and their insights have helped make informed decisions as they improve their products and services. And they are pretty much the ones helping them guide their path forward as it comes to their products and services.   Criteria for Selecting Customers to Join Your Customer Success Council  Me: Now, in addition to those three things that has contributed to your customer retention rate being at 97.4%. And I know you mentioned a customer council that you say you use to guide you. Can you tell us maybe some of the criteria that you use to select those customers? What type of customer do you look for to ensure that they are the ones that you're joining your council?    Maggie shared that they offer various solutions. So, they try to get customers that are using different types of solutions, right? Because obviously, there's different needs that each solution addresses. First, they started with their internal team, and they asked them who are your champions? Who are your stellar contacts that are customers who know their products, they know it well, they're using it consistently and that's the criteria. It's also customers that are using their solutions successfully and consistently.  But they try to get customers who weren't using it as much or adopting it as they would like them to, to get involved, to tell them why, what are your challenges? What are your staff or your patients telling you about your solutions or their solutions in this case, that is keeping you from using it to its fullest potential?  So, it was really customers that were mostly engaged and customers that they have communication with, but not to the extent like the fully engaged ones, if that makes sense so that we could get both sides of the house, those that are using it a lot and those that are struggling for various reasons, they wanted to hear from them as well.   App, Website or Tool that Maggie Absolutely Can't Live Without in Her Business When asked about online resource that she cannot live without in her business, Maggie shared that she would say internally, Microsoft Teams. Prior to pandemic, Interlace Health, they've always been a remote company. So, mostly everyone was remote, she's been remote almost 13 years there. But since pandemic, she thinks Microsoft Teams have kept them very well connected not just internally but with their customers in the hospital setting, that is what they've seen use the most is Microsoft Teams. And then internally to keep track of their customers and their data and their metrics and so on, so forth. Everything that they need to know about their customers, they use Salesforce platform.   Books that Have Had the Biggest Impact on Maggie When asked about books that have had a great impact, Maggie shared that The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything by Stephen Covey. She loves that book and it's been a while, she's probably going to read it again. And the question got her thinking she needs to reread it again. But it's been a few years since she's read it. And she loves how it gives clarity into how trusted leaders do things differently, faster and at a lower cost. She's a true believer that trust drives everything, and how it produces better results. So, that's one.  And then the second one not so much a book, because he's got plenty of books, but John Maxwell, anything, everything John Maxwell, he's amazing. She first heard him 5 years ago at a Global Leadership Summit. The one thing that struck the most from that Summit was when he was talking about looking for ways to add value to people, he called it be an added value liver. Where he was talking about throughout the day, going from knowing to doing, from thinking and looking to making sure it's an action. And at the end of the day, ask yourself, “Did I add value to people today?”  Again, John Maxwell, he is someone who she constantly sees his videos, she's purchased some training, she even purchases trainings there at work for her direct reports as well to see and to encounter and to read and learn from his teachings. So, those are the two that she can think of.    As a Customer, Three Critical Things to Have a Great Customer Experience Me: Now I know as your role as a Chief Experience Officer at Interlace Health, you are focused on providing the service to your clients. But I'd like to flip the script a little and put you in the in the hotbox where you are the customer. So, when you think about your own interactions with organizations that you do business with, what are maybe three things that are critical for you to actually say, yes, this was a great customer experience.   Maggie stated that the sense of trust. She talked about trust, the book. So, she would say trust, transparency, and personalization, if she had to put it into just three words. This would be her top three that comes to mind right away.    Me: So, trust, transparency, and personalization.   Maggie stated that personal life experience, she's huge on that. Just, for example, even when she goes to restaurants, the first thing she looks at when the waiter approaches her is their name badge, because she wants to address them by their name. And she always does, it's just that personal touch and everything that we do, to her, that's very important.    Me: It's always the little things.   What Maggie is Really Excited About Now! When asked about something that she's excited about, Maggie shared that just with the new CXO role, she's excited about it because it's going to allow her to work with the entire organization on the customer journey from the initial awareness to implementation support and beyond. So, she's excited to continue creating a more holistic customer centric culture at Interlace Health, while developing and implementing a comprehensive customer experience strategy. And Yanique did the bragging, she (Maggie) was going to brag a little bit about their customer retention rate. So, that's also exciting for them at Interlace Health at the moment, which is that customer retention rate of 97.4%.   Key Behaviours or Competence for Hiring Customer Support  Me: Could you also share with us with, your customer support team that you had built out, how many persons are on that team?   Maggie shared that they have the team, they're thinking about everyone that's doing support, a good 10 people.   Me: So, you got 10 people on that support team. And so, I just wanted to know if there are some key behaviours or competencies that you look for when you're hiring persons for those roles.   Maggie shared that yes, they need competency, they need people that know what they know, that they're intelligent, and they know what's expected of them. But she looks more on attitude, because you can teach the skills that they need to know in order to support the customers. You'll teach them the product and the solutions and all the intricacies right of what they do. But the attitude, that is not something they can teach. So, she hires for attitude. And so, that's a big one for her.  At Interlace Health, they look for people who are motivated and you have to, in this remote world, you have to be self-motivated. We're no longer in front of other people to help us get through the day. So, you need self-motivated individuals, absolutely intelligent, competent people, but people that have the attitude, who are going to be there for their customers, because not every single call is a good call, and that's life. Some calls aren't always the best calls, but they want people who are going to have the attitude and turn a not so good call into a positive call at the end of the day while we're helping their customers resolve their problems.    Where Can We Find Maggie Online Website – https://interlacehealth.com/ LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/maggiepeña/   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Maggie Uses When asked about quote that she tends to revert to, Maggie shared that there's one that she has that she's used personally since a very young age. And that is simple, “If anyone else can do it, so can I.” and like she said, that since she can remember going through school, college, you name it, she's always had that in her mind if anyone else can do it, so can I.  Then she has a second one too as it relates to her professional setting at work and with her team as they're looking to do something new, whether it's a new process, a new approach to something, anything new that they're talking about doing, she always tells them, “Let's try it, what's the worst that can happen?” So, those are the two quotes that you'll hear her say quite a bit depending on the situation.   Me: Perfect. I love the second one, “Let's do it, what's the worst that can happen?”   Maggie stated, what's the worst that can happen? If it doesn't work, it wasn't working anyway.   Me: There's one that goes, “You miss all of the shots that you never take.” That quote kind of reminds me of that one.   Maggie, I just wanted to express our deepest gratitude to you for taking time out of your very busy schedule and hopping on this podcast with us today. And sharing about your journey as well as what your organization is doing and just how it is that you've been able to really make customer experience shine in your organization and achieve the high level of retention rate, how it is that you focus on ensuring that your customers are getting what they need, and not necessarily what organization wants to give them but you have something in place where you really use the voice of the customer on a regular basis. And you can see it manifest into your customer satisfaction and retention scores. So, thank you again for joining us today.   Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest   Links •     The Speed of Trust: The One Thing that Changes Everything by Stephen Covey   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners  Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience.” The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!

REFLECTIONFr. RonMUSICSearchin' So Long by Leonid and Friends (Chicago Cover)Never My Love by The AssociationLYRICS1st Song- Searchin' So LongAs my life goes on I believeSomehow something's changedSomething deep insideOoh a part of meThere's a strange new light in my eyesThings I've never knownChanging my lifeChanging meI've been searchin'So longTo find an answerNow I know my life has meaning, ohNow I see myself as I amFeeling very freeLife is everythingOoh it's meant to beWhen my days have come to an endI will understandWhat I left behindPart of meI've been searchingSo longTo find and answerNow I know my life has meaning, whoaSearching (don't you know I'm)For an answerTo the questionOh yeah"Who am I?"Maybe (maybe it's true)It's only natural (it's only natural baby, yeah)Good thingsIn lifeTake a long time (yeah yeah)2nd Song- Never My LoveYou ask me if there'll come a timeWhen I grow tired of youNever, my loveNever, my loveYou wonder if this heart of mineWill lose its desire for youNever, my loveNever, my loveWhat makes you think love will end?When you know that my whole life dependsOn you (on you)Ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba (ba-ba-ba-ba-ba-ba)Never, my loveNever, my loveYou say you fear I'll change my mindI won't require youNever, my loveNever, my loveHow can you think love will endWhen I've asked you to spend your whole lifeWith me? (with me, with me)Never, my love (never, my love)Never, my loveNever, my love (never, my love)Never, my loveNever, my love

Don Rickles daughter,  Mindy, and son-in-law, Ed Mann join meThere's a brand new archive of Rickles career at The National Comedy Center AND a new documentary from Judd Apatow on Rickles and Bob NewhartHear it here on this new episode of LIVE FROM MY OFFICE NOTES:The National Comedy Center is at comedycenter.org"Bob & Don, a Love Story" is on you tube and the website of The New YorkerListen to me on the radio weekday mornings from 5:30-9:00 on WLS AM 890, online, on your smart speaker, or on the TuneIn Radio App!Subscribe to Live From My Office on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or wherever you get your podcasts.Follow Steve on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, and LinkedIn.Win an ABT gift card by emailing me three of your friends emails who you think would like the show, and include your mailing address in the email. Check out the details here.Email the show with any questions, comments, or plugs for your favorite charity

"Don't be afraid to listen to what's going on in your mind – your body can speak to you.” - Luke Russert  As we get ready to dive into our annual 31 Days of Kindness series this year, Dr. Michelle Robin invites author of Look for Me There, Luke Russert, to talk about why processing the grief of his father's sudden passing was one of the kindest acts he ever did for himself. Rather than follow society's way of moving on as quickly as possible, Luke shares what inspired him to push pause on his life and run a self-diagnostic test to explore what he was feeling after losing his father. He'll also share some tips about what someone can do to begin tuning in to what you are feeling inside and explain why there's power in being kind to yourself and seeking what your soul needs. At the end of the show, he'll also share a kind gesture that a stranger did for him during his travels and why it remains in his heart to this day. About Today's Guest:  Luke Russert is an Emmy Award-winning journalist who was an NBC News correspondent from 2008 to 2016, primarily covering American politics. Since leaving broadcast journalism, he is the author of Look for Me There, a travel memoir about his three-and-a-half-year journey around the world that took him to more than sixty-five countries. Based in Washington, DC, he is the son of journalists Maureen Orth (Vanity Fair) and the late Tim Russert (NBC's Meet the Press).  Mentioned in the Episode:  Look for Me There book by Luke Russert  Look for Me There website  31 Days of Kindness email series – sign up for free 

Luke Russert is an Emmy-award winning journalist who left his career covering American politics on NBC Nightly News, TODAY, and MSNBC to travel the world. After the death of his father, the legendary journalist Tim Russert, Luke set out on a three month trip that turned into three years as he traveled to six continents covering 67 countries. He journaled every step of the way, and it was only upon returning — in his grandmother's kitchen in San Francisco — that he realized his journey was much greater than his trip. He turned his journal entries into a NY Times Bestseller, Look for Me There, which details how travel helped him process his grief and ultimately led to self-discovery. Through beautiful storytelling, Luke shares the greatest lessons he learned on his adventure around the world. From profound moments of awe in New Zealand to his travels in the birthplace of wine in Tbilisi, Georgia to the best meal he (and Melissa) have ever eaten in Uruguay; Luke shares a deeply personal, internal journey and reminds us of the power in travel.  For highlights of Luke's travel advice and more information on where to find his book, Look for Me There, see below: Luke's Travel TakeawaysDon't wait to travel because you may be able to participate in certain activities now that could become more challenging later in life due to health and physical limitations.Be curious and think critically about how new environments differ from your own.The more you travel and push yourself outside your comfort zone, the more comfortable you will become in uncertainty. This gives you the ability to explore any uneasy thoughts with more clarity. Build moments around the day to give yourself downtime, whether it's unwinding in your hotel room or enjoying leisure time in a cafe.Ensure that everyone is on board with the daily activities planned. Be mindful that what you desire may not be what your travel companion desires.Embrace spontaneity while traveling as schedules can change while on the road. Having the ability to adapt to the changes will make your trip more enjoyable.Ultize travel as a way to decompress from the constant hour-by-hour, minute-by-minute-mindset. This time will allow you to process deeper emotions. To read more about Luke's road to self-discovery, check out his NY Times Bestseller book, Look for Me There available on Bookshop, HarperCollins, and Amazon.To follow along Luke's journey, check out his Instagram @lukerussert.

Great to talk with Chris and Maria from in This Moment. They're currently out on the Dark Horizon tour with Motionless In White, From Ashes To New and Fit For A King. This fall they hit the road with Kiss Of Death tour with Ice Nine Kills, Avatar and New Year's Day.  We talked about what got them into the theatrical side of rock/metal music. Chris pointed to KISS, Marie pointed to Marilyn Manson and anything thing that strikes a visual chord.  "We're bringing a lot of new bells and whistles" Maria commented on the currant stage show. There's a lot that goes into a ITM show, and Maria kept bringing up the fact that there's more fire than ever before.  The new album Godmode comes out October 27th. Chris told me that making this album they took a lot more time. Plus, working with Kane Churko, instead of his father, Kevin. "Working with him brought a whole new level of intensity to the project." The Purge is the latest single, as they told me how that song's been kicking around for a while. Maria talked about created songs and her writing process. We also talked about the creative element that the band brings to the videos. "I don't have people write for me." Maria said. She's very hands-on when it comes to everything In This Moment.  As far as Godmode is concerned...There's a cover on the album - "Army of Me" There's one collaboration on the record. "It's a little darker than we normally tend to be." Maria said about the overall vibe of the new music. It's more experimental. It's more progy, as well. "It definitely is" Chris added.  We talked horror movies as well. I could talk horror flicks all day. Surprisingly, Maria said "Certain horror I can't watch and won't watch. It will get into my head too much." She went on to elaborate about that.  As far as their stage getup is concerned, Chris told me "You're literally putting on the persona and this costume to go out and be something else for the time that you're doing it." "I love dressing up, becoming these characters and having this other side of me be invoked, for sure." Maria commented as far as her stage persona goes.  This is a really fun conversation....a huge thanks to Maria and Chris! -Meltdown- https://wrif.com/podcasts/talkin-rock-with-meltdown/  

Look for Me There chronicles the Emmy-winning journalist's years-long journey of finding his place in the world in the face of crushing expectations, reexamining his relationship with his parents, and finally grieving his larger-than-life father, news legend Tim Russert, who died too young. In conversation with Andrea Mitchell, NBC News Chief Washington Correspondent and Chief Foreign Affairs Correspondent and anchor of Andrea Mitchell Reports. This program was held on June 17, 2023. 

It's America's birthday. July 4th. Independence Day. or INDEPENDENTS Day. Our favorite day of the year around here. And as we load up the car for the beach, or fire up the BBQ, or work the holiday shift, America's birthday is always a time to stay vigilant.  As the Ukrainians fight a brutal war for their survival, as LGBTQIA+ individuals fight for the recognition of their right to exist and, shamefully, as Ron DeSantis fights his fake war on woke, it's time for our annual discussion of freedom here on Independent Americans. Time to reflect on what freedom means—and what kind of state it's in. With a special, important, inspiring and iconic American leader who has shaped what America has been, is now, and will be in the future.  In past July 4th specials, we've talked to Willie Geist a few times. Lindsay Church. Leaders who really understand America in a deep way. And can help us understand July 4th—and where we're going. And this Independence Day, we've got another great one. As we really dive into summer, hit the road or the parks or the beach, and walk, hike or drive with the sound of a steady guide in our ears. A voice of America—a conscience—that we can take on the road with us.  He's a humble and thoughtful and trusted voice of America—for America. A younger generation of leader, and now, writer, who is helping us all understand who we are—as he's sought to understand himself.  He's an author and an Emmy Award winning journalist who served as an NBC News correspondent from 2008 to 2016. Primarily covering American politics, he was seen on popular outlets such as NBC Nightly News, Today, NBCNews.com, and MSNBC. In addition to his NBC News post, he co-hosted the critically acclaimed 60/20 Sports with political pundit James Carville on Sirius-XM Satellite Radio. He also served as a guest host on a range of MSNBC programs such as The Daily Rundown with Chuck Todd, Way Too Early with Willie Geist, Andrea Mitchell Reports and NOW with Alex Wagner. He also appeared as a panelist on NBC's Meet the Press. And now, he's the author of his own best selling book, Look for Me There. He's Luke Russert (@LukeRussert) Luke joins our host, national security and political analyst, 9/11 First Responder and Army veteran Paul Rieckhoff (@PaulRieckhoff), for another fun and fiery episode of the best independent politics, news and culture show in America.  Every episode of Independent Americans is independent light to contrast the heat of other politics and news shows. It's content for the 49% of Americans that call themselves independent. And delivers the Righteous Media 5 Is: independence, integrity, information, inspiration and impact. Always with a unique focus on national security, foreign affairs and military and vets issues. This is another pod to help you stay vigilant. Because vigilance is the price of democracy. In these trying times especially, Independent Americans is your trusted place for independent news, politics and inspiration.  -Get extra content, connect with guests, events, merch discounts and support this show that speaks truth to power by joining us on Patreon.  -WATCH video of Paul and Luke's conversation. -Check #LookForTheHelpers on Twitter. And share yours.  -Find us on social media or www.IndependentAmericans.us. -Hear other Righteous pods like The Firefighters Podcast with Rob Serra, Uncle Montel - The OG of Weed and B Dorm.  Independent Americans is powered by Righteous Media. America's next great independent media company. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

“Look for me there,” news legend Tim Russert would tell his son, Luke, when confirming a pickup spot at an airport, sporting event, or rock concert. After Tim died unexpectedly, Luke kept looking for his father, following in Tim's footsteps and carving out a highly successful career at NBC News. After eight years covering politics on television, Luke realized he had no good answer as to why he was chasing his father's legacy. As the son of two accomplished parents—his mother is journalist Maureen Orth of Vanity Fair—Luke felt the pressure of high expectations but suddenly decided to leave the familiar path behind. Instead, Luke set out on his own to find answers. What began as several open-ended months of travel to decompress and reassess morphed into a three-plus-year odyssey across six continents to discover the world and, ultimately, to find himself. Look for Me There is both the vivid narrative of that journey and the emotional story of a young man taking charge of his life, reexamining his relationship with his parents, and finally grieving his larger-than-life father, who died too young. For anyone uncertain about the direction of their life or unsure of how to move forward after a loss, Look for Me There is a poignant reflection that offers encouragement to examine our choices, take risks, and discover our truest selves. Luke Orth Russert is an Emmy Award–winning journalist who was an NBC News correspondent from 2008 to 2016, primarily covering American politics. Since leaving broadcast journalism, he is the author of Look for Me There, a travel memoir about his three-and-a-half-year journey around the world that took him to more than sixty-five countries. Based in Washington, DC, he is the son of journalists Maureen Orth (Vanity Fair) and the late Tim Russert (NBC's Meet the Press).

“Look for me there,” news legend Tim Russert would tell his son, Luke, when confirming a pickup spot at an airport, sporting event, or rock concert. After Tim died unexpectedly, Luke kept looking for his father, following in his footsteps and carving out a successful career at NBC News. After eight years covering politics and winning an Emmy Award, Luke realized he had no good answer as to why he was chasing his father's legacy. At a crossroads in his early thirties, feeling the pressure of high expectations as the son of two accomplished parents, Luke decided to leave the familiar path behind and set out on his own to find answers. What began as several months of travel to decompress and reassess morphed into a three-plus-year odyssey across six continents to find himself and his place in the world in the face of crushing expectations and grief. Look for Me There offers a vivid narrative of that journey, chronicling lessons learned from travel and how Luke finally grieved his larger-than-life father, who died too young.   See Luke in DC: https://www.sixthandi.org/event/luke-russert/  

“Look for me there,” news legend Tim Russert would tell his son, Luke, when confirming a pickup spot at an airport, sporting event, or rock concert. After Tim died unexpectedly, Luke kept looking for his father, following in Tim's footsteps and carving out a highly successful career at NBC News. After eight years covering politics on television, Luke realized he had no good answer as to why he was chasing his father's legacy. As the son of two accomplished parents—his mother is journalist Maureen Orth of Vanity Fair—Luke felt the pressure of high expectations but suddenly decided to leave the familiar path behind. Instead, Luke set out on his own to find answers. What began as several open-ended months of travel to decompress and reassess morphed into a three-plus-year odyssey across six continents to discover the world and, ultimately, to find himself. Look for Me There is both the vivid narrative of that journey and the emotional story of a young man taking charge of his life, reexamining his relationship with his parents, and finally grieving his larger-than-life father, who died too young. For anyone uncertain about the direction of their life or unsure of how to move forward after a loss, Look for Me There is a poignant reflection that offers encouragement to examine our choices, take risks, and discover our truest selves.

Author and former broadcast journalist Luke Russert joins Major at famed Capitol Hill watering hole Tune Inn for a discussion of Russert's new book, "Look for Me There," a memoir about losing his father and traveling the world. Russert recounts advice he got in 2015 from then-Speaker of the House John Boehner, who told him to leave network news and explore the world. Stick around for a chat between Major, Russert and Boehner on why the speaker offered that advice and why it was the right call for Russert. Boehner also offers his thoughts on the state of the Republican Party and its frontrunner for president, Donald Trump. Join us!See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

On the GM Shuffle, hosts Michael Lombardi and Femi Abebefe break down the 76ers hire of Nick Nurse as head coach. Plus, the guys break down the second-year NFL pleayers that need to make the biggest impact on their team this season. Journalist, best-selling author and die-hard Bills fan Luke Russert also joins the show to talk about his book "Look for Me There" as part of our "Literature & Leadership" series. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Tony opens the show by talking with Karril about Dan Bern's performance at Calvert Woodley Liquor and he talks to Luke Russert and Michael about grilled cheese sandwiches. Tony also talks to Luke about the process of writing his book “Look for Me There”, Bob Ryan calls in to talk about how and why the Celtics played so dismally in their game 7 loss, and Tony closes out the show by opening up the Mailbag. Songs : Dan Bern “Before it Has Begun” ; Tall Tall Trees “The Wind, She Whispers” To learn more about listener data and our privacy practices visit: https://www.audacyinc.com/privacy-policy Learn more about your ad choices. Visit https://podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Rich recaps the Nuggets' comeback win over the Lakers to go up 2-0 in their Western Conference Finals series and says it's definitely time to stop sleeping on Nikola Jokic and a deep Denver team. Journalist Luke Russert tells Rich why he left NBC news to write his ‘Look for Me There' book about grieving the loss of his father Tim Russert, discusses his die-hard Buffalo Bills fandom, and more. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Washington Post Live anchor Leigh Ann Caldwell speaks with Luke Russert, the son of legendary journalist Tim Russert, about his new book, “Look for Me There,” which charts his journey coming to terms with the loss of his father and what happened when he left Washington, D.C. Conversation recorded on Thursday, May 11, 2023.

Camilla, the queen consort, was once labeled "Britain's most hated woman" for her role in Charles and Diana's divorce. CBS News' Holly Williams looks at how she has worked hard to change public opinion. CBS News royal contributor Tina Brown joins "CBS Mornings" to talk all things coronation ahead of Saturday's ceremony.Airbnb co-founder and CEO Brian Chesky joins "CBS Mornings" to discuss the company's 2023 Summer Release, including some new features and a focus on Airbnb Rooms. Plus, he addresses users safety, privacy concerns, the impact of inflation and a possible recession.Luke Russert joins "CBS Mornings" to discuss his new book, "Look for Me There." Russert writes about seeking to find himself after the death of his father, legendary television journalist Tim Russert."Bridgerton" star Golda Rosheuvel reprises her role as Queen Charlotte in the highly-anticipated prequel "Queen Charlotte: A Bridgerton Story" about her love story and the societal shifts that created the "Bridgerton" world.Sarah Gelman, editorial director of Amazon Books, joins "CBS Mornings" to share her top book recommendations to celebrate Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month.See Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Our theme today for Concert Friday is ABUNDANCE. What is this abundant love that Jesus promises? What is this higher love that can move us into greatness and overcome our limitations? Two songs to lead us in prayer to that answer...I LIVED by One RepublicHope when you take that jump, you don't fear the fallHope when the water rises, you built a wallHope when the crowd screams out, it's screaming your nameHope if everybody runs, you choose to stayHope that you fall in love, and it hurts so badThe only way you can know is give it all you haveAnd I hope that you don't suffer but take the painHope when the moment comes, you'll say...I, I did it allI, I did it allI owned every second that this world could giveI saw so many places, the things that I didWith every broken bone, I swear I livedHope that you spend your days, but they all add upAnd when that sun goes down, hope you raise your cupOh, I wish that I could witness all your joy and all your painBut until my moment comes, I'll say...I, I did it allI, I did it allI owned every second that this world could giveI saw so many places, the things that I didWith every broken bone, I swear I livedHIGHER LOVE by Kygo and WhitneyBring me higher love, loveBring me higher loveThink about it, there must be a higher loveDown in the heart or hidden in the stars aboveWithout it, life is wasted timeLook inside your heart, and I'll look inside mineThings look so bad everywhereIn this whole world, what is fair?We walk the line and try to seeFalling behind in what could be, ohBring me a higher loveBring me a higher love, ohBring me a higher loveWhere's that higher love I keep thinking of?Bring me higher love, loveBring me higher love (oh)Bring me higher love, loveBring me a higher loveBring me higher love, loveBring me higher love (oh)Bring me higher love, loveBring me a higher loveWorlds are turning, and we're just hanging onFacing our fear, and standing out there aloneA yearning, yeah, and it's real to meThere must be someone who's feeling for meThings look so bad everywhereIn this whole world, what is fairWe walk the line and try to seeFalling behind in what could be, ohBring higher love (My love)Bring higher love, oh (Oh)Bring higher love (My love)Where's that higher love I keep thinking of?Bring me higher love, loveBring me higher love (Oh)Bring me higher love, loveBring me a higher loveBring me a higher love (Oh, bring me love)Bring me higher love, oh (We need a higher love)Bring me a higher love (Bring me, bring me, yeah)A higher love I keep thinking of, oh

Greetings, this was a difficult podcast for me to produceAs I was finalizing my Journey to Healing program, once again, for six week I dealt with this nagging sense  that my mother, the woman who gave birth to me, was dying.   She died last week and I don't know how to grieve.I hadn't seen or spoken to her since 2007. I spent two long hurtful weeks in 2007 with her. She was in early stages of Alzheimer's yet she was still controlling, lethal,  and master of manipulation.I hadn't seen in at least 10 years prior to the  painful 2007 debacleI'm 73 years old and the most intimate one on one time I spent with her was the 10-11 hours she was in labor with me. If I combine  all the minutes, hours,  days, weeks, and months of my 73 years  together, the most we spent 3 years of pure hell, of constantly being reminded she abandoned, rejected, and bragging that she never changed my diapers or feed me.How do I grieve for a woman who  the one and only time time she had to sign a permission slip for me to go on a filed trip, ask me how did I spell Theresa with a H or EHow do I grieve for a woman who as a small child I craved for her to look at me, to comb my hair, to touch me, to kiss me to do the things I saw my friend's mothers do.  I wanted  her to know my favorite cookies were oatmeal raisin, my favorite color was blue, and praise me for being in a gifted program at  small.  For the first 14 years of my life we lived with 3 blocks of each other and  we ignored each other.  I stop calling her Mama by the age of 9, she was just Jeri, a woman I refused to speak to.How do I grieve for a woman who had no problem rejecting me, who would when speaking of her daughters she would tell me, not you, she only considered two younger sisters as her daughters.As I child I longed for her, to see, her, to have her touch, hold, kiss or even acknowledge me in some form of kindness. At best she grunted at meThere is no pain greater  than  living your entire life as a Motherless Child.It makes you doubt everything about yourself. What was so wrong with me that own mother didn't want me.This is a woman who handed me over to my father, a pedophile. This  man  screwed or attempted to screw   four Willard girls and women.  He  married the eldest, attempted to rape the middle sister, had transactional  sex with my 14 year old mother for a coat, and at 14 he began raping me.  She willingly handed me over to him to do with me as he pleased.The results, he raped me for 3.5 years and impregnated me with my eldest son.How am I grieving, I'm not, all I feel is numbness 

iamaffirmations #noble #higherself https://www.patreon.com/TrueNorthAffirmationsam self possessed with a just knowledgeI am elevated by intelligenceI choose to remain conscious and autonomousI am soverign in the face of oppositionI achieve equallibriumI am ordered with a higher significanceI am in accordance with fateI am filled with valueMeaning overflows from meI am absolute and tangible meaningI am rediscovering my existenceMy value is untoucahableI choose to rise in a more perfect and noble natureThese truths are my overcomingI live out a direct path to inner significancemy conduct is formed in higher virtuesLofty beyond and over the sunI choose the infinite manI am freeI am self dependenceI choose a superior existenceA heroic means to the endI demand all of myselfI despise the easy pathI am the inexorable character of liferisk and courage are my existenceI go beyond the sphere of comfort and safetyI chisel into my life with actionsMore actions result in higher livingI overcome concerns with appearance and accept beingwords diminsh but actions overcomeI am overcoming limitationsI measure myself agaisnt greatnessThis exact measure is my accomplismentI am the command from aboveA command to seek the bestA command to be the bestAlways better, always becoming moreI stand on my feetI defeat the mediocre with the superiorI stand on the other side of the purefying fireI am regenerated into a perfect mindestOne of truth, freedom and strengthI restore superior ideals to existingThe tradition of the old permeatesA noble man is birthedA righteous man of a noble forceI uncover the hidden gem of nobilityI become truer than the worldI am beyond human understandingI am a blazing forcea heroic path paints itself before meMy background is light and truthThe foreground is possibiltiy and courageEvidence fountains within meThere is something beyondI am in need of this higher lifeI am unbroken perserveranceI am unmistaken directionI am found and drawn near toLife, meaning, existence are my bannerThe gravity of value pulls me inI am an absolute leap of disciplineInner strength and self-will justifes the autonomous spirit of lifechoose strengthI accept the will to powerHonor and Justice become spiritualThe divine awaitsA superior life invitesI am chosenI inwardly ascend the heights of a new consecrationa god is found, a man is found,a new way to exist is foundinspired by. Julius Evola

In this episode, I go into detail about what it means to have a karmic relationship and how that relationship can help you grow. These karmic relationships can trigger you which is why they are so important. You need to know what to do when you are being triggered by these people and how that influences your karma.Akashic Records Certificationhttp://akashicrecordscertification.comThe Afterlife of Billy Fingers: How My Bad-Boy Brother Proved to Me There's Life After Death https://amzn.to/3cUGz7x

Episode 32The CrowdThe most dangerous thing in our society right now… the crowd. When you go with everyone else, just to go with everyone else. If you want to be number one, you have to be odd.Everyday I remind myself …1. I am me and no one can take that away from me2. I've made it this far, I'm where I am today because I never gave up, my success rate in life is 100% so far3. I'm proud of me4. I know I'm designed for big things5. I can always count on meThere are two types of people in the worldYou are either genuine or fakeGenuine people are nice and expect nothing in returnFake people are nice and helpful but they have an agendaTrust can take 20 years to build it, 20 seconds to destroy it.Check out the full episode on multiple podcast platforms!Pick up your Used Carma Merch @ usedcaramashop.comCheck out the video on YouTube - Used CarmaLeave a review on Apple Podcast that helps the show grow and show up in people's recommended podcasts.Facebook - Used Car-maInstagram - @usedcarmaTikTok - @usedcarmapodcastWebsite - www.usedcarmaguru.comWe want to hear from you!Email us at admin@usedcarmaguru.com and let us know how you like the show, what you want to hear and if you have any special guests that you think we should interview.

Me: Knock Knock Heaven: Who is it? Me: Lord it's me again Heaven:

"Science has found that nothing can disappear without a trace. Nature does not know extinction. All it knows is transformation." - Wernher von Braun, NASA Aerospace Engineer, believed in life after death. Express.co Paranormal experiences known to happen during the death process include precognition, terminal lucidity, coincidences, sensory presence: smells, sounds, visitations and the like. Not everyone feels comfortable addressing any of that - and yet - it happens. Dr. Doka discovered when he addressed the unconventional  elements related to dying during his presentations - the more you talk about it - the more people feel secure enough to 'come out of the closet' to share their own experiences. Introduction. p7. Dr. Doka has intentionally provided a wide range of anecdotal stories along with his own personal experiences with notes on relevant research and data that supports the claims. Even so, he leaves it up to the reader to decide what to believe. This is a timely topic. 9.23.21 At the time of this interview, Death is a daily trending headline. "The seven-day average of U.S. Covid deaths is 2,031 as of Tuesday, the first time over the 2,000 threshold since March, according to data compiled by Johns Hopkins University." Source. CNBC. 680K US Deaths. 4.55M Global Deaths. Note: Data comes from Wikipedia, government health ministries, The New York Times, and other authoritative sources, as attributed.One of the first COVID deaths among my Facebook friends was Angela Joiner. Obit. The reporter who broke the story on the UFO sighting in Stephenville, Texas, I interviewed her at the time and admired how she covered the story. It changed her life. Friend, relative, companion, acquaintance. Sooner or later, we all deal with death. It helps when there are support groups and resources to navigate the process. It also helps to know just how normal some of the paranormal experiences are when death is near. Past interviews highlight NDEs, Shared NDEs and After Death Communication: Jim Bruton. The In Between: A Trip of a Lifetime = Paula Lenz. Driving into Infinity: Living with My Brother's Spirit. = Annie Kagan. The Afterlife of Billy Fingers: How My Bad-Boy Brother Proved to Me There's Life After Death. = Each death is unique. Some are even more so.    When We Die: Extraordinary Experiences at Life's End, Amazon. Bio: Kenneth J. Doka PhD (Poughkeepsie, NY) is a professor of counseling and a leading authority on issues involving death, dying, and grief. He has edited or written over 35 acclaimed books on death-related subjects, including Grief is a Journey (Atria, 2016). Dr. Ken Doka is Senior Vice-President of the Hospice Foundation of America. Amazon Review - 5.0 out of 5 stars Honest and respectful way to learn about the death process, Beautifully researched and written, Dr. Doka takes us on a journey of death. From premonitions to nearing death awareness, to near death experiences, to terminal lucidity, all the way to mediums, ghosts and messages, this book talks about it all with many personal accounts included from clients, studies, and others. For anyone who is considering working in a death related field, this is a must read. We all know people who die, but we are also often unprepared for the loss when it happens. This book tells a heartbreaking topic and helps to make it bearable. - Specializing in Grief, Dr. Doka has other books that might be helpful in dealing with death, dying and end of life care. Link.   Website - http://drkendoka.com/

“I Have Loved You With An Everlasting Love”Jeremiah 31:3 “ the Lord appeared to him from far away.  I have loved you with an everlasting love; therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”God loves us with an everlasting love.  Did you know that?  Did you know that there is nothing you can do to lose God's love?  Sometimes I know that we feel unlovable.  Sometimes that's after we have done something that we feel is wrong and sometimes that's after someone else has done or said something to us.  However, God never stops loving us.  He loved us before we were even born and His love is everlasting, it never goes away.  I remember hearing a story once, I think it might have been Jeff Cavins, in the Great Adventure Bible Story, but I am not sure.  Anyway, whoever was telling the story was talking about how God does not need anything from us.  This was vastly different from the other Gods at the time.  The other Gods got more power the more people worshipped them.  They were almost fighting for people to worship them.  Some of them even required human child sacrifices.  However, our God was completely self sufficient and did not need anything from us.  I remember the person saying that this is the reason that some people turned from those other God's to our God, the one true God.  They turned to God because of His everlasting love.  They turned to God because He loved them just for who they were.  They did not need to do anything to earn that love.  That love was just there.  This was something they had not experienced before.  The next line in the verse is also an important line.  “Therefore I have continued my faithfulness to you.”  This is important because God is always faithful to His word.  This is something we talked a lot about last week but I think it is important to touch on it again as it is amazing.  I think sometimes we may think that God stops loving us when we sin in some way.  Or that he stops answering our prayers when we have sinned against Him.  However, this verse dispels that belief.  God continues His faithfulness to us, even when we mess up.  Look how many times He was faithful to the Israelites after they messed up.  In Matthew 18:21-22 it says, “Then Peter came and said to him, “Lord, if another member of the church sins against me, how often should I forgive? As many as seven times?” Jesus said to him, “Not seven times, but, I tell you, seventy-seven times.”  If Jesus is telling us to forgive seventy-seven time, then how much more will our father in heaven forgive us?There is a song called “Reckless Love” by Cory Asbury.  It is a great song about how amazing God's love is.  The song first talks about how good God has been to him.  The chorus says, Oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God.  Oh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the 99.  And I couldn't earn it, I don't deserve it, still You give yourself away”  When he mentions leaves the 99 is talking about Matthew 18:12-14 when Jesus tells the parable, “What do you think? If a shepherd has a hundred sheep, and one of them has gone astray, does he not leave the ninety-nine on the mountains and go in search of the one that went astray? And if he finds it, truly I tell you, he rejoices over it more than over the ninety-nine that never went astray. So it is not the will of your Father in heaven that one of these little ones should be lost.”  God does not want to lose any of his sheep.  He will not stop looking for us when we are lost.  He will not stop loving us and hoping that we turn back to Him.  Then the song goes on to say, “When I was Your foe, still Your love fought for me.  You have been so, so good to me.  When I felt no worth, You paid it all for me.  You have been so, so kind to me”  This is so true, when we have sinned and pulled away from God, or fractured our relationship with Him, He is still fighting for us and still loving us.  When we don't feel worthy, God is still there doing all He can for us.  This last part of the song is my favorite and it is a part I think we all need to hear because it the truth.  “There's no shadow You won't light up, mountain You won't climb up, coming after me.  There's no wall You won't kick down, lie You won't tear down, coming after me.”  There is nothing that God won't do to chase after His children to try and save them.  He gave His only son on the cross for us.  There is nothing hidden in the darkness that will prevent him from finding you.  There's no wall He won't kick down and lie He won't tear down.  I think I like that part the best because when I think of it I think of a father searching everywhere for his child.  Have you even seen the movie “Taken” with Liam Neeson?  In the movie Liam Neeson is a father who's daughter goes to Europe on vacation with a friend.  However, in the movie his daughter is taken by sex traffickers.  She calls her dad when she sees someone breaking into the house.  Liam is some type of government spy in the movie and he stops at nothing to get his daughter back.  He does whatever it takes to find her and get her back.  If a mere human will go through all of that to get his daughter back, how much more do you think your Father in heaven will do to get you back?  I know people who have often wondered if they are worth loving.  When I tell them the things I am telling you, they say that they know God feels that way about other people, but they tell me I don't understand what they have done, or where they have been.  If you are listening to this and you think that this is true for some people, but that it is not true for you, I want you to hear me.  GOD LOVES YOU!!  He loves you right where you are at.  You don't have to change in anyway for Him to love you.  He loves your perfectly right now, right where you are at.  Also, God's love is everlasting.  It never fades.  It is always there no matter what we do or what happens to us.  Also, God remains faithful to us.  He keeps His promises.  If we are lost He will come and chase after us and find us.   He will be there for us whenever we decide to turn back to Him.  He will welcome us home with open arms and he will say to us, “I have loved you with an everlasting love.”Dear heavenly father, I ask that you bless all those listening to this episode today. We thank you for loving us with an everlasting love, with a reckless love that will chase us down and leave the 99 to come and save us. Lord God we're so very thankful that you love us so much and even though we can't earn your love and definitely don't deserve your love you give it to us freely anyway. Lord I ask that you reach out to anyone hearing this that has trouble believing you could love them. I ask that you surround them with your love, that you rain down love and grace on them.  I ask that you open their minds and hearts to the idea of you loving them just as they are.  Lord, I ask all of this in accordance with your will and in Jesus' holy name, AmenHere are the lyrics for Reckless Love by Cory Asbury:Before I spoke a word, You were singing over meYou have been so, so good to meBefore I took a breath, You breathed Your life in meYou have been so so kind to meOh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of GodOh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the 99And I couldn't earn itI don't deserve it, still You give yourself awayOh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of GodWhen I was Your foe, still Your love fought for meYou have been so, so good to meWhen I felt no worth, You paid it all for meYou have been so, so kind to meOh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of GodOh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the 99And I couldn't earn itI don't deserve it, still You give yourself awayOh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of GodThere's no shadow You won't light upMountain You won't climb upComing after meThere's no wall You won't kick downLie You won't tear downComing after meThere's no shadow You won't light upMountain You won't climb upComing after meThere's no wall You won't kick downLie You won't tear downComing after meThere's no shadow You won't light upMountain You won't climb upComing after meThere's no wall You won't kick downLie You won't tear downComing after meOh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of GodOh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the 99I couldn't earn it, I don't deserve it, still You give yourself awayOh, the overwhelming, never-ending reckless love of God 

The Afterlife of Billy Fingers - Annie Kagan, a chiropractor and songwriter living in Manhattan, abandoned her hectic city life in search of serenity in a small, secluded house by the bay. When her brother Billy died unexpectedly and began speaking to her from the afterlife, Annie agreed to accompany him on his journey through the mysteries of death. As Billy reaches from the "other side" to change his sister's life and the lives of those around her, he shares secrets about the bliss and wonder to come in the afterlife.The fascinating, true story of her on-going, after death communication with her brother Billy is recounted in her debut book: The Afterlife of Billy Fingers: How My Bad Boy Brother Proved to Me There is Life After Death.For Your Listening Pleasure for these Lockdown / Stay-At-Home COVID and Variants Times - For all the radio shows available on The 'X' Zone Broadcast Network visit - https://www.spreaker.com/user/xzoneradiotv.Our radio shows archives and programming include: A Different Perspective with Kevin Randle; Alien Cosmic Expo Lecture Series; Alien Worlds Radio Show; America's Soul Doctor with Ken Unger; Back in Control Radio Show with Dr. David Hanscom, MD; Connecting with Coincidence with Dr. Bernard Beitman, MD; Dick Tracy; Dimension X; Exploring Tomorrow Radio Show; Flash Gordon; Imagine More Success Radio Show with Syndee Hendricks and Thomas Hydes; Jet Jungle Radio Show; Journey Into Space; Know the Name with Sharon Lynn Wyeth; Lux Radio Theatre - Classic Old Time Radio; Mission Evolution with Gwilda Wiyaka; Paranormal StakeOut with Larry Lawson; Ray Bradbury - Tales Of The Bizarre; Sci Fi Radio Show; Seek Reality with Roberta Grimes; Space Patrol; Stairway to Heaven with Gwilda Wiyaka; The 'X' Zone Radio Show with Rob McConnell; Two Good To Be True with Justina Marsh and Peter Marsh; and many other!That's The ‘X' Zone Broadcast Network Shows and Archives - https://www.spreaker.com/user/xzoneradiotv

Jesus I Come When Your word cut my heart, I trembled and criedThe weight of my sin, I could not denyWith my hand to the plow, and this world left behindI marched to the gate with this cry on my heart Chorus:Jesus I come to YouIn brokenness I come, save meThere's a longing in my … Continue reading 5. Jesus I Come →

https://youtu.be/9qDBcfPlUpA Matthew 7:7-10 God is so good to us. I am living a life that I don't deserve and I'm not living the life that I deserve. God has been so gracious. Can you say that God has been gracious?Key verse-  11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!“how much more” is what the heart of God is- he's not a somewhat God- he's a I will do it GodHe can, he will, he wants to . how much more.  1. How much more should we Stay dependent on God“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.Jesus is getting to the end of the sermon on the mount and using this time once again to encourage people to become people of prayerThe point that Jesus is making, and has made is that the disciples of Jesus should be completely dependent on God for everything that they want spiritually, physically, emotionally, relationally, and for any and all wants and needs they aspire to haveMatthew 21:22  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”Individualism, self reliance, self aggrandizing is not the ethos of the kingdom- the ethos of the kingdom is dependence on God. We don't save ourselves, forgive ourselves, praise ourselves, accomplish our own Goals outside the help of God's sovereign hand. Psalm 10:4 The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.I get it- America is a ‘up by your boots straps get it done make it happen” kind of placeBut that's a American thought not a Godly thought- Kingdom thoughts are without God I can accomplish nothing- I can do nothing- its all on him- not on meThere's a balance here- bible says if a man doesn't work he wont eat- but it also says we can't trust in our own fleshJeremiah 17:5-9 READSelf accomplishment and glory gives God no glory which is the point of our life. 5 Thus says the Lord:“Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength,Whose heart departs from the Lord.This is very important distinction- Miss Ranger- food, walk, sleep, run- this what we're doing?That's how we should be- God- can I, should I, will I, can we, im not moving until you doWhens the last time you prayed and asked God about something that you could do?We must ABIDE- we must rest in HIM and HIS power and purpose and HE will do it if we ASKJohn 15:7  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.Now some have taken this to mean that whatever I ask for God has to give me and if he doesn't its because I'm not having enough faith, praying right, remembering the right scriptures etc. like it some cosmic spell we must cast to get God to move- its not- The decision and the outcome are in GOD's hands- not ours- we just keep asking- Forgiveness is always assured- Psalm 86:5  For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.Don't get it twisted- don't think that you're not forgiven if you've asked- forgiveness is instantaneous- you don't have to work for it at all- its assured1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.Connection to God is always assured-  Jeremiah 29:12-13  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.James 4:8 draw near to God and he will draw near to you- It's the OTHER stuff that we're like- is this going to happen? Healing, promotion, moves, stuff, cars, house, relationships,  we ask- cause we want- but its in God's hands if we get itWe can't get discouraged tho- that's where God's sovereignty comes into play- his decisionJohn 16:23-24  “And in that day you will ask Me...

https://youtu.be/9qDBcfPlUpA Matthew 7:7-10 God is so good to us. I am living a life that I don’t deserve and I’m not living the life that I deserve. God has been so gracious. Can you say that God has been gracious?Key verse-  11 If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in heaven give good things to those who ask Him!“how much more” is what the heart of God is- he’s not a somewhat God- he’s a I will do it GodHe can, he will, he wants to . how much more.  1. How much more should we Stay dependent on God“Ask, and it will be given to you; seek, and you will find; knock, and it will be opened to you. 8 For everyone who asks receives, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it will be opened.Jesus is getting to the end of the sermon on the mount and using this time once again to encourage people to become people of prayerThe point that Jesus is making, and has made is that the disciples of Jesus should be completely dependent on God for everything that they want spiritually, physically, emotionally, relationally, and for any and all wants and needs they aspire to haveMatthew 21:22  And whatever things you ask in prayer, believing, you will receive.”Individualism, self reliance, self aggrandizing is not the ethos of the kingdom- the ethos of the kingdom is dependence on God. We don’t save ourselves, forgive ourselves, praise ourselves, accomplish our own Goals outside the help of God’s sovereign hand. Psalm 10:4 The wicked in his proud countenance does not seek God; God is in none of his thoughts.I get it- America is a ‘up by your boots straps get it done make it happen” kind of placeBut that’s a American thought not a Godly thought- Kingdom thoughts are without God I can accomplish nothing- I can do nothing- its all on him- not on meThere’s a balance here- bible says if a man doesn’t work he wont eat- but it also says we can’t trust in our own fleshJeremiah 17:5-9 READSelf accomplishment and glory gives God no glory which is the point of our life. 5 Thus says the Lord:“Cursed is the man who trusts in man And makes flesh his strength,Whose heart departs from the Lord.This is very important distinction- Miss Ranger- food, walk, sleep, run- this what we’re doing?That’s how we should be- God- can I, should I, will I, can we, im not moving until you doWhens the last time you prayed and asked God about something that you could do?We must ABIDE- we must rest in HIM and HIS power and purpose and HE will do it if we ASKJohn 15:7  If you abide in Me, and My words abide in you, you will ask what you desire, and it shall be done for you.Now some have taken this to mean that whatever I ask for God has to give me and if he doesn’t its because I’m not having enough faith, praying right, remembering the right scriptures etc. like it some cosmic spell we must cast to get God to move- its not- The decision and the outcome are in GOD’s hands- not ours- we just keep asking- Forgiveness is always assured- Psalm 86:5  For You, Lord, are good, and ready to forgive, And abundant in mercy to all those who call upon You.Don’t get it twisted- don’t think that you’re not forgiven if you’ve asked- forgiveness is instantaneous- you don’t have to work for it at all- its assured1 John 1:9 if we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.Connection to God is always assured-  Jeremiah 29:12-13  Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart.James 4:8 draw near to God and he will draw near to you- It’s the OTHER stuff that we’re like- is this going to happen? Healing, promotion, moves, stuff, cars, house, relationships,  we ask- cause we want- but its in God’s hands if we get itWe can’t get discouraged tho- that’s where God’s sovereignty comes into play- his decisionJohn 16:23-24  “And in that day you will ask Me...

In this week's episode, I am honored to have my wife, Tina, as my guest. She has been my partner in my health journey and I wanted Tina to give you a different voice on that journey. She will give you a new perspective on what our health journey looks like.  Me: What were the things that flipped the switch on our health journey? Tina: A little over 2.5 years ago, we were not in our best health. We were going down a road that didn't look good for us. We loved to eat and I loved to cook. I am a diabetic and was on four shots per day. It's very expensive to not have your health. Me: I hear you loud and clear on our reality then, but why did you embark on a journey with Optavia?  Tina: I have been down this road many times in my life and I have tried different opportunities. I watched friends take this journey and thought knowing someone on this journey personally would help me. Me: I wasn't 100% supportive of this journey at first, was I? Tina: No, I had just finished a different program where I was allergic to the products and couldn't do it. So, you saw it as just more money wasted. Me: I saw it as another box in the mail that would be a waste of money. Then, I decided to join you in this journey. When I did that, what was going through your mind? Tina: I was excited we were doing it together, but knew you didn't eat vegetables. I figured it would be impossible. Me: It's always good to have an accountability partner but if they're in the same boat you're in, it can be a stumbling block because they will justify poor choices. So, give me the first few months of the journey? Tina: I reached out to my coach prior to starting and she asked me to go all in for 30 days. She told me we would be successful and you agreed because you said, “I can do anything for 30 days”, and that “Whatever you put in front of me, I will eat”. The food wasn't that great, but after two weeks you need to get rid of the junk in your system and change your taste buds. We saw results immediately. We went through detox for 10 days, but once we got through that and your body had good stuff, we felt great. I think I was excited that by the third week, people noticed the change and you noticed a change and that kept us going.  Within two months, I was off shots. To get off medicine you were told you would need the rest of your life was a huge “why” for me. To feel that good and not need medicine, kept us motivated to go further. Me: For anyone embarking on a health journey, when you go by a mirror every day, you won't see the changes. That's why it's important for other people to notice the weight loss. There were ups and downs, talk about how it felt to do the journey with me that as a man I tend to lose weight faster. Tina: At first it was tough because I am competitive and if I can't win, I don't play. There were times where I thought it wasn't worth it. But my coach helped me understand that women's bodies are different and work different than men, and I needed to focus on myself.  Me: Tina lost 60 lbs. and became a health coach. We live in Louisiana, which has a culture based around its rich cooking. This journey was counter to our circle of friends. So, tell me about the value of our health community? Tina: You're not alone. You have people around you that helps keep your focus and drive going strong. You have to make your “why” bigger than your “want”.  Me: There is a positive energy in this community. They have struggled the same way we have. When you are given a gift like this, it begins to open your entire life to other possibilities. How has your perspective changed in the freedom created by taking control of your health? Tina: It has opened a lot of areas in our lives. I have the freedom to do what I need to do. I got comfortable last year because I had never been this small, but now I've recommitted to reach my original goal weight.  Me: Is food addiction a real thing and do you struggle with it? Tina: It is very real and I struggle a lot. I was an emotional eater, it was a given growing up. We were all about food and we made every gathering about food. It is a habit that needs to be transformed. Because of our community, I was able to change my mindset and look for different avenues when I'm stressed, happy, or bored. Now, I shop instead of shoving french fries in my face. Me: I would add that when you do stumble or make a choice, knowing that you have a proven method and structure is what gets us back on track. In the health world, there are a lot of before and after pictures. Tell me about the middle. Tell me about how moving from before to after feels like. Tina: Women's eyes go straight to the problem spots. I've been encouraged to do a before and after each week and realize that this is a journey, not a sprint. And you have 52 pictures for each week, you will see a difference. Me: If somebody hears this story and is thinking about starting their health journey, what would you say to them? Tina: I ask everyone to give me 30 days to go all in and do all of it. Almost all of them don't need the 30 days. Me: I encourage you to take a hard look at where you're at. Let's make 2021 the best year for your health and life.

ME: There’s a cultural phenomenon going on in our world today called “cancel culture”. What it says is that if you express views that are contrary to those acceptable by a particular group - whether that be a group of friends, a business, a media channel, a government official, you can be locked out…

ME: There's a cultural phenomenon going on in our world today called “cancel culture”. What it says is that if you express views that are contrary to those acceptable by a particular group - whether that be a group of friends, a business, a media channel, a government official, you can be locked out…

Chip Bell is the author of 24 books, Chip's newest book, “Inside Your Customers Imagination: 5 Secrets to Creating Breakthrough Products, Services, and Solutions” is due out in the fall of 2020. He is also the author of bestsellers “Kaleidoscope: Delivering Innovative Service That Sparkles,” “Sprinkles: Creating Awesome Experiences Through Innovative Service,” “The 9 ½ Principles of Innovative Service,” “Take Their Breath Away” (with John Patterson), “Managers As Mentors: Building Partnerships for Learning” (with Marshall Goldsmith), “Customers as Partners,” “Managing Knock Your Socks Off Service” (with Ron Zemke), and “Magnetic Service” (with Bilijack Bell).   He has served as keynote speaker, consultant, and trainer on innovative service to such major organizations as GE, Microsoft, Nationwide, Marriott, Lockheed-Martin, Cadillac, Ultimate Software, KeyBank, Ritz-Carlton Hotels, Caterpillar, Eli Lilly, Verizon, Best Buy, USAA, Hertz, Accenture, Home Depot and Harley-Davidson. He is a keynote speaker on topics such as customer loyalty, partnering with customers, and creating innovative service experiences. Global Gurus has ranked him for the last six years in a row among the top three keynote speakers in the world on customer service, with two years in the top slot.   Questions   Could you share with us a little bit about your journey, how it is that you got into this whole customer service? You have written many, many books, and I had the privilege of you sending me a copy of the one of your most recent one “Inside Your Customers Imagination: 5 Secrets for Creating Breakthrough Products, Services and Solutions. And I found it really, really insightful. Could you share maybe one to three things that you think is really critical for us to get inside our customer’s imagination? In your book, you talk about curiosity, being grounded, discovery, you talk about trust and you talk about passion, of those five secrets that you believe are breakthrough tactics or strategies in order to really get into your customer’s imagination. Which one do you think is the most important? Could you share with us what's the one online resource, tool, website or app that you absolutely can't live without in your business? Could you share with us maybe one or two books that have had the biggest impact on you, maybe books that inspired you to become an even better writer? Could you share with us maybe one thing that's going on in your life right now that you're really excited about - either something you're working on to develop yourself or your people? Where can listeners find you online? Do you have a quote or saying that during times of adversity you’ll tend to revert to this quote, it kind of helps you get back on track or to get you more focus?   Highlights   Chip’s Journey   Chip shared that he has always had a fascination and an interest in the customer; he studied it in graduate school. What makes people buy, what influences customers to make decisions that they do and how organizations manage that influence and how do they create cultures that create great experiences? Most of his work has been focused on the customer experience. That is what when we encounter a customer, whether it's face to face, the ear to ear, click to click, we give that experience in such a way that it's a memorable experience and a very positive way. So it's been an exciting, he has been at it for 40 years now. He’s still learning every day, but we're all customers, so it gives him a chance to hopefully influence how that's done through the organizations that he works.   Getting Inside Customer’s Imagination   Chip shared that he thinks it starts with recognizing that the customer’s imagination is inside. And he likes to think of it as a door open only from the inside. So, the challenge becomes, how do I create a relationship or a partnership with the customer in such a way that they want to open that door and share their insights, ideas, creative thoughts in a way that helps them with us, co-create new products, services and solutions. So the book is really about how do I build that relationship, how do I build that partnership that creates a sense of excitement and safety and a willingness for the customer to open that door and share their ingenuity and insight and creativity.   Me: And so, we really have to dig deep into what the customer is looking for. A big part of when I was reading through some parts of the book, it focused on ensuring that you have curiosity. And I'd like for you to share with us in your own words. What exactly is curiosity, especially in the sense of customer experience? Why should we be curious and how do we exercise that skill?   Chip shared that he thinks part of it is the one of the ways which we demonstrate we really care about the customer. We all go to reunions, family reunions or school reunions. And we always engage, we eat too much food and we engage in a lot of superficial conversation. But every now and then somebody, a family member or friend, demonstrates that they really are interested in us. And they ask different kind of questions, “You still work in and are you still doing this?” And so, they really want to know what makes us tick, what do we feel and what matters to us. And we walk away from those conversations feeling not just heard and understood, but truly valued.   So he thinks part of curiosity is how we demonstrate that deep curiosity. One of the techniques he talks about in the book is called Be the Customer.   And he borrowed it from most parents who have children who are in Little League, when that child has the bat and the pitcher is about to throw the ball, they'll yell to that child, “Be the ball, be the ball.” Which is all designed to get the focus, focus on that ball, it coming their way. It increases the likelihood that they'll be hitting it.   And so, he thinks in much the way be the ball, be the customer, try to be the customer. He gave you a funny example. His wife's hairdresser, Johnny Odair, has been known to get a permanent. He said, “Johnny, why do you get a permanent?” He said, “I realized that when women get a permanent is often one of the most uncomfortable and awkward situation, so if I figured if I went through what they went through, then I would see the world through their eyes and because of that, I made changes in the experience to make it a more comfortable experience for them.”   That's to him, a great example of him working to try to deeply understand a customer, when the customer senses that sense of quest to understand them at a deeper level. Then they feel a sense of kinship with us, a sense of partnership with us.   So it's looking for techniques, it might not be just talking to the customer or just doing customer research, it might be talking to people who know the customer in a different way. He gave an example and he uses this example in the book. He has a friend of mine, John Longstry. John used to be the General Manager of a huge hotel in Dallas, Texas, and he realized that he wasn't learning enough about what really was important to customers through the front desk.   Now, if you think about checking into a hotel, when you check out, typically the front desk will say how was your stay? And we usually have a one-word answer, fine. And not much learning is going on from the word fine. So, what did he do? He'd already been doing focus groups with the taxi drivers who frequented his property to take guest to the airport, DFW airport.   And so every quarter he would hold a focus group, he buys these taxi drivers who frequent his property hanging out because it's a nice fare from his hotel to the airport so a lot of them would hang around to take now, Uber, Lyft.   But then it was it was taxi drivers. And so he would hold focus groups with these taxi drivers. And what he would learn is not just information and understanding, but insights. For example, he learned that when the customer complained to the taxi driver that their towels in their bathroom smelled a little scorched like they'd been in the dryer too long and housekeeping, what they really were worried about was a hotel fire started in housekeeping or dust bowl under their bed, in their room. What they really were concerned about were are there bugs in my room?   So the goal was not just information that gave you superficial information. Like there's a light out in the parking lot, thank you so much, but when the customer spotted a security light out in the parking lot that was burned out, they worried about security in their hallway.   Well, by taking that insight level, he was able to make improvements and changes that really impacted customers in a way that they couldn't even describe. Not something you'd necessarily write on a comment card when you're checking out, but it taught him a lot about what was really going on in the mind of that customer.   Well, that's the kind of technique, who knows my customer? What if I talk to them, not just my customer, what would I learn from that? And so, again, that's part of curiosity is how they look for ways to demonstrate to the customer that they really, really do care. And part of it is how they show them that when they provide feedback, that it really matters.   The research shows 95% of companies in the industrialized world asked their customers for feedback, 95% of them, but only 5% of them let the customer know what they did with that feedback.   And so, when we get those surveys, it's no wonder that we don't fill them out because we go, “Why should I, it is not going to make any difference.”   And so it's learning to tell the customer, you did this, you asked for this, this is what we're doing with it. And so, it tells the customer, you matter, you're important, you're valued. And from that kind of relationship, when you ask them, what's something cool we can do, they can give you creative ideas.   Me: There was also a part in a book that you spoke about as it relates to curiosity, where the company got permission from the customers to watch them shower. I found that so interesting. I was like watching them shower.   Chip stated exactly. He’s doesn't know who volunteered to do that, but yeah, it's MOEN revolution. And what they did was they wanted to learn how customers experienced a showerhead and what they found from their research by getting customers to say, “Let us watch you in a shower and see what you do and not just invade your privacy.” But they found it about 35% of their customer’s time is spent avoiding the spray. It gave them the insight they needed to design a different kind of spray that they didn't spend so much time avoiding the spray for the shower. Giving a similar example.   He works with the major hotel chain would ask customers when they checked in if they were a familiar customer or a frequent customer. They would say, “We'll give you a discount on your room rate, if you'll let us follow you to your room and watch you unpack.”   And a customer goes, “What?” But what they really were interested in is they wanted to see how the customer settled into the room. And so what they discovered at that particular time, this is a giant hotel chain. What they discovered is that sometimes customers will bring up their own hairdryer. Well, most of us bring hairdryers. But back then, what you would do is in order to use your hair dryer, you had to unplug the one that was plugged in the wall. They already provided you a hairdryer, but you like yours because it's hot or whatever. Well, nobody complained about the fact that you made me unplug your hairdryer to plug mine in. But there's a little irritant, there's a little negative, or they found that when a couple checked into a hotel, there was only one luggage cradle in the room for them to put their own luggage.   So we all know what happens then, he puts his luggage on the floor. Well, there's another little work that's a negative, but nobody ever put that on a comment card. But you add up enough little workarounds like that, you got a negative experience the customer can't even talk about it because it's so subtle.   Watching the customer, they go, we could fix this, we could provide another receptacle for their own hairdryer or we could hardwire ours into the wall so the receptacle is available for them to use their own hairdryer or every time a couple checks in, we can have housekeeping bring another luggage cradle to the room, all of these easy fixes. But there are things that the hotel didn't notice or didn't know because they were too subtle for the customer to say anything about it. And we don't notice the things where we live. We quit seeing the wallpaper a long time ago. And so, we take it for granted, we don't see it. And so, we're blind to the details that customer sees. So, again, it's looking for those ways to say, “I want to go deep inside that customer's world and their experience to understand and demonstrate my understanding to that customer so they feel valued.”    Important Breakthrough Strategies To Get Into Your Customer’s Imagination   When asked about which of the 5 secrets is the most important tactics or strategies in order to get into customer’s imagination, Chips stated curiosity. He thinks it is the foundation, that's what started with it first. Interestingly enough, where these five secrets came from was, he knew the book was going to be about innovation and co-creating with your customers.   And so, he looked at organizations that we all know famous for innovation. And we can all think of if you ask anybody, who are the most innovative companies on the internet, most people will talk about Google or Amazon or Pixar, they'll have names like that. If you go in those cultures and you say, “Okay, what are these cultures have in common?”   You find their cultures are all about curiosity, they're all about grounding or focus, they're all about risk taking that leads to discovery. They're trust and they're about passion. So those are the five things that are common among cultures. So he thought, what if you took those same five features of an innovative culture and apply them to a relationship, in this case, a relationship with a customer? What would that be like? What would that partnership be like? So that's the basis for those five secrets to breakthrough products, services, solutions.   They're fun things to do but part of it is how do you get customers to drink with you? He knows the listeners love tactics that they can use and apply, but sometimes we focus on asking customers only about their needs and expectations when the world of the imagination is around the customer's hopes and aspirations. And he'll give a fun example. He was working with a large pizza delivery company, one world-wide, we all know this pizza company. And he believed when he did started the research that when you talk to lots and lots and lots and lots of customers about this company that they were going to focus on product, price and process, meaning your pizza is not very good or it cost too much or it takes too long to get it to him, pizza price, product and process. But when they asked dreamer questions, they learned a whole different set of things.   For example, a dreamer question is where you asked the customer to think beyond what's now present. For example, one question they would say is like, “What’s something no pizza company is doing that would be really cool?” Well, one of the answers they have here in is, “What about the pizza box?” They said, “What?” “The pizza box? You know, I get this delivered pizza, it's got this box and I end up having to throw the box away. What would it be like if you did something with a box?” “Well, like what would you have in mind?”   Well, it could be like a color a picture or a puzzle or it can be a mask you could have for kids to wear a mask. They could just cut it out.”   And so, sure enough, several years later, he’s working with the paper manufacturer that made pizza boxes for this company and sure enough on the inside lid, they had put puzzles or coloring things for kids or various different things. And they put a sheet of wax paper between the lid and the pizza so it didn't soil the inside of the lid. And it turned, nobody would have thought of that. But they only get those kind of things when you take your customer into the world and you focus, that's what grounding is all about. You focus on new applications, new solutions, and all of a sudden you get a whole different world.   Me: That's so true, that's really innovative. And that's a good point because we really do throw the pizza box away so why not find something else to do with it that could be more than just throwing it in the garbage.   Chip agreed and shared that the really wise companies get their customers to help them. A good example is Starbucks. Starbucks is a very creative company, but they get customers to help them. For example, things like splash sticks that go in your coffee cup lid, customers came up with that, Starbucks didn't come up. Cake pops that looks like a little lollipop, but it's made out of cake, customers came up with that. Pumpkin spice latte in all the stores, these are all things the customer came up with, company didn't do that.   But it means you got to take your customer into an imaginary world with new ideas and new concepts and new applications and help them think with you. And that's why he loves the concept of creation, is you're not making stuff for the customer or on behalf of the customer, you're doing it with the customer. And so, not only do you get their creativity to add to yours and come up with all kind of new stuff, but you're also building the loyalty of that customer, because when they got their fingerprints on what you're creating, they feel a commitment to it and their loyalty goes up.    App, Website or Tool that Chip Absolutely Can’t Live Without in His Business   When asked about online resource that he can’t live without in his business, Chip stated that he will share two of them. One he can't live without in his personal life is called Sound Hound. And sound hound is a great website because how many times do you go in a store and they're playing music guide, you go in a store and they’re playing a song and you go, what's the name of that song? Sound Hound is an app that allows you to hit that thing and it listens to that song, not only does it tell you the name of the song, but it also gives you the lyrics and if you want to buy it, you can buy it right there. So, for him, it's a great app that he that he uses a lot.   And in his business life because he’s a writer and he writes a lot of stuff, lots and lots of articles and blogs and so forth. Grammarly has been a godsend because he doesn't know anything much about the English language from the standpoint of grammar. He doesn't think he did very well on those courses in school. And so, Grammarly is a program that allows you to when you finish writing a blog or an essay or a letter or anything, you can simply put the letter inside Grammarly and it'll bring up and tell you, this is a different way you need to say that or you've got this misspelled or this should be an ‘are’ not an ‘is’. And it'll correct all your grammar or at least tell you what it sees is wrong and give you the choice to correcting it or not. But it also provides you the rationale, so you get to learn a little bit more about what a ‘dangling participle’ or a ‘split infinity’ is. But it's a great tool for him, particularly from a writing standpoint.     Books That Have Had the Greatest Impact on Chip   When asked about books that have had the biggest impact, Chip shared that the one he remembers that he thought was a powerful book was a book called Watership Down: A Novel. It's an old book by Richard Adams. And it's a favourite book of his because it's basically a fiction story of a group of rabbits that get the feeling that they're down, their warren where they live is in danger. They don't know why, it turns out it's like a construction crew that's come in and build housing development where they live. And so, they have to journey across England to find a new home. There are many, many, many adventures and stories. And it's a great story, they actually made a movie of it. But the use of stories, the use of myths, the use of fables in their interaction is, he thought, one of the most creative uses of how they do that. So, that's one book that's been an inspiration for him.   Another one is a book by his friend Seth Godin called Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable. Great book and it's in the marketing category, but it underscores the power of being distinctive, to being different. And he's a very, very creative guy who's written many, many books. But how you will only succeed through your service and product if you find a way to make it unique, different. What he calls value unique, not value added. And that's been his work in the customer experience world. Value added is taking what customers expect and add more. The problem with that is you run out of room because the expectations of the customers go right up with you and so you add more and more and more and more, and pretty soon you’re going to go bankrupt or run out of room. And so it's like, “You're a great customer of ours, we'd like to upgrade you to the first class or if you're a frequent flyer.”, that approach of a linear value added approach to him has limitations.   So, his work is all around value unique and it's not looking at generosity, but ingenuity, what can add to that’s unique, that's different, that will surprise the customer in a way they didn't expected. Value added usually that you aren't shocked by the fact that they upgraded you or added more comped your dessert, it doesn't shock you. But if you did something that was totally unique, different, all of a sudden you'd be talking about that. And his belief is that the pinnacle, the height of customer loyalty is when the customer tells great stories about you, not just recommends you, but they say, “You're not going to believe what happened to me.” And they tell a story that's going to have more influence on a prospect than simply a recommendation. And so how do you create the stories? Well, that takes something unique. His wife as a new car and she traded in old car and got a new car. And a week after she had a new car, she turned on the radio for the very first time and discovered they had programmed in her radio stations from her trade in.   Ingenuity and she tells everybody about the radio and not about the car. And so, it's little things like that, it's making sure that when you take your car in to be service and you're going to be waiting for it, they've got in your profile and they've got a current machine or, one of those cake cup machines, that your favorite coffee is there available. So when you have to wait on your car to be serviced, you got hazelnut coffee, which is the one you like, it's little things like that that personalize the experience.   But it's thinking about it; think about Crackerjacks in the world of service. Crackerjacks is a 100 year old product. And what we loved about Crackerjacks was not the caramelized molasses flavored popcorn, but the free prize, which was actually workless, but emotionally priceless, we knew we were going to get a prize because it said so on the box, but we didn't know exactly what it was going to be. It’s that thinking, that concept applied to the world of experience, to the world of customer service is his world and Seth’s book, The Purple Cow, he thought was a very, very insightful book that was very helpful to him. So those are two he’d recommend.    What Chip is Really Excited About Now!   Chip shared that he and his wife are on the board of the Georgia Writer's Museum, he lives in the state of Georgia and they have a writer’s museum that celebrates famous writers that live in the state, many of whom have all passed on, people like Jimmy Carter and Martin Luther King and folks like that. And he’s on the board of that museum and so he gets to serve as sort of the museum curator to design new exhibits. And so, that's a fun thing for him to do.   The other thing in terms of his work is he stumbled onto a new concept called anticipatory innovation. And so now he’s developing a whole new body of work around anticipatory innovation.   And what that is, he gave an example and then he’ll come back and describe it. When he and his wife stayed in a Hampton Inn, they provide you a coffee pot and they provide you paper cups. Now, if you happen to be in a situation where you and your significant other both fix your coffee the same way. And you fixed a cup in the room and they got the paper cups in the room for years, invariably you're going to run into a situation where you go, “Is this my cup or yours?”And so, what they did is they put on the front of the cup, on one cup they put lips like somebody put lipstick on and kissed it. And on the other one they put a mustache and so it's very clever, but it fixes a situation that you encounter they go, “Oh, I know this one's mine because it's got the lips on it or it's got the mustache on it.”   But it's that you anticipate you're going to encounter. Another example, Tampa Airport, the rental car where they put all the rental cars is inside the parking deck. The first thing you do when you get inside a rental car is you going to set your GPS. The problem is there's no internet inside that structure. So, what did they do?   As soon as you exit the parking deck, there is a GPS, pull over and little parking slot you can pull in that does have does have Wi-Fi internet so you can set your GPS before you actually leave the parking lot. But they thought about that, they thought ahead and say, “What’s a little problem or challenge or hiccup that the customer may encounter that we can anticipate and provide an easy fix before they get to that hiccup?” And so, that’s a whole new world, he calls it anticipatory innovation and there’s not much research done about it, nobody has written much about it, he has written recently an article for Forbes that’s called, Are You Using a “Boy” or “Girl” Cup?. But it’s little things like that that now is a whole world he’s researching and trying to create a whole new body of work around. In his business life, that’s what he’s working on.   Where Can We Find Chip Online   Chip shared listeners can find him at – Website – www.chipbell.com Email – chip@chipbell.com   Quote or Saying that During Times of Adversity Chip Uses   When asked about a quote or saying that he tends to revert to, Chip shared, “Give to the world the best you have and the best will come back to you.”   Please connect with us on Twitter @navigatingcx and also join our Private Facebook Community – Navigating the Customer Experience and listen to our FB Lives weekly with a new guest   Grab the Freebie on Our Website – TOP 10 Online Business Resources for Small Business Owners   Links   Inside Your Customer’s Imagination: 5 Secrets for Creating Breakthrough Products, Services, and Solutions by Chip R. Bell Watership Down: A Novel by Richard Adams Purple Cow: Transform Your Business by Being Remarkable by Seth Godin Are You Using a “Boy” or “Girl” Cup? By Chip Bell   The ABC’s of a Fantastic Customer Experience   Do you want to pivot your online customer experience and build loyalty - get a copy of “The ABC’s of a Fantastic Customer Experience.”   The ABC's of a Fantastic Customer Experience provides 26 easy to follow steps and techniques that helps your business to achieve success and build brand loyalty. This Guide to Limitless, Happy and Loyal Customers will help you to strengthen your service delivery, enhance your knowledge and appreciation of the customer experience and provide tips and practical strategies that you can start implementing immediately! This book will develop your customer service skills and sharpen your attention to detail when serving others. Master your customer experience and develop those knock your socks off techniques that will lead to lifetime customers. Your customers will only want to work with your business and it will be your brand differentiator. It will lead to recruiters to seek you out by providing practical examples on how to deliver a winning customer service experience!

Have you ever wondered whether the person you've met was actually an angel in disguise? While there are people whose kindness reminds us of angelic qualities, there are instances when we couldn't help but wonder if we have met an angel in real life.I have had such an experience some years ago while I was going home very late from work. There were days when I went home without any fear, but during that time, I felt like praying for help and protection. From what I could remember, I prayed that an angel be sent to protect me. It was as simple as that. After praying, I even sort of forgot all about it as I busied myself going home.I had no car and the public transportation I had to use in the Philippines then was the jeepney. It was smaller than a bus and commuters sat next to each other on two opposite sides of the vehicle. If there was anyone who wanted to do something bad, it would be very easy. (I once experienced someone pointing something sharp toward me just to steal my mobile phone. I have written the related story in another piece.)Going back to that night, I noticed a guy sitting right next to me who never moved even when other people already got off the vehicle. At one point, he even talked to me saying something like I had to be very careful because there are a lot of bad guys in the area.No, he wasn't a robber. He didn't do anything bad. And I had no sort of bad feeling about him. I felt comfortable and protected with his presence.The man just sat like that until I had to get off the vehicle myself, and I was thankful for his presence. It was only after that experience that I've remembered the prayer I had before going home.And I couldn't help but wonder, “Was he an angel in disguise?”“Our prayers are so dear to God, that he has appointed the angels to present them to him as soon as they come forth from our mouths. 'The angels,' says St. Hilary, 'preside over the prayers of the faithful, and offer them daily to God.' This is that smoke of the incense, which are the prayers of saints, which St. John saw ascending to God from the hands of the angels (Apoc. 8,3); and which he saw in another place represented by golden phials full of sweet odors, very acceptable to God.” - St. Alphonsus Maria de LiguoriHere's a song I have composed about angels when I was in high school. You can also hear a little bit of my very rough recording of it in the audio file in this post. WINGS IN MY LIFE(Original song composition)I. I know that there are reasons for rainy days to comeI know that there are timeswhen my tears can't help but fallBut such times are not the timeswhen I should feel aloneSomebody's hand is on my shoulderSomebody's eyes are on my soulCHORUS:('Cause/And) There have been angels in my lifeThere have been wings that carried me to reach the skyTo dream my dreams and be the best I can beThere have been wings that carried meThere have been angels in my lifeSomebody stood by me when all the world was greyAnd now I only prayTo thank the Lord for giving you to meII.The road ahead is windingbut I know I'll make it throughCause there's no mountain that's too highwhen I know I climb with youYou help me know what I can doYou know what's deep insideThe stars can't help but smile and shine on meWhen I pass by through the night(Repeat Chorus)Refrain:You helped me grow my own wingsand make them really strongAnd now I find the strength insideto fly so high(Repeat Chorus)Want to pray to angels? Here's a free app that could help you.Download Free AppI leave you with some quotes about angels as a reminder of their presence and importance in our lives:"We should show our affection for the angels, for one day they will be our coheirs just as here below they are our guardians and trustees appointed and set over us by the Father."- St. Bernard of Clairvaux"At the orders of the queen, the angels frequently assisted the apostles in their travels and tribulations ... The angels often visited them in visible shapes, conversing with them and consoling them in the name of the most blessed Mary."- St. Mary of Agreda"Since God often sends us his inspirations by means of his angels, we ought frequently to offer him our aspirations through the same channel... Call on them and honor them frequently, and ask their help in all your affairs, temporal as well as spiritual."- St. Francis de Sales"The powers of hell will assail the dying Christian; but his angel guardian will come to console him. His patrons, and St. Michael, who has been appointed by God to defend his faithful servants in their last combat with the devils, will come to his aid."- St. Alphonsus Liguori“The first thing about the angels that we ought to imitate, is their consciousness of the Presence of God.” - Saint John Vianney"If you remembered the presence of your angel and the angels of your neighbors, you would avoid many of the foolish things which slip into your conversations."- St. Josemaria Escriva“Beside each believer stands an Angel as protector and shepherd, leading him to life.” – St. Basil the Great"The angels of God accompanied the faithful when the light of his truth only dawned in the new world. And now that the day sprung from on high was visited, and exalted our nature to a union with the divinity, will these beneficent beings be less associated or delighted to dwell with the soul that is panting for heavenly joys and longing to join in their eternal alleluias? Oh, no, I will imagine them always surrounding me and in every moment will sing with them, 'Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of hosts, heaven and earth are full of your glory!'"- St. Elizabeth Seton“Make yourself familiar with the Angels, and behold them frequently in spirit. Without being seen, they are present with you.” – St. Francis de Sales"The angels who shine like the stars feel sympathy for our human nature and place it before God's eyes just as if it were a book. They attend us. They speak to us in a reasonable way, just as God inspires them to do. In the sight of God they praise people who do good deeds but turn away from those who are evil."- St. Hildegard of Bingen"If we detect an angel by the effect he is producing, let us hasten to pray since our heavenly guardian has come to join us."- St. John Climacus"Let us be like the holy angels now... If one day we are to be in the angelic court, we must learn how, while we are still here, the manners of the angels." - St. Vincent Ferrer Get full access to The Diary of a Single Catholic Writer at singlecatholicwriter.substack.com/subscribe

https://youtu.be/PY6-x2-V-3g Matthew 4:12-17 Don't give up the fightJesus is beginning his ministry- and John has been put in prison for preaching. Jesus leaves for Galilee, and ends up in Capernaum, which was a fulfillment of Isaiah 9. Then Jesus starts his ministry preaching repentance. We preach repentance almost every week. We'll do it again. Not this week- This week I want to look at this beginning of Jesus mission as a means for us to be encourage to stay on missionWe're on mission here at FVC. God has placed each and every one of us strategically to be here for such a time as this. I've complained about being in the PNW in the pulpit and online I apologize. I'm not going to complain about it anymore, and if I do, please correct meThere are people here that need Jesus and we are not going to give up the fight. If all the Christian churches leave Washington- its not just that the state will fail, but many people will not make it to heaven, and that should concern all of us. God needs more gloryThink about Jesus- he had to do what he came to do to benefit all of us- and we cant give up Stay in the fight- Stay on mission - Fight Folks- we are on mission- We must live out Matt 28:19. We cannot be pulled in another direction based on what the world is doing, or what is happening around us. Mission must goIn the beginning of this story- we see what happens- John goes to prison ostensibly for preaching repentance. It doesn't say- but we can assume- Jesus continues his missionWhat happened to John wasn't going to keep Jesus from doing his mission. He wasn't givin upJesus is demonstrating here- Just because someone goes to prison for what you're about to do- doesn't mean that you shouldn't do it. John preaches repentance- prison- Jesus- goes out and preaches repentance. We, as people of God- cannot be crippled by fear, because something bad happened to someone- and use that as an excuse or reason, why we cant do what we are supposed to doWho remembers 911? Devastating. I was on mission in Egypt- It continued- 2 Tim 1:7  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.This is a true scripture! This is part of why Jesus came- to Heb2:15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.When Jesus came, he walked without fear, to empower us to walk without fear- John 14:27  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Do you believe that? Or have you given yourself over to fear? - FightI get it- this is a interesting time to live in- and I gave myself over to fear for a while back in the spring- but then I came to my senses- even if It means that I die, I'm not going to let a virus keep me from performing my mission- I'm just not. If Covid kills me- it will be because God wants to bring me home, and I can't hide from it in my home. The savior I served said things to the men who were sent out to preach things like- Luke 10:19  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.I get it! Fear is REAL- Fear of death is REAL. We've all probably feared at times- EVEN DAVID- Ps 55:4 My heart is severely pained within me, And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.But just because you are afraid, and death is real- doesn't mean you give up. it just doesntThe psalmist- Psalm 89:48 What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave? SelahHebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,We're all going to die at somepoint- but people have become this life worshippers to the point of giving up every last right and giving up the mission under the guise of protection of life- Its life worship- its idolatry disguised as Christian virtue wrapped in false humility Let me paint a ...

https://youtu.be/PY6-x2-V-3g Matthew 4:12-17 Don’t give up the fightJesus is beginning his ministry- and John has been put in prison for preaching. Jesus leaves for Galilee, and ends up in Capernaum, which was a fulfillment of Isaiah 9. Then Jesus starts his ministry preaching repentance. We preach repentance almost every week. We’ll do it again. Not this week- This week I want to look at this beginning of Jesus mission as a means for us to be encourage to stay on missionWe’re on mission here at FVC. God has placed each and every one of us strategically to be here for such a time as this. I’ve complained about being in the PNW in the pulpit and online I apologize. I’m not going to complain about it anymore, and if I do, please correct meThere are people here that need Jesus and we are not going to give up the fight. If all the Christian churches leave Washington- its not just that the state will fail, but many people will not make it to heaven, and that should concern all of us. God needs more gloryThink about Jesus- he had to do what he came to do to benefit all of us- and we cant give up Stay in the fight- Stay on mission - Fight Folks- we are on mission- We must live out Matt 28:19. We cannot be pulled in another direction based on what the world is doing, or what is happening around us. Mission must goIn the beginning of this story- we see what happens- John goes to prison ostensibly for preaching repentance. It doesn’t say- but we can assume- Jesus continues his missionWhat happened to John wasn’t going to keep Jesus from doing his mission. He wasn’t givin upJesus is demonstrating here- Just because someone goes to prison for what you’re about to do- doesn’t mean that you shouldn’t do it. John preaches repentance- prison- Jesus- goes out and preaches repentance. We, as people of God- cannot be crippled by fear, because something bad happened to someone- and use that as an excuse or reason, why we cant do what we are supposed to doWho remembers 911? Devastating. I was on mission in Egypt- It continued- 2 Tim 1:7  For God has not given us a spirit of fear, but of power and of love and of a sound mind.This is a true scripture! This is part of why Jesus came- to Heb2:15 and release those who through fear of death were all their lifetime subject to bondage.When Jesus came, he walked without fear, to empower us to walk without fear- John 14:27  Peace I leave with you, My peace I give to you; not as the world gives do I give to you. Let not your heart be troubled, neither let it be afraid. Do you believe that? Or have you given yourself over to fear? - FightI get it- this is a interesting time to live in- and I gave myself over to fear for a while back in the spring- but then I came to my senses- even if It means that I die, I’m not going to let a virus keep me from performing my mission- I’m just not. If Covid kills me- it will be because God wants to bring me home, and I can’t hide from it in my home. The savior I served said things to the men who were sent out to preach things like- Luke 10:19  Behold, I give you the authority to trample on serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy, and nothing shall by any means hurt you.I get it! Fear is REAL- Fear of death is REAL. We’ve all probably feared at times- EVEN DAVID- Ps 55:4 My heart is severely pained within me, And the terrors of death have fallen upon me.But just because you are afraid, and death is real- doesn’t mean you give up. it just doesntThe psalmist- Psalm 89:48 What man can live and not see death? Can he deliver his life from the power of the grave? SelahHebrews 9:27 And as it is appointed for men to die once, but after this the judgment,We’re all going to die at somepoint- but people have become this life worshippers to the point of giving up every last right and giving up the mission under the guise of protection of life- Its life worship- its idolatry disguised as Christian virtue wrapped in false humility Let me paint a ...

I tell you this day come boldly into My presence. You are no more limited to the mere shadow of things to come, for I have made a place for you here by Me There are healing anointings, as well as moves of peace, joy, praise and prayer. The move of the Spirit can involve quietness or it can be loud and excited. There is not just one way that God moves. Often people only associate one thing with God's movementJohn 7:37-39:37 On the last day, that great day of the feast, Jesus stood and cried out, saying, “If anyone thirsts, let him come to Me and drink.:38 “He who believes in Me, as the Scripture has said, out of his heart will flow rivers of living water.”:39 But this He spoke concerning the Spirit, whom those believing in Him would receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.In this passage, Jesus uses terms related to water like thirst, drink and flowing rivers, but He is not just talking about natural water and natural rivers. Water is one of the symbols for the Holy Spirit and verse 39 shows the rivers refer to the Holy Spirit flowing out of the heart of those who believe.

Welcome to the Modern Day Christian Chick Podcast where we look at every day life through the lens of the Gospel, while having conversations surrounding self care, intentional living, worship, and church culture.Today we are focusing on the the love of God and its relentless pursuit of us.I pray that as you listen to the song that you allow the words to speak to your heart. Listen to it daily if you must to remind yourself that you are indeed free fro whatever binds you because He has set you free. You may listen to this week's worship song here.Scriptural reference in this episode:Luke 15______________// FOLLOW Website - www.moderndaychristianchick.comInstagram - @moderndaychristianchickFacebook - Modern Day Christian Chick Apple Music Worship Wednesday playlist:https://music.apple.com/us/playlist/worship-wednesday/pl.u-GgA52Lah1ay5LYou can subscribe to the podcast here:Apple Podcasts: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/modern-day-christian-chick/id1493915119Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/search/modern%20day%20christia%20chickLyrics:Reckless LoveBefore I spoke a word, You were singing over meYou have been so, so good to meBefore I took a breath, You breathed Your life in meYou have been so, so kind to meOh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of GodOh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nineI couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself awayOh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeahWhen I was Your foe, still Your love fought for meYou have been so, so good to meWhen I felt no worth, You paid it all for meBut You have been so, so kind to meAnd oh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of GodOh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nineAnd I couldn't earn it, and I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself awayOh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeahThere's no shadow You won't light upMountain You won't climb upComing after meThere's no wall You won't kick downLie You won't tear downComing after meThere's no shadow You won't light upMountain You won't climb upComing after meThere's no wall You won't kick downLie You won't tear downComing after meThere's no shadow You won't light upMountain You won't climb upComing after meThere's no wall You won't kick downLie You won't tear downComing after meThere's no shadow You won't light upMountain You won't climb upComing after meThere's no wall You won't kick downLie You won't tear downComing after meOh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of GodOh, it chases me down, fights 'til I'm found, leaves the ninety-nineAnd I couldn't earn it, I don't deserve it, still, You give Yourself awayOh, the overwhelming, never-ending, reckless love of God, yeah

"Right My Wrongs"Could it be you calling me down?My foolish heart turns at the starsAll that I am is all that you seeYou don't need nobody else,and you're putting this all on me, forgive meThere's a time and a place for all thisThis is not the place for all thisIs there a reason why you're saying all this?And can we talk about it later?I've gotta right my wrongsWith you is where I belongYou've been down from the go, recognition is what you wantAnd it's something that I should know

"Right My Wrongs"Could it be you calling me down?My foolish heart turns at the starsAll that I am is all that you seeYou don't need nobody else,and you're putting this all on me, forgive meThere's a time and a place for all thisThis is not the place for all thisIs there a reason why you're saying all this?And can we talk about it later?I've gotta right my wrongsWith you is where I belongYou've been down from the go, recognition is what you wantAnd it's something that I should know

Beginning poem:Me: Hey God.God: Hello.....Me: I'm falling apart. Can you put me back together?God: I would rather not.Me: Why?God: Because you aren't a puzzle.Me: What about all of the pieces of my life that are falling down onto the ground?God: Let them stay there for a while. They fell off for a reason. Take some time and decide if you need any of those pieces back.Me: You don't understand! I'm breaking down!God: No - you don't understand. You are breaking through. What you are feeling are just growing pains. You are shedding the things and the people in your life that are holding you back. You aren't falling apart. You are falling into place. Relax. Take some deep breaths and allow those things you don't need anymore to fall off of you. Quit holding onto the pieces that don't fit you anymore. Let them fall off. Let them go.Me: Once I start doing that, what will be left of me?God: Only the very best pieces of you.Me: I'm scared of changing.God: I keep telling you - YOU AREN'T CHANGING!! YOU ARE BECOMING!Me: Becoming who?God: Becoming who I created you to be! A person of light and love and charity and hope and courage and joy and mercy and grace and compassion. I made you for more than the shallow pieces you have decided to adorn yourself with that you cling to with such greed and fear. Let those things fall off of you. I love you! Don't change! ... Become! Become! Become who I made you to be. I'm going to keep telling you this until you remember it.Me: There goes another piece.God: Yep. Let it be.Me: So ... I'm not broken?God: Of course Not! - but you are breaking like the dawn. It's a new day. Become!!!~Author John RoedelThank you Kelsey and Kip Abbott! All things Pema Chodron!When Things Fall Apart:https://www.amazon.com/s?k=when+things+fall+apart+pema+chodron&crid=WKJ7U852IUCD&sprefix=when+th%2Caps%2C170&ref=nb_sb_ss_i_1_7Omega Online Retreat:https://www.eomega.org/online-workshops/a-live-online-weekend-retreat-with-pema-chodron?itm_source_h=search&itm_source_s=search&itm_medium_h=tile&itm_medium_s=tile&itm_campaign_h=searchcr&itm_campaign_s=searchcr&itm_term_h=pema%20chodron&itm_term_s=pema%20chodron&itm_ct_h=all&itm_ct_s=all

The Afterlife of Billy Fingers - Annie Kagan, a chiropractor and songwriter living in Manhattan, abandoned her hectic city life in search of serenity in a small, secluded house by the bay. When her brother Billy died unexpectedly and began speaking to her from the afterlife, Annie agreed to accompany him on his journey through the mysteries of death. As Billy reaches from the "other side" to change his sister's life and the lives of those around her, he shares secrets about the bliss and wonder to come in the afterlife.The fascinating, true story of her on-going, after death communication with her brother Billy is recounted in her debut book: The Afterlife of Billy Fingers: How My Bad Boy Brother Proved to Me There is Life After Death.

I welcome back my good friend, Ike Aloziem. In today's episode, we will continue to talk about #BlackLivesMatters and all other issues that surround it, including the “White Privilege” who people don't really seem to see as a big issue in this social injustice that our country has been experiencing for a long long time. Let's jump right into this episode as we answer some of your questions on how we can continue to make this movement and push for real change in the lives of all American citizens. Things you will learn in this episode: [00:01 - 08:10] Opening Segment I talk briefly about self-empowerment, mental health, and personal fulfillment I'm offering 15 minutes of Zoom call for free. Use this link if you are interested https://calendly.com/karlsona32 (https://calendly.com/karlsona32) I welcome back my good friend Ike into the show This is the right time to help shape the future It is important to acknowledge that we are flawed Open ourselves to the other person's experience [08:11 - 20:05] How do you balance daily life and having joyful moments but still care about #BlackLivesMatters? Ike: It has been challenging and emotionally draining but at the same time uplifting Me: This is nothing new, in order for it to be no longer a situation, you need to ask yourself how you can help and demonstrate on a daily basis that we are all equal [20:06 - 25:13] As a Black man, how do I do my part? Ike: It's important to be an open book, continue to educate yourself Me: No matter how big the stage is, you must open up and talk about your experiences [25:14 - 34:30] Why is funding the police more of an issue that funding the public school? Me: The system is broken. I am blown away by how crass we can be towards some of the more pressing issues when our police are very faulted in their ability to protect and serve Ike: A lot of folks do not agree with the idea of "Defunding the police" [34:31 - 43:50] Do you think non-black people are posting about #BlackLivesMatters solely because they are looking cloud chase or do you generally think they are concern about the issue? Me: There's always gonna be people on the internet looking to troll folks. I don't want to see bad people get in the away of good people Ike: Some people are out there for the publicity. But a lot of people, more than ever are truly ready to make a difference [43:51 - 51:49] Will they keep the same energy throughout their whole lives? Or will they repeat the same process again five late years later and pretend to care again? Me: As Americans, we keep on getting reminders because of these injustices. How many more reminders do we need that there's a huge issue in this country? I hope we don't have to continue to see these types of things happen Ike: They've got to understand and recognize that because they have been the majority, and this is now the time to understand and continue having these conversations [51:50 - 01:12:39] What is "White Privilege" and why do some people find a hard time breaking it? Ike shares a story about his experiences with white people having "White Privileges" Imagining different types of scenarios that you have to deal with just because of the color of your skin I share some of my personal experiences dealing with some of these racist white people Because your skin is white, the odds are in your favor that you are set up to be more successful in this country Ask yourself this question, "Would you want to be treated as an African-American minority in America?" Be willing to keep an open mind The importance of having the initial conversation Continue to educate yourself about racial indifferences [01:12:40 - 01:20:30] Closing Segment How do we embody this lifestyle of equality? Finding ways in your immediate lifestyle that you can start to show greater equality Starting to be an advocate Final words from me and Ike Tweetable Quotes:  "The key to real change is...

Feeling fear during this strange time?  Checking the news for reassurance and only experiencing further fear?  Today Nate and Arron sit down with Christine Dente to try to unpack some solutions to engage information with better choices and more wisdom. Check out Christine's website Finding Life in the Bigger Story at https://christinedenteoutofthegrey.com  Some of the proposed ideas to consider were: 1. Consider the message: does the headline incite fear? Does the information smell like clickbait?    2. Consider the purpose: Is it grim entertainment? Grisly voyeurism?  Why is it written and why do you want to read it?   3. Consider your filters: are you willing to open your mind, humble yourself, ditch confirmation bias and deal with the cognitive dissonance?    4. Consider your interests: choose a specialty then dive deep. Can you become an expert on one issue?  Can you become such an expert without judging others for not having the same interests?   5. Consider the dosage: How many hours are you spending imbibing information and attitudes that can saturate the soul. Is meditating on these ideas helpful or beneficial to your soul?  Do they increase your love and compassion, or do they make you afraid and angry?   6. Consider the agenda:  Follow the money. What is the underlying ideology? Is it hidden or obvious? Is the bias showing?   7. Consider the alternatives: Podcasts and other long-form, unedited conversations offer a format for engaging issues on a deeper level. Can you hang?   8. Consider the times: be selective with the time of day and amount of intake. Can you control your information exposure in a healthy way?     9. Consider the sensation: Wait 48 hours before believing the worst. Often, the sensational news is refuted within 48 hours.    10. Consider the source: Read the original documents or watch the original video footage instead of someone’s interpretation.     11. Consider the angles: Read and listen to people on all sides of an issue. This gives a balanced perspective and a clearer picture of what’s going on. Is the truth closer to the middle?     OUTRAGE PORN Check two threeBaby take a tip from meThere is a storm headed hereAnd if you want to live in fearThen tune on in Every tear shed earns a grin Check three fourBaby, better lock your doorsCause if you want to get caughtAll you gotta do is stopAnd then you die Something will kill you if you try Check five sixGonna show you some new tricksI search the world for a fearSell you outrage and a beerAnd watch you hide Take all your toys and go inside JUST TRUST MEI KNOW WHAT YOU NEED DEARI DON’T MEAN YOU HARM HERECLOSE YOUR EYES TAKE MY HANDLISTEN, I’VE GOT NEWS TO TAKE YOUTO EXTREMES AND PASSION YOUR REAL LIFENEVER CAN Stand, Kneel, CrawlI’ve got outrage porn for allViruses politicsLairs and the lunaticsAnd then you fall Facedown make me your god your all Here’s my takeQuick facts on instant bakeYou don’t need to do the workI know you’ll love my  line The parties rollin’ here full time JUST TRUST MEI KNOW WHAT YOU NEED DEARI DON’T MEAN YOU HARM HERECLOSE YOUR EYES TAKE MY HANDLISTEN, I’VE GOT NEWS TO TAKE YOUTO EXTREMES AND PASSION YOUR REAL LIFENEVER CAN  

Join TBone and Namu for the 1st episode of season 2020 as they discuss: • The Hainan Island 5000 WQS event • Taj's Small Fries grom event • The takeover of Hurley and the loss of jobs in the surf world • Sophie out - Elo in. • Top Rookie hopes for the 2020 season - hint, it's Jack Robbo • Top 4 Male surfers of all time, according to the lads.Plus there is Goat Watch, Bronte's Beat and Here's to You Mrs Robinson! YEOWW! Intro/outro music: "Suddenly It Occurs to Me There's No Ocean Here" by Artificial Intelligence in Texas

Join TBone and Namu for the 1st episode of season 2020 as they discuss: • The Hainan Island 5000 WQS event • Taj's Small Fries grom event • The takeover of Hurley and the loss of jobs in the surf world • Sophie out - Elo in. • Top Rookie hopes for the 2020 season - hint, it's Jack Robbo • Top 4 Male surfers of all time, according to the lads.Plus there is Goat Watch, Bronte's Beat and Here's to You Mrs Robinson! YEOWW! Intro/outro music: "Suddenly It Occurs to Me There's No Ocean Here" by Artificial Intelligence in Texas

Our online store isn't converting is a phrase I hear time and time again from business owners & the conversation goes something like this => Business Owner: We recently established an online store but our sales are not achieving the levels we expected... Me: What do you think is the problem? Business Owner: I'm not sure, we've put all our products online but no one is buying! We've got traffic but I cannot understand why our customers are not purchasing. Me: Did you invest in strong photography and copy for the listings? Likewise, what are your shipping rates like, high or low? Business Owner: We just copied everything from the manufacturer website and regarding shipping we pass the full price of same to the consumer at checkout. Me: There's your problem, in todays competitive market you need to stand our from the crowd. But don't worry your in luck as I've just recorded an podcast episode discussing this topic! Be sure and check it out! To Get Started Improving Your E-Commerce Store Checkout https://bit.ly/2r3F8Q3

Dr. Lea Thomann from the US Soccer Federation joins the show to discuss sports careers connected to STEM (science, technology, engineering and math).Hey, it's Brian - when you are looking for a sports management masters program, most of you tell me you want flexibility and credibility. Makes sense - you want your efforts to be worth it!Well, with Georgetown's part-time Masters in Sports Industry Management you get the best of both worlds! The program is ideal for working professionals, offering flexible options to take classes online, on-campus, or through a combination of both—so you don't have to interrupt your career to earn your degree. Plus it's Georgetown, one of the best schools in the nation, I just looked this up 5 minutes ago they are ranked in the top 25 of national universities via US News and World report  - so you can get your masters from a top university, in a manner that fits your schedule. Win-win.I just told you a lot...but to learn more they are hosting a webinar on Tuesday, October 29th at noon eastern time. Learn more - ask questions - figure out your life plan... that's a lot. How about you just start out by RSVP-ing. Visit scs.georgetown.edu/sportswebinar to RSVP.And the Work in Sports podcast is brought to you by the Work in Sports Academy - If you are looking to get ahead in the sports world, you need an advantage over the competition. Yes, your degree, your clubs, your sparkling personality all help… but we're going to go a lot deeper than that. Check out the WorkInSports Academy -- 4 online courses designed to increase your chances of being hifred in the sports industry. All of my best advice, culled from not only my 20 years of experience… but from the hundfeds of people I've interviewed over my career.Check it out today -- WorkInSports.com/AcademyAlright, let's start the countdown…Hi everybody, I'm Brian Clapp VP of Content and Engaged Learning at WorkInSports.com and this is the Work In Sports podcast.As I search for guests to pique your interest I'm always looking for fields I haven't covered. Yes, there are more perspectives to learn and share on sales, marketing, and operations…and we will continue to do so... but there are also many fields out there that deserve attention and discussion that we haven't ventured into yet.Over the last couple of months, I've been meeting with college professors all over the nation, discussing our Sports Career Game Plan online materials, and one thing became abundantly clear to meThere are a ton of people in Kinesiology programs. A fancy world for the study of how the body moves. Athletic trainers, physical therapists, sports scientists, medical doctors - they all start with kinesiology. Now I hate to sound naive, this is just me being transparent,  I always think of the business of sports, because that is my personal background. But there is a gigantic swath of the sports industry that is less connected to the dollar signs behind the marquis events, and more connected to athlete performance and recovery. Sports are very connected to STEM, science technology, engineering and mathematics, careers. Kinesiology is a perfect example of this - sports through the lens of science. But, in this section of the sports industry, women are poorly represented. Women constitute about half of the college-educated workforce in the United States, but just a quarter of STEM professionals are female. This STEM gender gap has impacted perceptions of women in STEM and trickles down to younger generations.The US soccer federation is looking to help change those results by joining forces with IF/THEN a leading group supporting women in STEM careers.I bring guests on this show to act as a blueprint for all of you -- a map of sorts, presenting you options, introducing you to potential paths, guiding you through the journey and showing you what is possible.Today's guest is the perfect role model for all of our listeners attracted to the potential of STEM careers in sports - Dr.

False Gods. Are your favorite saints a football team? In this episode of Truth of the Spirit Patti Brunner looks at the False gods that we have allowed into our homes and how the first commandment of the God of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob continues to be relevant today. “I am the Lord your God, you shall not have false gods before Me” There doesn't have to be a Buddha on your night stand to have false gods in your house. It is attitude and time spent and the priority in our life we give to things. What do you treasure with your whole heart, soul & mind? Does your treasure love you back? God loves us. God loves us even when we turn away from him and the great I AM is always waiting for our return.

Preciousness of the Book of Isaiah(Part 1) ISAIAH – a monumental book in your Bible. God – who is He? Mankind – what is man? God & Man – in relationship? Messiah – who is He? – what is His mission? Satan Isaiah God – who is He? Mankind – what is man? God & Man – in relationship? Messiah – who is He? – what is His mission? Satan Luke 24:26, 27, 32, 44-46 Importance of the Book of Isaiah The longest of the ‘long’ prophets (with Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel) King Hezekiah’s Seal Bulla of Isaiah the Prophet In the same pit, at the same level, and about 20 m apart. Discovered in 2018 in “Ophel”, just south of Temple Mount! Isaiah The book most quoted by Jesus and by Paul. Written 800 BC (plus or minus 50 years). WIth Kings Uziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and Hezekiah. Latter part of it recorded by Isaiah and stored, then opened. Preciousness in the Book of Isaiah Uniqueness of: God His Son His Plan James F. Clarke (1899) wrote: “Mohammed taught God above us, Moses taught God above us and yet with us, Jesus taught God above us, God with us, and God in us.” God – Who is He? Isaiah 6: the Lord sitting upon a throne, high and lifted up … Isaiah 9: for unto us a child is born, unto us a Son is given … Isaiah 43 and 45: there is no God else … GOD: Transcendent and Immanent Isaiah presents God as being both. Transcendent: Beyond or above the range of normal or physical human experience. Surpassing the ordinary; exceptional, existing apart from, and not subject to, the limitations of the material universe. Immanent: Existing or operating within; inherent, permanently pervading and sustaining the universe. Isaiah 57:15 For thus saith the high and lofty One that inhabiteth eternity, whose name is Holy; I dwell in the high and holy place, with him also that is of a contrite and humble spirit, to revive the spirit of the humble, and to revive the heart of the contrite ones. God’s Place Isaiah 43:11 I, even I, am the Lord; and beside Methere is no Saviour. Isaiah 55:6Seek ye the Lord while he may be found,call ye upon Him while He is near.

http://bible.com/events/605161 The wonder….ME I am miracle I am created by God and made in His Image The problem….ME There is something broken within us.  In our human-ness and in our frailty: There is a wrestling, there is an emptiness, & there is a brokenness within.  Ultimately this life is about more than ME….more than what […]

http://bible.com/events/605161 The wonder….ME I am miracle I am created by God and made in His Image The problem….ME There is something broken within us.  In our human-ness and in our frailty: There is a wrestling, there is an emptiness, & there is a brokenness within.  Ultimately this life is about more than ME….more than what […]

There is a competition on who is the busiest person? I think there is. Well on this episode I wanted to share with you a few tips, ideas and tools on how to become less busy because being busy is a choice. Here are some tools we discussed on the episode: Calm www.calm.com/Toggl.com www.toggl.com Coach.me - www.coach.meThere you go, I hope in the next 30 days you will become less busy, more productive and live a more fulfilling life. Let me know your hacks or thoughts in the comment section below. Support the show (https://staystupidpodcast.com/)

Series ONENESS IN CHRIST with Pastor Kurt Piesslinger, M.A. 3.THAT THEY ALL MAY BE ONE Jesus` prayer for unity among his disciples shows the importance of unity. But it seems impossible to reach it. Is it possible? What could we do about it? Memory Text: John 17:20,21 - I do not pray for these alone, but also for those who will believe in Me through their word; that they all may be one, as You, Father, are in Me, and I in You; that they also may be one in Us, that the world may believe that You sent Me. 3.3 "For Those Who Will Believe in Me" There is even more safety in these words My God bless you today and always. For video recording : vimeo.com/295167260

Datavest CEO & Founder Rob Nicholas Stone discusses the monetization of private data through his blockchain based application DATAVEST, a cooperative that monetizes user data and pays back individuals in the form of datanotes.Transcript:INTROMethod to the Madness is next.You're listening to Method to the Madness, a bi-weekly public affairs show on K-A-L-X Berkeley celebrating innovators. Last time on Method to the Madness we talked with Block chain at Berkeley about block chain technology and what that means. Today we're going to be talking with Rob Nicholas Stone, the founder and CEO of DATAVEST, an application that sits on top of this block chain technology.LISA: Thanks for coming in Rob. ROB: Yeah, absolutely!LISA: What is DATAVEST?ROB: DATAVEST is a way for individuals to monetize the value of their personal data. LISA: How is that different from what's going on right now? Rob: Data right now is being monetized. It's being capitalized by some of the largest corporations. And they're able to do that because they have the ability to kind of aggregate all of this data from multiple sources from millions of users. What we're saying is that it's an unfair exchange and the value of your data, the data that you're providing to these companies is greater than the value that is returned to you and it's driving up the largest market capitalizations of the largest kind of Internet platforms.LISA: So it sounds like you're creating a meta transaction in which the intrinsic value of my data is more than just what I'm giving to Facebook or whatever.ROB: Individually we don't have much leverage negotiating a fair price for our data. There's a value premium when that data is aggregated. It's been difficult to find a mechanism for allowing individuals to share that data and benefit from the aggregate value that's generated by a platform like Facebook. One of the challenges we had initially was trying to figure out how do we value data is it a pro-rata share of current revenue that that's generated from that data. Is it the kind of commodity price wanted sold by maybe a data broker? or in the context of Facebook and Instagram and Google and Amazon, they're able to capitalize the value because this data, even if they don't know what the application is going to be in the future they're able to price that into the current value of the company. One way that you could look at it is looking at the market capitalization of say Facebook and dividing by the number of users of Facebook. And that's going to be a much larger number than the current revenue of Facebook divided by the number of users.LISA: I'm curious why you wanted to do this because reading about block chain technology the history of it, originally it was of culturally and socially revolutionary idea. Since that time about 10 years ago, I feel like it's lost a little bit of that sheen but what you're doing is sort of a throwback to that original idea which is that it belongs to the people. ROB: Right. I knew that everybody had this form of capital that was extremely extremely valuable. And I also knew that in order to appropriately monetize this data, individuals had to have ownership over the application of the data. And so the first two months was basically me trying to figure out how to provide individuals with how to give them a vested interest in the applications that are built atop the aggregate data that's provided. The first idea was we would basically issue individual stock in our company and that company would use this data and monetize it and capitalize it and they would have this vested interest not just in the current value of their data but also the future value. Obviously that for millions of people would be extremely difficult to do. It would be almost a logistical nightmare to pull off in. And so that's where cryptocurrency came into the equation through block chain, through smart contracts. There's a way to design a platform and issue this currency that is similar to equity in a sense, in that it provides individuals with a vested interest in the platform in the application. And so that that's kind of how I arrived at the block chain space.LISA: What is the problem DATAVEST is trying to solve?ROB:A lot of the inequality or injustice right now occurs around this asymmetry of information. Whenever a corporation or a company or organization has more information about you than you have about them, it creates an inbalance. The reason why we decided to issue a digital currency in exchange for data is that I see currency as a form of language and it's a means, a tool of communicating and exchanging value. And what's interesting about data information knowledge is when it's exchanged there's no less of it in the hands of the one transacting it. If I explain an idea to you, I still have the idea and now you have it too. There's a greater supply. There was a book called Unjust Deserts written by Gar Alperovitz and he lays out the idea of this technological residual and it's kind of the gains in productivity not attributed to say capital or labor but is a product of technological advance generally speaking, where it's difficult almost impossible to attribute individual credit for this social phenomenon, but what capitalism tells us to do is is ascribe individual credit for the product of a social phenomenon. Similar to language, a piece of data or a word has very little meaning without the alphabet, without the multiple arrangements of those words and concepts and so similar to this our data doesn't have much value alone when it's siloed. This has been the challenge is that that individuals don't have a way to benefit. It's almost as if language has been co-opted or or taken, monopolized by a lot of these companies and corporations. The reason why we created DATAVEST was to create a platform, a cooperative platform, that basically co-ops back this data and information that's been taken from us and allows us to benefit in this common language through this digital currency.LISA:That's revolutionary. It reminds me of Marx and Veblen. Where did you begin to start thinking about these kinds of ideas?ROB: Maybe Veblen, actually. It's funny that you bring that up. He wrote about this idea of absentee ownership when capital is invested by those not vested in the in the company that that capital goes towards. It creates a kind of perverse incentive. If individuals had ownership and they were also the consumers within a company, the incentives are not really to to maximize profit at the expense of higher prices for consumers. I guess another way to put it is if consumers were the owners what would that look like? Right now there's a there's kind of a movement applying the concepts and ideas of cooperatives to Internet platforms. It's called Platform co-operative-ism and it's a guy named Trevor Schultz. He's a professor at the New School in New York and he's written a lot about this. If you look at maybe Uber and what that would look like as a platform co-operative, you'd have the situation where the drivers and the riders are the owners of the ride share company or YouTube platform where the content creators and users benefit from the value created in a business sense by that platform or AirBNB owned by those running out their houses and those using it. It's just, it's an alignment of incentives that I think is more rational. If the economy is unequal for rational reasons that's one thing. But when it's completely irrational and I couldn't ignore it any longer, if if you look back at kind of the progression of capitalism from laissez faire in the 19th century John Maynard Keynes basically kind of saving capitalism in a sense by figuring out a monetary policy that could or fiscal spending that could increase employment. But in finance everyone always talks about inflation, as well, we need a healthy level of inflation. But when you think about it its inflation is really just a decrease in purchasing power and Keynes, his kind of insight was that it's difficult to lower nominal wages. But if you print more money you devalue the currency, you can lower real wages without kind of workers knowing about it. So it almost seemed like a trick. It's like you're tricking labor into thinking that they're getting paid the same amount, that excess profit from real wages going down, you know goes towards the owners of the company. And so the stock market benefits from that. Seeing the irrationality there, this plays into kind of how we've created our currency. It's not like the Federal Reserve where a couple banks have access to the discount window. It's every single individual has direct access to the analog of the Federal Reserve. You have a direct line into creating new money and it goes to you, not to some large institution.LISA: What are some of the challenges that you're facing right now?ROB: I think the principal challenge is explaining a new idea and trying to communicate something really that hasn't been done successfully before.LISA: Why did you choose the co-op structure?ROB: I don't know if you've ever used Apple Itunes. It's basically data as a service or software as a service where you subscribe to a service and pay a fee. We're kind of turning that on its head. The future revenue that could be generated by this data needs to stay in the hands of those who produced it. If you were structuring this as a C corporation where the data was owned by conventional corporate structure. What happens when Amazon or some platform wants to buy all of the data and then what happens to the value of the currency when all of a sudden you know whoever is acquiring the information the data decides to use that monetize that more for their existing shareholders? We've created a co-operative where the data is always owned by the individuals who are producing the data. We own this data.Companies can only subscribe to it and they never own.ID/BREAKIf you're just tuning in you're listening to method to the madness, a bi-weekly public affairs show on K-A-L-X Berkeley. I'm your host Lisa Kiefer. Today I'm speaking with the CEO and founder of DATAVEST, Rob Nicholas Stone. As we continue our de-mystification of block chain technology and the token economies.LISA: A member of your board recently told me that you were the most dangerous man in America. What do you think he said that?ROB: So I think the reason why he said that was when I first met with him I laid out a plan for disrupting not only Silicon Valley but also Wall Street and fiat currency and how to go about creating a new non-sovereign alternative to national fiat.LISA: What's your background your history how you came to this idea?ROB: It came about in kind of a strange way. I'd done a lot of work in microfinance in Argentina. I worked at Morgan Stanley working kind of closely with their Institute of Sustainable Investing, so socially responsible investing and it was always about how do we direct capital to where it's most productive. The insight or the 3:00 a.m. epiphany for me was that everybody already has a form of extremely valuable capital. They're just they just don't have the framework to monetize it and receive the full value of that data.LISA: How long is that when that light bulb went off?ROB: That's about eight months ago. LISA: Well people are talking about universal basic income now. And to me this is sort of a workaround to that. I could get money from my data every month instead of trying to figure out a universal basic income through the federal government.ROB: Right. And we framed it sometimes this way. It seems strident to kind of imagine this could actually provide consistent guaranteed level of income to individuals but it really is, it is a private sector mechanism for UBI that requires no subsidies no welfare just receiving kind of the value that you're already creating. Back in 1965 Lewis Kelso, he is kind of the founder the creator of the Employee Stock Ownership Plan, and he said that the challenge of our age is figuring out a way that workers or individuals can take ownership in the technology that's essentially replacing them. Thinking currently about that, what's driving the technological advances that we're seeing right now? A lot of it is this networked data and so you could achieve two things at once, you allow individuals to have access to a form of capital and at the same time that capital happens to be the core ingredients, the fuel that's driving the technological advances that we're seeing currently. So it's a way to gain ownership over this technology for anyone essentially with a with a smartphone and internet connection is able to accrue value.LISA: Where do I find out about this?ROB: It will be on a mobile app so you download the app and you're presented with, we're calling them data funds, that it could be a specific sector or a company innovative new technology and you're able to invest your data into that company and receive an asset that's derived from that data. We're calling them data notes. Users will receive this immediately upon the investment of their data.LISA: Give me an example of a company that I would say OK I'm going to open my data to you.ROB: An example that I think really drives this point home is, I don't know if you've ever used Twenty-Three and Me? There's nothing more personal than our genetic information or genetic data and in companies like this are able to aggregate millions of potential volunteers who are or are willing to provide this and sell that off to pharmaceutical companies to create some of the most profitable new drugs or treatments or therapies and the individual is not compensated.LISA: In fact, we have to pay to actually do it.ROB: Right. What we're trying to do is create a way for individuals providing data such as this to drive some of the most innovative kind of medical breakthroughs but also be vested in the value that's created from its application and the application is great. It's just the fact that those who are creating this information, this data, are forgotten about. One example is that hedge funds are basically purchasing your data there. They're going to companies such as Yodaly that are transaction aggregators and they're looking at kind of trends in our spending and they're trading on that information. Hedge funds are really some of the biggest buyers of this type of data. They call it alternative data. Hedge Fund wants access to some alternative data, some transaction data that they're already collecting from us. What we would require is that they subscribe to access this information that's totally anonymized. They don't really care who you are. They just want the data and they want to pick up trends in consumer preferences and what people are buying and they're able to trade on that. So data in that revenue that they pay will be rerouted through smart contracts and this gets back to the value of the block chain to repurchasing the currency on the secondary market and compensating individuals who actually provided that data. This is a form of ownership.LISA: So if I'm a member of this, will I have like a little token bank on my computer and every now and then I see some monetary value?ROB: That's right. You'll have a wallet. LISA: So I don't need a bank for this. ROB: You don't need a bank. The idea getting back to kind of the idea of universal basic income is that we wanted anyone in the world to be able to gain access to this. Anyone with a smartphone and internet connection is able to start accruing this capital that they already have. When you kind of sit back and think about it, they're making billions of dollars based on data that we've provided them with. What we're thinking about is how to use our own information, share it, cooperatively own it, and monetize it kind of directly. The future revenue that we create at DATAVEST through aggregating this information is directly driven back into the value of the currency. As revenue comes in, that revenue is redirected into supporting the value of the currency.LISA: So let's say I have two hundred of your one of your tokens called?ROB: Data notes. LISA: OK. Data notes. Where can I spend those?ROB: Initially you're able to convert those into U.S. dollars. They're completely liquid. So you're able to exchange them for other digital currencies or you're able to just cash them out and we're using Ethereum. And it's done through Etherium. LISA: You're letting Etherium do your mining?ROB: Right. LISA: So you don't have to worry about massive computers. ROB: Right. LISA: Why did you choose Etherium?ROB: We chose Etherium, a technology that allows us to design a platform that works for us, because of the ability to design smart contracts that achieve the purpose of our intention.LISA: What is a smart contract? What does that mean?ROB: The reason why DATAVEST is using smart contracts is a lot of crypto currencies right now, they haven't figured out a way to have the off chain organization or company benefit the currency directly. So what we've done is we've created a protocol or smart contract that as DATAVEST as a platform generates revenue, we have that revenue going directly into supporting the value of the currency and that's done through our currency repurchase protocol. Which, it's basically like a stock buyback by a company where the company wants to return value directly to shareholders by buying stock on the market and taking it back as treasury stock. You increase demand, you reduce supply, and that benefits our end users and they have a vested kind of interest in almost a form of ownership in the platform. You can put anything, you could almost put anything in into it, any kind of contract. It triggers an event based on something happening off chain. So as revenue comes in, that triggers the repurchase of currency without any intermediary. So it's rules-based governance of monetary policy essentially. What we've done by creating kind of a cooperative structure with smart contracts is that there's kind of two extremes right now. You have the kind of purist crypto currency folks that they don't want anything off chain. They don't want to leave any kind of room for active governance. And then you have on the other side permission block chain, which basically means you know it's a corporation is calling all the shots and determining everything. We tried to find a middle ground where there's a democratic processes in place through the co-operative and there is a level of governance that can kind of manage the supply of this currency in a rational way.LISA: Where does the U.S. government come in or any government come into play here? If I'm a user and I start getting money from my data, my private data, say I'm starting to accumulate some tokens. Is that money taxed?ROB: It should be. It should absolutely be taxed. And the question, the outstanding question still for us, since this is really new territory, is how is it going to be treated? If you're being compensated for your investment of data, is that being treated as income? Or is that data considered an asset that you're exchanging for an equivalent amount of value? My opinion is that it should be considered an asset, a form of capital, and that capital exchange for data notes represents an equivalent exchange that you would be…your cost basis would be the market value of data notes at that time.LISA: Right. And so if they go up them I'm taxed on the gain. ROB; That's right. LISA: When do you expect to go live with DATAVEST as an application?ROB: Right now we're planning within the next six to eight months a private beta or a closed beta to recruit the pioneer users of this application. We're planning our full launch to be shortly after that ,hopefully within nine to 12 months we'll have this, you'll be able to start making money from your data.LISA: An idea like this seems very disruptive to say Facebook. Why do you think of Facebook or Google or one of the other overlords wouldn't enter into this marketplace? What are their constraints doing something like this or do they have constraints?ROB: They do and I get this question a lot. It's well OK. You're doing this you're a small startup. You have these billion dollar platforms that you're potentially disrupting. What prevents them from doing the same thing. And their challenge is that they were started in a way that the incentives between their users and the shareholders of those companies aren't aligned. And so the more that a shareholder makes, the less money there is available to users to monetize. So if one of these platforms, all of a sudden Zuckerberg decided to kind of monetize data for his users rather than shareholders, what would happen is, well, he'd get sued I think.LISA: By the shareholders?ROB: Right. They've created a zero sum game where –a situation where one wins at the other's expense. And so we design DATAVEST to align the incentives between those who are funding our startup our platform that we're building and the users that are going to be creating the preponderance of value of the platform. When I bring up the idea of capitalized value of data, just meaning that this data is being priced based on its its future revenue that it potentially could generate, the mechanism that DATAVEST is using is, we're issuing a form of digital currency directly for the investment of data. Data is an asset. It's a strange asset but it's an investable asset. When you invest it, you want to be entitled to kind of the future revenue generating potential that it creates. So we're not tying it to how much capital you already have, how wealthy you are. Anyone can gain access to this and actually the only way to gain access to this is through providing this asset that doesn't cost you any money. It's just utilizing and benefiting you for the capital that you already have.LISA: So do you know who your target beta is going to be? Is it going to be a city? Is it going to be a certain demographic of people? Do you know that yet? ROB: Yes. So we're based out of Pasadena, California. And so we're actually working at my house in Altadena. We converted are barn into an office and we kind of have an urban ranch and horses and donkeys and chickens and it's kind of a fun corporate headquarters but we’ll probaby have to move soon. But you know it's been good while it lasted but so we're thinking Pasadena just maybe an interesting place. There was research done that Pasadena will be kind of representative of the demographics within the U.S. as a whole and I think it was like 15 to 20 years. So we think it's a would be a good kind of case study or a good place to do this. LISA: And you have a child, a two year old son?ROB: Yep yep turns two March 26.LISA: Well I have to ask you..you're pretty deep into this new technology, block chain and the token economies. Do you have any particular fears for your child as we move forward or are you optimistic?ROB: I guess if you kind of imagine all potential futures right now where we are, it's difficult. I don't wanna be negative but it's difficult to see one that is going to make sense or I'm going to be happy with for him and that's part of why I'm doing this is, you have four, really four companies that are as Jaron Lanier calls it the siren servers that are collecting all this information on all of us. And you know one worry and it's not it's not an irrational concern is that what happens when one of these companies develops a technology through using this data our data, big data is our data, and using that to develop A.I. They're using machine learning and when they get to a point where they're so far ahead of everyone else it's going to be very difficult to catch up. So I guess my concern is that they do kind of have a breakthrough in this area. It's going to be tough to kind of catch up with that technology for anyone else. And that's going to only be benefiting the same or tiny kind of small number of people.LISA: So it sounds like your approach at DATAVEST is very democratic and an opportunity to bridge the you know, we talk about the 1 percent. It sounds like that big divide could possibly be bridged if everyone gets compensated for their private data.ROB: That's exactly right. And and we get rid of this asymmetric information that’s of companies whether it's financial institutions or these Internet platforms that are kind of using our information against us that we think we have to take ownership over it and be entitled to kind of the value that it creates and have that be shared.LISA: What's coming up for DATAVEST in the future?ROB: If we imagine that enough of us sign up and decide to take ownership back of this information, this data, there's an opportunity that once you get to a critical mass, we're hoping we can sign up a million users within the first year, that at some point you don't want to be selling or brokering this data to third parties who are then benefiting making all the money essentially. So asset management firms, hedge funds, they’re they're big buyers of this type of data, that would be transaction data, geo-location data.They're kind of buying this up wherever they can get it. And it would make too much sense not to take that in-house. So we've come up with the idea, this is kind of our Second Stage part of this, that we could create a cooperatively owned hedge fund. And the interesting thing about a hedge fund is most people can never invest in one. But the ironic part I guess is that everyone can actually own a hedge fund company. And so there's an opportunity that we can cooperatively own this investment firm that is directly trading based on our information and we're directly benefiting from it. We would have all of that revenue driven back into the hands of the users. And it's almost the portfolio managers dream come true to have direct access and intel from individuals all across the world be able to look at the trends, of the change in demand, consumer purchases, even pose questions. And the interesting thing from an investment application is that the data value of some of the poorest people in the world is actually greater than the data value of individuals in the U.S. And so if we're only monetizing this data based on this advertising model, that would only benefit wealthier individuals. But what this does is anywhere there's anywhere there's asymmetric information a profit can be made and that profit, and there's less information and a lot of these frontier and emerging markets that we have the opportunity that any intel or any information they provide on prices that they're facing is essentially tradable information, that can that can return value to those individuals and put them on the map and give them a form of capital that they've never had.LISA: I know there's going to be a lot of interest in this. So is there a way that listeners can reach you or DATAVEST? Is there a website? ROB: Absolutely! Our website is DATAVEST.org and my email is Rob at DATAVEST dot org. There is a place where you can put your e-mail to kind of sign up to be one of the first users of this.LISA: Wow! thank you for being on Method to the Madness and once you launch, I'd love to have you back on. ROB: You'll be investing your data soon.LISA: I will be investing my data. Thank you.ROB: Thank you.OUTRO:You've been listening to Method to the

“To be a pearl maker, your oyster needs a good strong shell to protect you from a hundred million irritants in your environment. Your shell helps you tell one grain of sand from the other. You know which one can become a pearl and which one isn't worth the irritation.” - [Annie Kagan,](http://www.afterlifeofbillyfingers.com/) The Afterlife of Billy Fingers: How My Bad-Boy Brother Proved to Me There's Life After Death Annie Kagan's brother Billy has a new POV about life in the hereafter. Annie started taking notes from the first moment he checked back in. [Wendy's Coffeehouse blog link](https://wendyscoffeehouse.blogspot.com/2017/09/annie-kagan-91017-afterlife-of-billy.html)

应粉丝要求录制的一期~各位想学什么歌曲欢迎留言，也可以在微信里告诉Sean哦~微信公众号 搜索dailyblah 订阅，了解更丰富的口语文化知识。 新浪微博搜索关注SeanFreeman 免费观看最新daily blah视频和更多推送！ 歌词We Don&`&t Talk Anymore (feat. Selena Gomez)[Charlie Puth:]We don&`&t talk anymoreWe don&`&t talk anymoreWe don&`&t talk anymoreLike we used to doWe don&`&t laugh anymoreWhat was all of it forOhh, we don&`&t talk anymore, like we used to do...I just heard you found the one, you been lookingYou been looking forI wish I would’ve known that wasn&`&t meCause even after all this timeI still wonderWhy I can&`&t move onJust the way you did so easilyDon&`&t wanna knowKinda dress you&`&re wearing tonightIf he&`&s holdin onto you so tightThe way I did beforeI overdosedShould&`&ve known your love was a gameNow I can&`&t get you out of my brainOhh, it&`&s such a shameThat we don&`&t talk anymoreWe don&`&t talk anymoreWe don&`&t talk anymoreLike we used to doWe don&`&t laugh anymoreWhat was all of it for?Oh, we don&`&t talk anymoreLike we used to do[Selena Gomez:]I just hope you&`&re lying next to somebodyWho knows how to love you like meThere must be a good reason that you&`&re goneEvery now and then I think you might want me to come show up at your doorBut I&`&m just too afraid that I&`&ll be wrongDon&`&t wanna knowIf you&`&re looking into her eyesIf she&`&s holdin onto you so tight the way I did beforeI overdosedShould&`&ve known your love was a gameNow I can&`&t get you out of my brainOh, it&`&s such a shame[Charlie Puth & Selena Gomez:]That we don&`&t talk anymore(We don&`&t we don&`&t)We don&`&t talk anymore(We don&`&t we don&`&t)We don&`&t talk anymoreLike we used to doWe don&`&t laugh anymore(We don&`&t we don&`&t)What was all of it for?(We don&`&t we don&`&t)Oh, we don&`&t talk anymoreLike we used to doLike we used to doDon&`&t wanna knowKinda dress you&`&re wearing tonightIf he&`&s giving it to you just rightThe way I did beforeI overdosedShould&`&ve known your love was a gameNow I can&`&t get you out of my brainOh, it&`&s such a shameThat we don&`&t talk anymore(We don&`&t we don&`&t)We don&`&t talk anymore(We don&`&t we don&`&t)We don&`&t talk anymoreLike we used to doWe don&`&t laugh anymore(We don&`&t we don&`&t)What was all of it for?(We don&`&t we don&`&t)Oh, we don&`&t talk anymoreLike we used to do(We don&`&t talk anymore)Don&`&t wanna knowKinda dress you&`&re wearing tonight (Oh)If he&`&s holding onto you so tight (Oh)The way I did before(We don&`&t talk anymore)I overdosedShould&`&ve known your love was a game (Oh)Now I can&`&t get you out of my brain (Woah)Oh, it&`&s such a shameThat we don&`&t talk anymore唱词[Charlie Puth:]We don tal kanimoreWe don tal kanimoreWe don tal kanimoreLai kui uztodoWe don la fanymoreWha was allofi forOhh, We don tal kanimore, Lai kui uzto do...I jus hur jiu foun the one, you been lookingYou been looking forI wish I wudve known tha wasn meCasien after all this tima still wonderWhy I can move onJus the way you diso easilyDon wanna no Kinda dresyou wearing 2 9ifhis hodonto yaso tight way I di beforeI overdose shouldve known your love wasa gameNow I can ge qiu of my brainOhh, i-such a shametha We don tal kanimoreWe don tal kanimoreWe don tal kanimoreLai kui uzto doWe don la fanymoreWha was allofi forOh, We don tal kanimoreLai kui uzto do[Selena Gomez:]I jus ho piu lying next to somebodyhunoz hota love ya li ke methmusbe a gu reason tha qiu goneEvery now anthen I thin kiumai wanme to come showapa qiao doorBu I&`&m jus too afrai tha I&`&ll be wrongDon wanna no If you looking into her eyes Ifshes holdonto ya so tight way I di beforeI overdose shouldve known your love wasa gameNow I can ge qiu of my brainOhh, i-such a shame[Charlie Puth & Selena Gomez:]Tha We don tal kanimoreWe don tal kanimoreWe don tal kanimoreLai kui uzto doWe don la fanymoreWha was allofi forOh, We don tal kanimoreLai kui uzto doLai kui uztodoDon wanna no Kinda dresyou wearing 2 9Ifhis givintoya jus rightway I di beforeI overdose shouldve known your love wasa gameNow I can ge qiu of my brainOhh, i-such a shameTha We don tal kanimoreWe don tal kanimoreWe don tal kanimoreLai kui uzto doWe don la fanymoreWha was allofi forOh, We don tal kanimoreLai kui uzto do(We don&`&t talk anymore)Don wanna no Kinda dresyou wearing 2 9ifhis hod onto yaso tight way I di before(We don&`&t talk anymore)I overdose shouldve known your love wasa gameNow I can ge qiu of my brainOhh, i-such a shameTha We don tal kanimore

Join Supernatural Girlz Patricia Baker & Becky Andreasson as they speak with author Annie Kagan about life after death. Annie, a chiropractor and songwriter living in Manhattan, abandoned her hectic city life in search of serenity in a small, secluded house by the bay. When her brother Billy died unexpectedly and began speaking to her from the afterlife, Annie agreed to accompany him on his journey through the mysteries of death. As Billy reaches from the “other side” to change his sister’s life and the lives of those around her, he shares secrets about the bliss and wonder to come in the afterlife. The fascinating, true story of her on-going, after death communication with her brother Billy is recounted in her book: The Afterlife of Billy Fingers: How My Bad Boy Brother Proved to Me There is Life After Death

Join Supernatural Girlz Patricia Baker & Becky Andreasson as they speak with author Annie Kagan about life after death. Annie, a chiropractor and songwriter living in Manhattan, abandoned her hectic city life in search of serenity in a small, secluded house by the bay. When her brother Billy died unexpectedly and began speaking to her from the afterlife, Annie agreed to accompany him on his journey through the mysteries of death. As Billy reaches from the “other side” to change his sister’s life and the lives of those around her, he shares secrets about the bliss and wonder to come in the afterlife. The fascinating, true story of her on-going, after death communication with her brother Billy is recounted in her book: The Afterlife of Billy Fingers: How My Bad Boy Brother Proved to Me There is Life After Death

TOPIC: Does Life Exist After Death?Dr. Annie Kagan is not a medium or a psychic, she did not die and come back to life; in fact, when she was awakened by her deceased brother, she thought perhaps she had gone a little crazy. In her new book THE AFTERLIFE OF BILLY FINGERS: How My Bad-Boy Brother Proved to Me There's Life After Death (March 2013, Hampton Roads) Kagan shares the extraordinary story of her after death communications (ADC) with her brother Billy, who began speaking to her just weeks after his unexpected death. Learn more about Annie and the book The Afterlife of Billy Fingers. –> www.anniekagan.com.One of the most detailed and profound ADC's ever recorded, Kagan's book takes the reader beyond the near-death experience. Billy's vivid, real-time account of his on-going journey through the mysteries of death is filled with transcendent wisdom, irreverent humor and hope.”This isn't a novel or a self-help book, it's a true story about life's biggest mystery; “what happens when we die?' ” states Kagan. The Afterlife of Billy Fingers demystifies death, confirms that love endures beyond death, and reveals the bliss and wonder that await us in the next world. This fascinating page-turner will forever change your views about life, death and the hereafter.ANNIE WILL REVEAL:The captivating story of how her brother first contacted her after his death.Her initial skepticism and why it took her years to share her story with others.Billy's profound description of the mystical realms he traverses.How Billy “proved” to his sister and her friends that he was real and talking to her from beyond.The difference between Shared Death Experiences and After Death Communications.Dr. Raymond Moody's explanation of “Walkers Between Worlds”.The many secrets Billy shares with his sister about life on earth.Why Billy felt it was important to let us know that no matter how we lived, we are loved.

exapme from the blog click links to read more from Neil. AUDIO from the bbc local radio - suplied from the internet/other podcasts and provided here simply incase you missed it. With the Wife with the Wife in Space Nuffink in ze world can stop us now! Except this story, obviously... A couple of hours before we settled down to watch The Underwater Menace, Sue and I appeared as guests on Bob Fischer's BBC Tees radio show to shamelessly plug this blog. You can listen to the edited highlights below (and Sue's PVC Dalek-suit anecdote was news to me!): Episode One Sue: That's just great. This story is going to star that ****ing hat. I hate that ****ing hat. We both enjoy the opening TARDIS scene, especially Jamie's reactions to the insanity he has walked into. There's a playful edge to the proceedings and a warmth we haven't really felt since the glory days of Ian, Susan and Barbara. We chuckle when Ben sarcastically hopes for the Daleks ("I bet the kids wouldn't have complained") while the Doctor's desire to encounter prehistoric monsters is dismissed out of hand ("not on this budget, love"). Me: Where do you hope they'll end up this time? Sue: Somewhere with decent carpentry. The TARDIS arrives on a beach and when Polly guesses at their whereabouts, Sue declares, in perfect harmony: Sue: Cornwall! It's always ****ing Cornwall! It doesn't take very long for our heroes to find themselves in danger: a platform they have been standing on is actually a lift, and as they hurtle beneath the sea, the TARDIS crew succumb to the bends. Sue: That's very interesting. Ben just asked Polly to get them out of there. He didn't ask the Doctor and he's standing right next to him. I don't blame Ben though; this Doctor is still pretty useless. When they regain consciousness, Polly finds some pottery with the logo for the 1968 Mexico Olympiad emblazoned on it, and then our heroes are confronted by a race of people dressed in clam shells and seaweed. Sue believes she has it sussed: Sue: Are they rehearsing for the Opening Ceremony? Their high priest even sports a fish on his head: Sue: Please tell me the Doctor doesn't get a hat like that. Just as Sue believes she has a handle on events, our heroes are strapped to some slabs and sadistically lowered toward a mad man's pet sharks. Sue: Is this a Bond movie now? Me: Yes. You Only Live 13 Times. Sue: Has this got anything to do with the Olympics? Anything at all? When the Doctor signs his name 'Dr. W', he reignites an old debate: Sue: You can't really argue with that, can you? That settles it: his name is Dr. Who. You'll just have to accept it, love. Me: Unless his real name begins with a W - Sue: Like Doctor Wibbly-Wobbly-Timey-Wimey? Would that make you feel any better? And does it really matter? I call him Dr. Who all the time - Me: Yes, I know. And every time you do it, part of me dies. When Professor Zaroff reveals that they are currently hanging out on the lost continent of Atlantis, Sue doesn't even flinch: Sue: Atlantis. Of course it's Atlantis. Where else would they be in this ****-ed up programme? So, it's James Bond on Atlantis? Gotcha. Thanks to those fainthearted Australians, the cliffhanger moves, although we find ourselves sympathising with the censor as Polly is strapped to a table and threatened with a large hypodermic needle by some evil scientists who want to turn her into a fish. Yes, a fish. Sue: I don't know what Polly is moaning about; I'd love to breathe underwater indefinitely. She could stick around and enter the 1972 Olympics. Mark Spitz would have nothing on her. Episode Two Me: How short is Polly's surgical gown - Sue: Trust you to notice that, love. The hot topic of conversation during this episode is Zaroff. Who else? Sue: He reminds me of that mad scientist from that show you love: Comedy Theater 2000 - Me: Mystery Science Theater 3000 - Sue: That's it. He reminds me of the mad scientist from that: an over-the-top pantomime villain. Me: Believe it or not, the guy playing him is actually a very fine actor - Sue: Oh, I don't doubt it. He's just having a laugh with the part. And who can blame him? How else would you play this character? His plan is completely pointless; there's no clever reason for him to do any of this, he just wants to blow up the world. There's no benefit or motive at all. Me: He's insane. Sue: It's lazy. With no motivation or backstory you have to play him as a larger-than-life lunatic. I like him; he's committed. He's definitely the funniest villain we've had in the series so far. When Ben and Jamie are taken to the mines of Atlantis, a high pitched whining cuts through the scene. We assume it represents the sound of the drilling but whatever it is, it's making our teeth itch. Sue: If we were 16 years old, we would hear that sound whenever we went near an off-license - Me: Have you warmed to Troughton yet? He's basically playing his version of the Doctor now. More or less. Sue: He reminds me of Ken Dodd in some of these stills. That one in particular (see right). The music doesn't help. It's atrocious. It sounds like they've let a small child loose on a Bontempi organ. This is the worst music that I've heard in the series so far. Who's responsible for it? Me: An Australian called Dudley Simpson - Sue: Sack him. He's rubbish. Episode Three Finally, after enduring thirteen consecutive recons (count them! thirteen!), we are reunited with a real bona fide episode. I never thought I'd ever hear myself say this but thank Amdo for The Underwater Menace Episode 3. Sue: Even though the story is still a complete mess, it's a thousand times easier to follow it when it exists. I don't want to state the bleedin' obvious but even the very worst story improves when you can actually see it. The recons I gave good scores to must have been incredible - The highlight of the episode for Sue is, of course, the sight of Jamie and Ben in tight-fitting rubber: Sue: Given the state of some of their costumes, they should have called this story The Underwear Menace. Me: I think the playwright Joe Orton mentioned this story in his diary. Or was it in Salmon Rushdie's The Satanic Verses? No, it must have been Joe Orton; he fancied Jamie in his rubber suit, I think. Or maybe it was Kenneth Williams. My memory is almost as bad as yours. Sue: Jamie and Ben wouldn't look out of place at that nightclub, Heaven. As if to accentuate this observation, Jamie and Ben suddenly launch themselves into the campest salute this side of 'Allo 'Allo. Sue: I'll say no more. Sue: Does Troughton ever go through a story where he doesn't play that bloody recorder? And are there any stories where he doesn't dress up at the drop of a hat (which he'll probably pick up and put on)? He's a borderline transvestite. Me: You might want to hold onto something during the next scene. We're about to meet the Fish People. Sue: They look like a second-rate dance troupe who are waiting to audition for Britain's Got Talent. They're probably going to do a up-tempo version of Yellow Submarine. A miner called Jacko attempts to turn the Fish People into striking militants. He does this by winding them up a bit. At one point he cries, "Are you not men?" and, quick as a flash, Sue replies: Sue: No! We're fish! What are you, blind? Hang on, is that Polly in a snorkel? Me: No, it's a Fish Person. Sue: They're having a laugh. And then it happens. Impossible to describe. Impossible to watch. Sue: This is the lowest point in Doctor Who yet. By some considerable margin. Please make it stop. Me: Is this worse than ? Sue: Oh yes, this is even more half-arsed. Me: It's like a perverse joke: you wait 13 episodes for a real episode and then you get this. Sue: I take it all back - this would have been much better as a recon. Something that really niggles at us is the Fish People's economic impact on Atlantis, which is based on the assumption that the food they farm must be consumed immediately: Sue: OK, let me get this straight: Zaroff has a nuclear reactor but he hasn't got a fridge - or, better still, a fridge freezer - to put any food in? That makes no sense at all. Me: This is your first proper look at Patrick Troughton. Have you formed an opinion yet? Sue: I feel a little more comfortable with him now that I've seen him in action. He's far more animated than I expected and he's definitely got charisma. There's something about him. Sadly, the director isn't doing him any favours so I'll have to reserve judgement until I've seen some more. And then we reach the moment The Underwater Menace is probably best known for. But immediately before it arrives - and I'd completely forgotten this - Zaroff stabs someone with a spear, he shoots someone at point-blank range and then he has two others killed off-screen. It's horrific! But it's completely eclipsed by what follows: Sue: Wow. It's so mesmerising, we have to watch it again. And again. And again. Sue: He's having a whale of a time. Me: I'm glad someone is. Episode Four Sue: I still can't believe he didn't bring some fridges with him. Still, I guess if you are planning to blow up the world you can't think of everything. You know, I think every episode of Doctor Who could be improved with a Zaroff. The only thing missing is a scene of him tearing his hair out as he screams, "Why am I surrounded by idiots!". Me: There's still twenty minutes to go. I wouldn't rule anything out. Sue: I like the way the show has kept to its educational remit. Me: What? Sue: Jamie is from the past and therefore he doesn't understand what radioactivity is. Some of the children watching this wouldn't know either - Me: Yeah, that's great. There's just one tiny problem: they don't explain it. Polly says she can't be bothered! Polly and Jamie are struggling to escape the rising waters of Atlantis: Sue: It's turned into a disaster movie now. Me: Oh, it's a disaster all right. Sue: Why is Polly wearing a fireplace corbel on her head? Me: I don't even know what that means. Thanks to those Aussie wimps, we get to see Professor Zaroff drown. Well, I say drown... Sue: That's not drowning! Zaroff has hours left before the water rises above his head! Maybe he was bored and he decided to commit suicide? The world saved, the Doctor and his companions leave the Atlantans to it. Sue: Why are they bothering to rebuild Atlantis anyway? Why don't they just move up to the surface? They've got fridges up there. And while they missed the 1968 Olympics, Mexico have got the World Cup in 1970. It would be a shame if they missed it. The Final Score Sue: That was bonkers. And a little bit shit. 2/10 Sue: Zaroff was excellent, though. I could watch him all day. I'm not convinced that he's dead either; I think he was just wetting his hair a bit. He should definitely return in the new series. The League of Gentlemen could play him. Me: What, all of them? The experiment continues. Tags: , , , , Click to share this

Part 2: You have sinnedJohn 8:1-11Music by Don FranciscoThe Duke and the DuchessEverybody Else but MeThere is no condemnation

Playlist 01.10.07 Suzanne Brooks - I Can't Give You Anything But Love Ashley Wool - You got Me There Maren Morris - Popular Girl Nina Jo Smith - Dreamcatcher Sue Merchant - Hey Drew Kelda - Special Christine Rachelle - Ring of Fire Sonya Heller - Before the Storm (I) Julian Cookie Cutter Girl - Jenny (I) Linq - Irish Lass (I) Mary Karlzen - Sun and Moon (I) Ember Swift - No Regrets Carrie Wade - It's Just Blood Chica y Los Gatos - Perfect Weather Poor Wendy - I'll Fly Away Bandmates - Pressure Eden Automatic - Russian Blue We're praying for perfect weather this weekend even as the Arctic Front stubbornly moves south. Seriously this global warming trend has got to stop. I have more sweaters than tank tops and am going to have to invest in more warm boots! We have a great show at Opening Bell Coffee (formerly Standard and Pours) set for Saturday, Jan 13th with Poor Wendy, Bandmates and Eden Automatic. There's plenty of hot coffee, wine and yummy food to keep you warm and we've got a taste of the music tonight!

Bedlam Bards have a new album and Brobdingnagian Bards were added to a Firefly documentary soundtrack. It's all in this week's show. Why I love Firefly? Songs: "The Ballad of Joss" by Bedlam Bards from On the Drift "The Fall of Serenity Valley" by Brobdingnagian Bards from Done the Impossible Soundtrack "Firefly Theme Song" by Marc Gunn Notes: How I found Firefly The Signal - A Firefly Podcast Done the Impossible - DVD Documentary on the Firefly Phenomena Firefly Fans Firefly DVDs The Ballad of Jossmusic by Joss Whedon, lyrics by James Hazlerig of the Bedlam Bards Joss, the man they call Joss . . . He wrote about spaceships and shepherds and whores,Stood up to the networks and gave 'em what for.Fox cancelled his program, but that was their loss--The creator of Firefly, the man they call Joss! Our Joss saw the viewers' hearts breakin',He heard the Browncoats' lament,He saw the Fox network takin',His show in a way that made no sense.(He said) "You can't do that to my program,Can't grind it under your heel."So he took all the cast,And now at last,They've landed a Big Damn Movie deal! He wrote about spaceships and shepherds and whores,Stood up to the networks and gave 'em what for.Fox cancelled his program, but that was their loss--The creator of Firefly, the man they call Joss! Now here is what separates Whedon,From writers who slave in the core,The man they call Joss,Well, he said to Fox,"I'm going where no show has gone before."He told us about reavers,He told us about sin,He took us to the black,And we ain't comin' back,'till all those crazy Browncoats rise again! He wrote about spaceships and shepherds and whores,Stood up to the networks and gave 'em what for.Fox cancelled his program, but that was their loss--The creator of Firefly, the man they call Joss! Now, here is what separates FireflyFrom other shows you're likely to see--It's meaningful and witty,And the setting's really gritty,And the theme song is about Serenity.It's a little like a western,And a little like X-Files,It's better than Trek,And funnier than Shrek,And it beats out Andromeda by miles! He wrote about spaceships and shepherds and whores,Stood up to the networks and gave 'em what for.Fox cancelled his program, but that was their loss--The creator of Firefly, the man they call Joss! Hero of Cantonfrom "Jaynestown" on the Firefly TV show Jayne, the man they call Jayne He robbed from the richAnd he gave to the poorStood up to the manAnd gave him what forOur love for him nowAin't hard to explainThe hero of CantonThe man they call Jayne Our Jayne saw the mudders' backs breakin'He saw the mudders' lamentAnd he saw the magistrate takin'Every dollar and leavin' five centsSo he said "you can't do that to my people"He said "you can't crush them under your heel"So Jayne strapped on his hatAnd in 5 seconds flatStole everythin' Boss Higgins had to steal He robbed from the richAnd he gave to the poorStood up to the manAnd gave him what forOur love for him nowAin't hard to explainThe hero of CantonThe man they call Jayne Now here is what separates heroesFrom common folk like you and IThe man they call JayneHe turned 'round his planeAnd let that money hit skyHe dropped it onto our housesHe dropped it into our yardsThe man they called JayneHe stole away our painAnd headed out for the stars He robbed from the richAnd he gave to the poorStood up to the manAnd gave him what forOur love for him nowAin't hard to explainThe hero of CantonThe man they call Jayne. Firefly Theme Songmusic and lyrics by Joss Whedon Take my love, take my landTake me where I cannot standI don't care, I'm still freeYou can't take the sky from meTake me out to the blackTell them I ain't comin' backBurn the land and boil the seaYou can't take the sky from meThere's no place I can beSince I found SerenityBut you can't take the sky from me...