POPULARITY
Categories
141 episodes with necessity
23 episodes with necessity
30 episodes with necessity
18 episodes with necessity
17 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
14 episodes with necessity
11 episodes with necessity
13 episodes with necessity
10 episodes with necessity
18 episodes with necessity
7 episodes with necessity
31 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
19 episodes with necessity
7 episodes with necessity
9 episodes with necessity
7 episodes with necessity
9 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
11 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
10 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
11 episodes with necessity
7 episodes with necessity
9 episodes with necessity
9 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
9 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
7 episodes with necessity
10 episodes with necessity
10 episodes with necessity
14 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
12 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
7 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
13 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
17 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
9 episodes with necessity
7 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
7 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
11 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
2 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
10 episodes with necessity
7 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
2 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
2 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
9 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
2 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
2 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
2 episodes with necessity
2 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
6 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
2 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
11 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
3 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
5 episodes with necessity
7 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
8 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
2 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
4 episodes with necessity
In this episode of the Game Deflators podcast, hosts John and Ryan discuss their recent game pickups, including horror titles and RPGs, and share insights on the gaming industry, including Sony's monetization strategies and the closure of Bluepoint Games. They also review Michael Jackson's Moonwalker, highlighting its gameplay and nostalgic value, while addressing broader industry trends and controversies in fast news segments. 00:00 Introduction to the Game Deflators Podcast 01:27 Recent Game Pickups and Discussions 06:00 Current Gameplay Experiences 10:12 Fast News and Industry Insights 24:53 The Necessity of Mini Games in Storytelling 27:50 Monetization Strategies for PS5 33:00 The Closure of Bluepoint Games 38:42 Michael Jackson's Moonwalker: A Retro Review Find us on TheGameDeflators.com Twitter - www.twitter.com/GameDeflators Facebook - www.facebook.com/TheGameDeflators Instagram - www.instagram.com/thegamedeflators The views and opinions expressed on this channel are solely those of the author. The content within these recordings are property of their respective Designers, Writers, Creators, Owners, Organizations, Companies and Producers. Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, teaching, scholarship, and research. Fair use is a use permitted. Permission for intro and outro music provided by Matthew Huffaker http://www.youtube.com/user/teknoaxe 2_25_18
In this follow-up episode of The Hacka Podcast, I am joined by Evangelist Simeon Costa to respond directly to the questions and pushback sparked by their previous conversation on baptism.- Does 1 Corinthians 1 mean baptism isn't necessary?- Is Romans 10:9 the only requirement for salvation?- What about the thief on the cross?- Was John's baptism the same as Christian baptism?Together, we walk carefully through Scripture—Acts, Romans, Corinthians, the Gospels, and more—addressing common objections while keeping the focus where it belongs: biblical context.This episode isn't about debate. It's about clarity. If you've wrestled with how baptism connects to salvation, grace, faith, and obedience, this conversation will help you think deeper and read Scripture more consistently.Extended show notes - https://hacka.org/2026/02/23/218-simeon-costa-answering-objections-to-the-necessity-of-baptism/——————Order Hacka Merch - https://the-hacka-podcast.myspreadshop.com/------------Listen to all episodes:Apple Podcasts - https://apple.co/3PRSYKUSpotify - https://spoti.fi/3zCUsUoFollow us on social:Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/thehackapod/Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/hackaorgTikTok - https://www.tiktok.com/@thehackapod#christianpodcast #apostolicpentecostal #churchleader
Pastor Seth continues our teaching series, Breakthrough.
In this episode of Humans of Agriculture, we dive deep into the innovative world of AMPS Agribusiness. Join us as we sit down with Tony Lockrey, a seasoned agronomist and leader who has dedicated decades to the fields of Northern New South Wales. Tony takes us "under the hood" of AMPS's unique, grower-led model that fast-tracks agricultural research from institutions directly into the paddock.We explore how AMPS has built a seamless ecosystem connecting research, agronomy, and commercial supply. Tony shares the fascinating story of Lancer wheat, a variety that became a regional powerhouse thanks to intensive, localised trials. Beyond the science, we discuss the evolving role of an agronomist, the importance of nurturing the next generation through a "job-first" education model, and the unparalleled value of a business owned and driven by the growers themselves.Chapter Markings[0:00] Introduction: AMPS Agribusiness and the Grower-Led Model.[1:15] Tony Lockrey's Evolution: From Technical Specialist to People Leader.[3:45] The Power of Relationships: When Customers Become Family and Shareholders.[5:10] Research in the Ute: Bringing the Lab to the Paddock.[7:20] Managing the Next Generation: Moving Out of the Way for Growth.[9:05] The Lancer Story: How Localised Research Accelerates Variety Adoption.[12:30] The "How-To" Grow Guide: Turning Data into Decisions in One Season.[14:15] The Origins of AMPS: A Response to Declining Institutional Research.[17:00] Commercial Synergy: Linking Supply, Procurement, and Paddock Outcomes.[19:40] Scientific Rigour: 30,000 Plots a Year and Statistical Significance.[22:15] Paddock Geography: Understanding Elevation, Frost, and Time of Sow.[25:30] Developing the "Agronomy Eye": Training the Future of Ag.[28:10] The Changing Face of Education: Work-First, Degree-Second.[31:00] Building a Safe and Cohesive Team Culture.[34:15] The Resilience of Australian Growers: Innovation Born of Necessity.[37:00] Pride in Cohesion: Six Branches, One Mission.[39:30] Upcoming Events: Winter Crop Reviews and Research Membership.
Following the miraculous crossing of the Red Sea, the Israelites find themselves in the wilderness—a place of disorientation, testing, and revelation. This sermon explores the "Wilderness" as an evergreen metaphor for the Christian life. It is the mandatory field trip between deliverance and the Promised Land, where our fickle hearts are exposed, and our faith is refined. As we enter the season of Lent and prepare for a congregational digital fast, we examine how the desert serves as a paradox: a place of intense danger and lack, but also the "God country" where miracles and spiritual power are found.Scripture ReferencesExodus 15:22–27: The waters of Mara and the transformation of bitterness.Exodus 16: The grumbling of the community and the provision of manna.Exodus 17:1–7: The striking of the rock at Horeb.1 Corinthians 10:4: Paul's identification of the Rock as Christ.Key PointsThe Paradox of the Desert: The wilderness is both a place of exposure and a place of divine intimacy. It is where visibility is low, familiar markers are gone, and we are forced to put one foot in front of the other.The Necessity of Testing: You cannot trust what has not been tested. The wilderness reveals the true contents of the heart. It is a place of "wrestling" with God, learning to navigate relationship without causing harm.The Teacher is Quiet: In the wilderness, the silence of God during the "test" is a primary challenge. However, promotion and spiritual clarity often lie on the other side of this silence.Fickleness and Unholy Nostalgia: We are prone to wander. Within days of a miracle, we resort to grumbling and "unholy nostalgia"—selectively remembering the "meat pots" of our past captivity while forgetting the chains.The Cross in the Wilderness: * The Tree at Mara: Just as the log made bitter water sweet, the Cross of Christ makes the bitter experiences of life drinkable.The Struck Rock: In a divine reversal, God stands upon the rock to receive the blow of judgment deserved by the grumbling Israelites. Christ is the spiritual Rock who was struck so that we might receive the water of everlasting life.ConclusionThere is no making it through the wilderness by trying harder or merely following rules. We must cling to the Cross. In the desert, pain is not the greatest danger; rather, the danger lies in where we turn for relief. If we turn to Christ, the one who was struck for us, we find that even the most desolate place is filled with His presence.Calls to ActionParticipate in the Digital Fast: Join the church-wide digital fast starting March 1st. Use the provided guide to redirect your focus from screens to God's voice.Identify Your Wilderness: Acknowledge where you are experiencing disorientation or testing. Stop "trying harder" and start clinging to the Cross.Resist Grumbling: Be mindful of the urge to complain or romanticize past sins. Practice gratitude for God's present provision, even when it is "manna" rather than "meat pots." Support the show*Summaries and transcripts are generated using AI. Please notify us if you find any errors.
I. Introduction: The Message and Mission of Victory Church Overview of the Victory Church podcast: teaching and worship messages. Church mission: reaching the lost, restoring the broken, reviving believers. Central theme: the faithfulness of God — His dependability, reliability, and trustworthiness. II. Understanding God's Faithfulness Our faith rests not on our faithfulness, but on God's proven record. Encouragement to know, memorize, meditate on, and live by the Word of God. God's faithfulness remains constant despite life's ups and downs. III. Lesson from 2 Chronicles 16:7–10 — King Asa and the Prophet Hanani The prophet (“seer”) rebuked Asa for relying on human power instead of God. The “eyes of the Lord” search the earth for loyal hearts to strengthen. Asa's foolish anger at correction serves as a warning against pride and spiritual resistance. IV. The Role of Prophets, Pastors, and Counselors God speaks through His servants to bring clarity and correction. The danger of isolation: believers need pastors, accountability, and spiritual community. The “one another” principles of the New Testament — loving, praying for, and encouraging one another. V. The Importance of Church and Unity Jesus Himself regularly attended worship. Countering cultural messages that say believers don't need church or pastors. The power of unity — believers praying, worshiping, and standing together. VI. Relying on God, Not Natural Thinking Asa's mistake: trusting human wisdom instead of divine guidance. Distractions and deception are the enemy's primary tools. The Word of God renews the mind and guards against subtle lies. VII. The Power and Necessity of the Word The Word is a hammer that breaks strongholds and transforms hearts. Sermons and Scripture are tools for shaping believers — not short motivational talks. The preaching of the Word remains essential even when unpopular. VIII. Staying Teachable and Humbly Receiving Correction King Asa's downfall was pride and resistance to counsel. Believers should remain humble, lifelong learners open to godly wisdom. Experience becomes true learning only when processed through the Word and wisdom. IX. God's Faithfulness and Our Loyal Hearts God seeks loyal, not perfect, hearts. Loyalty involves repentance, humility, and trust. God desires to show Himself strong for His people just as He has in the past. X. Bearing Fruit at Every Stage of Life Believers can bear fruit even in old age. Mentorship: older generations have wisdom to pass on to younger ones. Fruitfulness includes spiritual influence and discipleship, not just activity. XI. Conclusion: A Call to Worship and Renewal God's character is unchanging—He remains faithful even when we are faithless. Invitation to pray, worship, and recommit to trusting God. Affirmation that God continues to work, bless, and restore His people through His faithfulness.
Sunday, February 22nd, 2026
GS-STJO 02-22-2026AM - Series: Guest Speaker - Title: Ordination of James Wierson III - The Necessity of Being a Tender and Tough Shepherd - Scripture: II Timothy 2:14-18
The post The Necessity of Preachers appeared first on Trinity Bible Chapel.
ஜகாத்தின் அவசியம் மவ்லவி ரஹ்மத்துல்லாஹ் ஃபிர்தவ்ஸி | Rahmatullah Firdousi 20-02-2026, Jumma Masjidus Salam, Chennai
ஜகாத்தின் அவசியம் மவ்லவி ரஹ்மத்துல்லாஹ் ஃபிர்தவ்ஸி | Rahmatullah Firdousi 20-02-2026, Jumma Masjidus Salam, Chennai
Jonathan and Daryl Ruiter debate whether or not Caleb Downs would be a luxury pick for the Browns.
Send a textKeywordsparenting, young adults, life transitions, mental health, financial literacy, college readiness, therapeutic consulting, adulting skills, boundaries, independenceSummaryIn this episode of ABC's of Parenting Adult Children, James Moffitt speaks with Joanna Lilly, a therapeutic consultant, about the challenges parents face in supporting their young adult children during significant life transitions. They discuss the importance of financial literacy, the difference between being college capable and college ready, and the necessity of teaching essential life skills. Joanna emphasizes the need for parents to set boundaries and create plans when their children face setbacks, such as dropping out of college. The conversation highlights the complexities of parenting in today's world and offers practical strategies for fostering independence and resilience in young adults.TakeawaysJoanna Lilly is a therapeutic consultant working with young adults.Parents need to support their children during life transitions.Financial literacy is crucial for young adults.There is a difference between being college capable and college ready.Teaching life skills is essential for independence.Setting boundaries is important for parents.Young adults need to contribute to household responsibilities.A gap year can be beneficial for mental wellness.Parents should have a plan if their child drops out of college.Resilience is key to navigating life's challenges.Sound bites"We need to be a little more positive.""It's important to have a plan.""Life is hard, it's difficult."Chapters00:00 Introduction to Parenting Adult Children03:16 The Role of a Therapeutic Consultant05:58 Navigating Life Transitions for Young Adults08:46 Understanding Financial Literacy11:26 Signs of Young Adults Needing Support14:30 Building Life Skills for Independence17:17 The Importance of Communication and Support20:11 Humor in Parenting Challenges26:13 Navigating Daily Responsibilities26:38 Understanding College Capable vs. College Ready32:04 The Role of Gap Years in Mental Wellness33:43 Rethinking the Necessity of a Four-Year Degree41:17 Addressing College Dropouts and Setting Expectations48:21Richard Jones. I am an RN with over 34 years of Nursing Experience, much of that experience working with young adults in the corrections system. Hello, James here !Please click on the subscribe button to gain access to premium episodes.Please go to parentingadultchildren.org website and sign up for the email list and leave a review for this episode. If you have any requests for future topics send me an email to TalkPAC@proton.mePlease share this podcast with your friends and family. Now for today's guest interviSupport the showSocial Media Links https://www.youtube.com/@JamesMoffitt https://www.instagram.com/parentingadultchildren125/ https://www.tiktok.com/@chiefpropellerhead ABC's of Parenting Adult Children Facebook Page https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61581576308055 r/parentingadultchildren Feel free to subscribe to these channels and share the links with your social media portals.
Border Drone Threats, USMCA, and Venezuela. Evan Ellis discusses the closure of El Paso's airspace due to sophisticated cartel drones. He also highlights the critical necessity of renegotiating the USMCA to preserve Mexico'seconomy and cooperative security posture. Finally, he notes a surprising US military delegation visit to negotiate with Venezuela's Maduro regime. #71918 BELLEAU WOOD
In this episode, host Josh interviews James Thomson, Managing Partner of Equity Value Advisors, about scaling e-commerce brands, especially on Amazon. James shares practical advice for brand owners aiming to grow from seven to eight figures, emphasizing the importance of delegating tasks, building a competent team, and creating a three-year business plan. He discusses making brands attractive to investors, leveraging capital for faster growth, and focusing on brand equity and customer experience. The episode concludes with actionable takeaways for building teams, enhancing brand value, and strategic planning for long-term success and potential exits.Chapters:Introduction and Guest Background (00:00:00)Host introduces James Thomson, his background in e-commerce, Amazon, and advisory roles.Actionable Steps for Scaling from 7 to 8 Figures (00:00:58)James shares first steps: delegate tasks, free up time for strategic thinking, and focus on growth opportunities.The Power of Delegation and Building a Team (00:01:13)Discussion on outsourcing, hiring competent help, and multiplying business impact through effective delegation.Strategic Thinking and Long-Term Planning (00:04:04)Importance of spending time on big-picture questions: product expansion, new channels, and funding.Making Your Business Attractive to Investors (00:04:53)How to position your brand for investors, debunking myths about channel expansion, and identifying growth levers.Developing a Three-Year Business Plan (00:05:46)Necessity of a three-year plan, working backwards from growth goals, and evaluating new channels and products.Preparing for Channel and Category Expansion (00:07:03)Exploring requirements for retail and new categories, talking to experts, and assessing readiness for expansion.Securing Capital and Mindset Shift for Growth (00:09:01)Considering outside investment, selling equity, and the benefits of being part of a larger, faster-growing business.Investor Excitement: Key Growth Levers (00:10:46)What excites investors: clear three-year plans, actionable growth levers, and a roadmap for scaling post-acquisition.Three Actionable Takeaways for Brand Owners (00:12:33)Host summarizes: build and delegate to a team, focus on brand equity and customer experience, and create a multi-year growth plan.The Importance of a Three-Year Plan (00:15:04)James emphasizes three-year planning, aiming for aggressive growth, and preparing for a successful exit.Conclusion and Contact Information (00:16:30)James shares how to connect with him on LinkedIn; episode closes with thanks.Links and Mentions:Tools and WebsitesAmazon Seller CentralLinkedInKey Concepts and StrategiesDelegating Tasks: 00:01:13Three-Year Business Plan: 00:05:46Brand Equity: 00:13:13Actionable TakeawaysBuild Your Team: 00:13:13Focus on Brand Equity: 00:14:24Create a 3-5 Year Business Plan: 00:15:04Transcript:Josh 00:00:00 Today I'm really excited to introduce you all to James Thomson. James is the managing partner of Equity Value Advisors, advising brand executives and investors that are seeking guidance on how to accelerate e-commerce revenues and to align e-commerce and physical retail distribution and pricing strategies. Formerly, James was the chief strategy officer at Big Box Experts, a managed services agency supporting brand executive teams selling online, as well as private equity investors evaluating brands sold on Amazon. He has also served as the business head of Amazon Services, the division of Amazon responsible for recruiting tens of thousands of sellers annually to the Amazon Marketplace. He also served as the first fulfillment by Amazon Account Manager and prior to Amazon. James was a management consultant and retail banker. So with that introduction, James, welcome to the podcast.James 00:00:56 Thank you for having me today, Josh.Josh 00:00:58 On that note, James, I mean, we talked a lot about different strategies that people can be implementing to move from seven figures to eight figures and beyond. What would be like your actionable advice for them to say, hey, this is what I would do first, second, third.James 00:01:13 So the first thing I would do, we actually haven't talked about yet. First thing I would do is I would start to delegate tasks to people and clear up your plates so you can spend more of your time thinking about how to go and source better products, how to do more research to find those product gaps in your catalog that you can start to fill. How to start thinking about new channels that you might expand into. When I think of the day to day activities of what it takes to run an Amazon business, there's an awful lot of stuff that, quite frankly, we don't really like doing. You got to check reports. You got to check seller central. You got to check your inventory. You probably got to talk to your, three people if you've got one that's bringing products in from overseas. There's a lot of activities that need to be looked at. And I didn't even talk about, oh, you got to file 20 seller support tickets today. All that kind of stuff you need to be saying to yourself, even though I think I can do this better than anybody else in the world.James 00:02:08 The reality is, there's only so many hours in the day you need to go hire a VA or outsource this to a trusted colleague who, you know, make. Of course you know it's going to cost you money, but the money that you spend to have somebody do a lot of these repetitive tasks or tasks that you don't really like doing, that frees you up to do much higher value added stuff to drive your overall business. If you've got more time to be doing new product research and thinking through, okay, where is there opportunity for me to potentially expand my product line? where do I need to start thinking about culling out some of the products in my products? Because quite frankly, not all this stuff has turned out to be gold. You've got to have time to think through those bigger questions. And the only way to do that is to start outsourcing some of the mundane that comes with running an Amazon business. as you get better at outsourcing that and accepting the fact that, yeah, you know, this other person who's taking on these tasks may not be quite as amazing at doing it as I am, but quite frankly, I don't need amazing, I need confidence.James 00:03:10 And the more you can get competent help to help you with many of these tasks, the more time you free up to work on other types of activities. When my partner, business partner and I were running our Amazon agency, we did everything we put on every hat imaginable to run that business. And as we started to outsource certain tasks and get more comfortable with listen, we can outsource most of this stuff with high confidence to people, as long as we train them properly and we're patient and we get them up and running. All of a sudden we now had a multiplier effect. We have a multiplier effect. That's when the genius of being a business owner starts to really kick in. And yeah, you know, wouldn't you love to have five other people who is as strong and intelligent and good looking as you are to be there with you? I don't need that. I need 3 or 4 highly competent people in each of their specific areas to help me pursue different responsibilities so that I can go and tackle some of these bigger, long term questions.James 00:04:04 That's the stuff that really starts to matter, and that's the stuff where I get excited because I r...
The Consecrated Life - Part 6 February 18th 2026 - Wednesday Evening
Jacques and Jennifer continue their discussion about democracy from last week, coming back to the question of how we could imagine our political system to be truly democratic - to have a system in which we the people truly govern ourselves.Once again, the presenters critique the current system with two main parties presented by the media as the only way, as a sport in which two teams are in constant battle and too often about futile aspects of what really matters. Meanwhile the will of the people falls by the wayside on a number of important fronts whilst those who already have too much see their wealth increase exponentially.Ideas of David Graeber are discussed, including his insight that the ultimate truth of the world is that we are free to change it as we see fit, while moving towards more social and ecological justice and equality.ReferencesDavid Graeber 2024, The ultimate hidden truth of the world... Allen Lane (Penguin Books), Great Britain.David Graeber & David Wengrow 2021, The Dawn of everything: A new history of humanity. Allen Lane (Pengui Books), Great Britain.David Graeber 2015 , The Utopia of Rules: On Technology, Stupidity, and the Secret Joys of Bureaucracy Brooklyn. Melville House Publishing.
Karl Ferguson Jr. never planned to be a photographer. He picked up a camera because he was following his interest in the burgeoning Hip Hop Scene. Years later, his portraits of Black culture have appeared in Vibe, Billboard, and The Hollywood Reporter. In this conversation, Karl talks about what it really takes to build a creative life on your own terms, why he spent two decades at Verizon while quietly becoming one of the most sought-after photographers in entertainment, and what it means to be a visual historian when representation is still a fight. Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Karl Ferguson and the "Visual Historian" 02:20 From The Bronx to the Music Industry 04:02 Picking Up the Camera Out of Necessity 06:26 The First Byline: Validation from Vibe Magazine 08:32 Mastering the Art of Networking and Relationships 15:07 The Responsibility of the Visual Historian 17:07 Creating Intimacy in Celebrity Portraiture 23:31 Building Community at The Grand Studio 25:48 Demystifying the Role of the Digital Tech 31:40 Breaking the Starving Artist Myth: The Verizon Years 43:40 The Importance of Personal Work and Creative Play 49:55 Redefining Success Through authentic Connection Connect with Karl: Follow Karl on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/karlfergusonjr Karl's website: https://www.karlfergusonjr.com/ Support the Show Website: http://www.martineseverin.comFollow on Instagram: @martine.severin | @thisishowwecreate_ Subscribe to the Newsletter: http://www.martineseverin.substack.com This is How We Create is produced by Martine Severin. This episode was edited by Daniel Espinosa. Podcast show art is designed by Violetta Encarnación. Music by Timothy Infinite. Subscribe wherever you get your podcasts Leave a review Follow us on social media Share with fellow creatives
I. The 2 Biblical Requirements of True Spirituality: The placement in Galatians is critical - Chapter 6 is the culmination of all that Paul has said. He said a lot! 1. Being Saved because God's grace - Galatians 1:6-10 2. Being a Servant because of God's Love - Galatians 2:20 3. Being Impacted by God's Spirit - Galatians 3:1-3 4. Being Led by/Walk by God's Holy Spirit - 5:13-26 5. Being Burden Bearers - 6:1-10 II. The “One Another's of Galatians 5: Setting up ch. 6 1. Galatians 5:13 - Through love serve one another 2. Galatians 5:15a - Don't bite and devour one another 3. Galatians 5:15b - Or you will be consumed by one another 4. Galatians 5:26 - Don't become conceited (which leads to) provoking one another, envying one another 5. Galatians 6:1 - Romans 15:1; I Thessalonians 5:14-15; Hebrews 12:12-13; “Watch” - Greek word meaning continual, diligent attentiveness 6. Galatians 6:2 - See 5:14; Matthew 22:34-40! 7. Galatians 6:3-4 -“test” is to approve of something after testing. Is our spiritual life strong enough to assist others? 8. Galatians 6:5 - We can carry someone's burden; We cannot carry their consequences (we are impacted by the consequences of others, but we cannot take their place) 9. Galatians 6:6 - 10. Galatians 6:7-8 11. Galatians 6:9-10
Gary is interviewed by UK Pastor Alex Gillan about biblical eschatology and fulfilled prophecy. Gary points out that every Christian is a preterist of some kind, because their faith depends on events that Jesus fulfilled—in the past. Past fulfillment is not a strange addition to Christianity; the Christian faith is founded upon past events being fulfilled.
In this engaging conversation, Bobbi and Nina Tulio explore Nina's journey in the beauty industry, from her early aspirations to become a hairstylist to her eventual success as a salon owner and industry leader. They discuss the importance of mentorship, the challenges of pricing and leadership, and the personal relationship with money that many in the industry face. Nina shares her turning point when she hit rock bottom financially and how she turned her business around through accountability and hard work. The conversation emphasizes the value of learning from failures and encourages future generations to embrace opportunities in the beauty industry. In this conversation, Bobbi and Nina Tulio explore the beauty industry, emphasizing the importance of self-belief, realistic expectations for new stylists, and the necessity of honest conversations about challenges in the field. They discuss pricing strategies, the significance of regular assessments, and the various salon structures available. Nina shares valuable advice for new stylists entering the industry, highlighting the importance of mentorship and leadership in fostering a successful career in beauty. Takeaways Nina always wanted to have her own space in the beauty industry. She faced significant challenges, including going broke during the recession. Pricing is a major concern for many salon owners and stylists. It's important to have a healthy relationship with money to succeed in business. Nina emphasizes the need to fail up in order to succeed. She learned valuable lessons from her mentors that shaped her career. Accountability was a pivotal moment in her journey to recovery. Nina encourages others to pursue their dreams despite challenges. The beauty industry offers numerous opportunities for growth and success. Social media often presents a distorted view of success in the industry. There has to be a real deep rooted sense of self belief. New stylists need to set realistic expectations for their journey. Honest conversations about the industry are crucial. Pricing strategies should be based on facts and data. Regularly reassessing prices is essential for business health. Choosing the right salon structure depends on your capacity to serve others. Listening to your gut is vital when making career decisions. Not everything that looks appealing on social media is practical. Education and mentorship are key for new stylists. Healthy commission salons are necessary for industry sustainability. Chapters 00:00 Introduction and Background 03:01 Journey into the Beauty Industry 06:03 Transition to Salon Ownership 09:05 Current Role and Industry Impact 11:53 Challenges in Pricing and Leadership 14:48 Personal Relationship with Money 18:05 Turning Point and Accountability 21:07 Lessons Learned and Moving Forward 24:14 Encouragement for Future Generations 29:04 Embracing Self-Belief in the Beauty Industry 30:02 Setting Realistic Expectations for New Stylists 33:13 The Importance of Honest Conversations in Beauty 34:15 Understanding Pricing Strategies in the Beauty Industry 37:04 The Necessity of Regular Price Assessments 41:48 Choosing the Right Salon Structure 47:46 Advice for New Stylists Entering the Industry 49:31 The Journey of Becoming a Beauty School Owner www.beautyschoolbobbi.com www.beautyandstylenetwork.com www.ninatulio.com Follow Beauty and Style Network: @beautystylenet Beauty School Bobbi: @beautyschoolbobbi Nina Tulio: @ninatulio
John 3:1-15 Why do we need to be born again? The Nature of New Birth How are we born again? The Narrative of New Birth What is the story of those who are born again? How do you celebrate birthdays? The Necessity of New Birth
Gissele: [00:00:00] Hello and welcome to The Loving Compassion Podcast with Gissele. We believe that love and compassion have the power to heal our lives and our world. Don’t forget to like and subscribe for more amazing content. Today Gissele: we’re talking about coming back together after estrangement, and I have my good friend, Iona Sky, who is a globally recognized social worker, consultant, and educator whose work is rooted in compassion and systemic change. For over two decades, they’ve helped organizations transform policies and cultures through equity, inclusion and accessibility strategies. Gissele: Iona inspires leaders and students alike to see compassion, not just as a value, but as a powerful tool for justice. Please join me in welcoming my good friend. Hi Iona. Iona: Hi Gissele. Thank you for having me here. Gissele: Oh, you to be a part Iona: of this. Gissele: Thank you for being on the show and I’m so grateful to be able to chat with you. Gissele: I mean, you and I have worked together for many years in the field of child welfare and [00:01:00] we did as we were talking off camera, we did some transformative work around the voices of children and the voices of families and how to work in more empathetic and compassionate ways. You were talking a little bit in your story about estrangement that happened between yourself and your parents, ’cause you’re part of the LBTQ community . Gissele: I was wondering if you could share a little bit about Helped you make the decision to come back together Iona: Mm-hmm. Thank you for that question. When people see me and my my mother now, my dad passed nine years ago you know, I think they would, they would be very surprised to hear perhaps that, we did not have any contact for seven years and that that was purely based on, who I am as a person, my sexual orientation, and what my parents’ journey in understanding and what their story was. Iona: So seven [00:02:00] years of no contact and I got married, my partner had a son, all of these things. And it was actually at my brother’s engagement party. When I was invited, I went by myself and I saw my parents and from across the room after seven years and I looked at them and I, wow. Iona: And I. I remember looking at them and seeing how they had aged in seven years. And in my heart, I was sad that I didn’t get to be a part of that experience. And I thought to myself, I miss them and I don’t wanna continue in this way. And so I went and gave them a hug and said Hi. And then I went and sat with my sister, and, we didn’t really talk, I don’t [00:03:00] think much that day. Iona: And then it was a series of really slow steps my brother’s wedding. Slowly starting to communicate via email. And then because my parents they weren’t living in Canada at that time for for periods of time. And so I decided to go and see them and spend some time back home after I separated from my ex-wife because I needed to go back home and just get rooted again. Iona: Mm. And, and I remember being very nervous. ’cause I’m like, whew, okay, how’s this gonna go? Right? Yeah. ’cause not only have I not seen them, you know, I haven’t been home for a long time. And I saw them at the airport and it was like old times. you know, my family, Iona: We don’t talk about emotions, [00:04:00] we don’t talk about this kind of stuff, right? Mm-hmm. And, but we show, so for me it’s been learning especially with my son, talk about emotions, those kinds of things. We show us reactions, right? And so, you know, through cooking, through care, through those kinds of things. Iona: And so that’s how I knew we were slowly rebuilding that relationship. And it takes time, right? And it also takes navigation of of your own boundaries also. And what’s healthy and what’s not, right? How much time, how much space will help you maintain that healthiness, you know? Iona: Mm-hmm. Because I had to have boundaries as well with how much time do I go and spend, because in the beginning it was just me. And so I had to still, you know, dichotomize my life and not talk about my life. And it was only, in the past few years you know where my mom has gotten to know my [00:05:00] partner, my son, where I can live my full life with my family. Iona: I can say this, that Iona: the one thing we cannot stop in our life is time. We can’t stop time, we can’t get it back, you know, and if I would have time with my father on this earth, I would’ve perhaps had some more conversations with him. But it’s okay, because I have it with him on the other side. Gissele: Hmm. Iona: And that’s, sometimes no matter what you believe in, however, what, whoever, whatever, if you believe in anything, trying to find your peace, right. Iona: Your peace through a compassionate way. And, it’s an ongoing journey, so, right. Like, I’m not arrived, you know, I would love to see I’ve arrived but it continues to be small steps. Right. Gissele: Yeah. Thank you for sharing that. So in order for you to get to the point where you could invite even just the [00:06:00] reconciliation, was there a level of forgiveness that needed to happen for yourself and for your parents? Iona: Mm-hmm. I think for both. You know, I think for both. Because once again, we both have our stories, right? Mm-hmm. And I’m sure that my parents were hurt profoundly, and that’s their journey. I don’t own their hurt, right? Iona: Mm-hmm. Yeah. ’cause that’s their journey of their lost hopes, their lost dreams, their whatever it is, right? And for me, I’ve reframed it. I tried to reframe it for them. It’s not lost, it’s just different. Just looks different. Just looks different than what you imagine. I live a full life with a loving partner, a beautiful son, a beautiful home with my two dogs. Iona: when you think about those things, right, like what parents dream about a success, right? To have a good family, a good life. I have those things. Iona: I just wanna say that forgiveness is an ongoing journey [00:07:00] because also. what I’ve realized about my brain is that my brain has been traumatized by significant events in my life, right? And the disowning was a significant event in my life. And so there are things that I don’t remember or that come to me as I get older. Iona: And so in the sense that forgiveness is an ongoing journey, and I’m sure that it is from my parents as well. Gissele: Hmm. Yeah. Yeah. Thank you. in order for you to be able to have some sort of reconciliation, you had to deal with your internalized homophobia. Gissele: Can you talk a little bit about that and that journey? Iona: Mm-hmm. Mm-hmm. Absolutely. So my parents are from India. I identified as a outgoing, I’m from Gowa. Iona: I give that context, right, because India was colonized. I grew up, in a family but strong Catholic [00:08:00] faith. I grew up not seeing any images. Iona: Or any representation of L-G-B-T-Q identities. Mm-hmm. we didn’t really talk about, you know, being gay, being queer, being lesbian, and the only times that we did it was in a way that was derogatory and, if there were people who we thought might be part of the community, it was always like people spoke negatively about them. Iona: Right. Yeah. and also back home, it’s illegal. And so mm-hmm. To me, you know, like it’s against the law. And so I grew up with a strong sense that it’s not okay to be gay, and also there’s no, no words in our language, in Conquer for the word gay, lesbian, like, you know? Gissele: Hmm. Iona: And so I had no exposure and so, it’s that whole, cliche, I always knew I was different kind of thing. Yeah. But not recognizing, what that might be. And so when I came to Canada and started in [00:09:00] university to be exposed to different communities and identities and, you know, it can be such a formative time for folks and for me it was also being exposed to different people and that I had never been exposed to and starting to understand myself in different ways. Iona: And I had huge internalized struggles learning that growing up, thinking, oh my God, being gay was bad. To now going, oh my God, I think I’m gay. And then going, oh my God, what is that going to mean? Like, am I gonna lose people? Like, am I gonna be in trouble? what’s wrong with me? Iona: And I also saw people in the queer community and university, but they were all white. Mm-hmm. so as I was working through my internalized homophobia, you know, I tried to find space in the queer community, which was predominantly white. Iona: So then I [00:10:00] had to experience racism. Gissele: Yeah. Iona: And it was that living in liminal spaces, right. Not really belonging in either space and so I had really had to process through, you know, and for me, I’m the kind of person who I have to feed my brain before I feed my heart Gissele: Mm-hmm. Iona: And so for, for me, it helped me to learn about, the history of sexual orientations and gender identity in my culture’s pre colonization. And how we were welcomed, you know, we’ve existed from time immemorial. Gissele: Mm-hmm. Iona: And it’s only colonization that’s come and hap and said, okay, no, it has to be male and female, this and that and that, and all of that. Iona: Right. And so it was the finding some roots. Mm-hmm. Finding community, but you know, you take the best. With All right. Yeah, Gissele: yeah, yeah. Iona: [00:11:00] And but have I arrived, Gissele, once again, it’s my own ideal. I, I question my own internalized racism, homophobia internalized ableism every day, right? Iona: It’s an ongoing process. Gissele: It’s interesting how in, in colonization, all the fundamental things that make us caring human beings sort of got eliminated. living in communities generosity, equality, empathy you know, and compassion acceptance, inclusion, all of those things. Gissele: Sort of like, it’s almost like we divorced from ourselves, right? We became so separate from who we really are in ourselvesthat led to the propagation of colonization, which is. Really, really interesting. And I think now we’re in the process as humanity to come back to ourselves and to each other. Gissele: Because when I think about, we don’t live in community anymore. our communities are like our nuclear family, if you may. But when you think about caregiving, in [00:12:00] the olden times when we lived in sort of like villages, there was the grandparents and the kids and the grandparents usually took care of the kids, which makes them younger. Gissele: And then the older people would do lots of different things. And so, and we sort of lost that connection. We’ve sort of created all this space between us Iona: Yeah. Gissele: our communities were so small, I don’t think that, that kinda separation would’ve been possible. Iona: Exactly. Exactly. And that is just it Gissele, we have become so separate because that is part of colonization with. Tied to capitalism, right. And it is about, mm-hmm. Yeah. Iona: it’s about creating classes of income. It’s about who can achieve I grew up in a collectivist culture, you know, my humanity is tied in yours to self, you know, and that is what drives everything that I do. And I will offer a reframe that it was olden times in here, but in other parts in the world, it still exists. Iona: Right? And so how do we bring [00:13:00] this community of compassionate care together in a new way, right? Because you’re right, like. I just returned from Nunavut, you know, and from Ranking Inlet and Cambridge Bay. And, you know, you can see the sense of community there, the sense of caring there, the sense of connection. Iona: And then it is, it is rooted in their values. it is not only. Because of who they are, but it was the necessity. Yeah. Necessity that they had to care, led to be together. Right. Because of the land. Mm-hmm. And the landscape. And, and so what I would love to see is for Iona: for us to find that urgency of necessity to be together and to care, care for one another. Gissele: Mm-hmm. ‘ Iona: cause until we find that necessity where your humanity is tied up [00:14:00] into mine, we’ll just continue on with this dominance. Right. Iona: With the same, the same tyranny of time that I talked about a little bit earlier on in a different meeting. Gissele: Yeah. Iona: Which pulls that compassion away from us. Gissele: Mm-hmm. Yeah, and we can’t be in survival mode and be in compassion. We can’t be in fear being in love. It makes it really, really difficult. And so, you know, I always think of the colonizer. Gissele: I’m like, what must their life have been like that they needed that, that they felt like they didn’t have enough? So it’s always more and more and more and more like, having to fill that empty hole, right? With more money, with more things and more materials and more land. it just, it’s never enough. Gissele: But I find when you’re trying to fill it with stuff that doesn’t fit there, it’s just, it’s a pit, it’s a never ending filling. Iona: Yeah. Absolutely. Yeah. I know. I’ve often wondered that too, right? I would love to go back in time and listen to their stories. Gissele: Right. And try to understand. Gissele: Yeah. And you [00:15:00] mentioned listening to stories, and I think for me, curiosity is the stepping stone to compassion, right? I’m trying to understand your story and so the more I listen to you, the more I understand. and, you know, I’m a big lover of Louise Hay, which is like, everybody’s doing the best they can with the understanding, knowledge and awareness that they have at the time they have. Gissele: Yeah. Right. For some people, their story makes sense to them, even if it’s just a justification, right? Iona: Yeah, absolutely. And, you know, what you have just said on is the essence of where I am at this point in my life, I truly believe that people do the best that they can at the point in their life with the resources that they have, just as my parents did, you know, just as I did. Iona: Just as I do. Yeah. As I say to my son, I’m an imperfect person, you know, and please have patience with me as I have patience with you. Right. Gissele: Yeah. and it’s amazing Like, I wasn’t taught that parents could be [00:16:00] questioned. Right? And so for me to be able to be honest with my children and say, I’m not always gonna get it right. Gissele: I don’t always know what I’m doing. Please forgive me. I’m sorry that I hurt you. It’s such a like, departure from my parents, right? Because there’s a lot of denial and there’s a lot of oh, this isn’t true, it hasn’t happened. And so to be able to actually do that for our children I can’t remember where I heard it, but this is sort of like these generations are the ones that are re-parenting themselves and at the same time trying to parent the next generation. Gissele: And that’s how I feel. I relate to that to have to address all my fears, my limitations, my thinking, my trauma, my biases, so that it stops with me and it doesn’t get transferred to my children and their children’s children and so on. And so. The willingness to be able to do that even so it’s difficult, it’s necessary. Iona: Yeah, absolutely. That I felt that in my heart, Gissele because Gissele: mm-hmm. Iona: Yeah. I really feel like I’m trying to reparent [00:17:00] myself and do things differently so that certain things end with me and don’t get passed to my boy. You know? I want lots of good things to get passed to my boy. Gissele: Yeah, yeah, for sure. Iona: But not the difficult trauma, the impacts of those, Things. And also the intergenerational stuff. Right. And that’s the compassion I think we can have for our ancestors as well. Because, I stand before you and sit before you as a representation of those who came before me, just as you do with you. Iona: Right. And so how can we carry on that? That torch and those values that, you know, that we’re sharing today and moving it forward. Because I think, you know, I think the world needs a little bit more compassion and love and light and Gissele: empathy. Iona: Empathy. Gissele: Yeah, definitely. I was thinking about, as you were talking about how I’ve had to really shift my perspective on my [00:18:00] ancestors. Gissele: I was very mad at my ancestors. ’cause there was a lot of trauma passed down. There was a lot of like neglect, there was a lot of abuse, there was a lot of poverty. There was so many different things. And so I think when I was younger there was an aspect of me of like, why couldn’t you get their, your HIT together? Gissele: Yeah. So that my parents weren’t so traumatized when they raised me. Now I have a different perspective it’s interesting once I sat down with my dad and he was telling me the history of all the things that they went through and they managed to survive. They managed to survive the war. Gissele: They managed to survive poverty. They managed to survive deep, deep trauma. And so it gave me a new perspective around how can I have appreciation for their strengths? How can I acknowledge the strength they gave me? How can I acknowledge the resiliency they gave me? How can I acknowledge all of the history in a way that comes from a place of gratitude rather than from a place of judgment? Iona: Yeah. Gissele: Yeah. And so, and I, and as I go through my own journey of healing my own trauma and doing all of that, I see how difficult. It is, I [00:19:00] see how, how dynamic it can be and feel and how much courage it, it even took I mean, when you’re in the middle of the war, you’re not thinking, I really gotta deal with my trauma. Gissele: You’re just, you’re just coping. You gotta live right. I you gotta live. so I’m so proud of my ancestors for having survived so much and for everything that got me here. Right? Yeah. But I, I didn’t always feel that way. Iona: Yeah. and that’s humble of you to say Gissele, right? Iona: and I think that that’s part of also our development and our growth is people, right? Is how do we come to understand it. Because yeah, like there were times I was angry too and you know, I come to see that they. They have all done their own healing work in their own ways. Right. Iona: Whatever that is, which has cumulatively helped me reach this point where I can sit in this room in Canada, have this conversation with you. Yeah. It was unimaginable to me as [00:20:00] a child in Bahrain. So, you know, I thank you for this opportunity. So, yeah. Iona: You know Gissele: for sure. And I’m, I’m so grateful that you were here. Gissele: I wanted to go back to you had said that, you had to go through your own process of dealing with your internalized homophobia. What things really helped you to be able to do that for yourself? Iona: Well, the first thing is finding a community was huge. So finding resources, finding support, because once again, there’s nothing like being with people who are, in the same situation, you know? And finding somebody to help you process things through. Iona: So of whether it’s a counselor, whether it’s your I mom, or whether it’s your, whoever it is, you know somebody who is knowledgeable in dealing and helping people to process through, their [00:21:00] internalized homophobia. I’ve had people who did it well and people who did not. Mm-hmm. So I’ve learned from both. Iona: And also now we are in the time and the space, Gissele, we have so much access to information. Right. Like, I was out in the nineties, like in the nineties, we didn’t have Google, we didn’t have podcasts, we didn’t have, or Gissele: TikTok Yeah. Iona: Or TikTok or those things connects millions and millions of Gissele: people. Iona: Yeah. Or those kinds of things. Right. So there are lots of resources out there. Find ones though that feed your soul. And now, there is also representation from folks in the L-G-B-T-Q-Q community from different identities, you know, who are racialized, who are, when you think about intersectionality of, of identities. Iona: And I think that that is, was also a really huge thing for me, which I did not. Experiences people with a good understanding of intersectionality and how all the different parts of [00:22:00] me impact my experience of homophobia and internalized homophobia. And so, you know, finding resources that speak to you as a person. Gissele: Can you just tell my audience what intersectionality is for some of them that we’re not gonna know what that means? Iona: Yeah. Great. So intersectionality is a term that was coined by Dr. Kimberly Crenshaw, and it is used to describe how intersecting forms of oppression impact on people. Iona: So when I say intersecting forms of oppression, so if you look at me, I experience on an average day, when I go out in the world, I can experience racism because of the color of my skin. I can experience homophobia because of my sexual orientation. I can experience transphobia because of how I dress and present in the world and my gender identity. Iona: I can also experience ableism because I live [00:23:00] with different forms of invisible disabilities. So when you take all of those things together. They, they don’t work in silos because I say when I enter the room, I’m not just Brown Iona or, you know queer Iona. I’m Iona in all of the pieces that I am. So intersectionality is how all of those forms of isms work together and impact on people. Iona: And so when I think about, supports for people who, might be coming out, might be experiencing their own internalized homophobia the first thing I want to say to you, to the people who are out there who might be listening is that you are beautiful and perfect just the way you are. Gissele: Yes. Iona: And that you know, you belong in this world, in society exactly how you are and [00:24:00] that you are worthy of love, of safety, of joy, and to live a life where you not just survive, but where you thrive. And there’s a resurgence of a lot of homophobia, a lot of transphobia. Iona: I was just saying to my partner the other day, you know, I can’t believe I’m still fighting over the same fight and protests like 25 years later about people who are protesting the existence of our lives. You know? And so so to be mindful of what you also expose yourself to with social media mm-hmm. Iona: Because it does impact on your brain and your wellbeing. And to find your places and your pockets of safety and hope find your communities because they’re out there. Gissele: Hmm. Oh, thank you. That was wonderful. You know, it’s interesting [00:25:00] that. The world is so vast and people’s perspectives are so different, right? Gissele: That there’s still people who think it’s a choice. And I remember our mutual friend that, you know, he would tell me like, why would I choose this? Why would I choose to not belong? it would be just so easy for me to make this choice versus this other choice. And so it’s not anything that I would be choosing because I don’t wanna choose to be different. Gissele: Everybody wants to belong, right? That’s just our RN innate nature . But you know, from my perspective, God source universe never makes a mistake. And so we are all perfect, we’re all beautiful. We may make choices that are maybe not so loving sometimes, but we always have the ability to come back to our true selves, which is from my perspective, our original most compassionate selves. Gissele: But yeah, it’s interesting. and I don’t know if I’ve shared this with you, I’ve heard the best reasoning behind. Homophobia and all, actually all isms. Iona: Oh, okay. Tell me, tell me. Gissele: So it’s from have you heard of the comedian? Iona: Oh yeah. [00:26:00] Gissele: Yes. they then had said in an interview and I loved it. Gissele: they were talking about the acceptance of trans people. And they mentioned the fact that the reason why some people struggle with that is because they, them are being the most authentically themselves. Gissele: And in a world where we don’t like authenticity, where we’re so terrified of it, when we’re not allowed to be our authentic self, Iona: it’s Gissele: threatening. It’s threatening to see people being authentically themselves. ’cause then do we have them to be authentic ourselves and it shines a light on us when we are not being authentically ourselves. Gissele: It took a while for me to figure out where I was being authentic and where I wasn’t Like how many things did I think I had to have, like the marriage and the specific job and the specific income and the specific car and the type of house and all of that stuff. Gissele: How much was it something that I was conditioned to accept as something I should want versus how much is [00:27:00] it that my soul really wants? the worst part is I wasn’t aware that that. There was a different me, a little me that was screaming to come out and say, you know, those things don’t really resonate with us. Gissele: I wanna do this, I wanna do that. I wanna play, I wanna be joyful. I don’t wanna care about how much money I make. I don’t wanna care about the things that people told me that I should care about. Iona: Yeah. Gissele: And so that is sort of the journey and coming home to ourselves and doing things that s authentically align with your higher self, your joyful self. Gissele: Right. I never thought I’d be doing a podcast. this brings me extraordinary joy. This is me, this is who I am. You know, and all the things that I’m doing right now are things that bring me incredible joy. I don’t know if it’s on the recording, but you were talking about how you never thought you were gonna stay in child welfare two years and then I’m out. Yeah. For me it was the reverse. I had wanted to work in child welfare since I was 15. I appreciate that. Iona: Yeah. Gissele: I thought I was gonna live and die in child welfare. Gissele: I [00:28:00] thought if this is my dream, this is me rescuing myself and my mother, and my family, my ancestors, you know, I’m gonna revolutionize child welfare and then it’s all gonna be good. And then to think that I’m doing something totally different. It was not in my bingo card. Gissele: Yeah. Right. But that’s when you start to connect with more of your authentic self and say, okay, who am I really? And what do I really love? What do I really want to do? And in a world where you are punished for not conforming, it feels very difficult. Mm-hmm. And it, and I don’t think it’s purposeful, but as I’m co-writing a, a book with my daughter I did my first book re-Imagining Work. Gissele: Yeah. And now we are doing re-imagining education. We don’t realize how in the education system system we are reinforcing consciously or subconsciously the belief that difference is bad because there has to be one right answer. Mm-hmm. There’s only one way to do things. And so diversity is not welcome. Iona: That’s Iona: in Iona: systems. Gissele: Yeah. Right? Yeah. Yeah. But it [00:29:00] starts when they’re very little. Yeah. Iona: Yeah, yeah, Gissele: yeah. Iona: Oh, absolutely. Gissele: And so how do we educate our children to be open to diversity and to differences and to sit in the gray and to be more critical thinkers? Gissele: I wanted to, to ask you a question about your work, because this is something that I’ve observed and so I wanted you to comment on it. Gissele: there’s many organizations that wanna do the DEI work that wanna bring, you know, the representation, inclusivity, but they don’t do the work to cultivate the ground. And so when they bring in the people, you’re setting them up to fail. Yep. Can you talk a little bit about that and how do we help these organizations Gissele: Establish the ground? Iona: Yep. Great question because I have worked with many folks who want to do the right thing, increase diversity, increase representation, all of those good things, right? But it has to be done in a thoughtful way, in a thoughtful and strategic way because I always say that it’s very easy to hire to get diversity, but it’s the retention. It’s [00:30:00] whether people stay. And so this is where it requires leadership to create the climate where people can join and where people feel a sense of belonging, contribution, and inclusion. So not just, we have a racialized person. Iona: Oh, we have a whatever person, right? How do they feel? A sense of belonging? How do they feel that, their voice is being heard? So what leaders can do is create the groundwork right from the beginning, right on. And the fact that this is work that the organization is going to be doing to hire folks from different communities, different identities. Iona: Talk about why that’s important. Tie it in to your organizational goals and outcomes and and prepare your organization and staff in the sense of not making it about the [00:31:00] person, oh, Iona is coming, but about the organization and the growth and the direction we want to go in. Gissele: Mm-hmm. Iona: Because I have been in organizations where people have hired me and that’s great. They want me, but then. When I get in there, I’m like, okay, so you want me, but you don’t necessarily want my ideas. And like, like what work has been done here to get ready to create spaces and places where people can have different conversations, are open to, various perspectives. Iona: Right. Yeah. And you said something really important around children and education And where, where do these conversations start? They start at the kitchen table. They start when you tuck your kid in at bedtime. And if they don’t start there, then they start at university. Iona: They start When I’m sitting with somebody who is 70 years old and we’re having a conversation, it can start. You know? Mm-hmm. That’s the beauty of humanity and of growth. [00:32:00] We can grow and learn anytime. but if you’re looking at it for, from an organizational perspective, there are certain tangible things that leaders can do to get spaces ready. Iona: So that people can not only exist and join your organization, but they can thrive there. Because when you look at your data and if you see people coming in and leaving shortly after that tells me that y’all have work to do in creating places that demonstrate true inclusion. Gissele: Yeah. I love that. I appreciate that. Yeah. I wanted to go back to your journey of reconciliation after estrangement and talk a little bit, about your partner’s journey it must have been really challenging and, and so I’m just, I’m curious you must have had to kind of balance the relationship with your partner and also the relationship with your parents in a way that led to the reconciliation. Gissele: how [00:33:00] difficult was it to manage and were there things you found that helped? Iona: What helped the most, I think is that my partner is the pillar of patience. Gissele: Hmm. Iona: Because that could have broken our relationship. Quite honestly. Yeah. And, you know, I appreciated that she allowed me to walk that journey in the way that I needed to walk it with her by my side when I needed her to be and alone when I needed to do it alone. Iona: Was it easy? No. Was it painful? Yeah. Did we cry? Yeah. Were there times where, you know, we had to have serious conversations about, my relationship with you is, is primary and they are my parents. and she never made me choose, and I always appreciated that. Iona: And she never made me feel guilty for any choices that I made, But it, did it come at a cost? I’m sure it has. Well, I know it has profoundly impacted [00:34:00] her and that’s her journey. And I I can’t speak to that, but for me, you know it was, it was definitely something we had to navigate for many years. Iona: And you know, and it was hard. It was hard for me. It was hard for all of us, but I think it was hard for me because, you know, I mean, and you know, my partner, she’s amazing and and I feel sad that, you know, my dad gets to know her from the other side, but didn’t get to know her in this, in this dimension. Iona: Yeah. and I like your perspective in terms of the being able to still connect. ’cause even if you don’t believe that there is more to this life than this, write a letter to someone and Gissele: burn it, it’s just a way to get your voice out, right? Iona: two more questions. Gissele: The first one is, I’m asking everyone this season what their definition of self-love is. Iona: Oh, that’s a profound question that gave me chills. I think it’s so profound for me at this point in time because I’m still figuring that out. What does that mean for [00:35:00] myself? Iona: You know? Because I’ve lived with so many voices in my head telling me things about my worthiness or unworthiness or whatever, right? That have impacted how I see myself and my ability to love myself. And so now I’m actively working on, who do I allow in my space, in my body? Iona: Who do I allow to occupy space in my brain, you know? And being very conscious also of how do I feel on a very IM visceral, so really paying attention. So for me, because I’ve spent from the age of six to now, like being like disconnected from disjointed from my body due to traumatic events, now my self love is how to bring myself back together in a new way. Iona: And thinking about also, you know, who do I expose myself to? What do I expose myself to because that [00:36:00] releases different chemicals in my body and I want to release chemicals of joy. And positivity and not to be naive, because there’s pain and heartache in the world. Yeah, I know that. Iona: But I think for me, my self-love is how to, experience those moments honor them and walk through them and continue to find joy and beauty every day. Really. Every day, even in the smallest things. Even if it is justlaying on the ground with my penny, who’s my puppy, and just staring at her eyes for 10 minutes. Iona: Mm. You know, we do that sometimes, you know? Yes. And that’s what my self-love is, it is finding my way to, to myself and. I think my biggest thing, Gissele, is learning how to talk to myself, like somebody who I [00:37:00] love. Because I think this is the first time in my life as an adult that I’m learning how to do that Iona: that’s what my self-love is. Gissele: it’s been interesting for me in my journey learning to understand that my body is not my enemy. Gissele: your body is what? That my body is not my enemy. Yes. Yeah. That my body is not separate from me. It’s actually my house. right. So, so feeling like it’s not separate from me that it can’t, it, it can’t hurt me. It’s actually my very best friend and it’s my home for this lifetime. Gissele: Right? last question is where can people find you? Where can people work with you? What’s your website? What do you wanna share with the audience ? Iona: Awesome. People can find me. Check out my website at iskyconsulting.com. You can email me. I sky@iskyconsulting.com. I’m on LinkedIn. Iona: drop me a line. You know, I always say that I work, who is anybody who really [00:38:00] wants. to do this work in a meaningful way and make real change and take the principles of equity, diversity, inclusion, accessibility, and put it into action. And I’m also a social worker, right? And I love supporting folks with their clinical work and social work skills and leadership. Iona: Because to me, this work is about how do we show up every day, whether we’re a leader, whether we’re a fundraiser, whether we are a parent, whether whoever we are, right? You know, Gissele you came into my life like a gift when we worked together. Oh. And I’m grateful for you and for this opportunity because I count you as one of the people who have impacted me and continue to. Iona: And so thank you for having me on your show. Gissele: Oh, thank you. Thank you Iona for coming to the show. I feel the same way. You’re such a gift to me in the times when we worked together were just some of the best [00:39:00] times I’ve had, honestly . And thank you to everyone who joined us for another episode of Love and Compassion, which Gissele and we will see you soon.
Sunday, February 15th, 2026
Sunday PM - Mark
Caleb Schafer, the Lead Pastor of Redeemer's Church, begins a new series based on the parable of a sheep that chooses to use only 3 of its 4 legs. Each leg represents one of the 4 pillars a Christian needs to have a thriving spiritual life. February 15th, 2026 | 2.15.26 Category: Stability, Necessity, Standing Firm
Is it from his actings as the great prophet of the church that you expect help and relief? Have you effectually learned of him "to deny all ungodliness and worldly lusts, and to live soberly, righteously, and godly, in this present world?" Hath he taught you to be humble, to be meek, to be patient, to "hate the garment spotted with the flesh?" Hath he instructed you unto sincerity in all your ways, dealings, and whole conversation among men?
Guest: Captain James Fanell (Ret.). With carrier groups near Iran and Venezuela, Fanell discusses the threat of anti-ship missiles in choke points and the necessity of naval power to deter adversaries.1746
In this episode, the host interviews Brian Johnson, a leading expert in online advertising and Amazon conversion strategies. Brian shares actionable advice on how brands can stand out in crowded marketplaces by highlighting unique product features, understanding buyer psychology, and continuously innovating their listings. He emphasizes the importance of clear, benefit-driven messaging and regularly analyzing competitors and customer feedback. Through real-world examples, Brian illustrates how deep customer understanding and attention to detail can drive sales and outpace competitors. Listeners gain practical tips for differentiating products and optimizing Amazon listings for higher conversion rates.Chapters:Introduction to Brian Johnson (00:00:00)Host introduces Brian Johnson, his background in online advertising, and his achievements in Amazon strategy.Differentiation Through Unique Features (00:00:57)Discussion on using unique or overlooked product features (e.g., filtered beer, handcrafted products) to stand out in the market.Mindset Shift in Product Optimization (00:02:16)Emphasizes the importance of thinking beyond standard competition and adopting a new mindset for product differentiation.Understanding Buyer Psychology (00:02:48)Brian explains how most competitors ignore buyer psychology and the opportunity this creates for attentive brands.Continuous Innovation and Adaptation (00:04:15)Necessity of ongoing innovation and regular review of product listings to maintain differentiation as competitors adapt.Communicating Benefits Quickly (00:05:12)Advice on leading with clear, succinct benefits in product titles, images, and bullet points to answer "what's in it for me?"Conversion Rate Optimization Tactics (00:06:07)Focus on the importance of quickly communicating benefits for higher conversion rates, especially in the first few seconds.Three Actionable Takeaways (00:07:00)Host summarizes three key takeaways: always innovate, analyze top search terms and listings, and focus on customer benefits.Pattern Breaking in Listings (00:09:04)Discussion on breaking visual and content patterns in listings to stand out, while staying within Amazon's terms of service.Understanding Customer Motivation (00:10:25)Example of Wendy's Frosty: understanding why customers buy and using those insights to improve product offerings.Learning from Competitor Mistakes (00:12:00)Brian shares a Wendy's failure example, highlighting the importance of spotting and capitalizing on competitors' mistakes.Closing Remarks and Farewell (00:14:12)Host thanks Brian for his insights and encourages listeners to follow his work. Brian expresses his appreciation.Links and Mentions:Tools and WebsitesAmazonWendy'sConcepts and StrategiesDifferentiation in Product Listings: 00:07:07Buyer Psychology: 00:03:16Review Analysis: "00:03:16Actionable TakeawaysContinuous Innovation: 00:08:17Evaluate Top Search Terms: 00:09:04Customer-Centric Copy: 00:10:25Transcript:Josh 00:00:00 Today I'm super excited to introduce you all to Brian Johnson. Brian has served as a leader in online advertising and conversion rate strategy for nearly two decades. He's a trusted partner to tens of thousands of brands across the globe. And Brian's work has earned him a reputation as a disruptive force in a world brimming with new and interesting challenges. Through his advertising agency, Canopy Management, as well as his highly successful Amazon advertising consultancy, community training and software, Brian has helped over 25,000 brands increase sales by over $2 billion on Amazon through advertising strategy, conversion rate optimization and differentiation. The results his products and services deliver continue to put him in high demand, with companies both large and small around the world. So with that introduction, Brian, I want to welcome you to the podcast.Brian 00:00:56 Thanks for having me.Josh 00:00:57 I don't remember there's a there was a beer company and you might know this, right? That what they changed in their marketing is that they said that their their beer was filtered, right. I think that's the correct thing, right? Where their beer is the exact same.Josh 00:01:14 Went through the exact same process as everybody else. Right. And that is the differentiating factor is like they just went through that thought process of like, all right, what's the most expensive step or what's the what takes the longest amount of time. And they're like, oh, we spend a lot of time filtering. Let's call out that our beer is filtered. And so at that time, nobody else was calling out that our beer was filtered, whether that was important or called out. You know, and and it differentiated them. And I think there's a lot I mean, I've already had a big mindset shift with that, like with some of my products that, one thing that we can do is like there's a lot of like, hand tooling time that takes a lot of, like, hand craftsmanship for some of our products. It's like, why don't we say that this is actually handcrafted like each one gets, you know, we can market that. And instead of just looking at the standard competition and just looking at like, oh, what does everybody say about planners? Right.Josh 00:02:16 Well, our planner has 1000 pages. Mine has 1001 pages or things like that. That's that's the basic stuff. Like what? I love those questions that you talked about. And it can make such an impact. So I'll let you continue going down that path. But I want the audience to know, like this is a huge mindset shift and I don't we haven't had any podcast guests on thus far that's ever talked about something as simple as this when it comes to product optimization, that I think genuinely is like a true miss right now in the industry.Brian 00:02:48 It is a huge opportunity because I can I can guarantee you that. But, you know, I wasn't just being cheeky when I said, like, I could walk into any niche on Amazon and immediately see the opportunities. that is that is a true statement because your competitors, they don't understand the buyer psychology. They're not taking the time to consider their bio psychology. In fact, you're probably even going up against some brands that have, you know, a thousand SKUs and they don't have the time or the resources in order to even go through that process.Brian 00:03:16 But you can, right? If you truly are passionate about the audience that you're serving, I'll probably mention it a little bit later on. As far as, review, analysis. That's a whole, whole additional topic that goes into that. But, those examples, those are just a couple of, of, you know, 20 different, 30 different ways that you can make small improvements to how well that your product, you know, catches somebody's eyes, compels them or interests them, hooks them, I call it, to pull them into your product listing just from what's in your first 75 characters of your title. and then go towards the end the listing itself, 100% is that, yes, you can you can point out benefits and I and I made I pointed out a couple of examples here as far as like how do you come up with a benefit or feature that makes my product appear to be unique? Now, you brought up a very good point. And that is, you know, my competitors don't do this currently, and that is.Brian 00:04:15 Yes, they will adapt. When they see your success, they will emulate you. And you'll need to continue to innovate. So just plan on every six months going back, looking at your ni...
What really is REST and how do you REST?In this episode I shared my experiences and thoughts on why rest is a necessity and not a luxury. Email: fikemicreates@gmail.com | IG: thefapodcast
Is the Holy Spirit a "stranger" in your daily walk with Christ? In this powerful message from our Familiar Stranger series, Pastor Jason shares how the Holy Spirit is not just an accessory or an "add-on" to your faith—He is the power that makes faith possible. Using a vivid illustration of a sailor catching the wind, we explore what it means to stay in step with the Spirit and move from "God dwelling with us" to "God residing in us." Whether you are looking for a spiritual breakthrough or a new beginning in Christ, this service will challenge you to stop asking God to bless your plans and start setting your sails to catch His wind. ✨ In this video, you will: • Discover the difference between Old Testament "tasks" and New Testament "residency" of the Spirit. • Understand why the Holy Spirit is the ultimate "advantage" for every believer. • Learn how to stop "quenching" the Spirit and start living from a place of spiritual empowerment. Join the Conversation: Where are you watching from today? Let us know in the comments! If you need prayer or want to take your next step with Jesus, text CHRIST to 97000.
n this eye-opening sermon, Rev. Roland Anang emphasizes that Christian life, victory over sin, boldness, and destiny fulfillment are impossible without a genuine personal encounter with God. Using the lives of Moses and Samuel, he reveals how encounters with the Invisible God transforms values, strip away fear, and empower believers to forsake sin, routine religion, and spiritual complacency. This message challenges believers to move beyond activity, routine, and religious familiarity into living encounters with truth, because truth doesn't just inform—it makes and transforms.
Sunday, February 8th, 2026
Greenland has become a geopolitical flashpoint. President Trump wants control of it, or at least sovereignty over some areas for military purposes, arguing that the United States gaining some territorial rights in Greenland is a necessity for U.S. security. But some leaders worry that a power grab could pit NATO against the U.S. and weaken an already fragile world order. Now we debate: Is U.S. Control of Limited Territory In Greenland a Strategic Necessity? Arguing Yes: Alexander B. Gray, Senior Fellow at the American Foreign Policy Council; Former Deputy Assistant to the President and Chief of Staff of the White House National Security Council Michael Pillsbury, Senior Advisor for the President's Office at The Heritage Foundation Arguing No: Kori Schake, Senior Fellow and the Director of Foreign and Defense Policy Studies at the American Enterprise Institute (AEI) Max Boot, Jeane J. Kirkpatrick Senior Fellow for National Security Studies at the Council on Foreign Relations; Columnist at The Washington Post Emmy award-winning journalist John Donvan moderates Join the conversation on Substack—share your perspective on this episode and subscribe to our weekly newsletter for curated insights from our debaters, moderators, and staff. Follow us on YouTube, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, Facebook, and TikTok to stay connected with our mission and ongoing debates. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
n this episode, Nick Bullock, senior pastor of Christ Church (PCA) in New Braunfels, Texas, joins Camden Bucey and Jim Cassidy to discuss an upcoming conference themed "Thy Word is Truth" (February 27–March 1, 2026) and, more importantly, why a sturdy doctrine of Scripture is not a luxury but a necessity for the church. They explore how Scripture's authority undergirds every other theological conversation, shaping how Christians understand God, worship him, and resist the many counterfeit "voices" that compete for allegiance. The conversation also highlights a timely pastoral burden: weak views of Scripture often leave believers vulnerable—whether to "me-and-my-Bible" isolation (confusing sola with solo), or to the perceived stability of traditions that promise rootedness without delivering true unity. By reconnecting the doctrine of Scripture to the doctrine of God—his truthfulness, immutability, and steadfast love—the episode invites listeners to hear again the shepherd's voice in God's word and to respond with reverent, regulated, Christ-centered worship. Watch on YouTube Chapters 00:00:07 Introduction 00:01:45 Ministry in Central Texas 00:10:03 Thy Word Is Truth Conference 00:17:18 Laying a Foundation on God's Word 00:34:22 The Attributes of God and the Doctrine of Scripture 00:44:27 Mysticism and Apophaticism 00:49:38 The Sufficiency, Necessity, and Excellency of Scripture 00:53:44 The Regulative Principle of Worship 01:04:03 Conclusion This is Christ the Center episode 945 (https://www.reformedforum.org/ctc945)
4:20 pm: Josh Findlay, Director of the National Election Protection Project at the Texas Public Policy Foundation, joins the show for a conversation about in piece in Townhall about why America should use voter ID.4:38 pm: Senator Chris Wilson joins the program to discuss why the Utah Legislature is working so hard on judicial transparency during the current session and responds to criticism from the state's bar association.6:05 pm: Representative Paul Cutler joins Rod and Greg for a conversation about his proposed legislation to require people gathering signatures for a ballot initiative to undergo government training about what they must tell voters.6:38 pm: Dr. Kurt Miceli, Chief Medical Officer for Do No Harm, joins the show to discuss how the American Medical Association has now followed the American Society of Plastic Surgeons in condemning gender-affirming surgeries on children under 19 years of age.
Summary Most people hear "franchise" and think McDonald's-level money and full-time grind. In this episode, Curtis sits down with Greg Mohr, founder of Franchise Maven, to break down a smarter, recession-resistant path: buying essential service businesses with proven systems without needing to be the technician. Greg shares his background from corporate engineering and small business ownership into franchising, then teaches how to evaluate franchise opportunities like a real investor. The centerpiece is his simple due-diligence filter: talk to 10+ operators before you buy anything and know what to listen for. What You'll Learn Why service franchises (HVAC, plumbing, electrical, senior care, restoration) can be more recession-resistant than trend-based businesses -The difference between buying a job vs buying a system (and how to structure the owner role) -A realistic expectation for time and ramp-up: 10–15 hours/week and a 2–3 year runway to "work-optional" cash flow -The 10-Operator Rule: why talking to 10 franchisees changes everything, and how it protects you from expensive mistakes -3 red flags to watch for when interviewing franchisees -Why undercapitalization kills otherwise good businesses—and how to think about runway and liquidity -What a pro forma is (in plain English) and how it helps you map break-even and profitability Key Quotes / Ideas "Don't buy a job—buy a system." "If you can't handle 18 months without income, don't pretend you're ready." "Keep interviewing operators until you hear the same truth over and over." Welcome: recession-resistant cash flow through service franchises. Greg's path: corporate → small business → franchising. Who this is for: career-changers, high achievers, and managers. Why service franchises are an overlooked asset class beyond fast food. The owner's role: you don't need to be the technician. "Don't buy a job—buy a system" and the delegation mindset. What "recession-resistant" actually means (essential services). Realistic time and effort expectations (semi-absentee ≠ no work). The 10-Operator Rule for due diligence. Red flags to watch for before buying. Capital runway and avoiding undercapitalization. Pro forma basics: costs, break-even, and timeline. Episode Highlights 00:00:19 - Recession-resistant cash flow with franchising. 00:00:51 - The 10 operator rule for due diligence. 00:03:01 - Transition from corporate to entrepreneurship. 00:04:30 - Service businesses as overlooked asset classes. 00:06:49 - Essential services franchises. 00:10:10 - Systematizing for time and financial freedom. 00:13:37 - Recession-resistant business advantages. 00:14:09 - Realistic time and effort expectations. 00:14:47 - Importance of detailed financial forecasting. 00:18:00 - Necessity of liquidity and capital planning. 00:20:45 - The importance of building cash flow. 00:30:36 - Networking and due diligence in franchise investing. 00:32:20 - Franchise Maven's consulting process. 00:35:39 - Education and preparedness in franchising. 00:37:58 - Key factors for franchise success. 00:40:41 - Risk tolerance and strategic planning. Episode Resources Business Owners: Assess Your Challenges with Cash Flow → https://curtis-73no5r8j.scoreapp.com Private Banking Readiness Assessment → https://curtis-qljorw8q.scoreapp.com How Ready Are You to Be Your Own Bank? → https://link.agent-crm.com/widget/quiz/XJwH7kM0wWxYB1KICcOW Title: Founder & CEO, Franchise Maven Email: greg@franchisemaven.com Phone: 361-772-6401 Website: franchisemaven.com Keywords The Practical Wealth Show recession resistant cashflow service business systems franchising Greg Moore Franchise Maven Forbes business council Wall Street Journal bestselling author high achievers replace W-2 income reliable cashflow due diligence filters 10 operator rule buying a franchise restaurant industry corporate world master franchisor franchise consultant financial freedom time freedom recession resistant industries essential services HVAC plumbing electrical senior care restoration services passive income franchise disclosure document service businesses asset class franchise royalties franchise success rate Greg Mays
This week we being an 8 week sermon series looking at the theme of Friendship found in the Bible. Today as we explore this theme we recognise that man was created in the image of a God who is fundamentally relational and has created man to reflect that image.
There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. – Hebrews 4:9 In The Saints' Everlasting Rest, Baxter pulls back the curtain on eternity, unveiling the glories prepared for those who love Christ: freedom from all evil, perfection of body and soul, unbroken communion with God, and joy that no one can take away. But while heaven is the perfection of rest, a child of God may even now have Christ's perfect peace and rest, no matter how difficult the circumstances of life may seem. With the urgency of one who experienced near death himself, Baxter pleads with his readers to take God in Christ for your only rest and to make heaven the goal and delight of every day. His stirring words – rich with Scripture, solemn warnings, and radiant hope – have led many to turn from the empty promises of this world and fix their hearts on the incorruptible inheritance kept in heaven. This edition of Baxter's signature work has been painstakingly updated, while still preserving his clarion call to live now in the delightful foretastes of heaven and to persevere until faith becomes sight and joy becomes everlasting. About the Author Richard Baxter (1615–1691) preached “as a dying man to dying men.” He was devoted to God and was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. Best known as the minister of Kidderminster in England, his love for God and others resulted in practically the entire town of Kidderminster turning to Jesus during Baxter's ministry there. Richard Baxter desired unity among Christians, which often resulted in opposition from those who held to church loyalty or theological views rather than to Christ and God's Word. Baxter had his share of persecution, even being imprisoned on several occasions.
There remains therefore a rest for the people of God. – Hebrews 4:9 In The Saints' Everlasting Rest, Baxter pulls back the curtain on eternity, unveiling the glories prepared for those who love Christ: freedom from all evil, perfection of body and soul, unbroken communion with God, and joy that no one can take away. But while heaven is the perfection of rest, a child of God may even now have Christ's perfect peace and rest, no matter how difficult the circumstances of life may seem. With the urgency of one who experienced near death himself, Baxter pleads with his readers to take God in Christ for your only rest and to make heaven the goal and delight of every day. His stirring words – rich with Scripture, solemn warnings, and radiant hope – have led many to turn from the empty promises of this world and fix their hearts on the incorruptible inheritance kept in heaven. This edition of Baxter's signature work has been painstakingly updated, while still preserving his clarion call to live now in the delightful foretastes of heaven and to persevere until faith becomes sight and joy becomes everlasting. About the Author Richard Baxter (1615–1691) preached “as a dying man to dying men.” He was devoted to God and was a faithful follower of Jesus Christ. Best known as the minister of Kidderminster in England, his love for God and others resulted in practically the entire town of Kidderminster turning to Jesus during Baxter's ministry there. Richard Baxter desired unity among Christians, which often resulted in opposition from those who held to church loyalty or theological views rather than to Christ and God's Word. Baxter had his share of persecution, even being imprisoned on several occasions.
To get a copy of our new book "Embracing the Truth" or to have TS Wright speak at your event or conference or if you simply want spiritual or life coaching or just a consultation visit:www.tswrightspeaks.comVisit our website to learn more about The God Centered Concept. The God Centered Concept is designed to bring real discipleship and spreading the Gospel to help spark the Great Harvest, a revival in this generation.www.godcenteredconcept.comKingdom Cross Roads Podcast is a part of The God Centered Concept.loriyarbrough.comRevitalizing Your Marriage: The Importance of Taking InventoryIntroduction: In the hustle and bustle of daily life, it's easy for couples to overlook the health of their marriage. However, taking time to evaluate the emotional, spiritual, and communicative aspects of your relationship can make all the difference. In this blog post, we delve into key insights shared by marriage expert Lori Yarbrough during her recent appearance on the Kingdom Crossroads podcast.Main Content:1. The Necessity of Taking Inventory in Marriage Lori Yarbrough emphasizes that just as we regularly service our cars to prevent mechanical failures, we must also prioritize our marriages. Couples often neglect their relationship amidst busy schedules and life's complications. To counter this, Yarbrough suggests couples create two columns: what's healthy and what's neglected. This exercise helps identify strengths and areas needing attention. 2. The Four Core Pillars of Marriage When conducting this inventory, Yarbrough identifies four essential areas to assess: emotional connection, spiritual life, communication, and intimacy. Each pillar plays a crucial role in the overall health of the marriage. Couples should engage in open conversations to explore these areas without judgment or blame, focusing instead on nurturing their covenant.3. Keeping the Pursuit Alive Yarbrough reminds us that attraction in a marriage doesn't fade; rather, the attention may wane. Pursuing one another doesn't require grand gestures but rather small, intentional acts of love. For instance, ensuring your spouse knows they are valued through daily gestures can reinforce the bond. As Yarbrough highlights, "Your spouse should never wonder if they are still wanted."4. The Importance of Spiritual Growth Both partners should pursue their individual relationships with Christ, which Yarbrough notes is foundational for a strong marriage. She shares that praying together has significantly strengthened her relationship with her husband. When spiritual stagnation occurs, it often reflects negatively on the relationship. Each partner must carry their spiritual health, contributing to the overall strength of the marriage.5. The Power of Small Gestures Love is often communicated through small, everyday actions. Yarbrough shares personal anecdotes about how her husband expresses care by preparing her for trips, emphasizing that these acts of service are his way of saying, "You matter to me." Couples should focus on daily deposits of love rather than waiting for occasional grand gestures.6. The Role of Communication Effective communication is vital for intimacy. Yarbrough suggests that couples should engage in deeper conversations beyond logistics. Practicing active listening and emotional openness fosters connection. Couples should aim to create space for meaningful dialogue, ensuring both partners feel heard and valued.Conclusion: Key Takeaways Taking time to evaluate...
Sex After 50 doesn't have to decline — in fact, for many people, it gets better. In this episode of Ask a Sex Therapist, Heather is joined by Karen Bigman, a sex and relationship coach specializing in midlife and sex after 50, for an honest, funny, and deeply validating conversation about aging, desire, body changes, and intimacy. They explore why so many couples assume that low libido, painful sex, or loss of desire is just “part of getting older” — and why that belief is often what actually harms a sex life the most. From menopause and perimenopause to body image, shame, communication, and emotional intimacy, this episode reframes sex after 50 as something that can be playful, connected, and deeply satisfying. You'll hear practical insights about: Why sex drive changes with age — and why that doesn't mean sex is overHow menopause, hormones, and vaginal health affect desire and pleasureWhy mental foreplay, laughter, and connection matter more than performanceHow to talk about sex with a partner when it feels awkward or intimidatingLetting go of obligatory sex and rebuilding pleasure without pressure Why kissing, novelty, and communication are essential for long-term intimacy This conversation is especially helpful for: People navigating midlife, perimenopause, or menopauseCouples wondering how to keep sex fun and connected after 50Anyone struggling with desire discrepancy, body confidence, or sexual shamePeople curious about sex and agingPartners who want to better support each other through aging and change If you've ever wondered whether great sex is still possible later in life, this episode offers reassurance, science-backed insight, and permission to stop forcing what doesn't work — and start enjoying what does. Find out more about Karen Bigman, her podcast, courses and ARYA discount at: https://www.taboototruth.com/podcast Chapters 00:00 Introduction to Sex and Aging 04:03 Debunking Myths About Sex After 50 08:33 The Role of Hormones in Sexual Health 11:56 The Importance of Self-Compassion 14:21 Body Image and Self-Perception 17:16 Common Struggles in Sexuality After 50 21:13 The Necessity of Sex for Health 22:54 Dating and Communication in Later Life 23:33 Navigating Aging and Intimacy 24:28 Emotional Intimacy and Communication 25:48 The Art of Kissing 27:21 Exploring Playfulness in Relationships 28:32 Mental Foreplay and Connection 29:00 Kissing Techniques for Better Connection 31:17 Addressing Kissing Preferences 32:50 Overcoming Communication Barriers 34:29 Small Steps to Enhance Intimacy 36:00 The Importance of Novelty in Relationships 37:28 Quality Over Quantity in Sexual Relationships 39:12 Resources for Enhancing IntimacyThis podcast uses the following third-party services for analysis: Podtrac - https://analytics.podtrac.com/privacy-policy-gdrp
Sean McMeekin describes how Stalin exploited Lend-Lease beyond military necessity, using the program to acquire industrial equipment, raw materials, and nuclear-related supplies while manipulating Western generosity to strengthen Soviet postwar capabilities and strategic position.1941 ROSTOV
Cliff May of the Foundation for Defense of Democracies analyzes the strategic necessity of securing Greenlandagainst Russian and Chinese threats, advocating for a NATO-led solution and increased defense spending.1890 greenland
Leila Philip at the Hubbard Brook watershed discusses how beavers act as a keystone species that aids environmental recovery, challenging the necessity of lethal culling given modern non-lethal management options. She notes that beaver complexes actually increase trout and salmon populations and provide millions of dollars in free ecosystem engineering services.1892
© 2020-2026 Ivy Podcast Discovery LLC
