Podcasts about Northern Greece

Matt Sheppard took a very long bicycle ride from home one day and stopped pedaling when he reached Northern Greece!  Now he is a full time voice actor after being on camera and is "planted" where he feels he should be.  Join us and hear how Matt made his transition into the VO Life!

PETE BELLIS & TOMMY / POM Library™Track list:Pete Bellis & Tommy, Costa Mee - Turn My Life Pete Bellis & Tommy, Nayio Bitz - Taking Back My Love Pete Bellis & Tommy - DiamondsPete Bellis & Tommy - Show Me HowPete Bellis & Tommy, Nando Fortunato - I Don't Beg Pete Bellis & Tommy - LessonPete Bellis & Tommy - You Should KnowPete Bellis & Tommy, Costa Mee - Time is Ticking Pete Bellis & Tommy, Costa Mee - Breathe Again Pete Bellis & Tommy - All | WantPete Bellis & Tommy, Costa Mee - Till The End of Time Pete Bellis & Tommy - ForeverPete Bellis - Turning Pete Bellis & Tommy - Our StoryPete Bellis & Tommy, Paul Lock - Fight For Love Pete Bellis & Tommy - Treat Me RightPete Bellis & Tommy, Costa Mee - Unspoken WarPete Bellis - GoldgassePete Bellis - Let Me GoPete Bellis & Tommy - Rock My WorldPete Bellis & Tommy is a project by Pete BellisBorn in Florina, a small town in Northern Greece in 1983, Pete Bellis started spinning records and producing music in the age of 17. He has his first official release on Bellarine Recordings in 2006. Since then he released his Music in different record..Pete Bellis was born in 29.04.1983 in Florina a small town in Northern Greece. Pete Bellis had always have a special Relationship with Music; his first real direct contact though was in his 18 Years when he started Djing in different Local Bars and cafes. As an Organizer of different Events but as well as a Guest, he will “dj” the next years in different Venues around Greece, FYROM, Bulgary and Germany. In the meanwhile he creates 2 music Projects. The “Undertide” Project and the “Cloudz Factory” Project. Open to any sound, to any kind of it, but always with a specific “Personal” Style, the Dj-Sets of Pete usually are “dominated” by the Element of pure Groovy House Music full of Electro-ish, Techy, Minimal and Funky Sounds. Sometimes theese Sounds are Dubby Deep or even Dark, sometimes Happy and Funky. That way he always manages to “create” a wonderful environment by providing the right Music on the right Time for the right People on the right Place. Nowadays, he is in charge for the Deep and Deeper team and Organizes and participates in events around Greece and Europe.Compiled & mixed by Paul SidorovOnlyMusic™ & OM Library™

Tour guides from Athens recommend easy day trips from the capital into the historic Greek countryside, then let us in on some lesser-known island getaways in the Aegean and Ionian seas. Plus, British actress Dame Joanna Lumley shares her favorite highlights from exploring northern Greece for a TV special she filmed there. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

A continuation of our classic episodes inspired by our recent month long voyage through Greece. This episode is all about silver. In Ioannina, a beautiful city in Northern Greece, there is a museum dedicated to silversmithing. This museum is housed in the old castle battlements and is a gorgeous testament to the skill and intricacy of silver work. We hope you enjoy this episode on a useful, beautiful and fascinating metal. Since this is an old episode, links mentioned may not accurate so see below how to find us on social media. If you've learned something from this episode, share it with a friend. We'd love to spread the word of that science can be luxurious and not scary. LuxeSci is a production of Erevna Media LLC Audio Engineer: Dr. Dimos Theme music - Harlequin Mood by Burdy Follow us: Instagram: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.instagram.com/luxescipod/⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Twitter: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://twitter.com/luxescipod⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ YouTube: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCTz4WrIEalCH7NlDgkRdICQ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ LinkedIn: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠https://www.linkedin.com/showcase/luxesci-podcast/?viewAsMember=true⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Blog posts, Show Notes and References: ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠www.erevnamedia.com ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠

The family tradition continues in this episode as we sit down with Yiannis Boutaris, the grandson of the legendary Godfather of Xinomavro, the elder Yiannis Boutaris. The Boutaris' have been the visionaries and pioneers in Northern Greece's modern wine production to elevate and showcase its potential. We discuss the family's journey from farmers to world class producers and how the family took chances during times of uncertainty. Yiannis fills us in on new acquisitions and projects in the pipeline that are super exciting. We suggest pouring yourself a glass of wine while enjoying this episode. See more on the Urban Wine Club app.

Is it possible that living a holy life can lead to happiness? Mark Warren uncovers Paul's instructions to the church in Northern Greece to pursue holiness and not give into the things of the flesh. This message gives practical examples of how we can find peace and contentment when we live for others and not ourselves and how this pleases God.

On this episode of Big Blend Radio's "Food, Wine & Travel" Show with IFWTWA, travel writer Marni Patterson talks about her 10-day experience in Northern Greece where she traveled through centuries of history.   Hear how she walked in the footsteps of Alexander the Great and Paul the Apostle, saw monasteries that date back to the 11th century, monuments to World War I, met revolutionary heroes, and saw tragic reminders of Nazi occupation. She also discovered some fascinating women's history. You can read her article about it all here: https://blendradioandtv.com/listing/ancient-northern-greece/  Marni Patterson is a freelance travel writer, photographer and videographer in Phoenix, AZ who writes about destination travel, local customs and cultures, and history. Keep up with her at https://mptravelwriting.com  Learn more about the International Food Wine & Travel Writers Association (IFWTWA) at https://www.ifwtwa.org/  Follow this podcast: https://food-wine-travel.podbean.com/ 

We admire the seafaring prowess of the Polynesians and hear how a cultural faux pas led to Captain James Cook's fateful encounter with 18th-century Hawaiians. Then tour guides from Athens and Thessaloniki recommend attractions to visit in northern Greece, and The New Yorker’s "Comma Queen," Mary Norris, explains what an appreciation for Greek language and mythology can add to your own Greek odyssey. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

Deep in a mountain in the Pontic Alps, North-East Turkey, there's a monastery reminiscent of Tolkien's Minas Tirith; the seven-walled fortress city built on the spur of a mountain. Nestled in a steep cliff at an altitude of about 1,200 metres (3,900 ft) and facing a beautiful wooded mountain valley is Panayia Soumela Greek Orthodox monastery, dedicated to Virgin Mary. This is the heartland of the Pontic Greeks. And my journey today begun from a church with the same name, near my home town of Veria, in Northern Greece, 1800 Km away from Trabzon, deep in a forested mountain on a similar altitude...Hello! The Pontic Greeks lived in the region of northern Turkey roughly in the areas of Trabzon, Samsun and Gerishun, Sinop for about 2 millennia before their forced expulsion and genocide.But their food and culture remains still alive luckily for us, and even their unique Greek language which traces its lineage to ancient Greek!So what did they eat? How they cooked their foods? And how does their cuisine differ from other Greeks, and the similarities with other Black Sea nations around...Some spectacular videos of Panagia Soumela Monastery and countryside in Trabzon region mountains:https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pQb3UJVvbmMhttps://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ynLcqCxCh0sFor traditional Pontic produce in Greece today go to Thessaloniki and find this guy:http://ragian.gr/index.php?route=information/information&information_id=4Google map link for the Thessaloniki shop:https://maps.app.goo.gl/QJGjFiEBW4YN7W369The farm were they age cheeses in caves, smoke their own meats and produce their pasta:https://maps.app.goo.gl/yVQHg9HVdGDcEyWdAMore information about history and culture of Pontic Greeks:https://pontosworld.com/index.phpAnd the Guardian article that inspired me to do this episode today:https://www.theguardian.com/science/2024/apr/03/endangered-greek-dialect-living-bridge-ancient-world-romeykaWith music from Pavlos KapralosEnjoy!Support this show http://supporter.acast.com/the-delicious-legacy. If you love to time-travel through food and history why not join us at https://plus.acast.com/s/the-delicious-legacy. Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.

Kate Adie presents stories from Israel, Ukraine, Argentina, Mauritius and Greece. When Hamas militants stormed into southern Israel from Gaza on the 7th October, over 200 of the people killed were foreign nationals. At least 30 of them were from Thailand, and at least 19 Thais are believed to have been abducted by Hamas. More than 25,000 Thai migrant agricultural workers living in Israel. Jonathan Head travels to north-eastern Thailand to meet returning survivors, and relatives of those still missing. This week marks 20 months since Russia's full-scale invasion of Ukraine. For journalists reporting on the war, not to mention Ukraine's people, it can be a challenge to ensure the ongoing conflict continues to receive the world's attention. The BBC's long-serving Ukraine Correspondent, James Waterhouse reflects on the particular rhythm of covering this war. Last weekend, Argentina voted in its first round of presidential elections. The results surprised pollsters who had predicted an outright win for populist Javier Milei - a colourful candidate, whose ‘shock-jock' style has led to comparisons with Donald Trump. Instead, Mr Milei will face the country's incumbent economy minister, Sergio Massa in a run-off in November. In Argentinian politics, surprises are to be expected, says Katy Watson. Mauritius is among Africa's wealthiest nations per capita. However, its position in the middle of the Indian Ocean has made it an ideal hub for international drug traffickers. The country is now battling a growing drug epidemic, with young people particularly affected. Lorraine Mallinder reports. The Mount Athos peninsula in Northern Greece is one of Orthodox Christianity's holiest sites. The region is semi-independent from Greece, and sometimes referred to as a monastic republic. Women are banned from visiting, and only a small number of men are permitted entry each day. The monks who live here control their own finances, and Greece's money laundering authority has recently taken a critical look at Russian finances flowing into the monasteries. William Edwards makes a pilgrimage there. Producer: Viv Jones Editor: Richard Fenton-Smith Production Coordinator: Katie Morrison (Image: Narissara Chanthasang, the wife of a Thai migrant worker in southern Israel, has had no news of her husband since Hamas militants stormed the country.)

Sweet and juicy, plump and delicious: In this episode of The Science Behind Your Salad we're telling the story behind the production and innovation of fruit salad! Apples, peaches and watermelons come under the spotlight in our whistle stop tour of the sweeter crops we love to eat. We'll hear from the lush orchards of England, the hot and dry peach fields of Northern Greece and the growers of a brand new Watermelon variety in Brazil as we take a snapshot of fruit production and innovation across the globe.See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

On December 18, 2022, the far-right neo-Nazi group Golden Dawn (GD) publicly reappeared and held a march and rally in Florina, Northern Greece. This is significant because many group members, including those serving in the Greek Parliament, were convicted in 2020 for heading a criminal organization. Florina is known for being a far-right stronghold due to its proximity to the state of North Macedonia and its Slavic-speaking population. GD organized the demonstration in response to the approval of the "Macedonian Language Center" in Greece as an official NGO. This center teaches the official language of North Macedonia, which is referred to as the Macedonian language. GD and other Greek far-right have recently been rallying around the Macedonia issue, using it as a political asset. In addition to GD, far-right groups like The Hellenic Socialist Resistance (ESA) and APELLA have utilized the Macedonia issue. ... Link : https://avim.org.tr/en/Analiz/GOLDEN-DAWN-IS-ATTEMPTING-TO-REGAIN-A-PRESENCE-IN-GREECE-WITH-A-FOCUS-ON-NORTHERN-GREECE-AND-WESTERN-THRACE Web page: ⁠https://avim.org.tr/en⁠ Telegram Channel: ⁠https://t.me/s/avimorgtr⁠ Twitter: ⁠https://avim.org.tr/en⁠ Linkedin: ⁠https://www.linkedin.com/company/avimorgtr/⁠ VKontakte: ⁠https://vk.com/public202374482⁠ Youtube: ⁠https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCcIfEGNM3308QoLbCDJIFuw⁠ Dailmotion: ⁠https://www.dailymotion.com/dm_0ea263f63bb5aee7d8770d1ec13cfe8b⁠ Instgram: ⁠https://www.instagram.com/avimorgtr/IntroductionIntroduction

From Vasie -Growing up in a first-generation Greek immigrant family in Canada, those terms never meant much as a child. My family did the occasional trip to Greece to see family and keep our heritage strong, but other than that, the means weren't there to be a traveler of the world. I don't think I ever flew on a plane the whole of my high school years. But I lived in a world of exploration and deep fascination of that around me. I had a singular obsession of reading every copy of my father's monthly National Geographic magazines; a collection I still have today. I lived in the worlds of Jules Verne and Jacques Cousteau, looking at places on the world map and wondering what Machu Picchu or the Great Pyramids of Giza looked like up close. While nomadic travel didn't figure into my early life much, the history of my family said otherwise. My great-grandparents were descendants of Asia Minor in Turkey. In 1922, they went from from Samsun, Turkey to a small village in Northern Greece, called Pentavriso. And then my grandparents and parents all left Greece for Canada. Within 3 generations, my family spanned 3 countries. It seems through circumstance and history I was meant to be a nomadic traveler. In 2008, I purchased my real first camera - a Canon Xsi. I had no formal training in photography, but decided to teach myself. Now, my photos can be seen on Getty Images and one of them was featured in a National Geographic Ted Talks publication in 2017 - which essentially will be the pinnacle of my photography. Podcast website:www.campfirecapitalism.comApple Podcast:https://apple.co/3IdEL7ASpotify Podcast:https://spoti.fi/3rlhkSYGoogle Podcast:https://bit.ly/3A8dlgyRSS:https://feeds.buzzsprout.com/1904686.rssSOCIAL:Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamdesmonddixonLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/campfire-capitalism/?viewAsMember=trueFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/Campfire-Capitalism-103501098870849Instagram:https://www.instagram.com/campfirecapitalism/Support on Patreon:https://www.patreon.com/campfirecapitalismSOCIAL: Twitter: https://twitter.com/iamdesmonddixon LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/campfire-capitalism/?viewAsMember=true Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/Campfire-Capitalism-103501098870849 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/campfirecapitalism/ Support on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/campfirecapitalism

Epic travel adventures don't just happen. There's no stumbling upon a Dark Sky Reserve in Africa during your wanderings. There's no “happened upon” a pair of mating blue-footed boobies in the Galapagos. These epic adventures have to be planned. But how do you go about doing that?How do pros like me do this? And what other thrilling travel itineraries do we have up our sleeves?” In this season of The Intrepid Traveler Podcast, I will continue to pull the curtain back on a few of my planning secrets, introduce you to travel insiders who help me pull of the magic and I'll be recording a few solo episodes this season where I giveaway some great advice on planning epic travels.If you aren't a past listener here's a sampling of the top five episodes from season 1 to help  get you warmed up -#5 - Episode 4 Colombia: Luxury Tours and Sustainability with Ashish Sanghrajka. One of my personal favorites - both the episode and the country! I've been 3 times and Ashish has been 30 times! Find out why this under appreciated destination should possibly be on your list too#4 - Episode 8 What you NEED to know about travel insurance. The title says it all - there is SO much people need to know about why travel insurance is a must for everyone, especially traveling internationally.#3 - Episode 10 Egypt - From Ancient History to Arab Spring and the Modern Day Egypt is a fascinating country on so many levels - my friend Ashish joins me again in this episode to talk about the history and changes in this incredible country#2 - Episode 13 - Behind the Scenes with a cruise expert and travel writer. My friend Dori Saltzman joins me for this episode - I learned a lot from her and I'm sure you will too!#1 - Episode 11 - Unexplored Greece - A visit to the North - WOW! No wonder this episode was the most downloaded of 2022. Northern Greece wasn't on my radar before, but it sure is now.If you have suggestions for destinations you would like to hear more about please email me at letsgo@clineandcotravel.com. And, as always, please subscribe, share and leave a review if you enjoy the show.Thanks for tuning in!  Please rate and review our show to help us reach even more aspiring travelers. Don't forget to check out our website, visit us on Facebook,  Instagram or follow us on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on our latest epic travel adventures! 

Have you ever heard of Xinomavro (K-See-Know-Mah-Vrow)? If there's one main grape you want to be familiar with from mainland northern Greece, this is it. And in today's podcast, Sarah discusses everything you need to know about Northern and Central Greece as well as a great overview into Xinomavro. Sarah interviews Stellios Boutaris, winemaker a Kir-Yianni, one of Greece's top wineries that has been making Xinomavro for generations. This is an episode you don't want to miss, so grab a glass of wine and press play now! ------- Sign up for The Wine CEO newsletter and get a free guide to Food & Wine Pairing >> thewineceo.com Email: Sarah@thewineceo.com  Instagram: @thewineceo Facebook: @sarahthewineceo ------- Today's Guest: Stellios Boutaris Kir-Yianni Website Kir-Yianni Instagram: @kiryianni Diamond Wine Importers - contact to find Kir-Yianni wines around the globe --------- For additional wine tasting videos and Greek educational content, follow my friend @david_bikes_and_wine on Instagram as he does complimentary wine videos during my mini series!    

What do folk songs of the Balkans, traditional Irish music and a Metallica concert all have in common? Musician Briget Boyle can tell you. She understands and appreciates the importance of musical connections between people and how shared experiences create a culture of song. Through this lens, she has explored an incredible breadth of influences that she draws from in her solo work and expresses directly in her collaborations True Life Trio and Kitka Women's Vocal Ensemble.On a musical journey from the start, she began writing songs at the age of 12 and received an invaluable education from her parents who were both music industry professionals. Briget has long felt the call to songwriting and to use her powerful and beautiful voice to express truth through music. Briget's album Heartbreak Residue is out April 2023.Connect with Briget & Find Her Music:Website Briget BoyleWebsite True Life TrioWebsite Kitka Women's Vocal EnsembleFacebook @brigetboylemusicInstagram @brigetsongsWebsite Waxsimilie ProductionsBriget's Early Musical Influences:Ani DiFrancoAlanis MorissetteSarah McLachlanBriget's Personal Soundtrack:“Blue Is the Eye” by Ye Vagabonds (from Nine Waves album, 2022)Madison CunninghamBrass music from Northern Greece & Southern MacedoniaChoral music from Bulgaria & Southern Albania References:Video “Salty Tears” by Briget Boyle (from The Next Line album, 2018)Movie Alive Inside: A Story of Music & MemorySongwriting Challenge FAWM (February Album Writing Month)

February 14: Saints Cyril, Monk, and Methodius, Bishop St. Cyril: 827–869; St. Methodius: 815–884 Memorial; Liturgical Color: White (When Lenten Weekday, Optional Memorial; Violet) Co-Patrons of Europe and Apostles to the Slavs Two makers of Europe light the flame of Eastern Christianity The Cyrillic alphabet, used by hundreds of millions of people in Eastern Europe, the Balkans, and Russia, is named after today's Cyril. Numerous proofs could be advanced for why a certain person is historically significant. Few proofs, however, can eclipse an alphabet being named after you. The evangelical labors of Cyril and Methodius were so path breaking, long lasting, and culture forming that these brothers stand in the very first rank of the Church's greatest missionaries. Shoulder to shoulder with brave men such as Patrick, Augustine of Canterbury, Boniface, Ansgar, and others, they baptized nations, mustered clans from the forests, codified laws, transcribed alphabets, and transformed the crude pagan gropings for the divine into the transcendent worship of the one true God at Mass. Saints Cyril and Methodius helped form the religiously undivided reality of Christendom long before it was ever called Europe. Cyril was baptized as Constantine and was known by that name until late in his life. He and Methodius were from Thessalonica, in Northern Greece, where they spoke not only Greek but also Slavonic, a critical linguistic advantage for their later missionary adventures. Cyril and Methodius received excellent educations in their youth and, as they matured, were given important educational, religious, and political appointments in an age when those disciplines were braided into one sturdy cord. The people, the state, and the Church were an undivided whole. Cyril and Methodius served the imperial court, the one true Church, and their native land as professors, governors, abbots, deacons, priests, and bishops. Sometime after 860, the brothers were commissioned by the Emperor in Constantinople to lead a missionary crew heading into Moravia, in today's Czech Republic. They walked straight into a tangled web of political, religious, linguistic, and liturgical controversies which have vexed Eastern and Central Europe until today. The Church of Rome allowed only three languages to be used in its liturgical and scriptural texts—Hebrew, Greek, and Latin—the three languages inscribed above Christ's head on the cross. The Church in the East, juridically under Rome but culturally spinning off into its own orbit over the centuries, was a patchwork of peoples where local vernaculars were used in the liturgy. Languages are always spoken long before they are written, and the spoken Slavonic of Moravia had unique sounds demanding new letters populating a new alphabet. Cyril created that new alphabet, and then he and Methodius translated Scripture, various liturgical books, and the Mass into written Slavonic. This led to some serious tensions. The newly Christianized German bishops were suspicious of missionaries in their own neighborhood who came from Greece, spoke Slavonic, and who celebrated the sacred mysteries in a quasi-Byzantine style. Moravia and the greater Slavic homeland were under German ecclesiastical jurisdiction, not Greek. How could the Mass be said in Slavonic, or the Gospels translated into that new language? How could a Byzantine liturgy co-exist with the Latin rite? Cyril and Methodius went to Rome to resolve these various issues with the Pope and his advisers. The brothers were treated respectfully in Rome as well-educated and heroic missionaries. Cyril died and was buried in the Eternal City. Methodius returned to the land of the Slavs and to ongoing tensions with German ecclesiastics and princes. He translated virtually the entire Bible into Slavonic, assembled a code of Byzantine church and civil law, and firmly established, with the Pope's permission, the use of Slavonic in the liturgy. After Methodius' death, however, German and Latin Rite influences prevailed. The Byzantine Rite, the use of Slavonic in the liturgy, and the Cyrillic alphabet were all forced from Central to Eastern Europe, particularly into Bulgaria, shortly after Methodius died. While they were always honored in the East, the Feast of SS. Cyril and Methodius was extended to the entire Catholic Church only in 1880. Pope Saint John Paul II named Saints Cyril and Methodius Co-Patrons of Europe. Their massive legacy inspires the two lungs of the Church, both East and West, to breathe more deeply the enriched oxygen of the entire Christian tradition. Saints Cyril and Methodius, you prepared yourselves for brave and generous service to Christ and His Church through long years of preparation and, when the time came, you served heroically. May we so prepare, and so serve, until we can serve no more.

Today on Mushroom Hour we are joined by mycological ally, cultivator and community creator Olga Tzogas of Smugtown Mushrooms. Her journey with Fungi and plants started over 15 years ago. She began working with these allies when foraging in both urban & more wild settings as she learned to identify species for food and medicine. Olga, alongside her community, established Smugtown Mushrooms to satiate their need for mushrooms & growing supplies, workshops, events & community-based science where they are based on traditional Haudenosaunee land, in the so-called city of Rochester NY. While learning more & embracing the never-ending, unlocked potential mushrooms & fungi have to help heal both people, planet & soul. Olga teaches workshops throughout the continent about wild mushroom identification, medicinal mushrooms, biology, and mushroom cultivation. She was a core organizer for the 2016 Radical Mycology Convergence and the MycoSymbiotics Festival from 2015-17. In 2018, Olga help co-create the New Moon Mycology Summit, a justice-focused, mycology centered event, linking many disciplines extending throughout the living world.  Olga is a member of the Rochester Area Mycological Association, CPAMC, WPAMC & the West Virginia Mushroom club. Annually, Olga guides small groups immersing in land based and traditional knowledge of Northern Greece, highlighting the fungi and plants there.  I'm excited to learn from a legend in mycology who seems to bring the teachings of fungi into every aspect of her life.   TOPICS COVERED:   Lifelong Love of Mushrooms   Forests and Mushrooms in Greece   Hosting Forage Trips in Greece   Mycology Reaching Across Disciplines & Cultural Barriers   Story of Smugtown   Grappling with Oligarchy   Are We Allowed to Just Exist?   Are Currencies, Corporations and Governments the Answer?   Starving for Natural Connection    Mushrooms Remediating Social Ecologies      Evolution of Mycological Community   Solutions Inspired by Mushrooms   Smugtown Shifting Focus to Community Building   Building Networks of Solidarity and Support    EPISODE RESOURCES:   Smugtown Mushrooms Website: https://www.smugtownmushrooms.com/   Smugtown Mushrooms IG: https://www.instagram.com/smugtownmushrooms/   Smugtown Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/smugtownmushrooms/   New Moon Mycology Summit: https://www.facebook.com/newmoonmycologysummit   2021 Indigenous Peoples Day Event in DC: https://consortiumnews.com/2021/10/12/native-american-protesters-hit-by-sonic-weapons-in-dc/   

Angelo is the Ouzo King!  I stopped by his shop (The Greek Shop) and got quite an education on the ouzo culture in Greece.  Ouzo is the National Drink of Greece, and Angelo explains to me the proper and customary way to drink it.His ouzo comes from the islands of Chios, Lesbos, and Samos - and also north and middle Greece.  All his flavors are in the 40% to 45% proof range.I loved drinking it chilled, and sampled an ouzo from Northern Greece that I ended up purchasing.  This anise-flavored liquor consists of pure ethyl alcohol and made from grape or grain, and distilled with aniseed.The Greek Shop120 Adrianoy, Athina 105-58, GreeceSupport the Show.

On today's show we head to Northern Greece to a very amazing place that, well, I'm a little embarrassed about visiting. We'll also head to the Pretendomatic to hear the continuation of my interview with Noah, and of course, Silly Minute, Random Nature Fact, WhatzIT, and more! In this episode, we reflect on the importance of spending time with God, plus making sure we're always listening for His leading. Get ready to dive into learning more about how awesome God is!

Have you ever felt like you've just plain run out of juice? The book you've been reading seems pointless halfway through. That new sofa or lawnmower or set of wheels was pretty exciting last month, but now you're not sure what the big deal was. Even your relationships feel lackluster.   Human beings aren't like cell phones or toy robots. We can't rev up with a fresh set of batteries...we need other, more meaningful fuel to refill our tanks, and the energy we seek can't be found at any store.   1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray continually.”   One of the shortest verses in God's Word, the Bible, this pithy reminder was written by the Apostle Paul to believers in Thessalonica, an ancient city in what is now Northern Greece. These new converts to Christianity faced persecution, but Paul's colleague Timothy reported that they were persevering in the face of challenges.   Paul's letter, recorded as the biblical book of First Thessalonians, is written to inspire renewed energy in these early followers of Jesus. They were looked down upon, their motives and actions were questioned, they sometimes struggled with doubt about the outcome of their faith — and Paul wisely encouraged them to keep on praying, just as the Lord wants us to do today.   Let's pray.   Heavenly Father, sometimes we feel exhausted by our struggles, and sometimes we feel alone. Remind us that the greatest power in the universe — You, our Creator God, are just a prayer away. Amen.

Mount Olympus? The Aegean Sea? History and culture going back thousands and thousands of years? Wine that's fit for the gods? That's what we're talking about in my conversation with Alexandra Anthidou, who is the Director of Marketing and Communications for the Association of Northern Greek Winemakers. Alexandra has what many would see as a dream job - she gets to travel to over 30 wineries in her region of Northern Greece, she travels to many countries representing her association, she works with winemakers and world-class chefs to create mouth-watering meals and tasting events that would make travelling to Greece worthwhile just for an event alone! It's obvious that Alexandra has great respect for the vine, the grape, and the wine-making process - find out more about her day, her month and her journey here at Wine Behind the Scenes. What you will learn from this episode: Discover exciting and fun-filled wine-related events and activities you can organize for any occasion and celebration. Learn how to create a delectable food menu with wine tasting. Find out why each bottle of wine differs from another and what experience it speaks of every time you taste it. Know about the exciting events, fun-filled activities, travels, occasions, and celebrations that can fill your everyday schedule to promote the wine and a place's culture. Hear fascinating stories of gorgeous Greek places, great and beautiful wineries, grape varieties, and cherished experiences with wine. Alexandra Anthidou was born (1965) in Thessaloniki, the 2nd largest city in Greece, located in Macedonia, in Northern Greece. It's a beautiful seaside town, full of history (2.330 years old), overlooking Mountain Olympus. She was always active, creative, and dreamy, passionate about everything she was involved. And she's never changed! In the wine industry, she had been working indirectly since 1987 but directly since 2001 when she got a job in the association "Winemakers of Northern Greece" as director of marketing and communication. Her job is to constantly invent new ways to promote wine, mainly as a product of culture and through a series of different actions, like wine exhibitions, thematic wine tastings, wine and dine events, educational seminars, wine tourism projects, articles, and interviews. She is also a free launcher food and wine writer. She is fascinated by the wine industry and she believes that wine is a living organism that evolves. One of her favorite things to do, and part of her job (fortunately), is to visit wineries. Even if she has visited the same winery many times, each time is special, each time has something different to give her. And definitely, the wine is different. Because if it is aged, it grows, if it is fresh, well, each vintage is different. Her other favorite hobby is the food and wine pairing game. Each pairing is a window to the universe of flavors, taste, and pleasure. She also very much likes to travel (travels include wine tourism, if possible), swim (all year long), cook, and enjoy parties or dinners with family and friends. To make the long story short, she is a happy mother of two grown daughters and honored to consider herself a wine lady and a life lover. Get in touch with Alexandra Anthidou: Email Ad: a.anthidou@gmail.com pr@winemakersofnorthgreece.gr Website (Winemakers of North Greece): www.winemakersofnorthgreece.gr Topics Covered: 01:15 - Which beautiful Greek city does she live in? 02:11 - Sharing interesting facts about the city, beautiful people, and the remarkable wineries surrounding the city where she lives 03:12 - Talking about her involvement and affiliation with the Greek wine industry 06:01 - Always welcoming every day with great pleasure 06:443 - Interesting subject she talks about: great wineries and places, grape vineyards, and exciting activities to do 07:50 - Look at how her month-long schedule is filled with exciting and amazing events and activities 10:10 - Coming up with creative ideas to organize events for any occasion and celebrations 12:12 - How come the Greek wine industry is still in its infancy stage despite its 7,000 years of history? 14:55 - Coming up with a great food menu that goes with the best wine 17:18 - The challenge with organizing events and fixing the food menu to match the right wine 18:35 - Going back to the time she started to get involved with the wine industry 19:47 - The first thing she learns about wine 20:52 - How come each bottle of wine is different from the others, and all else in the wine world 22:05 - Amazing facts about wine, its characteristics, and the experience with it 23:44 - What she would tell someone wanting to follow her path 24:21 - Talking to Alexandra of years ago, when she just started 25:07 - The importance of enjoying the journey Quotes from Alexandra Anthidou: "My job is to create, to invent new ways to promote wine, not as a product, but as a product of culture." "Every day is a new challenge, the beginning of a new challenge for me. And that's why I have never been bored." "One day I woke up, I said, okay, we have to invent a special day for our special grape variety." "We know that we have a wine history of about 7,000 years. " "They were talking about wine with great respect. That was my very first feeling that I had for wine, the respect."              

Northern Greece, an unexplored Greece w/ Nick Rahovitis, founder and co-owner of Joysters This week, we're heading to northern Greece to learn about a non typical Greek experience.  Nick Rahovitis has been working with people, mostly student his whole life. After a teaching stint and management position at a multinational school in the UK, he was inspired to create his company, Joysters, that specializes in Northern Greece. Nick learned in the UK that few people have focused on traveling to Northern Greece and he was able to meet a need for travelers by letting them experience an unexplored side of Greece.On today's episode, we are talking about how a trip to Northern Greece is starkly different from a traditional Greece vacation which typically includes the islands in the southern part of Greece. A trip with Joysters embodies Greek philosophy, mentality and well being, the joy of life. In order to get the full experience in a different part of Greece, you need to smell it, savor it and sip it. Nick tells us just how to do that.  A vacation that is not the stereotypical Greece can make for a meaningful, educational and beneficial travel experience. Learn about wine regions, mountain regions and even snowy regions. Begin in Athens and head north for the travel experience of a lifetime. Expose yourself to the flavors of a local authentic environment in Thessaloniki, Nymfaio, Western Macedonia and beyond. Tune in to find out more about this off the beaten path experience in Greece and why you need to see the other side of this well traveled country. Today on The Intrepid Traveler: ∙NIck's journey and experiences to starting his business and the meaning behind the name of Joysters∙How Northern Greece differs from the typical southern Greece vacation∙How to sip, savor and smell your way through a authentic Greek experience in the lush mountains and beautiful beaches∙Exclusive behind the scenes opportunities not available to the general public like a bear sanctuary, a visit to a remote village, and protected wetlands with the largest pelican colony in the world located in the Greek mountains∙How culture, authenticity and tranquility is connected to core of tourism in Northern GreeceConnect with the guest: Joysters - Explore a new GreeceNIck Rahovitis on LinkedInNymfaio VillageJoysters on Facebook Thanks for tuning in!  Thanks for joining us on today's episode of The Intrepid Traveler podcast! If you enjoyed today's episode, please rate and review our show to help us reach even more aspiring travelers. Don't forget to check out our website, visit us on Facebook,  Instagram or follow us on LinkedIn to stay up-to-date on our latest epic travel adventures!

INTRODUCTION Lord willing, we are going to work our way through Paul's letter to the Corinthians, the letter we commonly call 2 Corinthians. We call it this because we only have two letters that Paul wrote to them, although there was likely another one. THE TEXT “Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, and Timothy our brother, unto the church of God which is at Corinth, with all the saints which are in all Achaia: Grace be to you and peace from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ” (2 Cor. 1:1–2). HISTORICAL BACKGROUND Achaia, mentioned here is our text, is what we would call southern Greece. Northern Greece was known then as Macedonia. Corinth was built on the Isthmus of Corinth, where the Peloponnese was connected to the mainland. Cenchrea (Rom. 16:1; Acts 18:18) was the harbor that serviced Corinth on the eastern side of the isthmus, and another harbor (Lechaeumon) serviced it from the west. The Corinth of classical Greece had been destroyed by the Romans in 146 B.C. and was left desolate for about a century. The Romans rebuilt it in 44 B.C. and wound up making it their capital of Greece. The city was influential and also sexually corrupt and decadent. When Paul first came to Corinth (around A.D. 49-50), the city was around 80 years old, and had a population of about 80,000 people. The city was a nouveau-riche boom town, populated by merchants and other hustlers. The Corinthians were wealthy, and their wealth was seen in trade, in sports, and in entertainment. For example, the theater in that city held 18,000 people. Aphrodite was the goddess of the city, and at one time there were five temples in the area dedicated to her. According to Strabo, the earlier Greek temple to Aphrodite was staffed with a thousand sacred prostitutes, which may also have been the case with the new temple in the Roman era. SUMMARY OF THE TEXT And so to plant a church in Corinth was to plant a church in a key strategic location. This was an important city, and that meant that a church there was going to be an important church. This letter is going to be a robust defense of Paul's authentic ministry, which had been challenged by spurious apostles. This is why Paul begins by saying that his letter is from Paul an apostle of Jesus Christ “by the will of God” (v. 1). The letter was also from Timothy, Paul's co-laborer. It was addressed to the church of God in Corinth, not to mention all the saints throughout all of Achaia (v. 1). The next verse is the standard salutation—grace and peace from the Father and the Son. You have heard me indicate before that I believe the Spirit is not mentioned by name because He is the grace and peace. DRAMA IN CORINTH When Paul had first come to Corinth, he ministered there for about a year-and-a-half. Working together with Timothy and Silas, not to mention Aquila and Priscilla, the initial planting of this church was quite successful. You can read about this period in Acts 18:1-17. After Paul left, he went to Ephesus, then to Jerusalem, after which he returned to Ephesus. After a period of about three years, he wrote 1 Corinthians. This works out because 1 Corinthians was his first letter to them. Paul sent Timothy to Corinth for a visit (1 Cor. 16:1-11). Timothy discovered that Paul's enemies had been at work in Corinth, and had orchestrated a revolt against the apostle. Paul then determined to visit Corinth just briefly in order to address everything. That visit was a disaster, what Paul called his “painful visit” (2 Cor. 2:1). All kinds of stories were circulating about Paul, and many Corinthian Christians had rejected him as a result, and had gone after a “different gospel” (2 Cor. 11:4). Paul returned to Ephesus, wiped out, and sent Titus to Corinth with what he called his “severe” letter (2 Cor. 2:4-5). This missing letter is the original 2 Corinthians, while our 2 Corinthians is 3 Corinthians. Still with me? That missing letter called for the Corinthians to repent, and glory to God, most of them actually did. The bulk of the church came back to Paul's side, although there was still significant clean up that had to take place. That is what is being addressed in this epistle, as Paul is making preparations to come to them for his third visit (2 Cor. 12:14; 13:1). 2 Corinthians is cleaning up after the major battle. AUTHENTIC MINISTRY In this letter we find Paul's most extensive defense of his apostolic ministry. He hatedtalking about himself, but he loved the gospel so much that if a defense of gospel ministry required it, he was willing even to do that. Paul tells the Corinthians in this letter that he had been flogged by the Jews five times (2 Cor. 11:24). The Mishnah tells us that the whip had three leather strands, and 13 strokes would be applied to the chest, 13 to one shoulder, and 13 to the other. This happened to Paul five times. That is 585 welts for the kingdom. Why is Paul emphasizing this kind of thing? Had he given up on trying to impress the Corinthians? Wasn't their problem with him the fact that Paul was so weak in his bodily presence with them (2 Cor. 10:10)? Yes, it was, but as Paul undertook to teach them the true meaning of authentic ministry, the authentic meaning of real ministry, part of that lesson included learning how God loves to showcase His power in the midst of weakness. “And he said unto me, My grace is sufficient for thee: for my strength is made perfect in weakness. Most gladly therefore will I rather glory in my infirmities, that the power of Christ may rest upon me” (2 Cor. 12:9). “But we have this treasure in earthen vessels, that the excellency of the power may be of God, and not of us. We are troubled on every side, yet not distressed; we are perplexed, but not in despair; Persecuted, but not forsaken; cast down, but not destroyed; Always bearing about in the body the dying of the Lord Jesus, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our body. For we which live are alway delivered unto death for Jesus' sake, that the life also of Jesus might be made manifest in our mortal flesh. So then death worketh in us, but life in you” (2 Cor. 4:7–12). So take heart, Christian. In Christ, faithful weakness is our superpower.

(Intro & Piano music) There are mentions in Ancient Greek texts of a plant's root used to ease Asthma and inflammation. It grows in Northern Greece(among other places in the world) and there's even a village named after it. Γλυκό means 'sweet', ρίζα means 'root'. The word travelled to Italy and then France-where the spelling used in America comes from. In fact, both spelling were used until the 1700 where the British spelling took over for a couple of centuries before it got separated for good; there's also a pronunciation inconsistency, the word doesn't end with 'sh' but still, that's how we pronounce it and that's because, in Cooper's Grammatica Linguae Agglicanae that was published in 1685 it was written that way. This word has a fascinating pronunciation history in the States and I highly recommend reading all about it. ΓΛΥΚΟΡΙΖΑ/LIQUORICE

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of eating a chicken taco in a backpack for a day and a half.Dr. Don - risky ☣️ Professor Ben - risky ☣️ 270. Rice, Chicken, and Lo Mein Leftovers — Risky or Not? Don Schaffner

Dr. Don and Professor Ben talk about the risks of eating a chicken taco in a backpack for a day and a half. Dr. Don - risky ☣️ Professor Ben - risky ☣️ 270. Rice, Chicken, and Lo Mein Leftovers — Risky or Not? Don Schaffner

Muse-Cast with Dena Romios welcomes critically acclaimed actor Yorgos Karamihos to the show! Yorgos is an acclaimed actor, director, and acting teacher. Born and raised in Northern Greece, he graduated from Ionian University, with a degree in Philosophy and History, as well as from The Greek National Theatre Academy. In 2012, he received a Fulbright Scholarship as an exceptional artist to study at the Stella Adler Academy of Acting & Theatre in Los Angeles, where he was immediately offered a position to teach his own acting technique. His credits as an actor include over forty theatrical productions from ancient Greek dramas and Shakespeare to Anton Chekhov, Tennessee Williams and other classical and modern plays. He has appeared in more than thirty feature films and in numerous TV series, including The Durrells in Corfu, Bulletproof, and Genius (Picasso). Karamihos has also directed multiple theatrical productions in major venues in Greece and the United States. In 2008, he received the Best Stage Actor award of Greece. He has translated plays and books from English, French and Spanish into Greek and has published several theatre plays. Hear more on GreekAFRadio!

Today I am joined by Johnny Livanos, Greek Wine Expert, Founder of Stray Dog Wild Gin Johnny Livanos is a third generation Greek-American restaurateur, Greek wine expert representing a number of leading wineries from Greece as part of Diamond Wine Importers, and founder of Stray Dog Wild Gin, inspired by the untouched mountains in northern Greece. As part of a proud New York family that owns and runs several acclaimed venues in Manhattan and Westchester NY, such as Oceana, Hudson West Kitchen + Craft Bar, Molyvos, City Limits Diner and Moderne Barn, Johnny has spent years running Greek restaurants and selling Greek wine & spirits. As part of this journey, Johnny gained a tremendous knowledge and passion for sharing the joys of Greek flavor with the world. This led Johnny to also launch his own gin brand, called Stray Dog Wild Gin, which is distilled in Northern Greece with a medley of wild Greek botanicals. A way to combine his passion for Greek flavor and spirit culture with his love of gin, Stray Dog Wild Gin is crafted from a unique blend of wild botanicals native to Greece's hills and mountains, then mixed with Mediterranean citrus and pure spring water. The result: The essence of an untamed life, bottled. Stray Dog Wild Gin donates a portion of every sale to support animal shelters. -- You can learn more about Johnny and Stray Dog Gin at https://www.straydoggin.com You can follow Johnny on Instagram at https://www.instagram.com/johnnylivanos -- This podcast is sponsored by Prosperty. The best way to buy, sell, or rent property in Greece. You can learn more by visiting www.theprosperty.com

Peter Hatzoglou has archived in a few short seasons, what most cricketers only ever dream about. An inspiring tale of grit, determination and a heart-centred approach to life has sky-rocketed Peter's cricketing career into the stratosphere. Announced, "Rookie of the Year" playing with the Melbourne Renegades, Cricket fans across the world have affectionately adopted "Peter" as a fan-favourite. We discuss the link between spirituality and cricket, the power of appealing to umpires and how Peter's family keep him accountable.Since this interview was filmed, Peter has debuted with the South Australia cricket team,  and with his aggressive, Anil Kumble style of bowling, has created a much-needed spin option for the Australian Cricket selectors to seriously consider in the future.Hatzoglou was born to a Greek father, with a family originating from Kozani in Northern Greece and a Northern Macedonian mother. The oldest of four, Peter is a role model in his community and still does the books as treasurer for Sunshine Heights Cricket Club.In December 2020, Hatzoglou signed with the Melbourne Renegades. In July 2021, he signed a two-year deal with the Perth Scorchers.What the next signing will be......time will only tellYou can follow Peter's journey via his very entertaining Instagram page here ⬇️⬇️⬇️⬇️https://www.instagram.com/peterhatzoglou/https://www.battingforafghanistan.org.au/event/batting-for-afghanistanSupport the show (https://www.patreon.com/labanditchburn?fan_landing=true)

THE UNKNOWN GOD  Paul had been preaching in Thessalonica and Berea in Northern Greece with Silas and Timothy, as part of his apostolic ministry to the gentiles, and he had to escape on his own from there because of opposition to his preaching and plots against him and he found a safe haven at Athens in the south of Greece. While he waited for his companions Silas and Timothy to arrive Paul was distressed to see that Athens was full of mythologies and legends and idols so he began to visit the Jewish synagogues there and the open marketplace and preach the resurrection of Jesus.  Meanwhile some of the Stoic and Epicurean philosophers of the city became intrigued and sceptical of these strange new things he had to say so they urged him to come to speak publicly about his views at the Areopagus, which was part courthouse and part philosophical debating forum. There he was met by ‘the Athenians and the foreigners who lived there who would spend their time in nothing except telling or hearing something new' Acts 17:22 So, Paul, standing in the midst of the Areopagus, said: “Men of Athens, I perceive that in every way you are very religious. For as I passed along and observed the objects of your worship, I found also an altar with this inscription, ‘To the unknown god.' What therefore you worship as unknown, this I proclaim to you. The God who made the world and everything in it, being Lord of heaven and earth, does not live in temples made by man, nor is he served by human hands, as though he needed anything, since he himself gives to all mankind life and breath and everything. And he made from one man, of one blood, every nation of mankind to live on all the face of the earth, having determined their allotted spans of time and the boundaries of their dwelling places, that they should seek God, and perhaps feel their way toward him and find him. Yet he is actually not far from each one of us, for ‘In him we live and move and have our being'; as even some of your own philosophers have said, ‘ For we are indeed his offspring'. Being then God's offspring, we ought not to think that the divine being is like gold or silver or stone, an image formed by the art and imagination of man. The times of ignorance God overlooked, but now he commands all people everywhere to repent, because he has fixed a day on which he will judge the world in righteousness by a man whom he has appointed; and of this he has given assurance to all by raising him from the dead.” When they heard Paul speak of the resurrection of a person who had been dead, some laughed, but others said, "We want to hear more about this later." That ended Paul's discussion with them, but a few joined him and became believers, among whom were Dionysius the Areopagite and a woman named Damaris and others with them. When Paul spoke to those religious Greek scholars in Athens who were seeking to understand the meaning of their concept of ‘The Unknown God' he told them that Jesus was the ‘Unknown God' that they were actually seeking after, and when he said to them; In Him we live and move and have our being' (Acts 17:28), he went on further to say an extraordinary thing; ‘Even one of your own philosopher/poets has said this same thing.' Paul understood Greek philosophy and knew that it contained an all-embracing eternal and unchanging truth of universal reason that they called ‘logos', a word which described an unknown something that arranged and sustained the universe.  So somewhere there was a concept in their minds that all human beings really belonged within an unknown something far greater than themselves. We know that something as a Someone called Jesus. It might seem amazing to us that these Greek philosophers even had a concept of an unknown god, but the Bible tells us that God has placed ‘eternity' (olam – the vanishing point that remains unreachable – an horizon) in the human heart. Ecclesiastes 3:11 he has put eternity into man's heart, yet they cannot find out what God has done from the beginning to the end. That means that there is an unquenchable searching in the human heart for something that is far greater than humanity and contains humanity within a higher creative entity than itself.  This concept exists deep within the heart of every person right up to this day but this concept can exist in peoples' minds as simply being a concept and not being a person who is relational towards humanity with love and mercy and compassion and wisdom and order, and who is also that ultimate intelligence of creation. That person is Jesus Christ  Paul offered those Greek scholars his revelation of Jesus as the Son of God who was that ‘Someone' in whom all of humanity now existed. He told them that Jesus Christ as God had become a human being that was the Son of God and that had been killed for proclaiming that fact - and had then risen from the dead. Jesus had told his disciples that he and his Father would live in them and they would live in him and that the Holy Spirit would reveal all of this to them after he had left them to be with his Father. (John 14). Some of the Greeks he was speaking to accepted the truth that Paul spoke but others said this was preposterous while others said they would give the matter some thought (Acts 17:32)  So even though that profound cosmic truth of what Paul proclaimed to those people on that day about us as humanity being in Jesus and his being in us there is no way that that can be grasped with the natural mind. This requires a revelation of the Holy Spirit about the Father/Son relationship that we have been brought into through Jesus, otherwise it is not a personal reality for us to live in. Our discovery of this cosmic truth that has already been accomplished becomes our FAITH. It doesn't become true when we believe it; it was always true but now our faith makes it a present reality for our lives as we discover it. Jesus is never separated or isolated from the Father and he has made us part of their life and we had no say in that decision – but we do have a say in how we respond to it just as those Greek religious scholars had.  We need the light of this truth to penetrate our heart otherwise the darkness and confusion of the human mind keeps us ignorant of it and we remain forever searching and never finding the unknown something (Someone) that we need, that fulfils our lives. What is generally believed in our Western culture is that wealth and success and being well thought of is just about the best thing that could ever happen to us, and God has every good reason to break this illusion of ours however he chooses. This is part of the perplexity and confusion of our age. Other cultures may have different values, but there is ultimately only one destiny to be realized and the natural mind cannot realize it without a revelation from God. 1 Corinthians 2:14 But the natural mind does not receive the things of the Spirit of God, for they are foolishness to him; nor can he know them, because they are spiritually discerned…16 For "who has known the mind of God. But we have the mind of Christ.” Paul was not speaking to a Jewish culture in Athens, but to a sophisticated elite bunch of philosophers, so he did not speak to these scholars about Israel; he went back to the creation of mankind and the oneness of us as being all of one blood in origin from one male and one female. Paul is anticipating the reaction of people of the world of all kinds of cultures having to grapple with the one universal truth that ultimately includes all of us in history as being in Christ before the beginning of time.  That is why the Bible is clear in its recording of its genealogies of Jesus as an historical person, and while placing him particularly in a Middle Eastern culture his wisdom and his supernatural acts of love and justice and mercy strike deep into the hearts and minds of all cultures. These genealogies that are recorded in the Bible in the four Gospels go back to different points of commencement and origin of the ancestry of Jesus. The writers of each of these gospels were inspired to convey particular emphases concerning the narrative of the life of Jesus and his ministry. The writers were also targeting different audiences of that day. For instance, Matthew goes back to Abraham, and Mark starts with the birth of John the Baptist, while Luke goes back to Adam.  John, however, goes back beyond them all and begins with ‘In the beginning was the Word' (Logos) – which was a word the Greeks understood, as we saw previously with Paul in Athens. John was stating that Jesus was the Logos, the very same word that the Greeks used to describe an all-embracing truth of universal reason, an unknown something that created and arranged and sustained the universe. That statement would have challenged any Greeks anywhere listening to it regarding their understanding of the meaning of Logos, because they would not have conceived of that lofty universal concept of theirs as being a mere mortal called Jesus who somehow created the universe. Nonetheless the Holy Spirit confronted them with that truth and made grace available for that truth to be embraced in their hearts and believed in as the ultimate truth for their lives. In the same way that statement of John's would have disrupted the Jew's understanding of the word Logos, which to them was not Jesus but simply and categorically the Torah, the sacred written Word delivered to them from God, and again the Holy Spirit would have confronted them with that truth of Jesus as the Christ and made grace available for that truth to be embraced in their hearts and believed in as the ultimate truth for their lives. So across the board, Jews and gentiles (the rest of us as humanity) were being confronted by the reality that one man, Jesus, is, as God, the totality of meaning from the beginning of creation through the times of its fall and its redemption and then its fulfillment in eternity - the Alpha and Omega. When John writes in his Gospel further on in the first chapter (vs.11) he states emphatically to all of us concerning Jesus, that he came unto his own and we knew him not and received him not. And we killed him. But Jesus came back from the dead, and he can never be killed again, so John tells us that the best thing we can decide for our lives is to be actively joined in Spirit to his life, because he will not cease his speaking and his supernatural doing of love and justice and mercy towards us - he will never go away. He will interrupt all of our religion and worship and philosophy and he desires to draw us into participation of the oneness of life that he shares with his Father.  Among the Apostles it was Paul and John who were the ones most graced with the revelation of the vastness of the universal work of atonement accomplished for all of humanity by Jesus on the cross. When Paul said those words to the Greeks in Athens ‘In Him we live and move and have our being' (Acts 17:28), he was stating a universal fact about all of humanity. He was actually saying that each one of us has our ‘being' in Christ. God is uncreated being and we are created being. In English grammar to have ‘being' simply means ‘to be', so to have your being within something means that that is what describes what you are part of and what you belong to - it defines who you are – it is your ‘I am' – it is your identity.  The world carves out its own identity – its own ‘I am' For many people this identity can be a religion, a political party, an ideology, or a pathway to enlightenment, whether that is a pathway of reason or a pathway of mystical practice – there's a thousand varieties and in all these things people live and move and have their being – and that's understandable because they find some kind of meaning in those things. And the Church has also often adopted its own different styles of thinking and dogmas that may not altogether be of divine revelation but are strongly held opinions or persuasions that people belong to, in which they live and move and have their being. The people in the book of acts knew they were in a world changing time – not just starting a new religion or even trying to get people to come to church. They didn't even know precisely what church was – they just regularly gathered together as God's Family and their conversation was about Jesus and they believed in the witness of the Spirit - and his Church grew. They became a community of love and faith and took that love and faith wherever they went. Jesus did the rest as the Holy Spirit gifted them with power from on high. They also had to learn right from the beginning through many challenges how to avoid false teaching. Paul wrote to the Ephesian church not to be like children, believing in one opinion and then another because of persuasive teachers who had cleverly used deceptive techniques that sounded like truth but weren't, and they took advantage of the people to gather disciples to themselves. So Paul warned them strongly about this and urged them to grow in truth and love and discernment, that they might become more and more like Christ (Ephesians 4:14-16) And each one of us is designed to live and move and have our being, our true being and our true identity in the person of Jesus. So as a church and as individuals our purpose is to believe in that witness and empowerment of the Spirit and in the simplicity of Christ as in the book of Acts and to participate in the life of Jesus and the Father.  Participating in the life of Jesus and the Father is what we have been given to share in as humanity. This was all planned before sin came into the equation and that's why Jesus had to come to live and die and live again to reconcile us to the Father. He wanted to get us in on the beautiful relationship that he had with the Father and Holy Spirit. And whether Adam had sinned or not, Jesus still had to come to make us one with the Father because HE IS THE ETERNAL SON – NOT ADAM.  In him we live and move and have our being – we are not trying to get there - we are there - so let's embrace it, celebrate it and proclaim it. Ephesians 3:18 That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the width and length and depth and height—to know the love of Christ which passes knowledge; that you may be filled with all the fullness (pleroma – completeness) of God. Now to Him who is able to do exceedingly abundantly above all that we ask or think, according to the power that works in us, to Him be glory in the church by Christ Jesus to all generations, forever and ever. Amen.    

Listen to an interview with Nico, an activist involved in the S22 social centre and various anarchist collectives active in Thessaloniki, Greece. This conversation was recorded sitting outside the S22 square in the Toumba district of the city. One point of focus is reflections on the major struggle against the open pit gold mine in northern Greece that is run by the Canadian corporation, Eldorado Gold. Generally this exchange revolves around the reflections of an activist operating within Anarchist networks in the city and participating in climate and environmental justice struggles. Music on this edition by Giorgos Hatzinassios with track, Pursuit (Katadioksh) from 1977. I first heard this on @radioalhara Free City Radio is recorded and produced by Stefan @spirodon Christoff.

Have you ever felt like you've just plain run out of juice? The book you've been reading seems pointless halfway through. That new sofa or lawnmower or set of wheels was pretty exciting last month, but now you're not sure what the big deal was. Even your relationships feel lackluster.   Human beings aren't like cell phones or toy robots. We can't rev up with a fresh set of batteries...we need other, more meaningful fuel to refill our tanks, and the energy we seek can't be found at any store.   1 Thessalonians 5:17 says, “Pray continually.”   One of the shortest verses in God's Word, the Bible, this pithy reminder was written by the Apostle Paul to believers in Thessalonica, an ancient city in what is now Northern Greece. These new converts to Christianity faced persecution, but Paul's colleague Timothy reported that they were persevering in the face of challenges.   Paul's letter, recorded as the biblical book of First Thessalonians, is written to inspire renewed energy in these early followers of Jesus. They were looked down upon, their motives and actions were questioned, they sometimes struggled with doubt about the outcome of their faith — and Paul wisely encouraged them to keep on praying, just as the Lord wants us to do today.   Let's pray.   Heavenly Father, sometimes we feel exhausted by our struggles, and sometimes we feel alone. Remind us that the greatest power in the universe — You, our Creator God, are just a prayer away. Amen.

This is part one of two episodes with author Julian Hoffman. This episode focuses on Julian's life in northern Greece where he encounters European brown bears in his day to day life. We also discuss the local accents of wrens(!), particularly Liverpudlian wrens. Julian has published two books. In 2012 The Small Heart of Things was published and in 2019 it was followed by Irreplaceable: The Fight to Save Our Wild Places.  I'm a big fan of both of these books. Julian does that rare thing for a nature writer and centres communities within the landscape. Irreplaceable is a great example of this, with Julian writing about local people the world over battling to save special places, habitats and species.  Irreplaceable was the Highly Commended Finalist for the 2020 Wainwright Prize for Writing on Global Conservation Julian details how he came to live in Prespa, how he became a writer there after working with his wife as a market gardener, toiling away in the open fields growing fruit and vegetables, and getting to know the locals. Thanks so much for bearing with us and I hope you enjoy the episode.   Links Julian Hoffman: https://julian-hoffman.com/ Twitter: https://twitter.com/JulianHoffman The Wren Boys: https://www.ouririshheritage.org/content/archive/topics/miscellaneous/the-wren-boys Unlocking Landscapes Twitter: https://twitter.com/UnlockLand Homepage: https://www.unlockinglandscapes.com/   

Stacie is the board Chair of the Greek Folk Dance Program at Holy Trinity Greek Orthodox Cathedral in Charlotte, the largest program of its kind in the U.S. A native of Hampton, VA, Stacie was first exposed to Greek folk dance as a young child at her hometown church in Newport News, VA. Since moving to Charlotte in 2001, Stacie has overseen the growth of Holy Trinity’s program, including the development of a grade-level curriculum that serves almost 400 students. In addition to teaching classes and dancing with the Charlotte-based troupe, Thrylos, Stacie also serves as the Director of Competition for the Metropolis of Atlanta’s annual Hellenic Dance Festival (HDF) and has recently transitioned to developing the virtual HDForum Series, an educational supplement sponsored by HDF.  Stacie believes deeply in the magic of connection through dance - to music, to history, to others, and to self.  Stavros Karagiorgis is a Winston-Salem, NC native where he's been actively involved in the local dance program at the Annunciation Greek Orthodox Church. There, he has taught students of all ages and helps lead their program. Stavros has directed many award winning groups for his parish. Additionally, Stavros has taught various Greek folk dance workshops for Greek folk dance enthusiasts throughout the United States and Canada. His main joy in the field of Greek folk dance is the ability to continuously learn. Stavros strives to continue to learn various dances, songs and traditions from local villagers in Greece. He has been on several research trips in Northern Greece and in the Cyclades. There he has had the unique opportunity to speak with countless villagers and musicians and been able to record both their oral and musical histories. To Stavros, this is the most rewarding part of his Greek folk dance hobby. Stavros also plays an integral part in the Greek Orthodox Metropolis of Atlanta’s Hellenic Dance Festival. He has served in various planning capacities over the last 12 years. Stavros currently serves as the co-chair of the Festival Implementation Team who presides over the organization and planning of the annual event. 2020’s event marked their biggest ever with over 50 competitive teams and nearly 2,000 attendees.  https://www.hellenicdancefestival.com/

Key word: Return About 10 years prior to writing the prison epistles, Paul writes his first two inspired letters to the church at Thessalonica, which is in Northern Greece, or Macedonia (around 52 A.D.) Paul was thrilled by these believers who had turned to God from idols to serve a living and true God (1:9). This is one of the clearest examples in the New Testament of true conversion (see Acts 26:18, 20). Salvation is not consenting to some theological facts about Jesus and the crucifixion, it is turning from that which we used to worship to Christ by faith, resulting in serving Him. But in the very next verse, Paul launched into his overarching theme throughout both epistles – the return of Christ (1:10). The return of Christ is mentioned in every chapter in both books, because apparently there was some major confusion about this event. In 1 Thessalonians there was concern that Christ was not actually going to return, or that He had secretly come back and they had missed out. To comfort them, as well as inform them of the truth, Paul crystalized this doctrine in 4:13-18 where he describes the rapture (a word we get from the Latin for “caught up” in v. 17). They had no reason to grieve, for the Lord was yet to come, and when He comes He will draw both the dead and living saints to meet Him in the air and take them back to heaven to be with Him forever. Therefore, they could be comforted by these truths (v. 18). Paul distinguishes this event from the Day of the Lord, or Second Coming in 5:1-11. The Second Coming will begin with judgment on those who have rejected Christ, but the believer is not destined for wrath (5:9) and need not fear it. They should actually be encouraged (5:11). The take away or understanding Eschatology should be that we encourage and build up one another (5:11), our key verse. Key verse: 1 Thessalonians 5:11 – Therefore encourage one another and build up one another, just as you also are doing.

Ellwed Talks with Dimos of Your White Moments about importance of true storytelling. Dimos is one part of Your White Moments. Together with Yiannis they are full-time wedding photographers and cinematographers, an up-and-coming brand based in the Northern Greece. As storytellers their main goal is to capture couple's special moments exactly the way they happened. In this way they achieve authentic look that fits to each couple. They believe that every story, every couple and every wedding is unique. They have been working in the fields of photography and cinematography for over 10 years. They created their new brand Your White Moments, which reflects their ideology, because they strongly believe that their images and films should always express couple's personalities and not their own ambitions. Your White Moments was featured in many online magazines such as Beloved Stories, Wedding Elopements, Bride Vogue, Together Journal and many more. In this episode we talk about their journey and how they approach each couple in order to achieve the best and always unique result. Stick to the end and find out the advice Dimos shares with all the brides looking to get married in Greece! You can get in touch with Your White Moments here: www.yourwhitemoments.com https://www.instagram.com/yourwhitemoments/ ----------------------------------------------------------------- Read more on ellwed.com/podcast Get the Ellwed magazine at ellwed.com/magazine Follow Ellwed on socials for instant stylish inspiration from Greece at @ellwedmag Share this episode on your social media channels and help future brides with planning their destination wedding! ------------------------------------------------------------------- This episode is sponsored by ALCHIMEIA portfolio building workshop retreat at Dexamens Seaside Hotel for all cinematographers and photographers who need to revive their portfolios and add luxury Greece to the list of their destinations. If you are a pro, join us! And now let's get started! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/ellwed/message

This week, Gilly Smith chats to Pie Man, Calum Franklin about the four food moments in his new book The Pie Room. We learn how he pulled out pies from the depths of British culinary history and turned them into a story that has captivated his 120k followers on Instagram, had super star chef Thomas Keller send his teams over from California to watch and learn and beaten Jamie Oliver to the top spot on Amazon Books.This season is sponsored by Odysea whose range of Mediterranean foods are just what we need to get through a COVID winter. This week, Susana Perez of Susana and Daughters on the Cowdray Estate tells us about the health properties of kefir, and we learn about the goats from the foothills of Menikio mountain in Northern Greece who produce the milk for Odysea's kefir. See acast.com/privacy for privacy and opt-out information.

Ikaria: Food and Life in the Blue ZoneBy Meni Valle Intro: Welcome to the number one cookbook podcast, Cookery by the Book with Suzy Chase. She's just a home cook in New York City, sitting at her dining room table, talking to cookbook authors.Meni Valle: Hi I'm Meni Valle and my latest cookbook is Ikaria: Food and Life in the Blue Zone.Suzy Chase: What if there was a place, an idyllic island where residents don't go to gyms, don't take pills or adhere to fad diets, and yet they live longer and have a quality of life many of us could only envy. This amazing place is in the Aegean Sea and it's called Ikaria, a beautiful Greek Island named after Icarus, a mythological figure who fell into the surrounding sea when his wax wings melted in the sun. I first learned of Ikaria from you and this gorgeous cookbook. When did you first learn of Ikaria?Meni Valle: For me it would have been about five or six years ago, and I was just doing some research into the Mediterranean diet, which I'm very, very interested in. I'm coming from a big Greek background as well. And I just stumbled across some work and interviews and things about Ikaria and the blue zones and I delved more into that because it was just fascinating. I wanted to learn more about the food and what it was about their eating that was helping with their longevity but even when I found out about the food and learned more about the food, there was so much more I learned about the joy of Ikaria.Suzy Chase: So it's been said that this Island is the most shining example of all the blue zones. What exactly is a Blue Zone?Meni Valle: The Blue Zones are places in the world that have been identified where people are living a very long life, either free or very little chronic disease. They're living a long life, you know, many residents over 80, 90, over 100 but leaving a really healthy life. So there are five places in the world that have been identified they are, they are Ikaria, obviously from Greece, Sardinia, Okinawa, Costa Rica at Loma Linda in California. And even though these are all very culturally diverse, they do have common threads and their common threads are things like the plant-based diet exercising, naturally in that I mean, walking to work or working in their gardens and walking most places actually and the most important one I find was that really strong sense of community, which they all seem to have.Suzy Chase: The inhabitants of the small Greek Island live on an average 10 years longer than the rest of Western Europe. Can you talk a little bit about speaking with the locals and how they cook and eat and what were some takeaways for you?Meni Valle: I've spent quite a bit of time in Ikaria. My first visit was in 2017 and I've been going back every year, except for this year, of course. And I've gotten to know quite a few of the locals that have almost become family and there was a woman that lived about two doors down from where I normally would stay. Her name is Monica and she's 90 and I remember the last time we sat down and had coffee with her when I was there last September. And I did say, you know, Monica, tell me about your day. What is it about your life here? She said, I get up in the morning the first thing I do is guide into my garden, I look after my plans, I talk to my flowers, water, the garden, do everything I need to do. Then it's breakfast, which is normally something simple, like some herbal tea, a bit of toast with their beautiful Ikarian honey, their local honey, which is also been quite well known for their medicinal purposes too and their health benefits. And then she said I'll go out to the garden, do my work again out there, look after the house. And then I start on my lunch and start cooking and they have their main meal of the day around 2pm and that would always be so lots of vegetables, maybe a little bit of meat, maybe a little bit of fish, but mainly plant based veggie dishes or bean dishes, lots of salads. And then in the afternoon, so rest and they do take the time. This is the thing they talk about a lot is make sure you take the time needed to rest, do not rush through your day. If you need to rest, you take that time so they always rest in the afternoon in the evening, she said it's a light dinner could be just a bit of yogurt or fruit, but the other thing she said in the evenings if we say we might go for a walk, if someone has their light on in their house we'll stop and say hello and walk in and have a bit of a chat sit with some friends, have a glass of wine, maybe have a chat so they've got this slow pace life. And those are the things that I've come away with this slow pace. They're always with other people too you don't find them, that thing was really interesting, you don't find people that are on their own very much or lonely as we have in our modern world. They don't have any old people's homes, for example, it would be shameful for them to put their old people in a home. Everyone sort of lives together. They look after each other, the older people, the grandparents and the older people that the ones with the wisdom and the ones they do look to quite a lot for everything. So I think for me, I took away the slow pace, that sense of community that looking after each other, they do actually have a genuine care for the people in their village and everyone on the island.Suzy Chase: I'm curious about two things you just brought up the local herbal tea and the honey. Um, can you talk a little bit about Liza, the beekeeper, after you talk about the local herbal tea?Meni Valle: So when I was in Nas which is the place, I normally will stay with Thea and Illia, they did say to me, you must go visit Liza she's the beekeeper not far from Nas and she has got a beautiful honey farm. So we did, we went up and knocked on her door basically and opened with open arms. And with very little notice she was very happy to show us around and we sat and tasted some of her honey bread. One of the most exciting experiences there, quite a highlight, was when she took us out to the bees and smoked the bees and she actually put her hand inside and removed some in her hand. And when she was holding them, I did ask her what does that feel like? And she said it actually feels like holding soft cotton. She was very passionate about her bees. She talked about them like they were her family. She's very knowledgeable in beekeeping and her honey. And she talked about the different honeys that they've got there and the different varieties. The thyme honey, I think was my favorite. They've got a lot of seasonal honeys as well, but all delicious in their own way. And she said, you know, a teaspoon of honey every day, that's her little secret, I suppose that as you will live to a hundred, but they were beautiful. And she was an incredible, incredible, passionate woman about her honey, and like I said, she treated her bees like family.Suzy Chase: I would love to hear about how you gathered the recipes for this cookbook.Meni Valle: I've been to Ikaria now three times. So while I was there, I was cooking in the inn many times, I'd go in and just peek in the morning and see what she was doing and we would go forging, we would go to farms. And I've got to know quite a few of the locals there. And we always would sit and talk about food over a coffee or a piece of cake. And they're all very generous and talked about what they make and how they eat. And it would always invite me to their home, please come and have lunch and we would I'd go and we'd sit and we'd talk. And many times we'd cook together. So over the last four years, probably I've been sort of collecting those recipes, but also seeing how they did things and put those recipes together. It has been quite interesting and also I just love the way the story is behind the recipes as well when they talk about the food they make and why they do certain things. Beans, for example, are a big part of their diet, whether it's black-eyed beans or chickpeas, that kind of thing. They do have them a lot. And there was one lady who was saying to me, when we have our beans, we always serve with pickles on the side. And I said oh yeah is there a particular reason for that apart from they taste good together. So when we serve our bean dishes, whether it's a salad or a stew casserole, we always serve some pickles on the side, whether it's a pickled zucchini or a mushroom or whatever that might be or cabbage or whatever. And that is because apart from the fact that they taste good together, they actually need helps them with their digestion of the beans. So that was interesting to hear too, because obviously all the recipes in the book everything's meant to go together, it's about sharing a big sharing table. So, you know, it's about picking recipes out of the book that you like and putting them on a big table and just sharing it. And the pickles go with the bean dishes. A lot of the sides like the tzatziki or calamari or other sides there will go really well with the vegetable dishes like fried zucchini, tzatziki. So it would be just a dish in front of you that you would eat individually. You would share a lot of these dishes. So I love the way they do that too. And the different breads they make and the way they make their phyllo which is different from the way my mother used to make it because when mum came from Northern Greece and she made her phyllo like quite different to the ladies, what they do in Ikaria and I find that really interesting as well, because even though most people wouldn't know of a phyllo pie and a spanakopita which is quite well known but every place in Greece makes it their own unique way, they have their own techniques and I find that interesting. I love learning about that and listening to the stories that are behind those dishes.Suzy Chase: What are a few things you can always find on the Ikarian table.?Meni Valle: You will always find on the Ikarian table bowls of salads, fresh bread, beautiful fresh local cheese, which they make their goats cheese. You would always find some of their local wine. There's always, the bean dishes, the salads, like I said, the vegetable dishes the cheeses, pickles, olives, and they have local olive oil as well. Very healthy kind of food obviously, and everything is designed to be eaten together on the big sharing table.Suzy Chase: The other day, I made your recipe for Collard Greens with Potatoes on page 69. Can you describe this recipe? And can you say it in Greek for me because I'm not even going to try.Meni Valle: Okay. The Prasino Kolaro Me Patates that's just a very rustic dish not only simple, but really, really healthy, nutritious it's collard greens potatoes and it's a stew and if you don't have a particular ingredient you can use other ingredients as well. I love this. Simply served with some olives and cheese and some fresh bread it is a meal on its own, or you can have it as a side if you want, you know, with a bit of grilled fish, some meat, but on its own it's just delightful. It's just simple, and I was saying a little while ago to someone they're really, really simple dishes. And they said, well, there's complexity in simplicity. So it might be simple, but it's very, very good as well. So using the best seasonal ingredients you can get when they taste the best of course, that's, I think, the key to any of these dishes in the book.Suzy Chase: So I wanted to ask one more question about the people. They're so sharp and they're living such long healthy lives. Do you think there's a genetic component to this mystery? Or do you think it's just all lifestyle?Meni Valle: I'm not sure about the genetic component to be quite honest, Suzy, I think really it is lifestyle. I really do. Ikaria is a textbook example of a Mediterranean diet, but in a holistic sense, it's the food they eat, not just what they eat, how they eat it. And by that, I mean, by sitting down at the table and sharing that food with family and friends, that strong sense of connection of community and sense of purpose and having people around, I think those are the things that contribute to their longevity. They did talk about technology and, just said, yes, you know, we have mobile phones here of course its internet just like everybody else you know, we have all that, but we use it in a different way. We're not obsessed. And our teenagers aren't glued to their mobile phone devices, or they spend a lot of time outside whether it's gardening or just outdoor activities. I really believe it's their lifestyle, their philosophy of life. They also are very famous for their Panigiri which is a festival and they have these quite often from about March to about October, and everyone in the island, or most people in the island will gather in a village and they'll have roasted goat wrapped in paper. They come to the table, you have your salads, you have your local wine they drink, they have a band, everyone's dancing from about 9:00 PM till about 9:00 AM the next morning singing and they have a lovely time. But the main thing about these Panigiri's and the thing that really struck at the most apart from having a fantastic night and a lot of fun and energy out there is that all the money raised in these festivals goes to a common cause on the Island. So if any family might need some medical help or to get to the mainland or a school might need some repairing or some roads need repairing all the money goes to that cause. So again, it's that sense of community and it's illustrated every single day that I saw there, I saw people helping each other. And I remember something that Monica had said to me, the 90 year old lady, she said Meni you need to be where your heart is full. And that really was something I think about quite a lot. And she was an amazing person and full of energy at her age and she always would say to me, don't ever stop smiling and be where your heart is full. And I think that kind of says it all about Ikaria, that slow pace, that community, that eating fresh, seasonal food, the joy they find in the little simple things in life. That's what it's all about. So that's their magic and their soul.Suzy Chase: Now to my segment called Last Night's Dinner, where I ask you what you had last night for dinner.Meni Valle: Last night's dinner was a simple Greek salad. I had some beautiful tomatoes that I had bought from the market. So it was just tomatoes, cucumber. I had some lovely feta cheese that I put in and I just had some fresh bread I had bought yesterday morning from a bakery that I love, and it was a very, very simple dinner last night, just a Greek salad. So it's my go-to.Suzy Chase: Where can we find you on the web and social media.Meni Valle: My website is many menivalle.com.au, and you can find me on Instagram @Meni.Valle. You can find me there.Suzy Chase: You need to be where your heart is full definitely sums it up. Thank you so much Meni for coming on Cookery by the Book Podcast.Meni Valle: Thank you so much. Lovely chatting with you, Suzy.Outro: Subscribe over on CookerybytheBook.com and thanks for listening to the number one cookbook podcast, Cookery by the Book.

Paul and co. head to Northern Greece to preach the Gospel.

PAOK FC, the Panthessalonikian Athletic Association of Constantinople, is the main football club in Northern Greece. It is usually related to the history of the refugees of Asia Minor in Thessaloniki. Historian and researcher Lukas Tsiptsios talks to SBS Greek. - Ο ΠΑΟΚ, ο Πανθεσσαλονίκειος Αθλητικός Σύλλογος Κωνσταντινουπολιτών, είναι ο κύριος ποδοσφαιρικός σύλλογος της Βόρειας Ελλάδας. Συνήθως σχετίζεται με την ιστορία των προσφύγων της Μικράς Ασίας στη Θεσσαλονίκη. O ιστορικός και ερευνητής Λουκάς Τσίπτσιος μιλά στο SBS Greek.

Tour guides from Athens and Thessaloniki recommend attractions to visit in Northern Greece, and "Comma Queen" Mary Norris explains what a love of Greek language and mythology can add to your own Greece odyssey. We'll also admire the seafaring skills of the Polynesians and hear how a cultural faux pas led to Captain James Cook's fateful encounter with the Hawaiians. GUESTS - Christina Thompson, Anastasia Gaitanou, Apostolos Douras, Filippos Kanakaris, Mary NorrisCommercial free edition of live broadcast from January 18, 2020 on the Heartland Newsfeed Radio Network, online at heartlandnewsfeed.com, Spreaker and other platforms.Listen Live: https://www.heartlandnewsfeed.com/listenliveFollow us on social mediaFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/hlnfradionetworkTwitter: https://www.twitter.com/HLNF_BulletinInstagram: https://www.instagram.com/heartlandnewsfeedMastadon: https://liberdon.com/@heartlandnewsfeedDiscord: https://discord.gg/6b6u6DTSupport us with your financial supportStreamlabs: https://streamlabs.com/heartlandmediaPayPal: https://www.paypal.me/heartlandmediaSquare Cash: https://cash.app/$heartlandnewsfeedPatreon: https://www.patreon.com/heartlandnewsfeedCrypto via 1UpCoin: https://1upcoin.com/donate/heartlandmedia

Tour guides from Athens and Thessaloniki recommend attractions to visit in Northern Greece, and "Comma Queen" Mary Norris explains what a love of Greek language and mythology can add to your own Greece odyssey. We'll also admire the seafaring skills of the Polynesians and hear how a cultural faux pas led to Captain James Cook's fateful encounter with the Hawaiians. For more information on Travel with Rick Steves - including episode descriptions, program archives and related details - visit www.ricksteves.com.

The Communist Democratic army of Greece launches a conversational war offensives against several Greek towns, however they are badly beaten at the Battle for the town of Florina in Northern Greece.  Field Marshall Papagos becomes the commander of the Greek Government's National Army, he introduces reforms to make the military high command more effective, his biography is given.  The Greek National Army forms elite Mountain Raider companies to fight the Communist guerrillas in the mountains.

In 1947 the Greek Civil War becomes much more intense and wider in scale than in 1946.  American military advisors find the Greek National Army in a poor state to fight a guerrilla war against the Communists.  A major Greek National Army offensive in Central and Northern Greece fails to dislodge the Communists.  Greek King George II dies in April 1947 and is succeeded by his brother King Paul, a biography of the new king.  The Greek Communist Party decides to full back the war but the leadership of the Communists disagree as to strategy as to fight a guerrilla war or a conversational war.   

Again we jump into the Way Back machine and pay a visit with a slightly younger and more vivacious TechNollerGist who has thoughts on incorporating Design Thinking into the classroom. If you find the pod useful or at least mildly interesting, please subscribe and give us a rating on your app of choice and as always thanks for listening and inspiring!  Larry Burden  0:19   So much good content. So much good content. David Noller  0:24  I was  starting to worry about a few are getting my good side but I'm not sure I have one anymore. Larry Burden  0:35  It's episode 5 of the TechNollerGist  David Noller  0:39  I keep thinking you're hanging on numbers like this is only the fifth one  Larry Burden  0:43  This is only the official fifth one, I checked. I was looking through the records and it was number five.  David Noller  0:48  All right,  Larry Burden  0:48  Unless my records are bad, which is very likely because like, math, not strong.  David Noller  0:52  That's not. I'm sure it's right.  Larry Burden  0:54  By the way, I am your humble host Larry Burden, and I'm joined by the man who's gamed the system. It's the TechNollerGist.  David Noller  0:59  That's right, gaming the system. I like that, I like it. Larry Burden  1:02  David Noller, the TechNollerGist, the topic should you choose to accept it? Is design thinking?  David Noller  1:08  Do we not have a moment of Zen  Larry Burden  1:09  We, the moment of zen is that other that we don't talk about that other podcast? David Noller  1:15  I'll give you one, the guy who directed. Larry Burden  1:17  The TechNollerGist Tidbit,  David Noller  1:19  TechNollerGist Tidbit. The guy who directed The Red Balloon that famous French short film also invented the board game Risk.  Larry Burden  1:27  I didn't know that. David Noller  1:33  So the idea of design, the design cycle in education. I started getting introduced. I started getting interested in this a couple years ago. And every time I saw the design cycle, I always felt like it feels like it's another lockstep and I know it wasn't supposed to. But every time I saw a model, it was start here, then do this, then do this, then repeat. And I understood the purpose of it that you introduce an idea, you create a hypothesis, you build something to test that hypothesis, you determine if there's any, anything you need to change in order for it to be more successful, you adjust it and you do it again. But it still felt like a pattern. It still felt like a... Larry Burden  2:19  like something that was designed? David Noller  2:20  like an unwieldy process.  Larry Burden  2:22  Okay, okay,  David Noller  2:23  Maybe it's my, my sort of, my approach to design in the first place, which is to sort of jump in and swim around for a while, and then take a look around and see where you are. And if there's sharks, then you obviously have to swim away. But, but if there's no sharks, you can keep going. Larry Burden  2:39  Isn't that though, a system?  David Noller  2:41  it isn't a way  Larry Burden  2:43  you said that. And I'm like, that kind of mirrors the system that you just mentioned.  David Noller  2:49  And it does. And because you know, I'm kind of a visual person, When I would see those design cycles with a starting point, and then it would loop around and start again, It looks a little bit like a rat race, or a mouse wheel, I guess, is the thing. And I never want to get stuck on that mouse wheel. And we, we saw something when we went to the METS fall rally, which was the Michigan Educational Technology Specialists fall rally. And we did the design project. But the, the, the, the cycle, the design cycle came from Ford's model I Project,  Larry Burden  3:28  Okay.  David Noller  3:29  And It's another look at how to do innovation. It's another look at how to do a design cycle. And what I liked about it was that there there are the, what they call the the actions of innovation. And these are things that you would normally see on, on a design cycle. Uncover, which is the idea where we're trying to figure out what it is that's needed. Then we're going to define the problem, we're going to design something to address it, we're going to test it and optimize it, and then we're going to implement that solution. Okay, Those are the things that normally see in a design cycle, versions of that. But the Model I approach adds, things like being empathic. When you're working with your test audience, or the people who are going to be using that thing, that product, that idea. Engaging them with empathy. Now, that's an old human design concept. But the way it's engaged here is, is different in that, for some of the old design human design projects, you start with empathy. You talk to your consumer, you talk to your audience, you figure out what they need, and then you take over from there. And, and maybe it's just the way that the Model I laid out. But they have that empathy piece being, coming into the process at each step. So sure, in the beginning, when you're trying to understand the process, but also when you're designing it, and also when you're implementing it. And also when you are generating ideas. What they call the habits of the innovator, are sprinkled in throughout the actions of innovation. So you've got the action of design. And then you've got these habits and things like: taking risks, be empathetic, collaborate, stay curious, learn from failure, challenge the rules. So that at each step along the way of that design process, you're being reminded to challenge the rules, be empathetic, Stay curious, collaborate, take risks, all those things. And when I, when I saw that model, as somebody who is someone who kind of challenges status quo and looks to do things differently. It was, it's, it's another look at a design model that allows for a lot more customization and interaction, where the the empathy part isn't just in the beginning to figure out what you need. It flows through the whole project. If nothing else from the METS fall rally, that was my big takeaway. Was, was that new look at the model. Nothing, nothing in the model's, particularly brand new. We've been doing human, human design theory for a long time. But it's the way I think that it's implemented that I think was, for me, at least a new thing. Larry Burden  6:12  It's not just the program, it actually shows you how to navigate the construct. Yeah. Which is different. David Noller  6:18  Yeah, the "what" hasn't changed? Maybe the how, and maybe the why, I think maybe...  Larry Burden  6:23  Even maybe the who?  David Noller  6:24  yeah,  Larry Burden  6:25  Because really, what they're what they're doing is they're they're engaging, they're getting you to engage in it, and reflect on it as a, as an individual or as a group going through the process. I think that's different, you're not just looking at the process, you're actually engaged, and they're asking you to be subjective, right in the process, right, so that you're really engaged in it. David Noller  6:45  And I think it's really reflective of, of teaching and how, how our staffs engaged in planning, where we're reading The Kite Runner right now. And you can, you can set, you can set your students up in the beginning, understanding where they're understanding where they're, where their prejudices might lie, or just their pre judgments about parts of the world or, or even about reading. And we can, we can engage those things early on. And then throughout the process. We do that all the time, we come back, and we check back in and we see have your attitudes changed? How have your, how has your understanding changed? I think that's built into a lot of our planning in the in the first place,  Larry Burden  7:23  You know, we're going through the ISTE standards for educators, right. And it just so happens, that next week, we're going to be jumping into the I do believe the fifth standard, which is designer. And yeah, well enough. And if I can read, I'm kind of curious what your take on it is? Educators design authentic learner driven activities and environments that recognize and accommodate learner variability?  David Noller  7:45  Yeah,  Larry Burden  7:46  I'm not going to go through the indicators and what that is. But it's interesting that in METS, there was there were discussions on this. Here in ISTE standards, it's important enough to be recognized. Why, and you mentioned that this is something that educators just do, why is there so much of an emphasis on this? When, to some extent, well, you know, we design we design all the time, we're designing curriculum, we're designing our classroom management process, you know... David Noller  8:24  Sure. Why is there, why is there an emphasis when we already do it? Because I think there's a difference between, sort of accidentally walking into it and being intentional about it. And I think we all as teachers do it from time to time. But I think there's also a challenge that we can meet by being intentional about engaging it more often. Anytime we engage kids in a meaningful, learner centered activity, that's authentic, that gives them real world experience. We know, that's how they learn better. Sometimes we get stuck in, yeah, but I have to finish this chapter or, yeah, but I have a textbook and I started at page one, and I got to get to the last one. And sometimes I think we get stuck in curriculum, when if we take a step back and slowed down just a minute, we can engage them in things that are going to last longer, in terms of impact for them. Then, as, as needed by finishing the book, finishing the textbook, or getting to that last chapter. Now I know, I'm speaking for teachers who, you know, like math teachers, I've got the SAT to confront, you know, that's something that we know that they they have to deal with. But it's how we get the kids there. And I think sometimes we can get stuck in that curriculum. And sometimes we can get stuck in the way I've always done it. I'm actually kind of lucky in a way that it's rare that I have a textbook for any of my classes. I had a textbook for 10th grade, and I had a book that I used for AP Lit. But just about every other class I've taught has been go figure it out.  Larry Burden  10:01  Even the classrooms, in the pieces that are in the areas of the curricular, areas that have textbooks or have some pre, some designated materials that they have to go through. One of the neat things about design thinking I feel is what it's doing is saying, Look at your playing field. There are variables in every playing field, every game has rules. Every game has rules. Once you recognize what the playing field is, and what the rules are, now you can construct and design within those rules. Yeah, you know, it's nice that you have a little bit wider playing field, right. But really the, the, the concept behind the design thinking is is therefore any, any playing field, any game. David Noller  10:45  Yeah. Any game. And the other nice thing is that within this within that philosophy that approach using design thinking, It also lends itself towards customizing your experiences for the kids who need the customization. I have three English language learners this year, exchange students from Germany, Italy, and Sweden. And I've had to make adjustments along the way, in order to make sure that their experience of the class is meaningful in a way that I mean, literally meaningful, like linguistically meaningful to them. And so we've we've added some new things within the, within how I teach to make that makes sense. Google Presentation now has live Closed Captioning of presentations. So as I present information, if I do it in a in a Google Presentation, It will live closed caption as I speak, and it's pretty accurate. It's pretty cool. I actually use a podcasting Mic to do it, because it can't hear me a little clearer. But that fits right into that part. As a designer of the empathy. I look at my audience, and I see who needs what, and then I make adjustments based on who needs that thing. Larry Burden  11:54  I think every educator on some level is an artist. You have to be when as you're a designer, you're an artist, you're using creativity. And really the magic of, what happens in the classroom is exploring. But It's neat to see that the educator, and I think it would be good for the for the educator to recognize that they are exploring and they are digging into their their own creative mindset, their own design, mindset, the design mindset every time they look at their curricular area, right or their classroom, and they really think about it holistically and empathetically, David Noller  12:31  And how can you get, how can you best get to the outcome that you're looking for for that audience? We have the same goal for all of our all of our students in terms of outcome, but how we get them there, because as part of that art, and sometimes we do adjust the outcome for our students. But we don't adjust it in a way that removes the meaning from it that it might be a slightly lower target, it might be a slightly different way to complete the target. But I don't think we ever change it to the point where the goal has lost its meaning. Larry Burden  13:01  So you're going to go there earlier. But I and I kind of stopped I feel I gotta apologize. But so before we jump into it, I wanted to ask you a question because this is going to be a new segment of the TechNollerGist podcast, and I don't have a name for I was struggling to find a name for the segment, you know, we have in tech tool or in the TCAPSLoop weekly podcast, we have the Tech Tool of the week, we have our name,  David Noller  13:23  Right?  Larry Burden  13:24  We need a name for this. So I'm actually you know, anybody that's listening, if you've got a if you've got a name for like some kind of a gamification now gamified title,  David Noller  13:35  Okay, if I get to, Larry Burden  13:37  absolutely.  David Noller  13:38  I'll have to think about? Yeah,  Larry Burden  13:40  So look out for that. So with that, what is, what is it? David Noller  13:45  Here's the thing. So I thought maybe that's it. here's the here's the thing, that's actually a thing that I say quite a bit. So here's the thing. Last year, I talked about a version of Monopoly that I played with my sociology kids, right? I haven't done that yet this year. I'm playing around with where I do it in my in my semester, I did it.  Larry Burden  14:04  Are you designing?  David Noller  14:04  A little bit. I did it early last year. And I don't feel like it had the same kind of impact as when they had a little bit more under their belt. So I'm holding off on that. But I came away from the METS meetup that we had thinking more about design and engagement. And I keep coming back to games in the classroom. And we're reading The Kite Runner. And there's a section of the Kite Runner where the family is trying to escape because the Soviets have come and things are bad. And so they're they're, they're on their way out. And they have to figure out how to leave. And so we've done a little bit of background information with our kids about what's the social situation in Afghanistan and the time, I think it's 1979. The Soviets have returned to the country, if you look at a map of where they were, they kind of created a ring. And then Kabul was also a dangerous place to be. And so I gave the kids of the challenge of they were making decide how many people are in their family, and they they have to leave from the same neighborhood as our characters in Kite Runner. So we're working on 1979 political condition, but 2018 financial condition, because I didn't want them to have to, "How much is a plane ticket in 2018, verses 1979." The idea was, they had to come up with a route and plan out how much money they were going to spend, to get out. And they could go to any number of, of locations, I could go to North America, Australia, someplace in Africa, Japan, South Korea, UK, Europe. They could go pretty much anywhere they wanted to they had to figure out how to get there, in an affordable way. And that's all I said was affordable. I kind of tricked them. And when they were while they're traveling in the airport, if they had to buy food, it was twice what they would normally spend. If they were around town, just for average. I asked them to figure out how much per hundred miles it would cost them to drive. And then I asked them to use travel websites to figure out how much it costs to fly or take a bus or whatever from. So The goal is Escape Afghanistan. But... Larry Burden  16:19  now we're not talking Afghani you bus fares. We're talking about bus fares,  David Noller  16:22  right?  Larry Burden  16:23  Just, you know, they said, having to go into the dark web. And  David Noller  16:25  Yeah, they said how we supposed to know how much it costs get from Kabul to whatever. And I said, Well, what do you think? And somebody said, Well, can we just figure out how much it costs to get from here to like Chicago, and then use that? Sure. Let's do that thing. It's not going to be 100% accurate. But for the purposes of what we were doing, It worked. So that that's all great. And that could be its own little thing on its own, probably. But that's just math. But this was the fun part, I thought. Whenever they changed modes of transportation, entered another city, cross the border, I rolled dice, and then I game mastered the condition. So I rolled it, I use six, six sided dice, I would roll these virtual dice and ones are failures. They're terrible. Sixes are awesome. They're great. And everything in between four and above is a success. Three and below is a not success. And based on the dice rolls, I would then tell a story. Normally, I would want the kids telling the story. But based on what we were doing. I was I was giving them complications that then they had to respond to. So there was a group that rolled really high and actually got to borrow their rich aunt's private plane and fly to Turkey. They weren't all the way home yet. But they got to that. Another group that rolled very low. One of the people in their group was abducted. There's other players who they ended up running out of money in Moscow. And so now they're in Moscow as an Afghani, not speaking the language with no money and can't go any further. After this whole thing was over, and we took an entire day to do this. And we role played out all kinds of things that people along the route that stopped you and demanded payment, somebody who was was treated very kindly by somebody that they met along the way, there was somebody who was put on a terror watch list, because their last name matched the name of somebody who had just committed an act of violence. So we had all these sort of historical and present day consequences that happened as a result of me rolling dice. So I wasn't just deciding, oh, you're gonna have a terrible thing, I would roll the dice and say, Well, here's what happens. We've talked a little bit about the design thing and the the idea of empathy. We started with the idea of we're going to do something to try to understand our characters better, because they're about to go through something that's, that's...  Larry Burden  18:53  Pretty difficult,  David Noller  18:54  Pretty difficult. And then we played this game. And the real kicker came at the end, when I said, Okay, everybody know, how much did y'all spend? And it was in the thousands, Right? And I said, Okay, here's the issue, though. The typical Afghan makes $400 a month, on average. So those are 2018 dollars you're playing with? How are you going to get that much money together to get your family out? And I said, so these really journeys that we just took? And we looked at all the list the money that we just spent, and one student from the back of the room says, they're just dreams. And I went, yes, that's, that's it. And and then I asked them to write about how that changed their understanding of refugees, people who try to escape countries, and why they do, and why they take the routes that they take? Why are people willing to get on a boat with 60 other people when it's supposed to only hold 15. So they have no other way. Larry Burden  19:54  That chance is better than no chance.  David Noller  19:56  That chance is better than no chance and, and  Larry Burden  19:59  So you're saying I got a chance,  David Noller  20:01  You're saying there's a chance. So In the end, the whole game was designed to get the kids in a more empathetic place themselves as readers of the literature that we're considering and to have them experience even in that just that simulation, what goes through your mind when you're trying to get out. Because they really engaged in this. I was really proud of them for taking it seriously. There was one group, what they weren't willing to do is accept the negative. When we role played this out, a lot of the teams were they were very accepting of the negative. They, they knew they had to trade something good for something bad. There, were there were times when they had to decide, am I going to leave this other person behind? Or am I going to pay the bribe and be penniless from now on. And they confronted that, and they wrote about that. The one group that didn't really come along? Was because they didn't want to accept the negative, they didn't want to deal with the consequence. They wanted to just shield themselves from it. So they're not used to dealing with, you know, life changing consequence of  Larry Burden  21:07  zero sum game zero.  David Noller  21:09  That's right. So, Larry Burden  21:11  so is this podcast about design or empathy?  David Noller  21:14  Yes. How can I not only use empathy to design the game, but then have the game produce empathy? In Human Design Theory, You start with empathy. And so if we're going to engage our kids in modern thinking about work. Our design companies, well, not even our design companies, our companies use these kinds of approaches and how they make decisions. Our kids need to get used to that kind of decentralized, more collaborative, decision making, engaging and empathy along the way so that their decisions can be informed by the human condition, Larry Burden  21:55  If I can argue your point. I think our kids are,  David Noller  21:59  Yeah. Larry Burden  22:00  I think, I think as educators were maybe you know, might be lagging a little bit in that process. David Noller  22:08  That's great clarification. There's so many things where I think our kids are naturally already doing it. And we're trying to play catch up. They're used to being collaborative. When they play Fortnite, they're collaborating with Team all day long and talking to each other and giving each other instructions and, and helping each other accomplish something. If you don't understand it, but your friend does, ask him. A couple last little things. You know, one of the a couple of the things that we had were challenge the rules, take risks, and stay curious. Collaborate, okay, they collaborated, I had them working in groups, they had to figure this out together. The groups that did the best and had the the highest level engagement, and frankly, had the best times, were the ones that were really willing to role play it and to stay curious about, well, what happens if we go here? If is there, What's there that we can get? Is there a bus station? Is there a plane station?  Larry Burden  22:57  has questions,  David Noller  22:58  Google Maps does a great job of providing you with that information. The other part was challenging the rules, I would have kids and I love this would say, well, can we, don't give them a lot of rules. But they would say can we and then they prompt me with something that I hadn't thought of? Sure, you can do that. There's the group that said, Can we hire a private jet? Well, let's see what the dice say. They're the ones that rolled like five sixes and a five. At that point, I said, not only can you hire a private jet, You actually have a famous aunt who was an actress, and she has offered to foot the bill for you to get Turkey. She's flying there for film festival anyway. So as long as she's going there, she'll take your crew and then all you have to do is get from there to Greece, because they wanted to go to some someplace in Northern Greece. So that's the kind of thing that would happen along the way where they would challenge the the assumptions, even though there weren't really that many rules. But they would, they would, they would sort of challenge the context. And and I want to say yes, as much as I can. And then, and then, taking risks. And there was a kid who had to decide, he had to, he had to choose between either sacrificing himself, he was just going to not be alive anymore, or becoming a drug mule. Because stuff like that happens. Larry Burden  24:11  Did you have, you said 3, 3, 6 sided dice or 18?  David Noller  24:14  6? 6? Yeah.  Larry Burden  24:16  So did you have that many variables set up? pre had you designed as? And The reason I say that is you know, you, you game?  David Noller  24:27  Yeah.  Larry Burden  24:27  And and have a penchant for storytelling?  David Noller  24:30  Yeah.  Larry Burden  24:31  Not every educator is going to have,  David Noller  24:33  understood Larry Burden  24:34  have that skill. So what would you, and what we're going way long here, so then I shouldn't do this. What would you recommend for an educator that maybe doesn't have that skill set. David Noller  24:47  When I have done this before, I've also used what I call chance cards. And I don't call them chance cards, monopoly calls them chance cards. But I would design a series of cards that have a consequence. And I could I could do this completely independently, where the kids come up and just grab a card and they see what happens. I like to be engaged in the kids. And I do enjoy the storytelling part. And so for me, rolling the dice and telling a story is easy. But I could, It would take an extra hour of preparation to prepare 30 chance cars of what's going to happen as a result. And you will, you could have still have the kids roll dice. And then if it's a good result, they pick from this pile. And if it's bad result, they pick from the other pile, they can set it up ahead of time on cards or just on a grid. They could ever everything typed out, and printed out, and have two columns of good result, bad results, and kind of cross things off as they happen. Larry Burden  25:39  Good solution.  David Noller  25:40  Yeah.  Larry Burden  25:41  Alright. tutorials and updates. Just wanted to throw it again that we had a podcast last week on the blueprint with Dr. Grant Chandler was very interesting. Good stuff, if you're interested in how a school district is changing how it's running. We have another ISTE standards, collaborator, pod coming up, should be posted. Hopefully this week. It's been a busy week. So I'm a little bit behind. I wanted to just give you a shout out. The tutorials you've been putting out are, are awesome. You've been like the tutorial machine.  David Noller  26:13  You know, that's I decided this year that whenever anybody asked a question of how to I? Iwas going to instead of answering it, I was going to make them wait about two hours and create something that everybody can use. And one of the things that's going to be coming out hopefully tomorrow is how to convert your old Google classrooms to have a classroom page so that you can reuse those moving forward. And that's a whole new thing. And Larry Burden  26:37  the thing is, if you actually look through the entirety of these tutorials, your, your ability to navigate and make google classroom work for you as an educator is going to be upgraded significantly. David Noller  26:50  One of the most recent ones was the the student view of Google Classroom because I think there's some teachers that that want to see what it looks like for the kid before they're willing to jump in. And so that one's out there, and I have a YouTube channel that's connected with my school email account. I think my channel's just called David Noller.  Larry Burden  27:08  I do believe it is  David Noller  27:09  very creative. Larry Burden  27:10  There's a new Tell Me About It, a podcast with Jame McCall and Allison McBride-Culver coming out as well. And check back it's been a couple episodes ago, but the BiblioTech Halloween podcast, She's got some great, it's that time of the year, and she's got some great suggestions for books for kids of all ages. So In closing, follow us on Facebook and Twitter @TCAPSLoop, @TechNollerGist. David Noller  27:33  Ooh, yeah, excellent @TechNollerGist Larry Burden  27:37  subscribe to the podcast on iTunes, SoundCloud and the Google Play Store. leave a review. We love the feedback and remember, you're never too old to play.  David Noller  27:46  That's so true. Play a game tonight. 

A chat with one of Greece's wine-making rising stars, Chloi Chativariti of Chatzivariti winery, in Goumenissa, Northern Greece. 

This week we are talking about Northern Greece. This is week two of our Greek wine series. Part one was a general overview of Greek wine history and information so be sure to listen to that episode if you haven’t already.   Check out Wine Folly's article for a great map of the Greek wine regions   Wine Recommendations Alpha Estate Malagouzia Turtles Vineyard 2017 - priced around $19. Very aromatic wine with aromas of peach, honeydew, papaya, orange blossom and beeswax It’s dry with a light body, medium plus acidity and flavors similar to aromas - tropical fruits, floral and that beeswax again Love this wine especially not that we are finally getting some warm weather after a long winter. This definitely reminds me of summer - It’s light, fruity, crisp Reminds me of a warmer climate Riesling with those beautiful intense fruity aromas Food Pairing: Excellently married with green salads, baked vegetables, pasta, low fat fishes and a wide variety of Greek seafood   Domaine Costa Lazaridi Amethystos Rouge 2015 - priced around $20. This wine is a red blend of Cabernet Sauvignon 70%, Merlot 20%, Agiorgitiko 10% It has aromas of red cherries, raspberries and a strawberry licorice smell as well as a little smoked meat and dusty aromas It’s dry with medium plus acidity, medium tannins, full body and flavors similar to aromas - red fruits, earth and meat. the nose on this wine is super fruity and candy like which is really fun This wine is approachable and we believe who appeal to a lot of folks the Merlot really helps to soften the tight structure Cabernet Sauvignon tends to have as well as add more fruit flavors and aromas According to the producer, In the right conditions it can age past 2025 Food Pairings: red meats like lamb but also red sauce beef casserole or soft mature cheeses like brie or Camembert.   Sources Wine Folly  Wine-Searcher  Greece Is  New Wines of Greece  Greek Wine Federation  Wine Sofa 

Download Tom Hatsis is an intellectual, occultist, psychedelic user and advocate from Portland, Oregon. In the show, Joe and Tom talk about his new book about microdosing. Joe prepares listeners about the controversial topic, magick, which is highly discussed in the show. Witch craft, western shamanism, old religion and magick are all mentioned during the conversation. Tom is a coordinator for Sanctum Psychedelica, a psychedelic club in Portland. 3 Key Points: Tom’s book Microdosing Magic is a book of templates for people to fill in the blank according to what works for them Magic isn't the ‘hocus pocus’ witchy stuff that people always assume, it's actually mind hacking, reframing and neurogenesis, that every individual is born with the ability to tap into Magic is a great way to create containers to frame our psychedelic experiences Support the show Patreon Leave us a review on iTunes Share us with your friends – favorite podcast, etc Join our Facebook group - Psychedelics Today group – Find the others and create community. Navigating Psychedelics Show Notes About Tom Tom’s Book - Microdosing Magic: A Psychedelic Spellbook Tom thinks having a childlike wonder and being curious helped him write his book He has written 4 books, 3 have been in psychedelic topics Tom’s background - a part of the Roller derby background since 2005 His first book was called The Roller Derby: A Sensation that caused a Book, the Confessions of a Roller Derby Mascot. Then he got into psychedelic history and wrote The Witch’s Ointment, Psychedelic Mystery Traditions and his newest book, Microdosing Magic. Portland is a great place for the psychedelic renaissance Microdosing Magic Tom said we should be using psychedelics in a magical way Joe agrees saying when using psychedelics we should be flexible philosophically Joe mentions the Robert Anton Wilson reality tunnels We all have a B.S. (Belief System) and then reality tunnels are the marxist sunglasses and the capitalist sunglasses and feminist sunglasses, instead of having 40 glasses to see behind bias, we all have our own pair of shades Microdosing is a tool that helps people become childlike, more genius Magic Microdosing Magic is a book of templates for people to fill in the blank to what works with them Tom never tells people what to do with psychedelics, he is offering insight and techniques Using his own techniques, him and his partner are about to win a guinness world record “If microdosing is like a healthy diet and magic is like exercise, that's great. But what happens when you put healthy diet with exercise? You have something far more powerful than those two things could have been by themselves. That's how microdosing magic works.” Magic = mind hacking, re-framing and neurogenesis The Four Gifts Tom talks about ‘The Four Gifts’ in his book They make up the beginning of his personal magical system that he has cultivated over his lifetime Carl Sagan quote, “The cosmos are within us, we are a way for the universe to know itself” Tom agrees strongly with that saying, he thinks we are microdoses of that cosmic magic and from it, we've received 3 immaterial gifts, Intellect, Emotion and Will, however, due to our evolution in physical bodies, we've inherited a fourth gift, action The magical system is about aligning your intellect, emotion and will, so that when we take action, we are acting in pure magic Magic is super powerful, not something that happens at Disney World. It's a very real thing that every individual is born with the ability to tap into Orenda - the magic that you are born with Microdosing Magic is Tom’s small contribution to bettering the world Joe says there are so many people that practice subtle magic and don't even know it; in catholic religion, in yoga practice Tom has a friend who ‘doesn't believe in magic’, who is a hardcore material reductionist, who has a ‘lucky hat’ Tom - “This isn't for people with claws and fangs, magic is for anybody who recognizes their own power and wants to harness their power to make their lives and the world around them a better place” Neurogenesis, better firing, and re-framing happens in a person’s brain after consuming Psilocybin, Lions Mane and Reishi Tom says he was addicted to coffee, and after using Microdosing Magic, he hasn't needed a cup of coffee on 8 months because of his new neural pathways Joe jokes about overdosing on coffee for a few months on his coffee addiction Tom jokes back that he’d just drink it out of the pot Creative Genius Dr. George Land study - 98% of 5 year old scored in the creative genius category in the same test that 32 year-olds only scored 2% The modern education system robs us of our creative genius that we all had when we were kids, but at no fault to the teachers. The education system, buys these education models that just don't work Tom - “You have to use the internet wisely and not foolishly, to educate yourself and not de-educate yourself” The Book Tour Joe asks about the most interesting questions Tom has received on tour Most people ask about dose sizes and safety questions Tom explains that he gets nervous about certain questions because he isn't a medical professional or a therapist Tom “If you wouldn't take a psychedelic dose, don’t start microdosing” Microdosing Tom has been microdosing on and off for over 20 years “We didn't call it microdosing, we called it being broke, we could only afford 1/8th of acid, so we split it up. We felt way more energy, I started writing way more songs, I couldn't put my guitar down. It sparks that creativity” Joe says it's never been a better time for the psychedelic and microdosing renaissance Cannabis is now legal in 13 states FDA just approved mushrooms for PTSD in Canada MDMA is in phase 3 testing Tom says people in Silicon Valley, and believes people in Congress and DC are microdosing, they just can't talk about it He mentions a talk he just did in Salem, a very conservative place, and no one had any questions. And then after the talk, everybody came up to him privately and asked him their questions Tim Leary made a joke on Liberals not wanting to ‘risk face’ Joe comments on Tom’s book saying it was playful, inspiring, and not threatening like some magic can be Tom says we don't have villages for support anymore, we have community which has replaced that Sanctum Psychedelia’s main focus is community building Tom uses an example of people going to Peru, taking ayahuasca, and because they don't have that mystical framework, they come back to their regular lives and say “now what”? That's why integration and community are so important Tom says he’d love to see ayahuasca and ibogaine clinics with all the great results people have received from their heroine or cigarette addictions Tom’s favorite presentation ever was Mark Haden’s blueprint on the future of psychedelics psychotherapy Mark Haden's Presentation on Psycehdelics Mark Haden Psychedelic Reneissance Cannabis and the War on Drugs Tom likes to buy his cannabis directly from his farmer, he prefers to not have the government interfere He says Gene Simmons from KISS has been so anti cannabis and now all of a sudden is promoting cannabis Joe brings in the drug war issue, or the issue of people being put in jail for nonviolent crimes (cannabis) Tom brings in another issue, saying that if a person is charged for drugs at one point in time that later becomes legal, they aren't allowed freedom because of the fact that they did the crime during the time where it was illegal Racism and the war on drugs really bothers Tom Amanita and the True History of Christian Psychedelic History Predominant Paradigm - the ‘Holy Mushroom’ Tom says there aren't mushrooms in Christian art after doing the historical research Source He has debunked the Amanita Muscaria Santa Claus connection Psychedelic Santa Debate with John Rush The Mushroom in Christian Art: The Identity of Jesus in the Development of Christianity People say the Amanita Muscaria and Santa Claus outfit are the same colors, but Santa’s outfit comes from the American Flag Carl Ruck Dionysus in Thrace: Ancient Entheogenic Themes in the Mythology and Archeology of Northern Greece, Bulgaria and Turkey Psychedelic Christianity - a scholarly debate a scholarly debate pt. 2 Final Thoughts Tom - “Psychedelics are an excellent way to change your mind and yourself” Magic is a great way to create containers to frame difficult psychedelic experiences. It’s about putting new frames on your reality Links Tom's website Instagram Facebook Youtube Tom's Book Check out this FREE online course, "Introduction to Psychedelics" About Tom . Thomas Hatsis is an author, lecturer, and historian of witchcraft, magic, Western religions, contemporary psychedelia, entheogens, and medieval pharmacopeia. In his spare time he visits rare archives, slings elixirs, and coaches roller derby.

Europe's migrant crisis is far from over. Already in 2018, the UN's refugee agency (UNHCR) estimate that more than 24, 475 people have arrived in Europe by sea. 609 people are dead or missing since January*. The conflict in Syria is now into its 7th year. With an ongoing backdrop of war and violence, and more people arriving into Europe from Syria and elsewhere, Sheila Dillon wants to hear how people fleeing the crisis are living, eating and using food to tell the stories of the journeys they have made. In summer 2017, she travelled to Greece to speak to people living the migrant crisis every day. In Greece, Sheila spends a day with a man who since arriving in the country has volunteered all his time to coordinating a vast network of volunteers distributing food to thousands of migrants and refugees in Northern Greece. She travels to refugee camps, meeting people distributing and receiving the food donations which supplement any support payments. In a remote, coastal refugee camp, she meets a teenager with his mind firmly set on travelling to the UK to reunite his family with his father. Sheila hears how the family cook and eat every day, how they found food during their journey to Greece, and asks whether the family ever make it to the UK. And in London, Sheila meets a chef from Damascus who has found a way back to cooking the food he was once famous for in his own city. She hears how he is spreading the message and raising money for people who have stayed in war-torn Syria. Presented by Sheila Dillon Produced in Bristol by Clare Salisbury * UNHCR figure last updated 7th May 2018.

This is the first in a series of podcasts from Zoe Kontes’ terrific “Looted.” Listen to the story of a gold funerary wreath, looted from Northern Greece in the 1990s, smuggled into Germany, and eventually purchased by an illustrious U.S. museum. With their abundance of gold and other luxury items, the royal tombs of Macedonia in this area have been the target of looters (and archaeologists) for years. The debates about the VIPs who may or may not be interred within (the father of Alexander the Great, for one) continue, and demonstrate the essential importance of archaeological context. On Looted: The Podcast, we uncover the hidden stories of ancient artifacts and their journeys in the illicit antiquities trade. I’m Zoe Kontes, and I’m an archaeologist. When we archaeologists dig, we carefully record what we find so we can make the best sense of the evidence. But go to any museum, auction house, or dealer with an antiquities collection—Ebay even—and you’ll be sure to find objects that have been removed from the ground without this kind of proper excavation. Looting destroys the context of artifacts, and while they may look beautiful in a display case, we lose any information about their significance or function in the culture that made them. This is a loss of our common human history, and it affects us all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

This is the first in a series of podcasts from Zoe Kontes’ terrific “Looted.” Listen to the story of a gold funerary wreath, looted from Northern Greece in the 1990s, smuggled into Germany, and eventually purchased by an illustrious U.S. museum. With their abundance of gold and other luxury items, the royal tombs of Macedonia in this area have been the target of looters (and archaeologists) for years. The debates about the VIPs who may or may not be interred within (the father of Alexander the Great, for one) continue, and demonstrate the essential importance of archaeological context. On Looted: The Podcast, we uncover the hidden stories of ancient artifacts and their journeys in the illicit antiquities trade. I’m Zoe Kontes, and I’m an archaeologist. When we archaeologists dig, we carefully record what we find so we can make the best sense of the evidence. But go to any museum, auction house, or dealer with an antiquities collection—Ebay even—and you’ll be sure to find objects that have been removed from the ground without this kind of proper excavation. Looting destroys the context of artifacts, and while they may look beautiful in a display case, we lose any information about their significance or function in the culture that made them. This is a loss of our common human history, and it affects us all. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Listen to the story of a gold funerary wreath, looted from Northern Greece in the 1990s, smuggled into Germany, and eventually purchased by an illustrious U.S. museum. With their abundance of gold and other luxury items, the royal tombs of Macedonia in this area have been the target of looters (and archaeologists) for years. The … Continue reading Episode 1: Gold Digger →

The battle of Thermopylae was fought between 7000 Greeks under Leonidas (including 300 Spartans) and 500,000-2.5 million Persian troops under Xerxes. Xerxes had marched across the Hellespont towards Greece because he wanted Greece to become a satrapy of his and submit to his divine will by giving him earth and water. The two armies met at a 50-foot-wide pass in Northern Greece and here, a small phalanx of Greek hoplites held off wave after wave of Persian infantrymen, cavalrymen, and Immortals. The Spartans demonstrated their bravery again and again, and their lifelong devotion to military training proved to pay off.Eventually, Ephialtes (a Greek traitor) led the Persians around the pass to the rear of the Greek defenders. Surrounded, the Spartans and Thespians were killed by a volley of arrows. Leonidas, himself, looked forward to dying because the oracle at Delphi prophesized that his death would save Sparta.For more information:300 (Movie)http://www.iranchamber.com/history/articles/persian_wars5.phpHistories by Herodotushttp://www.greektexts.com/library/Herodotus/Polymnia/eng/242.htmlExtreme War by Terrence PoulosMilitary Anecdotes by Max HastingsMilitary History Magazine (January 2006): Spartan Stand at ThermopylaeMilitary History Podcast is sponsored by Armchair General Magazine and the International Research and Publishing Corporation

The Necessity of Planning Would it trouble you if I were up here without a plan? Would that bother you? If I just said, "What should we talk about? We got some time together. What should we do?" I know it would trouble me. That's not the way I'm put together. I like to plan out my messages. I like to think about it ahead of time. It seems reasonable to do so. I think we are planning beings, aren't we? Some more than others. My wife is definitely more than I am, more of a planner than I am. And that's a good thing. Everyday we make plans, and as we're looking at Romans 15:23-29, we're looking at the plans and priorities of the Apostle Paul. Paul reveals what he's intending to do, what his plans are, what he hopes to do, etcetera. It got me to thinking about the issue of planning. And it occurs to me that we hardly make it through life without being planners. We make plans for small things like putting together a grocery list. Woe to you if you ever go to the grocery store hungry and no idea what you're there for, okay? You'll buy far more than you ought to. We plan out a work day or a work week. We figure what's the best way to spend our time, Monday, Tuesday, all the way through Friday. From small things like that all the way up to larger things like career planning or financial planning or life planning. There are financial planners that will meet with you and talk about things like debt strategies or saving plans, investment plans, planning for college, long-term investments, even retirement. They'll talk to you about that, and they're skilled in that ability and that discussion to help you make those plans. And also world history has been formed by those who have made plans and have executed them. I was reading recently about the Marshall Plan. In 1947, the United States government Secretary of State George Marshall wanted to help rebuild Europe. Part of it was a buttress against encroaching communism. They wanted to see, especially Western Europe, strengthened and rebuilt so that those economies would be able to stand up and be vibrant. And so $13 billion was apportioned through the Marshall Plan to the rebuilding of Europe after World War II. Architects spend their whole career planning out buildings down to the very detail, kind of windows and structure and the artistic appearance, all of that. Engineers plan out projects down to the nuts and bolts. That's what it is, we do planning all the time. And in this way, I think, we reflect the character of God. We are created in the image of God, and our God is a planning God. We believe from Ephesians 1 that he planned out, before the foundation of the world, to call a people for himself, for his own name and his own glory, that they should be holy and blameless in his sight. And it says, "In love he predestined them and called them according to the plan of him who works out everything in conformity with the purpose or plan of his will." Our God is a glorious planner. And thanks be to God, all of us who are Christians can say this, "Thanks be to God that his plan extended even to me, and that God worked in history and orchestrated things so that I would come to faith in Christ." God is a planning God. And we are in his image and therefore we are planners as well. It says in Proverbs 22:3, "A prudent man sees danger coming and takes refuge, but the simple keep on going and suffer for it." So the ability to look on into the future, to use your imagination and to think what's coming, and then to make plans accordingly and carry them out, now that's in the image of God. Now, the ant in Proverbs 6 is held up as an example against the sluggard. "Go to the ant, O sluggard," we're told, and why? Because he stores up his food when there's an opportunity, in the summer. Stores it up so that when winter comes he'll have enough to eat. And so we're enjoined to be planners like that. But I tell you that human planning is at a much higher level. The Christian I think in this area of planning is trained to think in three senses. First of all, we're trained to think, "The Lord may return or I may die tonight. So I need to be ready right now to face my judge and maker unafraid." It could be that you came here today not a believer in Christ. You need to come to faith in Christ, and why? Because you don't know for sure what a day will bring about. You need to look to Jesus who shed his blood on the cross that you might have eternal life. You need to trust in him for your personal salvation, because you don't know whether you'll even be alive tomorrow. So that's the first sense a Christian is trained to think about planning. We need to be ready to die, we need to be ready to face our judge and maker unafraid now because we might not even have tomorrow. We need to think like that. But secondly, the Lord may not return tonight or I may not die tonight, and so therefore, after the ant who stores up when there's an opportunity, I need to make plans for the future. I need to think about the future as though I might live another 30, 40 years. Knowing all of that is in the hand of God, I might not, but I need to plan for it. I need to keep working and plan for the future. And there Isaiah 32:8 stands and helps us. There it says, "The noble man makes noble plans and by noble deeds he stands." So that's a planning verse for you. We are to make plans and we're to live and act out according to those plans. And those plans are to be noble plans, and by those noble deeds, we will stand righteous and with a life that's worth living. So that's the second way we're trained to think about planning. Thirdly, having planned, we're supposed to go back to the first concept that God is sovereign over all things and that he may overturn many if not all of my plans. And that that shouldn't frustrate us, it actually should delight us. I want my bad plans overturned, don't you? I want my lack of foresight not to be the final determiner in the end. I want God to make the final decision, and he does. He rules over all those things. Now, we'll talk more about some aspects of that, but I think that's a good way for Christians to think about planning. Now here in Romans 15, we're going to get a look at the Apostle Paul's plans. How he thought, what he planned to do, and how the Lord finally would dispose of those plans in the end, according to wise counsel of his will. I. Paul’s Plans: To Jerusalem, then to Spain Now first, we get a sense that Paul's planning to go to Jerusalem and then to Spain. Now, let's review Paul's relationship with the church at Rome. Back in Romans 1:13, Paul expressed a deep desire to visit the church at Rome. Romans 1:13, he says, "I do not want you to be unaware brothers, that I planned many times to come to you, but have been prevented from doing so until now in order that I might have a harvest among you just as I've had among the other Gentiles." So Paul had already made many plans but they weren't getting fulfilled the way he wanted. And now here in this text, in verse 23 and 24, he says, "I've been longing for many years to come, and visit you. I plan to visit you when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and have you assist me on my journey there after I've enjoyed your company for a while." That's his plan, that's what he's planning on doing. Now, we already talked last time and the week before about why Paul hadn't visited Rome yet. We saw previously that Paul made clear his priority structure was to focus on unreached people groups. To be a frontier, trail blazing, church planting missionary or apostle to the Gentiles. That's what he was called to do. Look at verse 20 and 21, again by way of reminder, "It has always been my ambition," Paul says, "to preach the gospel where Christ was not known, so that I would not be building on someone else's foundation. Rather, as it is written, 'those who were not told about him will see and those who have not heard will understand.'" This priority led to Paul's activity, and his activity is from Jerusalem all the way round to modern day Yugoslavia, Illyricum, he has been fully preaching the Gospel of Christ. He's been active in all these strategic urban centers, following the main perhaps Roman roads, going to places like Corinth and Athens and significant places, and also some that were a little bit smaller but that God led him to. In Asia Minor, in northern Greece, which is Macedonia, and down in Southern Greece, which is Achaia, he'd been faithful in preaching the gospel all the way to the border of the Adriatic sea. He's been faithful in doing that. Secondly, we also saw that the Roman church was a mature church. He says in Verse 14, "You are full of goodness, complete in knowledge and competent to counsel one another." And the idea there is, therefore, you don't need me to come. I'm not saying that it wouldn't be a fully blessed time. He actually does say that in verse 29, "I know that if I come it will be with the full measure of Christ's blessing and that there'll be a good time of rich fellowship and there'll be harvest among those Romans that haven't heard yet, etcetera." But what he's saying is you're a healthy, strong church and I'm not going to spend a lot of time there. That's why he hadn't visited Rome yet, so Paul hadn't come. But now Paul makes an amazing declaration. Look at verse 23, he says, "But now that there is no more place for me to work in these regions…" Wow, there's no other place to go if I'm looking for a frontier here in Asia Minor and in Northern Greece, Macedonia and down in Southern Greece, Achaia. There's no more place for me to go. The gospel has been fully proclaimed in all these areas. Oh, what an incredible statement that is, that is a rich and powerful statement. He's not saying that there's no one there that hasn't heard the Gospel, everybody's heard the Gospel. He's not saying that, but he's saying he can see the hand of God in laying out a strategy where there are centers of strong gospel preaching churches in each of these regions, and he wants to move on now to a place where there's no churches at all, that's what he's talking about. And so he wants to go to Spain. It was a new horizon of fruitful ministry, a new trail to blaze and we'll talk more about that in a moment. But that's his desire, he's going to go on because there's no more place for him to work. Now here he expresses his plans, he says, "But now, since I no longer have any room to work in these regions and since I've been longing for many years to come to you, I hope to do so in passing as I go to Spain and to be helped on my journey there by you once I have enjoyed your company for a while. At present however," verse 25, "I am going to Jerusalem, bringing aid to the saints." So there's the plan, first to Jerusalem bringing some aid to the saints, second to Spain. Going to stop by in Rome on my way through. Those are my travel plans. That's what he's talking about. But we know from scripture that all plans are subject to the sovereign will of God. There are many verses in the bible that teach us this. For example, Proverbs 16:9. Proverbs 16:9 says, "In his heart, a man plans his course, but the Lord determines his steps." Or this one, again, Proverbs 16:1, "To a man belong the plans of the heart, but from the Lord comes the reply of the tongue." In other words, you can make your plans, but God's going to be sovereign even over the words you speak. All plans are subject to the throne of God, that's what it's saying there. Or this one, Proverbs 19:21, "Many are the plans in a man's heart, but it is the Lord's purpose that prevails." So we make many plans, and we ought to, but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails. The strongest teaching on all this in the New Testament is in James Chapter 4, and there James is dealing with people who are confident, fully confident in tomorrow. They're actually more than that, they're fully confident in a year from now. And so James addresses this arrogant confidence that has this confidence that we'll be alive and be able to do business even a year from now, in some very strong words. James 4:13-15, he says, "Now listen, you who say today or tomorrow." Today or tomorrow is equally certain to these people. "Today or tomorrow we will go to this or that city, spend a year there, carry on business and make money. Why, you do not even know what will happen tomorrow. What is your life? You're a mist that appears for a little while and then vanishes. Instead, you ought to say, 'if it is the Lord's will we will live.'" Stop right there. That there is careful meditation. If it is the Lord's will we will live. That's not morbid, it's theologically accurate. If it is God's will I'll be alive tomorrow. If it is the Lord's will we will live and do this or that. Even my own plans are in the hands of God. That's the way we ought to think. Now even the great apostle Paul, the one who is caught up to the third heaven and saw inexpressible things that man is yearning to know about but no one can put into words, is not even permitted to try; even the great apostle Paul who wrote the Book of Romans made plans that didn't work out. Planned to do certain things, and he's got to explain himself at least to one local church. Here he describes his plans to the Romans, but it's not clear he ever made it to Spain as we'll talk about it in a minute. But in 2 Corinthians, he's got to deal with the fact that he had planned to visit that church and didn't go anyway. And he needs to uphold his apostolic authority in light of that. And so in 2 Corinthians 1 he talks about the change in his travel plans. He said, "I planned to visit you first so that you might benefit twice. I planned to visit you on my way to Macedonia and to come back to you from Macedonia and then to have you send me on my way to Judea. When I planned this, did I do it lightly, or do I make plans in a worldly manner? So that in the same breath I say yes, yes and no, no? But as surely as God is faithful our message to you is not yes and no." The issue is that an apostle who changes his plans like this seems unstable, uncertain, unsure, unleader-like, unreliable, therefore not worthy of following. So he's got to deal with it in 2 Corinthians, his change of plans. Nothing could have been further from the truth in Paul's case, he's just establishing that God rules over our plans finally in the end. Knowledgeable that God rules over our plans, however, does not mean we ought not to plan. And so here Paul is making his plans. Five years ago on the morning of September 11th, 2001, I was packed up to go down to Washington DC to meet with some leaders, Christian leaders in Congress and Christian senators, for a meeting together with some pastors. So I was all packed up to go on the morning of September 11th. My car had the luggage in there, I had my suits with me, I was all... I'd planned to go, until I saw that a plane had crashed into the Pentagon, and that they had sequestered all the members of Congress and hid them in some secure places, and that the whole highway which I was going to travel on right by the Pentagon was closed down to all traffic. I knew immediately, among many other things, I wasn't going anywhere today. My travel plans had changed. And so it is in our lives. We can make plans, but in the end, it's God who decides what happens. They rescheduled the meeting for a month later, and so we went, I went, and that was the weekend of the anthrax scare. So I was there when there was plastic all over the air ducts and stuff. I came back saying to my wife, I was complaining of flu-like symptoms four or five days later, she didn't think it was funny. But I never did get anthrax and that was an amazing time. But just walking around through the Capitol building and looking at all that, and just the intensity was so strong at the time, and the time of prayer. But that was what God planned, not my original plan. You see, God makes the decisions in the end. We still need to plan. II. Paul’s Mission to Jerusalem: Serving and Uniting the Church So what was Paul's mission to Jerusalem? What was he going to do? Well, he wanted to serve and unite the church. Look at verse 25-26, "Now however, I'm on my way to Jerusalem in the service of the saints there, for Macedonia and Achaia were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem." The issue here is money. It's a love offering that was taken from Gentile churches in Greece. Macedonia as I've said is Northern Greece, Achaia is the southern part. Macedonia, that's where you get Philippi and Thessalonica, and all that. The southern part is Athens and Corinth and those cities. And he said both Macedonia and Achaia together these Gentile churches were pleased to make a contribution for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. Now this shows an attitude of fellowship. Paul... Actually the word contribution in the NIV is the word "koinonia." They're pleased to make a "koinonia", a fellowship is what it was. It's money, but it's coming out of a theology of oneness, that we're part of one body of Christ together, and Paul is there in service to the unity of the Body of Christ. Not like communism in which government decrees that everybody's stuff belongs to everybody else, but rather, from an open and glad heart, a desire to share. That was the fellowship they had. Now, the money was for the poor among the saints in Jerusalem. These were Jewish believers who because of their faith in Christ were put at a great societal and social disadvantage or economic disadvantage. It was already declared in John's gospel in John Chapter 9. Remember the man that was born blind? And it said right there that they had already decided that if anyone said that Jesus was the Messiah, he'd be thrown out of the Synagogue. Well, you can't imagine what effect that would have if you're living in Jerusalem, if you've been thrown out of the Synagogue. Perhaps you're a Jewish shopkeeper and nobody comes to your place and buys anything. Maybe you're a Jewish farmer and nobody buys your crops. Maybe you're a Jewish merchant and you invest in a big caravan coming from some other place and they bring in all your wares, big investment, nobody buys them, or you have to sell them at bargain prices because nobody will take them. You've been shut out. You've been blackballed. And as a result of this societal problem because of their faith in Christ, they were poor, very poor. Now these were the very people that the leaders in Jerusalem begged Paul and Barnabas to remember as they went out in their mission to the Gentiles. In Galatians 2:9-10, "James, Peter and John those reputed to be pillars, gave me and Barnabas the right hand of fellowship. When they recognized the grace given to me, they agreed that we should go to the Gentiles and they would go to the Jews. All they asked was that we should continue to remember the poor, the very thing I was eager to do." So one of the things they mentioned, these pillars in Jerusalem mentioned, these men, is please remember how much the saints here are suffering. Could be that there's some Gentiles who have come to faith in Christ, and they could help us out. And Paul says, "We are eager to do it." And so they went out, not only in the name of Christ, but once people were established and the churches were flourishing, and they said, "You know something, there are issues back in Jerusalem. Is there any way you could help?" And so they started taking a collection, money, from these Gentile churches. He mentions it in depth in 2 Corinthians 8 and 9. If you want to know more about the offering, there's more reading about it there, but let me just read a few verses from that. It says in 2 Corinthians 8:1-4, "And now brothers, we want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches." Now let me stop a minute again. Macedonia is the northern part of Greece, Achaia the southern part. Corinth was in the southern part. The northern churches have already given. What he's doing is he's saying look at the example of your brothers up there in the northern churches. Now you who are in the southern churches in Corinth, you ought to give too. That's what he's saying to these brothers in Corinth. He says, "We want you to know about the grace that God has given the Macedonian churches. Out of the most severe trial, their overflowing joy and their extreme poverty welled up in rich generosity. For I testify that they gave as much as they were able, and even beyond their ability. Entirely on their own, they pleaded with us urgently for the privilege of sharing in this service to the saints." Oh, what a sweet attitude among these Macedonian Christians. They're poor, but they give everything they can for the saints in Jerusalem. And he uses that example to motivate the Corinthians to give as well. And Paul stresses here in verse 26, Macedonia and Achaia were pleased. So, apparently, they gave as well. The Corinthian churches, the church in Athens perhaps, they gave as well. And so there's this big offering collection that has been taken. And he stresses the pleasure that these Christians had in giving. They were pleased to do it he says. He says it twice, they were pleased to do it and yearned to do it. There was a pleasure in the giving. Oh, that's a heavenly attitude. I don't want to be chained to my money, do you? I like to send it on ahead by giving in the Lord's work. It's the only way you can really invest in heaven. You know how they say you can't take it with you? Well, that's true, but you can send it on ahead, you can wire it ahead. Give it by faith in the Lord's work as the Lord calls on you to give cheerfully and generously, because God loves a cheerful giver. Give. That's what he said the church in Macedonia and Achaia did. They were pleased. Now, back in those days, you couldn't send it on ahead, you couldn't wire it like you can do Internet banking these days or wire some money to an unnumbered or a numbered account in the Grand Cayman Islands or some private bank in Switzerland or something like that. You can do all kinds of stuff with money by electronic means. Back then, if you're talking about silver coins or even gold, you had to carry it, there wasn't paper money. And so, he's got this big amount of money and he's got to get it to Jerusalem. That's a big job, isn't it? And so it'd be on animal back in a caravan perhaps, or on one of those slow moving vessels that would go through the Mediterranean, hugging the shore and eventually get to Jerusalem. So Paul was going, he's going to bring that money, and he's got some brothers with him who can protect the money, perhaps somewhat at least, from highway robbery, and get it eventually there to the church at Jerusalem. That's what he says he's going to do. What Was Paul’s Motive in the Mission? Now what was his motive in the mission? Well, he talks about the service to the saints. It's related to the word for deacon. He's a servant to the saints there in Jerusalem. He wants to serve them. But why? Because they have real needs. They're hungry, they need food, clothing, and shelter for their children, for themselves. They're not able to make a living and support themselves. And so they really have become wards of the church at this point. It's a very tough situation for them and he wants to serve them. But he also has a higher purpose doesn't he? We've seen throughout the Book of Romans, but especially here at the end, how much Paul yearns for Jew/Gentile unity to be put on display. And so he wants the Jews and the Gentiles, who both believe in Christ, to be openly and visibly together and one as Christians. He wants to show the power of the gospel to make former enemies brothers, friends in Christ. And so he talks about this, the unity that they have in Christ. A very open obvious tangible way to display this unity is for Greek churches, Gentile churches to give a lot of money to a Jewish church and help them out. And so he displays a rather remarkable attitude about this offering. He certainly describes how gladly willing the Greeks were to give, but he also goes beyond it and says they actually owed it to them. They actually owed it to them, they were pleased to do it, and indeed, they owe it to them. Huh. Wasn't it Bill Cosby that said, "After all, it's my money, okay?" Well, that's an attitude in our hearts, you look at it and say... We can relate to that. In one sense it's true, there is such a thing as possession. It is ours. As the Lord said to Ananias and Sapphira, "Didn’t it belong to you before it was sold?" "It was yours." But there's a sense of obligation here that Paul's talking about among the Gentile Christians. Well, what's his logic? Well, he says They're pleased to do it, indeed they owe it to them, for if the Gentiles have shared in the Jews' spiritual blessings, they owe it to the Jews to share with them their material blessings." It's amazing logic. Basically, he's coming at it from this point of view. Remember how Jesus said to the Samaritan woman, "You Samaritans worship what you don't know; we worship what we do know..." You know why? Because "salvation is from the Jews." It's the very thing that had been said to Abraham way back at the call of Abraham, "Through your offspring all peoples on earth will be blessed." It is a Jewish fountain that has opened up the river of living water for the nations to drink at. You have received lavish spiritual blessings. He already talked about this in Romans 11 with the image of an olive tree, remember? The Jewish olive tree has Jewish roots, the patriarchs, and it's been growing up, it's a cultivated olive tree. And you Gentiles you've been cut out of a wild olive tree and you've been grafted into a Jewish olive tree, and now you share in nourishing sap flowing from the Jewish root system. You have received spiritual blessings from the Jews. And therefore the Gentiles owe it to the Jews to share with them the lesser blessing of material things. That's the way he's arguing. That's an amazing thing. What Was Paul’s Reason for Telling the Church at Rome about the Mission? Now you might ask, Why is he telling the Romans about it? Well, could it be that he's trying to motivate them to think the same way about their money? Could it be he's motivating the Roman Christians to think that way about Jews and to evangelize Jews or to Jewish Christians to promote unity in the church at Rome? As we've already noted, it's a mixed church. And he's going to be... Oh, how shall I put it, hitting them up for money in a minute. He's going to be asking them to support his mission work, and if they're clinging to their money as though it's their own, they're not going to be open-handed and generous. They're not going to think about their money rightly. And so he wants to show them the example of Macedonia and Achaia. III. Paul’s Mission to Spain: Advancing the Church Alright, well, what's Paul's mission to Spain? We've talked about his mission to Jerusalem, for the unity and service to the church. What is his mission to Spain? Well, it's to advance the Church. Simply put, he wants to preach the gospel to people who've never heard of Jesus. Now, there's some good evidence that the Old Testament place known as Tarshish is actually Spain. Do you remember the story of Jonah? How Jonah didn't want to go to those nasty Gentiles in Nineveh? Didn't want to preach the gospel to the Gentiles so he said, "I'm going to run." Maybe he had never read Psalm 139. "Where can I flee from Your spirit? Where can I go from Your presence? If I go up to the heavens, you are there. Even if I go to the far side of the sea, you are there." And actually, you're never going to make it, Jonah. I'm going to send a storm, and you're going to go to Nineveh. You see? Many are the purposes of a man's heart, but it's the Lord's purpose that prevails. Where is he trying to go though? He's trying to go to Tarshish. That probably was Spain. You think about the Mediterranean, and if that's all they really knew, that is the distant most parts of the earth. That's the end of the world as far as they're concerned. Well, we have already learned from Scripture, The ends of the earth belong to Jesus. To the distant shores, it belongs to Jesus, the distant islands will worship him and praise his holy name. God said in Isaiah 49 to Jesus, "It is too small a thing for you to be the savior of the Jews only. I will also make you a light to the Gentiles, that you may declare my salvation to the ends of the earth." Paul says that's for me. I want to take Jesus' name to the distant most regions of the world, very different from Jonah. He's not running from God, he's not running from the Gentiles, he's running to Tarshish to preach the gospel there. There's another prophecy so beautifully in Isaiah 66:19, and such a powerful prophecy speaking to the Jews, of the Jews, the people of Zion, this is what he says. God says, "I will set a sign among them and I'll send some of those who survive to the nations. To Tarshish, to the Libyans and Lydians, who are famous as archers, to Tubal and Greece, and to the distant islands that have not heard of my fame or seen my glory. They will proclaim my glory among the nations." Paul's a direct fulfillment of that prophecy. Isaiah 66:19. Look it up, "I'm going to send them to Tarshish I'm going to send them to Greece and they're going to hear of my glory, the glory of the gospel of Jesus Christ." Paul says, "That's for me, I want to go. I want to take Jesus' name to the ends of the earth." And why? Because it's not just these two prophecies. There are many of them. Psalm 2:8, God the Father says, "Ask of me and I'll make the nations your inheritance, the ends of the earth your possession," speaking to his son. Psalm 22:27, "All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord, and all the families of nations will bow down before him." Psalm 67, "May the peoples praise you O God, may all the peoples praise you. Then the land will yield its harvest and God our God will bless us. God will bless us, [listen] And all the ends of the earth will fear him." Isaiah 45:22, this was Charles Spurgeon's conversion verse. Isaiah 45:22, "Turn to me and be saved, all you ends of the earth, for I am God and there is no other." So we look unto God and are saved, and this one gospel is good not just for Jerusalem, and not just for Judea and Samaria, but to the uttermost parts of the earth, to the ends of the earth. And Paul wanted to go to Spain. And what did he want to do in Spain? Well, he wanted to plant a church, actually many churches. He wanted to establish healthy strong gospel centers. And if the Lord had given him time, he'd have said, "Now, is there anything further than Spain?" Maybe history would have been changed. Christopher Columbus wouldn't think anything of it. Maybe the Lord would have led him to even distant shores, who knows? But he wanted to push the Gospel as far as he could go. He wanted to go to Spain and preach the gospel. Did Paul ever make it to Spain? Well, there is no New Testament evidence that Paul ever made it to Spain. Never got there. Some scholars reading some of the church fathers think he got there, but I think the church fathers are just reading Romans 15 and talking about it. There's really no evidence that Paul ever made it to Spain. As a matter of fact, as people put together the chronology of Paul's life, try to figure it out, New Testament scholars, it may be that that trip to Jerusalem was the last free trip he ever took. That he was put in chains, was brought through the shipwreck on Malta to Rome, and there he stood trial before Caesar and died for the gospel, and never made it to Spain. We don't really know. But either way, God eventually got the Gospel to Spain, didn't he? Eventually the Gospel made it there, and why? Because it is the Lord's will that the distant most parts of the earth, even to the furthest shores and islands hear of the glory of Jesus Christ. Even if the Apostle Paul doesn't have the honor of doing it. VI. How Rome Fit In: Understanding and Helping These Missions Now, how did Rome fit in? Well, it was their job to understand and to help Paul's missions. He wanted them to support him on the way. Look at verse 24, he says, "I plan to do so when I go to Spain. I hope to visit you while passing through and to have you assist me on my journey there after I have enjoyed your company for a while." Verse 28 he says, "So after I've completed this task [in Jerusalem] and have made sure that they have received this fruit, I will go to Spain and visit you on the way." So he wants help from them. He wants financial assistance, maybe some personnel, some people who will go with him and help him plant that church in Spain. That's what he wants. He also wants somewhat to reduce their expectation. Since they're full of goodness, complete knowledge and competent to instruct one another, they don't need Paul to be their pastor, so it's like, "Oh, would you mind? We actually have a pulpit committee and we've been looking, and you are looking really good for us. Is there any way we could convince you to be our pastor?" Paul says, "Look, before I even get there, just know I'm passing through. You can help me, we'll have a good time together. We'll bless one another. There'll be some fruit. I trust that some Romans will come to faith in Christ, but then I'm moving on, I'm going to Spain. However, when I come, verse 29, "I know that when I come, I'll come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ." Wouldn't it be wonderful to be able to say that? Let's say a Christian family invites you over for dinner this afternoon. You say, "Well, I want you to know, I know that when I come I'll come in the full measure of the blessing of Christ. You'll be blessed to have me." You say, "Well that sounds arrogant." No, that's not it, it's just my desire is that you will be blessed in Christ by my coming. I yearn to have that kind of sweet fellowship. I yearn to leave the sweet savor of Christ after we left, not, "I couldn't wait for them to leave," but rather that it was a rich blessing of fellowship, and that's what he's saying in verse 29. V. Application Now, what application can we take from these verses? Well, can I urge you to be planners, godly planners? Can we start out at eternity with our planning? I would like you to plan for death. Because it's appointed to each one of us to die, and then to face judgment. So I want you to plan for judgment. I want you to plan to stand before the judgement seat of Christ, and to give him an account for everything done in the body, whether good or bad, plan on that. Plan on it, plan on giving Christ a full account and work backwards from there. Then I'd urge you to plan for 10 years from now. Say, "Lord, if you give me time, where do I want to be in 10 years?" We often talk in this church about the two infinite journeys. What kind of person do I want to be in 10 years, how do I want to grow, what are my habits, what do I want... Spiritual disciplines, what Bible chapters and books do you want me to memorize? How do you want me to develop as a prayer warrior? Right now I'm paying X amount of time, I'd like to pray three or four X every day. I want to be more of a prayer warrior. I want to be more faithful in evangelism. What kind of person you want me to be in 10 years? And in terms of the external journey, what do you want me to do for the kingdom? What's my mission, what's my calling? Plan 10 years down the line, knowing you might not ever even make it, but just plan for it and prepare for it. And then work backwards. What do you want to do next week? What do you want to do later this afternoon? Plan for eternity, plan for 10 years from now, plan for later this week and tomorrow. Be planners, but know that God holds all of those things in his hands. The noble man makes noble plans and by noble deeds he stands. Plan for that. Now, if you've come in here today and you're not a Christian, come to faith in Christ, don't plan for anything other than that. I don't ever want it to be said, Somebody came to this church and didn't know how to come to faith in Christ. They've been going to all these other churches, heard other messages, no one ever told them how to be saved. It's as simple as this. You look to the cross of Jesus Christ, the blood shed on the cross, trust in him and not in your own righteousness for your salvation. And then after that you can make noble plans by the power of the Spirit. Close with me in prayer.