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Special Patreon Re-Release: Wholehearted Quiet Time with Naomi Vacaro   Today's message is not intended for little ears. We'll be discussing some adult themes, and I want you to be aware before you listen to this message.    "So they went away by themselves in a boat to a solitary place. But many who saw them leaving recognized them and ran on foot from all the towns and got there ahead of them. When Jesus landed and saw a large crowd, he had compassion on them, because they were like sheep without a shepherd. So he began teaching them many things." Mark 6:32-34 (NIV)   **Transcription Below**   Questions and Topics We Discuss: How did your life with secret sin impact your connection with Jesus and what were some of those faulty beliefs you internalized that Christ later redeemed? How would you describe quiet time and its purpose? How does quiet time ripple out to effect everyone around us?   Naomi Vacaro is first and foremost a wholehearted follower of Jesus. She grew up as a daughter to missionaries in Outer Mongolia and then moved to Florida at the age of 18 to pursue a college degree. After graduating with a degree in graphic design, she worked as a wedding photographer and soon after felt led to create a journal called the Quiet Time Companion, along with an online ministry that would help Christians develop a daily habit of seeking Jesus. She now spends her time running the Wholehearted community and being a stay-at-home mom. She and her husband live in Florida with their son. Visit her online at wholeheartedquiettime.com or on Instagram.   At The Savvy Sauce, we will only recommend resources we believe in! We also want you to be aware: We are a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for us to earn fees by linking to Amazon.com and affiliated sites.    Quiet by Naomi Vacaro   Thank You to Our Sponsors: Chick-fil-A East Peoria and The Savvy Sauce Charities (and donate online here)   Please help us out by sharing this episode with a friend, leaving a 5-star rating and review, and subscribing to this podcast!   Other Related Episodes on The Savvy Sauce: 150 Brain Science and Spiritual Abundance with Ken Baugh 259 God Speaks to His Kids . . . Here's How with Chris Allen   Connect with The Savvy Sauce on Facebook or Instagram or Our Website   Gospel Scripture: (all NIV)   Romans 3:23 “for all have sinned and fall short of the glory of God,”   Romans 3:24 “and are justified freely by his grace through the redemption that came by Christ Jesus.”   Romans 3:25 (a) “God presented him as a sacrifice of atonement, through faith in his blood.”    Hebrews 9:22 (b) “without the shedding of blood there is no forgiveness.”    Romans 5:8 “But God demonstrates his own love for us in this: While we were still sinners, Christ died for us.”    Romans 5:11 “Not only is this so, but we also rejoice in God through our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom we have now received reconciliation.”    John 3:16 “For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”   Romans 10:9 “That if you confess with your mouth, “Jesus is Lord,” and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.”    Luke 15:10 says “In the same way, I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.”   Romans 8:1 “Therefore, there is now no condemnation for those who are in Christ Jesus”   Ephesians 1:13–14 “And you also were included in Christ when you heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation. Having believed, you were marked in him with a seal, the promised Holy Spirit, who is a deposit guaranteeing our inheritance until the redemption of those who are God's possession- to the praise of his glory.”   Ephesians 1:15–23 “For this reason, ever since I heard about your faith in the Lord Jesus and your love for all the saints, I have not stopped giving thanks for you, remembering you in my prayers. I keep asking that the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the glorious Father, may give you the spirit of wisdom and revelation, so that you may know him better. I pray also that the eyes of your heart may be enlightened in order that you may know the hope to which he has called you, the riches of his glorious inheritance in the saints, and his incomparably great power for us who believe. That power is like the working of his mighty strength, which he exerted in Christ when he raised him from the dead and seated him at his right hand in the heavenly realms, far above all rule and authority, power and dominion, and every title that can be given, not only in the present age but also in the one to come. And God placed all things under his feet and appointed him to be head over everything for the church, which is his body, the fullness of him who fills everything in every way.”   Ephesians 2:8–10 “For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith – and this not from yourselves, it is the gift of God – not by works, so that no one can boast. For we are God‘s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.“   Ephesians 2:13 “But now in Christ Jesus you who once were far away have been brought near through the blood of Christ.“   Philippians 1:6 “being confident of this, that he who began a good work in you will carry it on to completion until the day of Christ Jesus.”   **Transcription**   Music: (0:00 – 0:09)   Laura Dugger: (0:10 - 1:51) Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, where we have practical chats for intentional living. I'm your host, Laura Dugger, and I'm so glad you're here.    Today's message is not intended for little ears. We'll be discussing some adult themes, and I want you to be aware before you listen to this message.    Are you interested in a free college education for you or someone you know? Stay tuned for details coming later in this episode from today's sponsor, Chick-fil-A East Peoria. You can also visit their website today at chickfila.com/East Peoria.    If you've been with us long, you know this podcast is only one piece of our nonprofit, which is the Savvy Sauce Charities. Don't miss out on our other resources.   We have questions and content to inspire you to have your own practical chats for intentional living. And I also hope you don't miss out on the opportunity to financially support us through your tax-deductible donations. All this information can be found on our recently updated website, thesavvysauce.com.   My guest for today is Naomi Vaccaro, and she has wisdom beyond her years that she articulates beautifully in her faith journey. She's humbly going to share some highs and lows, and she's able to pull out ways that the Lord has called her to live in the light. And she has practical suggestions for ways we can do the same.   Here's our chat. Welcome to The Savvy Sauce, Naomi.   Naomi Vaccaro: (1:53 - 2:01) Hi, Laura. Thank you so much for having me. I'm super excited to be here and just can't wait to dive into all this amazing conversation.   Laura Dugger: (2:02 - 2:10) Well, likewise, I feel the same. And will you start us off by just giving us a glimpse of your journey to becoming a Christ follower?   Naomi Vaccaro: (2:11 - 4:04) Yeah, absolutely. So, my story is probably very similar to many other believers who grew up in Christian homes. I know I'm not the only one who probably has a similar testimony.   But I was showed the gospel a thousand times in a hundred different ways over the course of many, many years. So, my coming to faith was definitely a slow blossoming over a long period of time. My first really memorable encounter with the Lord was when I was about seven years old.   I remember I was walking in the backyard of our home in Mongolia, which is where I grew up as a missionary kid. And during that evening, there was just this particularly beautiful sunset. And I just remember looking at the clouds in the sky and just seeing that sun dip below the horizon.   And I just knew my seven-year-old heart knew that God was real and that he was present and he saw me and he just loved me. And that was the first time I remember actually acknowledging him personally and really just wanting to be in a relationship with him. So, I would say that was when my journey of faith really started.   That's when it took root in my own heart, this longing for eternity. And then my understanding of the gospel was definitely limited to what a seven year old could grasp at the time. So, my relationship with Christ and the way I understood his grace, it deepened and it strengthened over time.   But I do believe that it was in that moment that I became committed to start the journey. And then it was just slow growth from there.   Laura Dugger: (4:05 - 4:48) I love it. Everybody's story is so personal to them, and it never gets old hearing how Christ has wooed people to himself. But in your new book, you write on page 15, I'm going to quote you saying, “My mom and dad took their role as parents even more seriously than their calling as missionaries.”   If there was one thing they persistently taught us as kids, it was that spending time with Jesus was a necessary part of everyday life. And so Naomi, as a mom myself with a similar conviction to create a spiritually vibrant home atmosphere, I would love to learn, how did your parents actually do that?   Naomi Vaccaro: (4:49 - 8:11) Yeah, that's a great question. I'm a mom myself now, and ever since becoming a mom, this is the question I just revisited over and over. And I'm just so grateful to have had the example that my parents gave to me.   And that's really what they did. So, my parents, first and foremost, they taught by example. Every morning without fail, my mom and dad would be the first ones up and they would each spend time with the Lord in their own routine, their own unique rhythm.   And so, it's funny, because for many years, I really thought that every other adult Christian had Bible time in the morning, just like my parents did. I thought it was just the thing adults did. And it wasn't until later in life that I realized how rare and special it was to have parents who sought the Lord so diligently and consistently.   They weren't just missionaries on the outside, you know, pastor on the outside. They had a private devotion to the Lord that was so vibrant and so real. And there was just no hypocrisy there.   Also, on the more practical side of things, I just also had the good fortune of being homeschooled, which allowed my parents a lot of flexibility and creativity with our education. So, one thing that my mom would do is every morning at around eight o'clock after we had all had breakfast, we would gather in the living room together. We would break open hymnals and sing some songs.   We would learn from a passage in scripture, and my mom would lead that time. Sometimes my dad would. And then we would pray together.   And then my mom would read a book out loud to all of us for about 30 minutes or so. And so that daily time, I just remember that being one of the most special parts of my childhood. And it was so enjoyable.   And I really think that it took the concept of a quiet time or seeking the Lord as one of the first things you did every day. It just made that rhythm really normal in my mind. So even now, it seems weird not to start my day with some kind of routine that welcomes the Lord into my day.   And I really attribute that to my mom and my dad and the way they educated us. So, my parents, they taught by example, and they integrated these beautiful rhythms into our lives at a very young age. So, if you are a parent and you really want that to become a reality in your home, just start first by creating this rhythm in your personal life.   Kids practice what we do, not just what we teach. They can sense hypocrisy very, very easily. And so, you first just need to make sure that you are devoting yourself to the Lord privately.   And they will see that and it will impact them. And then some of the ways you can bring your kids into your quiet time rhythm with you is you could have them sit next to you and have them read their own children's Bible as you read your Bible. And set aside a few minutes to pray with them every morning.   There are so many ways that we can start cultivating this culture in our home. But I really do believe that it all starts with our own sincere private devotion.   Laura Dugger: (8:12 - 9:01) That's really helpful to hear. And I like that progression of it begins with us and our commitment to our relationship with the Lord and growing there. But that's also helpful to see it play out that they kind of fed you through the hymns and through the Bible reading, but then also transferred that responsibility on to you to pursue that as well as you got older.   Something that really stood out when I read your book was your humility and vulnerability. So, I'm wondering if you can share a little bit more of your journey now. And specifically, how did your life with secret sin impact your connection with Jesus?   And what were some of those faulty beliefs that you internalized and Christ later redeemed?   Naomi Vaccaro: (9:03 - 14:43) Yeah. So, first of all, I just want to say, you know, this is where life happens. This is where things get real when we uncover our own failure, our own shame, when we bring it into the light.   This is just this is where God works. He works with humility. And that's why we should not be afraid to deal with these topics.   And so, I'm so excited to share my own story right now because I hope it will encourage someone else who might be listening. And it's something that I think we do need to talk about more in the Christian community. So basically, when I was eight years old, I was so young.   When I was eight years old, I was first exposed to pornography and erotica. And after that encounter, a secret sin of sexual fantasizing and seeking out more erotic content developed in my life. And this sin, the secret sin, did major damage to my walk with Jesus for a long time.   First of all, that's really what sin does, right? It separates us from God when we walk in a way that goes against his design, his good, good design for us. It destroys, it separates, it hurts.   And that's what it did for me for a long time. However, because of the grace of Christ, sin can only separate us from God if we let it. And so, I, at the time, I really did let my failure separate me from the grace of Jesus because I didn't really understand that the gospel applied to me as an already born-again Christian who struggled with sexual temptation.   I thought that you became a Christian because of the gospel, Jesus on the cross, the resurrection, the Holy Spirit, etc., etc. But deep down, I also really thought that once I was through the door of the gospel, that the Christian walk became up to me. So, every time I stumbled and fell into any kind of sin, but especially lust, because that was what I was so, so ashamed of, I would feel absolutely devastated.   And this was more than just a righteous conviction because it's good to feel devastated over our sin. This was a fear that I had somehow lost God's favor, lost his love, and particularly lost my salvation. I questioned my identity in Christ every time I stumbled in this way.   So, every time I would seek out this content and just give in to this inner sexual fantasizing, I would avoid having a quiet time for a few days because I really felt like I somehow had to do a penance, that I had to prove to God just how sorry I was. And so, this secret sin and the guilt that it gave me, it really did drive me away from Jesus, which I'm sure it just broke his heart because that is the last thing you want to do when you fall into sin is run away from God. And what's so sad is that I kept this in a secret for years.   I was eight when it started, and I was 13 when I finally got up the nerve to confess to my mother. I had prayed many times and confessed this sin to the Lord many times, but I wasn't seeing progress. I was still struggling, and I knew, I knew for years he was telling me, Naomi, you need to confess this to someone else.   You need to confess this to your mom. And I was so afraid of telling her that I was sinning in this way. I felt so dirty.   I felt so trapped and so terrified of losing her good opinion and the good opinion of anyone who would find out because I often equated the good opinion of others to love, especially as someone who's just a natural born people pleaser. But that morning when I finally confessed as a 13-year-old, the love and the grace that my mother showed me, it was the greatest reflection of the gospel I had ever experienced in my life up to that point. My sin didn't drive her away from me.   It actually drew her in closer, and that was the last thing that I expected. She embraced me. She came alongside me, and she made it clear that I was not the first or the last Christian to struggle with the sin of lust.   And she made me understand that I was not alone. And so, her reaction, it really did show me this fundamental truth, that our sin is what makes us absolutely irresistible to the compassionate heart of Christ. He hates sin because our sin is killing us.   But instead of casting us aside and pushing us away, he draws near in order to heal us. Jesus rushes to the side of a repentant sinner every single time. And that is what I learned through that journey of secret sin, wrestling inwardly, and then finally confessing in obedience to the Lord, confessing that sin to my mom.   Laura Dugger: (14:44 - 15:05) Wow. Thank you for bravely sharing that journey. That is such an encouragement.   And if someone is relating to your story, or maybe they're in the midst of their own experience of harboring some other form of secret sin right now, and it's creating distance between them and God, what encouragement would you like to offer them?   Naomi Vaccaro: (15:07 - 17:00) Yeah, so just run to Jesus. It all starts there. Just don't wait another moment.   Pause this episode if you need to. Hit your knees. Cry out to God.   Sin, it kills. It destroys. It separates us.   And the way we overcome sin is not by muscling our way through in our own strength. I've tried that. It doesn't work.   We have to combat sin by taking up the sword of surrender. We surrender ourselves to God, and then it becomes his strength that carries us through, that sets us free. So don't wait to confess.   Confess every single failure that's weighing on your soul. It doesn't define you in Christ. You are set free from his work.   So don't carry that garbage around anymore. Just don't do it. Jesus is so ready to embrace you, and it really is a lie that your sin makes you too dirty to approach him.   Jesus took care of that once and for all on the cross. So just like you embraced the gospel when you first became a Christian, now just cling to the gospel as you battle sin as a Christian. And then you can just ask yourself, you know, is there someone else that the Lord wants to bring alongside you in this struggle?   There's a reason why we are a body. There's a reason why we don't do the Christian walk alone, and that's because sin can't survive in the light, which is Christian accountability and confession. So, you will just be amazed at what God can do when you confess your sin to him and you make it known to other believers.   Just walk in that humility and trust that God opposes the proud, but he gives grace to the humble.   Laura Dugger: (17:01 - 19:50) And now a brief message from our sponsor. Did you know you can go to college tuition free just by being a team member at Chick-fil-A East Peoria? Yes, you heard that right.   Free college education. All Chick-fil-A East Peoria team members in good standing are immediately eligible for a free college education through Point University. Point University is a fully accredited private Christian college located in West Point, Georgia.   This online self-paced program includes 13 associates degrees, 17 bachelor's degrees and two master's programs, including an MBA. College courses are fully transferable both in and out of this program. This could even be a great option to complete your general education courses and then transfer to the college of your choice and save money in the process.   So, if you're looking for an affordable college option while simultaneously gaining valuable work experience and earning an income, Chick-fil-A East Peoria is the place for you. You don't have to go into debt to get a great education. To apply today, please go to Chick-fil-A.com/East Peoria and click on the career tab. You can also call the restaurant at 309-694-1044 to find out more. And if you aren't located near Chick-fil-A East Peoria, make sure you check with your local Chick-fil-A restaurant to see if they also participate in the Elevate program with Point University. Thanks for your sponsorship.   Well, it's amazing to think about intimacy because the very first building block of intimacy is honesty. And so, I think you're just laying out such a biblical view of how to walk in freedom and intimacy with God and others by confessing and saying out loud what we're struggling with. And I know that the enemy will try whispering to us and lying and twisting things saying that this will lead to something worse or lead to more bondage.   And yet your story reveals the truth that it actually sets us free. As we continue to walk through your journey, you next experienced euphoria from having a clear conscience. And you channeled your newfound energy into a spiritual discipline that you said you most wanted to improve, which was your quiet time.   So how would you describe quiet time and its purpose?   Naomi Vaccaro: (19:51 - 21:24) Yeah, so quiet time refers to the activities of Bible reading and prayer. And its purpose really is wonderfully simple and yet deeply profound. Simply put, having a quiet time is relating to God.   In any relationship, there needs to be back and forth communication, right? Listening and talking, receiving and sharing. So, when you become a follower of Christ, you are entering into a relationship with the Almighty God.   That is what Christianity is all about. So, reading the Bible is essentially listening to God share His heart with you. That's how you are getting to know the other being, the other person on the other side of this relationship.   And prayer is how you share your heart with God. God wants you to share about yourself. He wants to know you.   And just because He's God and He already knows everything doesn't mean He doesn't enjoy that intimacy with us. He wants to relate to us just like we would relate to anybody else. So of course, there are many other good reasons to read the Bible and pray.   But this really is the foundation of what having a quiet time is all about. It's how we cultivate and nurture our relationship with God Himself.   Laura Dugger: (21:25 - 21:31) And what would you say to someone who feels like their quiet time has become stale or boring?   Naomi Vaccaro: (21:32 - 23:20) So first, don't be alarmed. I get so alarmed when my quiet time becomes boring and I start second-guessing everything. But over time I've learned that this happens to everyone, and it doesn't mean you're no longer a Christian.   So just don't worry. Search your heart definitely and try to find the reason behind this season. There could be something more serious going on.   For instance, when I was walking through sin for many years, that was a huge issue that kept me from experiencing a lot of genuine delight with the Lord. So, there could be something like that that is causing trouble. Or it could just be that you are in a season that is draining your joy.   You could be walking through suffering, a significant suffering. And that should not be surprising to us that our circumstances and our suffering affect how we relate to God and the feelings we experience there. So, no matter what the reason is, the answer is the same.   Keep coming back to Christ. Even when it feels boring, I promise you the feelings will follow in time. And there are also some practical things that you can do to shake things up and make your quiet time a little more interesting if it's really just that simple.   For instance, you can bring worship music into your routine. I love worship music and that always sparks a lot of joy and just praise. You can also go on a prayer walk around your neighborhood.   You can start a new Bible study or a book. Just don't take your own lack of feeling too seriously. And just trust me that as you remain faithful in the discipline, the delight will follow in time.   Laura Dugger: (23:21 - 23:58) And I think that even ties into what you were saying earlier about confessing or just bringing things into the light. It's such a joy to get to do this in community. So maybe even sharing with your spouse, if that applies to you, or a friend or a loved one, if this is a struggle.   And I think they can also help shed light on what's going on. But you mentioned the word season. And so, let's take this from a proactive stance then.   If someone has a big life change coming up, like a move or a wedding or a new child, how can they prepare to adapt their quiet time to a new season?   Naomi Vaccaro: (23:59 - 26:10) Oh man, the seasons that you mentioned, each one of those have always affected my quiet time. Especially becoming a mom. Just shout out to all the moms out there.   So, I would just say, spend a good amount of time. If you see the season that is ahead of you, just spend a good amount of time praying over that season before it even arrives. Just trust that the Lord, He will give you the grace you need to transition into your new role.   And prepare your heart before the Lord to receive this sanctification, because that's what transition does. It reveals weakness in us. It reveals where we've maybe placed a lot of our hope and confidence in places other than Christ.   And so, walk into that sanctification confidently that the Lord is with you. And then just do your best when that season comes. Do your best to maintain your quiet time routine.   But don't worry too much if things get lost for a little while. It really does take time to regain our footing after a big transition. The main thing is to just not give up the habit altogether.   Just keep fighting for pieces of it as much as you can. And then overtime it will get easier. For me, it took me about six months to relearn my quiet time routine after I got married.   And after I had a baby, it took me a solid year before I became consistent again. It was really, really hard. And even now as a working mom, I still really struggle to find consistency.   So don't freak out. Don't linger on any kind of sense of failure. Just return to the Lord in whatever moments He provides.   And just know that His mercies are new every single morning. And just because you're struggling to have a quiet time in a new season of life doesn't mean that Jesus is not with you, that He's not walking with you and making you into more of His likeness. He is.   He still delights in you. He loves you. He has not left you.   He is still right there.   Laura Dugger: (26:11 - 26:24) I think that's such a real picture because it is a fight and it's worth the fight. And Naomi, how have you seen quiet time ripple out to affect everyone around us?   Naomi Vaccaro: (26:25 - 28:38) Oh man, I feel like I could talk about this one question for a long time because it really does affect everyone. It affects everything. Because when you think of what having a quiet time is, it is connecting us with the God of the universe.   And not only that, it is welcoming Him into our lives and making us more like Christ. So, when we do that regularly, consistently, there literally isn't anyone in our proximity who will not be positively affected by that. The more we are absorbing Scripture and engaging with the Lord in prayer about what's going on in our lives, the people in our lives, the things that weigh us down or lift us up, the more we do this and reflect Christ to the world around us, the more people will be impacted.   So, our marriages, we'll just start there. They will become so much sweeter as we lean on the love of Christ. Trust me, your spouse cannot be your ultimate fulfillment.   And when we look to our spouse to fulfill every single one of our needs, marriage becomes really hard. But the more we lean on our true source of joy and satisfaction, marriage actually becomes really, really wonderful. So, for the sake of your marriage, have a quiet time.   And the same is true for our kids. They are not meant to be the center of our universe. And they will feel so much more happy and secure as we find our joy in the Lord.   They cannot bear the weight of our worship. And so if you want kids who are just full of joy, then spend time with the Lord and trust him to take care of them. And then obviously just our neighbors, our coworkers, our friends, our relatives, everyone we encounter will feel the ripple effect of our own private devotion to God.   I truly do believe that one person who is faithful to seek the Lord on a regular basis will have an impact that resounds throughout eternity itself. I really, really do.   Laura Dugger: (28:39 - 28:49) And do you think it's ever possible to selfishly prioritize our allegiance to these spiritual disciplines above other priorities?   Naomi Vaccaro: (28:50 - 31:30) Yes. Absolutely. And this is something I do talk about in my book, and I share some content there that really impacted me when I was learning about flexibility in our spiritual disciplines.   So, I think it's really important to realize that having a daily quiet time is not a command in Scripture. It's not a sin issue if you don't have a quiet time. It's a relationship issue.   So, the actual function of Bible reading and prayer is not some kind of non-negotiable ritual that we perform. Ultimately, the Christian walk is about loving the Lord, our God, with all we have and loving our neighbor as ourselves. God will never ask us to compromise on either one of those.   He will never ask us to sacrifice one for the other. So loving God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength will also always look like loving our neighbor as ourselves. Sometimes it looks like changing a diaper instead of opening up that Bible study we're just dying to get into.   And sometimes it looks like running out the door to help someone in an emergency rather than having our regularly scheduled prayer time. Our spiritual disciplines need to be flexible enough to be interrupted. Otherwise, we are making the routine itself too important.   And I really believe the best example of this is Christ himself. There are multiple instances in Scripture where Jesus allows his prayer time with the Father or even his journey down the road to be interrupted by the needs of others. Jesus was always ready to stop and serve, even if that meant shifting his other plans.   Now we all have our own capacity, so that doesn't mean you always have to be rushing to this person and that person. It just means that you need to be willing to let go of your routines in place of the leading of the Holy Spirit. Wherever he wants us to go to love God and love others, that's what we need to remember.   And then just remember that quiet time is not the end goal in itself. That is not the ultimate end of the Christian life. Love for God and love for others really does go beyond daily Bible reading and prayer.   Sometimes our quiet time will need to be changed or postponed in order for us to love others the way God wants us to.   Laura Dugger: (31:31 - 32:42) I love scenarios that are both and, and you're laying that out for us, that quiet time both is important and its worthy of being prioritized and flexibility is important and Christ-like as well.    Did you know you could receive a free email with monthly encouragement, practical tips, and plenty of questions to ask to take your conversation a level deeper, whether that's in parenting or on date nights? Make sure you access all of this at thesavvysauce.com by clicking the button that says join our email list so that you can follow the prompts and begin receiving these emails at the beginning of each month. Enjoy! Another part of your book just made me smile when you were talking about whether you believe prayer and Scripture reading are non-negotiables, but you also invite readers to journal for a variety of reasons. And I love journaling as well.   But from your standpoint, will you elaborate on some convincing reasons to give journaling a try?   Naomi Vaccaro: (32:44 - 35:36) Absolutely. So, I am also an avid journaler. I have been journaling since I was about eight years old.   And over time, I really have just seen so many amazing benefits to journaling. Like you said, it's not a non-negotiable element to a quiet time. It's not absolutely necessary to journal.   Whereas I would say Bible reading and prayer are necessary because they are our modes of communication to the Lord. So, journaling really is more of a bonus element. But keeping a diary will always be something I recommend for several reasons.   So here are my main reasons why I recommend journaling. So, first of all, journaling really does help us process our emotions. We've got a lot of feelings rolling around inside of us.   And sometimes it is so good to just wrestle those feelings onto a page so that we can look them over, analyze them, process them, submit them to the Lord, and maybe understand why we are feeling a certain way and then what next steps we should take to address those emotions. So that's my first reason. Journaling really helps us process our emotions.   Also, I think most people understand that this is a huge benefit of journaling. But journaling really is a wonderful way to preserve our memories. There are so many stories I would never have remembered if I didn't write them down years ago.   And I just absolutely love, it gives me so much joy to go back through my old journals and read about events and what I thought about certain events that happened years ago. And at the time, those things seemed so big and important. But now they are just the sweetest memories that I get to pass down to my children, hopefully, and hopefully their children.   So yes, journaling also helps us preserve our memories. And then finally, I think the most compelling reason to journal is the way it helps us keep a record of God's faithfulness in our lives. So how many times do you and I pray over something super specific, something we are super worried about, and then that problem is solved.   The Lord provides, and the need is met. And then the next day, we kind of forgot all about it. We just move right along to the next worry.   I know that I do this all the time, and journaling has really helped me in this area. I get so caught up with now that I forget about all the dozens and hundreds of times that God has been faithful to provide and protect and comfort me in the past. So journaling is just such a good, practical way to deepen our faith as we record and remember how good God has been to us over time.   Laura Dugger: (35:36 - 35:56) And I even think the Bible encourages this in different ways when it's talking about writing this down or passing this on to your children. Or one of my favorites in the last part of Proverbs 3.21 says, preserve sound judgment and discernment. Do not let them out of your sight.   And so, I just echo all that you're saying.   Naomi Vaccaro: (35:57 - 35:58) Yes.   Laura Dugger: (35:58 - 36:08) When we consider the Holy Spirit's impactful role in our lives, how can we discern when we're being spirit-led versus flesh-led?   Naomi Vaccaro: (36:09 - 38:20) You know, what's so amazing about being a Christian is that we have been given the gift of the Helper, with a capital H, you know, the Holy Spirit who now dwells within those who belong to Christ. It's so amazing. So, if you look at yourself in the mirror right now, you can just know the Holy Spirit is looking right back at you.   It's pretty amazing. We get to walk every day hand-in-hand with the Holy Spirit. And the more we listen to Him and let Him guide us in our lives, the easier it will be to hear Him again.   And that's what we want. We want to be spirit-led people. So how do we do that?   The age-old question. So, one thing that we can always be certain of is that the Holy Spirit will never contradict the revealed will of God in Scripture. The Holy Spirit is a part of the Trinity.   They are all so connected in their purpose. They are one. And yes, the Spirit, He can work in our emotions, and He often does.   But the problem is, our feelings can be so tricky. And we always want to measure them against the Holy Word of God because that is where our source of truth is found. So, this really is the truest test for the leading of the Holy Spirit versus the leading of our flesh.   Our flesh will always be self-centered. And the Holy Spirit will always be Christ-centered. The Holy Spirit exists to magnify Christ, right?   So, as we look at Christ and adore Christ, then the Holy Spirit will grow stronger and stronger inside of us. So that's what I would encourage you to do. If you want to discern the difference between the Holy Spirit's leading and your flesh's leading, then really just start with studying God's Word.   Bring it into your home, your soul, your day-to-day life, and you will begin to discern the difference in no time.   Laura Dugger: (38:22 - 38:28) And how can we spur one another on to love and good deeds, especially in community?   Naomi Vaccaro: (38:29 - 40:15) So first, you need to be in community in order to spur one another on to love and good deeds, right? So, we really do need to start there because we're living in a time, especially in our country, I think around the world, where there is just a pandemic of loneliness and people are not living in community. So start by finding that community.   Find a local body of believers in Christ to do life with. And I don't just mean a Sunday morning service. Find people that you can see multiple times a week and start to get vulnerable and involved in each other's lives.   Start a prayer group together. Gather your kids and have a regular play date. Do game nights with the whole family.   Just think outside the box of Sunday morning. And after that, I just really believe that in order to love one another well, we need to bring it back to the whole topic of this conversation. We need to start with our own private relationship with God.   If this vertical relationship between God and us is out of whack, then our horizontal relationships with others will really just start to disintegrate. So, we need to begin with our own relationship with Christ and begin by praying for the people in your community as you spend time talking with Him. He will be the one to fill you with the love you need to then go and pour it out to the other members of your community.   And that is what spurs Christians on to love and good deeds. And it always has been.   Laura Dugger: (40:16 - 40:29) Well, Naomi, I'm enjoying this conversation. And if anybody wants to continue the conversation, where would you direct us online to find you and begin implementing these rhythms that you've taught us today?   Naomi Vaccaro: (40:30 - 41:09) Thank you, Laura. I've had such a great time talking with you, too. And I would just love to chat with anyone else who wants to come and start a conversation.   You can find me on Instagram at Naomi Vaccaro. And you can find my ministry, Wholehearted, where we focus on discipling Christians to have a daily quiet time. You can find that ministry on Instagram at WholeheartedQuietTime.   Also, our website is WholeheartedQuietTime.com. And that's where we have our blog and our online shop and a lot of free resources. So please come on by.   I would love to meet you.   Laura Dugger: (41:09 - 41:28) Wonderful. We will link to that in the show notes for today's episode. And you may be aware we're called The Savvy Sauce because savvy is synonymous with practical knowledge or insight.   And so, as my final question for you today, what is your savvy sauce?   Naomi Vaccaro: (41:28 - 41:51) Yeah, I love this. Savvy Sauce. There's a lot of things I could say, but when it comes down to it, my savvy sauce really is getting a good night's sleep.   I become a monster if I don't sleep enough. So, I need to get my rest. I cannot recommend it highly enough, people.   Get yourselves eight hours every night. Amen to that.   Laura Dugger: (41:51 - 42:17) That is wonderful savvy sauce. And maybe that's part of the reason and more so your connection with the Lord. But I just experience you as such a peaceful and kind and gentle person.   And I can hear all of the passion about this coming from you. So, thank you for the work that you're faithfully doing with Wholehearted. And thank you for being my guest today.   Naomi Vaccaro: (42:18 - 42:34) Thank you, Laura. I just feel so encouraged and so, so loved by God through this conversation. And I cannot wait to see what he is going to do in His people through your work, your podcast, and Lord willing, my book.   So may His will be done.   Laura Dugger: (42:35 - 46:36) Thank you so much, Naomi.    One more thing before you go. Have you heard the term gospel before?   It simply means good news. And I want to share the best news with you. But it starts with the bad news.   Every single one of us were born sinners, but Christ desires to rescue us from our sin, which is something we cannot do for ourselves. This means there is absolutely no chance we can make it to heaven on our own. So, for you and for me, it means we deserve death, and we can never pay back the sacrifice we owe to be saved.   We need a savior. But God loved us so much, he made a way for his only son to willingly die in our place as the perfect substitute. This gives us hope of life forever in right relationship with him.   That is good news. Jesus lived the perfect life we could never live and died in our place for our sin. This was God's plan to make a way to reconcile with us so that God can look at us and see Jesus.   We can be covered and justified through the work Jesus finished if we choose to receive what He has done for us. Romans 10:9 says, “That if you confess with your mouth Jesus is Lord and believe in your heart that God raised him from the dead, you will be saved.” So, would you pray with me now?   Heavenly Father, thank you for sending Jesus to take our place. I pray someone today right now is touched and chooses to turn their life over to you. Will you clearly guide them and help them take their next step in faith to declare you as Lord of their life?   We trust you to work and change lives now for eternity. In Jesus' name we pray. Amen.   If you prayed that prayer, you are declaring him for me, so me for him. You get the opportunity to live your life for him. And at this podcast, we're called The Savvy Sauce for a reason.   We want to give you practical tools to implement the knowledge you have learned. So, you ready to get started? First, tell someone.   Say it out loud. Get a Bible. The first day I made this decision, my parents took me to Barnes & Noble and let me choose my own Bible.   I selected the Quest NIV Bible, and I love it. You can start by reading the book of John. Also, get connected locally, which just means tell someone who's a part of a church in your community that you made a decision to follow Christ.   I'm assuming they will be thrilled to talk with you about further steps, such as going to church and getting connected to other believers to encourage you. We want to celebrate with you too, so feel free to leave a comment for us here if you did make a decision to follow Christ. We also have show notes included where you can read scripture that describes this process.   And finally, be encouraged. Luke 15:10 says, “In the same way I tell you, there is rejoicing in the presence of the angels of God over one sinner who repents.” The heavens are praising with you for your decision today.   And if you've already received this good news, I pray you have someone to share it with. You are loved and I look forward to meeting you here next time.

This is Episode 58 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog of Kepler Education. In the final episode of this series, Dr. Robert Woods wraps up the conversation surrounding the key concepts from his forthcoming book, Neither Angel Nor Beast. Dr. Woods explains what he believes is the essential need in modern education to recover a humane understanding of the social sciences. In large part, modern education treats the social sciences with the philosophical is. That means, the human condition is studied as merely observation of what man tends to do. In classical and Christian thought, however, subjects in the social sciences, like anthropology, have historically explored the human condition in relationship to the philosophical ought, the Norms relating to man's ideal conditions and purposes. Dr. Woods has been a Classical Christian educator for nearly 20 years. He has a B.A. in biblical studies and ministry from Point University, an M.A. in religious studies from Barry University, and a Ph.D. in humanities from Florida State University, and most recently, he earned a D.A. from Harrison Middleton University. He developed and chaired the Great Books Honors College at Faulkner University for more than 15 years and is the author of Mortimer Adler: The Paideia Way of Classical Education, published by Classical Academic Press. Dr. Woods teaches adult learning courses and leads the Teacher Certification Program at Kepler Education. You can find his courses at the link provided.

This is Episode 57 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog of Kepler Education. In this episode, Dr. Robert Woods returns to the Consortium Podcast to walk us through more of the key concepts from his forthcoming book, Neither Angel Nor Beast. Dr. Woods further explains what he believes is the essential need in modern education to recover a humane understanding of the social sciences. In large part, modern education treats the social sciences with the philosophical is. That means, the human condition is studied as merely observation of what man tends to do. In classical and Christian thought, however, subjects in the social sciences, like anthropology, have historically explored the human condition in relationship to the philosophical ought, the Norms relating to man's ideal conditions and purposes. Dr. Woods has been a Classical Christian educator for nearly 20 years. He has a B.A. in biblical studies and ministry from Point University, an M.A. in religious studies from Barry University, and a Ph.D. in humanities from Florida State University, and most recently, he earned a D.A. from Harrison Middleton University. He developed and chaired the Great Books Honors College at Faulkner University for more than 15 years and is the author of Mortimer Adler: The Paideia Way of Classical Education, published by Classical Academic Press. Dr. Woods teaches adult learning courses and leads the Teacher Certification Program at Kepler Education. You can find his courses at the link provided.

This is Episode 56 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog of Kepler Education. In this episode, Dr. Robert Woods returns to the Consortium Podcast to walk us through more of the key concepts from his forthcoming book, Neither Angel Nor Beast. Dr. Woods further explains what he believes is the essential need in modern education to recover a humane understanding of the social sciences. In large part, modern education treats the social sciences with the philosophical is. That means, the human condition is studied as merely observation of what man tends to do. In classical and Christian thought, however, subjects in the social sciences, like anthropology, have historically explored the human condition in relationship to the philosophical ought, the Norms relating to man's ideal conditions and purposes. Dr. Woods has been a Classical Christian educator for nearly 20 years. He has a B.A. in biblical studies and ministry from Point University, an M.A. in religious studies from Barry University, and a Ph.D. in humanities from Florida State University, and most recently, he earned a D.A. from Harrison Middleton University. He developed and chaired the Great Books Honors College at Faulkner University for more than 15 years and is the author of Mortimer Adler: The Paideia Way of Classical Education, published by Classical Academic Press. Dr. Woods teaches adult learning courses and leads the Teacher Certification Program at Kepler Education. You can find his courses at the link provided.

This is Episode 55 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog of Kepler Education. In this episode, Dr. Robert Woods continues his discussion on key concepts from his forthcoming book, Neither Angel Nor Beast, and explains what he believes is the essential need in modern education to recover a humane understanding of the social sciences. In large part, modern education treats the social sciences with the philosophical is. That means, the human condition is studied as merely observation of what man tends to do. In classical and Christian thought, however, subjects in the social sciences, like anthropology, have historically explored the human condition in relationship to the philosophical ought, the Norms relating to man's ideal conditions and purposes. Dr. Woods has been a Classical Christian educator for nearly 20 years. He has a B.A. in biblical studies and ministry from Point University, an M.A. in religious studies from Barry University, and a Ph.D. in humanities from Florida State University, and most recently, he earned a D.A. from Harrison Middleton University. He developed and chaired the Great Books Honors College at Faulkner University for more than 15 years and is the author of Mortimer Adler: The Paideia Way of Classical Education, published by Classical Academic Press. Dr. Woods teaches adult learning courses and leads the Teacher Certification Program at Kepler Education. You can find his courses at the link provided.

This is Episode 54 of the Consortium Podcast, an academic audio blog of Kepler Education. In this episode, Dr. Robert Woods discusses key concepts from his forthcoming book, Neither Angel Nor Beast, and explains what he believes is the essential need in modern education to recover a humane understanding of the social sciences. In large part, modern education treats the social sciences with the philosophical is. That means, the human condition is studied as merely observation of what man tends to do. In classical and Christian thought, however, subjects in the social sciences, like anthropology, have historically explored the human condition in relationship to the philosophical ought, the Norms relating to man's ideal conditions and purposes. Dr. Woods has been a Classical Christian educator for nearly 20 years. He has a B.A. in biblical studies and ministry from Point University, an M.A. in religious studies from Barry University, and a Ph.D. in humanities from Florida State University, and most recently, he earned a D.A. from Harrison Middleton University. He developed and chaired the Great Books Honors College at Faulkner University for more than 15 years and is the author of Mortimer Adler: The Paideia Way of Classical Education, published by Classical Academic Press. Dr. Woods teaches adult learning courses and leads the Teacher Certification Program at Kepler Education. You can find his courses at the link provided.

In Part 4 of this Pulse Check series, Tomika and Cody explores the essence of intentional leadership and its role in fostering inclusivity in decision-making processes with special guest Jaunelle White. Key takeaways include:Intentional leadership fosters inclusivity in decision-making and strengthens relationships with your team.Overcoming others' assumptions about you as a leader requires sustained commitment, trust-building, and humanizing yourself to those you lead.During a crisis, prioritizing the humanity of your team is more important than the needs of the institution.Being confident about making a significant career move requires evaluating the opportunity, timing, and location.Guest Name: Jaunelle White, Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics and Chief Student Development Officer, Point UniversityGuest Social:LinkedInX (Twitter)Bio: Jaunelle White is the Vice President of Intercollegiate Athletics and the Chief Student Development Officer at Point University in West Point, GA. White is the university's third athletic director and first female director. She has recently been recognized by Southern States Athletic Conference as the Athletic Director of the year. Jaunelle White is a proven leader in Athletics as she was named as one of Sports Illustrated's top 100 Black Women in Sports.White has led the transition of full membership of Point University from the Appalachian Athletic Conference to the Southern States Athletic Conference.. She also added Women's Flag Football to the Athletic Department, which competes in the Sun Conference and will have its inaugural season in Spring 2024. White oversaw three NAIA National Tournament teams, three NAIA All-Americans l), and one Appalachian Athletic Conference Championship team (Women's Basketball). Point University is a school in the National Association of Intercollegiate Athletics. NAIA announced Point University as a Champions of Character Five-Star Gold Institution. White has nearly 20 years of athletic administration experience, particularly at the NCAA Division I level. Most recently, White served as the senior associate athletic director for internal operations and senior woman administrator at Indiana University—Purdue University Indianapolis. She has served in several athletic administrative roles, including compliance, at Texas Southern, Alabama State University, University of South Alabama, Middle Tennessee State University, and Louisiana State University. White is a native of Lawrence, Kansas, and played collegiate volleyball at Auburn University from 1996 to 2002. She holds a master's degree in education and a bachelor's degree in business administration from Auburn University. - - - -Connect With Our Co-Hosts:Mallory Willsea https://www.linkedin.com/in/mallorywillsea/https://twitter.com/mallorywillseaSeth Odell https://www.linkedin.com/in/sethodell/https://twitter.com/sethodellAbout The Enrollify Podcast Network:The Higher Ed Pulse is a part of the Enrollify Podcast Network. If you like this podcast, chances are you'll like other Enrollify shows too! Some of our favorites include Generation AI and Confessions of a Higher Education Social Media Manager.Enrollify is made possible by Element451 — the next-generation AI student engagement platform helping institutions create meaningful and personalized interactions with students. Learn more at element451.com.

On this episode we talk to ETSU's assistant coach for the men's and women's program, Blake Watson. We've known Blake for a couple of years now as he was the grad assistant coach at Point University in our hometown area. This season he has helped the men's team at ETSU chase the coveted National Championship by securing them a spot in the top 20 schools in the country. Check out everything else he has to talk about in their successful season in this episode now! The BSG Podcast is brought to you by Moon Golf. They offer golf equipment, apparel, fittings, re-gripping, and anything else you can think of. Go check out Moon Golf and see why their customer service is so highly rated. www.moongolf.com @moongolfshop Subscribe to the Be.Still Golf channel: / bestillgolf Follow along with Be.Still Golf Here: Instagram - / be.stillgolf Facebook - / be.stillgolf Follow the Be.Still Golf Squad: Zach - / zacharynclay Brady - / _brady22 Mitchell - / bigbirch11 Casey - / caseyj.hall

On today's episode, I speak with Coach Randy from the Point Women's Program in Georgia. We talk about how he takes a detailed look at the recruiting calendar. He describes his very specific schedule for the team during the season. Lastly, we discuss how they focus on a welcoming, family atmosphere.    #soccer #collegesoccer #highschoolsoccer #soccercoach #soccercoaches #soccerrecruiting #collegesoccerrecruiting #collegesoccerplayer #highschoolsoccerplayer #ncaa #d1 #d2 #d3 #naia #njcaa #juco #collegerecruiting #soccerlife #clubsoccer #socceracademy #menssoccer #womenssoccer #boyssoccer #girlssoccer   This podcast has been sponsored by Veo. Veo is the number one AI camera solution, helping players capture college recruitment videos. Check out their new Starter and Family options by clicking on the link in the description or visit Discover College soccer to learn more. https://www.veo.co/en-us/partnership/discover-college-soccer   See all our interviews. Check out college soccer ID camp listings. Get valuable free college recruiting resources, all at https://discovercollegesoccer.com/ Join the Discover College Soccer Study Table! Get all the resources you need to manage the college recruiting process! https://discovercollegesoccer.com/studytable ---  DON'T FORGET TO SUBSCRIBE! Be sure you subscribe so you can stay up-to-date with our latest videos.  ---  Follow us here:  TWITTER - https://twitter.com/Discover_CS FACEBOOK - https://www.facebook.com/DiscoverCollegeSoccer INSTAGRAM - https://www.instagram.com/discover_cs/ TIKTOK - https://www.tiktok.com/@discover_cs

@1QLeadership Question: Is a Division I athletics director job always the goal? 1Q guest host Dr. Monique Carroll of Chicago State asks Point University VP of Intercollegiate Athletics, Jaunelle White, about leading the athletics department at an NAIA institution after a career of working in NCAA D1.  If an opportunity aligns, explore it Trust your intuition Continue to add to your toolbox Have an elite mentality no matter where you are White discusses building trust with staff, relationships with student-athletes, and hiring as Carroll provides context with questions from a fellow athletics director's perspective. - One Question Leadership Podcast - Tai M. Brown

In this episode I talk to Holly Carey, professor and chair of the Biblical Studies department at Point University in Georgia, about her brand-new book Women Who Do: Female Disciples in the Gospels, published by Eerdmans in October 2023. We discuss the role that women play as disciples in the four gospels and the book of Acts, as well as the experience of women in antiquity and the ways in which interpretation of the Gospels can and should shape how we read other New Testament texts about women in the church. Dr. Carey explains how often overlooked texts can radically reshape the way that women are presented in the Bible and how these insights have major implications for the practice of the modern church. This is an excellent conversation that you will not want to miss! Media Referenced:Women Who Do: https://a.co/d/b17zueHHolly Carey Point University: https://point.edu/about/faculty/holly-carey/Instagram: @Hjcarey33Facebook: Holly Ritchie CareyThe Protestant Libertarian Podcast is a project of the Libertarian Christian Institute and a part of the Christians For Liberty Network. The Libertarian Christian Institute can be found at www.libertarianchristians.com. Questions, comments, suggestions? Please reach out to me at theprotestantlibertarian@gmail.com.  You can also follow the podcast on Twitter: @prolibertypod. For more about the show, you can go to theprotestantlibertarianpodcast.com. If you like the show and want to support it, you can! Check out the Protestant Libertarian Podcast page at https://www.buymeacoffee.com/theplpodcast. Also, please consider giving me a star rating and leaving me a review, it really helps expand the shows profile! Thanks!

Dean Collins, President, Point University, joins Brad Johnson --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/plexuss/message

Link to episodes: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demarius3 This episode we have a hooper hooper as a guest. Point University's uber athletic wing Vince Graves as we give reviews/previews on recent and upcoming video games. He confirms that "couch gaming" is still alive and well in today's majority online gaming world. Vincent Graves interview NBA 2k24 Spiderman 2 MCU is plotting Mortal Kombat Call of Duty Metal Gear #VinceGraves #PointUniversity #LLS #georgiaorangemenelite #basketball #nba2k24 #spiderman2 #mcu #mortalKombat #callofduty #aau #vc #onlinecommunity #zombies #titanfall #gothamknights #dc #marvel #batman https://www.trophyzandmedalz.com   https://soundcloud.com/iamd-o-p-e/sets/the-babayka-im-back   https://www.amazon.com/DVS-Mindz-Twenty-Year-Greatest-Almost/dp/0231208731   http://www.tncomedy.net/   https://open.spotify.com/show/6Xjsds1ofZJB0pv4MOKlfV?si=hDLyIEICQgqn4_37Y-p-2w  https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCj3oOAFifwN0gn8jyUQXPcw   https://fnx.grsm.io/Trophyzandmedalspodcast   https://anchor.fm/demarius3   https://open.spotify.com/show/7IymYztO1PjWstofOUHahn   https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/trophyz-medals-podcast/id1477131333   https://overcast.fm/itunes1477131333/trophyz-medals-podcast   https://www.iheart.com/podcast/269-trophyz-medalz-podcast-72283152/   https://taylors-comb-llc.myshopify.com --- Send in a voice message: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demarius3/message Support this podcast: https://podcasters.spotify.com/pod/show/demarius3/support

Point University 05-10-23

Point University 05-10-23

The Waleska City Council in Georgia has held a first reading of two proposed resolutions that would allow the citizens of the city to vote on whether they want to allow Sunday alcohol sales. The referendums would consider the sale of malt beverages, wine, and distilled spirits, as well as alcoholic beverages for consumption on the premises on Sundays. The vote on the resolutions will likely take place during the general election scheduled for November 7, and if approved, it may take until January 2024 before the necessary amendments to the city code are made to permit Sunday alcohol sales Chick-fil-A Canton franchisee Kevin Williams has awarded scholarships to employees across three locations. Scholarships range from $1,000 to $2,500 and total over $200,000. In addition, the Alex Gomez Scholarship, which covers 100% of tuition, was awarded to 18 Chick-fil-A Canton team members. Williams started the Alex Gomez Scholarship in 2021, which now provides full tuition to Point University. Chick-fil-A Canton restaurants have awarded over $1 million in local scholarship dollars to team members since 2017. The scholarship awards team members based on academics, community service and operator recommendations, and team members must be employed by Chick-fil-A Canton to be eligible. Woodstock welcomed a new Starbucks location into Adair Park's mixed-use development Saturday. The location was first announced in October 2021 and will finally open their doors for the first time at 6 a.m. Saturday. Adair Park is located at 8256 Main St. in downtown Woodstock. Adair Park posted updates on its Facebook page marking the progress of construction and announced the grand opening online as well. The store is offering a 10% discount through April 23 if customers show the post announcing the opening, according to Adair Park. Reinhardt University recognized its outstanding faculty, junior and senior students at an event called Evening of Honors. Two seniors, Lauren Dose and Deborah Blount, received the traditional and non-traditional Student of the Year awards, respectively. Dose was one of the first students to land a book deal while pursuing an undergraduate degree, and Blount is preparing to graduate at 64 years old with a 4.0 GPA and has created a scholarship in memory of her deceased husband. The university also presented several other awards, including the Engaged Learner award and the Faculty Mentor Award, and recognized students who hold high GPAs. River Ridge High School's soccer team secured a convincing 10-0 victory against Newnan in the opening round of the Class AAAAAA state playoffs. The Knights scored three goals in the first four minutes, with eight different players eventually finding the net. The match was called three minutes into the second half, following GHSA rules on the mercy rule. River Ridge will play against Sprayberry in the Sweet 16. Twelve Cherokee County School District students were selected to the Georgia Governor's Honors Program, the district announced.  The program selects academically excelling rising juniors and seniors throughout Georgia to participate in a four-week long summer curriculum at Georgia Southern University in Statesboro. These students were “selected based on overall excellence in academics, extra-curricular activities and leadership, as well as exceptional skills and talents in a specific area of study,” according to CCSD. For a full list of honorees, please head over to Tribune Ledger News dot com. Georgia's General Assembly passed a bill in the final moments of this year's legislative session that safeguards the public's right to fish in navigable parts of the state's rivers and streams. This move came after a property owner along Yellow Jacket Shoals in the Flint River claimed exclusive control of fishing from the bank on its side of the river to the center of the stream, leading to a lawsuit and an agreement that the Georgia Department of Natural Resources signed consenting to the ban. The fishing rights bill, Senate Bill 115, narrowly passed the House and Senate and now heads to Governor Brian Kemp's desk for signature. For more information be sure to visit https://www.bgpodcastnetwork.com/    https://cuofga.org/   https://www.drakerealty.com/   https://www.esogrepair.com/             See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

Jennifer is Associate Professor of Theology and Humanities at Point University in West Point, Georgia where she teaches courses in systematic theology, philosophy, and the arts. She is the author of Placemaking and the Arts: Cultivating the Christian Life and has had work published in numerous other academic and popular venues. Jennifer lectures widely on the topic of theology and the arts, and her main research focuses on the theological significance of place and the arts' role in our practices of placemaking. In this episode, Jennifer and I discussed the nature and theological significance of the concept of place and the ways that images define the spaces we inhabit. We explored the impact of commercial images and the influence of the handmade, and some of the unexpected ways that creativity shows up in our ordinary routines.

In the final episode of 2022, My Broadcast Partner and Co-host Corey Bank will join me to preview the upcoming College Football Playoff Semifinal Games Michigan-TCU and Georgia-Ohio State. We will also preview the NFL Week 17. I reflect back on the life of Pele, the greatest soccer player of all time. The Columbus Rapids had a couple of friendlies at the Columbus Civic Center last night, I'll explain my thaoughts on how the season is going to go in the NISL for Year 2. Lebron James turns 38 today and he is not slowing down any time soon. Point University travels to Henderson, TN to take on my Alma Mater, Freed-Hardeman University. --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/richard-holdridge/support

In this Advent-focused episode of The Ferment, Adam catches up with Mike and Susan O'Brien to chat about some themes to meditate on, the gifts that come through a season of waiting, and why Advent might feel like a heavy weight for some worship leaders. They talk through some practical ways to relieve the pressure of expectation, remove the tension and chaos of the season, and share an encouragement to prioritize the traditions that make Christmastime special and enjoyable for you and your family. Mike provides some thoughts about how to mix classic Christmas songs into a modern worship set, and ways we can take advantage of the liturgical gifts offered by our friends in different streams. Finally, Susan leads us in a spiritual direction exercise that allows us to connect with the Holy Spirit and prepare our hearts and minds for this coming Advent Season. Mike O'Brien has served as a worship pastor, speaker, record producer and songwriter for over 25 years. For 18 years he served one church (Vineyard Community Church of Marietta, GA) training hundreds of worship leaders and musicians and is currently serving the church at large in worship team training and worship leader mentoring as the director for the Vineyard School of Worship. Susan O'Brien is a spiritual director who works with people to become more aware of God's presence in their lives. She received her certification through the Institute of Christian Spirituality at Lipscomb University and also holds a Bachelor of Theology from Point University. She believes that God is working in every person that she encounters. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, Mike and their son, Ezekiel.   Socials:  Instagram @thefermentpodcast Twitter @fermentcast TikTok @vineyardworship Vineyardworship.com  

ABOUT OUR GUEST: Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Dunlap, Jr.Dr. Nathaniel Dunlap, Jr currently serves as the Founder and Executive Director of the PRF Teaching Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit teaching organization renowned for teaching financial and stewardship principles to diverse communities across the nation. Dr. Dunlap is a former commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, a wartime veteran, as well as an ordained minister. He is the former leader of the Army's Personal Financial Management Course at Fort Benning, GA, and has worked as a consultant to the federal government on national security matters for almost 20 years. He has authored two books, Don't Leave Me Like This: Inspiration To Leave A Legacy and What's Next? Preparing For Eternity. A respected educator and veteran of higher education, Dr. Dunlap also serves as the Chief Diversity Officer for Point University in West Point, GA, where he also teaches in the Department of Biblical Studies. Dr. Dunlap's academic crown flaunts a Bachelor's degree in Individualized Studies (Administration of Justice) from Virginia State University, Master's degrees from Columbus State University (MPA) and Columbis Theological Seminary, and an earned Doctor of Ministry degree (Conflict Transformation) from New York Theological Seminary.

ABOUT OUR GUEST: Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Dunlap, Jr. Dr. Nathaniel Dunlap, Jr currently serves as the Founder and Executive Director of the PRF Teaching Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit teaching organization renowned for teaching financial and stewardship principles to diverse communities across the nation. Dr. Dunlap is a former commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, a wartime veteran, as well as an ordained minister. He is the former leader of the Army's Personal Financial Management Course at Fort Benning, GA, and has worked as a consultant to the federal government on national security matters for almost 20 years. He has authored two books, Don't Leave Me Like This: Inspiration To Leave A Legacy and What's Next? Preparing For Eternity. A respected educator and veteran of higher education, Dr. Dunlap also serves as the Chief Diversity Officer for Point University in West Point, GA, where he also teaches in the Department of Biblical Studies. Dr. Dunlap's academic crown flaunts a Bachelor's degree in Individualized Studies (Administration of Justice) from Virginia State University, Master's degrees from Columbus State University (MPA) and Columbis Theological Seminary, and an earned Doctor of Ministry degree (Conflict Transformation) from New York Theological Seminary.

ABOUT OUR GUEST: Rev. Dr. Nathaniel Dunlap, Jr. Dr. Nathaniel Dunlap, Jr currently serves as the Founder and Executive Director of the PRF Teaching Institute, a 501(c)(3) non-profit teaching organization renowned for teaching financial and stewardship principles to diverse communities across the nation. Dr. Dunlap is a former commissioned officer in the U.S. Army, a wartime veteran, as well as an ordained minister. He is the former leader of the Army's Personal Financial Management Course at Fort Benning, GA, and has worked as a consultant to the federal government on national security matters for almost 20 years. He has authored two books, Don't Leave Me Like This: Inspiration To Leave A Legacy and What's Next? Preparing For Eternity. A respected educator and veteran of higher education, Dr. Dunlap also serves as the Chief Diversity Officer for Point University in West Point, GA, where he also teaches in the Department of Biblical Studies. Dr. Dunlap's academic crown flaunts a Bachelor's degree in Individualized Studies (Administration of Justice) from Virginia State University, Master's degrees from Columbus State University (MPA) and Columbis Theological Seminary, and an earned Doctor of Ministry degree (Conflict Transformation) from New York Theological Seminary.

On today's episode, I speak with Coach Mark Wozniak from the Point University Men's Program in Georgia. We talk about how they recruit players with a high work rate and good non-verbal communication skills. He describes the school's high percentage of student athletes. Lastly, we discuss their use of technology during the season.  https://discovercollegesoccer.com/

First Baptist Church LaGrange GeorgiaJuly 3, 2022 - Mike WaersSermon Notes: https://www.bible.com/events/48916587CCLI Streaming+ License 48740109No one wants to be bound by anything. But is knowing the truth about a situation enough? Using the words of Jesus from the book of John, Mike Waers, Director of Church Relations at Point University, will share how the truth sets one free.First Baptist Church depends on faithful and generous giving. Make an impact in the lives of others and promote the gospel of Christ by making an online contribution: https://fbclagrange.org/give/

Chief Learning Officer at Oak Point University, Dr. Bryan J. Watkins, talked to Bob Sirott about their campaign for nurses on National Nurses Day. Click here to nominate a nurse in your life by telling their story so they can win some fun prizes!

Our host, Bill Purvis, sits down with Dr. Butch Beach in this podcast interview. Dr. Butch is from Columbus, GA and is currently a Criminal Justice Professor at Point University. With his knowledge and experience in government, law enforcement, teaching and leading, you do not want to miss this intriguing podcast interview!WATCH ON YOUTUBE:https://youtu.be/tISegCXarts-Follow us on socialBill: Insta: @billpurvis | Twitter: @Bill_PurvisBP Leadership: Insta/Twitter: @bpleadership_ | FB: @BPLeadership–Our website: https://bpleadership.comBill's book: https://makeabreakforit.com

Jaunelle White recently left her position as Senior Associate AD/SWA at IUPUI to become the next Athletic Director at Point University. Prior to her departure, White joined the Higher Ed Athletics podcast to talk specifically about IUPUI athletics. This was a special episode for me as an IUPUI alumnus, and with IUPUI being the focus subject in my EdD, where I study the future challenges facing urban research universities. White begins the episode with an institutional profile and shares the benefits and challenges in an athletic department operating within a large university system in a downtown location, including brand awareness for the Jaguar logo on a campus that fully embraces the IU trident as an Indiana University campus. White discusses the leadership from the outgoing chancellor, incoming president, and current athletic director and their support of IUPUI athletics. Being selected to the 2021-2022 NCAA Pathways Program, White talks about what she is most looking forward to in the professional development program. She was also the Horizon League representative on the D1 Council while at IUPUI, and shared her experiences on that important committee and the benefits getting to know sitting athletic directors while working as committee colleagues. White ends the episode sharing advice on how to approach and communicate career aspirations with your current boss to make sure you can grow professionally, while also not losing sight of the importance of being great at your current job. 0:45 Institutional/Athletic Department Profile 3:10 Benefits for Athletics at Large Urban Research University 6:18 Challenges for Athletics at Large Urban Research University 8:30 Re-Branding Athletics to Fit University System Branding Guidelines 11:40 Chancellor Support of IUPUI Athletics 13:55 New President Support for IUPUI Athletics 17:18 Athletic Director's Vision for IUPUI Athletics 21:50 NCAA D1 Council Experiences 23:40 Interacting with Athletic Directors from D1 Council 26:06 Chosen to the 2021-2022 NCAA Pathways Program 30:45 Balancing Career Enhancement Opportunities with Current Job

Jaunelle White recently left her position as Senior Associate AD/SWA at IUPUI to become the next Athletic Director at Point University. Prior to her departure, White joined the Higher Ed Athletics podcast to talk specifically about IUPUI athletics. This was a special episode for me as an IUPUI alumnus, and with IUPUI being the focus subject in my EdD, where I study the future challenges facing urban research universities. White begins the episode with an institutional profile and shares the benefits and challenges in an athletic department operating within a large university system in a downtown location, including brand awareness for the Jaguar logo on a campus that fully embraces the IU trident as an Indiana University campus. White discusses the leadership from the outgoing chancellor, incoming president, and current athletic director and their support of IUPUI athletics. Being selected to the 2021-2022 NCAA Pathways Program, White talks about what she is most looking forward to in the professional development program. She was also the Horizon League representative on the D1 Council while at IUPUI, and shared her experiences on that important committee and the benefits getting to know sitting athletic directors while working as committee colleagues. White ends the episode sharing advice on how to approach and communicate career aspirations with your current boss to make sure you can grow professionally, while also not losing sight of the importance of being great at your current job. 0:45 Institutional/Athletic Department Profile 3:10 Benefits for Athletics at Large Urban Research University 6:18 Challenges for Athletics at Large Urban Research University 8:30 Re-Branding Athletics to Fit University System Branding Guidelines 11:40 Chancellor Support of IUPUI Athletics 13:55 New President Support for IUPUI Athletics 17:18 Athletic Director's Vision for IUPUI Athletics 21:50 NCAA D1 Council Experiences 23:40 Interacting with Athletic Directors from D1 Council 26:06 Chosen to the 2021-2022 NCAA Pathways Program 30:45 Balancing Career Enhancement Opportunities with Current Job

In this episode of the Life and Football Podcast our special guest Jeremy Satcher. Jeremy Satcher is a Coach for Oxford High School Football & Softball Coach JSU 2x Grad 2016 OVC Champ 2017 Class A State Champ. This was a great interview. Jeremy Satcher is the Linebackers Coach for Oxford High School Football. Coach Satcher came to Oxford from Point University. He's had experience Coaching at the High School and College. He has also served as a with Jacksonville State University. Coach played collegiately at Faulkner University in Montgomery and at Jacksonville State University. The Life and Football Podcast is available on the following platforms Apple Podcasts, Google Podcasts, Anchor, Spotify, Breaker, Overcast Pocketcasts, Radio Public, Stitcher, Player FM, & YouTube!

DECAL and the Georgia Foundation for Early Care and Learning have announced the recipients of the 2021-2022 DECAL Scholars of the Year.  This year's program celebrates the 20th Anniversary of DECAL Scholars which supports early care and educational professionals in Georgia in gaining more education and skills and earning financial awards.  Joining us to talk about this very special recognition are our DECAL Scholars of the Year…the four-year college/university winner is Edelina Lane of Ellenwood, a Family Child Care Provider who is a student at Point University; Technical College winner is Quinecia Styles Smith of Newnan, a lead teacher at Parker Chase Preschool North in Peachtree City and student at West Georgia Technical College; Carla Rogg is President of CARE Solutions that manages DECAL Scholars; and Carrie Ashbee, executive director of the Georgia Foundation for Early Care and Learning.  Support the show (http://www.decal.ga.gov)

Seg 1 - Was It Pass Interference? Seg 2 - Dak Vs. Brady Showdown  Seg 3 - Point University

Susan O'Brien is a spiritual director who works with people to become more aware of God's presence in their lives. She received her certification through the Institute of Christian Spirituality at Lipscomb University and also holds a Bachelor of Theology from Point University. She believes that God is working in every person that she encounters. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, Mike and their son, Ezekiel. When she isn't doing spiritual direction, homeschooling her son or teaching piano lessons, she likes spending time in her rocking chair or on the back porch swing.   On this episode of The Ferment, Susan and our host Adam Russell look at the “slow” work of God in our lives. This is especially relevant in this season as our normal rhythms have been disrupted in so many ways. Much to glean in this rich episode!    Show notes: To submit your question for Adam and Heather's next "Ask me anything" episode email Info@vineyardworship.com

Phil Shomo (@philshomocoaching) is a Mental Skills Coach who helps competitive athletes turn adversity into advantage by focusing on developing their human skills within the pressurized environment of high-level competition. Before starting a coaching business geared toward the human side of athletes, Phil spent 35 years and over 17,000 hours coaching young people in a variety of arenas to navigate life more effectively. In addition to coaching athletes, Phil also serves as an adjunct instructor at Point University, lives on Hilton Head Island, South Carolina, and has been married to the amazing Julie Shomo for the last 32 years. In this conversation with Chad, they discuss: The battle between ego and mastery How to deal with chaos (Stop, Calm and Solve) And much more!! Website: https://philshomo.com   Follow us on Twitter: @ChristCoachPod Follow us on Instagram: @ChristCoachPod

In this episode I am joined by Eli Walker, a staff member at Auburn Christian Fellowship and a dear friend of mine. Eli is also a graduate student at Point University studying Transformational Ministry. Listen to us talk about our journey to friendship as well as our various theological perspectives. Bruh knows his stuff. We also get a little spooky on this one! You won't want to miss this verbose thrilling, chilling adventure!

In this episode, I am joined by Professor Wye Huxford of Point University to discuss the good news of Jesus, and how it might be more beautiful (and subversive) than you think. We specifically address the platonic dualism that is so often masqueraded as Christianity, as well as address the ways in which the Kingdom of God (and the King) operate very differently than the kingdoms and kings of the world. In other words, we discuss how the power of love triumphs over the love of power. The gospel truly is good news, but we might have to rethink a lot of our own preconceived notions and presuppositions about Jesus and his mission in order to see the Kingdom of God among us (Luke 17:21).

Julius Dixon (@CoachDixon44) is in his 6th season as the Head Football Coach at Point University. In this episode, Chad had the opportunity to catch up with Coach Dixon and talk about: Staying faithful through unsettling times Winning a national title as a player with the Furman Paladins The importance of Head Coaches delegating duties to their Assistants Follow us on Twitter: @ChristCoachPod Follow us on Instagram: @ChristCoachPod

Tory Wooley (@coachToryWooley) is in his 8th season as the Women's Basketball Head Coach for the Point University Skyhawks. A native of Atlanta, Wooley is a graduate of Southwest Atlanta Christian, where he played alongside center Dwight Howard of the Los Angeles Lakers. As teammates, Howard and Wooley won two high school Class-A region championships together. Chad sat down with Coach Wooley and was able to talk about: Using the DISC assessment to coach your players more effectively Coach Wooley's core values How to avoid basing your identity on your results Follow us on Twitter: @ChristCoachPod Follow us on Instagram: @ChristCoachPod @ChristCoachPod

Chad Simpson ( Assistant AD and Head Tennis Coach at Point University) and Gian Lemmi (Women's Tennis Associate Head Coach at Liberty University) were once teammates. Now they are back together to serve coaches through conversations so they can lead like Jesus. Follow us on Twitter/IG: @ChristCoachPod

Susan O'Brien is a spiritual director who works with people to become more aware of God's presence in their lives. She received her certification through the Institute of Christian Spirituality at Lipscomb University and also holds a Bachelor of Theology from Point University. She believes that God is working in every person that she encounters. She lives in Atlanta with her husband, Mike and her 8-year-old son, Ezekiel. When she isn't doing spiritual direction, homeschooling her son or teaching piano lessons, she likes spending time in her rocking chair or on the back porch swing.   On this episode, Susan and our host Adam Russell look at the “slow” work of God in our lives. This is especially relevant in this season as our normal rhythms have been disrupted in so many ways. Much to glean in this rich episode! 

Some of you listening might be artists. Perhaps you paint or take pictures. Maybe you are a filmmaker or musician. Whatever you are, you make important contributions to our society. Your art helps create a sense of place in your community. It can even cultivate a sense of place within the church. In today's episode, I sit down with my friend Dr Jennifer Allen Craft to discuss her new book Placemaking and the Arts: Cultivating the Christian Life. Credits: Host: R.T. Mullins (PhD, University of St Andrews) is a research fellow at the University of Edinburgh's Institute for Advanced Studies in the Humanities. Guest: Jenn Craft (PhD, University of St Andrews) is associate professor of theology at Point University. Scientific Adviser and Show Manager: Ema Sani (PhD, University of Glasgow) is a postdoctoral fellow in biology at the University of Edinburgh. Music by Rockandmetal_domination – Raising-questions rtmullins.com

Our clients and other business owners have had a roughcouple of months facing challenges due to the crisis…leadership,management and personal challenges they’ve never facedbefore, and it’s not over yet and for many it could evenmore challenging as we come out of the crisis.And that’s our topic today. Leaning and Leading Into TheFuture After a Crisis. Our guest today is back with us by popular demand.Dr. Alan Kemper from LEAD Workforce Consulting in LaGrange,GA. In addition to Alan’s work with LEAD, he works full-time as abusiness professor at Point University where he teaches primarilyin the fields of management, leadership, continuous improvement,organizational change and economics.Connect with Alan: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alan-kemper-dba-2ab6762/Connect with Pat: https://www.linkedin.com/in/pat-ennis-25b4a111/Connect with Walter: https://www.linkedin.com/in/walter-deyhle-cpa-abv-cff-maff-cexp-cepa-57386614/

Talking about baseball at Orange Coast College, coaching with the late John Altobelli, and everything surrounding Point University Baseball.

BreAnna and Aleia interview a Point University freshman for a 48 hour podcast challenge.

EP117 - Listener Questions Amazon launches"Ship with Amazon" Listener Questions Q1: Amit Agarwal- Thanks for the amazing podcast. What is the future trend in pricing ? EDLP or coupon based pricing? Most new retailers will adopts EDLP, promotions aren't as effective in the age of transparency, but it's very hard for existing promotional retailer to switch.  Eventually we'll get to more dynamic, personalzied pricing.  Every Nanosecond Low Pricing #ENLP! Q2: Kiri Masters - What are the coolest or smartest things that brands and retailers are doing with voice commerce? And, what is within reach for smaller brands who don't have a $200k+ budget to drop on developing skills, etc. Where are we on the maturity curve? Transactions are limited to recurring and replenishment purchases, so Pizza places and Starbucks have the early lead.  Brands like Patron and Tide have made good use of voice skills for top of funnel marketing.  Small brands should think about voice for on-site search, and voice SEO on search engines.  It's VERY early in the maturity curve. Q3: Patrick Paroline - Hi guys I love the podcast listen to it every week. When the numbers say that e-commerce revenue is up 17% does that include Amazon? If so what would be the e-commerce industry revenue increase if you took out Amazon? I believe you guys said that Walmart.com growing and 60% and Amazon at 30%. Would this mean if you removed these two companies then e-commerce as a whole is contracting Good question!  If you take the top 3 retailers out, e-commerce growth is very modest:   2017 GMV 2018 GMV 2018 Share YoY Growth Amazon $177 $230 49% 30% eBay $35 $37 8% 5% Walmart $15 $24 5% 60% Other $173 $177 38% 2% Total $400 $468   17% Most e-commerce data is based on or correlated to the US Commerce Dept data, which is somewhat suspect.  Jason and I both believe the total market is probably a bigger, which means "Other" is probably bigger, and growing faster than 2% but still much slower than Amazon/Walmart. Q4: Ari Nahmani - Mobile payments in 2018 - can we hear more about Android Pay / Google Payments API, Apple Pay, W3C Payment Request API, etc? Do we have any data that shows that when implemented properly, these things truly reduce the 'mobile gap'? Apple Pay and GooglePay have loyal but small user bases.  Paypal and Pay With Amazon have proven that digital wallets do improve conversion.  W3C Payment Request is great, easy to implement and likely to improve conversion, most sites should have it on their roadmap to implement. Don't forget to like our facebook page, and if you enjoyed this episode please write us a review on itunes. Episode 117 of the Jason & Scot show was recorded on Thursday February 15, 2018. http://jasonandscot.com Join your hosts Jason "Retailgeek" Goldberg, SVP Commerce & Content at SapientRazorfish, and Scot Wingo, Founder and Executive Chairman of Channel Advisor as they discuss the latest news and trends in the world of e-commerce and digital shopper marketing. New beta feature - Google Automated Transcription of the show Transcript Jason: [0:25] Welcome to the Jason and Scott show at this is episode 117 being recorded on Thursday February 15th 2018 I'm your host Jason retailgeek Goldberg and as usual I'm here with your co-host Scott Wingo. Scot: [0:40] PJ's women walking back Justin Scott show listeners, will Jason's covellite Newsweek to our couple things want to cover before we jump into listener news we warmed up the old Facebook page which, is my responsibility and I have to have a met a couple that I have not been very active posting to our listeners there so one of my New Year's resolutions I know it's so late for those here. Late February is to try to be more active on there and then gauge hook so we are going to be able to handle on some pretty great listener questions so we got today. I before you jump into that you have a new gadget on here about. Jason: [1:19] I did I'm a very romantic guy so for Valentine's Day I got my wife a apple home pod. Scot: [1:25] Wow nice that will last longer than a dozen roses. Jason: [1:30] Yeah it will although I don't think it was a big hit I think she appreciated the gesture and my super artistic wrapping you can you can't even imagine how impressive that was. But the homepod itself I wasn't personally very excited about like I had read a bunch of mediocre reviews as we talked a lot about on the show I have a house full of Alexa devices. Extra Alexa devices at the moment. [2:01] Into the really wasn't anything I was looking forward to in a homepod but my wife is heavily steeped in the Apple Echo System she had mentioned it a few times. And she is very heavy Apple music user so I figured okay well you know what I mean it's present for her she's been talking about so we'll we'll go ahead and get one and I'll surprise her. And I'm sorry to report that all of the mediocre reviews we sort of experience first-hand right I guess. [2:33] Like I don't think Siri is as useful as as Alexa in general and the version of Siri on the the. Homepod is kind of a dumb down version of Siri so it was kind of annoying it seems to understand us a less than. [2:49] Then the Alexa does I will say the audio Fidelity is great like the audio it's definitely a higher-quality speaker than any of my Alexa devices which are all Amazon first-party ones I don't have any of the. [3:00] The third party speakers sounds great but the voice interface sucks and it's it's just not compelling to have this. [3:09] Extra Gadget in your house just to play One music service. [3:16] And so I think even my wife whose Apple fangirl and kind of disposed to like their stuff I don't think she likes it enough to keep. Scot: [3:25] Man do you have the so I've read a lot of people that compare it to the Sonos Sofia what their name is for the one with Alexa. Jason: [3:32] I think it's the soonest one that has Alexa in it and I played with it. I haven't had it in my house and I think those are mixed bag so I could this has really good audio quality in general I actually have a bunch of Sonos speakers. [3:49] And people are saying that it's comprable audio Fidelity to the homepod if anything it's maybe, a hair lower-quality there's some pretty sophisticated auto-tuning in the Apple speaker that I'm not sure the Sonos matches but that sentence is a hundred bucks of alas, you know it's it's debatable whether it has worse audio Fidelity and it supports Alexa and there soon going to add Google Assistant to it as well so way better value way more utility the only reason I even bought one. [4:23] Is it actually Amazon slightly neuters all the third party speakers so, the only music service that the third party speakers. Port is Amazon music which is mostly what we use in my family on the Alexa devices but if you're a Spotify or Pandora user and you know there's a very good. Spotify experience on the on the indigenous Alexis I think I think that might be what you use if I remember right. [4:52] Spotify got yep good sapientrazorfish clients so we certainly like Spotify. [4:59] But they're the the. [5:04] Amazon doesn't currently make that available on the 3rd party speakers that have Alexa in it which isn't like clearly an intentional way to disadvantage the speakers. Scot: [5:14] Directions to Sonos I have also a Sonos system and it's pretty agnostic you know so I can like being Spotify to it XM radio I think it'll do Apple music. Jason: [5:26] I think it will and. Scot: [5:29] Just weird that that one is going to be like almost a step back for them. Jason: [5:33] Well so whistler's check me on this but I think the actual case the Sonos one speaker is a Sonos speaker and so it actually runs the Sonos firmware and you can use the Sonos app so so you can run Spotify. Using the Sonos app on your Sonos one speaker what you can't do is use Alexa voice commands to play, Sonos to play Spotify music on that Sonos one. Scot: [5:58] Look up a lot about the speaker Market here and then I've seen reports that the homepod is leaving white rings on Aaron's furniture did did it also damage your furniture. Jason: [6:11] So it is not where we have it on Formica desk so it may be a little safer but so it's not on like a nice piece of wood furniture but I have seen the same report it is, the speakers both slightly smaller than I expected it to be I mean it's it's it's about the same height as my Alexa's and it's a little fatter and I expected it to be. [6:33] Maybe taller but it's it's super heavy for its eyes like it's very it's very dancing it's because it has this big subwoofer in the bottom then I guess it's just now putting so much low. Low energy that it's moving around a little bit and it has like this white rubberized. Donut on the bottom of it and apparently when that thing moves around it it's leaving a mark. Scot: [6:59] So you're just about the same size as the old the original XO kind of the cylinder or more like the little one that has like a felt kind of filter. Jason: [7:07] Yeah I know so it's the same height, patches I'm staring at them side-by-side it's it's like a touch shorter than an original of Alexa cylinder it's much it's much better than Alexa in fact it's it's. [7:25] Diameter is probably like at least twice twice the diameter of the Alexa. Scot: [7:31] Well. Jason: [7:32] And it does have a weird it it it's also covered in fabric but what's it weird it freaked me out the first time I picked it up it almost feels like you can Dent it it almost feels like it squishes in a little bit. [7:44] And then it seems like it it restores it's ya. Scot: [7:48] Yeah that makes you were either going to punch her thumb through the thing you don't want to do that. Cool thanks for that Gadget experience report it wouldn't be a Jason Scott show without some. Amazon news new your margin. [8:15] Okay this one dropped it was bad timing for us from a podcast perspective cuz we recorded our show last Thursday, Idol episode 116 and then sure enough Friday morning so big amazon news dropped and this is Amazon you know. It's not clear if it was, leader what happened but yeah they've been working with some third-party sellers for this full-on delivery service that's called ship with Amazon so it's going to Pilot in La it looks like and articles I read said. It's going to roll out in 240 cities pretty quickly and the reason that makes sense is prime now is in 40 cities and Prime now built this super like. 299 car delivery Network called Flex So reading those tea leaves you know what I'm thinking is happening here is. [9:05] Amazon started Flex to work with their 40 Prime now the foeman centers which are a different footprint than their normal. Fulfillment centers then they started doing some deliveries out of traditional fulfillment centers with their own network of flex drivers and also. Actually Amazon employees and whatnot and then now it looks like they will offer to third-party sellers the ability to ship with Amazon where if you were a third party and La let's say you were. I'll pick on my friend Jackson who's I-84 city has a big Warehouse in LA and someone in La bought one of those products they could get that product in 2 hours and an Amazon driver would come to his Warehouse. Pick this up and take it to the customer and so that would Leverage The flexnetwork so. [9:52] That's pretty nursing and you know I we've been talking a lot on the show it was my 2017 prediction that I react for this year that Amazon will get more into dolak Direct Delivery and here you see yeah it's it's not. [10:06] That hard to jump from that part of the Venn diagram to hey you. Retail RX Nordstrom's here's your fulfillment centers we can help you deliver as well and then you can even adjust that product into the. Burgeoning Amazon Fulfillment system network with airplanes and everything and effectively have a full-on FedEx UPS competitor. Jason: [10:31] Yeah and I think that's something that that you in particular but we've we've discussed on the show a number of times that that that seems like a likely play for Amazon to make. Scot: [10:44] Yeah it is there since internet retailer and I'll put in there this cuz I know you how I feel about surveys but they did a survey of I think it was 200 retailers and when I looked at, the size of sellers you know, you know and it but then like a good a third of them were more larger retailers and I are 500 types awesome like 70% said they would, it was either strongly try or are we. [11:10] Only 30% said they wouldn't use an Amazon shipping service in the 70% said half of that 70% said it would have to be a bit cheaper than current offerings and I think it's very very interesting. [11:22] This holiday, probably not because usually impacted but next year's come you're very interesting because I know you said when you draw the lines of the amount of shipping needed out there and what's available Amazon will it consumed most of it and you know seems like Amazon's read those tea leaves and is finding a release valve with this new ship with Amazon program. Jason: [11:44] Exactly and you know a couple of things kind of come to mind, the day before and a podcast we we had talked about some of their seller fulfilled FBA programs and including a new program where they were putting their own software and customers warehouses in, clearly like those two pieces of news are at least partially related you can imagine if a bunch of. Shippers are running Amazon software to manage their shipment and you know that that, Doppler could take that shipping method and and you don't have sort of a biased towards Amazon shipping service. Scot: [12:27] Yeah yeah it's good if it's going to be interesting to see how this plays out and then you know a lot of people will say, well you know this route is unprofitable that routes and profitable I was kind of stuff but you don't have me watch Amazon kind of decompose other markets pretty quickly they were the prophet is so don't go and you know it there. Their profit is your profit is their opportunity right so they're going to go and they're going to find the routes that are most profitable for third-party shippers and they're going to pull those in the house cuz it'll by Logic if it's. Probable for for the shipper it will be. Amazon will have the best savings by cutting that Loop out so so so we really interesting to see what happens when they start doing this you know you can only look at it from a low Amazon just overdid 1.1% of volume because that .1% of volume could be like, 8% of margin of the deal that people have one with Amazon supposed to be really interesting to watch the positioning here. Jason: [13:26] Exactly I think like they think they don't have to completely match, UPS and FedEx is Network to disrupt them right if they just take some of those most profitable deliveries and bring those in-house you know that that can create enough of an inflection point that causes some new unique paying for UPS and FedEx and I think, I don't think Amazon wakes up in the morning and goes how can we ruin UPS is life and I think they're more thinking about how they can make their own lives better you know this, saw some of their their Peak demand problems that solves like controlling one of their fastest growing expensive lines which is shipping and in the long run you could imagine then building all kinds of. Reverse Logistics services that UPS and FedEx just might not be that interested in but that are. Really important customer experiences for e-commerce right like so easier returns. You know you you hypothesized that hey there's a bunch of warehouses that are all all the Feeling by Amazon and they all have Amazon software in there like Amazon could have literally trade a new Marketplace. For warehouse capacity and sort of flex store Amazon Goods in other people's warehouses that are running their software you know you in a two-sided Marketplace exactly. Like they do for for 3rd party selling so so lots of interesting new things that could evolve from here that make the super interesting. [14:55] A couple of things like that that I had to point out, I do feel like you have been talking about this for an awfully long time I know calling Sebastian was one of the first analyst to talk about this but I did have to chuckle a little bit like I feel like the entire all of Twitter broke their arms congratulating themselves. Predicting this. [15:14] And I'm not sure like that you know it you had to be the cleverest person in the world to predict this 3 months ago that Amazon would eventually try to monetize this like you have given that that's the model they've. They followed with so many other things so I did I do think it's funny I may be made a joke that like the only person on the planet that didn't fully predict this is the CEO of of ups that kind of had a. Last year that we don't believe that there is for Amazon strategy is to do it themselves and the reason we believe that is is we have this huge infrastructure we're investing in technology we have a great Mutual relationship with Amazon. Like you don't obviously that was a bad day at UPS when when Amazon when SWA week. And coincidentally enough this is the month when our friends at FedEx and UPS do their annual rate increases and so this year if you're a shipper. You're the base UPS and FedEx rate went up by 4.9% so that's a huge. [16:17] Operating expense for most e-commerce business is to absorb mini which are struggling to be profitable already. Now they're their operating costs are 5% more and oh by the way most of the shipping went up even higher because. FedEx and UPS are really design for business-to-business shipping so they're highly optimized for taking package it Parcels 2. Businesses their least efficient at deliver at residential deliveries and so a number of years ago they introduced a surcharge. For residential deliveries to kind of compensate them for the for the the greater expensive this home deliveries and those surcharges went up its kind of, on a sliding scale so it's there's not an exact number but the surcharges went up like 8%. [17:05] So very meaningful increases from FedEx and UPS and it's cool you know they're there. Maxed out on capacity they're not growing as fast as demand is growing and so they're trying to you know maximize the value of the capacity they have by charging more. Scot: [17:21] Yeah yeah and a couple other interesting facts so FedEx says no one customers more than 3% of their volume so that you know a lot of people read that and say that's kind of where Amazon is Amazon definitely sends, you know the most between faxing UPS to UPS and UPS says Amazon's about 10% of their volume so it's not cataclysmic for any of these guys. [17:45] To go to go to lose some of the Amazon business what would I think everyone underestimates though is Amazon just kind of you know. [17:53] Picking these very profitable businesses and offering them even if it doesn't involve Amazon it all eventually and then that's going to be your just like cloud computing you can you can host Netflix host you know on 8th and it's like. [18:06] Competitor using their Cloud infrastructure which is the old world off on the world doesn't make any sense at all, but enough for Netflix economically are so attractive they're willing to do that and you don't so what if I don't know, I don't Walmart would never do it but what if Macy's start Cent shipping ring what Apple started doing deliveries using Amazon Network you know that starts to get. [18:29] Pretty interesting and mind-bending of what some implications are. Jason: [18:33] The apps absolutely I will look like, minor props like UPS and FedEx are well-run companies like there's they're smart to be making the most they can on the capacity they have and props to them for not having a huge customer concentration problem is that in most B2B business as you you have a much bigger concentration problem then your largest customer being 3% of your business. Scot: [18:57] Yeah cool so that was the big news let's make sure we will make sure we cover these listener questions so let's jump into him. [19:10] Questions questionnaire questionnaire questionnaire questions Jason we got for really meaty questions, and it was good news for me three of them were really in your alley and one is mine so let's ask you the first question so this is from admit Agarwal and he says thanks amazing podcast so clearly am it has impeccable taste, and and is awesome to begin with and he wants to know what's the future Trend in pricing everyday low pricing or coupon base. Pricing?? So maybe. You know I know your ninja live on this but maybe give us a 101 on What is edlp what's it mean online and then where do you think kind of retail pricing goes in and eCommerce pricing. Jason: [20:00] Yeah, so so edlp is an acronym for everyday low prices in the retail Echo System the retailer that then most. Support cdlp unit it literally is sort of kind of their their core value proposition is Walmart so in in general they they very aggressively try to get, prices on all their goods as low as possible and in general the pricing does not fluctuate a lot based on sales and promotions. Scot: [20:30] The idea is the consumer doesn't have to worry that they're getting low price they just kind of know and and all automatically roll it back if if target has toothpaste at a buck you know you can count on Walmart to do a quick roll back and I'll be at like $0.99 so. Jason: [20:45] NN light they don't make as big a deal about it being their cultural diversity different reason Costco is a great example of edlp like they, Costco literally has hard rules for the merchant about, the maximum margin they can take on a product so when the price to them goes down they they are literally mandated to pass that price on to the, the customer and so you know and you don't answer I walk through Costco looking for sales you your condition that everything in prayer and Costco is a. Consistent like you know good deal based on volume and and all these things and in so. Those are the kind of retailers that are on the edlp side of the spectrum for a long time JCPenney was the poster child for promotional pricing and they still are very promotional but what made in the poster child is. When the former retail Guru from Apple Ron Johnson went to JCPenney he tried to change them from their highly promotional pricing strategy. To essentially edlp and said that that really raise the profile of how promotional. [21:53] JCPenney had been before but you know I would argue Macy is very is very promotional. And you know frankly most of retailers is pretty promotional said that the outliers are there. They're the largest retailers in in North America are the edlp retailers these new hyper aggressive grocery stores like Aldi and Lidl are also a deal. [22:20] So what's the future. I think the future is edlp like a if you just do a survey of the most successful retailers. They're edlp another and this is straining the definition of edlp slightly but another hyper successful retailer that edlp is Apple. [22:40] Like not not very promotional like the low price isn't particularly low. [22:46] You know it's very rare that they have deals and when they have deals they're not very deep. Very very consistent pricing and you've never seen a sale sign has never popped up anywhere in an Apple Store. So you work at all this successful retailers they're all edlp you look at a lot of the struggling retailers there more promotional. [23:08] You know I'm not sure that's that's a complete causation vs. correlation the reason I say that you DLP is the future pricing is. Because of digital disruption right like thanks to all the research we now do online and you know are huge access to information and the fact. [23:28] That you know there are no more secrets in the world anymore we've shifted from this world of what I call Price office gation where you essentially. Only saw the prices the retailer wanted you to see and when they did this kind of like fake is was pricing where they show you a low price high price Market out and show you a low price. You have no way to know that that high price wasn't really the price that was offered yesterday. Until you would believe the retailer today you read some app or some blog or you get some some. Email newsletter, and you you know exactly what retailers are playing what games with pricing until you we now have work this emerging world of perfect transparency. And in the world a perfect transparency promotions just aren't as effective. As they they used to be a lot of the the promotions rely on the psychological tricks that don't work as well when the customer is fully armed with all the information and who has a better deal. And how much more or less you're paying than the best deal in all these sorts of things so I sort of feel in general that transparency is. Forcing the world to edlp the most successful retailers are edlp and then I have to throw a huge caveat out there as. Both Macy's in the distant past in JCPenney more recently have proven to us. It's next to impossible to transition from being a promotional retailer to and edlp retailer. [24:58] So when customers are accustomed to those promotions they punish you when you try to make that transition and no return that I'm aware of his been willing to stick with. That transition long enough to make it work, so they all have tried taking an early hit and kind of reverted to the original pricing model in the same things are the plays out every holiday season when retailers, rely on promotions to sell more over the holidays and to comp against last year when they were also promotional in so we like most retailers that like. Have a history of promotions become addicted to those promotions and so far it's proven to be a almost unkinkable addiction so, don't expect to see a bunch of retards Sayo Goldberg said edlp beats promotional pricing so we're going to switch, I think you're going to have to wait for those business models to those retailers though to sort of expire or turn out and you'll see the majority of new retailers emerging and it's really all the Disney DeBrands adopting. Much more edlp pricing strategies and then the one big caveat on all of this is the new replacement for promotions in this edlp world because, personalized Dynamic pricing right so we're just starting to see this but in lieu of a one-size-fits-all 30% off on these deals. [26:29] Are all the custom offers you're going to get when you abandon something in your car that's based on, your unique shopping behavior in your past purchases and all the evil data that the marketers have collected about you and so you know I think Amazon's a perfect example of a highly dynamic edlp, pricer. Scot: [26:52] Yeah yeah the it's interesting because someone asked me Walmart, Cyprus NASA you know how do you think about Amazon in a DLP DLP world and I think of it as like every nanosecond low pricing right so full disclosure one of our futures at Channel advisor is every pricing engine and worship to these things and this is a very popular functionality for sellers cuz once you get to scale, you literally cannot keep up with the marketplace it's effectively a stock market for products on Amazon every, every sin is constantly repricing and sometimes it's up sometimes it's down. So this is why you know the Amazon bookstore doesn't have prices because they may find the, book that you're looking at 5 minutes ago lowered his price somewhere and they want to lower that price in a physical world you you can't change prices that quickly because the infrastructure just not really quite there yet so. [27:49] What is that do so. [27:52] Select Plus use Walmart to pick on them so they're they're edlp but then online they're going to be competing with Amazon so do you have these periods of time where your online prices are are very kind of more dynamic in your storage cuz of the, the nature of the the store being slow to be able to change prices. Jason: [28:09] Exactly that is the common practice right now is that very few really Progressive retailers have adopted what I call Universal pricing which means. They are for the same price to you regardless of Channel. Because they're edlp in the stores and they are there more to your point that you know there more Dynamic then daily online and then in the case of. [28:38] Walmart specifically like you can even think about the you know as as they sort of Jetta fi the value propositions at Walmart right, where you know jet will give you a custom discount based on your purchase as you're buying a bunch of stuff from this particular fulfillment center, so I'm going to make other purchases from that fulfillment center cheaper, or you're buying products from this particular vendor on the make other purchases from that vendor cheaper or you know that you opt out of some of the optional cost. And those sorts of things a big version of Walmart adopting that strategy more more globally is when you order something online from Walmart. And you're willing to have that item shipped to the store instead of to your home. Walmart has a very efficient delivery vehicle for delivering items to store and so. You're some of that savings that they're getting by not having to use UPS there now passing on to the customer and so the the ramifications of that. Greater Dynamic pricing online and then the definite ramifications of the personalized pricing online that your Point University retards have tried to do. Personal product pricing in in store. Has resulted in there being some unfortunate price fragmentation where you know there are now. Multiple prices at at Walmart right and I I feel like that's a imperfect compromise that Walmart has to deal with because. [30:07] Technically part of edlp should be it's the same low price everywhere. But because they're trying to offer this Dynamic pricing in this personalized offer system the pricing is different and. [30:20] Frankly getting more complicated not less because if you order online groceries and you're going to do curbside pickup. [30:28] Should you pay the same price for someone to walk around that store and pick all those items for you as someone that bought them in the store and did the work them self like you could you could you don't argue. That there should be a different price for curbside pickup in a different price for delivery and in general we've learned from the psychology of consumers that they don't like paying fees so they'd rather those cost be. Built into the the product prices but then that means wait a minute there's an online price at Walmart on a grocery pick-up price at Walmart and an in-store price at Walmart and you know that it flies in the face of the, original Sam Walton edlp premise so it's a it's a tricky clean world at the moment in the long run, I think stores figure out how to get more dynamic in the store and then we get back to more Universal pricing in the same offer everywhere and, you know that my colleagues are laughing at their wissen to this right now because I'm famous for every year pretty thing that this is going to be the year when we start to see much greater adoption of electronic price tags in electronic bag tags. Because retailers need to get more dynamic in the store and daily repricing is no longer Dynamic enough in these electronic back tags are the way to do that and every year I predicted in it it never seems to happen. Scot: [31:50] 101 interesting outcropping of this that I find really fascinating and if we run into this a lot of Channel visor is. All this this topics that we talked about create and efficiencies in the system and when you have in efficiencies they can get to be pretty wide you have. Product like all product arbitrageurs so for you it was classic example is. The arbitraging between offline and online so someone will become an expert at something like a lot of these guys are involved in the sneaker world so that they'll have a really good idea of what you know. Every line of Nikes and Adidas and whatnot are worth more than they know that like Footlocker and the the stores they do their markdowns on Thursdays. [32:34] So the lineup at the campout look at there and they will literally load up car loads of these things. Take him to Warehouse sell them on eBay and Amazon for like 30% milk. I brought that because you know the store is inefficiently running this algorithm and there's these people that that are taking advantage of their their you know. [32:54] Whatever I would argue it's inefficient because they're they're arbitraging and getting the value from that in efficiencies. And then you know it gets even more crazy because there's people that will look at the inefficiency between Market places like eBay Amazon and Walmart and no actually take still discover a product on, what's a eBay bid selling for 30% more on Amazon that it does for eBay for whatever reason maybe eBay search engines kind of wonky or something there's a variety of reasons these things happen, that should take that product list on Amazon never touch it and then someone buys on Amazon and they'll go then go buy it on eBay and then ship it. To the Amazon consumer so it's like a zero inventory Arbitrage that you can do and then they are. [33:43] Adult for this kind of thing so most people build custom soccer for that but I've run into folks they're doing hundreds of millions of dollars in gmv, and you know what you take fees out and stuff it's not usually look at it but they can maybe make five to 10 points if they pick their arbitrageurs right so these are these are $109 businesses usually without any employees that are run by robots that sit there and and do Wall Street level arbitration on products between stores Market places and things like that it's pretty, pretty wild funny when you think about it. Jason: [34:16] That's I think that the crazy high-volume version of that below volume version I think it is pretty common it's a common side hustle for college kids, to do the online or offline to online Arbitrage there now I like three or four mobile apps that you can literally install on your phone, go scanning go skin skus that are on sale in these retail stores or even better go to stores that are having bankruptcy liquidation sales and apple tell you in real-time what products are profitable, to buy from that store and go list on the marketplaces in the App Store, darn polished and sophisticated they factor in like all the FBA handling and return rates and everything is pretty sweater. Scot: [35:02] Scream isn't, well we could go on for pricing for the whole show but we have more questions this will probably be a short ones that's hope so but will first of all thanks for that awesome question that was great hopefully we kind of dug into the the Rita we're looking for question number to this one's also for you Jason what are the coolest or smartest things that brand retailers are doing with voice Commerce, and what's Within Reach for smaller Brands who don't have a hundreds of thousands of dollar budget to drop on developing skills and in that kind of thing and where are we on the maturity curve so it's kind of three questions in there so so I guess question number one is what are some cool skills you've seen that the show what brands are doing with the, The Voice Commerce guys. Jason: [35:43] I'm not that I want to answer your question but I want to take one step back and sort of highlight like a lot of times when people talk about, voice Commerce they're talking about actually doing transactions you know so like you know Alexa order batteries type. Type of experiences and that certainly is one element of voice Commerce like I would point out there's a lot of other parts of voice Commerce there are. Marketing tools and so a lot of the skills in the Alexa echo system that are skills that are published by a brand are actually more marketing tools. [36:19] Primarily trying to drive more interactions with the brands and more brand awareness and more brand Affinity than they are sell a specific product like you know immediately and so, when you say What brands are doing the really smart things I actually think, voice voice transactions are relatively nascent so it's pretty small like in general we think there's probably 30 million of these devices and in North America right now so it's you know addressable Market compared to the, 190 million households online is smaller you know 8. [36:57] Small majority so maybe more than 50% of those those devices, have ever been used for a voice transaction and that certainly isn't the most common way that those households do transaction so the total number of transactions on voice there's no good data out there but, but our guesstimate sorry that it's pretty low and so I'm not sure I point to any brand other than Amazon and say hey good job, selling a bunch of stuff directly from your voice interface so that the, the ways that voicing most interesting are from one of these marketing things and so, there are clever things Patron has a great skill for helping people explore in the stuff discover new cocktails that all conveniently enough. Can be made with Patron tequila, but it's a relatively sticky skill that has like a high, active user rate that helps Patron build a brand once once that skill you know gets into the Zeitgeist of those homes it's hard for another brand to come in, you know with an alternative Bartender app right and like to me one of the Marquee examples of this is the tide stain app which is kind of clever, you know you if you spill some pomegranate seeds on your table cloth and now you've got this pomegranate stain and what's the best way to get that stain out is it. Vinegar as a club soda how should you pretreat away what should you do so this app gives you advice on how to to treat all the different stains. [38:34] That you might come across and it's branded by tide and remind you to use, tide products to help laundry all this thing so I think some of those kind of brand Affinity apps are the smartest apps then you know there are a few categories were voice, transactions are more common so I think the the Pizza Hut app is a good example of a highly recurring, consistent, transaction that people tend to do obviously in my personal Echo System the the Starbucks voice ordering app would be most useful, because I travel so much I go to so many different Starbucks that it's actually not super useful in my household but, for many people I'm sure that the the Alexa app to trigger a Starbucks mobile order in and pay is is, a relatively high volume app so I think those are awesome good ideas I would also remind users that, there's a significant amount of voice search going on so Microsoft has 20% of all Bing searches are boys I don't know what the Google percentages is probably not as high because it's not built in the Everett. Every Google device but every laptop is running Google but. It also is probably as a meaningful number and then more more e-commerce sites are building voice as an interface into their own website so if you're, a brand that has Shoppers shopping on your own e-commerce site and they're heavily mobile users it off and is easier to say a search query then to type it on a mobile phone. [40:09] And so you know we're starting to see some meaningful adoption. From voice search on your site and so when you say like hey I'm a smaller brand I can't afford the investment the patron or Procter & Gamble made in there. They're Alexa skills. And I would highlight is that she not that expensive to build a skill it's pretty expensive to market the scale which both patronen and Procter & Gamble do quite a bit of. Some of the the lower-cost ways to implement Voice or it's it's pretty inexpensive to have a third-party partner add voice search to your existing, e-commerce search platform and it's super low cost to start doing some voice SEO to start optimizing your keywords for the things people say, into being instead of the way the things people type so I think it's still super early days I think voice is. A more useful tool for marketing than it is for actual transactions I think in the long run we're going to see boys shoes for a lot of transactions but it's going to be a specific type of transaction which are those. Replenishment Auto fulfillment type orders I think you can use voice a lot to add and delete things from. Your regular shopping list so you're going to say Alexa cancel this week's groceries because I'm going to Mom's house for Thanksgiving. You're going to see a lot of those kind of things but I don't think you're going to order brand name dresses in specific sizes with particular Prince from, you know your favorite dress designer via voice cuz I just think saying all those attributes and knowing the. [41:44] The unique brand terms for each each designer is is super unlikely. Scot: [41:52] I saw this reminds me of a funny cartoon I saw the other day where someone says to the Alexa Alexa order me a Kleenex and it says ordering Amazon basic tissues and their said they spell out Kleenex and Alexa again says tissues and then they're like, Amazon Kleenex and it's like I don't understand what you're saying. Jason: [42:11] I think that that ironically that could drive pups to be the second best selling facial tissue online because. [42:20] Little problem with the synonyms at the moment but yeah it's and it's it's going to be for that replenishment stuff there's going to be huge fights to be the default brand and lots of interesting stuff but that's probably a whole separate show on voice Commerce that we should do sometime. I want to get to our third question which is from Patrick per line. And Patrick says hi guys I love the podcast to listen to it every week thanks very much Patrick I do too when the numbers say that he Commerce revenues up 17% does that include Amazon. [42:54] If so what would be the e-commerce industry Revenue increase if you took out Amazon I believe you guys said that walmart.com is growing it at 60% and Amazon at 30%. Would this mean that if you remove those two companies then e-commerce is a whole is contracted. Scot: [43:11] Oh yeah thanks. Jason: [43:12] Can I have that has math in it so I'm proposing you answer that one. Scot: [43:15] Yeah thanks Patrick for the question that it is a very good question and this is one that I've spent a fair amount pondering so let me let me talk to you. Talk you through some of it I'm go this pretty quickly will will put some stuff in the show notes if I lose you anywhere so first of all. You know what what's interesting is there's a lot of sources for the data so that's one of the big variabilities in this whole thing so you have the four sources I track and I'm sure there's more but the the four main ones are comscore US Census Bureau, Forster and emarketer. What are things you always notice is the comscore US Census in Forester tendo line with each other they'll be in the ballpark so silver example they'll say. 2017 e-commerce the United States was around anywhere between 380 and 420 billion but any marketable say 800. And to emarketer is very inclusive of everything so I think they actually put cars in their tickets grocery. [44:16] You know Events maybe even hotels or something so so you know when you're looking at these data sources it's important to understand what's in there and what's not, I tend to like the comscore the Census Bureau in the forest one because they they do not throw the kitchen sink in there and it makes kind of thinking about this a lot easier, so what I did is I took the Census Bureau data and I'm and if you look at 2016 they say us e-commerce was 359 billion and if you look at 2017 415 but I'm such a difference of 56 billion and to your point, you're 16% growth so so. [44:55] That's it that's an important number so 56 billion increase your rear in the United States was 16% growth now let's look at Amazon. Amazon's 2016 Revenue was 135 billion. And in 2017 was 177 billion that's the global number so you have to Amazon's pretty much right down the middle of domestic and non-domestic, and she have to give it a chops and it half and we do that you get the US is 68 billion in 2016 and 2017 88 million that's a difference of 20 billion or 30% growth which you correctly called, and so you'll get that number that 20 billion and we had our 56 billion for overall Commerce then that means Amazon drove 36% of that growth. [45:41] Then if you took if you took Amazon out then the remaining piece crew 10%. So that's interesting number. [45:51] But this is the common thing that I think happened to allies numbers longtime listeners will know that Amazon's revenues are essentially, Banner reported cuz the third-party Marketplace and so we at the Jason Scott should like to look at the DMV so it's kind of Handy is I took the. Total Amazon numbers and I cut them in half to get to the US will you can effectively just kind of double them again to get ballpark GMB it's little bit more than that but this will this will make you feel a little bit better because it under reports Amazon app, I believe so when we do that we're back to kind of you know. Amazon's gmv in the u.s. for 2016 being a hundred and thirty six billion then 2017 was 177 billion for difference of 41 billion okay so I think that's the real number that we look at for Amazon and again. E-commerce grew 56 billion Amazon Groove 41 billion now you have all you're left with is 15 billion coming from other places or 4%. So so you're kind of left you know what that tells us is that and learn if he Amazon grew 30% then the rest of world group had to grow 4%. [47:03] Just kind of fact check that when you look at eBay they just reported their 2017 numbers they grew kind of around 4 to 5% in the US so kind of lines up right, do we have Walmart at in there I think they're growing at 60% and then they want to go to 40% Jason you can fact check me on that one. Jason: [47:21] Yeah I think it's like last week orders were like 60 62 and then 50. Scot: [47:26] Yes now what I think is going on is Walmart's actually pretty tiny in the world were talking about that you know of eCommerce so you have something like three or four percent of Walmart sales are online which is there for near Blaine dollar. Global retailer so there's really not moving the needle quite fast is fastest of the other things were talking about so it's what's going on here. The way I like to think about it is let's build a pie chart and and this pie chart is a $400 pie chart that's the 2017, yo i e Commerce so of that Amazon's 177 billion or 44% of the pie growing 30% eBay is 35 billion that's their us GMD. X autos and that's 9% the pie growing 4%, Walmart is 15 billion ish growing or 3% the pie growing 60% actually put the pool table will put in the show notes and where you left with isn't other bucket, that is about 173 billion which is a pretty big slice of Titans looking like 40% of the pie but it's only growing if you do the calculus. It can it has to be flat to effectively 2% because of the growth that has been soaked, now what are things that doesn't jive with that is you have Target growing pretty fast while the omni-channel guys are going fast even some of the e-commerce platforms the report like Shopify. They're growing their igmp like 20 or 30%, now they don't report a sings Versailles so that that's a little tricky so they're they're actually kind of getting new customers in there and it's not apples to oranges but you know what's interesting is when I talk to all these data providers and I say. [49:04] Two things are going on here the the you know there's someone is really losing a lot of Cher and I do think you have that going on so a lot of these stores you know we had more stores close last year than ever before. And the dirty secret of closing stores is when you close doors and let's say you're you're serious you know when they've closed. . 1000 stores decorative had one Fury Commerce business and the same is true for all these other folks that have clothes stores and whatnot so that's where a lot of the loss is coming from but it still doesn't a hundred percent at up, I'm so there's there is a group of folks a lot of them work for the state of companies and what would they believe is happening is the US Commerce data. Under reports vastly the size of e-commerce and the growth of it and then what happens is. Comscore and Forrester correlate to that data so there's this Theory out there at and I'm not the guy to solve this is a kind of. Delete it because it doesn't add up for me when I when I use the numbers I just got to watch you through it just doesn't add up so someone would have to be losing like you know that tree down like 60% year-over-year e-commerce businesses aren't big enough to really. With a needle on what we're talking about here so so that's that's kind of. [50:16] The most prevailing Theory amongst people and it's not really talk about much just kind of funny it's like this dirty behind the scenes secret of e-commerce there when talks about that shows and things but they don't really write about it and, it would they believe is the US Department of Commerce data Vasily under represents the size and growth of the e-commerce market so, there you go. That is an interesting Theory I have no way of proving or disproving it but it it's kind of I end up Landing there because I can't make the math work. Jason: [50:46] Yep and I I-10 the split that baby so I would say I do agree and strongly suspect the US Census Data under report e-commerce and like, you know just a couple datapoint Spitzer to be aware of the methodology that you have senses uses is pretty underwhelming and just they just weren't designed to track e-commerce into essentially they're sending surveys to a bunch of businesses, and asking them what their, the revenue was and those businesses decide whether they respond to the survey in the same businesses don't respond every time and then the US Census uses a bunch of Black Box math that they don't disclose, to convert you know the percentage of respondents into. AAA National number and oh by the way the US Census doesn't even report e-commerce they report what they called non store sales which was originally, catalog sales which are still in this number, but essentially it's it's what they call everything that's not in a store and nobody gives the people responding to the survey any official definition so you know if Target is shipping 70% of their e-commerce orders from the store, they may report all of those sales and their their store sales versus non store sales there's there's all kinds of room for, messiness in the methodology and I will tell you that some reasonably credible Economist have looked at the US Census Data over time, and flat-out found some glaring inconsistencies and they've written to the US Census asking for clarification and not got very satisfactory answers back and so these guys would say. [52:27] That there's just too much Black Box math it's impossible to reverse engineer in the US Census there's some funny stuff going on, and so it's it's easy for me to believe and by the way we should have them on the show one one time to defend themselves but, it's easy for me to believe their numbers are perfect and SharePoint everyone wants to index to US Census Data so a lot of the other day two sources are based on US Census Data so I tend to believe e-commerce is growing, is a little bigger Pi then then what a lot of these data sources say and I also believe that directionally your pie chart is still right, that that Amazon has a Lion's Share of that that growth and so you know you factor out the the three or four biggest players in the e-commerce Market, and the rest of e-commerce is not growing particularly fast and I have this recurring conversation with all these specialty retailers they're talking about their online and they're you know saying how how dare you know, trailing the industry average and how concerned they are for their jobs and I'm pointing out that they're actually dramatically outperforming their peers. [53:35] One last question that we may not have time for a detailed answer but I think we can probably give the high-level answer and then maybe we'll revisit it. Scot: [53:44] This one is very much in your wheelhouse and I feel like this is going to take you an hour to answer so let's see how this goes. Jason: [53:52] A challenge I like it. Scot: [53:53] Okay so this is from Ari and he says mobile payments in 2018 can I'd like to hear more about Android pay. Google payments day. I guess Apple pay w3c payment request API and etcetera do you have any data that shows that when implemented properly these things truly reduce the mobile Gap. Jason: [54:13] And so it is the short answer. We'll do it deeper dive in upcoming show on mobile payments in general there's no, great public data to show the conversion rate from, true mobile wallets like Android and Google pay him now merge so we'll just call Google pay and Apple pay, they're the number of people that use it as a small percentage of total transactions it does appear that that that highly loyal user base do have a much higher mobile conversion rate but there's an argument correlation or causation, you know one of the rare users that using Apple pay online because you had the strong Affinity with apple and you're buying a lot of stuff from Apple probably and so is it you know, is it higher conversion rate because you're using Apple pay or are using Apple pay because you're super loyal frequent purchaser, that was Apple right so it's at the moment those are lower friction experiences there's some evidence that they have better conversion rate but it's all an adult and it's not a huge piece of the whole payment pie. The there is absolutely some reasonably credible data out there that conversion rate is better with PayPal than without PayPal that's the most ubiquitous. Digital wallet in North America and you know it's a lower friction checkout experience and so I think we have lots of evidence that every time we take the fields and steps out of checking out, convergence better when those customers are already in the PayPal ecosystem and that's offered as a payment option conversion goes up. [55:51] That makes sense to me and we we see it in the date of a lot of her private clients so that makes me think all these mobile wallets have a future or they can get enough users, and then the one thing you listed that I'm most optimistic about of all of this is there's one thing that's not an actual payment while it's a payment technology and you rightly called it out as the w3c payment request API, this is an open standard that they the HTML consorcia and essentially published that says, let's have some better functionality in the browser to safely enter payment information on behalf of customers when they shop and let's let's tokenizing letting you know not store it as. As some sort of insecure text on the on the PC and some way but let's make it really easy to fill out this form fields for payment. And they've gotten really good adoption on that API it's now rolled out to all the browsers and so we're starting to see a lot more retailers adopted and. Two good things happen when a retailer uses this API for their checkout experience, in particularly there mobile checkout experience number one that checkout experience becomes more consistent and follows a standard convention from site to site so if all Sites use the exact same check out flow and gooey, users get better at checking out and they're more comfortable with it and so it it actually reduces friction it increases what we call for dents, and and you see better conversion rate and. [57:24] That because this this a p i can store all the information that gets entered in that field & Auto in Iraq for you it essentially dramatically reduces the time needed to check out and so once you've used it once, it becomes much faster and easier to check out on any e-commerce site anyone in the web that leverages. This API so it's it's one of the things I highly recommend the clients and said easy implementation and everyone should be implementing that that payment request API and their, in their checkout experience in particular their mobile checkout experience so. I'll leave it at that for now but like the at the high-level there's not a great public data source. To show the mobile wallets work but, you can take my word for it that I've seen it in my individual clients that in general at it does have a measurable effect and for sure if you're interested in improving your mobile conversion rate you absolutely out of look at that WC3 payment request API and implement. [58:27] And with that it is happen again we perfectly wasted an hour of our listeners time, so now that Scott has redoubled his efforts on Facebook we highly encourage you to keep the dialogue going on Facebook again all these questions came from Facebook which was awesome so. If we said some stuff is wildly wrong which I suspect Scott did and I didn't be great great to discuss that on Facebook we'll see you over on that page. You can obviously find a spoof on Twitter were pretty active there and as always if you enjoy the show or learned anything or it's helped help you, you're triggering anyway the way you can repairs for all that hard work as you can jump on the iTunes give us a 5-star review, it's really one of the the primary drivers of SEO and I'll help other people discover our podcast and it makes us feel good about ourselves so. With that I will leave it until next time. Scot: [59:26] Thanks everyone for joining us. Jason: [59:28] And until next time happy commercing.

Another Banger.....Thanks for tuning into another Hott Show from Sports Round Table SRT Crew. Special Guest in Studio tonight KeKe for 3 Marquis Hicks Assistant Coach for Point University. Tonight we Talk to KeKe about the good and Bad of AAU Basketball as well as Coaching kids these days. We Had Hot News and Vick and Kaep was the Story check out Hancock's Article "Say What" on srtradio.com G Gave his extra credit cash in your ticket is all I'm saying. Then the Round Table Discussion was Hott as usual, as we Chopped up some good NBA Talk. we also gave our NBA Summer League 1st Team All Rookies. Thanks Keke for coming Thru!!!! #SRTcrew #weknowsports

You don't want to miss this interview with ALL-AMERICAN and former NFL Defensive Lineman David Rocker! Saturday June 17 at 12pm EST. The show will be aired on The Live By Terrence Network, Desert Storm Radio and Live Streamed by April Ross's BeeTv!!!! Special Guests and Many More (Subject To Change) David Rocker David Deaundra Rocker (born March 12, 1969) is an American football coach and former player. He played professionally as a defensive tackle in the National Football League (NFL) for four with the Los Angeles Rams (1991–1994). Rocker served as the head football coach at Point University from 2013 to 2014. Rocker was born in Atlanta, Georgia, attended high school at Fulton High School (now known as South Atlanta High School), and played college football at Auburn University.  

A conversation with Dr. Gregory K. Moffatt - Licensed Professional Counselor and Professor of Counseling and Human Services at Point University in Georgia - on the importance of touch in human development, the ethics of touch in therapy, and how the therapeutic tool of touch is used well beyond the traditional bounds of counseling. Gregory's website Gregory's article in Counseling Today:http://ct.counseling.org/2017/03/healing-language-appropriate-touch/

Welcome to the sixth-eighth episode of Equipping You in Grace. On today's episode, Dave Jenkins interviews Alex Early-- The New Believer's Guide to the Christian Life: What Will Change, What Won't, and Why It Matters (Bethany House, 2016). What you’ll hear in this episode: Alex's life, ministry, marriage, and his current ministry projects. What it means that Christians are Beloved children of the Lord. Prayer and the Christian life. Real obedience to the Lord. Baptism. Church Membership. Living life in community with other Christians. Money and tithing. About the Author: Alex Early is the author of The Reckless Love of God (2015) and serves Redemption Church in Seattle, Washington. He's a passionate preacher of the gospel and also excels in teaching theology. He is a sought-after speaker and a creative missionary. Alex has completed two master's degrees (MDiv, New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary and MA in Aspects of Biblical Interpretation, London School of Theology) and is a current doctoral student (Doctor of Intercultural Studies, Western Seminary). In 2008, he planted Four Corners Church in a bar (attendance quickly grew to several hundred people), and has also served as a theology professor at Point University in Atlanta. Alex has been heavily involved in training church leaders both in the U.S. and abroad. He is a sought-after speaker and lives with his wife, Jana, and their two children in Seattle. He spends his down time cooking for family and friends and laughing around the table. Subscribing, sharing, and your feedback You can subscribe to Equipping You in Grace via iTunes, Google Play, or your favorite podcast catcher. If you like what you’ve heard, please consider leaving a rating and share it with your friends (it takes only takes a second and will go a long way to helping other people find the show). You can also connect with me on Twitter at @davejjenkins, on Facebook or via email to share your feedback. Thanks for listening to this week’s episode of Equipping You in Grace!

American Tennis with Coach Chuck Kriese - Broadcast of July 29, 2015;  Coach Kriese interviews Chad Simpson of Point University in Georgia and Coach Bill Simpson of Coker College in South Carolina on his show today.  These young coches talk about  multiple issues of the collegiate coaching world in regrd to training and motivation and the political issues that seem to burden all teachers and coaches today.  They talk passionately about tennis in the United States today and why they were led to this profession as a vehicle to mentor and to direct young people.  Listen to Coach Chuck Kriese each Wednesday at noon on the UR10S network.