Podcasts about to john

"The one secret that I have found: it's not brains. It's the willingness to work. Nobody that I know that is very successful has not been a hard worker." - John Morgan How do you get all the people in your organization working towards the same objective? What keeps John going even after achieving so much? How does he keep growing the biggest PI firm in the nation? Why did John diversify into the attractions industry? A Start with Heart John Morgan sits atop the summit of American personal injury law. His firm, Morgan & Morgan, is the largest PI firm in the US with 94 offices in 49 states. John's law practice employs over 700 attorneys and tries more cases than anyone else in the country. John rose from humble beginnings. After growing up poor in Florida and Kentucky, John's older brother Tim was severely injured while working as a lifeguard for Walt Disney World. But Tim was denied help and compensation by his employer. So John dedicated his life to fighting for individuals like Tim, who had been denied help and treated unfairly. Outwork, Outgrow John has several philosophies that have brought him success. He shares these in his two books, "You Can't Teach Hungry" and "You Can't Teach Vision." To John, hunger is paramount. To be satisfied is to be finished. You can achieve all sorts of unbelievable outcomes if you are willing to put in the effort and never stop driving forward. As he says, "The most successful people that I know in my life — it's not that they were the smartest. They were the hardest working." To John, a leader's job is to find and cultivate people with that hunger and make sure they're all pointed in the same direction, towards the same goals. Another of his favorite phrases is, "If you're not growing, you're dying." John doesn't slow down. Even as leader of the largest PI firm in the country, he's constantly expanding geographically and vertically. Just this year, he's added new practice areas like toxic tort litigation. The growth never ends. Lending a Hand John brings the same passion to other areas of his life. He champions causes that he believes in, regardless of political affiliation. Fighting for the legalization of marijuana has earned him the nickname "PotDaddy,'' and he led the charge to pass the $15 minimum wage in Florida, a state not known for its progressive policymaking. He and his wife have also broken ground on the Morgan & Morgan Hunger Relief Center and started Harbor House, which provides help for abused women and children. John has expanded in business too. Since 1997, he has owned and operated a series of "edutainment" centers called WonderWorks. These attractions, often styled to look like a building crash-landed upside down, contain hands-on science exhibits and exhilarating educational demonstrations for kids. Now five locations strong, WonderWorks does gangbusters for John and helps engage local students in STEM education. True to form, he has found a way to make money while also helping the people around him. Key takeaways: Alignment is key. Make sure you and the people working for you have the same goals, otherwise you'll get nowhere. Believe in yourself. At the end of the day, you're the person you can rely on the most. Swim upstream. Resistance means you're moving in the right direction. Links And Resources The Game Changing Attorney Podcast Michael Mogill Facebook Michael Mogill Twitter Michael Mogill Instagram Michael Mogill LinkedIn Crisp Video Website Crisp Video Facebook Crisp Video Group Twitter Crisp Video Instagram Crisp Video LinkedIn Morgan & Morgan Website John Morgan LinkedIn John Morgan Books

In this episode, I take a look at your emails. From Bryony, who writes about shopping for knickers during lockdown. To John in the U.K., who writes about lockout during lockdown… this episode is going to be fun!

 Audio recordingSermon manuscript:December 27th is the day that has been set aside to commemorate St. John, the apostle and evangelist. Setting aside a day to commemorate a saint can sound rather Roman Catholic, and therefore not quite kosher for us protestants. However, I will not be recommending St. John to you as someone who can give you grace. Nor will I be encouraging you to pray to him so that he can pray for you. The reason why I won’t be doing these things is because God has never commanded us to do this, nor has he promised to bless us if we do. Instead, we will make use of this day to consider God’s working in this man and through this man. Knowing more about St. John helps us understand the Bible better, and we can apply the things we learn about him also to ourselves and our own circumstances. For God still exists. He still works in the lives of his saints, just like he did in the lives of the saints that are recorded in the Bible. Let’s begin today be understanding who John is. Sometimes people get a little confused about John, because there are two important men named John in the New Testament. There is John the Baptist and John the apostle. During the season of advent that just came to a close with Christmas we have heard quite a bit about John the Baptist. He was the forerunner of the Christ, prophesied by the Old Testament prophets like Isaiah and Malachi. He is the preacher and baptizer of repentance. The apostle John, on the other hand, is one of the twelve disciples whom Jesus called to follow him in an especially close way. There’s actually quite a lot that we know about the apostle John. Before Jesus called him to be one of the twelve he was a fisherman on the Sea of Galilee. He worked together with his brother James, as well as Simon Peter and Andrew—all of whom were also called to be disciples by Jesus. According to Church tradition he was Jesus’s cousin. Mary, Jesus’s mother, was his aunt. Also according to Church tradition, John was the youngest of the twelve. I appears that John was a very zealous man. One time he came across somebody casting out demons using Jesus’s name. Since this fellow was not formally part of the group, John told him to stop. But Jesus told John, “Whoever is not against us is for us.” On another occasion he asked Jesus whether fire should be called down from heaven against a Samaritan town who did not warmly welcome Jesus. We are told of a nickname for John and his brother James. They were called “sons of thunder.” That leads me to believe that John was fiery and bold. This is a little surprising when you consider the books that he wrote that are included in our New Testament. John has a style that is all his own. It is free and almost whimsical. It is quite simple. Every New Testament Greek student cuts their teeth by reading his Gospel. His Greek is the simplest and easiest to master. In his epistle, 1 John, he is always encouraging love. “Beloved, let us love one another,” he says many times. So it can be hard to picture him as fiery and bold. On the other hand, John by no means shied away from recording in his Gospel the intense and acrimonious exchanges that took place between Jesus and the Jewish officials who hated Jesus. This is one of the unique contributions of John’s Gospel. The other Gospels, Matthew, Mark, and Luke, do not describe these exchanges with nearly the same depth. So although John writes with a very gentle style, he obviously is not some hand-wringing clergyperson who just wanted everyone to like him. He wasn’t afraid of a fight. Among the twelve apostles John was special. Although the twelve were all equal and loved by the Lord Jesus, there appears to have been a circle within the circle of twelve. Peter, James, and John are mentioned several times as being in places that the rest of the twelve were not. Peter, James, and John were with Jesus when he raised Jairus’s daughter from the dead. They were with him on the mount of transfiguration. They were closer to Jesus than the others when he was praying in the Garden of Gethsemane. John also seems to have stuck it out at the end of Jesus’s life when the other disciples fled for safety. When Jesus was arrested and brought to the chief priests’ house in the middle of the night for their kangaroo court, Peter and John followed at a distance. John went into the courtyard, but Peter stood outside. This is when Peter denied that he knew Jesus three times, and presumably took to the hills like the rest of Jesus’s disciples. John, though, did not. It appears that he was the only one of the twelve who was at the cross. While Jesus hung dying he indicated John and said to his mother, “Woman, behold your son.” To John he said, “Behold, your mother.” On Easter morning John was the first of the twelve to make it to the empty tomb, because he outran Peter. Perhaps this was because he was younger. John was in the upper room, on the evening of Easter, when the disciples were gathered together. Jesus appeared to them, though the doors were locked, and said, “Peace be with you! Just as the Father has sent me, I am also sending you.” Then he breathed on them and said, “Receive the Holy Spirit. Whenever you forgive people’s sins, they are forgiven. Whenever you do not forgive them, they are not forgiven.” The Gospel reading that was chosen for today are the very last words of John’s Gospel. The whole last chapter of John’s Gospel is a little mysterious. It is almost like an appendix to the book. There is a fine summary statement at the end of chapter 20. Then chapter 21 speaks about something that happened after Easter, but before Jesus ascended. Peter, James, John, Thomas, Nathanael, and two others were back in Galilee. Peter said, “I’m going fishing,” which, if you remember, was his old profession before he was called to be an apostle. The others all agreed to go with him. While they were in the boat Jesus appeared on the shore, but they did not recognize him. He yelled out to them, “Don’t you have any fish?” They said, “No.” Jesus said, “Cast your net on the right side of the boat, and you will find some.” When they did, the nets became so full that they couldn’t haul them all in. This was very reminiscent of the way that Peter was originally called to be an apostle years before. Jesus had said to him then, “You will no longer catch fish, but will be a fisher of men.” So John and Peter and the rest understood that this was Jesus on the sea shore. Peter didn’t wait for the boat to reach land, but jumped in and swam to shore. There Jesus had prepared a breakfast with fish cooked over a charcoal fire and some bread. After they had eaten Jesus asked Peter three times, “Do you love me?” Peter said, “Yes.” And Jesus said, “Take care of my sheep.” Then Jesus said something that is important for better understanding our Gospel reading today. Jesus said to Peter, “Amen, Amen, I tell you: When you were young, you dressed yourself and went wherever you wanted. But when you are old, you will stretch out your hands, and someone else will tie you and carry you where you do not want to go.” With these words Jesus was indicating the death by which Peter would glorify God. At the end of Peter’s life he would be imprisoned and crucified. According to Church tradition he requested that he be crucified upside down, because he did not believe that he was worthy to be crucified in the same way that Jesus was. After Jesus had said this he said to Peter, “Follow me.” This is where our reading started today. Peter looked over and saw John. He asked Jesus, “Lord, what about him?” It is as though he was asking, “Is he also going to be dressed by someone else and carried someplace that he does not want to go? Is he also going to die a violent death?” Jesus responded, “If I want him to remain until I come, then what is that to you? You follow me.” Then, in our reading, John explains how some people were interpreting these words from Jesus concerning himself. They thought that those words meant that John would not die before Jesus returned to judge the living and the dead. John wants it understood that these words do not necessarily mean that. Jesus is basically saying to Peter, “What happens to John is none of your business. The important thing is that you follow me.” Here is an indication that John’s Gospel was the last Gospel that was written when John was an old man. Unlike so many of the other disciples, John had not yet died a violent death when he was writing this Gospel. Since he was getting so much older, perhaps people were starting to wonder whether he wouldn’t die. After all, there was that word that Jesus had spoken to Peter. John wanted people to know that that wasn’t necessarily the case. There are also other things about John’s Gospel that support this idea that it was the last of the four to be written. John does not spend much time at all speaking about what the other three Gospels say. Instead he records at length things that the others don’t—especially many long dialogues that Jesus had with his opponents and with his disciples. It is almost as if the apostle wrote his Gospel to fill in some of the gaps that were left by the other three. But this can only be done up to a point, because, as he says in our reading, “Jesus also did many other things. If every one of them were written down, I suppose the world itself would not have room for the books that would be written.” Now let’s finish up by speaking about things we know about John later in his life. Soon after Pentecost, John, together with Peter, was arrested by the Jewish authorities—the first of Jesus’s disciple to have this happen to them. They demanded that they stop speaking about Jesus. John and Peter refused, telling them that they had to obey God rather than men. Soon they and the rest of the apostles were arrested and beaten, but they rejoiced that they were counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus. It appears that John stayed in the area of Jerusalem and Judea for many years after Pentecost, during the early years of the Christian Church. Church tradition says that eventually he moved together with Mary, Jesus’s mother, to the town of Ephesus, which is in the modern day country of Turkey. There were a lot of Christians in that area during that time. He lived and taught there until he was an old man. No doubt John encountered many troubles, even though his life was spared, for as Paul says, “It is only through many afflictions that we may enter the Kingdom of God.” Among those afflictions, he was once exiled to the island of Patmos, off the coast of Turkey, where he received the vision that is known as the Apocalypse, or Revelation, the last book of the Bible. Finally, let’s apply these things to ourselves. As you can see, the apostle and evangelist, John, lived a life in close communion with Jesus both before and after Jesus ascended. The circumstances of your life are different. You have not experienced the same outward things that John did. But you do share the same Lord, the same communion, and hopefully to the same extent that John did. There are no part-time Christians. Those who only want to be Christians when it is convenient for them will find that they were only deluding themselves with their own invention of a Christianity instead of the real thing. If God wants you to live out your days so that you are old, then well and good. Always be prepared to give an answer to anyone who asks you about the hope you have as a Christian. If there is a challenge that comes along, be sure that you follow Jesus—that you confess him and do not deny him. If you are punished by the loss of a friend, or family member, or your reputation, then so be it. Rejoice that you are counted worthy to suffer for the name of Jesus. Or if your life or your livelihood is cut short, then so be it. Jesus is your shepherd. You might think that other things give you your peace and security, but you’d be mistaken. We must all count the cost and be willing to suffer the loss of all, including death, rather than fall away from Jesus. Anything we lose for Jesus or for the Gospel will be paid back 100 fold, and, at the end, eternal life. St. John is not someone that we should pray to. He is someone we should learn from for how we can live as faithful Christians.

Hi, welcome to the podcast. I’m mark mabry.   Today i’d like to read and elaborate a little bit on a recent instagram post where I introduced a new piece of art  that depicts the raising of a 12 year old girl from the dead.   We’ll pick up with Jesus preaching in Capernaum.   Jesus was getting huge in Capernaum.   One day a packed crowd was waiting for Jesus to speak, when an ‘important’ man interrupted the moment. The man was ‘a ruler of the synagogue’.   The interruption was Nothing new. (Jumping ahead of the crowd is the timeless privilege of people with status)   Pharisees and scribes always did this…   and it was fun to watch how Jesus dispatched them by exploiting their pride.   Anyway, The well dressed man came forward. His name was Jarius.   Jarius walked closer to Jesus, and in An Unexpected twist…   FELL AT Jesus FEET AND WEPT.   He cried, ’My daughter is dying. Please Master, come and save her.’   Jesus was never moved by status, but always moved by humility, so He went with Jarius.   The curious crowd followed.   Jarius made way for Jesus through the streets. With each step, The pace of his Jarius’s walk seemed to say  ’Hold on sweetie, dad’s coming,’   But Jesus took His time along the way to heal a woman who touched His robe. Then he paused even longer to hear her voice look into her eyes. “Your faith has made you whole.”   Jarius’ daughter’s clock was ticking. Then the bomb dropped.   A servant found Jarius, he said “Thy daughter is dead, trouble not the Master.”   What? It can’t end like this… Jarius had brought Jesus his lowest…. most broken self…   He had nothing left to give.   Jesus, touched him,  “fear not, believe only, and she shall be made whole.”   Believe. Only.  As if to say,  ‘Son, this next part is too heavy for you. I got it from here. You’ve shown me enough… just believe.”   At home, Jarius’ friends and neighbors laughed at Jesus when he said ‘the maiden is sleeping’. So Jesus excused them all.   Believers only beyond this point.   Jarius was wrung out. I see him kneeling by a little bed with his wife… maybe some brothers and sisters.   Jesus raised her.   But was that the only miracle?   Jesus THE GREATEST AMONG US descended BELOW EVERYONE… to lift us up from The Cross. To draw all of us to Him.   Excluding Jesus, is there anyone more powerful among us than the popular person who willingly breaks before the Lord? Who loves Jesus and all that goes with it. The charity. The kindness. The selflessness.   She who falls on her face in front of a crowd and brings Jesus home to skeptical friends… like Jarius.   That kind of condescension is Christlike.   That is the person who see’s miracle after miracle.         I felt like Jarius’ status in the community was important in this story…  because status is a set up.   We have seem to have less sympathy for rich people, good looking people, gifted people, or successful people.   I mean, it’s definitely a little funnier when sunglasses-guy backs his new Beemer into the light pole at Costco, than when a struggling mom with 3 little kids in a used mini van does it.   The Jarius story challenges those among us who are prone to judge popular or rich people… more harshly.   Think it was easy for Jarius to fall at Jesus’ feet and basically beg in front of that huge multitude of people that knew him as the powerful guy in the Synagogue?   The scribes and pharisees and hypocrites… those are Jarius’s people. What will they say when they find out Jarius was bowing to Jesus of Nazareth? Could it cost him his ruler of the synagogue gig? What about that house that was big enough to have a bunch of people at it in a few verses?    Think it was easy for Jarius to patiently wait as Jesus took his time walking through town healing someone else’s, non emergency blood issue, while his own daughter was critical…   Jarius was used to people jumping when he said jump. How about keeping it together when he finds out that she had died while he was stuck in the crowd…?   Yeah, status is a set up, a set up for Jarius… Because status Is a trojan horse full of pride.       Status ads degrees of difficulty to a humble Christian approach to life.   (That’s my best line and a big part of my point, so let me repeat it)   Status ads degrees of difficulty to a humble Christian approach to life.   Let’s look at Jesus Himself.   How did Jesus win the hearts of women and men starting with Adam and Eve all the way down to you and me.    Hint. It wasn’t because God gave Him Authority or a title, which He most certainly did… it’s all we read about in the Old Testament and the first few chapters of each of the Gospels. It’s  God saying, “This is my Son” “your savior” -  to Mary, then Joseph, to Simeon and Anna, to the Shepherds, to the Wisemen, To John the Baptist and the people who watched him baptize Jesus and heard the voice and saw the dove. But so what?   Imagine if God had said all that and Jesus didn’t end up being, well… perfect.   A title by itself only gathers brown-nosers, not sincere followers.  Authority and power are not the same thing at all.   Jesus has power because he won our hearts. JESUS won OUR HEARTS BECAUSE HE DESCENDED waaaaayyyyy BELOW his birthright as a god… GIVING EVERYTHING HE HAD TO CLAIM OUR OUTCLASSED, less popular, LESS BEAUTIFUL, GUILTY SOULS FROM HELL.   HE WENT LOW- TO UNBREAK OUR GREEDY, LUSTFUL, JEALOUS HEARTS… EVEN THOUGH HIS HEART IS PERFECT.   HE HUNG ON THE CROSS BRUISED AND NAKED AND BLOODY TO save ME AND YOU-   WHO IN TURN DO ALL WE CAN TO PRETEND LIKE WE’RE NOT BRUISED AND NAKED AND BLOODY TOO.   THAT’S WHY JESUS IS THE MOST POWERFUL BEING EVER…   We love him, BECAUSE HE FIRST LOVED US.   I LOVE HIM.   BECAUSE HE gets low TO LOVE ME FIRST… AND ASKS QUESTIONS LATER.     Back to status for a moment.   When someone throws off the glory of the world at risk of losing it all, like Jarius… Jesus seems to notice.   Sometimes there are actual real life consequences… watch how the world tolerates acceptance speeches that vaguely say, “I’d like to thank God”   but notice how awkward it gets when someone famous says, “I follow Jesus Christ”. Just ask the actor Chris Pratt, or  boxing champs Manny Pacheo or Tyson Fury, or Heisman trophy winner Tim Tebow or drew breeze.   I have a front row seat to see what happens to Lifestyle, Fashion, and Fitness influencers on Instagram when they ‘come out’ as practicing Christians… Often they do it on the same day they are sharing a piece of my art that hangs in their home.   Almost Immediately their follower count drops, then the comments start. “Stay in your lane” “I used to respect you…” “How can you be so intolerant?” “Ignorant” “Naive”. Other Christians will even dig back into their feeds and criticize them for previous posts that, in their minds, don’t live up to a “Christian” standard.   Are you serious?   I’m not famous, but You don’t have to dig to deep to realize that I mark mabry, am a christian hypocrite many times over… especially when you consider that I write about Jesus every day. Just ask my wife and kids. That’s my set up!   So I’m inspired by the humility and faith of popular people who, like Jarius, fall at Jesus feet in front of the crowd. Because, on the flip side, supporters that stick by them end up loving them more than before. The connection is deeper… and frankly, it gives God another opportunity to bless their enterprise.   People with status don’t have an obligation to be public about their faith any more than our mailman does.   And that’s what makes it so powerful when they do it.   AIt’s proactive humility. They’re not compelled to be humble.   And so it is with you and me in our own successes…   the more we can redirect the glory of the world toward our God and be the servant of all, the more we can identify with Jesus….    Because that’s what Jesus did.     I’m Mark Mabry   Thank you          

Believing in Yeshua. To John, that’s what it’s all about. Once you move beyond the signs and accept what that means—that Yeshua as Messiah and that your life is forever changed with Him as your Lord and Savior. You have begun the journey of your lifetime!

Something happens in this episode that no one was expecting. The audio in question is between the 13 to 14 minute mark in the podcast. To John, Leeann, Alexis, and myself it was clear as day for a little girl saying "mom" when i went to check on the kids both were asleep and all doors were closed. --- This episode is sponsored by · Anchor: The easiest way to make a podcast. https://anchor.fm/app

Hello and welcome to season 2 episode 86 of The Berean Manifesto, brought to you by The Ekklesian House.  This is Pastor Bill and over the next 10 minutes, or so, we are going to be looking at John the Baptist VS Jesus of Nazareth. First off, John the Baptist was not called “the Baptist” due to any denominational affiliation.  Honestly, I had no idea anyone even thought that was a thing until I was preparing to write this episode.  John had the title of “the Baptist” because it wasn't normal to be out in the wild offering the baptism of repentance to anyone happing by and the oddity stuck.  The baptism of repentance was a highly institutionalized, and in practice exclusive religious ceremony of purification or conversion to the religion.  John the Baptist said he baptized with water to reveal the Messiah.  He is then recorded in John 1 as saying, “The One who sent me to baptize with water told me, ‘When you see the Spirit come down and rest, this one is The One who baptizes with the Holy Spirit.'”  John only baptized with water to reveal The Messiah, calling for repentance to prepare the people for His arrival. Both John's mother and father were descendants of Moses brother Aaron, the first High Priest.  This placed John's family in the pinnacle of societal circles.  It got him invited to all the exclusive parties where he could rub elbows with the rich and powerful.  He would've been the man that every guy wanted to be, and that every woman would've wanted their parents to betroth them to.  So when John abandoned modern culture, strapping a thick leather belt around a tunic of camel hair and headed out into the wilderness to start baptizing and preaching repentance he, no doubt, was the hot gossip that spread throughout Israel.  Crowds flocked to the shores of the Jordan river, probably at first to gawk at the spectacle.  A remarkable number of people responded to John's call to repentance and were baptized. Jesus, His life was very different than John's upbringing and reputation.  Mary and Joseph, Jesus parents, despite both being descendants of King David were lowly, and unremarkable.  Joseph was from a town named Nazareth.  There was a common turn of phrase in Israel, “Can anything good come out of Nazareth?”  This is because Nazareth was a low-income slum, or ghetto might be a good modern English equivalent.  The only less respectable place for an Israelite to be from in that day would to have been born in a leper colony, or perhaps a Samaritan community.  For Mary's parents to betroth her to a man from Nazareth, was a sign of desperation, poverty, or both on her family's part.  Or perhaps they lost a bet or owed a debt. Jesus was then born to an unmarried teenage Mary whose fiancé, Joseph, hid her from public view to save her from scrutiny and ridicule.  Joseph and Mary having travelled to Bethlehem for a census, their impoverished little family would've spent the first two years of Jesus life scrounging for every cent until the delegation of Magi showed up with gifts of Gold, Frankincense, and Myrrh.  I know, Joseph was a carpenter, carpenters were rich.  Except, trades come by reputation, reputation comes by word of mouth, and nobody wants to hire a carpenter from the ghetto in the middle of the rich town of Bethlehem.  That would've been a very steep uphill battle to get any customers in a new town that you just moved to for the census, coming with the reputation that you have.  After they get that gold, frankincense, and myrrh they flee to Egypt to escape the murderous intentions of King Herod and live there until the news of Herod's death is delivered to Joseph by an angel in a dream.  Upon returning to Israel, Joseph fears that Herod's son will want to finish his father's work, so they settle in Nazareth to hide out from the authorities.  We know they must have spent all the riches of the gold, frankincense, and myrrh in Egypt.  Because when you come back to your country and you're wanted by the authorities you don't go live in the slums when you're rich.  You don't go back to the ghetto to hide; you hire private security, or you go get a lodge out in the wilderness where you're hidden by separation.  This is a sign that they came back just as penniless as they were before the Magi showed up. We fast forward to the age of twelve and it should be no surprise then that young Jesus would have absolutely no fear of setting off in the streets of Jerusalem, rich high class Jerusalem, alone having lived the last 8 years or so with the hard streets of Nazareth as His playground. These contrasting details between the lives that John and Jesus lived; John living this luxurious high class life rubbing elbows with the rich and popular, and Jesus growing up hard on the streets of the ghetto would have added a layer of absolute scandal when Jesus came to be baptized by John and was greeted with, (John 1:29b-30 CSB), “[29] Here is the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world!  [30] This is the one I told you about: ‘After me comes a man who ranks ahead of me, because he existed before me.'”  While to us that statement may sound straight to the point and clear cut.  And while when we look at their lives we think this is going to cause some kind of scandal because of that.  To John's disciples, and the crowd on the shore, the statement seems to have come across as the gracious praise of the better to do stroking the ego of his poorer cousin from the “wrong side of the tracks,” as it were. We see some of this in John 3:22-26 CSB it says, “[22] After this, Jesus and his disciples went to the Judean countryside, where he spent time with them and baptized. [23] John also was baptizing in Aenon near Salim, because there was plenty of water there. People were coming and being baptized, [24] since John had not yet been thrown into prison. [25] Then a dispute arose between John's disciples and a Jew about purification. [26] So they came to John and told him, ‘Rabbi, the one you testified about, and who was with you across the Jordan, is baptizing-and everyone is going to him.'” Here we have a great example of not every statement in the Bible being Gospel truth.  When John's disciples say that Jesus is baptizing and everyone is going to Him, we know this complaint to be 100% false.  First, it's an over exaggeration, if everyone were going to Jesus to be baptized then it couldn't be said that John was baptizing, because everyone would be over with Jesus and no one with John.  Second, as a reader you could get the impression that Jesus Himself is performing water baptisms like this disciple of John is saying, but the Gospel writer of this Gospel book clarifies in the next chapter that Jesus isn't baptizing anyone in water.  In John 4:1-3 CSB it says, “[1] When Jesus learned that the Pharisees had heard he was making and baptizing more disciples than John [2] (though Jesus himself was not baptizing, but his disciples were), [3] he left Judea and went again to Galilee.”  Jesus didn't baptize here, his disciples did.  In fact, there's not one scripture telling us that Jesus ever baptized anyone in water.  Unless you count the washing of feet as a water baptism, but probably not. John's response to his disciple is in verses 27-30 of John 3 CSB he says, “[27] ‘No one can receive anything unless it has been given to him from heaven. [28] You yourselves can testify that I said, 'I am not the Messiah, but I've been sent ahead of him.' [29] He who has the bride is the groom. But the groom's friend, who stands by and listens for him, rejoices greatly at the groom's voice. So this joy of mine is complete. [30] He must increase, but I must decrease.'” John was actually baptizing in this particular location when this conversation happened in an effort to hide from the authorities who were seeking his arrest for publicly criticizing the legality and morality of Herod Antipas and his sister-in-law divorcing their spouses so they could marry each other.  He would eventually be arrested and after a time Herod would be tricked by his wife into beheading John.  During his time in jail John would, very humanly, question if he had misunderstood and was mistaken about whether Jesus was in fact The Messiah.  Another Biblical note that isn't Gospel truth.  Just because John questioned it doesn't mean it's worthy of being in question.  After John's death Jesus would tell His disciples Peter, James, and John that the prophet Elijah had already come to prepare the way for The Messiah just as the prophets had said he would.  In the Gospel account of Matthew, John the Baptist is identified as to whom Jesus was referring to as Elijah. Jesus, of course, went on into full-time ministry to the people of Israel.  The very ministry God had desired the Israeli people to be performing all along to the rest of the world.  This presented a challenge to the religious leaders of the day.  A challenge that they couldn't let go unpunished.  As they were wolves in sheep's clothing, so to speak, they had to get their retribution on the one who shined the light on what they were doing.  With every miracle performed and sermon taught Jesus took one step further toward His crucifixion and the salvation of all who would place their faith in Him. So while we as Christian say, “I want to be Christ-like.”  And that's not wrong.  Paul says, “Imitate me as I imitate Christ.”  Ultimately, we should be imitating Christ.  But when we place John the Baptist and Jesus side by side, I would like to think of myself as I must decrease so that He can increase.  I challenge you to have the same outlook.  We must decrease, our desires, our need for focus and attention must decrease as we place that focus and attention on the One who must increase. This is Pastor Bill saying, “Until next time…”

John wrote these things to believers. It could have been a cyclical letter to the seven churches to whom he was known. He was the brother of James, the sons of thunder. A fisherman who had labored on the sea of Galilee. John was overwhelmed by the Lord Jesus Christ. To John, a Jew, this was the fulfillment of the Old Testament; God Himself among His creation. And furthermore, he referred to himself from the time of the crucifixion on, as the disciple whom Jesus loved. Maybe after the Lord ascended into heaven, he and Mary would talk about all the things they had been a part. John was so sold out for His Lord that when he writes this letter, we see him say, “look at these things!”

John D. Russell is a professional photographer and creative director based out of Manhattan Beach, CA. A good friend of Brandon’s for the last 15 years, John works with brands across the globe to help them create powerful content that effectively conveys what companies have to offer to their customers. He can count Toyota, Ford, Skechers, Habitat for Humanity among his clients and has photographed celebrities such as John Legend and Magic Johnson. To John, photography isn’t just a career but a passion that change the course of his life for the better. In this episode, John explains how photography provided him with guidance during a very dark period in his life, suggest ways influencers can more effectively work with the photographers they hire, and reveals how one of his favorite brands has very little to do with brands at all. The Finer Details of This Episode: How photography got John through a very turbulent period in his young life. The comment from a complete stranger that sent John down the path to professional photography. What pushed John to make his life-changing decision and kept him on the straight and narrow. John describes some of his more memorable experiences working as a photographer and what traits have kept him afloat and sought-after in his profession. Why John believes it’s essential for new business owners to focus on their value proposition. Why influencers should have very clear intent when working with a photographer. The reason John believes selling is more important than branding—and how we should think of selling from a different perspective. Which brands John likes, which ones he trusts, and why he believes Burning Man is doing something different and important. The one major thing John would do differently if he could start his career over from scratch. Quotes: “Photography became my outlet.” “I made a pact to myself very early on in the midst of tremendous pain and suffering that I wouldn’t become a victim.” “My network has given me opportunities to have these incredible experiences.” “When you’re given an opportunity, you have to show up.” “People don’t do business with brands; they do business with people.” “I think creating value and helping people comes first.” “Everything you ever wanted in your life is on the other side of fear.” Mentions: Burning Man, Facebook, Instagram, Uber, Airbnb, Delta Airlines, The Giving Spirit   Guest Links:John’s homepage - https://www.johndrussell.com/ John’s professional Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/john.d.russell/ John’s personal Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/myeyescapture/ John on Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/johndrussellphoto/   Visit Brandon’s website at www.BrandsOnBrandsOnBrands.com Join the Brand Growth Community on Facebook at www.brandonbrands.com/community And please leave a rating and review on iTunes!

To John, About Jesus https://s3.us-east-2.amazonaws.com/rbpodcasts/ToJohnaboutJesus.m4a To John, About Jesus What Jesus's message was, is what Rabbi Brian explains to John, who was taught that Jesus wanted him to suffer.

Rents - PITI = Cash Flow?!?! Nonsense! John, Ben, and Ryan discuss the real costs of owning and operating rental property. Here are a few buzz words: cap rate, NOI, cash flow after debt... Don't we sound smart now? We'll de-mystify common real estate jargon to ensure you'll know what your broker is talking about when he tries to impress you by offering you "a steal at a 6-cap".   (Transcript below.) Ben Shelley: [00:00:07] Welcome back to the Brick x Brick Podcast. I'm Ben, and I'm here with John and Ryan. And today we're going to piggy back a little off last episode where we talked and identified what might be your first area of investment both to do your first real estate investment and maybe if you're starting to pick up the number of real estate investments you're doing in your surrounding area. And we want to talk about the kind of ways to identify from a numbers and metric standpoint whether or not your deal is viable for you. And it's important to recognize obviously that finding out and identifying different real estate metrics is just part one of the many parts of figuring out whether or not a real estate deal is good for you or not. But nevertheless we want to take you through it. And so Ryan When do we kick off with you.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:00:50] Yes. So the first thing I will... I guess it's just kind of foundationally the goal of buying investment property for me is twofold. The first part is earning cash flow that is passive income over the duration of the investment.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:01:06] And the second part of the second piece of the puzzle is the equity side which is the idea of gaining equity in that property which is something that you do both by purchasing it right but also by holding it over the long haul and by paying down the principal of the loan amount.   John Errico: [00:01:24] Yeah I think I think that that's a really good way to frame it because you could buy an investment property and make no cash flow like no rental income but it could still be a good investment because the property could for example appreciate very rapidly either because you do something to appreciate it like going to flip or just because you bought at the right time and the broader market appreciates. So I know primarily at least up until very recently I consider myself almost exclusively a buy and hold investor like a rental investor and I almost always perform or underwrite or whatever you want to call it my investments as if there were no appreciation at all. So the power of doing that is you have to be pretty disciplined to make an investment because you're thinking OK well my rents are this my expenses are this. What if I assume that the value of my property doesn't go up at all. And what if I assume that my rents don't go up at all. Am I still comfortable with the cash flow that I'm making right now that other investors will say well you know my rents will increase at 2 percent a year or 3 percent your CPI inflation whatever and my expenses are going to be fixed my mortgage is going to be fixed to my you know B minus investment right now might turn into an investment in four or five years but that's at least not the approach that I've taken personally.   John Errico: [00:02:42] I don't know if you guys feel differently but...   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:02:43] Well I think this highlights a pivotal mistake that a lot of beginning investors make. It's that they, it's that they assume that the market will continue to appreciate and they forego what would otherwise be sound investment strategy by looking towards cash flow in lieu of the expectation of appreciation down the road. And I think particularly at a time like today you see this often when we're coming off of a period of six seven eight years of market appreciation and now the hype is strong. The market the real estate market is at its peak arguably and has soundly recovered from 2008 2009. And people are back into thinking that this is going to last forever. When the reality is it's not. If you're buying it with the expectation that you're going to make your money when you sell it because it's going to continue appreciating you're going to find yourself in a bit of trouble at some point down the line. And the way to mitigate that in my view is to buy with strong cash flow and to buy something that you're confident you can hold on to in   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:03:55] perpetuity. Based on what your cash flows are.   John Errico: [00:03:57] Yeah I think like maybe the riskiest investment that I've possibly ever seen or even was. I mean I didn't consider it for my own portfolio but I was helping somebody in California it was maybe a year ago who was buying a flip or wanted to buy a flip in California and they had this spreadsheet or this deck was really well done deck it was like 15 slides like really professional and you looking at the numbers they wanted to buy for something like 400 grand and they're going to put one hundred thousand dollars into it and they thought they're going to sell it for like 850 in a year. No there isn't. You know not that bad investment but if you look at the numbers like the comps the market comps were all at like six hundred grand right now. And the underlying assumption was that because those same properties had appreciated by like 40 percent or something in the past year or two years that it was going to continue to depreciate or 40 percent it was kind of buried in the numbers like it was really obvious as you actually click through the comps were like wait all the comps are like way below what the ARV is. So this person had reached out to me I was like look I mean if you think it's really going to continue appreciate as it has already appreciated I guess it's a good investment but no. You know it's like that's that's it. That's probably the riskiest type of investment.   John Errico: [00:05:11] I think you could make.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:05:11] Well this this I don't want to deviate too much from what I think should be the focus of this conversation which is cash flow but this highlights something that concerns me about investors in general it's the I think there's a misunderstanding between what drives quote unquote appreciation there's there's market appreciation and then there's appreciation that you forced by buying something distressed and repositioning the asset whether that's by bumping rents or by putting capital improvements into the property and the the latter I would feel pretty comfortable assuming going in because that's something that is within your control. But I don't know that I would ever make an investment purely based on in my view speculative market.   John Errico: [00:05:52] It's like for me it's micro and macro factors micro factors are your house you can affect the the value of your house by doing something nice to it improving it. But the macro factors are like the broader market and you you individually probably are not going to impact the broader market by your improving real estate that's going to be factors that you control.   Ben Shelley: [00:06:16] Well I'll say it quickly in defence of calculating and embedding appreciation in your underwriting it is part of the fundamentals. I think for those people out there they're saying well gosh should I not account for it at all then you know it's fair it's usually standard to account for let's say 2 percent revenue growth maybe 2 percent expense growth over a certain period of time. But I think what we're saying is just be cautious about and especially understand that you need a certain amount of cash on hand at the beginning and throughout the first year of your project to to survive into it. Sorry.   John Errico: [00:06:43] No I mean I think that that's fair. My point is that I wouldn't feel comfortable buying a buy and hold property if at the moment that I bought it I wasn't satisfied with the cash flow I might be happily pleased with the cash flow and two or three years assuming appreciation assuming increases in rents. But if at the moment that I bought it it was not cash flowing like I wanted it to that I wouldn't buy it even if I thought in three or four years it might.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:07:07] And if you're trending income at 2 percent and expenses at 2 percent just as an example granted as applies more so to a commercial property and to commercial underwriting then to let's say an underwriting for a 2-family investment property but that ultimately is driving NOI which is going to be the basis for appreciation in that scenario rather than just saying oh we're buying this at a 7 cap. And I think the market's going to be at a five cap in two years. So the energizing to stay the same.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:07:36] But I'm going to see a sizable increase in the value of the property because it's purely based on the fact that I think the market is going to tighten and people are going to be buying more gas   Ben Shelley: [00:07:46] Which is a lesson by the way to not just look at these numbers standalone because you see a lot of people and when I when I talk to people in real estate or sometimes say well or brokers will throw those numbers at you like look look at a cap rate look at the IRR look at the NOI but you know it's a bigger puzzle and you want to try to take all of these factors into account because they wouldn't say no-ey.   John Errico: [00:08:03] No I said a thing I've never heard that I make that a thing.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:08:06] We can make that if I just don't like and I just I think that's what it is. I think I would really go out and what I believe you're going to do well about No. I mean it's you know there's just no way I could I could maybe get on board with like Noi. But no me no noise to high class I think we're every gentlemen.   Ben Shelley: [00:08:28] So I want to I wanted to move the conversation to maybe two of the main types of deals that we do. I know we want to talk about rental properties so maybe for starters. I would love to actually now that I'm talking about this out loud talk about some of our methodology for flips. But for starters when we're looking at two three and four families I think it's important for listeners to understand how we identify those those properties and whether or not they're worth taking the leap. So we talk in the last episode about identifying the geographic location. Once you've identified your property I think the first thing that there is a little bit of a misperception is specifically for newer investors is how much cash you actually need on hand when you go into a deal. You know a lot of people see an investment of $100,000 and think great I just need the ten thousand dollar downpayment for a 10 percent DP but there's there's a lot more equity required I think than a lot of people realize or understand going into a deal and we talk about that a lot. So for example if you're planning on buying a property and renovating the property over the first let's let's say four or five months there are holding costs of fixed expenses that are associated as part of that purchase and so on top of the ten thousand dollar downpayment on top of the closing costs which might include origination depending on the points affiliated with your loan or legal fees which we talk about that are associated with putting together the necessary documentation to transfer the deal and close the deal. You also have taxes and insurance payments that you're going to have to make consistently on your property before you generate even one dollar of income. And so my first recommendation once you've identified that property for listeners is understand exactly how much is the total equity required even outside the downpayment before you move forward and kick that in to what you're going to be making in your calculation moving forward on whether or not it's a good deal for you.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:10:14] Yeah I think one mistake people make is they they say OK I have one hundred thousand dollars cash. I know that generally speaking the kind of norm in the mortgage space is to be able to put 25 percent down. Therefore I have four hundred thousand dollars in buying power because one hundred thousand dollars as a 25 percent down payment is gives you the ability to buy afforded another property as you just alluded to. The reality is is not the case. There are circumstances where your equity requirement can be limited a little bit more to just what your down payment requirement is and that's that's generally if you're buying something that's turnkey something that's already rented and something on which you'll be collecting rental income from day one but in a lot of instances particularly if you're trying to drive value you're going to be dealing with maybe getting tenants out you're going to be dealing with some vacancy you're going to need some money set aside to do some repairs or some renovations and then you're going to need to allocate a few weeks maybe a month or two to actually getting the property tenanted and to get to the point where you are quote unquote stabilized and collecting rents.   Ben Shelley: [00:11:22] That is the most common misconception I think for newer investors coming in and just understanding all the kind of cash required. I know when I've talked to people this hour you know that even from from becoming maybe even institutional investors to house hacking they just don't have a full appreciation for how much cash is required on hand for their first investment.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:11:40] So one thing I actually wanted to point on that point out on that front is it can be it can be really sexy to look for those kinds of like quote unquote value add plays where you can buy something and buy a three family with three tenants in there who are each paying $900 a month when you know that the market rents on that unit or $1,200 a month. But if you if you don't properly account for the downtime that you're going to have with each of those units the the upside is a little less attractive. And one thing that I I oftentimes will encourage other investors to do and something that I should probably practice a little bit more often in my own on our own projects is to maybe stagger the vacancies. So if you have those three tenants in there rather than rather than going from having a fully occupied building to a fully vacant building and to have three units to renovate at the same time and three and then ultimately three vacancies to fill at the same time whenever the units come on line to stagger home and say Okay Unit 1 she really wants to get out because she's looking to move anyway. This is just a good time for her to get out. Unit 2 and 3 are a little bit more flexible. I'll keep you in it two and three there. We'll work something out where they're here for a few more months or we'll put them on like a three month lease or whatever the case may be and then we'll do those units one by one it'll make the construction a little bit more manageable because you're just doing maybe you're just doing like a cosmetic renovation and you don't need to do anything that's that pertains to the whole building you're not rerunning plumbing entirely or you're not redoing the entire electrical system. So that's one way to mitigate the burden of sinking cash in every month after month because you'll still have maybe two of the three units paying.   Ben Shelley: [00:13:26] And I think that's a particularly important point because when you're underwriting your deal oftentimes people want to just put in whatever the market rent is. And it's really important I understand that even if there is a certain amount of time it takes where you know which is hard to know. But if you even knew that you know eight months down the road nine months down the road you can stabilize at market rents. There is a period of time whether it be because of what Ryan alluded to getting entrenched tenants out or having to put up with maybe below market rents in order to to expedite this process and maybe not have it to go through something like an eviction that you're probably not going to be generating those rents from the word go even after renovation. So you know one of the things to that point I wanted to talk about was sort of the beginning of of the underwriting process and I know this is a lot of what I do for. For Ryan and John so. So I guess for a smaller deal I think one of the first things that's important to do is is try to properly. Well the first thing you want to do is look at your comps right. And we kind of talked about that in the context of finding your geographic location so going to move forward from that and talk more about your revenue particularly as it pertains to rent. I mean it's. Sorry John.   John Errico: [00:14:30] No I was just saying maybe we can frame it in the context of explaining some of the terms that real estate investors use like cap rate cash on cash. Ah I think that the cap rate is sort of a unique real estate term that people don't fully cap rate is very broadly speaking that operated net operating income divided by the value of the asset that you buy. Normally people look. So net operating income itself is a little bit of a term of art in the real estate context generally net operating income is the revenue that you're generating from rents or from whoever you use your property minus the expenses that you're generating or that your properties accruing at any given time. Normally you don't consider debt service normally you don't consider debt service in the context of calculating it. So you like your mortgage payment interest principle would not be part of the calculation. And investors talk about cap rate. Normally they say like X cap or X numbers like a six cap would be a six percent cap rate seven capital seven percent cap rate and one of the joys of using cap rates to analyze properties even if you're looking at a smaller like a 2-family or three friendly property is that you can compare properties of different asset classes almost using the same metrics. So if you have a 2-family property in say northern New Jersey and you know that's a seven cap for some reason and you have a 2-family property in New Haven and that's a nine cap well you've essentially analyzed away all the differences and all of the details and you're just looking at one number to compare it at a high level.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:16:06] I say that the general theory behind that is first and foremost the reason that I believe at least there isn't that cap rate is exclusive of debt service which is in this context a mortgage payment.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:16:19] The reason that cap rates are exclusive of that is is that your financing is more specific to the specific investor and to that investors strategy than to the property itself. So the cap rate is supposed to be a means of analyzing these specific property from investor to investor be and that should not be clouded by whatever your investment strategy is like something like the cash on cash return would be or even IRR or return on equity or whatever other metric you would look at.   Ben Shelley: [00:16:51] And I was only just going to give a caveat to say that while the cap rate is and is a very effective metric to compare deal by deal it's important to recognize maybe two things one especially when you're working on smaller properties oftentimes in more distressed areas. Oftentimes the cap can be inflated just because the numbers you're playing with are smaller so when you're talking about what you're netting versus the value of the property right. If that number is smaller generally speaking the number the cap rate you're going to see could be eight plus versus maybe like a four to eight and a more institutional area.   John Errico: [00:17:20] It's a good point because when you looking at smaller properties you realize that say you're looking at a 2-family property a property with two apartments. If you for example miscalculate the rent by 5 percent that will tremendously impact your bottom line or if you say well I'm assuming that it's a 2-family but one of the units you know is a lot smaller or one of the units I just can't run for five months of the year that has an enormous impact on your bottom line. But if you had a 50 family building and you had one year that you couldn't rent for five months. Well it doesn't we have a huge impact. So in another way to look at it is so you have a 2-family building and you have two boilers and one of the boilers breaks. That's a pretty significant expense that that will very severely impact your bottom line which is if you have a 50 family house 50 unit apartment and you have some history that say costs five thousand dollars which would be like the cost of a new boiler that's not going to be severely impact your bottom line. So it's it gets into a larger question about why do large hedge funds and whatever else invest in very large multifamily properties as opposed to like a 2-family property and why the management challenges of owning a portfolio of say 10 2-family properties might be different than a 20 unit property but generally speaking one idea is because the sensitivity to expenses and incomes are way different on a two year 15 year property.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:18:46] It's also important to bear in mind that these numbers are generally based off of performance they're estimates. So on paper if someone is talking about a property buying at about buying a property at a 10 cap they're generally talking about based on their projections and those projections as John just alluded to will vary a lot more for a smaller property than a larger property. Year one you may see a 2-family if you get hit with a lot of maintenance you may effectively operate at a five cap and then year two once you're stabilized if you have no tenants move out you might be looking at an 18 cap. So it's important to understand the volatility in these numbers and to ensure that your expectations are in line with that. The other thing I want to point out is that the cap rate the cap rate itself is effectively the unlevered rate a rate of return on the asset. So if you're looking at a 10 cap what that means is if you buy a property if you buy that property for a million dollars at a 10 cap with no debt whatsoever. So you don't get a loan on the property. That means that you should if it performs at a 10 cap you should earn a 10 percent rate of return on your money. And the idea is that if you're able to get a loan on top of it to get a loan on the property the cost of that loan is going to be less than the cap rate which is going to increase your returns because you'll be buying you'll be borrowing money at let's say a rate of 5 percent interest and the property will be quote unquote earning money at a 10 percent rate. So when you look at your blended rate of return it's going to be much higher than the 10 percent cap rate that you would be seeing if you bought it all cash and two to bookend that conversation on cap to both of their points right.   Ben Shelley: [00:20:39] If you as an individual investor are looking at a smaller project and you see in a cap and you see a 7 cap it's important to again understand that there are other factors in play so for example maybe the the property with an a cap is generating more cash in the next year two years even three years. But the seven cap property might be new construction which for whatever reason is taking time to to bring in tenants or what have you who knows what the reasons are might be in better shape for the future and that's where understanding appreciation and also not looking too closely at only one metric can be really.   John Errico: [00:21:12] I mean yeah it's it's a fair point. I mean with all these metrics like cap rate cash or metric yeah you're you can make amazing returns but you could have a like a 15 cap and only be quote unquote cash flowing like two or three dollars a month. Yeah. And your because it doesn't take into account the debt. Well it also meant taking the cash the properties were 30 grand. So it's different than absolute returns.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:21:35] But the other thing is that these I think John alluded to this earlier this is way more of an art than a science. So you can have you can have two experienced brokers or two experienced developers underwriting a similar deal or an identical deal and one could come out to a seven cap. One could have a nine cap and when you're dealing with larger numbers that's a huge variance and it could be for various reasons it could be because one of them maybe has more experience managing that asset class. One of them may see a way to increase expenses or decrease expenses or increase income but I think that's a good segue way to the next topic which is how you arrive at the NOI and ultimately how you underwrite cash flows.   John Errico: [00:22:22] Know very broadly I would say cap rate is not the only way to analyze properties. So there is cash on cash return. There's I would say monthly cash flow which is maybe not like I'm like a form of formal analysis but it just a way to look at it and there there's IRR which is basically was not relevant to not particularly useful to calculate unless you're very aware of what your exit might be and when it might be. But I mean we could talk very briefly about what those are before we go on this but I mean they all use the same inputs but they have different results for you cash and cash return is very broadly a measurement of the sort of year. I'm not actually sure at a high level the best way to describe it.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:23:10] It's cash on cash return displays. It's the relationship between the cash flow so the amount of money that you are clearing on an annual basis and the amount of cash that you have invested in a particular property. So if you bought this the straightest way to look at this is for something that's stabilized. So you buy at a turnkey 10 family that's already rented and already stabilized and your plans upon purchasing it are to just kind of like continue operations as they are. So it's a you buy it at a 10 cap. So you put 25 percent down so you put $250,000 down obtain a mortgage for 750 with closing costs and whatever reserves you need to put in maybe you're all in at three hundred thousand dollars invested into the property and your cash flowing thirty five three thousand dollars a month. The way to calculate the cash on cash return in this context would be the three thousand dollars a month over 12 months.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:24:20] That's thirty six thousand dollars a year divided by your three hundred thousand dollars invested in the property. It's a little over 10 percent return cash on cash which is a pretty good for.   John Errico: [00:24:34] Pretty good depending on risk adjusted for risk strategy in the area and the advantage of cash on cash returns as Ryan alluded to is that it takes into consideration debt and leverage. And so your cash and cash return can change substantially depending on it.   John Errico: [00:24:50] So one common strategy in buying whole investing that we get into would be the you know the BRRRR strategy or whatever you want to call it which would be buy renovate rent refinance and then repeat. So the idea is that you buy a property you have a fair amount of equity in the property to begin with. You spend money on renovations which is even more equity than you read it out and then you refinance refinance meaning that your property is appreciated in value because of all the work that you've done for it and maybe you got a good deal anyways and you take a bunch of equity out that will very very significantly impact your cash and cash return because all of a sudden you go from say having one hundred grand hypothetically the property to maybe having no money in the property or 10 grand in the property. You can have like you know quote unquote infinite cash and cash returns because maybe even got money back just to buy the property. So those are that and will not necessarily show up in it in a cap rate analysis and we'll maybe have negative impacts in a cash flow sense because now your basis and now you're the value of property is higher and your mortgage rates going to be higher in excess of your mortgage amount is going to be higher but it will impact in a huge way your cash and cash returns.   Ben Shelley: [00:25:57] And I think it's just important to quickly to note that the distinguishing difference here from an actual calculation standpoint for people who are underwriting their individual deals right is for example cap rate which is dividing your NOI by the value of the property versus here where you're I'd like to turn in net cash after debt because you're also accounting for your debt service divided by the total cash invested which gives gives you a different slightly different metric and a different look when you talk about sort of your blended results assumptions and returns for how you want to approach analyzing the deal.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:26:28] Yeah. Just to add a little more color to the last example the So you buy if you buy that same property at a 10 cap and you buy it all cash the 10 cap means that you're effectively going to see a 10 percent cash on cash return as well. Whereas in this scenario with leverage the thirty six thousand dollars a year cash flow and cash flow on a three hundred thousand dollar investment yield about a twelve percent return. So the idea there is you're using leverage you're using debt to juice your cash on cash returns. To John's point before about the bird strategy the idea there is to achieve those kind of infinite returns but that also kind of highlights the deficiencies of cash on cash return as a metric because what that doesn't necessarily take into account is when you receive the cash it it doesn't. It's agnostic to the timing of cash flows. So IRR is one metric that a lot of investors like to use because that quantifies in some way whether you're receiving that refinance cash whether you're like pulling your equity back out in month one or in month 13 or in month 9 or not until the very end of the project and Year 5 or whatever it may be.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:27:47] So that's going to be a huge driver of returns when you're looking at things from an IRR standpoint in.   John Errico: [00:27:53] IRR is the easiest metric I think to compare real estate returns with returns from other types of investments. So cap rate is pretty generally only used in the real estate context. Cash and cash return I suppose could be used in different contexts but I've never never really seen it used outside of the real estate context personally but IRR you could say well I can make x percent on my my my bond or in return from the stock market or on my Treasury bill or whatever I invest there or investing in a private equity fund or any space or invest in a private equity fund absolutely or you know I can compare it to what I would make on a property investment. So IRR the only way to calculate are truly is retrospectively after you've already disposed of the asset or received all the cash you can receive. But it is possible to prospectively guess that well I could receive this cash flow at this point and I could exit the property at this amount at this point. So when we do that type of analysis which we do for the purposes of our private equity fund we just guess and say Well I think we're going to exit the property what would it be if we exit the property in a year and two years three years whatever educated guess.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:29:02] Of course of course. And then to turn us back in a little bit with how it applies to I think most of what we do. The kinds of rental property that are in the two to four families base frankly in my opinion it's overkill to do a real deep dive into the numbers in this way for let's say a 2-family rental because as John alluded to before there's so much variance between between what your quote unquote cap rate is going to look like between what you're IRR is going to look like and so on and so forth. When you're dealing with such a small property and you're dealing with such swings from there a vacancy or from some kind of repair and maintenance or cap ex. So. The way that I actually like to approach most of these is to kind of I guess more subjectively the way what the cash flow is against what the equity is against what the kind of quote unquote risk and effort required is for any given deal. So just to give you an example of how how that might look. We have some stuff with some property in Montclair New Jersey which is an affluent suburb with a nice downtown big community commuter population. We also have rentals in a rental property in Newark New Jersey which has a much different reputation. So. High level I might say I'm looking for. I'm looking to clear a thousand dollars a month on this on any given rental property purchase because if it's anything below that then it's a not worth my time and b I don't feel safe enough knowing that there are going to be there are going to be weeks or months or years. And I want to make sure that I have enough cushion to weather any kind of storm but that's also factored in with a lot that's also factored in with where the property is located. So if I'm in Newark let's say I know that that is not as strong of a real estate market and in a downturn values there are going to suffer. And and there's going to be you know not as much of a pool of buyers and long term. It's a different it's a different tenant profile it's a different I would say like operational burden from a management standpoint whereas something in Montclair you're dealing with a different class of tenant. You're not generally dealing with higher income earners. So in my opinion you have a greater likelihood of achieving some kind of rent growth there because you're dealing with a population that is generally seeing wage growth which is ultimately what's going to support rent growth. And then from an operational standpoint while you may be dealing with as John and I often kind of joke about you're dealing with a lot of people who don't want to be plunging a toilet or changing a lightbulb. So sometimes you have to provide a little bit more of a white glove service when it comes to management but at the end of the day you have less concerns that they're not gonna be able to pay their rent or that they're going to stiff you on the rent or that they're going to trash your place when they when they leave. So there is an economic value to that.   John Errico: [00:32:11] Yeah it brings up a larger point maybe we can get into right now which is what are the inputs to all of these forms analysis and I would say the very very top level input would be rents or rental income. That's generally the you know revenue or income side of the equation. So why do we talk a little bit about how to figure out what rents are and how to figure out vacancy rates.   Ben Shelley: [00:32:36] Yeah sure I mean I mean just very quickly but base level right once you when you're looking at an area you know it's sort of the same way that you're identifying from last episode where you're going to invest the next step would be to look at comps to try to determine what the average rents are in the area for your specific property and unit. So I think it's worth mentioning. I know this sounds simple but obviously there's a difference between renting studios first one bedrooms or two bedrooms or three bedroomsetc. and even within that context you want to know OK are you renting individual units are you renting the property out as a whole home as a single family versus multifamilyetc.   Ben Shelley: [00:33:12] And then also take into account what is the unit mix within your property. So some units I think a lot of people say oh you either rent two bedrooms or you rent three bedrooms well just as a case in point I was looking at a property the other day in New Haven and these two properties were all one one bedroom and one three bedroom. So understanding your unit mix as well as important. So once you determine through comps et cetera what your average rents are going to be for those different types of units then you want to take into account I think any other factors that might make you revenue. So for example does your unit have parking space. And if it does do you rent that out to tenants. So if you're renting out you can additionally add those types of revenue streams to at least I like to to your total revenue as it pertains to rental income because I consider that again you're probably paying a parking space by month. And then as John and Ryan alluded to you want to try to discount that rental by a certain vacancy percentage which is really just a guess to how long per unit would any given unit on a given month or any given year be vacant because as we know every day you have a unit that's vacant in his day you're losing money. So it's very very important to not just include a vacancy rate but to try to be as close and as accurate as you possibly can.   John Errico: [00:34:23] I think it's really important what you said shouldn't be glossed over it's important to include a vacancy rate because a lot of people would say oh I have a great you know that the rental demand is really high. My area and I'm always going to find a tenant that may be true but if you have a tenant leave who just doesn't wanna renew their lease. Maybe you can line up a tenant who's going to come in right after the person leaves. But more than likely you're probably gonna have to get in there paint the unit. Do something fix it up whatever you have to do so that at the absolute minimum you're gonna spend half a month maybe more likely a month just to get the unit turned around. So even in a very very high demand market you might still have a month of vacancy. Even per year. So at the very minimum I would say include a vacancy rate in some way and then adjusted upwards if you think that the rental demand is lower.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:35:13] Other factors are at play not to get too in depth there and to kind of lose sight of the topic at hand which is understanding the income and expense but there's also a difference between physical vacancy and economic vacancy. So economic vacancy is also intended to keep and to take into account other factors like not just how much money you're losing because a unit is taken but also oftentimes it's kind of embedded. It also has like a bad debt number embedded in there which would be bad a bad debt write off from an accounting standpoint is the amount that you are foregoing because of an inability to collect. So if you're in an area where you have if you have a 20 unit building in just about any market it's going to vary depending on where you are but chances are you're going to run into tenants who are not going to pay. We're dealing with this right now and one of our properties actually with arguably multiple tenants in one of the properties we have one eviction ongoing which means obviously that tenant is not paying. We have another tenant who is I would say paying habitually late and is somewhat somewhat troubling to deal with this.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:36:30] Well at the generals we thought we were a white glove service but that's a separate issue but this actually highlights the importance of screening your own tenant and not inheriting tenants.   John Errico: [00:36:43] To be clear we didn't choose any of these tenants.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:36:45] They they came with the primary vote shows us the economic vacancy kind of takes takes these things into account.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:36:53] The other thing I like to think about is what does a 4 percent vacancy mean so that in most in most contexts a four point four percent vacancy is indicative of any of an extremely strong market. But when you take when you think about it in the way that John just described 4 percent economic vacancy essentially translates to I think about two weeks of lost rent quote unquote over the course of a year. So if you think about one full month one full month of vacancy is about 8 percent of the year. So if you divide that in half that's 4 percent. So essentially what that means is if you're underwriting a 4 percent economic vacancy that means that you're expecting that on average you're gonna be seeing about two months of lost rent over the course of the year which when you think about the logistics and you think about things from a practical standpoint if you have a tenant leave I would say two weeks to have one from the time that one tenant leaves to the time that you clean the apartment that you make any repairs to the time that you lease it out to the time that that person moves in is extremely optimistic and probably a best case scenario.   John Errico: [00:38:03] And it's another you know a lot of investors rag on rent control and rent stabilized buildings which is you know a whole different time may be warranted. Yeah but one thing that you will have in a rent controlled or rent stabilized building assuming it's controlled or stabilize below market rents is that you're probably not going to have a lot of vacancies as long as you pick tenants that are going to pay rent. So just you know other a lot of things go into the rents and the vacancy rate.   Ben Shelley: [00:38:31] So I guess just just to sort of go back to you know general income an expense. Right so let's just say your total revenue including rents and any other affiliated income streams are added up to one hundred thousand dollars and you had a 10 percent vacancy so that's $10,000. So you're your net revenue from rent if you proportion that altogether is about $90,000 and then what you tend to want to do is go through your expenses. So obviously there are closing costs affiliated with purchasing the property and then there's holding as well but for the purpose of just rentals probably want to start by talking about fixed and variable expenses. So for your fixed expenses as an example you're talking about expenses that no matter what happens you know through through a lot. So what's the expression like hell and high water you're gonna have to pay these and those things include taxes insurance your mortgage payment. I tend to like to include utilities as a fixed expense because even if you are passing through a lot of those expenses to tenants you're going to have to pay some proportion of that or at least that might amount of money is owed to somebody all the time.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:39:33] Point out that if we're looking at we're looking at deriving NY mortgage expansion B Well that is going to fix that.   Ben Shelley: [00:39:41] Yeah and I at the end I was gonna maybe make a caveat. I don't know he doesn't believe me but I promise. This is how I look when you send us you're like Deal somebody right.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:39:51] I know that you have it in there but I know that when I when I think about it or when I think about it and it's gonna expert anyway for anyway purposes it's tricky.   John Errico: [00:39:58] One the major caveat one major thing to say is that everything that we're talking about is a yearly just people that get used all these calculations that done on a yearly basis not a monthly basis or whatever.   Ben Shelley: [00:40:07] And this is something that I that I took from from Ryan and John but oftentimes what we'll do is we'll separate the periods even refinancing aside let's just take out of the picture where we'll calculate the cost right. Equity required and just general affiliated costs up until the time that we lease up and then extrapolate out over the course of a year to see what the property looks like stabilized for one full year which may or may not be helpful for. For you guys out there but putting that aside once you calculate your fixed expenses and will take out the make sure to take out the mortgage for the NY thank you then you would look at your variable expenses these are expenses that can change year to year.   John Errico: [00:40:40] So things like just to touch it if you look we're going to talk about utilities as a fixed expense so the utilities are I think a I think a big a big one to think about. A lot of investors grossly miscalculate what the utility costs will be. And they also change depending on the nature of the property. So as an example used before he might have a property that has separate heat and hot water that is not super uncommon for smaller multifamily properties particular the northeast. So each property has their own boiler or furnace or whatever and they each have their own say hot water heater. In that case you generally as a landlord will pass the cost of heating and hot water through to the tenant because there is a separate meter and system for each tenant in a larger building or in a different building. You might have one central heating system like one boiler or one hot water heater and in that case you as the landlord will almost always pay for the cost of heat or hot water. You may be in a good great world would be able to in some way pass the costs along to the tenant but if you're looking at comps online oftentimes it's not entirely clear if the unit has heat and hot water included in the unit or the landlord pays it or whatever. Having said all that that calculus is significant also because you might even though the tenants say pay for heating hot water use the landlord is responsible for servicing the boiler and the hot water heater so you might though you might gain on the fact you don't have to pay those types of utilities every month every year for tenants that pay their own heat and hot water. You might lose because you know all the sudden you have say three or four boilers to maintain as opposed to one boiler and the costs of replacing a boiler for a four family unit and the cost of a boiler for a one family unit might be a little bit different but it's not way different. So there are pluses and minuses to having separate utilities in larger buildings particularly in the Northeast. It will almost always be the case that there will be one central heating unit and one central one high well positioned say that I love.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:42:52] I've seen them separated pretty pretty early and even when there's one they're not separated even when they're not separated.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:42:59] I think a lot of landlords have transition to a rub system ratio ratio utility billing system I think it's called where they essentially pass the costs through to the tenants and just kind of build them build them back in a pro-rata fashion.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:43:16] So regardless of whether they are metered separately or not.   Ben Shelley: [00:43:19] So this is from by the way I mean we got John here unbiased top property manager probably in Hudson County. I mean I I take it it's so important. I'm glad you stopped me there because it really is important like all of these calculations matter. You know if you and like John alluded to earlier as well it's like OK let's say you pass even if you pass all your expenses. If a boiler goes down you are responsible as the landlord for that payment so you also want to allocate certain capital resources to those emerging nations.   John Errico: [00:43:46] The overarching point is just understand the utility expenses. There are also a hidden utility costs in Hudson County as you just mentioned but you have to pay sewerage costs which is not the case in other counties in New Jersey and across the country.   Ben Shelley: [00:43:58] So Mayor Stack we're totally okay with it. Really.   John Errico: [00:44:00] I promise I love it. I love it I love it at the North Hudson Sewage Authority. One of the greatest utilities on Earth. So to the bank one way to figure it out just ask.   John Errico: [00:44:11] I mean you could ask the prior owner the chances of you know for a smaller multifamily property them having great records to give you are low but conceivably or you could just ask another property investor in the area like hey need to see your utility bill for a two or three family property to be able to get.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:44:26] You may be able to get it from the utility itself to maybe.   John Errico: [00:44:29] Yeah I don't know. I mean you could try but yeah. So when you're doing your due diligence make sure to figure out that no because even in a 2-family property say you're off by a thousand dollars for utility costs are per year. That's the law. Yeah that's going to really impact your bottom line.   Ben Shelley: [00:44:47] Yeah I mean especially where our numbers are so when you're talking about again multi-family properties. Any discrepancy even you may think it's just five hundred six hundred dollars. That makes a big difference in your bottom line and it makes a big difference in the totality of calculation you have for a lot of the metrics that we talked about which I'll I'll get into when we finish the breakdown. So just again to quickly run through it we talked about some of our fixed expenses. So just some of the variable expenses again these are expenses that would change potentially year to year as you're you're managing your property so things like admin expenses which might be fees affiliated with filing taxes or any kind of documentation you have to go back and forth that you have to pay for things like supplies things like maintenance costs something that's also really really important to try to allocate correctly probably best to be conservative when it comes to to maintenance costs and also very important which we're very familiar with a management fee right. If most people aren't. Well I would say in the multi-family sphere you see this more often especially if you are for example a house hacker. But most people are going to pay an outside company or source to manage their property. So is there a management fee. And if so what is the percentage of your gross rent that you're paying out to that manager. So it's usually I think somewhere between 5 and 8 percent. I know for a lot of the properties John that you work on you charge a percent but that depends on some sort.   John Errico: [00:45:59] I think it's probably between five and twelve percent but really it really depends on the market and the property for sure.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:46:05] And it could be a lot lower even for say a multi hundred unit building it could be lower three to three to five and that is I say is more more of the norm but the as a practice whether you plan to self manage or not it's it's good to put a management fee in there when you're underwriting a property because whether it's because you continue to acquire and kind of grow out of self managing or because you grow tired of self managing it's highly likely that at some point you may consider hiring or outsourcing Robert property management. And if you do that you want to know that your property can support it.   John Errico: [00:46:42] Yeah. And management is a whole other sphere that we can get into at some other point. But just to touch on it very briefly beyond the numbers that we're talking about just having. Either the ability yourself to manage the property or having a good property manager is very very very important and very very valuable. And I have used third party property managers that have been great some that have been really bad and it is a large component that goes into buying a property and thinking about how to rent it out and even to our previous conversation before about location. Sometimes just having a good property manager that you can trust in an area could be a factor as to why you might want to invest there and what other side too is if you buy a say 2-family property in the middle of nowhere or someplace where you don't have an infrastructure setup it's going to be hard to find it's often to be hard to find a property manager who just going to want to manage your 2-family property. A lot of property managers are interested in managing portfolios bigger properties know whatever it might be.   John Errico: [00:47:45] So just take that into consideration if you're investing not in your own backyard where you can't actually manage it yourself.   John Errico: [00:47:50] How you like think about how could I find a good property manager how much is that going to cost how it's going to be set upetc.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:47:56] And that property manager is also likely going to be your gateway to a good plumber or a good electrician or a good carpenter or a good pest control company and that's going to truly inform your experience probably more so than anything outside of buying the property.   John Errico: [00:48:11] Like for some properties that I manage it's really like I am essentially the owner of the property because everything you know for that property will flow through me like I might be responsible for making sure that the utilities are paid that the taxes are paid. Collecting rent to have access to the bank account everything else. So to the tenants of that property I am the landlord. I manage the property they have no idea that I don't personally own or have any equity interest in it. So think about that too. You know this property manager the sort of person that you want your tenants to deal with all the time is like the face of the property to really manage to operate the the logistics of the property.   Ben Shelley: [00:48:51] And I think again to their point it's worth first taking into your calculation just for for both conservative purposes but also for purposes of it's likely that you'll end up using a property manager if this is one of your first investments and particularly if you're going somewhere further away from you. So if you're talking about an hour drive two hour drive or even further it really is essential but also understanding that it may well may be difficult to find a property manager for an area that you're unfamiliar with that it can be essential and can also actually in the long run cost the side help increase help juice your bottom line because if they're the ones consistently handling maintenance issues collecting rent that can be a boon for your for your total rental revenue.   Ben Shelley: [00:49:31] And so the only thing left to do once you have your revenue and income and expenses is to do the calculations to get you your final assumptions so you know for us these are smaller deals so we can talk in the second but what.   John Errico: [00:49:45] Maybe one less thing on expenses not to totally gloss over it but would be I think you mentioned too that repairs and sort of highlight the same thing.   Ben Shelley: [00:49:54] I'm doing the overhead.   John Errico: [00:49:55] You guys get into the weeds so that's another thing that property investors will often miscalculate or under overestimate the way. So I'm thinking you have a great great is maybe not the right word. There is a property manager in New Haven that we've used in the past is a real character a great guy and he was trying to sell me a property a couple of years ago that he had owned for about seven or eight years and so he was walking through those properties for five family property and he said well I said to him like why do you want to sell this property.   Ben Shelley: [00:50:32] And I said I juiced it and I think we've talked about this on a previous ad before. I think so. Now to talk about it again it is very relevant here.   John Errico: [00:50:41] Well you haven't caught that episode just yet.   Ben Shelley: [00:50:44] We're listening John. Thanks.   John Errico: [00:50:47] So yeah he said he juiced it which means that he had the everything that you have in the property has an economic life a useful life. You under describe it including the property itself but aspects of the property that have defined life terms would be the roof your boiler your hot water heater maybe some of your fixtures in your bathroom. These are the things that you install and you know that at some point you gonna have to replace them. So maybe like a cheap roof might last you 10 years a hot water heater is probably not gonna last you more than 10 or 15 years. So what he meant in that context was that he put money into the property. Day one that he bought it and now seven eight nine years later all of the stuff that you put in now needs to be replaced. So all of a sudden there's gonna be a big cost to replace the roof and the hot water heater and the boiler and whatever else. The way to look at that in the context of what I was saying with with repairs and maintenance is that those expenses that you have to pay for a hot water heater whatever are not going to be born every year like in year to year three or four you're going to have to pay money to replace a hot water heater but you're going to have to pay a lot of money after Year 10. So the way to to underwrite it or to think about it is women look at that expense and then just divide that total expense by the number of years that I have. So I might put in my budget that my repairs and maintenance are twenty five hundred dollars a year. But there might be two or three years I don't pay a dollar to that or pay ten dollars and there might be one year where I pay eight thousand dollars. So over the lifespan over the three or four year period of time and I'm looking the average might be that number. But in any given year it might not be that exact number and it's important if you look at a property you know say the owner might say oh I didn't spend any money on maintenance last year. Okay great. That does mean that the cost that you should underwrite is zero dollars. It just means that maybe you know nothing bad happened that year but next year you know this year to replace a boiler for our properties cost me a boiler and hot water heater cost me seven thousand dollars. But last year I didn't have to do anything so cost me five bucks there.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:52:45] I'd like to have a distinction between repairs and maintenance and capital expenditures. So repairs and maintenance are generally classified as maintenance of existing fixtures maintenance maintenance and overall maintenance of the property. So that might be things like going and unclogging a toilet or patching a hole in the drywall from somebody who took down a picture. Little things like that that are just more so upkeep than a true replacement. I think a lot of things that John alluded to are more so classified as capital expenditures which also as you alluded to have a pre-defined lifespan and it's just an inevitability that there's gonna be concern that those are going to have to be addressed. So when you're looking at your quote unquote repairs a maintenance number it's important to take both sides of the equation into account. And oftentimes as this this also comes back to the idea of applying context to your investment. So if you're buying something that you're maybe getting a little bit of a deal on but it's an older house it hasn't been renovated needs a little bit of love. Need some cleanup maybe hasn't been lived in for a little bit. You can. You can bet that in the first year or two you're going to find out where the leaks are you're going to find out where the warts of the property are and you're going to be spending on both repairs and maintenance and probably some capital expenditure items if you didn't pick them up immediately anyway. And on the same token you may buy something that is perfectly that is turnkey and that was renovated right. And it may be reasonable for you to assume that in year one year to year 3 your repair maintenance number is gonna be pretty low because most of those items that John alluded to earlier have already been addressed and you shouldn't need to deal with them again. Let's say that John you also know manager property that was recently renovated but was not renovated to the standard that one would expect and so despite the fact that it's renovated I think there's been a fair amount of expenditures on the repairs and maintenance side just to address some subpar renovations.   John Errico: [00:54:50] Yeah I think the way to look at it. I think we even talked about this in the previous episode is that even though there are events that happen infrequently it doesn't mean that they'll never happen. So even if you have a property that's been recently renovated everything is OK. You could still have a pipe that will leak but just the way that it is. So I I could probably count it. You know I manage quite a few properties. I can probably count less than maybe there are one or two of the properties that I manage which is like over 10 properties each of which have multiple units that has never had a pipe leak in the time that I've managed it. And doesn't matter if the pipes are new or old or whatever it is just the way that it happens. So does it happen every day. No but it does happen. So even things that are infrequent are going to happen sometimes. Doesn't matter how old how young what the status is whatever. So the only way I mean if you really really really want to control your maintenance issues is to do preventative maintenance and I would say do it yourself. Don't rely on a previous property owner to have done quote unquote preventative maintenance because as Ryan mentioned even properties that are newly renovated you have no idea the standards that the previous construct. Contractor construction person whatever used to apply to it if you want to get it done then be preventative yourself. But I would say do it yourself and make sure it's done right.   Ben Shelley: [00:56:11] Yeah I mean it was crazy not to mention the idea of cap ex capital putting aside a capital reserve you know a lot of the things that we're doing here when they're smaller deals we're looking just a year one so renovation to lease up through through a full year year and a half. But even with something as small as that to looking at something over a 10 year 10 year exit you got to have some sort of proportion put aside of your of your income put aside to address these possible concerns.   John Errico: [00:56:35] Yeah. So that's that's a great point to bring up as well that the way that I always think about properties whether I own them or manage them is that they're that there will be a pool of money and you can call it like an emergency fund or a capital reserve fund or repair fund or whatever want to call it that is usually at least equal to the deductible of the the insurance that you have in the property but oftentimes is larger. I would suggest to be larger because for various reasons you might not want to make an insurance claim or whatever it is you want to be covered insurance but long story short is that for the first year or two of the property if you're thinking about a property as like a cash flow machine I the way that I operate and what suggest operating is taking the income that you're generating from the property you're your net operating income and putting it into a separate fund or a bank account for the property and waiting until that reaches a certain amount maybe it's 1 percent of the purchase price 2 percent of the purchase price the value whatever you want to use for me and a lot of 2-family properties it's often like 10 grand or something around there and don't touch that money at all until it gets that point once it matures beyond 10 grand start making distributions to yourself or to investors or whatever might be but keep the money in there so that you know on a rainy day if you have like and like what happened to me this year I had a seven thousand dollar expense just come out of nowhere. Well I had ten thousand dollars in my account so yeah my accounts now down to three thousand dollars but I didn't have to go into a credit card saving you know whatever might be. I just had the money sitting right there and I didn't make an insurance claim for other reasons that we can get into at some other point but but it's nice to have the security so that's I think I would highly advocate it touches back to the point before about not being undercapitalized and buying a property. This is not being undercapitalized when maintaining a property going forward.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:58:22] That's a great point. And I think if you want to understand why we don't always believe in NOI when we see one or we don't always believe the numbers that a broker or a wholesaler or another investor is showing to us me then you want to understand why we're maybe skeptical about the numbers that we see it's because if you go through each and every one of these line items there is a certa

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John and Ryan discuss an upcoming renovation project in Livingston, New Jersey. The two debate potential exit strategies and play out various scenarios. (Transcript below.) Ep. 3 - The Anatomy of a Deal in North Jersey - Transcript   Ben Shelley: [00:00:07] Welcome to the Brick by Brick Podcast where we take you from the ground up on all things real estate. I'm your host Ben Shelley. We are fortunate to have back with us today the partners of Liberty Hudson Ryan Goldfarb and John Errico. The focus of today's episode is a very common investors' question. How do I determine the highest and best use for my real estate investment. For this discussion the focus will be on the residential real estate market and we defer to our experts to learn their thought process on deal analysis, exit strategy, and everything in between. Ryan, why don't we start with you.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:00:42] Well I guess I would I would classify it as falling into two two departments so to speak. There is the financial viability and you know from a financial perspective what is the highest and best use of a property. And then there's also the zoning component. So you know anything in midtown Manhattan or any any plot of land is going to support the absolute highest density you can build on it. You know the value that we're in the middle of Manhattan. Real estate is super valuable here. So just about any play you would attempt in a place like this is going to pencil out. The main constraint that you're working within are the zoning conditions provided by the New York City building apartment or the New York City Planning Board, zoning office. I don't know what the jurisdiction falls under exactly..   John Errico: [00:01:28] Probably many multiple...   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:01:30] Seven layers deep so high level, that's how I approach it. When we're talking about things in the residential context specifically in a more suburban setting the subset of opportunities or the subset of options is going to be a little bit more cut and dry than it would be in a place like Manhattan. If you're in the middle of a residential neighborhood you're gonna be building residential. It's probably going to be a single family. The question is whether knocking that down and building new is the play or keeping the existing footprint and renovating that is the play. Or, keeping the existing footprint and then adding onto it as the play. So this is a question that John and I have faced quite frequently in the past and the more we deal with these types of projects the better idea we'll have of what the right candidate for the right solution is.   John Errico: [00:02:24] I agree I think something that I think about when approaching this topic is what if money was not an option and that's not true because money is always limiting factor as well as time. But when considering the highest and best use for property I envision it saying well what if I had a billion dollars. What would I do in this one piece of property to make the most money off of it or to to add the most value to it? And that sometimes you can come up with creative answers that you might not have anticipated before and if you really become convinced of that you might be able to find a way to to raise that amount of money. I'm thinking of for example in Atlantic City. So I've done some investing in Atlantic City and I'm very bullish on Atlantic City for different reasons but a lot of plays in Atlantic City are really ground up redevelopment plays so ripping down existing buildings and rebuilding them. And that is very, very... It takes a lot of money to do that. It takes a lot of time to do that. But hypothetically the value to doing that on a property and selling it as something brand new could be very high. I think perhaps we could get into this topic by addressing a project that we have right now which is in Livingston northern New Jersey. Ryan, maybe you can set the field and we can talk about it.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:03:41] So we're looking at or we're under contract on a single family house in Livingston. It's a split level home which is pretty common for the area. It's on a very quiet dead end street from an intangibles perspective it ticks every box. It's in a great school district. The block itself is pretty nice. And we're looking at an entry point based on our purchase price that makes a few different plays viable. So when we were looking at this deal we were contemplating a few different, a few different options.   John Errico: [00:04:15] I think just even as a baseline statement so this is a residential area. So building something other than a single family residential home as you said to your zoning issue is just, you can't do that at all.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:04:25] More than, like, I think the max we could do is probably two and a half three stories.   John Errico: [00:04:30] Sorry yeah. So yeah, in terms of, yeah it's gonna be a single family home. It could be multiple stores but it's not going to be more density than that. And I think I'm not sure if we even really seriously consider this but the idea of doing ground up construction is just not going to be economically viable.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:04:44] Yeah for that, for that size lot, I don't think we'd be adding enough square footage for it to make sense. And given the state of the existing structure, there weren't any compelling structural issues that would have made that more advantegeous.   John Errico: [00:04:58] We came to this conclusion by looking at other stuff in the neighborhood essentially.   John Errico: [00:05:02] So we we saw this house. You were familiar, you're more familiar with because you grew up essentially around the block and so we saw this house. We were familiar with what stuff generally sold for more or less in the neighborhood and so we said OK well this house could sell for this if maybe possibly it had X Y Z. And we sort of had a decision tree maybe wasn't as formal as that but we had a decision tree where we thought okay if we did x we could make this amount of money. If we did y we can make that amount of money. If we did whatever whatever whatever. So maybe it will be interesting to discuss what the decisions were that we kind of went down.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:05:41] And on the way there. Something else that is always worth bearing in mind is what's on the block. You know as nice of a town as that may be there's a ceiling on value. So if zoning would permit a 3,500 square foot or 4,000 square foot monster to be built on a block where the average house is 2,000 square feet that may not be the right place for it. So it's always worth bearing in mind that you don't want to over improve your property and you don't want to be going above and beyond what that street will support or what that area will support. So from a very fundamental level I think that that ruled out some of the more extreme options like knocking it down and building something brand new.   John Errico: [00:06:22] Yeah I think from our perspective to it just super risky to have to try to sell the most expensive property in the neighborhood, which could have been an option with what we were doing. But I think there's an adage in real estate like the cheapest property in the neighborhood will always sell. Doesn't matter what the economic macroeconomic environment is. And I think that the most expensive property will always have a hard time selling even when things are great. So we didn't go with the most expensive kind of option.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:06:50] Yeah right. So that was that was ruled out essentially from the beginning. So the two main options that we were considering at least once we saw the place and once we saw the current condition were option A going in renovating it with a similar floor plan in mind maybe modernizing some things maybe bumping...   John Errico: [00:07:09] So this is a three bedroom as it is now ranges on renovated it's a three bedroom two and a half bathroom property with a formal family room and even in what you'd call it...   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:07:20] A family room, a rec room, a den...   John Errico: [00:07:23] A den, a kitchen, and then like a living room, dining room esque area opening up until a fairly sized backyard with an attached garage.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:07:32] And an unfinished basement   John Errico: [00:07:34] Unfinished basement, right.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:07:35] So option A was to essentially keep that same floor plan in mind and just renovate it, update it, modernize it. Maybe contemplate a few changes like opening up the kitchen to the rest of the living space again to go for a more contemporary modern open style feel. But for the most part the footprint would stay the same and there wouldn't be any noticeable difference outside of the aesthetics of the property. Option B that we were considering was to add an addition above the current primary living area. So it's a split level home. If you're not familiar with that... The way to think about it is rather than a colonial or a cape where you have one floor with another floor mirroring it right on top, you have kind of like a half level between between floors. So you have the ground floor. Then you go up about a half a set of stairs to the main living area and then you go up another half a set of half a flight of stairs to get to the bedroom area. So for an addition, what we were proposing was to put up half, or a third, half staircase to go up to an additional half flight above that living room/dining room/kitchen area to put on a master bedroom and master bathroom. These houses were built in the early 1960s so they were built with a little bit different of -- a little different style. The master bedroom in those style houses are not significantly larger than the other bedrooms. There's no real fancy en suite with a walk in shower, soaking tub, anything like that. No double vanities. So the only way to to achieve that is to build it or to significantly alter the current landscape of the floor plan.   John Errico: [00:09:26] Our premise was as Ryan alluded to before this is a neighborhood of primarily families that have moved there probably for the school district or suburban living. It's not, in contrast to say, it's not you know, young urban professionals that are commuting every day to New York. It's not renters. I mean there are people who commute for work but it's not necessarily in a family in a family context. It's not renters it's not lower income housing per se. Generally, I would say, higher, upper middle class type of a neighborhood. So that alone would dictate you wouldn't ever make sense to say convert it to some massive two bedroom or something where each bedroom is humungous. But that might maybe appeal to a renter and it wouldn't make sense to convert it to like a seven bedroom property or something that might make sense for maybe a lower income area where density is more important. So we are sort of constricted of operating in the three bedroom or four bedroom type of realm which is what we think from the neighborhood appeals to families. You know, two bedrooms probably not enough. Anything more than four bedrooms is probably crazy, doesn't make any sense.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:10:36] Right. So The main goal we had in mind was to build something that is going to be appealing to the average family looking for a newly renovated house in that area. So with the current floor plan we were looking at three bedrooms, two and a half baths, which would certainly work for some. But if you think about the average family who's buying in that area, again, on average, you're likely looking at parents, two children, maybe a golden retriever, and it's safe to assume that if you're looking for a family home, you may also want space for guests, for in-laws, for parents for cousins, whomever. So with a three bedroom layout you are constricted in the sense that if you have one child or if you have like the only one that's going to work and if you have one child or two children who are sharing a room, which at that price point is probably unrealistic. So that put the idea of the addition in play because we could get that fourth bedroom.   John Errico: [00:11:34] Right... And so to use kind of actual numbers the way that we thought about it is our kind of purchase price is $400,000. That's what we're going into it for. We had thought that the after renovated value or sort of the market value after we were done would change based on how many bedrooms we had, based on how it looked. So in a three two and a half scenario which is the current default scenario I think we get maybe what...   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:12:01] Frankly it's hard to comp that out because it's a fairly unusual, most people typically want that fourth...   John Errico: [00:12:08] Which is another issue.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:12:09] Right. Right. So whatever the scenario or whatever the number would be it is most likely a discount to what the ideal scenario would be for.   John Errico: [00:12:18] So structure. Right. Would you just call it, say, we could get $650k or something. The logic that's going through our minds and we're looking at is OK we're we're in for $400k. And of that $400k gonna put a little bit of money down and we're going to borrow the rest which we're paying interest on. So every month that we hold the property we pay interest on it. The way that we are funding it is with a hard money loan. And that's quite high interest. Not credit card interest but not traditional mortgage interest so it's maybe in the realm of like 10%. So every month that we own the property we have to pay interest on that and then we might loan more than that because we need money to renovate the property. So we're paying interest on that every month or else paying taxes, insurance, utilities, general upkeep, you know making sure the lawn is cut and whatever else you have to, you know, snow removal, which is very expensive apparently. And so, so that's that we have to do that regardless of whatever we do with the property. The variable is how much does it cost to actually renovate it or expand on it. And that price difference quite substantially if it's, we're adding a floor or we're doing an extension in some capacity versus just doing an aesthetic renovation, which as Ryan was saying before was blowing out a wall, redoing the flooring, bathroom, kitchens, and then calling it a day. So the calculus is well if I put more money in to do the extension and then I make more money am I making even more money than I would have had I not done, done any of that at all. Say I'm gonna make $50,000 after I calculate all those carrying costs and also that the sale costs I guess I should mention too are substantial so there's broker fees, attorneys fees, transfer taxes, all sorts of stuff. After all that say if I'm making $50,000 by just doing aesthetic renovation and if I were to do an addition and have to spend $150,000 more but I'd still like to make $50,000 then I would never do that because that would take me six more months to do and I would just do the easier thing which is to do do the very cheap renovation.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:14:14] Right. And anytime you add to the scope in one way or another you're complicating things. The notion of you know keep it simple stupid certainly applies to real estate and certainly applies to flipping. If you can get away with doing a cosmetic renovation not necessarily going cheap or not necessarily skimping on the scope but rather than getting too fancy with it you can, if you can make money doing that, that is typically going to be your safest play. To John's point that calculus is is applicable and is I would argue that's the right way to look at it. Something else to bear in mind as part of that is you're not just thinking about you know if you're looking at scenario A you're talking about putting one hundred thousand dollars in renovation costs to make fifty thousand dollar gross profit versus Option B of putting two hundred thousand dollars into it to make fifty thousand dollars gross profit - the difference there is not just in your hard renovation costs. The difference is also in your soft costs which would be your holding costs, i.e. taxes, insurance, snow removal, utilities, etc. as well as your financing costs which is your interest for that time period that you are holding a project.   John Errico: [00:15:26] And the opportunity cost of your time. Time is very valuable when you're doing the sorts of things you have to spend eight months on a project versus four months in a project that's four months that I have to at least devote some amount of mental energy and physical energy to do.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:15:39] And from a qualitative standpoint there's also risk in whether your plans are going to get approved, and whether the exact scope that you have planned from day one is going to be approved, and whether they're going to be alterations required to the existing systems in the building.   John Errico: [00:15:53] And what is the market going to look like in eight months?   John Errico: [00:15:55] I may know what it's gonna look like in two or three months but eight months is a long time.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:15:59] Especially when you're talking about a specific time of year. So right now where we're sitting here in November and if we close on this property in the next week or so and we go with a pretty simple - I don't wanna say no frills - but if we if we don't get too complex with the renovation having this on the market in let's say six months is quite realistic and I would argue is almost an excessively conservative estimate. But nonetheless that leaves us in the spring season getting towards summer which is by most accounts the best time to be selling a property. Whereas if we try to pop the top off, pursue an addition, and potentially pursue an extension of some sort, there's a lot more volatility on the timeline side of things that may push us out passed the summer to sell the project.   John Errico: [00:16:46] To kind of like contextualize it to the actual thing that we're we're talking about are doing.   [00:16:51] We had thought well for us maybe the addition is the only way to do it because there really aren't any properties in this neighborhood that have three bedrooms two and half bathrooms and we may just really have a hard time selling it at all if we did it. Doing the addition was something that we were hesitant about doing because we worried about the building department and whatever else so we were kind of hemming and hawing about what can we do what can we do and then you actually came up with I think a great idea which is now most likely going to be the winning idea which I'll let you describe but essentially to get both right to have add a bedroom but not have to do the addition.   [00:17:27] Right. So the thought here was what does the end buyer in this town want. And in my head It's four bedrooms, minimum two and a half bathrooms, ideally three full bathrooms. And in thinking about that we had been stuck on this idea of doing the addition which would have required obviously a more exhaustive scope from a plans and permitting standpoint. It would have required additional framing. It would have required potentially addressing some structural issues with the existing building.   John Errico: [00:17:58] A ten thousand dollars steel beam apparently...   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:18:00] Not necessarily things that are of immediate concern but things that could potentially be a concern if you're talking about adding additional load to the building. Because if you think about it these buildings were spec'd out and were framed out and designed with a specific purpose in mind and that was to to function as a split level home. So if you're adding another level on top you're talking about adding additional weight to a structure that was not intended to originally support that. So there is potential that something like that can have to be addressed in the future not to mention, you know, just the hard costs of doing that actual renovation that actual additions which would be the framing, the plumbing, the electrical, HVAC, so on and so forth. So in contemplating this I was thinking you know the angle is really to get four bedrooms. Are there any other ways we could do that? Given the existing structure and giving given the existing floor plan... And I was thinking you know for for a family of four, the three bedrooms upstairs is not necessarily a concern. The bedrooms are all pretty decent size, pretty decent sizes and there are two full bathrooms up there already. And then there's also the family room downstairs. I know something that's common is to have kind of a guest suite or at least a guest room. And I thought that something like that maybe more of like a flex room was something that would be of substantial value there. So what we proposed was to build out a closet within the family room on the first floor. A closet is typically a prerequisite to being able to list a room as a "bedroom" notwithstanding a few other requirements like minimum square footage and oftentimes a window. So that got us passed the hurdle of trying to get that fourth bedroom. The next thing was thinking about it from a functional standpoint which would be you know if you have three people living on the second floor and then you have guests saying over... It's great that they have a guest room but they have to go up two flights of stairs to use the shower or to use the bathroom.   John Errico: [00:20:03] So to contextualize at the half bathroom that we have right now that the half in the two and a half is right next to the family room.   [00:20:10] Right. So the remedy to that was the half bathroom that John just mentioned, that abuts the family room. And then on the other side of that is a laundry room. So the thought is to combine the laundry room and the half bath to achieve a full bathroom on that first floor. We may be able to relocate the washer/dryer on that first floor as well but more than likely we'll move that to the basement, which, to compensate for the fact that we're adding a bedroom on that first floor and kind of getting rid of some of the utility space or the family space in that family room, we're gonna be finishing the basement as kind of a playroom, rec room for kids again with this young family in mind. And the great part about that is even though it's a basement there are some windows down there. There is some light. It doesn't feel totally basement-y. And once it's finished and has lighting in it it certainly won't. And most kids are not 6 foot 5 like John so they're not going to have an issue with the lower ceiling height.   Ben Shelley: [00:21:15] So I know we're going to have to definitely do a part one and a part two because I think I'm on the rollercoaster ride of my life right now. I think for people who know me they can't even believe I've been silent for this long but that's how good these guys are. Now we've already got a little taste of what this will be but as a book into this segment can you tell us what is your optimal exit strategy.   [00:21:35] Yeah, from a financial standpoint our goal all along is to have the largest gross profit that we can, to make the most money that we can from the sale of the property. So Ryan's solution is is so great and so elegant because we get to essentially have a four bedroom, three bathroom property which is what we were anticipating we would have if we were to make an extension, b we don't have to actually do any structural work. And structural work as Ryan was alluding to this is very expensive. So we can have an additional bedroom that is within the footprint of the property do a mostly aesthetic renovation to the property and still sort of have all the advantages that we would have if we're to spend a lot of money. So essentially our after return amount like a four bedroom, three bathroom, we could sell in the...   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:22:27] High sixes...   John Errico: [00:22:27] Sure. So we can have that sort of exit while only putting in maybe, a hundred grand in renovation costs. We'll see.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:22:36] Give or take.   John Errico: [00:22:37] Whereas I think to do in addition we're talking more in the realm of 200 grand. Yeah probably 175 hundred.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:22:45] I would say two hundred as a starting point. Right. And part of the reason for that is everything that goes along with doing it it's not just the hard costs.   John Errico: [00:22:52] So if it all works out we will have saved if you will one hundred thousand dollars which is a substantial amount of money on a deal of this size.   Ryan Goldfarb: [00:22:58] About a hundred thousand dollars in about six months of time.   John Errico: [00:23:01] Yeah, and a lot of effort and sweat and concern and stress and etc.   Ben Shelley: [00:23:07] Well if you took notes throughout this episode you're gonna have at least the base tools to understand and execute a proper analysis of a deal that you're doing particularly in Livingston but in wider New Jersey residential market. And I appreciate how you guys took us through all the different scenarios blowing the top off versus a general rehab and whether or not you would you just sort of cosmetic lift versus maybe some more serious work. I know I appreciate this I know the listeners appreciate it and guys thank you for your time and your expertise as always.   Ben Shelley: [00:23:46] And thank you for listening to the Brick by Brick Podcast where we take you from the ground up on all things real estate. We will continue to bring you the best and brightest the real estate world has to offer as we leave no stone unturned in helping you, the everyday investor. Thanks for listening.  

You may have already received Jesus as Lord of your life, but He has more than that for you. That was the first step. The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is the next step in your spiritual walk with God. If you are satisfied with the new birth and think that is all God has for you, then you are missing a powerful blessing promised by the Lord to all believers. God has much for you! The Baptism of the Holy Spirit, with the manifestation of speaking in other tongues, is what opens the door to infinite possibilities with God. We will show you what the Bible says about it, and then it will be up to you to receive this glorious experience.  Acts 2:3, 4 And suddenly there came from heaven a sound as of a rushing mighty wind, and it filled the house where they were sitting. And there appeared unto them tongues as of fire splitting off (into individual fires); and these sat upon each one of them. And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and began to speak with other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. The apostles and all the people that gathered (120 individuals) had already received the Holy Spirit into their lives and hearts. They had already been regenerated and received Jesus as their Lord before Acts 2:4. Can we prove this? John 20:19-22 The doors were shut where the disciples were gathered... Jesus came and stood in the middle of them, and said to them, “Peace (shalom) to you!” And after He said that, He showed them His hands and His side. Then the disciples were glad when they saw it was the Lord! Then Jesus said to them again, “Peace to you. As My Father has sent me, even so I send you.” And when He had said this, He breathed on them and said to them, Receive the Holy Spirit. Notice that they received the Holy Spirit at this time. This was before Jesus ascended visibly into heaven. They received the Spirit of Christ as it says in Romans 8:9-11, and the Holy Spirit came inside them, and they were born of the Spirit. Yet, Jesus explained to them that something else was needed from the Holy Spirit to empower them and propel them into the supernatural things of God. Right before His ascension into heaven He said: Luke 24:49 I send the promise of My father on you. But stay in the city of Jerusalem until you are clothed with power from on high.   The underlined phrases are essential for your understanding. Jesus was saying that receiving the Holy Spirit inside of them (the new birth) was not all that there was to the promise of the Father. God had more in mind for His people. The second thing here is the fact that it would be like being clothed with power. Therefore, it was power from on high that would be like wearing a cloak or a set of clothes on the outside. God wanted more for them than only an internal and personal experience with God, though that was the beginning. He wanted a mantle of power, a glorious bringing to the outside where you wear power like a coat or a suit of clothes.  John 7:38, 39 The one believing in me as the Scripture said, out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. But He said this concerning the Spirit that those that believe in Him were about to receive; for the Holy Spirit was not yet given, because Jesus was not yet glorified. Note that Jesus is saying that the one that has already believed, trusted in, and become faithful to the Lord, is to have something else from the Spirit of God. These verses speak of another experience with the Holy Spirit, one where from your belly flow rivers of living water. The rivers of water speak of this mighty baptism of the Holy Spirit. Jesus said this of the mighty experience with the Holy Spirit they were to receive. Notice that when He breathed on them they were birthed from above, but nothing happened externally in their lives until Acts 2:4. Miraculous power from on High  There was no real show of God's power to the entire world until Acts 2 and beyond. They were good "Christians" but with no evidence to demonstrate to the world about the reality, not just the words, of their God.  Acts 1:8 ...But you will receive (miraculous) power when the Holy Spirit comes upon you, and you will be witnesses of me both in Jerusalem, and in all Judea, and Samaria, and to the end of the earth. Do you see the reference here to the Holy Spirit coming upon you? This is saying the same thing as Luke 24:49. It is a being clothed upon with the power of the Holy Spirit. What is the purpose of this empowering? The purpose was so we would be witnesses to the world. The word witness means one that comes with clear and irrefutable evidence of what they are saying. Jesus told us what we would be doing with this power, and this is exactly what we see the apostles and disciples doing after the Acts 2:4 experience of receiving this power upon their lives.  Mark 16:15-18 And He said to them, “Go into all the world and preach the good news to everybody. The ones believing, and those being immersed will be saved (delivered or made whole). And the ones that do not believe will be condemned (damned). And these signs (miraculous works of power) will accompany those believing: In My Name (dominion, authority, power) they will cast out demons; they will speak in new tongues; they will take up serpents; and if they drink any deadly thing, it will not hurt them. They will lay hands on the sick, and they will recover.”[1]  For those of you that fuss over this portion of Scripture because it is not found in two of the most ancient complete manuscripts (the Vaticanus and Sinaiticus), I have three words for you, "Get over it"! It is found in all other ancient New Testament manuscripts (hundreds), and it is clearly proven as a Bible truth in the book of Acts, 1 Corinthians chapters 12 through 14, and by numerous references in the New Testament. So, get over lame excuses for not being baptized in the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues. That is one of Satan’s methods to keep you out of this glorious experience with God. Traditional ignorance, and a theological debate based in unbelief of anything supernatural, has kept many denominational churchgoers from getting in on these glorious truths. God wants to clothe us with power to do signs and wonders in the Name of Jesus. He wants us to have not just words but power in demonstration in our lives.[2] He is not only interested in the presentation of the Gospel to the world with words but with miraculous signs that no one can deny! He wants you to exercise dominion over demons in His Name, speak with new tongues, have supernatural protection that can only be attributed to God, and bring healing power from God to the people! Notice that these signs are to follow all believers. It starts with the Baptism of the Holy Spirit.  Matthew 3:11 I indeed baptize you with water to repentance. But He who comes after me is mightier than I, whose sandals I am not worthy to carry. He (Jesus) shall baptize (to immerse into) you with the Holy Spirit and with fire... The Baptism of the Holy Spirit is to come with "fire." That is that power that we have been talking about. It comes upon those that receive this gift of the Baptism of the Holy Spirit. As the resurrected Lord of Glory, Jesus Christ is the One that personally baptizes you with the Holy Spirit and fire. He does that for all those that will receive this precious and very necessary gift. Did you connect fire here with the "fire" that showed up on the day of Pentecost in Acts 2:3? Even Jesus did not begin His earthly ministry without the Holy Spirit empowering Him to do the miraculous.[3] No miracles, healings, signs, or wonders were done until after He was empowered by the Holy Spirit for His ministry. Notice how He returned to Galilee in the power of the Spirit after being clothed with this power from on High.[4] Then, and only then, did the miracles begin to happen. The Holy Spirit in power released the miraculous in His life. Even though Jesus came as God manifested in the flesh,[5] without this special empowerment, He did not do even one miracle or healing. If Jesus needed the power of the Holy Spirit in His life, how much more do you and I need it!  Acts 10:38 ...God anointed Jesus of Nazareth with the Holy Spirit and with power, and He went about doing good and healing all those oppressed by the devil, because God was with Him.   God anointed Jesus with the Holy Spirit and with power at the Jordan River. That was when the Holy Spirit came upon Him like a dove, and that was when His ministry began. No one should even think about beginning a ministry without the power of the Holy Spirit upon their lives! That is another subject. Why all the Emphasis on Speaking in other Tongues?  The first evidence that was manifest when the Holy Spirit and fire came on the 120 in the house where they were seated was speaking in tongues as the Spirit gave them utterance. (Acts 2:4) If this was the only place this happened, then maybe we would have to say that it was something special for them that day, but it was not unique to Acts 2:4. Acts 10:44-46 While Peter was still speaking, the Holy Spirit fell on all those hearing the word. And those of the circumcision, who believed (as many as came with Peter), were astonished because the gift of the Holy Spirit was poured out on the (non-Jewish or Gentile) nations also. For they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God.   This Baptism in the Holy Spirit and fire is here called a gift. In Luke 24:49 it was called the promise of the Father. It is the desire of the Father to grant this promise and gift to you right now.  Luke 11:13 Much more will the heavenly Father give the Holy Spirit to those that ask Him… It is a promise and a gift that is yours for the asking and the receiving. The Father will never turn down any born again believer from receiving. It is His perfect will that you receive the Baptism in the Holy Spirit with this initial evidence of speaking in other tongues. Why do I say that speaking in another tongue is the initial evidence of the Baptism in the Holy Spirit? I just gave you the second scriptural proof of this great truth in Acts 10:44-46. The people that came with Peter knew these people had received the same gift as they had in Acts 2:4 when they heard them speak with tongues and magnify God. Acts 19:2-6 He (Paul) said to them, “Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?” And they said to him, “We have not heard whether there is a Holy Spirit.” And he said to them, “Then to what were you baptized?” And they said, “To John's baptism.” And Paul said, “John truly baptized with the baptism of repentance, saying to the people that they should believe in Him that was coming after him, on Jesus Christ. And hearing this, they were baptized in the Name of the Lord Jesus. And as Paul laid his hands on them, the Holy Spirit came on them, and they spoke with tongues and prophesied. This portion of Scripture makes some correction to traditional theology. Notice that Paul's question was pointed. "Have you received the Holy Spirit since you believed?" He did not ask if they got the Holy Spirit when they believed, but since they believed. This clearly tells us that Paul believed that there was another Holy Spirit experience beyond the believing in Jesus and receiving the Holy Spirit in the salvation experience. If you have doubts that they were already believers (born from above or born again), notice that when Paul told them about Jesus. They heard the Word, they believed on Him, and were baptized in water. They were born again before Paul laid his hands on them. The Holy Spirit came on them and they spoke with tongues. In this case, they even prophesied. There you have three places that clearly show that tongues were the initial evidence that the Holy Spirit had baptized or immersed them in His power and fire; Acts 2:4, 10:44-46, and 19:1-6. The Supernatural Connected to the Natural Praying in other tongues is supernatural and natural. Tongues come out of the human spirit as given by the Holy Spirit. That is the supernatural side. The words given by the Spirit and coming out of the human spirit must be formed by the tongue, given sound, and spoken by the mouth. That is the physical side. The benefits of speaking and praying in other tongues are clearly taught in Scriptures, and in this audio message and article, we clearly present the facts that the Baptism of the Holy Spirit and speaking with tongues is for EVERY believer. The confusion comes in when people don’t understand the difference between tongues and interpretation of tongues as a manifestation of the Spirit used for ministering to others as the Lord wills (1st Corinthias 12:7-11, 28-30), and speaking and praying with tongues to edify yourself and to speak in mysteries to God whenever you want to (1st Corinthians 14:2, 4, 14-17). Let’s study it with some more details. Some have thought that not everybody needs to speak in tongues when they get Spirit baptized because they think that Paul didn't speak in tongues. Wrong! Paul makes this statement:  1 Corinthians 14:18 I thank God I speak in tongues more than you all. He also said:  1 Corinthians 14:39 Do not forbid speaking in tongues. Paul spoke in tongues frequently and consistently.   Why Tongues should be a Central Part of the Prayer Language of every Christian before God Speaking divine secrets You speak divine secrets before God in tongues. (1st Corinthians 14:2, 13:1) Satan has no way of knowing what is happening or what is being said! You are speaking Divine secrets or "Divine code" that he cannot decipher. It is speaking to God and not to man. God understands them, though you and no one else around you may understand them. Speaking in tongues can be speaking supernaturally the tongues of men or angels, but spoken in a way that only the Lord understands. The door into the spirit Tongues open the door into the spirit, into the supernatural. Tongues come from the spirit man on the inside and not the mind or intellect. It bypasses intellect completely.(1st Corinthians 14:14, 15) We are supposed to pray in the spirit (tongues) and in the understanding. Praying in the understanding is limited to what you know, which is very limited. Praying in the spirit is unlimited because one gets over in Divine secrets when one is praying. Praying the perfect will of God When I do not know what or how to pray for as I should, I can depend on the Holy Spirit to give me words of the spirit that will pray out the perfect will of God for the saints, which are the children of God or the church (Romans 8:26, 27). That is what I do when I pray in tongues. Building up the inner man Speaking in tongues edifies or builds up the inner man (1st Cor. 14:2). We build up ourselves on our most holy faith by praying in the Holy Spirit or in tongues. We make progress as we pray in tongues and rise higher and higher like a building, according to the meaning on the word “build” in Jude 1:20. Access to wisdom We access wisdom mysteries by praying in tongues (1st Cor. 2:7-13). Look at 1 Corinthians 2:13: 1 Corinthians 2:13 Which things also we speak in words which man's wisdom does not teach, but which the (Holy) Spirit teaches; combining spiritual things with spiritual words. Human language is limited to the mind. Spirit language that comes out of your spirit by the inspiration of the Holy Spirit is the combination of spiritual things with spiritual words (1st Cor. 2:13, 14:2). This is only possible in other tongues. Spirit to spirit communication God is a Spirit being (John 4:24). Tongues are your human spirit contacting God who is the Father of Spirits in a way that is pleasing to Him (Heb. 12:9; 1st Cor. 14:2). It is spiritual communication. Praying without error, ignorance or unbelief Since tongues bypasses your mind, this means that you can pray without error, ignorance, or unbelief when you pray in the Spirit (1st Cor. 14:14). Thank God! In Acts 2:4; they spoke in tongues as the Holy Spirit gave them utterance. It is the human spirit receiving unction to speak in an unknown language to the speaker. One Greek commentary says that they spoke as they were infused by the Holy Spirit to speak. Some of these do overlap, but you can see that the Word of God has quite a bit to say about tongues, and that was only a superficial explanation. Look at some words that will help you understand that this is all talking about this glorious experience. The Holy Spirit coming upon you  In Acts 2:4, it was the fire of the Holy Spirit sitting upon them. In Acts 1:8, it is the Holy Spirit coming upon them. In Acts 10:44-46 it was the Holy Spirit poured out on them. In Luke 24:49 it was them being clothed with power. In Acts 10:38, it was being anointed with the Holy Spirit. To "anoint" means to rub on (externally) or pour on. In Matthew 3:11 it is called the baptism of the Holy Spirit and fire. "Baptism" means "immersion” into something else. For example "water baptism" means to be immersed in water. Sorry all you "sprinkling" folk, but you are mistaken. When you first came to Jesus, you drank from the fountain of life and life got in you. Now you are being immersed in power, fire, and anointing, to carry out the great commission in Mark 16:15-20. The anointing, the fire, the Holy Spirit upon us is the Baptism of the Holy Spirit with the initial evidence of speaking in tongues. If you are not in a church that lays hands on people to receive this gift, then you need to go somewhere else! They should at least pray for you so that the Holy Spirit comes on you just like He did in Acts 2, 10, and 19. Get ready to speak in a language that you do not know with your mind the moment they lay hands on you in faith, or pray for you that you receive this gift. Speaking the words given to you by the Holy Spirit The Holy Spirit will come on you and give you words to speak, but you must speak them out of your own mouth. The Spirit gave them the words but they had to do the speaking. Tongues are not the Holy Spirit speaking. The Holy Spirit does not nor ever will speak in tongues. He gives you the words so you can speak in tongues. Notice these phrases in Acts:  Acts 2:4 They... began to speak in other tongues... Acts 10:46 They heard them speak with tongues... Acts 19:6 They spoke with tongues... Therefore, the Holy Spirit will not force you to speak with tongues. He will not overpower your tongue and make you speak. No, He will give you the ability to speak in tongues, but you must speak them out by faith. They may sound silly, ridiculous, and dumb. Tongues are not mental, so they do not make any sense to your mind. They will not sound necessarily intelligent. Get over that hump. According to 1 Cor. 14: 2 and verse 14, tongues will not make sense to you at all unless God gives you interpretation. From personal experience, I can tell you that many times you will not know what you are saying or for what you are praying. Don't get hung up here. When you begin to speak in other tongues, at first, there may not be many words. Some people do receive what sounds like an entire language with many different words and variations. Others receive a sentence or two. Some may get a few words. It will greatly depend upon you and your receptiveness. If you have a strong yearning in you for this powerful experience with God, then most likely you will get more tongues than others will at first. Then, please don't stop praying in the tongues the Holy Spirit gives you. Turning tongues on when YOU will  Once you receive, you can turn tongues on and off anytime you want to. There is no need to wait on some special anointing to pray in tongues. 1Corintians 14:15 "I will pray in the spirit, (pray in tongues- 1st Cor. 14:14), and I will pray in the understanding." Once you are baptized in the Holy Spirit, tongues can be exercised at will just like praying in your own language. Just like you can pray in English, you can also pray in tongues. Don't forget that. After you have been baptized in the Holy Spirit and begin to speak in tongues, here is Satan's #1 strategy to get you to stop. The devil may tell you that you made them up. Just rebuke his lies in Jesus' Name and begin to speak in tongues right in his face. He will absolutely hate every moment of it, and get out in one piece while he can! Praying in the spirit- making progress Once you receive, pray in tongues as often as you can, every single day of your life. The Amplified Bible in Jude 1:20 says that we make progress as we pray in Holy Spirit. That is exciting to know. The more I pray in tongues, the more progress in the Lord and in life I can make! No wonder Paul said he prayed in tongues more than all the Corinthians (1st Cor. 14:18). Now, I am going to pray for you receive this wonderful gift of the baptism in the Holy Spirit and the initial evidence of speaking in other tongues. The Father wants to give you this gift, and Jesus wants to baptize you right now in the Holy Spirit and fire! Are you ready to receive right now? Over the years, we have seen many thousands of people receive the Holy Spirit after they followed these simple instructions. You are no exception. When I finish praying, the Holy Spirit of God will come on you, and He will give you words in your mouth, and out of your innermost being will come a flow of unknown words to you. Speak them out by faith and enjoy it! Now say this aloud: “Father you said, “How much more will you give the Holy Spirit to them that ask you.” I ask you for the baptism of the Holy Spirit. I receive this gift from you. Jesus said that these signs would follow the believers. He said that in His Name I would speak in tongues. I am a believer and I receive this mighty gift with the evidence of speaking in other tongues. The moment brother Dan prays for me, I will receive from the Baptizer in the Holy Spirit who is the Lord Jesus this power from on high with the evidence of speaking in other tongues.” Now hush the English or any other known language. No more words in any known language for now and let me pray over you.  “I pray for you now in the mighty Name of Jesus. Receive the power of the Holy Spirit coming upon you. Receive the Holy Spirit in Jesus Name! Now begin to worship God in other tongues in Jesus Name!” As soon as you read these words, throw your hands in the air in a receiving mode, open your mouth and speak whatever words the Holy Spirit is giving you right now. That's it. Begin to speak out those words by faith in Jesus' Name. Keep doing it. Relax in Him and in the tongues and let them flow out of you! All who read these words and follow these instructions will receive without exception and without any delay in Jesus Name!   NOTES: [1] See Acts 28:3-5 for an example. The serpents and drinking deadly things part is supernatural protection from harm like in the life of Paul and others. [2] 1 Cor. 2:4 [3] Matthew 3:16 [4] Luke 4:14 [5] John 1:1, 14 ______________   The Power of Praying in Tongues- Removing Doubt from the Heart Series #37 is the final short audio message in this series. I skipped a few to get here. I'll publish the others later. Be mightily blessed!

Welcome to Episode 056 of the “Awakening with Nathanael Wolf” podcast and radio broadcast.      In this episode, Nathanael begins a series entitled, "The Importance of Signs".   In this episode, you’ll discover: What signs are. Why we need signs. The importance of seeing signs as windows into the nature of God.   Notable episode quotes: “To John, a miracle was never an isolated act; it was always a window into the reality of what Jesus always was and always is and always did and always does.”  ~William Barclay   Download the Sent Ones Unlimited app: The Sent Ones Unlimited app is the best way to listen to the podcast.  Please download the Sent Ones Unlimited app at the Apple App Store or on Google Play (search using the words Sent Ones Unlimited) for the latest episodes as well as our blog posts, ministry schedule, and much more--all right on your smartphone.  Plus, our app has a Bible with fourteen English translations (including the Amplified Bible and The Message) and an audio Bible in the English Standard Version. Another advantage of listening on the Sent Ones Unlimited app is that you don’t have to load iTunes on your computer, subscribe, and then manually sync to your phone. The app does all the work for you and downloads each new episode. We post each weekly broadcast to the website and the app on Monday mornings. If you have the app, you will automatically get every episode for free. You may also get every episode for free by subscribing to the podcast.  You can subscribe to this podcast at: iTunes Google Play RSS Feed Link: http://awakeningwithnathanaelwolf.libsyn.com/rss   If you are not going to listen using the Sent Ones Unlimited app, iTunes, or Google Play then we would suggest that you could use a podcast application on your iPhone or Android phone such as Instacast.  Another popular application for listening to podcasts is Downcast.      Applications like these make it easy to discover, subscribe, and listen to podcasts. You simply copy and paste the link to the RSS feed (also shown above) into the search bar of the app and it will find our podcast. They also automatically update your podcasts every time a new episode is released. Share the love: If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. If you are listening on another platform that allows ratings and reviews please do the same.  That would help tremendously in getting the word out by raising the visibility of the show. We hope you enjoyed this podcast.  God uses people just like you to support the ministry of Sent Ones Unlimited.  Please visit https://sentonesunlimited.org/donate/ to give a single gift of any amount or become a monthly partner. More about us: If you’d like to learn more about Nathanael Wolf, the ministry of Sent Ones Unlimited, read Nathanael’s blog posts, see other resources, or view Nathanael’s upcoming schedule please visit www.sentonesunlimited.org.   Connect with Nathanael or Sent Ones Unlimited: Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube Periscope   Contact Us: info@sentonesunlimited.org   We hope you enjoyed this podcast.  God uses people just like you to support the ministry of Sent Ones Unlimited.  Please visit https://sentonesunlimited.org/donate/ to give a single gift of any amount or become a monthly partner.

SHOW NOTES FOR EPISODE 055: The Importance of Signs Pt. 1   Welcome to Episode 055 of the “Awakening with Nathanael Wolf” podcast and radio broadcast.      In this episode, Nathanael begins a series entitled, "The Importance of Signs".   In this episode, you’ll discover: Four ways of looking at signs. What signs are. Why we need signs.   Notable episode quotes: “To John, a miracle was never an isolated act; it was always a window into the reality of what Jesus always was and always is and always did and always does.”  ~William Barclay   Download the Sent Ones Unlimited app: The Sent Ones Unlimited app is the best way to listen to the podcast.  Please download the Sent Ones Unlimited app at the Apple App Store or on Google Play (search using the words Sent Ones Unlimited) for the latest episodes as well as our blog posts, ministry schedule, and much more--all right on your smartphone.  Plus, our app has a Bible with fourteen English translations (including the Amplified Bible and The Message) and an audio Bible in the English Standard Version. Another advantage of listening on the Sent Ones Unlimited app is that you don’t have to load iTunes on your computer, subscribe, and then manually sync to your phone. The app does all the work for you and downloads each new episode. We post each weekly broadcast to the website and the app on Monday mornings. If you have the app, you will automatically get every episode for free. You may also get every episode for free by subscribing to the podcast.  You can subscribe to this podcast at: iTunes Google Play RSS Feed Link: http://awakeningwithnathanaelwolf.libsyn.com/rss   If you are not going to listen using the Sent Ones Unlimited app, iTunes, or Google Play then we would suggest that you could use a podcast application on your iPhone or Android phone such as Instacast.  Another popular application for listening to podcasts is Downcast.      Applications like these make it easy to discover, subscribe, and listen to podcasts. You simply copy and paste the link to the RSS feed (also shown above) into the search bar of the app and it will find our podcast. They also automatically update your podcasts every time a new episode is released. Share the love: If you enjoyed the show, please rate it on iTunes and write a brief review. If you are listening on another platform that allows ratings and reviews please do the same.  That would help tremendously in getting the word out by raising the visibility of the show. We hope you enjoyed this podcast.  God uses people just like you to support the ministry of Sent Ones Unlimited.  Please visit https://sentonesunlimited.org/donate/ to give a single gift of any amount or become a monthly partner. More about us: If you’d like to learn more about Nathanael Wolf, the ministry of Sent Ones Unlimited, read Nathanael’s blog posts, see other resources, or view Nathanael’s upcoming schedule please visit www.sentonesunlimited.org.   Connect with Nathanael or Sent Ones Unlimited: Facebook Twitter Instagram Youtube Periscope   Contact Us: info@sentonesunlimited.org   We hope you enjoyed this podcast.  God uses people just like you to support the ministry of Sent Ones Unlimited.  Please visit https://sentonesunlimited.org/donate/ to give a single gift of any amount or become a monthly partner.

In the inaugural episode, host Carol Ross interviews the remarkable General Manager of the Four Seasons Resort in Punta Mita, Mexico. John O’Sullivan: poet, artist, traveler and management guru reveals his compassionate, and innovative leadership philosophy. Through heartfelt anecdotes and insightful reflection, the witty Irish hotelier offers a profound glimpse into what motivates us as employees and managers. To John, "failure is one step on the way to success." With this in mind, he has established a zero blame culture at his hotel because he believes that providing a safe space for his employees to express their creativity is fundamental to success in any organization. The trust John places in his employees is earnestly reciprocated due to his emphasis on managerial consistency, articulated boundaries, and apolitical communication. All of these concepts are parsed in depth on this episode. For more information on John, please visit his website: irish-poet.com/index.php Booking information for The Four Seasons in Punta Mita can be found here: fourseasons.com/puntamita/ GUEST: John O’Sullivan HOST: Carol Ross Guest Contact Information: Irishmanbali@hotmail.com Show Notes: https://standoutandbelong.com/sacred-conversations-work-episode-1/ Credits: HOST: Carol Ross, standoutandbelong.com PRODUCER/EDITOR: Joanna L. McWilliams, joannamcwilliams.com GRAPHIC DESIGN: Nicholas Geier

******************************************************** ******************************************************** ****************Produced by Brandon Isbell**************** ******Written & co-produced by Joshua David McLerran****** ************Recorded at AMR.FM, Salt Lake City************ ******************************************************** ******************************************************** |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| –––––––––– Find out more at http://www.radiofortheblind.com ––––––––– |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||| $omehow along the way... we have forgotten that the original purpo$e of currency i$ to easily demon$trate to other$ that We have contributed to $ociety in $ome fa$hion other than that which i$ required to realize that which We wi$h to obtain & are therefore de$erving of that which We did not make, grow, rai$e, or otherwi$e do our$elve$... CHAPTER 10: EQUITABLE PAY In speaking with a Caucasian construction contractor in Virginia who seems to understand quite well what the common person goes through on the daily, a story was related of an elderly black gentleman (affectionately monochord Ol’G) who had been working for the company since the contractor's father ran the show. The contractor (John) spoke of a time when he had given cost-of-living raises to everyone on board: He gave the carpenters an additional $0.50 an hour and the laborers an additional $0.25. To John, this made sense, as the carpenters were all earning more per hour and would therefore have a higher financial requirement to subsist their daily living. To Ol’G (who has now found his time in flesh has passed – may his soul find Rest and Solace, Peace and Love in whatever state it may be right now), this did not make sense and he approached his level-headed boss about it. Ol’G explained, "Last year... that loaf’a bread cost twent'eh-fahv cent less'n this year... Now... you give that cahrpenter fi'ty cent, then you go’give Ol’G twent'eh fahv. Tha'don't make no sense. Cahrpenter walk away: quarter in his pocket, that loaf’a bread in his hand. Ol’G just get that loaf’a bread, ain't got no money in his hand. Nah... you give me mah fi'ty cent or you give that carpenter his twent'eh-fahv... 'Cause that loaf’a bread ain't know th’diff’ence." Being a good man with a solid head on his shoulders, John had to agree that Ol’G’s logic was sound, according to a laborer's point of view, which he could not deny. You see, as a business owner, it is important to remember – as he did after that discussion – that, when one is doing business, one is doing it with Human Beings, not with pieces of paper or with numbers or with assets. In business, as in Life, We must respect the relationships that we have with one another. Call them Basic Human Rights, if you will, but perhaps it is more helpful to view this more as Basic Human Decency, as that is truly what it is. One who is impoverished does not see that when shampoo is bottled in a larger quantity, it costs the company less to bottle it, so passing on those savings will encourage the purchase of more product all at once, thus ensuring one more customer for a longer period of time and, consequently, perpetuating the resiliency of the business. No, to an impoverished person, the view is simply this: "I have X dollars to purchase food & pay my bills, but I need to buy shampoo right now, which costs Y dollars. I do not have a savings, for I am living just from hand-to-mouth, which means, at the end of the week, the equation X minus anything (or even just X by itself) will always equal zero. Therefore, the larger the number that is represented here by Y (the cost of my shampoo), the less food I will eat or the more behind I will become on one bill..." Finish reading this chapter by purchasing the book from RadiofortheBlind.com... http://www.radiofortheblind.com/buy-support

John has been sober for 5 years... This is his story... Resources mentioned in this episode: Connect with Cafe RE For $12.00 per month, you can have unlimited, private access to groups of like-minded people via in-person meet-ups, unsearchable Facebook groups, and travel. First month FREE with Promo Code: Elevator. Sobriety Tracker AA Recovery Elevator Episode #1: Do You Have a Drinking Problem Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link: www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/   SHOW NOTES “In Episode 1 of RE, we (the human Paul & the dog Ben) do a test to determine if I am an alcoholic. The results… Blatantly clear. Yes, I am an alcoholic.” Paul found it extremely difficult to stop drinking after having just one drink. For about a decade, he lived in the pickle of “one drink was too much and 1,000 drinks was just not enough.” How the hell do you navigate that? Well, the answer is definitely, “Don’t drink.” Now, at Episode 85, Paul has an even better test to determine if you’ve got a drinking problem. Preliminary steps before taking this self-assessment: Make sure you are hydrated. Drink lots of water (if you are already drinking a beer during this portion, then yes, you too are an alcoholic). Stretch out. Loosen up. Maybe even do some burpees! Make sure you’ve got enough lead in your pencil and ink in your pen! Take some deep breaths. Paul’s Self-Assessment Test: (***This is going to be the new metric moving forward, I guarantee it! No need to go spend a ton of money on any other tests...This assessment is free and accurate.***) Have you ever wondered, “Do I have a drinking problem?” YES or NO ***FEEL FREE TO PRESS PAUSE, GRAB A GLASS OF WATER, SHARPEN YOUR PENCIL, ETC., AS THIS IS THE HALF WAY POINT OF THE SELF ASSESSMENT TEST*** Have you ever asked yourself, “Would my life be better without alcohol?” YES or NO CONGRATULATIONS!!! You have just finished the Recovery Elevator self-assessment! Answer Key: Listen to Paul on RE 85 @ [ 5:11 ]  "Quitting drinking isn’t easy, but my life is exponentially better since I’ve quit drinking." In the previous 84 podcasts, there's a pretty good roadmap already laid out for you… Not only will your life improve (yes, there will be speed bumps), but the lives of those around you will improve too! In all honesty, these self-assessment tests are this simple. It’s not easy, but it’s better.   [ 10:25 ] Paul Introduces John. John was born and raised and lives in Wichita, Kansas. He has a 3-year old son. He enjoys working on his car, experimenting with cooking, and comic books… He is engaged to be married to a woman who is also in the program (AA). John’s last drink was August 28th, 2011… John kept trying to do it (quit drinking) on his own, but time and time again, it just didn’t happen! After telling himself, “I’m just going to have two beers..." 3 or 4 beers, a few mixed drinks, sake for the whole table (they were going to a bar after dinner) and a $400 bar tab later… "I woke up on the floor in my undies, covered in puke (puke in the hallway, puke in the bathroom)... I just felt that someone was telling me to get help.” John realized he just couldn't do this alone. [ 20:29 ] When did you decide to first quit drinking? “I was sick and tired of being sick and tired. I kept trying to do it myself, but I’d always find a “special” occasion to drink.” This is one of those things (choosing sobriety) where you actually have to do the work! [ 22:19 ] “I think I got this.” John explains what this means for him... To John, this phrase means that he’s letting his ego tell him how to run things. “I tried on my own without a program, guidance or a schedule and it just wouldn’t stick. Ever.” When John got his 2nd DUI, he knew something was up… John knew that if he drank again, he would get behind the wheel. [ 24:15 ] Talk to us about Alcoholics Anonymous. John was completely blown away by the spectrum of diverse people that made up his first AA meeting, which was quite contrary to what he “knew” AA was going to be! [ 31:08 ] John discusses weight loss, cooking and what he does with all his booze-FREE time! [ 32:59 ] What’s your favorite dance move? Thanks Paul for getting in some humor! In his sobriety, John has really enjoyed running, but he does not prefer the “Running Man,” and claims that the “Robot” is more his style... [ 35:48 ] Rapid Fire Round What was your worst memory from drinking? “I had the DUI 50-moped (the scooter I rode when I had my license suspended) and I had been drinking. I got on the moped… I just could not stop myself from drinking and driving.” Did you ever have an “oh-shit” moment? “That day that I swore to myself that I’d only have 2 beers at the restaurant and ended up wondering, “How the hell did this happen?” What’s your plan moving forward? “Keep going to meetings, keep being thankful for my sobriety, keep asking for more sobriety, keep being honest with my sobriety, and keep reaching out to people.” What’s your favorite resource in recovery? “Right now, it’s the podcasts. I can take them anywhere. I can listen to it and nobody even knows.” John listens to Recovery Elevator, SHAIR Podcast, and the Bubble Hour. What’s the best advice you’ve ever received (on sobriety)? “Look for the similarities. We all want to stay sober.” What parting piece of guidance can you give listeners who are in recovery or thinking about quitting drinking? “Just do it. You’re going to want to find a reason to not start, to give it one more day. Just do it. Just stop. Today. Right now. Just stop."   “We took the elevator down, we gotta take the stairs back up. WE can do this!” Drop us a line: info@recoveryelevator.com Support the Recovery Elevator Podcast by shopping at Amazon with the Recovery Elevator link: www.recoveryelevator.com/amazon/ This episode was brought to you by Cafe RE and get your daily AA email here!