Podcasts about trinity bible college

Pastors Alan and Coleen Schaberg have served in multiple contexts of ministry, most recently as the superintendents of the Wyoming Assemblies of God. They both have completed a Masters of Arts in Rural Ministry through Trinity Bible College and Graduate School, and bring many great insights from these experiences in this two part episode. Tune in now! As always, if you would like to reach out to the show for encouragement, or to give ideas or feedback, please contact our host Joe Epley at joseph.g.epley@gmail.com

Pastors Alan and Coleen Schaberg have served in multiple contexts of ministry, most recently as the superintendents of the Wyoming Assemblies of God. They both have completed a Masters of Arts in Rural Ministry through Trinity Bible College and Graduate School, and bring many great insights from these experiences in this two part episode. Tune in now! As always, if you would like to reach out to the show for encouragement, or to give ideas or feedback, please contact our host Joe Epley at joseph.g.epley@gmail.com

We were thrilled to have Dr. Melissa Archer close our 2024 lecture series with her lecture focusing on worship in the book of Revelation. Dr. Archer, along with her husband Dr. Kenneth Archer, are the co-directors of the MA in Bible and Theology program at Trinity Bible College and Graduate School. Prior to this she was a professor at Southeastern University's Barnett College of Ministry and Theology, and her work and teaching has had a tremendous influence on many. Dr. Archer's work, I Was in the Spirit on the Lord's Day: A Pentecostal Engagement with Worship in the Apocalypse, is an important contribution to the burgeoning field of Pentecostal studies and is a gift to both the Academy and Church at large.We are grateful to all of this years lecturers and look forward to making a copy of all books in which the lectures were based available in our library.For more information about All Souls you can check out the links below:www.allsoulsknoxville.comAll Souls Substack865-214-6682100 W 5th Ave., KnoxvilleService time: 5pm Sunday – moving to 10:30am beginning August 18thSupport the Show.

Grow Together 507, College Edition (feat. Trinity Bible College and Graduate School)   In this episode, Rev. Savanna Emmanuel interviews two incredible female students called to vocational ministry, Brooklynn Hendrickson and Alcista Dion, to explore what restoring looks like in their season of life.   Enjoy another fresh look into God's divine call and work among His daughters at our AG school!

Jordy Nuñez grew up in Miami before moving to the midwest, meeting his wife, and joining staff at Trinity Bible College in Ellendale, ND. Join Pastors Josh and Jenaye and listen in as Jordy shares the story of how he and his family felt God calling them to share the love and hope of Jesus in Estonia by starting a coffee shop.For more information or to contact Jordy, visit https://linktr.ee/nuneznomads.  

Join pastors Jim and Tina Von Wald for part 2 of their journey as rural church planters and co-pastors. They share not only about engaging community well and leading together, but also highlight the work of their theses. They both graduated Trinity Bible College with master’s degrees in Rural Ministry. Tina focused on developing rural leaders within the church and Jim focused on succession plans in the rural church. If you want either of their papers, feel free to email them at tinavonwald@gmail.com or jimvonwald@gmail.com As always, if you want to reach out to the show for encouragement, or with feedback or ideas, contact our host Joe Epley at joseph.g.epley@gmail.com

Join pastors Jim and Tina Von Wald as they walk through their journey as rural church planters and co-pastors. They share not only about engaging community well and leading together, but also highlight the work of their theses. They both graduated Trinity Bible College with master’s degrees in Rural Ministry. Tina focused on developing rural leaders within the church and Jim focused on succession plans in the rural church. If you want either of their papers, feel free to email them at tinavonwald@gmail.com or jimvonwald@gmail.com As always, if you want to reach out to the show for encouragement, or with feedback or ideas, contact our host Joe Epley at joseph.g.epley@gmail.com

INTRODUCTION:Branch Isole is a podcast host, poet, storyteller and thought leader of Spiritual Christianity. His contemporary short stories reveal issues and emotions often experienced, but not always voiced.  With careers in teaching, corporate sales and small business Branch has authored twenty-two books. He graduated from Texas State University, did post graduate work at the University of Houston, and holds an Oxford M.A. Theology degree from Trinity Bible College.  INCLUDED IN THIS EPISODE (But not limited to):·      Intro To The Small Changes Big Dividends Podcast·      Healthy vs. Unhealthy Relationships·      Spiritual Christianity Defined ·      Name Changes·      Waiting For Change·      Insincere Apologies·      Relationships: The Point of No Return·      Dealing With Insecurities ·      Let Trauma GO!!! CONNECT WITH BRANCH ISOLE: Website: https://www.branchisole.comBooks On Amazon: https://shorturl.at/eszI3YouTube: https://shorturl.at/cHMOQFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/podcastguestbranchisole/LinkedIn: https://shorturl.at/gjlq8 CONNECT WITH DE'VANNON SERÁPHINO: Website: https://www.SexDrugsAndJesus.comWebsite: https://www.DownUnderApparel.com   Donate Via PayPal: https://shorturl.at/gq068CashApp: $DeVannonSeraphinoVenmo: @DeVannon Patreon: https://patreon.com/SDJPodcastTikTok: https://shorturl.at/nqyJ4YouTube: https://bit.ly/3daTqCMFacebook: https://shorturl.at/gqrAVInstagram: https://shorturl.at/gwAP1X: https://shorturl.at/oyLZ4LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devannonPinterest: https://shorturl.at/bqB26Email: DeVannon@SDJPodcast.com INTERESTED IN PODCASTING OR BEING A GUEST?: ·      PodMatch is awesome! This application streamlines the process of finding guests for your show and also helps you find shows to be a guest on. The PodMatch Community is a part of this and that is where you can ask questions and get help from an entire network of people so that you save both money and time on your podcasting journey.https://podmatch.com/signup/devannonSupport the showThanks for listening! Please donate at SexDrugsAndJesus.com and follow us on TikTok, IG etc.

This week on the podcast I have on Branch Isole a friend. He's an Author, poet and storyteller. An author of twenty-two books Some of the topics that he writes about are: choice and consequence, accepting or avoiding personal responsibility, and the power of truth. Branch teaches corporate sales, and marketing, because he is actually a founder and partner of five small businesses .Branch graduated from Texas State University. He also did some post graduate work at the University of Houston, and holds an Oxford M.A. Theology degree from Trinity Bible College. Since we often talk a lot off the air I thought it would be a great benefit to have him on to share the things he is doing for the kingdom of God. tune in to learn some things you can apply to your everyday life and maybe you might want to purchase his books.

  Being in college brings unique opportunities, joys, and challenges as part of transitioning into adulthood. How would young college women take calculated risks to juggle their busy lives while remaining true to their vocational call to ministry? Take a listen as Mariah and Maddie share their journeys with us!

Life has a way of mixing things up, sometimes when you least expect it. Branch Isole was living life, but he felt there was more he could be doing. Listen as he tells his story, which includes a twelve year stint on Maui, but also why he felt his life needed a re-direct.About Branch:Born in Osaka, Japan Branch traveled extensively growing up calling many places home. Finishing high school at Rolling Hills, California, he went on to graduate from Texas State University, did post-graduate work at the University of Houston, and received his Oxford MA Theology degree from Trinity Bible College & Seminary.Branch is the author of twenty-two books, multiple articles, series and essays. Writing and speaking on the power of personal responsibility or its avoidance, as relates to choice and consequence, his self-discovery themes span a wide range of reflective identity situations or scenarios every adult recognizes.Branch is host of the popular internet interactive streaming show, "Small Change, Big Dividends" a live call-in program on the 'Bold Brave TV' network, YT, FB, LI. You can watch (and call-in) every Wednesday at 4 pm (ET) at- https://boldbravetv.com. Each show is then available on all four platforms and a variety of podcast distribution channels (Apple, Spotify, Anchor, I-Heart, etc). 

Our Holy Spirit series continues with this talk from special guest Dr. Paul Alexander, president of Trinity Bible College.

Are you tired of feeling like you have to wear a mask and be someone you're not just to fit in and be accepted? It's time to shed that facade, balance work and life, and embrace your authentic self, and in doing so, find true success as an inside job.“How do I get ahead in this world and all that it offers? And yet, how do I have the tiem for the other things that are important in my life as well? That's the importance of balance and that's why it's so critical that we try and get to that place of balance.” - Branch IsoleBalancing Work, Life, and IdentityIn our life quests to get ahead in life and find satisfaction and fulfillment, we tend to find ourselves stretched thin, our relationships strained to the point of breaking, and feeling burned out overall. Pursuing power, money, and fame seems like the natural thing to do for humans. It's what we have been taught our entire lives through media, school, and friends and family, but it comes with responsibilities that can lead to a 24/7 lifestyle where people are always on call for work.However, people are also spiritual beings, which some may put on the back burner until they need relief from problems or troubles. Branch Isole talks about the importance of balancing time between important things in life, such as relationships with family and children, work, and mental health. He suggests that people need to separate themselves from being plugged in all the time to find balance in their lives.When it comes to identity, social media and the comparison game can become a trap that pulls us into feeling that we are not enough and that we need to present a mask of what is popular rather than what is authentically us.In this episode, you will learn:The impact and risk of being constantly plugged in 24/7Finding work-life balance counter to a trend that says there's no such thing The impact of pursuing fake fame, and benefits of shedding the masks we where Branch IsoleAuthor, poet and storyteller Branch Isole writes and speaks about choice and consequence, accepting or avoiding personal responsibility, and the power of truth.Known worldwide his contemporary short stories reveal issues and emotions often experienced, but not always voiced. With careers in teaching, corporate sales/marketing, and founder/partner of five small businesses, Branch is author of twenty-two books.Branch graduated from Texas State Univ., did post graduate work Univ. of Houston, and holds an Oxford M.A. Theology degree from Trinity Bible College.Grab a Copy of Beyond the Rut TodayIf you're ready to create success on your terms, grab a copy of Beyond the Rut: Create a Life Worth Living in Your Faith, Family, and Career on Amazon today. Available as an eBook, paperback, and Audible.Host your podcast on Buzzsprout using this link, and you will get great service plus a $20 Amazon gift card if you sign up for one of their paid plans. BeyondTheRut.com/buzzsprout. Beyond the Rut Podcast and The Shadows Podcast are members of Lima Charlie Network whose mission is to empower others to reach new heights in leadership, self-development, and communication by connecting our audience with a network of podcasters and thought-leaders focused on sharing tools for impactful improvement. Visit LimaCharlieNetwork.com for more information!Support the show

Author, poet and storyteller Branch Isole writes and speaks about choice & consequence, accepting or avoiding personal responsibility, and the power of truth. Known worldwide his contemporary short stories reveal issues and emotions often experienced, but not always voiced.With a career in corporate sales/marketing, and founder/partner in five small business entrepreneur companies Branch is author/publisher of twenty-two books.Branch graduated from Texas State Univ. B.S.Ed., did post graduate work Univ. of Houston, M.EdAdm., and holds an Oxford M.A. Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary.Contact Info: www.manaopublishing.comPlease subscribe to the enVision Together podcast to be notified of each episode. To connect with Pamela online to discuss her weekly topics or to spread the word about the enVision Together: Going to Your Next Level of Best podcast, please follow her on social media or on her website:Facebook: @Pamela MshanaInstagram: @pamela.mshana.37Twitter: @PamelaMshanaWebsite: www.pamelamshana.com (Contact page).Support the Show: https://www.paypal.com/donate?hosted_button_id=TD6PCE7G83GNY

Author, poet and storyteller Branch Isole speaks and writes about personal responsibility or its avoidance, the link between choice and consequence, and the power of Truth. Known worldwide, his contemporary short stories reveal issues and emotions often experienced but not always voiced. As a talk radio and podcast guest Branch shares how establishing balance in life/work/relationships builds frameworks to support personal, career and spiritual growth.  Branch graduated from Texas State Univ., did post graduate work at Univ. of Houston, and holds an Oxford Theology MA degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary.https://www.manaopublishing.comSupport the showNext Steps Share your thoughts with a review - https://www.uncensoredadviceformen.com/reviews/ Let's connect on LinkedIn - https://www.linkedin.com/in/joshuabrucewilson/ Subscribe and Watch on YouTube - https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCI11BikVb5CbEwIwjmR89Iw

Author, poet and storyteller Branch Isole writes and speaks about choice & consequence, accepting or avoiding personal responsibility, and the power of truth. Known worldwide his contemporary short stories reveal issues and emotions often experienced, but not always voiced. With a career in corporate sales/marketing, and founder/partner in five small business entrepreneur companies Branch is author/publisher of twenty-two books. Branch graduated from Texas State Univ. B.S.Ed., did post graduate work Univ. of Houston, M.EdAdm., and holds an Oxford M.A. Theology degree from Trinity Bible College. Whether at home or career, life is about relationships. Healthy relationships promote and encourage balance and growth. Balance is stability of mind, body, soul and spirit. Growth happens when we replace old pattern behaviors with new grounded responses.www.branchisole.com

| Sermon by Dr. Paul Alexander | Trinity Bible College and Graduate School is remarkably well-positioned to offer the highest levels of education and training to today's students. The College operates from a sound financial base, boasts best practices in governance, and has a lovely campus with some brand new construction. More importantly, we remain unashamedly committed to the mission that was the reason for the founding of the College nearly 70 years ago — to prepare men and women to serve Christ in ministry, mission, and the workplace. At Trinity you will find a passionate and well-qualified faculty. You will find very dedicated administrators and a vibrant community of students drawn from around the US and beyond. -- Dr. Paul Alexander Check out more information at trinitybiblecollege.edu 

In this podcast episode, Branch Isole discusses the four cornerstones of success in relationships and in life in general.  In this episode, you will learn:  1. What are the four cornerstones of success in relationships?   2. What are the four elements of success?   3. What is the importance of spiritual grounding in achieving success? "Life is about relationships. And as we grow, our relationships change. But there are four things that form the cornerstones of every successful relationship, and those are love, approval, agenda, and spiritual grounding." Branch Isole is an author, poet, and storyteller who talks about the power of choice and consequence. He is known worldwide by his contemporary short stories that reveal issues and emotions often experienced but not always voiced. This is Branch Isole's story... Branch Isole is a contemporary short story author who talks about the power of choice and consequence. He graduated from Texas State and did graduate work at the University of Houston. And he holds a theology degree from the Trinity Bible College and Seminary. He is known worldwide by his contemporary short stories that reveal issues and emotions often experienced but not always voiced. In this episode, you will learn the following: 1. What are the four cornerstones of success in relationships? 2. What are the four blockchain elements of success? 3. What is the importance of spiritual grounding in achieving success? Resources: Branch's Website: branchisole.com Here's a breakdown of what is covered: [00:00:00] - Welcome to the show. [00:00:45] - Introduction to Branch isole. [00:02:36] - Who is Branch [00:05:06] - The essential elements of success. [00:06:30] - The four basics of success. [00:09:56] - Stability direction & power. [00:14:52] - The moral and punishment system. [00:20:46] - Spiritual grounding theory. [00:21:05] - How to get spiritually grounded. [00:25:34] - Pillars of spiritual growth. [00:26:52] - Building on past work. [00:28:37] - The 5 pillars of spiritual strength. [00:30:09] - The pillar of growth faith. [00:32:29] - Faith is always under attack. [00:36:57] - Faith as the motivator for making decisions. [00:46:33] - One last question. [00:48:43] - Two more things before you leave. Support this podcast at — https://redcircle.com/motivate-grind-succeed-the-podcast/donations

Key to Biblical Doctrine by Jerald L. BrownThe Bible is a big book, with history, stories and laws handed down from God. But what is the central theme of the Bible? If we miss everything else, what is the one concept, the One Rule that God wants us to know and do above all others? Is this rule simple enough for children as well as adults? How would this One Rule affect today's Christians? At one time, slavery was a subject of heated debate in churches, with Christians taking both sides of the argument. Today only one side prevails: slavery is against God's will for humanity. But that was then. What about today? What issue is dividing today's church? It is homosexuality. How does God's central theme, His One Rule, apply to homosexuality in the church today? "Key to Biblical Doctrine" reveals the key passage of the Bible that will in turn help anyone to understand all other scripture. Even the newest believer will be able to judge the merits of doctrines presented by long-trained theologians. Babes in Christ will now be able to know when their own church is accidentally going against God and the Bible. Escape the maze of confusing religious doctrine by learning the one simple key by which you may judge everything else.s Jerald L Brown is an evangelical Christian. He holds the Bible to be the inspired, infallible word of God. What is written in the Bible is just as relevant to people today as it was the days when it was first written. As Paul told Timothy, "All scripture is given by inspiration of God, and is profitable for doctrine, for reproof, for correction, for instruction in righteousness" (2 Timothy 3:16, AV, 1873, Cambridge)A problem occurs when Bible translators use their own culture and church doctrine to define words and attitudes written by holy men long ago. Jerald Brown seeks the Bible's author's culture and background to understand that author's words and meanings.Jerald attended Trinity Bible College in Chicago, which later became known as Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois. Before graduating, he joined the United States Army Medical Corp during the Viet Nam war. He served three years as a medic in Germany and four years as a pharmacist, including one year in Thailand in direct support of the Viet Nam war. During this time, Jerald continued to attend school and do personal studies and research. Jerald seriously and devotedly studied the Bible for fifty years. He listened to the arguments of scholars who are more learned than he. He read commentaries of current and long-passed theologians. That doesn't mean he is now without error; it just means he tends to know what he's talking about and his opinions at least merit consideration.https://www.amazon.com/Key-Biblical-Doctrine-Jerald-Brown/dp/1514809877/ref=sr_1_1?crid=3DLDFFXOY7DMD&keywords=key+to+biblical+doctrine&qid=1652229008&s=books&sprefix=key+to+biblical+doctrine%2Cstripbooks%2C137&sr=1-1http://www.bluefunkbroadcasting.com/root/twia/jbrownec.mp3   

#120 Pastor Slayden MacGregor GOD & Faith What Exactly Is ItPastor Slayden MacGregor, ThM Dallas Theological Seminary, has pastored Gateway Bible Church(formerly Faith Evangelical Free Church) for 25 years in Spring Hill, Florida USA. Along with being apastor, Slayden has traveled extensively evangelizing and teaching for nearly 40 years in Japan, USSR,Russia, Spain, Central and South America, Haiti, and Africa. Stateside he has taught part-time as anadjunct professor at Trinity Bible College and Saint Leo University. Slayden and Kathleen MacGregorhave been married since 1986 and together have raised four sons two of which are married; they havefour grandchildren. Slayden's passion is bible training that sets the entire bible in an easily understoodcontext of God's Plan of the Ages.The course he teaches to pastors consists of training in three categories (tools):1. A survey of systematic theology—a unique way for the bible student to “think theologically.”2. A survey of biblical covenants—knowing the infrastructure of the bible.3. A survey of God's Plan from eternity past to eternity future tying all three categories together.If the student reads through the bible yearly by applying these three tools, he or she will be able tounderstand the books of the bible in a much clearer context arriving at an increasingly sound exegesis.On A Panoramic Study of God's Plan https://www.amazon.com/Panoramic-Study-Gods-Plan/dp/151276051X:Pastor Slayden MacGregor provides one of the most concise, yet comprehensive studies of God's plan. Thisincredible little book has been translated into seven languages and is designed to be read in only a couplesittings yet used as a paradigm for Bible study for a lifetime. To comprehend the material in this book is toreceive a seminary understanding of the plan and purposes of God. These pages answer the toughestquestions of theology, origins, pain, and suffering, good and evil, and man's freedom of choice in God'ssovereign plan. In it, you'll view the whole Bible from an eternal vantage point, obtaining a context for allhuman and angelic history. Slayden MacGregor has developed and used the material in this book to teachand train pastors in many different countries for over 28 years and now these truths are condensed in aprofound story-like study. This simple and clear teaching will engage the reader on a whole new level of understanding of his/her role inthe epic battle of good and evil that wages in the spirit realm. The bible student will learn more about God,Satan, and themselves than they've ever thought imaginable.https://odark30.com/ Lenny Depaul clothing linehttps://twitter.com/3PNR2https://www.facebook.com/3PNRAdamR/Intro and outro music by Tobylane on Spotify #GOD #FAITH #AFTERLIFESupport the show

This week on Inside the Headset, we are featuring Sterling College's head football coach, Darren Jackson. Coach Jackson tells us how he got his start in coaching, explains how he balances work and family and walks us through the changes he is making at Sterling. Darren Jackson is the head coach at Sterling College. Coach Jackson was hired in the spring of 2022 and will be relying on his extensive experience and faith-based values to lead Sterling this season. Prior to coaching at Sterling Coach Jackson was the head coach at Trinity Bible College and was also a member of the football staff at Liberty University, his alma mater. In addition to these positions. Coach Jackson has also coached at Evangel University and Colorado Mesa University with both teams boasting a slew of accolades during Coach Jackson's time at the respective schools. Coach Jackson is also a member of the AFCAs 35Under35 2020 class and the 2016 Coach of the Year (received while coaching at Trinity Bible). [0:55] Start of Interview [1:03] Getting Acclimated to New Position [1:56] Resume [2:20] ‘When did you know you wanted to be a ball coach?” [3:35] Family and Career [6:46] “How have you put your stamp on the Sterling football program?” [10:23] What have you kept and what have you changed at Sterling? [13:04] “P.R.I.D.E” [16:53] Trinity Bible Compared to Sterling College [19:10] What are the standout differences between Trinity Bible and Sterling College? [20:43] What is recruiting like at a faith-based institution? [22:55] How have experiences with the AFCA helped you develop as a coach? [26:33] Social Media and Contact Information Twitter: @CoachJackson623

Branch Isole is a poet, storyteller, and author of twenty-two books. He writes about having the strength of choice to change consequences and is known worldwide for contemporary short stories that reveal emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced. As a podcast and talk radio on-air guest, Branch shares informative steps to build frameworks that support career, personal, and spiritual growth. He graduated from Texas State University, did post-graduate work at the University of Houston, and holds a Master's degree in Theology from Trinity Bible College and Seminary — an adjunct program from Oxford University He posts a Thought for Today, short stories, and articles on his website, www.branchisole.com, and on YouTube.   In this episode, Branch and I discuss: - How the most important thing in our life is our relationships and how that shapes our stories   - Branch's 12 Life Lessons to finding and creating balance   - How to Love others even if you disagree with their beliefs   - Why stories are used to create success and impact    - And so much more   --   Connect with Frank and The Super Human Life on Social Media: Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/coachfrankrich/   Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/groups/584284948647477/   Website: http://www.thesuperhumanlifepodcast.com/tshlhome   YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCjB4UrpxtNO2AFtDURMzoKQ  

Neil Oravsky has recently completed his masters degree through Trinity Bible College and Graduate School on the subject of spiritual formation among emerging adults. Join us today as we talk with Neil about community, discipleship, mentorship, and how to help young adults integrate into the rural church. www.trinitybiblecollege.edu

Author of 22 books, poet and storyteller Branch Isole posts ‘Thought for Today' and short stories at https://www.manaopublishing.com and YouTube. Branch graduated from Texas State Univ. B.S.Ed., did post graduate work Univ. of Houston, M.EdAdm., and holds an Oxford M.A. Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary. www.branchisole.com www.manaopublishing.com Amazon, https://www.amazon.com/s?k=branch+isole&i=stripbooks&ref=nb_sb_noss B&N, Apple Store --- Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/michael-chestnut5/support

Branch Isole is a poet, storyteller, and author of twenty-two books. He writes about having the strength of choice to change consequences and is known worldwide for contemporary short stories that reveal emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced. As a podcast and talk radio on-air guest, Branch shares informative steps to build frameworks that support career, personal, and spiritual growth. He graduated from Texas State University, did post-graduate work at the University of Houston, and holds a Master's degree in Theology from Trinity Bible College and Seminary — an adjunct program from Oxford University. He posts a Thought for Today, short stories, and articles on his website, www.branchisole.com, and on YouTube. His books can also be found on his website, or on Amazon. *Links posted here are affiliate links. This means that each purchase is not only helping the author, but it's helping the show!

Drs Paul and Carol Alexander are from Trinity Bible College in Ellendale, ND. Dr. Paul is the president of the college and Dr. Carol is the Dean of Trinity's Master's program. The Alexander's are both passionate about training people to be servant leaders with a commitment to church planting, mission, and care for the poor and disenfranchised. Join Josh and Jenaye as they hear the Alexander's incredible story of saying yes to a highly unlikely call from church planting in South Africa to reinvigorating a bible college in Ellendale, North Dakota.

My guest today is Branch Isole, Branch is an Author, storyteller, and poet Branch Isole writes about the strength of choice to change consequences. He's known worldwide for contemporary short stories that reveal emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced. He posts a Thought for Today, short stories, and articles at; www.branchisole.com and on YouTube. As a podcast and talk radio on-air guest Branch shares informative steps to build frameworks that support career, personal and spiritual growth. Branch graduated from Texas State Univ., did post-graduate work at Univ. of Houston, and holds an Oxford MA Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary. If you enjoy the podcast, please subscribe and leave a short review on Apple Podcasts, or wherever you listen? It takes less than 60 seconds and it really helps. If you enjoyed this episode buy me a cup of coffee, make it a large: I'm trying to keep this episode free of advertisements and could use your help with the cost of bringing your this fun and entertaining podcast. Anything you can donate to the cause is greatly appreciated. To donate go to: https://www.paypal.com/paypalme/sifuRafael Subscribe: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/coaching-call/id1546026323 Please leave a star rating and a review here Follow Coaching Call: Facebook: facebook.com/coachingcall Instagram: instagram.com/coachingcall Email: maxfitness@optonline.net LinkedIn: linkedin.com/in/maxfitness Youtube: https://bit.ly/coachingcallYoutube to watch the full interview. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/coachingcall/message

Having experienced the peaks and valleys of being in the mission field with his family, David now serves as the director of the Center for Missionary Mobilization and Retention in Ellendale, North Dakota. Plenty of resources are available on their website to support churches and missionaries worldwide into mobilizing and importantly supporting longevity of missionaries in the field. He dissects the often-confusing terminologies of mission, missions or being a missionary, bringing clarity based on the Word of God. Hear of interesting discussions on how we can partner with God to mobilize people, the beauty and challenges of diversity and cross-cultural collaborations. Cancelling out the mindset of “passing the baton” in missions, David warns his listeners against complacency- Do not stop running. Let us run and learn together. Keep our eyes on the end goal: Jesus. About David Jacob Since 2008, David P. Jacob has been an Assemblies of God missionary to a sensitive country in Northern Asia. He currently serves as the missionary in residence and chair of the intercultural studies department at Trinity Bible College and Graduate School in Ellendale, ND. David is the author of It's Your Call: To a Missional or Missionary Life. More about The Center for Missionary Mobilization and Retention https://www.missionarymobilization.org/ The Center for Missionary Mobilization and Retention aims to resource the Christian community to increase and retain the number of long-term missionaries sent around the world. The Center was officially launched in October 2018 and aims to resource the Christian community by researching missionary mobilization and retention, publishing various articles and academic papers, and training local church leaders and missionaries on various topics impacting the missionary call and missionary care. Powered by Firstory Hosting

The American Muslim population is growing. According to Pew Research Center, there were 2.35 million Muslims in the U.S. in 2007 and 3.85 million in 2020. Pew estimates that by 2050, there will be 8.1 million Muslims in the U.S. “This represents a significant mission field,” writes Christina Quick in her profile of Lynda Hausfeld in the spring 2022 issue of Influence. “Yet many Christians are hesitant to reach out to their Muslim neighbors.” In this episode of the Influence Podcast, I talk with Mark and Lynda Hausfeld about how to share the gospel with Muslim neighbors. I'm George P. Wood, executive editor of Influence magazine and your host. Mark Hausfeld is vice president for Institutional Innovation and director of the Center for the Study of World Religions at Trinity Bible College and Graduate School in Ellendale, North Dakota. Lynda Hausfeld is founder and director of Say Hello: Serving Muslim Women, a ministry of Assemblies of God World Missions. Both are ordained AG ministers. ----- This episode of the Influence Podcast is brought to you by My Healthy Church, distributors of Bible Engagement Project. Bible Engagement Project gives churches access to a library of kids curriculum and small group resources all in one subscription. Visit BibleEngagementProject.com to download sample lessons.

Dr. Paul Alexander, President of Trinity Bible College joins Brad Johnson and JP Novin! --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/plexuss/message

INTRODUCTION: Branch Isole and I are here to teach you about the crucifixion of Jesus and what it means for you. This is especially special as we roll into Easter weekend. Jesus is the core of this podcast and it brings me much joy to spend a couple hours talking about Him. :) He, like me, is a former drug dealer, he's been to jail, he's been homeless, and like myself he understands his mission is to do all he can to help others now that he's been given a second chance. Branch is a poet, a storyteller and the author of 22 books! Branch was born in Osaka, Japan (my favorite country) and has the traveled the world extensively! Branch graduated from Texas State Univ. B.S.Ed., did post graduate work at the University of Houston, M.Ed Adm., and holds an Oxford M.A. Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary. Branch shares how strength of choice can change consequences and this man is known worldwide for his contemporary short story prose that reveals emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced.  Author of twenty-two books Branch Isole shares "how and why" strength of choice can change consequences. He's known worldwide for contemporary short stories revealing issues and emotions often experienced, but not always voiced. Storytelling is either about 'what has been' or 'what can be.' The story of "what can be" encourages us to embrace the duality of what is and more importantly, what is possible. Podcast program audiences tune-in to learn if your guest can help fulfill their aspirations and ambitions. My efforts are to help you produce a show with takeaways that benefit your listeners. The topics I share impart elements for personal, career and/or spiritual self-reflection. I believe we will give your audience a show they'll receive, use, and thank you for.I share edifying and entertaining self-development topics offering information and takeaway steps listeners can use after hearing our episode. These topical conversation starters provide audiences with identifiable grounding and growth elements for contemporary life issues.Spiritual Christianity:Life 101: Albatross or Millstone?The ‘Bucket List' Item Many IgnoreThird Act Specs; Rose Colored or 20-20?Relationships:7 Steps of Relationship RepairChange Your Response, Improve Your RelationshipsWork-Life Balance: 12 Key LessonsReligion:Bible Prophecy: Warnings or Promises?These 'today topic' discussion starters are designed for seekers, searchers, the fallen away and disillusioned. Those who question, wonder or are ready to explore self-reflectively their lives and relationships.  You're invited to book one today!Previous engagements and upcoming shows- https://www.manaopublishing.com/bookings.html  INCLUDED IN THIS EPISODE (But not limited to): ·      A Detailed Look Into The Crucifixion Of Jesus·      C&E (Christmas & Easter) Christians – WTF?·      Why Do Believe What You Believe?·      The Negotiable Nature Of God·      Why It's OK To Be Feel Weak Sometimes·      How To Read The Bible·      Hypocrites AKA Republicans·      YAY ALCOHOL!!!·      Graduating From Church ·      Spiritual Understanding·      The Simplicity Of The Lord CONNECT WITH BRANCH: Website & Other Books: https://www.manaopublishing.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/podcastguestbranchisoleLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/branch-isole-851433201/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzN66BkAUAemYX76Smnn0GA CONNECT WITH DE'VANNON: Website: https://www.SexDrugsAndJesus.comYouTube: https://bit.ly/3daTqCMFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/SexDrugsAndJesus/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sexdrugsandjesuspodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TabooTopixLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devannonEmail: DeVannon@SexDrugsAndJesus.com DE'VANNON'S RECOMMENDATIONS: ·      Pray Away Documentary (NETFLIX)o  https://www.netflix.com/title/81040370o  TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_CqGVfxEs ·      Upwork: https://www.upwork.com ·      FreeUp: https://freeup.net ·      Disabled American Veterans (DAV): https://www.dav.org ·      American Legion: https://www.legion.org  INTERESTED IN PODCASTING OR BEING A GUEST?: ·      PodMatch is awesome! This application streamlines the process of finding guests for your show and also helps you find shows to be a guest on. The PodMatch Community is a part of this and that is where you can ask questions and get help from an entire network of people so that you save both money and time on your podcasting journey.https://podmatch.com/signup/devannon TRANSCRIPT: [00:00:00]You're listening to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast, where we discuss whatever the fuck we want to! And yes, we can put sex and drugs and Jesus all in the same bed and still be all right at the end of the day. My name is De'Vannon and I'll be interviewing guests from every corner of this world as we dig into topics that are too risqué for the morning show, as we strive to help you understand what's really going on in your life.There is nothing off the table and we've got a lot to talk about. So let's dive right into this episode.De'Vannon: Hello? Hello. Hello, Oman, beautiful listeners out there. God bless each. And every last fucking one of you. I love you to the core, my soul. So this week here, we've got branchy Solei back again, and we are here to teach you about the crucifixion of Jesus and what it means for you. And this year, the specially important as we roll right on into this Easter weekend.and look, Jesus is the core of this podcast and it [00:01:00] brings me so much joy to be able to spend a couple hours talking about him. And of course, that's the reminder of my new book, sex, drugs, and Jesus, a memoir of self-destruction and resurrection. It's out. I started taking notes on this book back in 2013, and then it took me two years to finish it.Once I got started around the beginning of the pandemic almost two years ago. So I'm very proud of it. Please check it out. Sex drugs, and jesus.com. I hope you enjoy this episode and happy Easter, everyone. Well, welcome back to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast. Everyone. We have a branch Easter laid back with us for like the fifth, the 1000th time. I don't know. He's like a resident guest at this point. So expect to be seeing a more from him and hearing more from him. The man has like about a thousand books, which you can see it as website Manoj.Oh, publishing.com. I will put all of it in the show notes as I always do. [00:02:00] He's an incredible author. He's an incredible podcast guests. And today we're going to be talking about the sweet baby Jesus as we were coming up on the crucifixion day which is also known as the one day in the year. Some people go to church.Hello, branch, how are you doing? That's how I feel. So I love the Lord and I know you do too. And like, I'm not that I wouldn't say that those of you who only go to church once a year on Easter, you know, I kind of, I would like for this, I would like for one of you to reach out to me and tell me why you only go one day out of the year, is it out of guilt, out of a sense of obligation?Is that your one trip up to the sanctuary to repent? Like they did back in the old Testament. So I would be curious to know and no judgment. I've just always found it to be particularly titillating. What do you think about that brand? [00:03:00]Branch: Yeah. You know, I grew up as a C E Christian, Christmas and Easter. And I don't know whether my parents thought that's all we needed or they were just too busy. You know, that, that was the obligation of the year. I can understand that I am in agreement with you. I'm not sure why, but you know, we all make our choices.At least at least we'll go at Easter, go and, you know, and recognize the importance of that day and, and its symbolism and that connection with the Lord.De'Vannon: Hallelujah tabernacle and praise. This reminds me branch. The when I was at Lakewood church in Texas, before I got kicked out for not being straight, but it's an image that will always be plastered my mind because I got up into this thing in the adult choir [00:04:00] at Lakewood. And the first Sunday that I sang was an Eastern. Good initiation.they haven't got an initiate until the church has always packed. Like big of a church with every seat filled. I was like, so in the fucking zone. And so I rocked out with my cock out was probably part of the reason why I got kicked out,you know you know, I used to shake it for the Lord up in those cars thing. I will loopseveral people. Look, they can find some YouTube videos of their cameras did love me. So anyway, we're not here to glorify me. We're here to glorify Jesus. And so. The show that receipt at this one has to do with the Eucharist and communion. We're going to touch back on that a little bit later in this episode.So the way it [00:05:00] went according to recorded Hebrew history is that Jesus came was on the earth. He did all those miracles starting as, from what we know with turning the water into wine at the wedding in Cana of Galilee, which is why I keep me some red wine on stock at all times to honor my savior.Hallelujah. And then he did these miracles. He worked with people, he stirred up controversy just by being himself. He made the religious leaders mad and angry and he hurt their feelings. And then so they wanted to kill him off. You know, people don't like it. They just want to kill you. This is the way the devil works.And so we see he's now at communion Washington's disciples feed. The breaking, the bridge, drinking the sweet, sweet, and wine or bitter bitter. Why? I don't know, I probably would have served bitter wine considering what was about to happen. And so so Jesus has, is a snitch, a criminal informant, a CAI, a confidential [00:06:00] informant.His name we have learned is Judas, Iscariot and main wish he'll ever be marred. The Bible tells us that at some point, the devil entered into Judas and begin to turn him against The Lord that scripture has always stuck out in my head because that means that Judas wasn't always against the Lord at some point, some sort of thoughts, some sort of emotion, some sort of influence came over him that made him feel this way.He did not counter this influence or question that he went along with it and made the deal to sell what he does out for. The legal was 30 pieces of silver. And you know, I had my own informant back when I was dealing drugs. I wouldn't say gee, now we're in the exact same business when we had our informants, but cops work the same way then as they do now, they want to get to the head of the organization.They get a snitch, a weak link in the chain and they send a man find out where you're going to be on a certain day at a certain [00:07:00] time. Then they come NAB you that much. I do have in common with the Lord. We both got sold out. So what do you think about Judas? Branch: Well, you know you, you made an interesting comment just now about. Being, none of us are originally against the Lord. You know, we come into this life as babes, obviously, and we know nothing, and we are brought up in a family and a community, whatever that may be religious or not. And none of us is against the Lord.And certainly the Lord is not against any of us that are our transition from being ignorant to being neophytes, either on the spiritual path or not on a [00:08:00] spiritual path, you know, is a result of who we are and how we grow. So Judas was not against the Lord to begin with. Obviously he was one of the original 12 disciples.And like you say he was tempted and then coerced or bribed to go against the Lord and then similar or the same kind of fashion we today are often tempted or bribed by the world and things of the world to a go against the Lord, or even worse than a lot of cases is just be indifferent or ignore the Lord.So we have that in common with Judas Iscariot.De'Vannon: Okay. So then this beckons [00:09:00] beckons us back to what, how I always say to pay attention as to why we believe what we believe and why we think what we think and not to accept every thought that comes to us. So it might not be a group of jealous religious people coming to, to NAB your soul, to get you to fill out for 30 pieces of silver.It could be betraying, thought, feeling and emotion. I don't know of anyone out there ever. Just, you see somebody in a wave of disliked comes over you towards this person. Suddenly you just feel like you don't like Felicia or Pam or Jim or whoever. And you even know why you don't like them. You just don't like them.I've heard people say that before that they're like, say they just have this problem against somebody. I'm all like, what'd they do to you? I don't know. I just don't like them. I'm like, well, that's okay. You can just, you know, Branch: Well, you know, we see that in evidence every day in our day and age with just to name a few labels, racist homophobes, [00:10:00] phobes, misogynist, you know, they dislike other people's. Because of their skin because of their color, because of their beliefs or their actions. And yet they have really no foundation for that hatred or that dislike other than in most cases, just the way they were brought up the environment that they grew up with and the biases that they grew up with.You know you might've found an idea certainly in, in the military when you're thrown in with a bunch of different kinds of people, with different beliefs and backgrounds, from different parts of the country you have a tendency, you know, to kind of go with your own to begin with, but it doesn't take long in the military for me to realize.You know, the value that others bring into your [00:11:00] unit or into your company. And a lot of times, you know, we're able to and motivated go look beyond those initial bias that we might've come into the military with. I think it's a real good experience for people to give them an opportunity to grow as people doesn't work for everybody, but certainly worked for the group of guys that I was with back in the Vietnam era.De'Vannon: I think everyone. Wait tables or a few months and go to the military. But for a few months, I think some countries do have like a mandatory military thing. And I really think it makes all the difference. I ain't saying it eliminates all the foolishness and people, cause some people are just going to be foolish no matter what, no matter what, but certainly grant some perspective when you have to deal with bitchy, Karens, and shit, coming in to make unreasonable demands at restaurants and then they won't even tip.[00:12:00]And then you go up to go, then you go to the military and your life is on the line and you're, and you don't have a choice. You're going to participate and get along with people no matter how, unlike you, they are. So you don't have this luxury of being like, well, I just don't like him, so Branch: life, life, life, and tasks can make a big difference in one's attitudes.De'Vannon: right. And You know, when we all grow in tour for different reasons the life and death has made a difference in my attitude. And I'm because I've been exposed to so much of death in my time, which I appreciate. And so I find myself having to make myself be patient people who haven't been exposed. I had to grow up fast like I did, because I went to the military at 17.So, you know, I'm like, okay, you got some more experiences go through. You are mature and your time. I hope Branch: Okay.De'Vannon: [00:13:00] so. Let's see here. So there's this time. Okay. So Jesus went into, I believe it was the garden of gets Semini to pray as he was nearing this crucifixion. And he knows that this is what he was called here to do. He knows this is what it's. Now he's the son of God, God manifested in the flesh, but he had some trepidation leading up to this.And I believe that he chose to be vulnerable and transparent in this moment as a guide for us. Now, he didn't call the Legion. Legions of angels were coming to rescue him when he was tempted by the devil. You know, he didn't exercise his power in a way to save himself specifically. And so he, he toiled with this, you know, we asked the Lord, we ask God, you know, is there like a, is there another way, you know, let this cup [00:14:00] pass for me now. I know God to be very negotiable. There've been times I've been in a lot of trouble and, you know, he chose to bring me out of it. Whereas, you know, others might've been in probably surely would have been ensnared. And who knows. Sometimes we ask God, you know, God will say like one thing in. And we may be like, okay can we do that another way?For instance. So like when I was growing up in church, my profit has evangelists Nelson. You know, when I say prophetess, I mean, someone to whom God speaks like Isaiah, Jeremiah, somebody who's really, really has their ear, the mouth of God gifted in all gifts of the spirit she was and all of their prophecies, you know, like came true.And so, and there's a litany of people who are, you know, across the world who will testify to that. So there's one woman, you know, here in the south, they would stand you up in church. The profits of stand you up and, you know, whenever God gave them a word and they would minister this word on to you. And so she told her that the Lord gave the church [00:15:00] member who she was talking to or had given this woman a vision of who her soul made it. Now evangelists, Nelson and her clairvoyance see other people's visions that God had given to other people, even if they didn't tell her what that vision is. And so, and so she told us a woman, you know, God gave you this vision of your soulmate, but this woman, the church member didn't want this man. She wanted a different person.And so now one would think that God would be like, okay, no bitch. I already told you who the is going to be. That that's my story. And I'm sticking to it, but that's not the way it was. The Lord worked with her in the Lord, shifted in and created her soulmate into this other person that she wanted. And then, then let the other one go. And and so God has. A very negotiable way. Some stuff is from like that stuff. I went through, like being homeless and done all of that, that had to happen. That was like foretell than prophesied. I had dreams about it. [00:16:00] I didn't know what, you know, what, what the bad stuff was, was going to happen, but there's no way that I could have gotten around that.You know, that, that, that was a permanent thing in my life that was fixed. But trouble, other troubles and stuff like that, we were able to negotiate around. So when we talk about it, when we pray, understand you're talking to a being who has a very reasonable mind, you know, and he's, he has all power, he can do anything he wants to do. Okay.You don't want that soulmate if he feels like it'll just give you another one, you know, you know, you can do whatever he wants to all about your faith in what you believe. That woman that charged me would probably had enough faith to believe that God was able and willing to shift it for her. But it's probably played a lot of part into that. And so. Jesus asked, you know, can this cup pass from me? What do you think about what was going on with the Lord while he was, while he was going through in sweating and all of this going on, going through all these [00:17:00] changes.Branch: Well, we have to remember that Jesus was a man, you know, he was man and God. So he experienced and felt and had the emotions you know, the successes and the highs, as well as the depression and the lows from living among men and women in his day and age, so that, you know, he is part. He is the, he is the reflection and the connection for us as humans to the spirituality of God, father and spirit.So in experiencing what we experience as human was, he understands us and he understands, you know, what we're going through and what we're struggling with. That's an interesting statement. He [00:18:00] makes about, you know, when you take this cup from me, that's the one time in Bible scripture that we actually see his humanity in evidence as it applies to both him and to us and in him asking that, you know, that's that human response.I don't want to die. I don't want to give up what I have right now in my life and in the next thought and the next breath he says, but not my will, your will be done. And that's what kind of, what you're describing with within lady is he wants us to recognize God wants us to recognize and acknowledge and have competence that we can accept his will [00:19:00] for us.Because as a loving father you know, he wants what's best for us. Most of the time he wants what's best for us, even more than we want what's best for us. He has our best interest. Always at heart and therefore his actions on our behalf, like the changing of the man for that lady his actions on our behalf can be made to align with our wants, but we have to be willing to make that surrender just like Jesus did not my will Lord, not my will father, but yours be done.So in that moment of his humanity and his response, similar to what our response would be, I don't want to die by so rendering [00:20:00] in order to fulfill his design and his purpose, he chose to. The father's will accept what was coming at the end of that night. And so we've got the surrender of my will to his will.We've got the acceptance of my deaths for his purpose, but that's a great, great example of his humanity. You know, that you bring up about the, the garden of gifs 70 event.De'Vannon: Look, so thank you for that breakdown brain. So look, y'all, it's okay to feel weak. You know, this, this is something that I struggle with is trying to be too perfect and too precise and too good, like all the time. I get a lot of that from military. I get a lot of that from the Pentecostal church, this idea that you must be [00:21:00] perfect and especially in the millet, well, both of them are kind of like if you put one toe at a line, then bad things are going to happen.And in the military is the air force is all about protection. Everything has to be perfect. Perfect. Perfect, perfect. Perfect. From the way you folded your socks to the way you fix a part of him playing at the beach down to the last step, down to the period dot everything. And I was very impressionable in my teens and stuff like that.And I internalize too much of that. I didn't filter it at all. And so I still struggle with being like to right all the time. And then Bible talks to us about the, the, the dangers of trying to be over righteous, you know, and not accepting the fact that you're gonna mess up and that you're going to feel weak.The Bible tells us that in his, in our weakness, that God's strength is made. Perfect. So he's designed us to have this humanity in these weaknesses and these shortcomings, and he's also giving us, given us Jesus to have a way out. So, so it's okay for us to have these garden and get so [00:22:00] many moments, You know, and stuff like that.And, you know, but in this garden, Jesus is praying is like my evangelist Nelson used to say all the time. And the name of her show that she had was called prayer changes things. And so know, Jesus did, did you know his, his, his share of praying and I'm reminded right now, as, I'm talking about the the Mount of transfiguration I don't, I don't really know necessarily that this ties directly into the crucifixion. It was one of those moments when, you know, Jesus was you know, off praying and everything. And he had taken two of his disciples with him. I do believe. And I do believe while he was praying, then they were appeared unto him. I think it was Moses and Elijah, maybe. I think it was those two that appeared to him in spirit. So, so what does this tells us? Jesus needed encouragement. You know, this was the, see his [00:23:00] humanity. There really was no one. Fit on this earth who could like say encourage Jesus, you know, you know, he's pretty much as high as it gets, you know? So the Lord had to sin people from eternity to talk to him is something that I would think about, say like with my evangelists, you know, really high spiritual people in this earth, you know, like who in the hell can counsel them when they're counseling everybody else all the time.And so so even Jesus needed a good talking to, you know, some encouragement. He needed a couple of homeys that look, he didn't have 50,000 friends, you know, I don't care what your social media tells you. You don't have that many true friends. So he, God sent two people to hold peopleto come and cheer him up. Go ahead, branch.Branch: You know, as, as usual you've, you've said [00:24:00] lots of different triggers for me. Yeah. That the, that instance of transformation was evidence to the disciples who were there of his holiness and Moses and Elijah coming to stand there, be with him was a real important vision for a couple of reasons. Number one, Moses and Elijah will be the two witnesses who come during the first half of the tribulation to warn the world.Of what's about to come and the events that are unfolding during that first three and a half years in the tribulation, they will be the two witnesses who come and physical form and stand on the steps of the third temple in Jerusalem, prophesizing about the end of the world. The second thing [00:25:00] that, you know, you said that's important is about the discipline in the military and keeping your socks in a certain way.And everything you do in the military is discipline. Well, you know that, of that word discipline, that's where we get discipleship. So someone who is a disciple is practicing discipline. And for us as believers, you know, our faith is the practice of discipline. In our obedience to the word of God. So all of these things have a connection.You know, one of the great things about learning to read the Bible is you discover literally in sentences and paragraphs in stories. So many aspects of life, that if you reflect on what's being told [00:26:00]and, and expressed, you can see it taking place in your own life. And I just wanted to comment about that. Discipline in the military discipline in any job situation, you know, every career you've got has a certain discipline to it. There are certain rules that need to be followed in order to be successful in that endeavor and discipleship or obedience to the word of God. Isn't the same thing. That's what discipline is all about.It's having self control to listen and see and understand, you know, what you're experiencing and how it applies to your everyday life. So I just want to comment about that discipleship and discipline relationship.De'Vannon: You better preach. Hallelujah, tabernacle and praise. So you mentioned read the Bible and when you said that I, I, I believe that I understood that I should [00:27:00] give this warning to people do not try to rush through and read the Bible in a year and do not read it from Genesis to revelation. I've heard it said that it can actually like hurt your mind to try to read the Bible from front to back.I've I've heard that said I did it. I think I read the Bible from front to back like two or three times. And I tell you though, Do it do not hurt yourself that way. So this is my older self telling my younger self, this advice. If I was talking to my younger self or my kid, or if I could transform one of my cats in the real humans, I've tried, it didn't work.And I would be like, okay, look, look, look a little motherfucker. You don't take this Bible in parts. Now the whole reason you're reading it in the first place is to try to get closer, to know this God that you, that you're thinking about serving, or you decided to serve. Now, you live in an age where you have the internet, so you [00:28:00] can Google things.You don't have. You know, you don't have to go to a library. You know, like I had to when I was a kid. So first thing you want to do is understand the structure of the Bible. The thing doesn't go in chronological order from front to back, it skips around, and then there's some overlap some in some intersectionality in there and understand you're reading a historical book.That's given us snapshots of what writers deem to be important, what God deemed to be important and have collected record from the middle east. You know, like people from back in the day, and we're going to glean the themes and the, from, from the lessons that God clearly wants us to learn through these readings about how other people handled it. I would tell my younger self or my newly trans mutated cat to human kid, that everything is not in the Bible. I'd say a [00:29:00] lot of stuff is in the Bible, but not at a hundred percent of everything. Because the world has changed. It's changing all the time. And I would say go at it in pieces. I might tell you to start in the new Testament before you get in the old Testament, I probably would tell you to start with grace before you talk about all those rules and laws and stuff so that you don't get confused and start to think that you try to, that you have to live like a Hebrew in the old Testament, which is how I was, you know, that's what I would say.So what do you think about that? Branch: Great summary. You know, we need to think of the Bible as sort of the cliff notes version. The Bible, the canonized Bible that we have today is it's a story about one person basically, but it's not a novel and you're right. You don't read it from front to back. It's divided up into two different sections, the old Testament and the new Testament, the old [00:30:00] Testament is about God's relationship with the Israelites, the Jews, and the new Testament is about his relationship.With everyone, but particularly the Gentiles, the Christians, the non Jews, non believers in Christ. There's two different focuses about Jesus, you know, as spirit and as man there's lots of books you left, you made it a good point. There's lots of material. That's not in the Bible. You know, there's the Apocrypha, which is a collection of writings and books that are not in the Bible.We have to remember that the Bible, like you said, is a historical record that goes back about 3,500 years. So there's no way, you know, everything could be in there. The Bible is a compilation of books and letters from people over that [00:31:00] 3,500 year period. And much of it was passed down orally. Especially the Jewish part was oral tradition, not written records.And the Bible books that we have was a compilation decided by a council of church leaders, our elders in the third century, you know, they, they couldn't have everything in one book. So they decided these are the things that are most important to have textualized for people, you know, coming after us. It's just like the encyclopedia.There's no way you can have everything. Not all knowledge can be found in one book. So you take the highlights and you know, the things that can. Have a correlation to other important things. And then that's the tech [00:32:00] we have. So there's lots of things outside of the Bible itself that we can read and gain knowledge from.So think of the Bible as sort of the cliff note version of this history of the world and civilizations, but with the focus on the most important person who has an effect on our lives and that's Jesus Christ.De'Vannon: Right. I concur. And then now as you all the reading through it, it doesn't contain everything, but I'm going to say you, you want to When you come across the part that that might be controversial to you, you want there's these things called commentaries, which is like other people have made within archeological research or anthropological research and different things like that.And they're giving you a more historical context to it. You can get concordance to this, which are these really thick books that actually write [00:33:00] down each word in its original Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic pencil, how deep you want to get with it. You don't have to launch it right into all of that from the get go, you know, take your time and just have baby steps that if you come across something that you felt like it might change your life.So you're not straight. And you come across in there where it's talking about, man shall not lie with man. And you've heard people use these scriptures to try to tell you that you're wrong. Okay. Well, we know that the word homosexual, for instance, wasn't added to the Bible until sometime in the middle of the last century.So humans have taken. Some liberties with certain certain phrasiology within here. I think that within the Bible, and I think that that's abundantly clear the Waze wouldn't have a thousand different translations of the same texts. You know, somebody got creative somewhere, you know, I really don't understand why we have to have so many translations, but at the same time I do, because people want to, they have people have different agendas in certain, certain translation.So if the [00:34:00] Bible had been written in Spanish and say, we were going to say El Gato S Moya Flocko, which is how you say the cat is very skinny in Spanish. L means the Gato means cat S means is Moines means very Flocko means skinny. You don't need a whole college of, of spiritual people. That archeology is and everything to give you 50 different translations of that.So, so, so Hebrew, Greek, and Aramaic. Are not what would be considered simple or like romance languages. They're just not, they're very complex in order to interpret them. It's a very subjective template that you employ, which means that a person's biases, prejudices and the way they feel about shit certainly comes into play.When they are interpreting ancient languages. Now they feel like they're smarter than YouTube, because most people they're not going to go and dig up these old [00:35:00] languages and stuff like that. But I'm going to tell you, you don't have to do it for every word in the Bible, but when you come across certain scriptures that make you raise an eyebrow and make you question yourself, then go and get a second and third opinion by doing further research, which is now readily available at your fingertips on the internet.Don't read through there. And get somebody's take on something or let a preacher tell you something's wrong with you before you go and do your research yourself. I let them influence me that way. And they cause me to doubt myself. They had me thinking masturbation was wrong and wine was wrong. And me secular music was wrong and everything was wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, wrong, based on their reading of this Bible.So we got to read it for ourselves and be patient and just take it easy when you're doing it. When you come across something that may or may make you think something's wrong with you, or something's the matter with you, I want you to stop and pray and do further research before you just internalize that. [00:36:00] Now, even though this book was written by people and it didn't have everything in it, there's still power in the word of God. I, when I've been reading through the Bible, there's been times where I may have felt like a chill pass over me and I knew God was healing me or something like that. Or I've had like spiritual experiences.I don't know how God is going to deal with each of you out there. But I do know that if you reach for him, that he will reach back to you and reading your Bible and trying to learn is certainly a way of you reaching out God. So I'm not saying expect chills to pass over you, but what I do pray, so the Lord to manifest themselves to each and every last one of you in a way that you're going to know that it's him and what does cause he did that with me.He got all kinds of things he could do. So I would just say be open-minded to your own unique experiences, because I can't expect somebody to, you know, follow a God that doesn't present himself to them, you know, in some way. And I think that that's fair. [00:37:00]Branch: Hey, man. Couldn't agree more, De'Vannon: Oh, Branch: but I don't know of, we talked about this before or not. I think we probably have, but for those people who want to get into scripture, what read the Bible. Here's my suggestion. And I've made this before. Get a red letter version of the Bible. That's where Christ's words are printed and read star in the book of Matthew.You're going to read Matthew, mark, Luke and John. The four gospel books and all you read is the red letters. Anything that's printed in red, if it skips from one paragraph to the next that's okay. You just read the red letter. And what that will do is number one, it will give you an exposure to Jesus, his thoughts, his words, and his [00:38:00] deeds.Number two, that will help you establish that base of relationship that the advantage just had mentioned. And number three, it will open your eyes to what the Bible is and what its purpose is and how it relates to you in your life. If you just read that part, you'll be able to start from there and establish that relationship with God through Christ.You know, that's been the desire of your heart. We all feel that we're missing something. And that missing part of us is not being spiritually grounded. If you want to get spiritually grounded, I have found, and I often suggest to people who ask me, you know, this is the easiest way to sort of jumpstart that relationship.Red letter version, [00:39:00] just read the red letter text, and then go from there.De'Vannon: Right. And in terms of the, all the different sorts of translations and stuff they have out there.Bible gateway.com is a pretty easy to use website and app. They have it very organized and you can pick, you know, just kind of go through and get something that, that you can understand that it's not. Make you feel intimidated.It's a lot of people don't fuck with the king James version for that reason. You know, however for whatever it's worth, the king James version is maybe like one of the closest versions that actually where the people actually worked hard to give you somewhat, it's a little bit more accurate, you know, although all of them are quite subjective.So, but you got to pick a version that, that, that, that that's gonna appeal to you. You mentioned the word canonized. When you talked about this, I want you to tell people what that means exactly in the, in the way that you're [00:40:00] using it. Because I don't think you mean it like so. Branch: No, no. Yeah, no. The Canon is the label that's used for the Bible. You know, the Catholics have their own version of the Bible. Not that it's completely different, but they've got some things added. Into, you know, their holy book for their catechism, which is instruction. So the cannon refers to the old Testament and the new Testament books, the 66 is sort of the quantified or the, this is the final version for the lay people to read.So Canam simply means that it's the approved version. It's the one that all the deciders got to get. It's like the constitution, you know, when they sat down to [00:41:00] drop the constitution, everybody had an opinion as to what would be in it. And so after all of the back and forth and discussions in the meetings, they all finally agreed, okay, this is what the cost tuition will say.And this is what the bill of rights would say. And they all signed off. So you could say that the constitution was canonized, it was the final version. And so that's what the Canon means is the official version final form.De'Vannon: All right. Good enough on that. So, so do you get sold out in a, you know, Judas does his thing, the guards come, Peter shanks. One of them slices in ear off, you know, as we do. And so Jesus is so nice. He picked his ear up and stuck it back on the, on the food's head. I bet you, that had a lasting impression on that guard.[00:42:00] Now he just received a miracle while he's going to arrest the person who gave him a miracle. So now Jesus is bought before religious leaders of the day and well put putting, you know, it, the religious leaders know exactly what's right, that the man hadn't done anything, but they chose to put the what other people want, what their constituents want over, what they know is right. I'd be willing to say that these people were probably Republicans.I'm just going to allow myself that bit of shade here. Cause it's my show and I didn't do what the fuck I want. And so that wouldn't, you know, it, that religion in front of politics, you know, I think the two of them make strange bedfellows. And so go ahead, branch. Branch: Well, instead of Republicans, we might say hypocrites, you know, that's what Jesus called them. That's what he called the, [00:43:00] the leaders of the Jewish community and the religious leaders of his day. There was the farracies, which were the scholarly. And official religious leaders. There, the Sadducees, which were the sort of the next group down, they work, they were religious people.They're like Christians today versus versus, you know, the priest and the Pope. So the priest and the Pope would have been the Pharisees and the people who attended church would have been the Sadducees. They were also a lot of the merchants in the more wealthy in society of that day. And then you had, you know, all the mass of people who were the workers and the downtrodden and the poverty stricken, and Jesus addresses the leaders, the rich, the powerful as hypocrites simply because they say one thing [00:44:00] and they do another.And so. You know, if you look at our day and age, we have a lot of hypocrites also in our time that say what we should be doing and then turn right around and actually do the same thing. So he called them hypocrites. And not necessarily all Republicans, certainly they're sitting the Democrats, but if we think of them as hypocrites people who are, you know, telling us how we should behave and holding up the Bible as their evidence of how we should behave and then behind closed doors or in our world today, blatantly in the media, in front of everybody, they continue to behave the exact ways that they're declaring that others should not behave.So [00:45:00] hypocrites of Jesus. Hypocrites of our days. Same people, different time, you know, different label and different clothing.De'Vannon: Facts. And the thing is not, it's not be fitting for us to waste emotion, being angry at the hypocrites of the day because these things are ordained of the Lord. You know, if everybody was acting right and everything back in the day, then the crucifixion wouldn't have never happened. You know? So even the evil, they see the Bible says that God creates the evil and the good, you know, but he uses them all according to his purpose.So once we understand and accept that, then we stopped being angry. Like say, when kids die, when crazy shit like Donald Trump happens, you know, you know, when the Corona virus happens, you know, as bad as these things are. Good still comes out of them in some way. But at the end of the day, the Lord is ushering this world towards its inevitable end.But until that [00:46:00] time comes, there are certain things that God wants to happen. And he's using all of these people. I would never want a public high position like that because you know, all authority belongs to God. And if you have something to do with charting policy, that changes literally the course of history and the whole world, you, you know, God was like, just so has its fingers on you.Like, I look at them just like. I think it was on a chess board. So it doesn't matter if you're the president, the vice-president a Congressman or whoever public servant you. I mean uh, you're you have your accountability before the Lord is like very, very, very, very high, you know, in my opinion, because what you do affects like everyone, you know, and nothing you do is done in a corner.And therefore and I do believe the Bible says something about like judgment will start like at the church, you know, you know, it's, it starts with those who have to do with the rendering judgment. And it's so easy to fall into being a hypocrite. The [00:47:00] moment you start to nitpick at somebody else for not living the way you think they should.I do believe that you've become a hypocrite because we all sin every day. And the Lord says all sin is the same. So where the not you stole a toothpick or a woman went to go get an abortion. You, you, you toothpick thief cannot stand there and pull it up. You know, the pictures of the gross babies outside the abortion clinic with a stolen toothpick in your pocket, thinking that it's going to be all right for you when you stand before the Lord.So I'm going to say this again, people, we were not put on this earth to straighten everybody else out. We were not put on this earth, the fuck with other people. Some people go in here and change brands. Some people are just gonna be so caught up in their own insecurities and inferiorities that they just can't help, but try to demean and belittle other people so that they can feel better about themselves, but leave people alone.Our God said it. If you show mercy, you will receive mercy. But if you show judgment, then you will receive judgment [00:48:00] without mercy. So which one do you want? But you can't, you can't do nothing but reap what you saw. And so it doesn't matter how good stuff is for you now. Everything is subject to change.You don't know what tomorrow holds or not even what a day may bring. So you might have money and procedure and position. You don't know that these times are changing so fast. You know, everyone was talking about the cocaine or do you use with, I think Kevin McCarthy and his little friend who decided to snitch last week and the Republican party, you know, and Kevin McCarthy didn't have nothing to say about, you know, You know, Lauren and Barbara and all this crazy ass people, but the mama, they started talking about cocaine or these where he may have been involved.And all of a sudden he's available to speak,not judging you, anyone for having cocaine or these I've done it myself. However, you don't, you don't see me telling people what they're not supposed to do either. You know, I'm leaving everybody alone. So [00:49:00] I'm trying to get into heaven myself. So,oh Lord Jesus. So, so the, so the politicians of the day I knew believed the Bible said that, you know, they didn't want to cause a stir amongst the people. So they just gave them what they want. We do not hold public office. Branton. I don't have the platform that we have to just do what the fuck we want.You know, we have a mandate in our, we have a great responsibility to people. So these leaders weren't praying, they didn't, I didn't read and there we need them prayed, you know, what should I do? You know, or anything like that? They let the voice of the people sway them. They didn't go into their prayer closet.They didn't reach out for the Lord. You know, I didn't see any of that, you know, you know, and these are the things that are shared Jesus onto the cross. So he's onto the cross. They didn't flatter the thorny crown, slap them, spit on him. One person helped him, [00:50:00] everyone else just looked. And so, so so now he's up there on this cross.I believe he has like a murder and a thief on either side of him. He actually wasn't crucified by himself. So, this is where we get this whole cross from. So you see crosses hanging around with people's necks on the back of their fucking cars next to the fish in all of these different Christian symbols and so on and so forth.So what was it, all this Jesus stuff about? Why did he come here one earth? How does seem dying all them years ago? Do anything for me? You know, this is the, this is like the meat of why we're having this whole discussion today and why Easter is such a big deal. Take it away brand. Branch: well, let's back up a minute demand because you said something about the crowd there. And I don't know if we had talked about this before. I don't think so because of the crucifixion, Passover is the [00:51:00] celebration that the crucifixion takes place. There's a weekend three day weekend. We call it Easter. The Jews call it Passover.And what it is is celebrating the. Jews and the Israelites leaving Egypt getting out of bondage would Moses led them out of Egypt towards the promised land. And so Passover symbolizes them symbolizes and recognizes. And it is a celebration to acknowledge that Moses taking the Jews out of bondage in Egypt, when Jesus entered Jerusalem for Passover, Passover happens obviously every year and same weekend.What we call Easter Christians call Easter and in Jesus's day, [00:52:00] virtually everyone in the country who could travel to Jerusalem. Orthodox Jews and practicing Jews would travel to Jerusalem for this festival for the celebration. And when Jesus entered the city he had the entire route into Jerusalem, was lined with people, celebrating his, coming into the city for that celebration jump forward.Two days later, when he's standing before the CEP two agenda, which is the 70 members of the Jewish high order both political and religious, primarily religious, the religious leader for also the political leaders. He's standing before them in sort of a trial situation. And they're condemning. To [00:53:00]death for being a rebel, a zealot who they believe is going to overthrow their authority, because he's got so many of the people supporting him, they think he's going to cause a rebellion and they'll get thrown out of office.And so they have a trial, they condemn him to death, but because they have no authority to actually put him to death, they send him over to the Romans, to just pilot, the governor of Judah and Jerusalem at that time, governor of the province. And they send him over to stand trial a second time, a pilot listens to, it says he's not guilty.Sends him back to the Septuagint and. They refused to hear it. And they sent him back to Pontus, pilot, Pontus pilot says, you know, [00:54:00] I'm not going to condemn him to death. So I'll let you, the Jews decide, you know, what he does. He gets a prisoner out of the prison cell or Rabis and brings him around in the stage and brings Jesus out on the stage and then asks the people who are assembled below, you know, who they should save and who they should put to down.My point is the number of people who were there at that time at the death sentence time was certainly less than the people who were lining the streets two days prior, celebrating Jesus's entry into the city. And you've got to probably imagine that the crowd who was at the was hearing. Was probably made up of some hand-picked people you know, sort of like the religious or political people, getting their shells to [00:55:00] be in the crowd.So when pilot says who you all made it release, but rabbits or Jesus, you know, they all cry out Barabis and that's how it comes to pass that the death sentence is actually decided now because the Jews can kill anyone. The Romans had the duty and the honor to actually put Jesus to death. So there's a, there's the big difference in the crowds and their demeanor towards Jesus. Just kind of you know, the fix was in, so to speak much like we, we experienced today and so. Situations that we are part of, or we are part of as observers, the fix was,De'Vannon: Yeah, shouldn't be being. And Branch: the system [00:56:00] was rigged.De'Vannon: as it was then, so it is now, but it looks, it looks a rig to us, but the Bible says that the lot may be cast in the lap, but its every outcome is of the Lord. His stuff is not random to him. But do you see is not isn't that required for us as humans to understand that every freaking thing, you know, God understands everything and all of the random stuff it's his will.It is so, so Jesus is on the Kraus. Scott hanging out, you know, it's not like, you know, he, then they're challenging him, you know, Hey, if you're really the son of God, you just get yourself down from there, you know, making a mockery of him while he's up there, he's got two homies on the right and the left, one-to-one throwing shade at him.And the other one's like Hey, I believe. And so and so they [00:57:00] mix vinegar with gall, but it on a sponge, they extended up to Jesus' mouth, all these hanging out here on this Crouse. And I think he held him well, was it from the show? I can't remember. I think it was about three hours. So that maybe he wasn't up there on that, on that cross that tells you specifically in the gospels, but it wasn't like.I like that super quick death or anything like that. It was like in my opinion, a long drawn out, slow, miserable death. And so they mixed this vinegar with gall and they put it up to his mouth. He tasted, he spits it out. I think some Bibles might call it wine. I think some might call it like a mixture of concoction.And so I wanted to talk about the difference between a NAZA right and a Nazarene, because I do believe that there are those people who would use a scripture like this to try to further condemn the consumption [00:58:00] of alcoholic beverages. Okay. I want to be, I just want to say that there's nothing wrong. If you want a drink, you a Cabernet Sauvignon or some damn Jack Daniels.I mean, for what it's worth. I mean, the liquor is a derived from fucking plants and all this Scottish shit, you know, but the Bible does warn us against excessive drinking. Again, God's rules and laws and principles are there to help us. When you think about them, they kind of make sense. Common sense.Wouldn't want to over-drink anyway, you get all fucked up. You spend way too money. He may wake up in jail or thinking body parts and shit. And I've been through enough drunken revelry in my life. I think God had the right idea, you know, a sip or two will do. And so So I'm just going to read this. So in the Hebrew Bible, a Nazarite is one who voluntarily took a vow.These vowels are described the [00:59:00] numbers, chapter six, verses one through 21 Nazarite comes from the Hebrew word Nasar meaning consecrated or separated. Those who put themselves under NAZA right vial, which is how like Samson was in the book of judges. That's why he, you know, his strength was in his hair and he wasn't supposed to cut his hair. Those who put themselves under Nazarite vow do so by adding onto themselves a degree of sanctity, as it says for some length of time. So they do things like they abstained from all wine and anything else made from the great vine plant, such as cream of tar, tar, GrapeSEED oil, et cetera. They refrain from cutting their hair. And then they, they, and they, then they do not become ritually impure by contact with corpses or graves, even though it was a family member. So Jesus has raised people from the dead touch, plenty of corpses, you know, turn the water into wine and everything like that. So he was not a, I don't see him as a NAZA right now.A Nazareen is simply [01:00:00] somebody who's born in the city of Nazareth. And so it was fascinating to me when I came across as this difference here. And I really wanted to point that out. But what do you, what do you think about that? Branch: While you're talking about people who are fundamentalists or, you know, like the people we see in Jerusalem and Israel today in the garb, there has Siddiq, is there sort of their sector, their label, and they are fundamentalist Jews. They are you know, practicing old Testament kinds of rituals and lifestyles.And that's like the fundamentalist and any religion, you know, have sort of a set of rules that they adhere to pretty stringently. One thing we have to remember, especially in Jesus' day, but literally up until [01:01:00] at least the 19th century and into the 20th century. Most people drank alcoholic beverages, beer, and wine being, you know, the, the core of alcohol not because they wanted to get drunk, but because the water was not good to drink so much water, they didn't have any purification systems or methods.So all the water that they drank came from Wells and streams and rivers, and most of it was contaminated, you know bacteria, all kinds of things growing in the waterways. So it was not the best health conscious thing to do to drink the water. And that's why people would drink wine and beer because it had been through a fermentation process that helped cleanse that water that was being [01:02:00] used in it.So it wasn't so much. A cultural thing. It was a health issue. And you know, like say this was all up until at least the 19th century and 20th century, most water systems were not running with Predix or pure water. So there was a health factor involved. So if you abstained from drinking beer or wine, except in a ritual or worser situation, that it would be like a fasting scenario where you were, you know, keeping your body from indulging orient by being in something that the common man or the common person did on a regular basis, drank wine and beer. Because they couldn't, or wouldn't drink for water. And so as a fundamentalist, you would only partake in those things that had to do with your worship [01:03:00] service or, you know, your religious traditions or doing it for religious purposes. You wouldn't just go out and drink wine or beer. And that may be what the common person was doing simply so they could be hydrated.So there's a couple of different ways to look at that, but the fundamentalists there, their whole intent is to stick as closely as possible to what their principles and they're gone. And their liturgies describe as a holy life.De'Vannon: Right. And so was the Pentecostals who. tried to drill that into me. You know, that drinking wine is, you know, like the devil and everything like that. And I think they meant well,but at the end of the day, what they told me, wasn't the truth, you know? And it was founded in, in a, in a gross [01:04:00] misunderstanding of the word and how to look at it, which is why I'm such a big proponent of reading and studying the Bible for yourself in, and I'm not really so much for denominations anymore anyway, about growth in those.But but you know, it was a good start, some good training wheels. I love new churches as training wheels, you know, use them as you need to, but you know, you got to graduate from college at some point, you know, I don't see why people shouldn't need a church to teach them how to reach God that he died for the rest of their lives.At some point you should get the. You know, you should, you should learn. So, okay. So he's nailed to the cross. His blood is flowing, so to take the spear, shanks him in like his rib and some water comes down. And so oh, wait a minute. I, wasn't going to talk about Daniel. Cause you've mentioned about taking a [01:05:00] break from wine.So Daniel, there's a book of Daniel in the old Testament. This is probably my second favorite book in the Bible. Second, only to the book of revelation because they talk so much about the same stuff in revelation or these angels and all this stuff going on. And I just love, love, love, love, love. And so angel was gone, the angel Daniel was going through some changes baby.And when he was in Babylon and, and they, and, and they say that he took a break from wine, you know, for like three weeks. To fast for the deliverance of his people. And so I believe that that was stated for a reason, you know, why did, why did the Lord want us to know that he took a break from wine because Daniel was turning up and he was drinking wine for all the reasons brands just said.So we have precedent that it is okay. To have you some wine, he took his fasting break, like you were just saying for spiritual purposes. And that's when the angel Gabriel came and flew to him with his visions and everything. And we have all, all of the [01:06:00] beauty of the book of Daniel. And so so we're up here on the cross.Jesus is bleeding. So branch, if I'm new to Christianity of I'm considering this, but explain to me how this guy hanging on a cross, getting killed and bleeding with this water coming out of the side and mixed with blood. What, what, what does it do for me today? I don't understand, like how does it, what does it do for me?How did they even help me? Branch: wow. Well, the, the innocent, I pulled out one Ephesians one. Verse seven says very simply in the ham, meaning Jesus, we have the redemption, meaning the path of spiritual reconciliation to God, the father, through his blood for the forgiveness of sins. And so [01:07:00] what the blood of Christ does is release us from our sins that we've committed.So in him, we have redemption through his blood for the forgiveness of sins, and that's what that whole blood flowing represents. He gave himself as a sacrifice for us so that we could Or not experience death. And that's what the blood of Christ is. It's covering our sins so that we don't have to die and be separated from God.De'Vannon: So, yeah. So when he says the death, y'all, he means like a spiritual death as opposed to physical. 'cause we all got to die physically once, you know, as the scriptures [01:08:00] say, so in the old Testament, if somebody wanted to be forgiven of sayings, they used to have to go to the priest. And there, you know, it'd be a lot of animal butchering.You know, this is a principle. This is where human understanding. You just, at some point, once God has said something, he's ordained structured, it is what it is. Now. God does not have to explain himself to us. And so us as humans, we got to gain some humility about that and understand who has the power and who doesn't.God is the ultimate. One of authority, not the president, not ourselves, you know, no, nobody but him. He requires a blood sacrifice. This is the way it's always been. I didn't ask him why it is what it is. And so Jesus was the like last sacrifice. So we don't have to do, like they did in the old Testament and take a bull and a Ram or a dove or whatever, and go down there and chop it up for the blood to flow.You know, it's something about when God sees the blood, [01:09:00] you know, it changes, you know, he goes from being angry to cool. You know, that's just the weight that this does, that is just an ordinance that just exists. And so and, and, and the buck stops there. So Jesus, his whole purpose. He's this bloody sacrificing on this cross from this point on no more animal sacrifices needs. We don't have to make a trip to the temple we can. And so when we say we call on the sacrifice that we call on the blood of Jesus, we're not asking him to pour blood all over us. What we're saying is that we would like to take God up on his offer of what the sacrifice represents to forgive us. Now, I was listening to somebody having to do with the war on Ukraine, a lady who was Ukrainian, she was saying, she's not afraid to die.Jesus. She's just afraid to die because she hasn't had a chance to make it to confession yet. Okay. And I'm listening to her and thinking, [01:10:00] I get what you're saying, lady, and I'm here for your strength. You're kicking some serious Russian ass over there, but this concept that we have to wait to go to a confession, to talk to a human before we can get right with God defeats the entire purpose of Jesus. And so by that that's so wholesale, the practice is going back to the old Testament and being like, Well, I can't get right until I leave my house and go talk to this person so they can mediate for me. Jesus, didn't done that. And so he released you from this whole thing. And when I heard her say that I'm thinking, Hmm, wonder she's Catholic.And I don't know, there's other religions out there that still make you go through a person to get absolved of your sins, but babies y'all, don't have to do that wherever you're at. You can just be like, Jesus, I thank you for that sacrifice. I believe that you exist. Please forgive me my sins. And it's done the [01:11:00] moment you believe in you, even if you can't speak, just believe it in your heart.I don't know. I'm just going to be quiet. I just cannot with this whole going to a pre thing to get forgiven, I just can't. I can't. Branch: there's, there's two scriptures. People should keep in mind. Right? Describe and answer all that. You've just said, number one, Matthew seven, verses seven and eight. If you want to know how you get that relationship with God through Jesus Christ started Matthew seven, seven, and eight describes that when you've gone there, then go to Romans 10, 9, 10, and 17.And that will give you what Davanon was just trying to describe. [01:12:00] It gets you, you invited Christ into your life. He's responded and Romans 10, 9, 10, and 17 describes what that woman in Ukraine needs to do instead of waiting to see an Orthodox priest. To get right with God for possible demise. That's how simple a relationship with Christ is.And that's how easy it is to get to God when you pass away. Yeah, there's, there's a lot going on and there's a lot of people, you know, who are confused and frightened about, well, what happens when I die and am I going to get to heaven? And those two scriptures will answer all those questions.[01:13:00]De'Vannon: Yeah. And you know, the Lord hasn't given us a spirit of f

INTRODUCTION: Branch Isole (www.Manaopublishing.com) is back! This man has become a resident guest here and we love having him on our show! Today we are talking about spiritual independence, breaking free from dependency on churches and I even show you how to take Communion/Eucharist at home!!! He, like me, is a former drug dealer, he's been to jail, he's been homeless, and like myself he understands his mission is to do all he can to help others now that he's been given a second chance. Branch is a poet, a storyteller and the author of 22 books! Branch was born in Osaka, Japan (my favorite country) and has the traveled the world extensively! Branch graduated from Texas State Univ. B.S.Ed., did post graduate work at the University of Houston, M.Ed Adm., and holds an Oxford M.A. Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary. Branch shares how strength of choice can change consequences and this man is known worldwide for his contemporary short story prose that reveals emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced.  Author of twenty-two books Branch Isole shares "how and why" strength of choice can change consequences. He's known worldwide for contemporary short stories revealing issues and emotions often experienced, but not always voiced. Storytelling is either about 'what has been' or 'what can be.' The story of "what can be" encourages us to embrace the duality of what is and more importantly, what is possible. Podcast program audiences tune-in to learn if your guest can help fulfill their aspirations and ambitions. My efforts are to help you produce a show with takeaways that benefit your listeners. The topics I share impart elements for personal, career and/or spiritual self-reflection. I believe we will give your audience a show they'll receive, use, and thank you for.I share edifying and entertaining self-development topics offering information and takeaway steps listeners can use after hearing our episode. These topical conversation starters provide audiences with identifiable grounding and growth elements for contemporary life issues.Spiritual Christianity:Life 101: Albatross or Millstone?The ‘Bucket List' Item Many IgnoreThird Act Specs; Rose Colored or 20-20?Relationships:7 Steps of Relationship RepairChange Your Response, Improve Your RelationshipsWork-Life Balance: 12 Key LessonsReligion:Bible Prophecy: Warnings or Promises?These 'today topic' discussion starters are designed for seekers, searchers, the fallen away and disillusioned. Those who question, wonder or are ready to explore self-reflectively their lives and relationships.  You're invited to book one today!Previous engagements and upcoming shows- https://www.manaopublishing.com/bookings.html  INCLUDED IN THIS EPISODE (But not limited to): ·      God Created Sex, Not Man·      What Is The Meaning/Purpose Of Communion/Eucharist?·      How To Take Communion/Eucharist At Home·      The Power Of Communion/Eucharist·      Why Do We Go To Church?·      Where Did Churches Come From?·      Why Churches ARE NOT NECESSARY·      Building Faith On A Firm Foundation ·      What Is The Blood Of Jesus?·      Why Do You Believe What You Believe?  CONNECT WITH BRANCH: Website & Other Books: https://www.manaopublishing.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/podcastguestbranchisoleLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/branch-isole-851433201/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzN66BkAUAemYX76Smnn0GA CONNECT WITH DE'VANNON: Website: https://www.SexDrugsAndJesus.comYouTube: https://bit.ly/3daTqCMFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/SexDrugsAndJesus/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sexdrugsandjesuspodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TabooTopixLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devannonEmail: DeVannon@SexDrugsAndJesus.com DE'VANNON'S RECOMMENDATIONS: ·      Pray Away Documentary (NETFLIX)o  https://www.netflix.com/title/81040370o  TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_CqGVfxEs ·      Upwork: https://www.upwork.com ·      FreeUp: https://freeup.net ·      Disabled American Veterans (DAV): https://www.dav.org ·      American Legion: https://www.legion.org  INTERESTED IN PODCASTING OR BEING A GUEST?: ·      PodMatch is awesome! This application streamlines the process of finding guests for your show and also helps you find shows to be a guest on. The PodMatch Community is a part of this and that is where you can ask questions and get help from an entire network of people so that you save both money and time on your podcasting journey.https://podmatch.com/signup/devannon TRANSCRIPT: [00:00:00]You're listening to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast, where we discuss whatever the fuck we want to! And yes, we can put sex and drugs and Jesus all in the same bed and still be all right at the end of the day. My name is De'Vannon and I'll be interviewing guests from every corner of this world as we dig into topics that are too risqué for the morning show, as we strive to help you understand what's really going on in your life.There is nothing off the table and we've got a lot to talk about. So let's dive right into this episode.De'Vannon: Hello. Hello. Hello everyone. And welcome back to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast. One more week. I am so thrilled to have you with me again, and I love you all so very much. And I am grateful for you. Exciting news and my memoir, which I've been working on for like 10 years. It's finally out. You can check it out@sexjugsandjesus.com.Please support it, please like it. Please share it. Please love it. So today I'm talking with branching, Solei branch is now a resident [00:01:00] guests on the podcast. You've seen him. You love him, you know who he is and he'll be back again today. We're going to be talking about. Communion the Eucharist, whatever you want to call it with Easter right around the corner.I wanted to give you some head knowledge about this and show you how to do it yourself at home. And besides this, we'll be talking about spiritual independence, breaking free from independency on churches and how to just grow in the Lord on your own. Take a listen.Branch ECLA. Thank you so fucking much for coming back on the sex drugs and Jesus podcasts for the umpteenth time. How are you? Branch: Doing well, my brother doing well. How are you today?De'Vannon: Oh,I'm fan fucking tastic. You you know, we're definitely winning for the person who's made the most appearances on this show and I don't see any signs of that changing. You're like our first standing resident guests. Branch: well, thank you. I appreciate them. It's [00:02:00] always a joy being with You De'Vannon: Yeah, you, Branch: get to talk freely and openly and, and hopefully that that's helpful to listen.De'Vannon: yeah. You're the only person who has a heart for Christ who can. Who's not offended by my, what some would call vulgarity and who will respond to me every time I called wanting to have a conversation about Jesus. So, you know, it's meant to be. Branch: Well, it's, you know, it's, it's interesting. I was on a podcast yesterday and we were talking about one of my books that's sexually oriented, you know the stories that are all around sexual interaction and all sex, but for play and, you know, intimacy and in the conversation somebody said something about, well, how can you write about Christian subjects and then turn right around and write, you know, what we consider erotica [00:03:00] and.My simple answer is, you know, sex is part of life. It's part of who we are as a species and as part of our behavior. So, you know, if you have a problem with it, I can understand that, but you know, God made sex part of our, our relationships in our life. So it's part of who we are and what we do. So I don't see the transition as being a problem, but, you know, everybody has their opinions and I feel the same way about, you know cussing as they say, or swearing I have yet to meet.So I have people who, you know, are offended by some of the language that they hear and they, they may use. And my point is, you know, at some point in your life, I'm sure you've said that. So You have to get over it or get through it. And it, you know, it's part of life. It's who we are and [00:04:00] what we do. So what can I say?De'Vannon: I concur God created sex. It wasn't our idea. And you know, but if someone wants to try to, to, to play that game with it, then, you know, there's plenty of biblical references to people who, Branch: No. De'Vannon: you know, look at king David, he reigned an earth. He said to rain again, you know, you know, you know, at the end of the world and Branch: Yeah. De'Vannon: like that, he had plenty of pissy, kinds of wives and concubines and shit.So he was highly sexual, but this is a man who God said was a man after who is a man after his own. And so end of story done, you can totally have, have a strong sexual life and be super close to God. don't have to, it's not one or the other. So. Branch: I guess it's a matter of, you know, what people consider sin and I'll often share with people, you know, in God's eyes, a sin is a sin. [00:05:00] There's no difference in degrees of, you know immortality inaction, all a sin. And as believers in Christ, and this is a hard concept for a lot of people to their head around.are forgiven of our sins present and future, even though we may sin again. And, you know, in the human sense, we may sin again in the future, as followers and believers in Jesus, we are forgiving those actions. Now, does that mean we should sin Figure it's okay. Because we've been forgiven as Paul says, of course not.You know, the whole reason we have a relationship with Christ is so that we are tempted to sin in our lives you know, we, we think twice about it and we call on his spirit to guide [00:06:00] us, you know, in our next action. So it's all a matter of belief and trust in him that he has paid for our sins, but we are not sitting in the future simply because he is paid for our sins.You know, we, we are who we are and if our heart like David's was is with God, then we have that communion with God and that communication with God through Christ and he guides our steps. So.De'Vannon: It's really just that simple and I'll quote my favorite line from the movie trip with Jayda Branch: No. De'Vannon: and all them fabulous, divas. My favorite quote from there says, you really can have it all. And So.it is humans that have complicated. There's a life, not the Lord. And so before we get on the the topic of today, a branch [00:07:00] is a website isn't manna, oh, publishing that And that will go in the show showy notes. He has like about a thousand books, he's written poetry and everything like that. He had run his own publishing house and everything like that. And Branch: Um, De'Vannon: a podcast guests Xtrordinair. He's like a porn star with that shit. He's always up on somebody's podcast.And I absolutely it. I met him through pod match.com, which is a phenomenal website. God bless Alexan Felipo for sending that gift to the world through him. a beautiful thing. When I, when I see it being done just right, like way he's doing it, that is his purpose, at least one of his major purposes.And I think nobody would disagree with me on that. And so stuff about pod match will also be in the show we notes. Now, speaking of the complications humans gave to things today, branch and I are going to be focusing on communion. Easter is upon us, and I felt inspired to [00:08:00] enlighten the world communion, some call it the Eucharist.had all of these different names for the same things, it's the little cracker. Usually people eat in some great juice or some wine. I got my setback here. I got me some fucking Cabernet and mine Cabernet Sauvignon, baby, and my unbelieving bread. The Lord drank his wine and his first miracle was turning water into real wine.I'm not about to have great juice, what I'm doing something to commemorate the creator of the entire universe. So we're going to have the real thing. And so. I wanted to do this show because I want to show, I want to show people how to do communion because you can totally do this at home. You don't have to go traipsing to somebody's church to do anything that connects you to Jesus Christ.You do not have to have a church and you don't have to have a preacher. So I want to talk first about why people go to church, [00:09:00] why people get into it in the scripture that I've found with Hebrews 10 and 25. This is the scripture. They always told me growing up. And it says to foresight, not the gathering together of yourselves.And, and they use this scripture to say, you see there, here it is. And Hebrews, you got to always come to church. And if you don't, you're forsaking the gathering together of people and you're breaking the rules and you're sending, if you don't come to church. So what are your thoughts on that branch? Like historically, like what was going on, do you think.That you know, culturally during that time, that would make them write such a thing. Branch: Well, of course, you know, AF after the death of Christ, when the first Christians which, who were actually Jews got together to celebrate what he had taught them and what they had learned they met in what we would call a home church or home environment. You know, they met in small [00:10:00] groups they share what they knew and what they had to learn and what they had experienced when Jesus walked among them.And out of that, No this communion or Eucharist right of passage almost your emotion and your commitment to Christ. So, you know, the church out of those small gatherings of in that first century. And by the second and third century, know, Christianity had spread throughout the Roman empire and the gatherings became bigger and a little more formal leadership could play.So once you get that kind of a structure, you know, you need a bigger place. And then I started building churches and it became a religion as an outgrowth of [00:11:00] that sharing knowledge of Jesus Christ our lives, in our daily lives. Just like every other religion, grew from a seedling of a master of scripture they grow into behemoths where faith part and the closeness to master often gets diluted with the politics of the church.That's who we are as people that's that's our human nature is to try and gain control of it, know, so that we're in control. And that we, once we have control, we have the power to reel over other people in that case, you know, in a church situation over the congregation. So, but you know, you don't have to go to church or show up in a building to have that relationship with Christ, just the abuse, know, have [00:12:00] just pointed out it's it's a person.Spiritual relationship.De'Vannon: It's personal before it is anything else. And like what I did before, when I had made mistakes about. My understanding of God when I got kicked out of Lakewood church and I let that caused a division in between me and God. You see, I was putting the preachers and the pastors and the worship leaders in the church a pedestal and making an idol out of them.And I didn't realize that I was, how do I know that? Because when I got kicked out, I got angry at God and I stopped talking. I stopped going to all the churches and I stopped praying and I stopped doing everything because I had conflated and put God on the same level as Joel Olsteen and Victoria O'Steen and and all the worship leaders in the church itself.And the service I was doing for the church, should have happened is, as soon as I saw that they didn't want gay people serving with the [00:13:00] children. I should have just left the whole church to begin with for them being specifically exclusionary towards a certain group of people. But but since I didn't do that, if they were going to kick me out, for some reason, I should have just said, fuck them, but not fuck God.I shouldn't, I should. Just went to a church that accepted gay people and kept my relationship with God. But I let, what, how people treated me tear my whole religious construct down. So it was torn down. It was able to be torn down because it was built on a weak foundation to begin with in terms of my understanding of it.So I'm doing much of what I do to prevent people from knowingly falling into that same trap giving these preachers in these churches too much damn credit. You know, you don't, they just don't, they don't deserve to have all that. And they're not all that. And they're going to be wrong about shit and they already are.And so when the scandals come out and we have our Jerry Falwell's fucking the pool boys and fucking everybody, who's not as white, know, there's no need for us to [00:14:00] be shocked. You know, this is, these preachers are people they do in everything. Everybody else is doing. And we don't know what the hell they're not doing when that, around us, that the image they present at church is just one side of them.doesn't matter who they are. They still got their own habits and things like that. So it's time for us to get to know God for ourself, because when shit gets worse than this earth, we can't be needing to go run to a preacher to get a prayer through. We can't wait till we get to church, define God. We can't go find a priest to confess, to, to get forgiveness when Christ has already handled that job, you know, I'm trying to bring people face to face with God.Like he wants to be, he said, as near as the air, we breathe, as near I'm near, but you got to go through somebody to get to me, you know, that's not what he said. So. Branch: Well, we live in a fist. We live in a physical world and we grow up in a physical world and that's all we [00:15:00] know, you know one of the big concepts that are hard to understand is worshiping and having a relationship with something on seem, right. And that's what faith is all about is having that relationship with the unseen supremacy of God.And we are a world. By its very nature tries to separate us from God and put him so far away from us that it's necessary for us to go through some ecumenical person, a priest, a pastor Pope in order to reestablish that relationship with God. And because that's the nature we grow up in, that's what we believe to be the only truth.He said it best a moment ago when you send your understanding. When we [00:16:00] understand that God, as our creator is within us and with us all the time, if we choose to acknowledge his presence, then we know that we can have that personal relationship with or without. A church setting or a gathering of fellowship believers. There's certainly nothing wrong with being a believer and attending church, as long as know, you're grounded spiritually in that relationship with God through Christ Christ is our ecclesiastic mediator. He's the one that we go through get to God, necessarily the priest or the pastor or the Pope.So De'Vannon: Right. Branch: right on my De'Vannon: So what's your thing, your, what you hallelujah on a Friday morning. So what'd your thing is what I would agree with. [00:17:00] So people gotta, gotta, gotta start in this physical realm somewhere. Cause that's what we see. And then as they mature, then they can get to a point of what I'm talking about. Branch: Yeah, exactly. Jesus said, you know, we're babies, we get. And as we mature into adults than we can handle the meat. the exposure is the milk, the relationship and the growth, you know, with Christ is the meat.De'Vannon: Right. And so what for me, what maturity in God looks like is going to church. If I feel drawn to not, because I feel like I have to in my personal time with him alone, I feel like I learned more than I can from any preacher. So. Branch: Yeah, sure, De'Vannon: That's what it looks like. Branch: Yeah. That well, that's what communion truly all about is that that talking with God, you know, in our minds with our mouth, that [00:18:00] connection that we have every day it doesn't have to be one hour on a Sunday or Saturday or Wednesday night. It can be every time think of him, spirit, God, the father and God, the son, or any one of the three, they are responding every time we're making that connection.the further you go down the spiritual path and the more they are part of your thought process, the more you'll see his spiritual power working in your life.De'Vannon: Yup. Cause what you want. If so like when, when we die, we don't want to be in a position where we're standing at God and it's, and we feel like we're talking to a stranger, we gotta be facilitating that relationship now. So when we actually see his face as though we've had a long distance relationship with someone who we're finally getting to meet, or we're totally familiar with, so this means I need you to push a social media [00:19:00] way and spend a little bit more time, you know, with God praying fast, want to reading your Bible and doing the things that you can looking at different scriptures, different ways to look at it online, different commentaries, you know, different things than me get serious because this walk with God is kind of like we're dating him.When we date people, we get to know them. We experienced them in different environments, different settings and things like that. So I want people to really get intimate with God, you know? And you were at your best with that when there's no one around and it's just you and him, period. And so, so we're talking about communion.Why am I talking about communion? This communion is a beautiful thing. We first see this act of communion in the gospels, Matthew, mark, John, all of them, when Jesus is getting ready to get crucified, he calls all of his disciples together and he has you know, communion and he tells [00:20:00] them them the wine, the unleavened bread represents his body, is about to be broken.in the blood represents his blood is about to be shared. I believe in communion when I was young and I was a nosy ass kid, poking my nose in places where I believe that should be going So no matter who said where it shouldn't be going, damn it, I needed to know shit. And so the preachers in those days would go around the older people who didn't go to church bring the communion to them and communion consist of great Jews actual fermented wine.Like I said, I got my Cabernet my wine, my communion cutting back here and then unleavened bread, because that was an Israelite thing. Especially during like Passover and stuff like that. They didn't fool with the leaving and that's a whole other topic there, but you know, it's a peer purification thing.So the bread didn't have any leaves. [00:21:00] So the preacher comes, administer his, now this, now we're at her house. We're not in church. And he asked me and I followed him into my grandmother's house and he asked me if I want to commute. And I was like, sure. And I must've been like five or six, just, just a nosy, fucking kid running around.And so I took the brand, gobbled it on down. And then when I took that great juice from the cup or whatever, I drank it. And then immediately, immediately I I felt like I guess you could best describe it as kind of like an electric chill move through my body from like the waist not the top of my body, just the waist down.And it was so much so that I like my legs buckled and they gave out and I like leaned up against my grandmother's bed, which, you know, granny's bed. It's like a thousand Branch: Okay. De'Vannon: tall, so it can certainly support any body. For a few days after that, it's like, my body was clicking that [00:22:00] I was moving faster than I'd ever moved before.Just like in a regular walking straight, I had a new burst of energy in life. This is sort of thing that happens when like God or an angel, you come in contact with one of them. You get, you get in live. And, and I don't know what it did. I didn't know that I needed to touch, but I know when I drank that grape juice out of that cup, that, that preacher had prayed over.Something happened to me. And so I know the power is real. And I want to bring this power to everybody. And I'm not saying every time you drink the cup, you're going to catch the holy ghost. So you're going to feel tingly, but see, sometimes we don't feel anything at all and God is moving a whole, whole lot.So we don't judge. Whether or not, God is doing anything about what we can necessarily see and feel. That's what faith is all about. Believing whether or Not we can't see it. So, oh, no brunch here. Have you ever had, had, or witnessed any sort of personal experiences happening current around.Branch: Not that I can recall that [00:23:00] was that kind of a awakening, what you described two things. Number one, when we have a relationship with Christ, we have relationship with God, the father, through his spirit in Christ, as Christ is in us, you will find your connection to the Trinity is heightened and you will notice his presence in your life.Sometimes it's physical, sometimes it's audit honorable or audio, and sometimes it's just a sense you have He's there guiding your steps. The great thing about his presence is if you recognize it, you will discover later on. At some point could be quick time, or it could be or weeks later, his presence will show up in your life where you will definitely recognize something happened. It's just the way it works and it, you know, it's hard for [00:24:00] non-believers or those who are struggling with that relationship to grasp. It's, like I said, the other day in a show, the further you go down that path with Christ, the more you'll see him working in your life. And once you start seeing it and recognizing it, you'll see it more and more often, and it will become almost second nature.So that every time in your daily life, you think about the Trinity father, son, and or spirit, there'll be a recognition for you that they are recognizing that connection with them. It's just, it's all a spirit thing. And I think you and I talked about, you know, the principalities of light and dark and spirit and the world before, and that's what happens, the greater, your spiritual growth.Takes place with Christ. The more often you see him working and being in your life, and it just becomes second nature and you [00:25:00] automatically turn to him at every juncture when you're or under stress. he responds. And it's just, it's the nature of, you know, his unconditional love and his compassion for each of us as believers in him as the son of God.De'Vannon: Yeah. So just give it time. This is a, a thing of patience. You can't run out and become a spiritually mature overnight. You can't rush any relationship. It takes time.Branch: Yep.De'Vannon: So, so the Eucharist deals with the body and the blood of Jesus. Now I've heard some people say before that the, the concept of the blood of Jesus just sounds disgusting to them. They're like, who wants to be covered in blood? That just sounds like a horror moviebecause you know, people in churches you'll hear them say, you know, I plead the blood of [00:26:00]Jesus or I'm covered in the blood of the lamb, you know, or something like that. You care to explain to us what does it mean to plead the blood of Jesus already to be covered in the blood of the lamb? How does that transfer translate from Jesus's physical blood spilling to the spiritual ways meant today? Branch: Wow. There's about three different things in what you just said. First of all, it's symbolism, right? The bread is a symbol of his body. The wine is a symbol of his blood, as you said, the body was broken and the blood was shed to be covered in the blood of Christ is to take on righteousness, you know, as the, as the sacrifice for our sins.And then when we die, we will be refined by his spiritual power. That was, you know, [00:27:00]when he, when he shed his blood for us, he became the living son of God for us. So, you know, the it's just like the that people were, you know, around their neck or somewhere on their body as a symbol of their, Christian identity.It's a symbol and people who, you know, sort of get caught up in the drinking of the blood and that kind of concept just are missing the whole point. Then, you just, can't, some people just refuse to walk to understand have clarity. And they're not at that place yet. That's all that they're not ready, you know, to make that leap of faith and understand who Christ was, why he came the first time and why he's coming back again.So it's all symbolism. You have to [00:28:00] look past the, the actual wine and see what it represents.De'Vannon: Right. So then if I say I plead the blood of Jesus, our Lord covered me with your blood. What I'm saying is God, I, I understand the sacrifice for me. And I believe that that power is still alive. That day. I'd like to cash in on that. You know, I'm not, I'm not, I'm not saying dump a bucket of blood on me. I just, I would like to cash in on the work that you did spiritually speaking. Branch: Yep.De'Vannon: So. So here we have Jesus before he was about to be betrayed. We know Jude Judas Iscariot was the ultimate criminal informant in history of, oh Jesus, wasn't a criminal. I had an informant who snitched me out to the cops before SWAT came and kicked my door in. So I can understand, you know, Jesus feeling betrayed, you know, it's bad when you got somebody who's been running with you close to you, who also don't like you, who platen against you, which is what [00:29:00] Judas was about.So that's where the term, when people say, oh, he's a Judas. It's something like that. You know, we're talking about the ultimate snitch. And so Jesus turned to him and he said that what you do do quickly gone and sell me out for the 30 pieces of silver is already arranged to go cause those secure the bag.So we can get on with this crucifixion thing and then branch and I will be talking about the crucifix. Next week. And now we're going to go into detail about what this whole authority crowns and why, what does a man carrying a cross and dying on the cross have to do with me today? You know, we're going to talk about the crucifixion next week.And so here we are, Jesus. He's already washed his disciples feet and they're sitting down to have this, what we call the last supper. When you hear somebody say the last supper is this, the last time Jesus is having communion or commuting hanging out with his disciples before he's to go to, to get crucified.So this is where the [00:30:00] concept comes from now. First Corinthians chapter 11 is where the apostle Paul kind of lays it out. And he starts started saying for, I have received of the Lord. So it seems to me like maybe this came to him in a vision or something like that, where he learned about the act of communion from God, from Jesus himself.And this was a scripture that they always preach. Every time we had communion and Sunday in the Pentecostal church, every time we did it, they always did it first Corinthians 11. So anything you'd like to say at this point, Bernie. Branch: No, go ahead. Go De'Vannon: Okay. Branch: And it can help. It can also be found in Luke 22 you know, with actual disciples at the supper, but De'Vannon: Okay. Branch: same coach, same scripture.De'Vannon: Right. And so and so basically they, they, they just, there's a lot of information and there's a lot of things that are said [00:31:00] that don't really directly have to do with the bread and the wine, but are still important all the same. So I'm just going to focus on the bread and the wine, because that's what we're here for today.And so. The body represents the physical sacrifice. He said, take eat. This is my body, which is broken for you. This do in remembrance of me. Then it says after the same manner, also he took the cup thing. This is my blood drink it, you know, as often as you do this and remember me, so the way he's phrasing this, as often as you do, it means that something that can be done again and again and again, and this wasn't a one-time thing that he shared with his disciples.said this do in remembrance of me. So Jesus wants us to a physical way to remember his sacrifices. You know, when we do things. Physically, it reinforces it in our conscious and our subconscious minds our spirit. And it makes us sacrifice a reality [00:32:00] today in the present, even though it was done many years ago.So he wants us to sit down and celebrate it. I kind of get the feeling of how we do our birthdays or an anniversary or something like that. know, we want to always commemorate it and find a way to keep it alive and fresh. And so that to me kind of like the breakdown of how communion came about to be gave the first example, and then we picked it up from there. Branch: Well, a lot of people, you know, anyone who prays before a meal and, and thanks the Lord for what they're about to receive. That's the same outward expression of what he was talking about. You know, at that last supper, he was trying to describe to the disciples. These are people, these are men who had been with him, you know, up to three years.And an ed walked with him and learned from him every day and still many of them [00:33:00]misunderstood what was happening. And so he tries to describe the suffering. He's about to go through on the cross and why he's going to do it, you know, for his day in four hours. And so what he's asking them to do is every time.You know, you're sitting down to eat or drink in a supper situation, just like we do at supper or dinner. He's giving us that opportunity to reconnect with him through what we're taking in, what we're consuming in our body. If we're remembering him by prayer, before we do that, then we're recognizing that reestablishment of our spiritual consumption of him with us today.And so it's, it's that transfer of the physical to the spiritual, both in his day and for us. And so we, you [00:34:00] can do it. The van and said, you can do it at home whenever, but you can do it every time you sit down for a meal, you can remember, you know, the Lord by what you're taking in. And you're, re-establishing that spiritual reconnection and taking him back in.So go ahead, my brother.De'Vannon: And I've heard it. That's a very good breakdown. My man, I've heard it said. You know what, when you drink that, that grape diesel, that wine, you know, you're drinking actual physical healing yourself. You know, your faith can take you as far as you're willing to go with it. And so, you know, I've heard, it said, you know, you know, when you eat, you eat, eat the bread of represents his body.Then you're taking that life into yourself. You know? So that concept, there are bins around the act of community and attractive heal, physical infirmities. I'm not going to take that away and say that it's impossible, especially not after that touch that I got one [00:35:00] that day when I was a kid, you know, you know, this is, this is, this is a, this is a powerful tool that God has really given us.And so, I mean, it says as often as you do it, if you want to do communion week, every day, you know, that's in between you and God. I ever, you know, it's a one other way. We have the field close to him. But my point in doing this today, as we approach Easter, is to let you know. You did not have to wait until you go to church to experience this communion with God.And so at this point, I am going to show you how I do it. And I'm just gonna reach back here and get this little piece of unleavened bread. It took me a while to track this down on the internet, as you know, it's, there's really yeasty, you know, in this country. But I finally found me some on leaving bread or maybe I went to whole foods.I think I went to whole foods and actually able to get this. And so you can read the [00:36:00] scripture and the Corinthians or a different one if you want to not. So when I do it, I try not to be so super formal about stuff because I don't want to lose the meaning in ritual and in formality, know, I like it to be real.Like I'm just having a conversation with my boyfriend. I don't have. That I use to talk to him you know, I just don't, I just flow. And then, and that's the same way I try to be with God, because it's real because God judges the hearts and the rains, he does not judge the outward actions like that. He's looking into the real reasons why you're doing what you're doing.So it's not really, which no man is qualified to do so. And so it was really about the heart of the matter. So whenever I'm ready to feel a little bit close to the Lord, I will me some unleavened bread like this sucker right here. And maybe I'll say a prayer like Lord, I'm about to take this communion with you.I appreciate the sacrifice that you gave for all of [00:37:00] us all those years ago. That sacrifice is still just as alive today as you are. And I know that as I take this communion, that. Lining up and sinking into and tapping into and becoming one with eternity and within you with you and with all that you are, all that has been is, and what will be actually to take me with you on, into your strength and on into your grace.And as I take it as a bread, and as I drink this wine, want to thank you for what you've done. I want to thank you for what you are doing. I appreciate what you're going to do, heal me and cleanse me and making me right and make me whole by your standards that nobody else is in Jesus name. Now, some people like to break the bread and do it.doesn't matter to me because it's going to be broken once you start crunching on it. whatever suits your fancy, oh My cup, you can get [00:38:00] communion sets off the internet. Really expensive. And you had like a whole, a lot of them and they had like a short expiration date. And so you could get you like some Welch's grape juice honey, or a bottle of wine, like this Cabernet I have right here. And you'll be in a better position.You just drink it. And that's all there is to it. And now I believe the Lord heard that it's a simple thing. I'm a little bit goes a long way with Christ. Like I said, he judges the hearts and the rains, the motives behind things, just because we sat down and take the time to do something special before. And with God, he can't help, but honor that because we take time to do so much everything else that brings us pleasure in life.And I'm not saying that there's anything wrong with that, but how much do we travel? Fuck [00:39:00]drink alcohol, go out, have fun party, go to museums, social media for God's sakes. You know, we play our video games. How much time do we spend doing all the fuck we want to do? But if we were to take a snapshot of our time spent in a week or a month, how much time do we actually personally spend with God versus all the other stuff that he's empowered us to go out and do you know, I really want to put him first, you know, with balance, you know, I don't overdo it.I don't underdo it, but if I'm going to be having all of my amenities and things in life for damn sure. Well, I'm going to sit down and take the time to get close to the one who's who's enabling me to do it all, but got to say about it.Branch: Well, you have to think of communion as you just described communicating with God. anytime that we express that either, [00:40:00] know, the way you just did with the bread and wine in prayer or in petition or in our behavior, how we respond, what it got say. And Matthew Love God first and most and love your neighbor as yourself.when we respond to the event, And the people in our lives with compassion and understanding and love, you know, we are communicating, we are communion communing with God because we are responding the way Christ responded. When he walked this earth in the way God would have us respond our daily life.So it's about communion. It's about communicating. about having that relationship where God's spirit active within us. It's part of us. So it's us to have that communion in that communication the, where we [00:41:00] can then in our actions express that we emulate we do what Jesus would have done in the same situation.in that emulation of Jesus thought word, indeed, we further. Children of God and everything we do then an act of obedience because that's what we wish to do. We wish to emulate or use Christ as our example. There's, there's lots of ways to have that communion physically, mentally, psychologically, emotionally, but you've got to have that living spirit within you.So you've got that connection.De'Vannon: And what do you think about in Corinthians that says that not the the body and blood of the Lord and worthiness. For, if you do. So you [00:42:00] bring condemnation on yourself and for this many, for this reason, many are weak and sickly among you and many sleep. So in the church, when I was growing up, they, they wouldn't use that part of the scripture to basically be like, if you come up here and take this communion, unworthily without repeating for your Sans first, then you could get sick or die or some sort of condemnation would come upon you.I wonder. Do you agree with that sentiment?Branch: Not at all, not really. It, it reflects to me, you know, that power that the priest or the pastor is trying to use over the people in the pews. You know, one of the things about with God is the power is the spiritual power. Again, I can't say this enough when you've got the spirit of God living within you.The one thing that you will recognize in your life is [00:43:00] And once you start living with truth in your life, see the fallacy and the fakeness and the false who of the world that you know, and this is not to condemn priesthood, but again, man has manipulated religion, no matter what religion, has been Islam, you know, Christianity, Judaism, Buddhism, the original master had from God and had writings, which glorified God our nature.once those masters passed away, then people in the church. Oh, where the sin God, you know, took control. And if you are not in that same spiritual place with the [00:44:00] master, then it's very easy to get sucked into the politics and the hypocrisy of religion. no matter what religion it is and the deeper and the more power that the church or the religion gathers in garners, the more it tries to impose on its membership.The fact that, you know, God is up here and we're down here. And the way you get to God is through us. Just like we're trying to express today. The way you get to God is through Christ. So it's, you know, it's power and manipulation of, of men over other men or, you know, clergy over the congregation, they can say, and.Trick people into believing just about anything, because they have convinced people that they are God's representative here on [00:45:00] earth to that group. You know, you have to break free of that. Again, there's nothing wrong with going to church, going to synagogue, as long as when you're there, you're being fed the word and your heart, you know, you you'll know in your heart, whether it's bullshit that they're trying to put out and control you with or whether it's really what God would have you do and respond to.De'Vannon: Mikey often say the church has an agenda. Branch: Yeah, definitely. You know, their agenda is to get more money out of you. You know, w why any church needs to collect funds? Is beyond me. If, if, if their congregation is being fed the truth and being fed a relationship with God through their master or Christ [00:46:00] or Eamomm Muhammad, whoever may be, there's no reason that they, that the congregation won't voluntarily tide.No, you don't have to brown beat them into collecting money, but here again, religions are a human entity with an agenda and that agenda has to be funded. So you know, the Catholic church is one of the richest entities in the world, and yet they still collect tides and dues.De'Vannon: Oh God, the Catholic. Branch: Yeah. Well,De'Vannon: I've been watching on HBO plus the young Pope with Jude law's sexy ass as the young Popin have to say that series, it's quite titillating, it's quite titillating. And I actually want, there was a friend of mine whose family was [00:47:00] greatly damaged by the Catholic church. And I really, really want to have her on my show to talk about it, because I'm just how to say this about the Catalytics, you know, do what you do.And I head judged nobody, but personally there's no way that I would kiss the Pope's ring. I'm not about to are doing it, the doctrines and stuff that they do and the whole confessional and everything. I just don't understand. We're all the rules and stuff came from that they follow it's almost like they have their own Bible or something.I'm like who the hell came up with this shit in. And that way the people wait and hang the, on the on every word, the Pope says, you know, they can't decide for themselves if this is right or wrong until he says it. And then you have the one Pope who may rule one way on something. And an another Pope rule was a different. Something, but then they're both supposed to be the ultimate voice of God. Okay. Well, then there's some human error in here. Some fucking where cause otherwise one poke shouldn't have a different [00:48:00] opinion than the next. So there it's supposed to be like the holiest guy or whatever the fuck he's supposed to be.I don't like that. The actress of the Catholic church, the big robe, it's the big ass hat that dude wears all, all the extra shit. I'm all like what happened to just Jesus? Like what is all of this? And so, so many of my friends are ex Catholics, man. And they, ain't never seven foot in the church. Again, they don't give a fuck.They are done whatever the hell happened to them. And that in that Catholic religion has scarred them and they are over it. They're over all with it. They're not having any of it. Although once they, you know, she's, she's cool with God, but just fuck the Catholic church forever. So then, you know, some of them haven't lost it all, but I don't know people like, they ha they, they have like a PTSD when they leave the Catholic church.Some sort of some right in there, you didn't have that many people saying the same thing. Like they just felt abused. Be it the poor Ulta boy, actually getting fucked [00:49:00] by the, by the priest or like she's like mental abuse. Like that much hurt shouldn't come from a church and I don't care how much money they have.Branch: Well, we live in a world where, know, everyone has. Suffered some form of reviews. You just have to realize that that's way of nature and that's human nature. And it's been going on since the beginning of mankind, you know, no one grows up totally absent of a dysfunctional family. our very nature, we are dysfunctional and the groups that we joined being they religious or social or civic they all have dysfunction within them, by our human nature.We are aggressive and selfish. And you exhibit had those kinds of desires of, [00:50:00] you know, what's in it for me, or it's all about me when we live our lives that way. We are going to cause harm to other people. And, you know, that's what happens when you have societies that are absent of spiritual grounding.And when you have people who, who have been sort of sucked into the world's ways, believing that, know, this is the only way you can live. And that reason, that's the way I'm going to live. You know, they are absent of spiritual grounding. They're unaware that, you know, what is happening is not healthy.not healthy mentally. It's not healthy physically. So it's not just the church situation or the church community has issues. Every community has issues and every group has issues. It's a [00:51:00]matter of how they play out. And of course, know, because religions rely on this power from God as God's representatives to those particular groups, they can use that power to cause a lot of damage and a lot of harm, but that's not just indicative of religions.That's the world we live in. That's why spiritual grounding is so important.De'Vannon: Hmm. So I would say everybody, when we're dealing with churches and preachers and priests or whatever, all of them is to look at them through a filter, you know, like they could be right. They could be wrong. They might be a righteous person. They might not be a righteous person. What they say could be accurate, what they say could be inaccurate.You got to try, try, the tree for the fruit. It bears try these spirits. Jesus said there would be many spirits. And basically he's saying don't believe [00:52:00] everybody, you know, feel it out, research, do your own homework. So we got to stop approaching preachers and churches. Like they're automatically right there.Like they're automatically correct. You. We gotta deal with them. Like we would anybody else like, okay, let me see what you say and make sense, know, like that as opposed to, okay, they're right. I'm wrong. So I'm just going to twist my thinking too, to be in line with whatever comes out of their mouth. That's not going to work. Branch: Well here again, the key is spirits of grounding. If you have the spirit of God living in new food belief in Jesus Christ, you will see fallacy the truth they speak of. You'll recognize. This is the problem with, you know, people who are injured. Who don't have spiritual grounding. They believe what they're being told. like we have today, many people believe what they're being told by [00:53:00] politicians De'Vannon: Yeah. Branch: corporations. And, you know, they're filled with lies because they have an agenda of self enrichment. when you don't know what the truth looks. You can believe anything. And with today's technology, know, they can make anything look true to your eye. You can't tell what's real and what's not real anymore because technology so far advanced. And so you have to have, you have to have the truth living within you so you can recognize the truth or the false hoods that are being presented to you by the world and by the people in the world and the events in the world.do you get that spiritual How do you get God's spirit living within you? So you can see the truth. You go to Matthew seven, ask, you, see you knock Jesus [00:54:00] Christ to come into your life. And what he tells us in John 14 and 26 is when you ask me, I will send my spirit to be with you, to live with you and to guide you.And that's all you have to do. And once you've done that, his spirit, the spirit of God, as creator will come, you, his holy spirit will come through Jesus Christ and live within you. And from that moment on, you will begin to see and recognize the truth at church at synagogue, at temple in your life, in your relationships in your world.And you'll recognize the truth and you'll know what's true and what's not true. And then you have the choice to live by either that truth or the faults of the world. And that's how easy it is to change your life.De'Vannon: And truth is something we must discover for ourselves. Like I say, I don't argue with [00:55:00] people on social media over like politics and stuff like that. I did for like a hot second when I first became political back when all the Trumpy foolishness was happening. And then I quickly realized like, okay, nobody's changing here.And then I Branch: Exactly. De'Vannon: I also realized everything everyone was saying was a third party account. So they're either listening to Fox news MSNBC. And I told them, I think the last thing I posted in regard to politics was this, like none of us have verified any of this information for ourselves.You're choosing to believe a media outlet, but you weren't there. You didn't go get the report. You weren't on the ground. You didn't have boots on the ground. This is not your information. is somebody else's information. So why sit here and argue with you about what Joe Scarborough toe, what I heard Joe Scarborough say, you're trying to tell me what Tucker Carlson said.bitch, neither one of us [00:56:00] went there to go and actually get the shit. And neither did Joe Scarborough or Tucker Carlson. So, and I saw this manifested with somebody who was new to Christianity. When I first met him, he was like agnostic or some shit. He just didn't believe in anything, somewhere along the way he got converted and he decided to become Christian.And so I asked him where his, what his stance was. LGBTQ issues as I tend to do with people who I might be seeing from time to time, because I don't fuck with people who have a problem with my with my sexuality. I refuse to do it because I'm not going to let myself be abused that way again. So he gave me the textbook answer of well, you know, it's not me who has a problem with it.I'm just telling you what the Bible says. And then I told him before I dismissed him and I never talked to him again. Not because we were different, but because when people have these adverse [00:57:00]thinkings about my community, I don't know if they're going to do something to hurt me one day. And so that's why I don't want people like that close to me.Not because we disagree, but because the way they disagree can be violent at times towards me. And so so I tell them, well, that Bible, that you're reading is an American is from the middle east. And it was not a written in English. You know, it was written in ancient languages, which I can already tell you haven't bothered to read, because first of all, you just started walking with Christ like yesterday and you ain't in.So I encouraged him to, as he's going through the Bible to remind himself of the fact that this is someone else's account and you are not an expert on what somebody else said, you can't be because you didn't say it. I mean, you didn't, you didn't research. It is not your fucking shit. And then S and then I encouraged and I told them that.So what you're doing is trying to tell me my life is wrong based on someone else's interpretation of someone else's look. And I refuse to accept that from him. He could not argue [00:58:00] with this logic because it's because it's simply the truth. And so I caution people to why they believe what they believe.You know, if you believe this about this group of people, or you believe whatever's right or wrong, Y you believe. Something about politics. Why is it truly, because you've done the hard work to determine the fact you do your own fact finding and fact checking. Are you just listening to what someone else said or just reading what someone else wrote the right convincing words and the right tones of voice.Many people can be manipulated. So, or, you know, then media outlets will use your emotions to manipulate us we'll preachers. So we've gotta be careful about why we believe what we believe. And most people, I challenge brands about why they believe what they believe cannot respond to me because the reason they believe it is because someone else said it.So. [00:59:00]Branch: Well, we generally believe what we grow up with, you know, and what we, as children are taught and a doc tornado. What, what our family believes is our first fundamental belief, because that's all we know. And so each one of us grows up believing what we've been told and what we've been exposed to. And, you know, for a great number of people that's, as far as it goes, they have no desire or no inclination to step outside of that box and have a broader view of the world.You know, this is why I always encourage people, take the blinders off and see the world for what it is good, bad, and ugly. And there's a lot of people, you know, who, especially in our country who refuse to get out of that box [01:00:00] and they dig their heels in as to their. And in their hearts and minds for them, you know, that is truth.And we live in a world where there's lots of agencies and corporations who are willing to help you continue in those beliefs. That's why we have the world. We have it's not the world that we will experience after this world for believing Christians, but it's the world that we live in now. And that's why it's so important to recognize truth from fallacy and fiction and fabrications. I can't express that enough. You know, the way you get to that place is to have the spirit of Christ living and growing within you. Then you will see the truth and you'll have the option and the choice in the decision. As to how you're going to live your life, you know, with the truth and with [01:01:00]Christ in your life, guiding your steps or battling the world with the world's waves,De'Vannon: You shall know the truth and the truth shall make you free. Branch: man.De'Vannon: So also want me to say so for anybody who might get hung up on, and we were talking about how tell people use the scripture to say, if you take communion, will be judged and condemned if it's really bothering you, or if you want to, just to be sure you have a clear conscious, all you merely need to do is just ask the Lord to forgive you of all your sins right before you take it. we should be asking for forgiveness of our sins everyday in way. But but you can just be like, Lord, forgive me, my sins, anything I may have done wrong. You've seen it all. I confess it. I'm not going to hide anything. I'm not running from you. Please forgive me. And I accept that forgiveness in the name of Jesus.And in that moment you're done, everything's clear so that you can go ahead and take your communion just in case those scriptures put any [01:02:00] kind of fear or trepidation in you. And so Well, for the, you know, for your listeners who are listening to this and have wonder, or now are a little bit better versed in what community is, they can start to do it. If they choose to and know the reasons that it took place and what it represents and how it can connect them to the Lord, how they can commune with the Lord.Branch: So I think it's been good, you know, for people who've wonder, didn't know, now they understand a little bit better and they can make it part of their lives if they so choose to. But at least they'll know a little bit more than they might've before. So good job.De'Vannon: And so it. That's all I'm going to say. I wanted to do for us. This is a quick video. We've been talking for an hour, but we usually go for like two hours. So this is probably like our [01:03:00]short is starting the interview to date. So with that, you can go ahead and have our closing word. Did anything you'd like to say, go ahead and say it, man.Branch: I want to thank all the listeners and keep tuning in to demand. The podcast, you know, podcasting is a great opportunity for people to learn a lot of different information from a lot of different people. It's sort of the last bastion of free speech and because it is free, there's podcasts out there on virtually any interest area or any subject matter that you might want or need in your life. We're glad you're here with Davanon and myself. We talk about, you know, Jesus Christ and spiritual growth, and we'd love for you to come back as often as you want.De'Vannon: Hallelujah tabernacle And praise.Branch: And man.[01:04:00]De'Vannon: Thank you all so much for taking time to listen to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast. It really means everything to me. Look, if you love the show, you can find more information and resources at sex, drugs, and jesus.com or wherever you listen to your podcast. Feel free to reach out to me directly at DeVannon@SexDrugsAndJesus.com and on Twitter and Facebook as well.My name is De'Vannon and it's been wonderful being your host today and just remember that everything is going to be all right. 

Podcast Summary Dr. Drumm McNaughton interviews Dr. Paul Alexander, president of Trinity Bible College and Graduate School, about Trinity's turnaround, which is a roadmap for a higher education institution turnaround. Podcast Highlights Build coalitions. Make sure relationships are preeminent. Everything happens out of those bonds. Make sure you craft the narrative, know how to share it and ensure that others come along with you. Do they know the mission statement? Make sure board holds itself accountable, understands what it means to be a fiduciary and leads with integrity. Broaden the base, diversify. To read the full show notes, visit https://changinghighered.com/engineering-a-higher-ed-turnaround/ About the Host Dr. Drumm McNaughton is a Higher Education Consultant, CEO of  The Change Leader Consulting Firm, and an international leader in transformational change for Higher Education.  The Change Leader's Social Media Links LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/drdrumm/ Twitter: @thechangeldr Email: podcast@changinghighered.com

Happiness Solved with Sandee Sgarlata. In this episode, Sandee interviews Branch Isole. Author, storyteller and poet Branch Isole writes about strength of choice to change consequences. Author of twenty-two books, he's known worldwide for contemporary short stories that reveal emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced. He posts a Thought for Today, different short stories and articles of interest at; www.branchisole.com and on YouTube (Branch Isole). As a podcast and talk radio on-air guest Branch shares informative steps to erect a framework that supports career, personal and spiritual growth. Branch graduated from Texas State Univ., did post graduate work at Univ. of Houston, and holds an Oxford MA Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary. Connect with Branch : https://www.manaopublishing.com/ Sandee's Group Coaching: https://sandeesgarlata.mykajabi.com/happiness-solved-for-everyone-sp Connect with Sandee www.sandeesgarlata.com Sandee's book: www.sandeesgarlata.com/the-book Podcast: www.happinesssolved.com www.facebook.com/coachsandeesgarlata www.twitter.com/sandeesgarlata www.instagram.com/coachsandeesgarlata

In this episode, we are joined by Branch & CC Isole, who met online and now are together 24/7 for the last 21 and a half years since they both work from home. With this very unique setup that they have, Branch and CC mastered the art of communicating healthily with each other. They share in this episode that they have chosen this kind of setup and pace and how they worked together to make sure things are healthy especially with arguments. One of the most important things they shared is that being vulnerable is important and that if you find it hard to be vulnerable to your partner then they just might not be the right person for you. Being able to express how you're feeling is the biggest sign of trust in the relationship and it also helps avoid accumulating hard thoughts. All these and more about constant communication with your partner so stay tuned! In this episode, you'll learn: ● Being committed to both your partner and the relationship ● Communicating avoids overreaction ● Why the blame game never helps ● Importance of vulnerability ● Taking the lead and being the support at the same time And many more! About Branch & CC Isole: Author, storyteller, and poet Branch Isole writes about the strength of choice to change consequences. He's known worldwide for contemporary short stories that reveal emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced. He posts a Thought for Today, different short stories, and articles of interest at; www.branchisole.com and on YouTube (Branch Isole). CC works as a consultant for a corporation that owns and operates self-storage facilities. As a podcast and talk radio on-air guest Branch shares informative steps to erect a framework that supports career, personal and spiritual growth. Branch graduated from Texas State Univ. BSEd. did post-graduate work at Univ. of Houston, MEdAdm., and holds an Oxford MA Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary. Find Branch and CC Isole on... Website: http://www.branchisole.com LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/branch-isole-851433201/ Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/thevoyeuristicpoet/ Connect with LifePix University Podcast! www.lifepixuniversity.com/mindset

INTRODUCTION:This is the third time I'm having Branch on my show!!! He, like me, is a former drug dealer, he's been to jail, he's been homeless, and like myself he understands his mission is to do all he can to help others now that he's been given a second chance. Branch is a poet, a storyteller and the author of 22 books! Branch was born in Osaka, Japan (my favorite country) and has the traveled the world extensively! Branch graduated from Texas State Univ. B.S.Ed., did post graduate work at the University of Houston, M.Ed Adm., and holds an Oxford M.A. Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary. Branch shares how strength of choice can change consequences and this man is known worldwide for his contemporary short story prose that reveals emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced.  Author of twenty-two books Branch Isole shares "how and why" strength of choice can change consequences. He's known worldwide for contemporary short stories revealing issues and emotions often experienced, but not always voiced. Storytelling is either about 'what has been' or 'what can be.' The story of "what can be" encourages us to embrace the duality of what is and more importantly, what is possible. Podcast program audiences tune-in to learn if your guest can help fulfill their aspirations and ambitions. My efforts are to help you produce a show with takeaways that benefit your listeners. The topics I share impart elements for personal, career and/or spiritual self-reflection. I believe we will give your audience a show they'll receive, use, and thank you for.I share edifying and entertaining self-development topics offering information and takeaway steps listeners can use after hearing our episode. These topical conversation starters provide audiences with identifiable grounding and growth elements for contemporary life issues.Spiritual Christianity:Life 101: Albatross or Millstone?The ‘Bucket List' Item Many IgnoreThird Act Specs; Rose Colored or 20-20?Relationships:7 Steps of Relationship RepairChange Your Response, Improve Your RelationshipsWork-Life Balance: 12 Key LessonsReligion:Bible Prophecy: Warnings or Promises?These 'today topic' discussion starters are designed for seekers, searchers, the fallen away and disillusioned. Those who question, wonder or are ready to explore self-reflectively their lives and relationships.  You're invited to book one today!Previous engagements and upcoming shows- https://www.manaopublishing.com/bookings.html  INCLUDED IN THIS EPISODE (But not limited to):·      Stop Being Hard on Yourself·      Guilt and Condemnation Defined – do not serve us·      An Interesting Look Into Unconditional Love·      A Discussion About the Holy Ghost·      What Evangelicals Are Not·      A Warning Against Hypocrisy·      Is Consuming Alcohol a Sin?·      Is Masturbation a Sin?·      Is Dancing a Sin?·      Why Churches and Church Leaders Are Not NecessaryCONNECT WITH BRANCH: Website & Other Books: https://www.manaopublishing.com/Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/podcastguestbranchisoleLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/branch-isole-851433201/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzN66BkAUAemYX76Smnn0GA CONNECT WITH DE'VANNON: Website: https://www.SexDrugsAndJesus.comYouTube: https://bit.ly/3daTqCMFacebook:    https://www.facebook.com/SexDrugsAndJesus/Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/sexdrugsandjesuspodcast/Twitter: https://twitter.com/TabooTopixLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/devannonEmail: DeVannon@SexDrugsAndJesus.com DE'VANNON'S RECOMMENDATIONS:·      Pray Away Documentary (NETFLIX)o  https://www.netflix.com/title/81040370o  TRAILER: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tk_CqGVfxEs ·      Upwork: https://www.upwork.com ·      FreeUp: https://freeup.net·      Disabled American Veterans (DAV): https://www.dav.org ·      American Legion: https://www.legion.org INTERESTED IN PODCASTING OR BEING A GUEST?:·      PodMatch is awesome! This application streamlines the process of finding guests for your show and also helps you find shows to be a guest on. The PodMatch Community is a part of this and that is where you can ask questions and get help from an entire network of people so that you save both money and time on your podcasting journey.https://podmatch.com/signup/devannon TRANSCRIPT:[00:00:00]You're listening to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast, where we discuss whatever the fuck we want to! And yes, we can put sex and drugs and Jesus all in the same bed and still be all right at the end of the day. My name is De'Vannon and I'll be interviewing guests from every corner of this world as we dig into topics that are too risqué for the morning show, as we strive to help you understand what's really going on in your life.There is nothing off the table and we've got a lot to talk about. So let's dive right into this episode.De'Vannon: Hey everyone. And welcome to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast. I am so thankful to have you with me again. One more week branch Isole my guest on today. This is the third time I've had this incredible soul on my show.He's a former drug dealer like me. He's been to jail, he's been homeless, like I've been before. And we both get that. We have a second chance on life and we intend to spend this second chance helping as many people as we possibly can. So today we're going [00:01:00] to talk about why we should stop being so damn hard on ourselves.We're going to talk about guilt and condemnation and ultimately how those two things do not serve us. So we're going to take a really interesting look at unconditional love. Love is really the most important thing of all and loving ourselves is key to us. Being able to love anyone else. Please take a deep listen at this episode and enjoy the show.Thank you, Branch Isole for coming on the sex drugs and Jesus podcast. I believe that this is your third time. Taking a voyage with me. How are you feeling today? Branch: Good morning. Yeah, I'm feeling great. I was thinking about third time. I hope is the charm and we are able to answer some questions and touch some people where they live and help them down that path a little bit.De'Vannon: Right. The third time is always the charm darling, but we've been charming since the day [00:02:00] one, because that's how the fuck we get to down. And so. So we talked about eschatology before and all kinds of things. Before today, we are going to be talking about guilt, shame, condemnation, things like that, because people to stop being so hard on themselves.know, we live in a time where the world is full of judgment and it always has been, but with media and everything like that, You can see it happening a lot, a lot simultaneously, and you can get overwhelming. And, you know, we look at the news and we go, oh my God, how can people be so mean? You know, and everything like that.I wonder how much of that really starts within ourselves because you can't give away what you don't have. I heard a wise woman say one time. And so what are your initial thoughts on guilt? Shame, condemnation. Branch: You know, when we talked about doing this topic [00:03:00] I, I wanted to look at it from a place that everybody could, could start from the same spot. Okay. So I, I looked up the definition. Of guilt and condemnation. And I found was, and I'm going to bore our audience for just a minute, but the different issue of guilt is the fact of having committed a specific or implied offense or crime.And that's the legal definition. And then the personal or social or cultural definition is the act of making someone feel guilty in order to induce them to do something. I then looked up condemnation and the legal definition of condemnation is the [00:04:00] act of subjugating to a punishment. And then the personal or a cultural definition is an expression of strong discipline.And the more I thought about it, it's interesting that those two concepts or those two words have dual definitions. That is the first one in both of those as defined, dealt with the legal and the second one dealt with, you know, our personal actions. And so the legal is real simple. You either obey the law or you go, but the second definition for both of those is a lot more subjective and it really touches us each personally in our choices and our behavior and our consequences.So [00:05:00] today I guess our top. To discuss is focused on that second definition. And as you and I talked before we got started Yeah. you know, one of the things that we have a tendency to do when we've made some kind of a mistake in judgment or behavior that we're ashamed of that took place is regardless of what the consequence may be.Legally, a lot of us have this tendency to go to that place where we want to beat ourselves up. And, you know, I guess that's the ultimate action for both guilt and condemnation when we feel guilty. And we condemn ourselves that a lot of times we spend an inordinate amount of time beating ourselves.[00:06:00]De'Vannon: Well, not anymore. We, we, we, we, we just got rid of that right now. And so w what really prompted this branch was still on when I was growing. And shit. I really started to really accept myself probably like last year as I approached my 39th birthday. But when I was growing up, I really struggled with feelings of self-loathing self-hatred condemnation, guilt, all of those bad emotions. That just, and it's, you know, the thing about all of this is we're not really born this way, you know, at some point in life and it, and now it is true that whatever our mothers do when they're carrying. It does have an impact on us. So we are born with some predispositions. I do believe that, but still that's out of the child's control.And so, you know, we are, we are, we are learning, we are, we learn and we are taught this [00:07:00]negativity, you know, from somewhere else, it's like racism and things like that. You know, somebody has to tell you how to be mean like that. You know, you wouldn't arbitrarily just be like, you know what? I think I hate myself today.You know, I think I just don't like this about myself today. You know, those are not our natural thoughts that comes from somewhere else. And in today's world, you know, we could feel bad about ourselves from looking at too much social media. You know, we judge ourselves by ridiculous standards and things like that.We listen to bullshit coming from the church and Branch: Yeah. De'Vannon: epicenter of the, of, of our strength should be in our own knowledge that we gained for ourselves, listening to media, superstars, and things like that, but to ourselves and our own knowledge and our own private time with our spiritual power. And so the scripture that I think sums it all up is Romans eight and one, it says, therefore, there is [00:08:00] now no condemnation for those of us who were in Christ Jesus. John three and 17 though says that for God did not send his son into the world to condemn the world. But in order that the world might be saved through him.So if God is not interested in condemnation, Why should we be branch? W where to, where are we getting this from? How did we get. Branch: yeah, well, you hit it right on the head when you opened up your shot and that is, are, are good. Mental health is, is dependent upon our. Acknowledgement that we are worthy. And this is what love in Christ and love in God is all about because when we love God and when we love Christ, it's easy for us or easier for us to be obedient to the moral and ethical [00:09:00] laws, commandments God has set down for us as, as humans.And if we feel unworthy of God's love, then that's reflected in our lives. And we feel unworthy of others. Other people's loves in our lives. And if we are not lovable and we're not worthy of being loved, then you know what, where's my moral compass. Where's my ethical compass. So I find that a lot of people who struggle.You know, with their own identity of who they are and why they are, who they are, comes in this concept that we don't always feel worthy of being loved. And if we don't feel worthy of being loved, then what's the point, know, of, of trying to become a better [00:10:00] person or be a better person. I think at the pivotal grounding point worthiness.And, and, you know, I find in working with a lot of fallen away, Christians, that once they understand God loves us just as we are and for who we are, he created it and he loves everything that he's created. Otherwise he wouldn't have created it. So if God can love it. Then we are worthy of love. And if, we're worthy of love, then our, our legwork, our chore, our job is to find that love, you know, in and of ourselves, but in others, in our lives, the people we find important.So, you know, it's it's can be convoluted and it can't be layered upon or under ourself [00:11:00]delusional concepts. But, you know, as, as John Lennon said, it's all about love. And we get to that point we realize that God loves us and we are lovable, there's no reason for us not to be lovable.You know, in our daily lives, but to be lovable, you have to love, and you have to, as you said, you have to sort of come to grips with yourself and realize you've got the power to make that change. And so you kick out of your life, all of that negativity and all of those things that we allow ourselves to bring this down, which really, you know, are just self-delusional concepts.They really don't have control of us unless we give them that power and that control.De'Vannon: And then the first John three and 20 [00:12:00] helps us regain some of this power and control this group. You hear reads that for whenever our heart condemns us. That's talk about us making a decision, executing, a judgment decision about ourselves, the blooper, whenever our heart condemns us, God is greater than our heart and he knows everything.So see, this scripted here is saying, and it mimics another scripture that says when we judge ourselves, like we should not be judged. If along those lines, basically. God is really the only one who could have render an effective judgment of us, not ourselves, so that we can be thinking we're like super righteous and not really be super righteous.we could be thinking we were like super shitty and bad and evil into the most terrible thing in existence in God could actually think the complete opposite of that. And so, because we've got all kinds of shit swirling around in our subconscious, the voices of our past, the voices of bad preaching we've heard and everything like that.And it's all static and confusion. And then too often it comes out in [00:13:00] guilt, condemnation and shame. First, John three and 20 is letting us know that when it's all confusing or like David said, when my heart is overwhelmed, then lead me to the rock that is higher than I. And so what he's saying is God got better sense than me.So let me ask him what he actually says about this. And so. This is why it's important to get close enough to God, to be able to talk to him and to hear him and to get peace from the chaos inside of you. When I was researching this branch, I was finding where these feelings, guilt, condemnation, shame can have physical effects on people.It can cause stress, physical health low self-esteem issues of depression, you know, and everything like that, stemming from a belief that you're not enough. And, and it doesn't have to be this way. So challenge here is to understand why we think what we think, we believe what we believe about every thought that comes [00:14:00] to us.And if it's something that is not lining up to what the word of God says, what we know to be true, what's serving us. Then we have to gain the power to reject a thought that is not We can't run off with everything that flies into our brains. And so. What you have to say about that? Like thoughts that come to us, you know, learning how to filter them out and even much beginning to believe that every thought that comes to you, isn't a true thought.Cause that, that thought that notion in of itself is boring to many people. Branch: Wow. First of all, you know, for, from us talking previously and corresponding that for me, the essence is having that spiritual connection. With God through Christ, all the things you just said, you know, it felt thought was rallying around my head is this is a perfect [00:15:00] example of those who do have a relationship with Christ with God.And those who don't have a relationship. If you don't have that relationship, then you've got no guidance outside of yourself. And as, as humans, we we've all experienced this. You know, our thoughts can get the better of us really easily. We can give energy to those negative thoughts or self-destructive thoughts or self self-pity thoughts very easily.And if we don't have any way to. That it can run wild and make us do crazy things or dangerous things. So for people who are struggling, I find a lot of times, one of the reasons they struggle so intently is that they don't have that spiritual relationship, being a spiritual person, being connected to [00:16:00] God.You understand that you have somewhere else to turn and you have the power within you through God's spirit, living within you to stop and to change those negative thoughts. This is what the power of the holy ghost, the holy spirit living within the believing Christian does. It's what separates us from other religions and other practitioners of religion and itself separates us from the non-believers.you have the spirit of Christ in you, then you can call upon his. At any time in any situation and he will respond. is what Jesus says to us. When he, when he describes that he'll send his spirit to be with us, to guide us and to counsel us. And you can only get his spirit active in your life, if you believe in and accept Jesus [00:17:00] as the Christ.once we have his spirit, we then have his holy spirit power within us guide our steps, to guide our thoughts to get us away from those negative thoughts. If we don't have that spirit living within us and we're kind of on our own. And you know, if we're not well-grounded, we can respond do kinds of things ultimately harm us.that for me is the first. Essential part of any conversation that has to do with our mental wellbeing or mental health like you said, you know, of those negative mental things can manifest themselves in us physically and can cause all kinds of physical Millay or physical illness, just, just by giving thoughts, that [00:18:00] power.So the first thing we want to do is take that power away from ourselves by allowing God's power, his holy spirit within us to give us the power to stop the negative. It sounds and crazy, but I truly believe that's what it's about. If we've got that. Living with us that we have God's holy power guide us through the, you know, the negative stuff and the dangerous stuff that we bring up on ourselves.De'Vannon: So then Branch: I think you hit it right on the head.De'Vannon: I concur with what you're saying. I believe in serenity. I believe in God, I believe. And I, I don't feel weak. I don't feel less than because I believe he's more capable than I am. I feel relieved that I don't have to do at all. I don't have to know it all and I don't have to be right all the [00:19:00]time.So, so whenever I hear people. Branch: no matter. God is like a loving parent. Okay. He wants best for us above all else. He, wants what's best for us. He knows what's in our best interest, even more than we do. And instead of a lot of people, you know, these visions or thoughts of what God is and what he's like and what he looks like.Well, I often tell people, you know, think of God as a loving parent and, you know, maybe we didn't have loving parents our growing up cycles and stages, but God is a loving parent and loves all of his children. He responds to those who respond to him. If you don't recognize God for who he is or what he [00:20:00] can do and wants to do, then how can he help you?So I always think of him as a loving parent, as opposed to this, you know, power, that's Helen fire and brimstone and punishment and all these things, every loving parent wants what's best for his or her children. So that's. You know, a way to think of him as a relationship instead of I'm this little thing or person and he's, he's got, and, you know, nothing can come between us that would bring us together.Nothing could be farther from the truth. He's the loving parent. And he walks to treat his children as a loving parent. That's what unconditional love is, is understanding your children and, you know, doing what you can in their best interest.De'Vannon: Yeah, I feel that same way about my cats. You know, I try to [00:21:00] understand them Branch: yeah. Yeah. yeah, yeah. I always, I always, I always tell women who come to me for help and counseling and tell me about their boyfriends or a fiance and, and all this. And I always say, well, you know, how is he with pets? If you want to know how he's going to tell you this. Watch how he treats this paps.De'Vannon: The simple things. So I want to ask you so like, and we're talking about like God having the answers and everything like that, and more so than we do with that conflicts, with the movement in the world that has to do You know, a lot of talk about all the answers already reside within us. You know, this is found in a lot of meditation circles.A lot of people who believe in the universe, you know, they'll go, you know, the, the things that I have friends like this, and I love them. And this is one point that I disagree with them on, but it doesn't matter. I don't look at them [00:22:00] any less than or anything like that. just more of an interesting thing to me, you know, the way they think it's like, know, the power is already within you.You have all the answers you already need. You are your most capable, so you don't need to look outside of yourself or anything. So what, what are your thoughts on that? Branch: I think to a certain degree, the right, the power is the power is within you. Okay. The power is within each of us because we're created by God and his spirit. Then our spirit is part of him, right? So when we are born, we have the power of God within us. We have all the solutions are already within us. Okay.But the dividing line comes between the believer and non believer. You [00:23:00] know, you can believe in the universe and you can believe in the power of the trees and the rocks and whatever. But if you don't have the power of God activate. The power that's in you already, if you, if that power at that spirit is not activated, then you don't have the power of God within you to discover the solutions.Okay. When we're born, we all have God's spirit within our soul, within our spirit. However, it's inactive. Okay. We know innately right from wrong because we are created by God and his character and nature is morals and ethics. So that's already within us, but because we don't have a living relationship with.His spirit that lives within [00:24:00] us is inactive. In that case, then we're going through life, making choices and decisions based on what we want for us, right. The ways of the world. And because we innately know that there is something more powerful, a lot of people then traps for that power to all of these other images or concepts you just described.Yes, I've got the power and I've got the answers and I've got the solution, but I don't have the key to unlock them. Right. So I, I, I'm going through the life captured by life and in life's grasp, and I'm doing the things and I'm behaving and responding the world's way. When, when you had enough of that.And that knowing in your heart and [00:25:00] in your, the essence of who you are, is knowing at you telling you there's something greater, there's a different path. When you turn to Christ and ask him to come into your life, he will send his holy spirit, which is already in you, but he will send his power to activate the holy spirit within you.And when his holy spirit is activated within you, you have the key to finding the answers and the solution, because the solutions and the answers are all grounded in recognition of Christ as who he is, the son of God. And that's, me, that's the difference. You know, people can believe in anything they want to believe in, but just like the religions of the ancient, you know, The gods of Egypt and the gods of our [00:26:00] own all of those gods were given mystical and mythical powers, but they were never really able to express or expose that power in reality along comes Jesus and all of a sudden the power of God becomes manifest in Jesus and in the things that she's said and did you know, the people call it miracles, let me call it miracles.Well, we have that same power. If we want to use it, but you have to use it the way Christ used it, you know, you've got to, you, can't use it for authority and control. You have to use it for, for love for, for loving things. And that's the big struggle for Christians is how, how can I emulate and be Christ like.When the things that I say and do are so hypocritically, not Christ-like. [00:27:00] And that's the struggle I see going on today. And in our day and age is that we have a lot of Christians who claim, you know, that they are Christians, that they follow Christ, but everything they say and everything I do is just the opposite.You know, who they're following is the prince of this world. And yet they're using Jesus and God as an excuse for their hypocrisy. You know, even a lot or most of the churches too. It's very hypocritical because for the church being an organization, you know, it's all about power and money. So they're of the world more than they are of Christ.But if you, you already got the power to know the answers and to find the solution, but if you don't have a living relationship where that power can be activated, and then you don't have the key and believers, followers [00:28:00] of Christ, individuals who emulate Christ in his thoughts, words, and deeds, you've got that activated power.You see the great thing about being one with Christ is you see the truth all around you. And when you know what the truth is, and you see the truth that it's very easy to recognize what's untrue in your. Then you've got the power to say, I'm not going to be part of that world. You know, you and I are not going to stop the evil in this world.And the power of evil. That's trying to dominate people in this world. We aren't going to stop that. It's going to continue, but for the, for the person who becomes a believer in Christ and has his holy spirit within them, they recognize the truth. And then it's very easy to turn away from the truth. You know, most of [00:29:00] United States, Christian now is very racist.And very xenophobic, homophobic misogynistic, you know, and they're following their cult leader down that path. when you have Christ in your life and you have his holy spirit within you, you recognize that from the outset and you know, you choose not to be part of that world. You choose to see the lie for what it is.Hopefully, you know, people will, will hear and and change. But as long as you're on the path, that's not spiritual that doesn't lead to Christ there. You're going to be on the path of struggle and conflict.De'Vannon: The Bible says that when. That the, my sheep hear my voice. You know, they recognize the voice of God from any other voice. So [00:30:00] what this is telling us is that there will be many voices. Jesus said there will be many spirits, you know, and he encouraged us during his physical lifetime to gain the gift of discernment, which is what it is for to not believe every spirit.And so you mentioned activating the holy spirit. So I want you to tell people how they can receive the gift of the holy ghost if they want it. And the holy ghost, the holy go ahead. Branch: No, no, go, go ahead. I'm going to pull up, pull up a scripture.De'Vannon: Yeah. So my precursor to that, so God is a tri human being. So he's three persons in one way of God, the father, God, God, the son, the holy ghost, the holy spirit, whatever you want to refer to him as his symbol is the dove. And so Jesus came physically in the body roamed [00:31:00] around here for like 33 something years.And once he peaced out, he said, I'm going to drop the comforter back down on you. So I don't go to the comforter, can't come for whatever reason, they can occupy the same space in the world at the same time, maybe be too much power for us to handle. And so, but nevertheless, once he left, then end of the book of acts, we see this, the holy ghost enter the world on the day of Pentecost.And so, or at least manifest himself as being here on the day of Pentecost. And so is the power. As we see it first being filled and people These people spoke in tongues. When that happened. There is an instance in the book of acts. I believe when Peter was with Cornelius, where people got the holy ghost and they did not speak in tongues.Don't quote me on that because acts had a lot of action going on in it. So I want, I want you to tell us how people can the gift of the spirit. And when someone in chairs tells them that they have to speak in [00:32:00] tongues or they don't have the spirit, is that true?Branch: I can't answer that. I, you know, I,I don't know. I don't know anything about speaking in tongues or, you know, I know there's churches that do that and accept it. I'm not familiar with that. So I can't comment on that. I'll try and answer the other part. How do we, how do we. You know, spiritual grounding and then how do we make it spiritual strength?So in John 4 24, we're told the God's spirit and as being our creator, then we therefore are also spirit just as he is. However, because we're human, we possess the capacity. We have, we have a spirit that we were born with. That was God-given okay. [00:33:00] As humans, we have a capacity to acquire and possess the holy spirit.That is God, the father, and is God the son. And he is God, the holy spirit. Okay. God is spirit. And as such, because he can't. Because of his very nature of being holy and pure, he can't be in the presence of anything unpure, so he can't come to earth. Okay. However, his spirit can transcend and can transmute time and space.Butthe way that that spirit comes to us is through Jesus Christ. Okay. We've got a spirit, but the holy spirit won't live with and conjoin with our spirit, unless we've accepted Christ. We won't get [00:34:00] into the old Testament stuff, but new Testament stuff, his spirit comes through our recognition of Jesus as the son of God as Christ.So how do we get that spirit? Well, real simple. And Matthew seven. Seven through eight. Jesus tells us simply we invite Jesus into our lives. That is we accept Jesus for who he is, the son of God. Okay. So when we ask or invite Jesus into our lives, because he's no longer living, but his spirit is living, he will send his spirit that same spirit of God, the father to be with us, okay.To be with our spirit. So that's when our spirit gets activated is when we invite Christ to come into our lives by invitation. So he won't come to us unless we ask. [00:35:00] And that's the real kicker, because God won't respond to us. He loves us as children, but he won't respond to us unless we have his spirit.Which proves our recognition of him. So when we ask Jesus to come into our lives, we are accepting the spirit of him and of his father, the same spirit. And now we have that same sphere that is God and the same spirit that is and lives with Jesus, the spirit now, because he's no longer a man on earth, but we now have that connection.We have that spiritual connection. So all we have to do is invite Christ into our lives. He will send his spirit to be with us. Once we have that spirit Jesus says to us in John 14, chapter 16, I will ask the father. And he will give you an [00:36:00] advocate, the spirit of truth to help you and be with you forever.You will know him for, he lives with you and will be in you. She wants he's there. We recognize Jesus for who he is, truth and love. And we recognize God, the father for who he is. And therefore we have an immediate and personal connection with God through Jesus Christ. And in verse 26, he tells us, but the advocate, the holy spirit, whom the father will send in my name will teach you all things.And we'll remind you of everything I've said, Nope, this indwelling of the holy spirit activates our spirit to start receiving God's support and direct. So we, we invite Jesus into our hearts. He sends his spirit to live within us with our [00:37:00] spirit in our soul. And we therefore become children of God with the rights and privileges to talk with God and to receive God's blessings, God's protections.Anything that God wants to give us as obedient believing children. Once you've got the spirit within you, then every time you you're in a situation where you have to make a decision, especially when it's, you know, important decisions. I won't say life and death, but to you, what seems to be a life and death decision or choice before we decide an act, if we will ask Jesus what we should do, he will respond.And what. You say, what would Jesus do in this situation? And his holy spirit living within you, living within us will respond and show [00:38:00] us the path that we should choose. Now here's the dilemma for Christians? Do I choose that path or do I choose the path that, you know, I wanted for me, am I going to do what I want or I'm going to do what God would have me do?And that's the Bailey, you know, dilemma. That's the carrying of the cross. When Jesus says, take up your cross daily. That's what he's talking about. Your cross is whatever that temp tation to be disobedient to God's spirit within you, which is encouraging you and directing you to be moral and. And the ways of the world are trying to kick us, take us off that path of being moral and ethical by tempting us you know, with all the things of the world and all the ways of the world.And [00:39:00] that's the struggle for every Christian, but those who claim to be Christians and are not following the spirit of Christ that lives within them, that's counseling them and guiding them and directing them. And they're turning their back on that spirit and still doing what they want to do. You know, then, then we get a lot of struggling, Christians who say one thing and behave and respond differently.Well, that's, that's the whole. That's the whole challenge for Christians. Are you going to respond Christ-like or are you going to respond saying you're a believer in Christ and yet not respond as he would respond? And to me, that's the problem with the Christian Church today. We have a lot of carnal Christians who want lots of things and possessions and things that they want and will do anything they can to get that [00:40:00] instead of following what Christ would have them do too.And it's just, you know, what you just had had in tones. Very, very correct. My sheep, hear my voice, right? If you're a true believer in Jesus, who he is and what he did for you as a center, then you hear his voice and you hear. The direction and guidance of his holy spirit living within you. You don't turn your back on and say, well, I believe in Christ, but I'm going to go and do this, you know, immoral amoral or unethical thing.And that's how Christ can tell. That's why he says, you know, that the path is narrow. The door is narrow. It's only got space for two, you and him. That's why he says, you know, there's a lot of people who are going to say Christ Christ, and he's going to say, I knew, I knew you not, know, [00:41:00]you can't say you're a Christian and behave like a heathen.You know, you, you can fool yourself, but you can't fool him. And that's what it comes down to. Are you going to be true to him and therefore take the easy path being true to yourself? Are you going to say one thing and do it. If you do, you know, you're like a lot of evangelical Christians out there who are saying one thing and doing the exact opposite. So we're not here to judge them. They're going to be judged just like we're going to be judged, but I'd rather stand before the judge with a, with a true and open heart, you know repenting of my sins than to go all that, all that way, declaring myself to be a follower of Christ and actually acting like a follower of, of evil [00:42:00] and corruption.It just, it's a choice. It's a choice.De'Vannon: I love, I love everything that you just said and and that, although we will not be judging evangelicals and Republicans in such. Today, we, we, we, we can open the library and throw just a tad bit of shade because you know, reading is fundamental as mama Ru, Paul would say, and that's not necessarily judging your, just reading the writing on the wall.And so I got Matthew seven and one through three, and I read from this, I pulled descriptor from the message Bible because there's this a very, very, like, kind of silly reading to me, like in a fun way. I love the message of Bible was very lighthearted. I think somebody might've been smoking some reefer, some fucking good as Cali dank whenever they translated this shit, but I love the message Bible.And so this says, don't pick on people, jump on their failures, criticize their faults. Unless of course you want the same true. That critical spirit as a [00:43:00] way of boomeranging, it's easy to see a smudge on your neighbor's face and be oblivious to the ugly sneer on your own. Do you have the nerve to say, let me wash your face for you when your own face is distorted by contempt.It's this whole traveling road show mentality all over again, playing a holier than now part, instead of just living your own part, wipe that ugly sneer off your own face, and you might be fit to offer a washcloth to your neighbor. And so basically this is saying, judge, not that you don't be judge for God is not mocked with a romance.Those that also will he reap now this what gets us into the craziness of the church. And everything like that. And what you were saying earlier about like the other religions and how I was talking about people who like, you know, pray and worship through the universe. I think a lot of this came was birthed at, from the lack of love that is found in the [00:44:00] church.You know, a lot of these other, you know, religious and followings because people went to church and they didn't feel loved. They didn't feel accepted. You know, and so they went and found it some the fuck where else. And so. A lot of my own confusion I had in myself came from within the church. You know, the place where I'm supposed to go and leave there feeling better than what I showed up.I came there and I felt worse than what I showed up. And then that shit followed me home. And so to give a few examples of that, I wanted to touch back on the, on the tongues that I was talking about earlier. wanted to talk about this because it is in the Bible and it's something that use the debate in the Pentecostal church.in the Bible, when you see people getting filled with the holy ghost, see them speaking in unknown tongues, tongues, or other languages of the earth. It doesn't say in there, there's an instance where that doesn't happen. There are instances where it does happen, but it doesn't say explicitly you're not qualified to say that you have the holy [00:45:00] ghost, unless you speak in a tongue that you don't know what churches do of and everyone out there.I believe that. Read things into things that, that are not there. You know, just because, you know, the apostles are writing about what their first experiences were with the spirit, because they had never had the holy ghost before. they're just recording what happened as a matter of fact. they're saying they were sitting in a room, they heard a rushing mighty when the tongue showed up, they could see them.And then they started speaking in other languages. just saying what happened to them. I don't read in there or anything where they're saying, and in order for anyone else, for the remainder of the rural world, they have to have the same experience. You know, I don't, I don't agree that you have to speak in tongues in order to believe that you have the spirit living inside of you.to point that out because a lot of preachers, especially here in the south and in Pentecostal churches will say, if you can speak in tongues and the spirit is not in you you need to go speak in [00:46:00]tongues, I've seen preachers, literally forced people to speak in tongues. And then when the preacher said, say that crazy shit, now you have the spirit because you've done what I said you needed to do to get it.But before that you couldn't have it. And so I don't agree with that. And so I wanted to liberate people from this ex expectation because some people are really freaked out by tongues and everything like that. And rightfully so because some people have just ran it into the ground, but that's the way churches can twist things around and they can use.To manipulate you into doing what you want. There's no excuse for, for a preacher to tell someone to speak in tongues. seen them put their hands on people's foreheads and like forced them. I've had, it happened to me, know, put the hand on my forehead and forced me to lay on the ground, you know, and shit, and God is not forced.The Bible says that Jesus taught with such simplicity. You know, the fact that it was noteworthy, that he was being chilled and his delivery, you know, tells us everything about [00:47:00] other religious people, Branch: Yeah. De'Vannon: calm and authoritative. And this stood out to them. You know? So your Sadducees are Pharisees where Jesus is enemies today's world.Those are your Republicans and your evangelicals. Okay. These are the people who are trying to put on a show, all of the pump and all the circumstance. And everything's a big deal. Everyone else is wrong and we're right. Every generation has it. And so. So in, in, so in keeping with this thinking, I want to talk about some of the things that church tells us it's fucked up because other people have heard it. These are the things, some of the, some of the things that have pissed people off about the church and why they've left, because it doesn't add up when talking about alcohol, dancing, worldly music, all of that stuff.Those are the things that I was told was just the devil. When I was a child and I was all fucked up and confused. I was like, shit, I want to go to my high school dance. But if I do, I'm going to burn in hell and God won't love me and everything like that. [00:48:00] And so, so that start with alcohol and the Bible tells us not to get drunk off our asses and things like that.And it gives us a reason because it'll make a mockery of us and it will act a fool, just like all the things God tells us to do is not because he's trying to be authoritative it's because there's actually a common sense reason behind it. Why you wouldn't want to do it any way, if you stop and think about it.So. Just initially, what are your initial thoughts on the consumption of a refreshing adult beverage? Branch: Yeah, well, let me, let me go back to what you had just said a minute. You know, the church today, anyway, the church we're familiar with, but all the way back into the church history, I mean the Christian Church, the church is very accepting of people. As long as the congregants are [00:49:00]accepting the church's doctrine and interpretation of doctrine and of the, the mediators of the priests pastor and the Pope, you know, the church is about control and it's about money.Okay. The church is always ready to condemn those who are not doing what the church wants them to do. And this is what you just alluded to, you know, in the Pentecostal church, that the only way that you can come to God is through the speaking of tongues. Well, the Catholic church is the same way. The only way you can come to God is if you come through the priest, right, or through ultimately the Pope, then you're the intermediaries [00:50:00] between you as a, as a believer and God as the entity and the fallacy of the church is any church is that you have to come through us as the church.In order to have access to God. And as long as that's the belief that someone is in, that they are going to be accepting of and proponents of the way the church operates. And once you, you find people who step outside of that boundary, then they're ostracized or ex-communicated, or pressured to either get back into the fold orally because the church can't have any dissent within it because that threatens their whole, the power base that they control over the people who come to church.So whether it's speaking in [00:51:00] tongues or whether it's, you know, taking communion on Sunday or going to confession or, or having to go through the priest to get to God. That's the fallacy of the church has an organization, regardless of what the church name is or what they call themselves. God never intended for us to have to go through somebody else to come to him.All we have to do is go through Christ. That's one of the reasons you provided Christ for us, and so that we would have a direct line to him as the creator and sovereign power of the universe. As far as, you know, drinking drugs, sex, rock, and roll, that's a personal choice. And my personal belief is whatever activity you intend to engage in.As long as it [00:52:00] does no harm to others. And you do it in moderation and it doesn't make you a wild and crazy dangerous person, you know, who am I to dictate what you can and can't do. God has already dictated to man in the 10 commandments, what he should and shouldn't do. And there's nothing about drinking wine or beer or any other alcoholic beverage in there, except don't do it to excess.You know, don't become a drunkard. You know, it's only the, I watched an interesting program last night on this Trumpy attempt to take over the government and it was on CNN and it was about, you know, the rise of fascism and this is nothing new, but you'll notice as was pointed out through history, all of these kinds of movements are all.Weighing conserver [00:53:00] political conservative movements. And rather than give up power to the Progressive's to the liberals, for the people who walk to spread the wealth, provide for their, their communities and their people. It's very all of these movements, all of these fascist political things happen because of the conservative parties, the people with the power and money, not wanting to lose that power and money.And they would rather destroying the system, then provide for the people. Of their own countries with progressive kinds of programs and, and help. And that's what we're seeing. And the people who are drawn to that are the people who are afraid that what they have is going to be taken away. And this is the [00:54:00] common theme of all of these right-wing political movements, and that is those others are going to take what you've got and they'll use any part of religion that they can to bolster their right, to keep what they've got and not let anyone else have an opportunity to get all of these things play in to, you know, this is why religion is such a big part of political law.And social life, because if you're not with us, you're against us. And you know, we have the only access to God. So if you don't want the access to God and you're not going to come with us, then we're going to do what we can to destroy you. And we live in dangerous times and church, the church as an [00:55:00] organization uses its power and its corruption to keep its power.And the people who buy right into that are the political right in every country, not just here in every country, the hard nosed extreme. Right. You know they're out to destroy the system rather than let anybody else participate in the system. That's not exactly like them. White, Christian. No, it's, it's the world we live in.And once you realize it's the world we live in, then all the more reason you should get a spiritual relationship with God, so that you see the truth. And even if, if the, you know, the truth comes knocking at your door in the form of dangerous people, at least you have God on your side and [00:56:00] his protection.And if your life has taken, at least, you know where you're going to go and you can stand before God knowing you had a truthful heart. Yeah. It'll be interesting to see how many of those hardcore evangelical Trumpy and Christians, you know, missed that last call and are not where they think they're going to be when it's all over or they're there.And they have to face Joe. You know, people need, we need to think about the future right now because we're part of what is going to escalate into very dangerous times. And if we don't have a relationship with the Lord, we're going to be in dire straights.De'Vannon: Right. I agree. It's very, short-sighted this whole fight over things of this world, you know, but this is, this is the spirit of anti-Christ, you know, the way Republicans and Angelicals are, know, they're fighting for political power, but if the world's going to burn up and not going to be here anyway, then I [00:57:00] think it's more prudent to.To fight for a spiritual strength because you have an afterlife is permanent. This one's not permanent. You don't know if you're going to be alive one day to the next. So it was very shortsighted and to be on Grinchy about it. Branch: Yeah. De'Vannon: want our money, But not the black and brown people and the Asians and all of them, you know, but they're going to just take it all.You know, the Bible says that there will be where no fear was because of inequity, you know, because iniquity shall abound, you know, they get really, ain't got nothing to be afraid of, but they're so the way they are, whatever word you'd want to put in there, they've created fear where there isn't anything to be afraid of immigrants and people like that.Coming here with like little or no power at all, how in the hell are they going to take anything from white people? They just trying to get a job help out where they can not cause a scene not to get deported and maybe help their family come over here. Their needs are very simple. And so, but insecure people is not.Branch: and I, you, [00:58:00] you and I both served in the military. And when you're in the military, you are thrown together in a living and working situation with all kinds of different people, from all different kinds of backgrounds and all kinds of different places and beliefs and.I couldn't count on one hand, the number of adverse relationships I had with different people in the military. I had friends that were from all kinds of different places, all kinds of different backgrounds, all kinds of different colors and beliefs. And, you know, that's the one melting pot that if you don't have a closed heart, you will be able to see people for who they are and what they bring to the situation.You know, you, you can break that bond of about [00:59:00] racism when you serve with people of different color. Yeah, you may not get along with all of them, the ones that you do get along with you see them as people. And not as, you know, a different race or different religious belief ethnicity.now you still have, obviously, especially today, you know, white supremacists and right-wing extremists are serving in the military. But my experience growing up as a military and then serving in the military is I had friends of all persuasions and all colors, and they were just great people, and, and bias or prejudice that I had going in.With soon negated when I saw them as real people and not some concept, know, that I had [01:00:00]been sold or believed in or raised with they are certain way because of their skin color their religious background. So you can get over it. If you choose to see people as people and having a, a spirit relationship with the Lord will help you do that.You know, I hate to always keep coming back to that spiritual relationship, that's what it's all about. If you want to grow a person, get connected to God, you know, get connected to Christ and he will you to see the He'll allow you to see people for who they are. You know, are all brothers and sisters, believe it or not the ones who, who won't believe that it won't change.To come to realize that early hurting themselves, and there's going to be a heavy price to pay for it here. I'm here after.De'Vannon: You mentioned communion and I'm going to be doing. Show in the [01:01:00] future about communion and everything like that, but just to touch on it, because we're talking about, you know, wine and everything like that, you know, Jesus, his first miracle was turning water into wine. I heard a preacher one time say trying to defend his thou shalt, not drink wine stance.He was like, Well,he, Jesus turned the water and the great Jews. They didn't have time to ferment. I'm like, bitch. I think if God created the whole world, he could at least make fermented wine if he wants to, you know, just saying. And so, but I love the communion story. The way Jesus is having the dinner with his the dinner that the bread and the wine with his disciples and everything like that the night before he goes to be crucified when he's getting ready to go before the council is not the night before he gets crucified.And so what I'd like to do is to do communion at home. And so I want to be [01:02:00] teaching people how to do that in a future episode, because there's power in communion. I don't look at it. I don't think I need to eat it out of the hand of a priest or anything like that. I just ordered me some unleavened bread online, and I got me some wine, some fermented wine.That's about 15% alcohol. And and that's what I do because when I've had communion, I had at one time when I was a kid, the priest, actually the pastor brought it over to my grandmother's house because back in those days, the preachers used to deliver communion to the elderly people. And so, and I was just a nosy kid.I wouldn't run it up there. I don't know. I must've been like seven, eight, you know, back in like the eighties, early nineties or something. And I'm just, I'm just running on in there just to see what's going on. And the preacher turns to me, he's like, he wants them to him. I like share, I don't know what this is.I'm like that type of kid, whatever. Let's just do it. It isn't about, but when I when I drank that, that, that in his case, grape juice out of that cup, I felt power shoot through the lower half of my body [01:03:00]is like, like, God touched me. Not my upper half, but just from like my waist down. And I like, kind of like stumbled it, it was something the spirit did.Maybe it was a healing I needed, I don't know, but my body was clicking that way and I it's, something was loose and, you know, and it changed the change in my anatomy or something happened. So I can't explain exactly what happened, but I know I didn't make it up. And I know that there is power in taking the time to honor the sacrifice of the Lord through communion.And I believe in doing it at home, I do believe in doing it at church. And so, so I'm gonna teach people how to do communion for themselves. In a future episode, I got me this cute little communion cup set off the internet too. It's going to be a whole thing. And so, and so, but you know, Jesus, I wanted to clarify, you know, Jesus being a Nazarene versus a NAZA right, because. Do you know, Jesus refused a strong drink when he was on the wine. Some people may try to when he was on the cross and [01:04:00] some people may try to take that and try to say, you know, guilt you about you. You want to stop by happy hour or whatever after you've had a long day at work. Okay. So I'm going to read this excerpt.So y'all bear with me for a second. So Jesus was a Nazarene. He was not a NAZA right. The two terms are often confused for one another. The term Nazareen refers to someone who lived in the town of Nazareth. We know he's called Jesus of Nazareth and a NAZA right. It's someone such as Samson, you know, Sampson couldn't cut his hair, you know, who took a special vow before God and was subsequently consecrated to God for service.So a Nazarite is something you have to take a vow to become the, put yourself under. Extra restrictions. And as a Marine is just word where Jesus was born. And I read somewhere where that, that strong drink that Jesus refused had like like a numbing agent in it. And he didn't want to do it, take anything that was going to take away any of the pain for what he was going through.And so this is getting back to what I always tell people is to research things for yourselves. [01:05:00]So don't let anybody tell you, alcohol is wrong. You can have your drink, baby. Just don't get a DUI, you know, and just don't be reckless with it. God teaches us responsibility, but he is not opposed to libations. And Let's talk about masturbation and my gosh, there's nothing better than a good wink. All. Sometimes you just got to like pull it out and pleasure yourself, you know, and just, you know, it's, it's so great. And I've done shows on this before. There's all sorts of great things that happen in your anatomy.Whenever you have a sexual release is good to relieve stress, and it just helps all kinds of things like that. In the case of men, you know, we wouldn't want to get blue balls now, would we? That's not like. That's not just like a, a term, like, it's real. Like if you, if you, like, if a guy, especially for me, like if I have that busted in that in like a while, or maybe like a day or whatever, like my balls start to hurt, [01:06:00] like that whole area is really Tinder.And but if I just go wink it and spank it real quick, you know, all that pain goes away. It's like an actual medical term for all of this. Now, when I was growing up, they told me masturbation was the devil in charge. And so I was all fucked up and confused. You know, I'm like a teenager now I've got this hard Dick, you know, but nobody's telling me what I can do with it.They're just telling me what I can do with, and then that's something that's a blame. I lay at the feet of the church. They've got all these nos, but they don't have any fucking alternatives. And so. There's a situation that happened in the old Testament. I can't remember this dude's name, but the Lord told everybody to be fruitful and multiply.His brother died, left a wife. And in the nation of Israel, the custom was, if the brother died, then the living brother would take on that wife and raise up children in as a way to honor the dead brother. Well, I guess he didn't [01:07:00] give a fuck about his brother or whatever. So he wanted to fuck this girl. He didn't want to come and bite of her to have the children, but he wanted to use her body.The Lord saw his deception and killed him because of his deception. So the people in church said, well, you see that his semen was filled on the ground, whether than the woman. So therefore, because it, semen was spilled on the ground, no one should. And so that was a lot that they gave me as a teenager, I believe.And so that every time I masturbated, I would just feel terrible and I'll fill out guilt and condemn like days after that, I would just feel like so bad, know, because of what these people told me, the only other thing is in the old Testament, and this is the old Testament. Jesus released us from all of these restrictions, unless you just want to be restricted by Branch: Cool. De'Vannon: But if a man had a wet dream that he had to go into a period of isolation and because he was considered unclean, okay, well, you [01:08:00] know, that doesn't really have anything to do with us anymore, but those are the only two things that really ever had anything to do with sperm, you know, but they use the. The case of the deceitful man, to try to tell us that all masturbation was wrong.So it's just like with the tongues, just because they had a tongue experience on the day of Pentecost, does it mean that that has to apply to everybody else, to the rest of all life? You know, just because this dude decided to be all evil got killed by God, does it mean that I can not jerk off? So what are your thoughts about this? It felt Branch: Well,Here again, the church is about control. They try to control your thoughts by threats of a punishing God, and they try to control your actions to make you feel guilty. You're human. So [01:09:00] you're going to respond in human waste. I mean, you know, that's a simple fact, especially young people who are, you know, growing and coming into puberty and, and testing the bounds of their rebellious.That's just what teen life and young adult life is all about finding your place in your world and the things, how you express yourself. So the church tries to control your thoughts by presenting God as a punishing gun. And they try to control the congregants actions by saying, if you do these things, your condemn, and the only way you can get out of that condemnation is through us through the church, through the priest, through the pastor, through the Pope, because we are the intermediary intermediate between you sinner and doer of terrible things.And [01:10:00] God, and if you want God's forgiveness, the only way you can get that for your sinful actions is to come through us. So, you know, it's all a contrived situation of power and control again. And if they can control you, then you'll do whatever they say to do or not to do. You know, you don't need that intermediary to have a relationship or to.Commune with God. No. How many people did John, the Baptist baptized in God's name? I don't recall him ever getting a theology degree and he certainly wasn't a rabbi. So, you know, those, those who are working for God, if they're truly working for God and they're not doing it to elevate themselves or gain control or power or money, [01:11:00] they're doing it because they've been called to serve. We know what's right and wrong innately. We know because we are creatures of God. He created us. So he put that sense of right and wrong within us from the. And assess that as we grow as children, it becomes manipulated, you know, we can do what is right and be rewarded, or we can do what is wrong and be punished.And that's, you know, that's our sole experience with right and wrong is reward and punishment. And that's exactly how the legal system works. That's exactly how the Jewish legal system worked, you know, in the, in the ancient days, in the old Testament days that was reward and protection, or there was punishment Christ has done away with all of that.As you said earlier, you know, with the new Testament and with the [01:12:00] advent of Jesus Christ as savior. That that negates the power of the church. You don't need the church B any denomination to get to God you need, you know, an intermediary and for the Christian, that intermediary, that arbitrator, that mediator is Jesus Christ.If you have a relationship with Christ, that's all you need. Again, you know, if you want to, whatever your activities are, who is who's going to condemn you outside of Christ. And the whole point of his coming was to save us centers. If you, if you're a believer in Christ, you know, your sins are covered.The key is to stop sitting once you, you know, make that belief once you accept that relationship with Jesus, [01:13:00] And if you get baptized in his name, you declare that publicly that you are now a child of Christ, okay. Then the choice becomes, what activities are you going to do? And within those activities, are you going to continue to be a believer or you just gotta be a drunken, you know, masturbating, fool. If I w if you believe in Christ, you are covered, we're godless of what society says, or regardless of what the legal system says. If we don't obey the laws, whatever they may be, then there's a punishment to those laws. But if you are a believer and follower of Christ, you need not worry about those things because your innate desire is to be obese via both.You know, and to the moral and [01:14:00] ethical character and nature of God it's, it's not difficult to obey the speed limit. You know, it's not difficult to be law abiding citizens, but you could also be a spiritually abiding citizen, and that will cover you in all the other areas of your life that you're struggling with.Those who will meet Christ in the next life, regardless of who they are here or what their behavior has been here will be, there will be a tone for, and we'll be, you know, face judgment, but be relieved because of their belief. But when you become a belief that doesn't give you free license, as Paul said, you know, to continue to be wild and crazy, you become a thinking analytical person at that point.And you realize something that is illegal or immoral [01:15:00] or unethical is not in my best interest. The consequences of that kind of activity, whether I'm a believer or not can be detrimental to my health and wellbeing. The point of having that relationship is that before I engage in excessive

Today's students are tomorrow's  missionaries and mobilizers. Even now Gen Z is preparing to enter and presently entering God's harvest fields. Knowing and understanding their views on missions is key for missions organizations. In this special episode of the Missionary Mobilization Podcast, Host Dave Jacob sits down with students from Trinity Bible College to get their thoughts and ideas on missions. Questions Dave asked the Gen Z panel: What are some barriers preventing Gen Z from getting to the missions field? Is it beneficial for someone who feels called but doesn't know where to start to have a mentor? What excites Gen Z about missions? When you think about missions, what are some fears or concerns that you have?

Check it out on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/33Z4VsE Check it out on Apple: https://apple.co/3AHc2DT Author, storyteller and poet Branch Isole writes about strength of choice to change consequences. He's known worldwide for contemporary short stories that reveal emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced. He posts a Thought for Today, different short stories and articles of interest at; www.branchisole.com and on YouTube (Branch Isole). As a podcast and talk radio on-air guest Branch shares informative steps to erect a framework that supports career, personal and spiritual growth. Branch graduated from Texas State Univ. BSEd., did post graduate work at Univ. of Houston, MEdAdm., and holds an Oxford MA Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary. Dreams: Branch really wants to focus on reaching people with his books so that they can identify with them. He wants to help people get balanced, apply balance, to help with the stress struggle we experience in life. How you can Help: Get Branch on more podcasts Help Yourself and Get Balanced Contact them at: Branchisole.com

Check it out on Spotify: https://spoti.fi/33Z4VsE Check it out on Apple: https://apple.co/3AHc2DT Author, storyteller and poet Branch Isole writes about strength of choice to change consequences. He's known worldwide for contemporary short stories that reveal emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced. He posts a Thought for Today, different short stories and articles of interest at; www.branchisole.com and on YouTube (Branch Isole). As a podcast and talk radio on-air guest Branch shares informative steps to erect a framework that supports career, personal and spiritual growth. Branch graduated from Texas State Univ. BSEd., did post graduate work at Univ. of Houston, MEdAdm., and holds an Oxford MA Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary. Dreams: Branch really wants to focus on reaching people with his books so that they can identify with them. He wants to help people get balanced, apply balance, to help with the stress struggle we experience in life. How you can Help: Get Branch on more podcasts Help Yourself and Get Balanced Contact them at: Branchisole.com

In this episode of Your Day, Doug Clay speaks with Paul Alexander, president of Trinity Bible College and president of the Alliance for AG Higher Education, about his ministry journey, the importance and affordability of Christian higher education. For more information about AG Higher education, visit https://colleges.ag.org/. 

Do you ever get frustrated with the church/agency relationship? Take a listen to today's episode as Dave talks with Missions Pastor, Randy Jumper from First North Little Rock Church. Randy unpacks what he calls, With-ing, a concept that does missions together and goes beyond partnership. He expounds on keeping the local church as the main driver of missions without the church having a self-centered, self-fulfilling missiological strategy. You'll learn why missionary re-entry training is more essential than ever and why mission agencies should consider hiring non-missionaries for agency leadership roles. Specifically, Dave asked Randy the following questions:org In your article, you write that "The church views itself as a 'with-ing' partner rather than a sending partner." Can you explain that a little bit? What factors have influenced this shift to “with-ing"? Are there any negative implications of shifting from a sending mindset to a with-ing mindset? Randy, in your article, you mention some suggestions for denominational sending agencies. Can you share some of those with us? What are some ways missionaries can partner better with churches?  What are some suggestions for churches in partnering with missionaries and sending agencies? Show Notes: First North Little Rock Church Latest Issue of the Missionary Mobilization Journal  Assemblies of God World Missions Barna Report, The Connected Generation Purchase - The Barna Report, The Connected Generation River Valley Church Meshed Young Adult Ministry Connect with Randy Jumper Email - rjumper@firstnlr.com Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/rjumper Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/randyjumper/ Trinity Bible College and Graduate School The Missionary Mobilization Podcast is a resource for Christian leaders who want to increase the number of missionaries around the world. Our goal is to equip and encourage missions mobilizers and missions pastors for greater Kingdom impact. (The views expressed on the Missionary Mobilization Podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the Center for Missionary Mobilization and Retention) If you have questions or ideas for a show, contact us here: hello@missionarymobilization.org

"The Kingdom of God does not advance when we stay safe." - Anna Hampton   How can we help others navigate the potential dangers of the mission field? Listen to Anna Hampton, who has lived in war-torn Afghanistan, the Middle East, and other dangerous places. She is a global expert on cross-cultural risk and chats with Dave about the theology of risk and how mobilizers can help potential goers overcome their fear of danger.   They specifically discussed the following: How did you handle the potential dangers before you first went to Afghanistan? Can you share about a time when you helped a missionary deal with a dangerous situation? How does the Bible talk about risk? What does the church need to understand about risk in the context of missions? How can the church better respond to missionaries who live in dangerous contexts? What should missionaries do when they face risk? What advice would you have for mobilizers and pastors to help potential missionaries navigate risk and danger on the field?   Show Notes:   Christianity Today's Quick to Listen Podcast: https://www.christianitytoday.com/ct/podcasts/quick-to-listen/risks-missions-haiti-danger-ministry-podcast.html   Facing Danger: A Guide Through Risk https://www.amazon.com/Facing-Danger-Guide-Through-Risk/dp/0998054402   Trinity Bible College and Graduate School https://www.trinitybiblecollege.edu/   Missionary John Chau Killed by Remote Tribe on India's North Sentinel Island https://www.christiantoday.com/article/american.man.killed.by.remote.tribe.was.trying.to.tell.them.about.jesus/131006.htm   Missionary Mobilization Podcast Facebook Group https://www.facebook.com/groups/missionarymobilizationpodcast The Missionary Mobilization Podcast is a resource for Christian leaders who want to increase the number of missionaries around the world. Our goal is to equip and encourage missions mobilizers and missions pastors for greater Kingdom impact. (The views expressed on the Missionary Mobilization Podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the Center for Missionary Mobilization and Retention) If you have questions or ideas for a show, contact us here: hello@missionarymobilization.org

How does the vaccine mandate affect mobilization? Today our guest is Jeff Boesel. After graduating from Westmont College and getting married, Jeff managed a restaurant, worked in a warehouse, and then became an air traffic controller before serving as a missionary at age 36. Jeff currently serves the One Challenge mobilization center as the Director of Mobilization. Regardless of opinion on this hot button issue, this episode hopes to encourage you to look at the vaccine not from a political point of view, but rather a biblical one. Dave and Jeff discuss the fact that the world is watching how organizations handle Covid-19 vaccine mandates. As individuals and organizations continue to navigate this difficult situation, it's important to dialogue on this topic in healthy and constructive ways. Questions Discussed: Let's talk about IMBs decision to require the vaccine for all of their missionaries.  The Brigada newsletter has also addressed this topic. What have been some of the reactions? What feedback have you heard since the news broke about IMB's requirement? Do you know of other agencies (besides IMB) who are mandating the vaccine? Unfortunately this has become a political hot button topic. How do we keep things biblical? Do you think some missionaries will resign because of this requirement? Will we see a decline in new missionaries going to the field due to the mandate? Show Links: hello@missionarymobilization.org AGWM.org One Challenge "IMB updates vaccination policy to maximize access to unreached peoples" - September 8, 2021 Brigada - "Should Your Org or Your Partner be Requiring the Covid-19 Vaccine?" - Sep 26, 2021 Brigada Christianity Today - "Missionaries Want to Carry the Gospel to the Ends of the Earth. Not COVID-19." - September 22, 2021 "31 Days for the Kingdom: A Devotional with Global Impact" - Jeff Boesel Prepare for Impact Connect with Jeff: jeffboesel@oci.org https://www.facebook.com/jeff.boesel https://mobile.twitter.com/boejeff   https://www.missionarymobilization.org/podcast Trinity Bible College and Graduate School The Missionary Mobilization Podcast is a resource for Christian leaders who want to increase the number of missionaries around the world. Our goal is to equip and encourage missions mobilizers and missions pastors for greater Kingdom impact. (The views expressed on the Missionary Mobilization Podcast do not necessarily reflect those of the Center for Missionary Mobilization and Retention) If you have questions or ideas for a show, contact us here: hello@missionarymobilization.org

Do you need the 7 Steps to Relationship Repair to build a sturdy foundation? If you do not realize that something is broken, then you will not see the need to repair it. In this segment, Branch Isole gives us the playbook or blueprint to the 7 Steps to Relationship Repair which can be used in all relationships...romantic, friendships, work, etc. 1. Recognize that harm has been done 2. Take responsibility for your part in the action 3. Have regret that the action took place 4. Have remorse 5. Form some redress...something to make action understood 6. Repetition...action cannot be repeated in the future 7. Repent...change response. New action is going to be different Then you can work on forgiveness and being forgiven See video here - https://youtu.be/EW2EVcPLsvA WHO IS BRANCH? Author, poet and storyteller, Branch Isole writes about strength of choice, to change consequences. Known worldwide for his contemporary short story prose, Branch shares readable, relatable stories that reveal emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced. He posts a ‘Thought for Today' and a different short story daily at; www.branchisole.com and YouTube (Branch Isole). As a guest on 'Talk Radio' programs and conference participant, Branch shares informative steps to erect a framework that supports career, personal and spiritual growth. Branch is available to speak with small and large groups and corresponds with fans and followers at his web site and on Facebook @the Voyeuristic Poet. Branch graduated from Texas State Univ. BSEd., did post graduate work at Univ. of Houston, MEdAdm., and holds an Oxford MA Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary. BRANCH'S CALL TO ACTION Spiritual grounding and growth for seekers, searchers of truth and fallen away Christians. BRANCH'S CONTACT INFO https://www.branchisole.com https://www.linkedin.com/in/branch-isole-851433201/ https://www.facebook.com/thevoyeuristicpoet/ https://www.youtube.com/results?search_query=branch+isole GENESIS'S INFO https://thehello.llc/GENESISAMARISKEMP CALL TO ACTION Subscribe to GEMS with Genesis Amaris Kemp Channel, Hit the notifications bell so you don't miss any content, and share with family/friends. **REMEMBER - You do not have to let limitations or barriers keep you from achieving your success. Mind over Matter...It's time to shift and unleash your greatest potential. --- Send in a voice message: https://anchor.fm/genesis-amaris-kemp/message Support this podcast: https://anchor.fm/genesis-amaris-kemp/support

This is Java Delight! With your hosts: Brandon Croucher & Ilse Pieterse Today, we'll be interviewing our special guest, Branch Isole. Author, poet and storyteller Branch Isole writes about strength of choice to change consequences. Known worldwide for his contemporary short story prose, Branch shares readable, relatable stories that reveal emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced. He posts a ‘Thought for Today' and different short stories at; www.branchisole.com and on YouTube (Branch Isole). Branch graduated from Texas State Univ. B.S.Ed., did post graduate work at Univ. of Houston, M.Ed.Adm., and holds an Oxford MA Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary. https://www.manaopublishing.com/ https://www.facebook.com/thevoyeuristicpoet/ It's going to be a great episode on Delight's Digital Cafe! http://www.delightcafe.com #delightsdigitalcafe #delightcafe #delightcafecbd #javadelight #breakthroughthursday #goodmorning #morningshow #talkshow #podcast #positivity #morningmotivation #talk #delight

INTRODUCTION:This episode sparks the beginning of a relationship with an astounding man whom I look forward to many years of friendship with! He, like me, is a former drug dealer, he's been to jail, he's been homeless, and like myself he understands his mission is to do all he can to help others now that he's been given a second chance. His name is Branch Isole and he is a poet, a storyteller and the author of 22 books! Branch was born in Osaka, Japan (my favorite country) and has the traveled the world extensively!  In this interview we are going to be focusing on his book titled GOD… i Believe. I wanted to focus on this book in particular because of how easy it is to read and understand. It is also written from a perspective that all world religions have value and it doesn't place Christianity of a lofty pedestal. Branch graduated from Texas State Univ. B.S.Ed., did post graduate work at the University of Houston, M.Ed Adm., and holds an Oxford M.A. Theology degree from Trinity Bible College and Seminary. Branch shares how strength of choice can change consequences and  this man is known worldwide for his contemporary short story prose that reveals emotions and issues often experienced, but not always voiced. This is the longest interview I have ever conducted, and the subject matter is so important that the full version of this episode will be available to both paid and non-paid listeners. I really hope this helps someone… INCLUDED IN THIS EPISODE (But not limited to):·        Personal Stories From Two Former Drug Dealers·        A Detailed Look Into Branch's Book: God…i Believe·        The Purpose Of Life·        What Happens When We Die?·        A Better Understanding Of God And Jesus·        Is Everything About Life Really Covered In The Bible?·        The Difference Between Religion And Spirituality·        Discovering Spiritual Truth·        A Bit About The End Of The World (A Full Episode About This Is Coming)·        Breakdown Of “Attitude – Belief – Perception”·        Baby Steps To Starting A Spiritual Life ·        The Importance Of Choosing A Spiritual Path (Whatever That May Be)·        Failings Of Christianity ·        Why Tithing Is NOT Mandatory·        Exploration Of World Religions             - Judaism             - Islam             - Buddhism             - Hinduism             - Animism             - Atheism             - Christianity  CONNECT WITH BRANCH:God…i Believe: https://amzn.to/3gwgi1NWebsite & Other Books: https://www.manaopublishing.com/FaceBook: https://www.facebook.com/thevoyeuristicpoetLinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/in/branch-isole-851433201/YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCzN66BkAUAemYX76Smnn0GA DE'VANNON'S FAVORITE GOSPEL ALBUM:·       I'll See You In The Rapture by The Mississippi Mass Choir         https://music.apple.com/us/album/ill-see-you-in-the-rapture/98028289SDJ MEMBERSHIP (FULL EPISODES):·       $2.99 per month.·       Donate any amount for 30 days of access.·       $25 per year.https://www.sexdrugsandjesus.com/membership-account/membership-levels/ TRANSCRIPT:[00:00:00] You're listening to the sex drugs and Jesus podcast, where we discuss whatever the fuck we want to. And yes, we can put sex and drugs and Jesus all in the same bed and still be all right. At the end of the day, my name is Davanon and I'll be interviewing guests from every corner of this world. As we dig into topics that are too risky for the morning show, as we strive to help you understand what's really going on in your.[00:00:24] There was nothing on the table and we've got a lot to talk about. So let's dive right into this episode.[00:00:34] De'Vannon: This episode sparks the beginning of a relationship. Well then astounding man, whom I look forward to many, many years of friendship with. He liked me as a former drug dealer. He's been in jail, he's been homeless and like myself, he understands his mission is to do all he can to help others. Now that he's been given a second chance, his name is branch east LA, and he is [00:01:00] a poet, a storyteller, and the author of 22 books.[00:01:03] Ranch was born in Osaka, Japan and my favorite country. And he has traveled the world extensively in this interview, we're going to be focusing on his book title. God, I believe I wanted to focus on this book in particular because of how easy it is to read and understand. There's also written from a perspective that all world religions have value and it doesn't place Christianity on a lofty ass pedestal branch.[00:01:28] I graduated from Texas state university with his bachelor's in education. He did post-graduate work at the university of Houston. Got out of there with his master's in education administration. And he also holds an Oxford master's of theology from, uh, Trinity Bible college and seminary brand shares. How strength of choice can change consequences.[00:01:50] And this man is known worldwide for his contemporary short story pros that reveals emotions and issues often experienced, but not always a [00:02:00] voice. Now this is the longest interview I've ever conducted. And the subject matter is so important that the full version of this episode will be available to both paid and non-paid listeners as well.[00:02:12] I really hope this helps someone.[00:02:16] Branch, thank you so much for joining me on the sex drugs and Jesus of podcasts that I'm so excited that today we get to talk a lot about Jesus, who was a part of our namesake here. How are you feeling today? [00:02:32] Branch: Hey buddy. I feel great. Thanks for having me on your show. I've been looking forward to this time together.[00:02:39] De'Vannon: so have I and what delicious and sweet time it will be. And so, uh, so today we're going to talk a lot about the beginnings and the root work that is done when somebody is considering a spiritual path, you've written many, many, many, many books, and one in [00:03:00] particular, God, I believe I thought really is like a cornerstone for people who are curious about religion and spirituality, undecided, or looking for a new point of view or perspective.[00:03:14] And so I'd like you to tell us what was your motivation for writing God, I believe in a little bit about your own personal encounters with Jesus and conversion stuff. [00:03:26] Branch: Okay, thanks. Um, that's a great place to start obviously. Um, like most people, my early years and my upbringing were pretty normal, pretty average.[00:03:38] Um, I wasn't influenced or exposed to a lot of religion. Uh, my family was Christian, but that was about as far as it went, you know, we were seeing E Christians, uh, Christmas and Easter. And beyond that, you know, it was, um, well, it's out there, [00:04:00] but that's about all we know. So, you know, my first 20, 30 years were pretty normal in terms of growing up in American society and education and the job and the career and all of those kinds of things.[00:04:15] Um, about 35, I had some real south self doubts about who I was and what I was doing. And I was trying to figure your out if I'm not who I want to be, how do I become the person that I think I want to be? And that initially led me to a decision that I wanted to explore and try and find truth in my life and to come from the truth in my life.[00:04:46] So that was the trigger point. That was the jumping off, um, Point for me and that search for the truth, um, I found was easy and difficult at the same [00:05:00] time. Um, the truth is all around us. It's pretty self-evident. But if we are consumed by and buried by the layer of the world and society, the truth is often hidden from us, even though it's in plain view, you know, our concepts and our decisions, um, get colored by ourself desires and the things that we want out of this life and, and from the world.[00:05:32] So the, the conflict for me began almost immediately with, uh, what is the truth? How do I find the truth? How do I embrace the truth? Um, for the next 15 years, My struggle. And my path took me from the world into the spiritual path and from the truth, because I didn't get the answer. I started [00:06:00] exploring different religions and mysticism, um, Buddhism, you know, the Eastern religions, uh, as much information as I could find in this search for proof, if proof is out there, then there must be a medium where it exists.[00:06:19] And of course, this is what all religions are trying to portray and sell is that they have the truth. They have the way to the truth. So my exploration went from the truth as a concept to activities involving all of these different religions. And then finally, I had some experiences that sort of solidified for me where the truth lies, where it is to be found and what to do with it when you find so with that background, when I decided to write this book, I was [00:07:00] moved to write this book.[00:07:01] It was primarily designed for fallen away Christians, because I am a Christian and others who had, who might be on the same path that I was on of being a seeker and a searcher. You know, for truth. So that was the motivation for the book. And as a result that the contextual presentation of the book is basically a layman's study, a comparative study of the world's different religions or faith belief systems.[00:07:38] Um, and, and what I've done in the book or tried to do for the average reader is present them with the opportunity to know a little bit more the foundations or the basics of each of those religions and compare their answers to the same [00:08:00] set of questions so that the person who's looking for a spiritual path and doesn't know which one they might want to be going down.[00:08:10] They've got a base of comparison between all of those systems of belief. And then once they know a little more information about each one, they might be able to make a more informed decision as to which one is their choice. Um, so that's how the book came about and the foundation for, you know, my motivation to write that first book based on that struggle and that search.[00:08:43] And then what that search actually looks like. You know, practice for today's, um, purported religions and, and systems of belief [00:08:55] De'Vannon: now, uh, thank you for that explanation. Now, you said that you had, um, [00:09:00] a series of profound experiences that helped you to see what truth was while you were exploring. And, um, I want you to tell us what, you know, what, what some of those, uh, what, what, what was the profound moment that she said, okay, this is true.[00:09:22] What was the experience that happened to lock it in for you? Because you had been experimenting with all of the experiencing all the different religions. You could get your hands on. What made you settle on Christianity? What happened? [00:09:37] Branch: Um, okay. Uh, I have been on this venture for five years. Um, you know, trying to discover truth, what it means, what it looks like, what it truly was.[00:09:51] And many of your listeners may not believe this story, but since you asked, I'm going to tell it, um, one night I was getting [00:10:00] up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom and the bathroom was right across. From my bedrooms. And there was a small hallway between, and I was sort of half asleep. You know, I, I stumbled out of the one room headed for the next room and in the middle while I was in the hallway, a voice in my living room called out to me and it startled me so much that it blasted me awake and I turned around and I said, okay, um, there was no answer.[00:10:36] And I was in the apartment alone. So there was nobody else in the apartment with me. And at that moment, um, I realized that the voice that had called out to me had to be one of two voices. It was either God, or it was the devil. And since I knew, if it was the devil, [00:11:00] he wouldn't have responded. When I said what, then I realized that it was the spirit of the Lord calling me and all during this previous five years, I had been struggling with trying to read the Bible and trying to understand scripture as you know, my exploration into Christianity, along with my other explorations of religion.[00:11:24] So at that point, that epiphany to me indicated that the Lord had. Something in mind for me. And he audibly called my name. And when I responded, his spirit came within me, his holy spirit came to live with my spirit. So that was the first epiphany that really took me off of, you know, the multiple paths and onto the Christian path.[00:11:57] Um, yeah, I, [00:11:58] De'Vannon: at that time, [00:12:00] oh, go [00:12:00] Branch: ahead. Yeah. At that time in my life, my secular being, I was a drug dealer and that's how I made my living. Um, so there was a real conflict between the way I was living my life and the desire of how I wanted to live my life. And that's where my conflict was. Um, my second epiphany was shortly thereafter.[00:12:31] I was arrested and, uh, arraigned and looking at 99 years in prison. Um, luckily or blessedly for me two weeks before I was set to go to trial. Um, my lawyer called and he said, uh, I was living in one state, had been arrested in a different state and my lawyer called and said, uh, you, you can come [00:13:00] back. Um, your case has been dropped and you can come back and get your vehicle and all the things that they took from you.[00:13:08] And so that profound experience, having spent some time in jail, you know, after the arrest and spent the next three months, um, sort of for, in foreboding mode of what I was about to face and what was about to happen to me, that was like a weight lifted off of me. Um, you know, like you can't imagine, but circumstances were such that the case was dropped and that was the end of my, um, drug life and my jail time life.[00:13:47] Um, know, so, and the third experience I'll tell you real quickly was the main change. And, and I had, um, decided to change my [00:14:00] name and quick experience. Gave me the name that I took, which is branchy Solei. But when I accepted that name change, it solidified me as a servant of God. One, when God gives you a commission or a task, or tells you to change your name and gives you a new name and you accept those things, then you are committed to service to him.[00:14:29] So those three experiences, um, over a 10 year period, after the five years of exploration period, uh, put me on the path and have, um, led me down this path where I attempt to share with others who are seeking and searching and wondering about, there's gotta be more in my life. Where is it? What is it? And how do I find it?[00:14:56] So that's my, you know, my [00:15:00] job today is to share with people, um, how to find the Lord in their life. [00:15:08] De'Vannon: Right? Okay. So I'm going to go back and touch on kind of like all three of those, because they were also fascinating. So, and I love these, this, this sort of transparency here, branch, because see the Lord comes in here.[00:15:25] Talks to people and deals with people in all sorts of ways. And maybe sometimes they may be thinking they're the only ones something super strange is happening. And so I like it when we can talk about this so that listeners can go, okay, well maybe I heard a voice too, or maybe I had, maybe God was speaking to me in this dream or in this trance or whatever.[00:15:45] So, um, and you know, for those who it is meant to believe they will, for those who it is not, they will not. And so, but the, you know, a personal here transparency like this, and if the Lord wants to, he will strike a chord in them. Whereas my grandmother would call [00:16:00] it, uh, a spiritual note or like when, um, people were singing and we're singing in church, you would call it a spiritual net when someone would get to get happy if they would say.[00:16:12] And, um, because what happened when I was young, I was, and I was sleeping in the bed with my grandmother when I was little, I heard an audible voice like that in slumber, in the middle of the night too, but it was not the Lord calling me. It was the devil, um, trying to, it was a, it wasn't an enticing.[00:16:38] Slithery like voice. And it was like, it was saying like, um, the van and the van, and I believe he said it twice. And it was a such that I touched my grandmother and I was like, you know, you know that you call me, you tell me what was that voice that I heard. And so both the devil and God have the [00:17:00] power to speak verbally.[00:17:01] People don't talk about that a lot. So I don't think your story is strange at all. Um, and then your, your second experience with drug dealing. I was a drug dealer too, for some time in Houston, Texas. And then, you know, I got arrested as well. Um, yeah. Going to jail and, and facing long sentences and stuff like that can be a life-changing could put you on a path.[00:17:24] And then when you get delivered from it, you get this strong sense of, okay, you know, I have this second chance and now what am I going to do with it? And it's not meant to, for, for people like us and for people who have been delivered from, you know, from, from strong things like that, that try to captivate your whole life, uh, to dissent quietly.[00:17:51] You know, it is for us to open our mouths and talking about what happened so that others may be delivered, whoever it is. That they'd gone as [00:18:00] intended. And then the name changes that you speak of, um, reminds me from the old Testament of Jacob, you know, you had a Jacob experience there and, um, and what happened, you know, Jacob wrestled with an angel all night and then the Lord turned, gave him his name from, uh, changed his name from Jacob to Israel.[00:18:24] Or you could say you had a, uh, a road to Damascus experience where we're Saul's name went from Saul to Paul. So sometimes certain things happen to us in life and we come out of it. Some people shave all their hair off, I'm already bald. So I can, I can identify with that. Some people do all kinds of things to signify, and a lot of times is after trauma has happened, but a whole name change totally counts too.[00:18:50] Um, I think that some children, when they're adopted should be given completely different names because they're coming from such disadvantaged [00:19:00] backgrounds and everything. And that way it really drives the point home with that child, that whatever, whatever it was that was going on with you before we're coming to help you and save you that's over you now have a new name, a new life, a new path, a new purpose, a new destiny, a new everything, or is it says in the book of revelation, he who sets up on the throne, said behold, I make all things new.[00:19:24] And sometimes, sometimes why, who we need a whole. The whole redo. And so, so I think it's wonderful. I bet you, somebody out there is going to find the Lord and change their name just because you did. And I love it. [00:19:40] Branch: Well, you know, a couple of those things you said are just so important because the Lord has a plan for everybody and that plan involves them coming back to him.[00:19:55] And I think that there's one of [00:20:00] the greatest things about all these podcast options and availabilities today is we're able to reach out and touch or expose a lot of people who have not been exposed to their options in their life. And I believe there's a, you know, a big revival coming in the future.[00:20:19] And so. All of these people around the world who are involved in ministry. And that's what you're doing and I'm doing is, is a little ministry, but we're trying to share the gospel, share the word, share the importance of a spiritual relationship. And this is the way the word is. The Lord is work through to lots of people in order to reach lots of other people.[00:20:46] And so what you've said is exactly right. You know, he speaks to us, he comes to us in different ways. He'll use whatever method or medium he can to awaken us to who [00:21:00] he is and what he's got planned for us. And, you know, people shouldn't be surprised if they see in the world of the Lord working in their world or in their life, he's doing it through lots of different people, um, in lots of different mediums.[00:21:17] So as a listener, don't be surprised if the Lord is reaching out to you because he is and, um, be cognizant of it and welcome it. It'll change your life. [00:21:31] De'Vannon: Amen and amen on a, on a Tuesday morning. And, uh, and, and it, everybody, I had said that we were going to touch on a little bit of, um, in times, uh, things which has to do with the end of the world.[00:21:49] And stuff like that, but actually I think we're probably going to do like a whole other different episode that talks about eschatology and things of [00:22:00] that in, um, but this, but I just don't, I'm going to do that because a lot of people are thinking that, you know, do this might come back any second of today and things like that.[00:22:14] And I think a lot of people don't understand the political implications that are in the book of revelation and things like that. And so it bears the whole episode. So just for now, you don't have to worry about whether or not the world is going to crumble, you know, like any second, a lot more has to happen and we're going to do it in, in some end up, at least one ended up episode on that.[00:22:37] So you can stop worrying about it because God, when I was growing up, you know, all the old people were like, you know, the, in this coming, it's going to be any day now, you know, at any moment, you know, so, you know, the kid, you know, looking out the window, you know, because Jesus up there anxiety that, you know, I just really didn't need.[00:22:57] So it was there anything branch you would like to say [00:23:00] to kind of broach the topic of the end times and then after that we'll dive right into the book. [00:23:05] Branch: Okay. The end times. That that's without a doubt. And we see the precursors of what's described as end-time events happening in our lives today. And, and you're right.[00:23:20] Um, we need more time to get into it. You're also correct. People don't have to worry that, you know, the sun's not coming up tomorrow and it's over, there has to be some things that are going to take place, um, before those times happen. But you know, it's interesting. And I'll just say this real quickly, when you start to look at end time prophecy and what the word of God tells us about the end times, and then you recognize some of the things that are happening.[00:23:52] What it's trying to do is give us a warning and make us aware that these things will [00:24:00] take place. And now is the time to get right with the Lord. If the Lord's not in your life, there's no better time to start than today. Because when you start down this path, these events that are unfolding right before our eyes will become self-evident as to their relationship to the end times and the last day events.[00:24:26] And as they open up and make themselves known, we can be prepared for them. Um, and we can also be prepared for whatever the consequences may be, because we will have that relationship with the Lord, but don't worry. It's not happening anytime soon, but it is likely going to happen. You know, there's going to be a lot of people alive today who see it take place.[00:24:55] De'Vannon: Okay. Um, oh, can you explain to us [00:25:00] the difference in between spirituality and religion please? [00:25:05] Branch: Wow. Um, in a nutshell, uh, religion is ma a man-made system to interpret the word of God. And spirituality is the word of God inaction. Um, know one comes from God and one manipulates. What comes from God. [00:25:35] De'Vannon: Uh, when you say that, I think about, uh, what my next book is going to be kind of centered around, which is the fuckery that has become the Christianity in America, in the, in like the 50 million different versions of it that you have and stuff like that.[00:25:54] And so, um, that's another thing that people can stay tuned for, but for right [00:26:00] now, what, what branch is saying is that. Spirituality is like your one-on-one time. Like you, you and the Lord and religion is this sounds like it's getting into rituals and practices and things like that that may not necessarily have anything to do with your walk of faith.[00:26:16] More like maybe platitudes or superficial things. And so [00:26:22] Branch: well, for, for, for the, for the individual, who's wondering, you know, and, and asks themselves. The simple question to ask is, is this religion asking me to use it, to get to God? Or is it allowing me to come and get to God on my own? You see, that's all religions.[00:26:49] If you look at them, their intent is to bring people to God, however, their re their rights and worship [00:27:00] services and those kinds of things that they go through require that you go through the priest or the pastor or the mom to get to God. So if, you know, if, if you get fed in a religious situation, That's what's important that you have, you know, you get that word that you need to help make you a better person in your life.[00:27:26] However, if the religion requires that you come through the priest or the pastor or the mom in order to get to God, unless that's where you want to be, you probably are more interested in the spiritual path than the religious path. The spiritual path, as said, is open to you to go to God at any moment in time every day.[00:27:50] I mean, it's, it's, it's what a personal relationship, personal spiritual relationship between the individual and God is, [00:28:00] um, you don't need to go through some mediator to get to God other than for the Christian. Of course we go through Christ. [00:28:10] De'Vannon: You're right. Absolutely. No human is needed because we already have Jesus.[00:28:15] Branch: Exactly. [00:28:17] De'Vannon: Exactly. Okay, cool. So now your book is broken down into three parts, attitude, belief, perception. I love me something that's very organized and I can't remember. Yeah. I spent six years in the air force and I don't remember only what I was MIT. And I don't remember when I was super, I was pretty organized before then, but certainly after that and, um, that I've never lost that.[00:28:40] So I love it. You know, attitude, belief, perception, and there's different chapters under each section. And so then if a person feels drawn to one section, we feel like they need help with this or that. You know, it was very clearly defined where you can go and seek that, which you need. [00:29:00] So we're going to give an explanation of what each section is about starting with attitude, and you defined it as a mental position or feeling with regard to a fact, or a state, a manner of showings one's feelings or thoughts or one's disposition or opinion.[00:29:19] So tell us though, at further about the attitude section of the book, [00:29:27] Branch: but like you said, and I'm glad you pointed out, you can start, you don't have to start at page one with this book. You, you can know pick where you want to begin. Um, whatever your interests may be peaked from the table of contents, attitude.[00:29:42] You know, we have an attitude towards virtually everything in our life from birth on, and it's interesting that a lot of self-help, um, books and gurus, um, Base [00:30:00] everything that they're selling or sharing or teaching on a change of attitude. And that's how powerful, uh, you know, one's attitude can be, is you can go into a situation and, and your, your mention of the military is such a great example because in the military, you're in a very regimented environment and things are pretty well-defined.[00:30:28] And if you've ever been in the service, which Nevada, Anna and I both have, um, there comes times when, you know, you're required or requested to do things that you might have a problem with or an issue. But you know, you go ahead and you do them. What you find is a simple change in attitude can make any task, no matter how regimented the situation be, can make [00:31:00] any tasks, less threatening and less of a challenge to do.[00:31:05] So attitude is so important in our daily lives. Um, changing your attitude can make all the difference in just a moment's notice of change of attitude, you know, your whole. Perspective on what you're being asked or required to do. It can be totally different. That's the power of one's attitude. Um, so this is particularly important when we're talking about something as life-changing as spirituality or a religious commitment can be, um, that in and of itself takes a totality of one's investment of self to go from a non-religious or non-spiritual position in your [00:32:00] life.[00:32:00] And to then invite that new application and concept of spirituality or religion in your life. That essence of attitude is absolutely necessary from you to go from a secular only, or non-spiritual non-religious life into a new commitment as a spiritual or religious neophyte. So attitude becomes important, um, particularly in this realm of spirituality and religion, because it's going to change your life, whether you want it to or not.[00:32:44] Once you make that commitment and step on that path of spirituality. Or religion, your life will change and your attitude needs to be one that can accept that change and then [00:33:00] make the most out of that change. Uh, you can't do it without a change in attitude. And that's how important attitude is. Um, you know, even beyond our daily activities and daily life kinds of situations, when we're talking about making life changing changes than attitude is certainly one of the cornerstones of making that new exposure successful.[00:33:31] De'Vannon: Okay, well put sir, and then the next section is belief. Um, trust or confidence is how this is, uh, defined in the book or, or the conviction that certain things are true. Break that down further for us please. [00:33:49] Branch: Well, you know, we all believe certain things and from our earliest memories and indoctrinations as [00:34:00] children and the environments and families that we grow up in, we learn and accept certain belief, structures, and patterns.[00:34:12] Um, you'll see this evident in behaviors today. That are outside of what we once considered, you know, the norm and the way people respond to other people today, um, in very negative ways and very negative actions, all of our actions and all of our responses are grounded in our belief system, whatever that might be, uh, here, again, for people who are not on a spiritual or religious path, it's sort of one of those, um, attitude is all, it's all about me or what's in it for [00:35:00] me.[00:35:00] And therefore the grounding of my belief system is I can do whatever I want and I will do whatever I want, no matter who it harms or what turmoil it may cause. So that's the strength of belief and belief is, uh, essentially grounded in who we are, who we become, um, is the tap root. That's tied to who we believe we are by who we were, you know, who we grew up as being.[00:35:38] So that's the importance of belief. Now belief in myself and belief in my world can change. But for a lot of people, that's, that's a difficult jump to make. And again, we see that evidenced in our world today just by the, um, [00:36:00] and the crazy things that are taking place and the way people choose to behave towards, you know, other people, um, all of that's grounded in, in our belief system of who we are and what we believe to be true or trust to be true.[00:36:21] De'Vannon: Okay. Well put, well, I believe all of that, which you just said, then the third section perception, and that you say that this is an awareness of one, the environment through physical sensation or the mental grasp of objects through the senses insight or intuition knowledge and just it by pristine thing.[00:36:47] Tell us, tell us what we should be perceiving here. [00:36:52] Branch: Well, the question is what are you perceiving? You know, and I'll give you a great, well, I'll give you the prime example for where we are [00:37:00] on July the 27th, 2021 as the, uh, insurrection congressional hearing starts. You have an action that took place that was seen across the planet, uh, in real time.[00:37:18] And yet today we have a variety of different perceptions of what actually happened. So our perception of ourselves or the people in our lives, or the events in our lives are colored by the previous two things. We talked about our belief system and our attitudes towards that belief system perception can be, it's like a magician.[00:37:52] You know, you perceive one thing that's happening and the reality is it's not happening. And [00:38:00] this is the strength of perception. All three of these attitude, belief and perception is sort of like a three-legged stool that holds the seat of one's reality. And our attitude can be changed. Our beliefs can be changed and our perceptions can be changed, but we have to be the ones to change those.[00:38:25] Um, otherwise, you know, the difficulty to break those bonds. Are so great. And the struggle is so great because you have to look at yourself and that gets into a whole nother realm. Am I willing to look at myself? And if I do, am I willing to accept what I see? Only when I get to that point, can I spread the path where I might be willing to [00:39:00] change my attitudes, beliefs, and perceptions.[00:39:03] So, you know, we can perceive things, but our perception is colored by our beliefs and our attitudes. It's all [00:39:12] De'Vannon: connected. So, um, all connected. Tell us branch, you, you write in your book that one of the greatest challenges that we face when we're starting a new relationship with the Lord is grappling with our feelings of unworthiness.[00:39:31] I feel like since you stated such a bold statement, it was worth bringing up in the interview to talk to us about this unworthiness of where it comes from and why it's such a hindrance[00:39:46] Branch: as people, we all crave, two things love and approval. And again, these things start in childhood [00:40:00] and. Transmuted and transmitted as we grow and they morph and change. According to our attitudes, beliefs, perceptions, our environment, um, you know, our family situation, all of those factors that are part of life as we grow, um, all make who we are and who we are and who we wish to become, um, are all interconnected.[00:40:40] So[00:40:44] ask asked me, I lost my train of thought here. I was going down the wrong path. [00:40:50] De'Vannon: No problem. We were talking about the feelings of unwell. [00:40:53] Branch: Oh yeah. Unworthiness. Well, this, this, this craving for love and approval right. Starts with our parents and [00:41:00] works out as our, the ripple of our life expands. And what we find as we go through the lessons in life is we have lots of opportunities to doubt ourselves and to question ourselves and to beat ourselves up about some of the choices that we make, all of these sort of negative.[00:41:28] Vibes and negative consequential experiences feed into this idea of, well, I'm not worthy of love or approval. And if I'm not worthy of love or approval than my life basically is worthless or has no worth to anyone else. And if it has no worth to anyone else that it has no worth to me, this is one of the importance of developing a spiritual [00:42:00] relationship is that spirituality gives you a connection with something greater than yourself, outside of yourself that can show to you and prove to you that you are worthy.[00:42:18] No matter your situation, no matter, you know, the decisions and choices that you you start to make, or that you continue to make spiritual growth is all based on you understanding that you are worthy, that someone does love you. That being the Lord and that his love is unconditional. Um, unconditional love is, is the greatest thing in the universe.[00:42:49] And it's the most difficult thing, or one of the most difficult things for us to understand. We can't understand unconditional love because we live in a world [00:43:00] that, you know, denies that, that exists. This is why, again, a spiritual path and a spiritual relationship is so important. It shows you that God's unconditional love for you no matter who you are, no matter where you are in your life.[00:43:18] No matter of the mistakes that you've made, you have a worthiness to him simply because you are, he, as the creator created you, your spiritual energy comes from him. It is therefore part of his spiritual energy. It's part of his spiritual existence. And for that reason alone, you are worthy to be loved.[00:43:48] And regardless of how much approval you crave for yourself, that approval is unnecessary. This is why, you know, unworthiness in itself [00:44:00] can be such a downer. I mean, it can just drag us and keep us into the depths of our own despair. Finding out and realizing that we are worthy because we're worthy of God's love.[00:44:14] That's all we need to establish our worthiness. Now it's our position and our responsibility to allow our worth, to grow and to show it to the world. Um, the interesting thing about life, as you know, we're all in the same situation, we're all struggling. We all have problems. We all have relationship issues.[00:44:41] We have to, you know, divorce ourselves or allow something greater than all of those struggles to be part of our life. When you allow a spiritual relationship to be ignited in your life, your sense of worth, all [00:45:00] of a sudden becomes real. And you realize I can face these struggles because I am worthy. I don't have to keep beating myself up about decisions or choices that I made that make me believe that I'm unworthy.[00:45:17] So you know, this unworthy and worthy concept, it's like a two-edged sword, whichever sword side we've got up and choose to use is the one that will continue to build its strength within[00:45:35] De'Vannon: the important. The spirituality reminds me of the, um, of the fact that it's important for people to make a spiritual choice on what they're going to believe or into, and to really work on themselves spiritually. Because if not, then, you know, we're out of balance. And I don't think, I think most people agree that we all have some [00:46:00] sort of spirit, soul, something unseen living on the inside of us at the center of our being, no matter what path of faith that a person believes in.[00:46:12] Um, and so when we don't actively get after spiritual enlightenment and understanding, then invasively leaving a part of ourselves on nourish, unfulfilled and unsatisfied, and then that throws us out of balance. And then what happens then is we go out in the world and we have problems and things like that.[00:46:31] And when we can't figure out why we keep running into those problems, or where is the problem coming from? Well, you know, it's like, you know, starving yourself. If you don't eat, you're gonna fall out and leaving your poor little spirit there with no direction and no food, no nourishment or nothing like that.[00:46:51] It going to throw you completely out of balance. It's like trying to drive a car on three tires. It's not going to work. And so, and what I love about [00:47:00] this book is it's not necessarily saying one. Religion is better than another. Talk about this, that later on in the interview, but it breaks down the different options that are out there.[00:47:12] You got to find something though and do something with that spirit. It's all sitting inside of you in a, rather than because a lot of people just take a casual approach to spirituality. Like they'll find it eventually, or they, maybe they think they'll find it in their travels across the globe, but it's not like you really have to go to the other side of the world anymore to even experiment experience different things.[00:47:35] You can go online, you know, do zoom calls and things like that. And talk to, you know, different people who are, who are, who are from different religions and stuff like that. You can go to church online these days, if you want to, and you can look anything up online. So what I'm saying is the knowledge is at your fingertips, that this book gives you a good overview of it.[00:47:56] But if we really wanted to do something with our spirits and our souls, just like [00:48:00] when we want to go out and do anything else, make money, have sex, you know, follow our advices. And I'm not saying there's anything wrong with those things, but I am saying that we go after what we really fucking want to go after and dealing with our spirits, shouldn't be something that's left to chance or, you know, I appreciate the Wednesday whenever the day may come, you know, [00:48:23] Branch: well, life is about choices and consequences and, uh, you know, spiritual cognition is one of those choices.[00:48:34] One of the interesting things about God is whether you're a spiritual person or not, or religious person or not. And it doesn't matter what religion we're talking about. One of the most interesting things is God demands, nothing of us, except one thing before we die, he will demand whether or not we will [00:49:00] believe that Jesus Christ was his son and came here for a reason, that reason being salvation.[00:49:10] Um, no, I don't want to go down the rabbit hole with different religions and, and Jesus or no Jesus or any of those things. People choose the religion for the reasons they need that religion, whatever that religion may be. But for the Christian, we are obligated to decide whether or not, or for the professed Christian, you know, somebody who says, well, I'm, I'm a Christian, regardless of whatever that may look like in action or thought word, indeed, if you claim to be a Christian, that at some point you will have to decide whether or not you truly believe what Christianity is.[00:49:57] And Christianity is Christ like [00:50:00] behavior. So are you going to emulate Christ, believe who he was, who he steady was and who the scriptures say he was or not? And this is the struggle for Christians today. Many Christians I'm a Christian, but my actions and my thoughts, words and deeds are not Christ-like.[00:50:26] So how much of a Christian am I? [00:50:29] De'Vannon: And in terms of the actions, uh, Jesus summed it up like this. He said all the laws in the books and the profits getting, hang on to whether or not you love your neighbor as yourself. And if you love the Lord, your God with all your heart and with all your mind, with all your soul and all your spirit.[00:50:46] So that means you don't be an asshole. It means you don't be a Karen, essentially speaking.[00:51:00] [00:51:03] Branch: No. And people asked me, you know, can you, can you explain to me the old Testament and the new Testament, and there's greater minds than mine that have grappled with that question. But when the seeker and searcher asks me the easiest way to describe to them, Is to send them to Exodus 20 and to Matthew 2237, the entire, the entire Bible is about one person and that's Jesus Christ, both the old Testament and the new Testament both have the same focus and intent, and that's on the life and teachings of Christ as the Messiah.[00:51:55] But the old Testament is summed up in the 10 [00:52:00] commandments found in Exodus 20. And the new Testament is found in Matthew 2237, which you just quoted love God first and most treat your neighbor as yourself on these two, hang all the laws and the prophets, meaning every law that God had given, whether it's the 10 commandments or the 632 that he gave to Judaism and all the words of all the prophets old and new Testament, all boil down to those two things, love God most first and most and treat your neighbor as yourself.[00:52:40] You see, that's one of the problems we have today in the world, but particularly in the Christian world, we call ourselves Christian. But we don't go out with an attitude, a belief and a perception that my desire is to treat others the way [00:53:00] I want to be treated. And for me, that's the biggest failing of Christianity, regardless of the denomination.[00:53:08] Someone may be in the totality of Christianity is summed up in that statement by Christ. And yet we've got lots of Christians who refuse to no trust and abide in the behavior. There's that would emulate that statement. [00:53:31] De'Vannon: Correct. And, um, I want to add too. So like, so like y'all, wouldn't branches saying the old Testament is some of the, in the, uh, the 10 commandments, um, and those 10 commandments reflect the heart of Jesus.[00:53:45] I agree with that now for, for people who are aware and a lot of people are of all the other rules in the old Testament. Like you can't eat, you know, this beast, if their foot is clove in, or if they chew the cud, you know? Okay. [00:54:00] So that has a lot to do with the culture of the Israelites and different things that were going on with them at that time.[00:54:07] And, um, and so I'm just going to say this to set people free from a lot of confusion that prevails in the book of acts, which is in the new Testament, there was this whole kerfluffle. Between the Jews and the people who are of the bloodline of Abraham and everybody who wasn't the Gentiles. So even though Jesus came and did his ministry, it's not like those of us who were not of the bloodline of Abraham were just as welcomed in, on a nice rosy carpet, you know, do people had to really, really fight for acceptance and things like that.[00:54:41] And so it got to a point where were, where were the apostles of the day? And everything had a meeting and said, okay, the Gentiles are here to stay. So what is it that they have to do? What don't they have to do? And when they came out of that meeting, they released everybody who was not of the bloodline of Abraham from all [00:55:00] Israelite, customs and traditions, with the exception of like eating strangled meat and things sacrificed to idols or something like that, they all had to do with life consumption of some sort of thing.[00:55:11] But in terms of anything traditional like that from the old Testament that doesn't have anything to do with, with, with those of us who are not of the bloodline of Abraham. And then even from my understanding, if they don't want to, they don't have to, because that was a whole, you know, it was the one thing Jesus accomplished.[00:55:28] You gave everybody a new path, but if people insisted upon holding to the old traditions, they could, but nobody really had to any more, but especially those of us who were in grafted in through Jesus Christ in, you know, And I, and, um, I'm going to put my foot in the rabbit hole a little bit and say that I believe that that released all of us from like the commandments, the thigh, and a couple of other things, because those things started, you know, back in the old Testament for the nation of [00:56:00] Israel and we are not of the nation of Israel.[00:56:02] And so, and so don't worry about you eat whatever you want to baby. The Lord was still loving you.[00:56:12] And, um, [00:56:13] Branch: you know, the God gave the Israelites, you know, some fundamental laws and decrees, and so much of the time the Israelites, you know, rather than trusting in the Lord, they wanted to be like other people, you know, they wanted a king, so they got solved. They wanted laws. So they get, they got lost, they got 639 laws in Leviticus and Deuteronomy and, and ways that they would be required to live Christ did away with all of those things for believers and followers in Christ, the Jews, the Hasidic Jews, particularly the Orthodox Jews, you know, still live with those kinds of [00:57:00] traditional mores and that's their lifestyle and their life choice.[00:57:05] Uh, the Zionist Jews. You know, are like the, um, purpose driven Christians, they kind of pick and choose what it is they want to, um, honor and obey Christ's coming. And the new Testament writings like the man, Adam says releases us from those old traditions. Um, his, his sacrifice for us pays for all of our sins as believers.[00:57:40] Um, so it, you know, if you don't want to eat bacon, don't eat bacon, but if you want to enjoy bacon, um, you know, it's not a sin to eat bacon, uh, at, at this point, you know, in you're right about the, uh, doing a way with this [00:58:00] division. It's interesting that there were so much conflict between the traditional keeping Jews who be, who were becoming Christians and the rest of the Christians who were, you know, trying to understand what this new religion was all about.[00:58:18] Um, the circumcision, right? What was kind of the, the focal point that brought it all to a head, but Jesus, his presence for his followers, it doesn't negate the past, but it puts away the sin. Of disobedience of the past. It's a new life. You're a new creation in Christ. And so as a new creation in Christ, as a believer in Christ, then our duty and our obligation, um, by accepting him as our Lord is to, you know, emulate him in thought word, [00:59:00] indeed.[00:59:00] And it's not about being circumcised or not, or not about eating bacon or not. It's about loving God first and most and treating your neighbor as yourself, whether or not the bacon are circumcised. [00:59:12] De'Vannon: Well, I love me, um, bacon and my bloody Mary's kidney. That's about the only thing I really have vacant is when it's, when I'm throwing me back.[00:59:21] One of those and, um, [00:59:26] Branch: well, that's interesting, you know, what's, what's, what's advice. Vice is like, what's a vice [00:59:34] De'Vannon: vice vinyl. Oh, I thought you were asking. Yeah. W [00:59:38] Branch: w no, what do we consider a vice, right? For me of ice may be eating bacon, um, for someone else it's not. So who determines, you know, what's a vice, what's a sin who determines what's a sin and what's not a sin.[00:59:55] Um, you know, [01:00:00] it's, that's what forgiveness is all about. And that's what. Repentance is all about, um, I can choose to not eat bacon, um, that doesn't make it a sin or a vice I can choose to repay. It's just, you know, there's a difference between spiritual grounding and understanding of sin and sin nature.[01:00:23] And then there's a difference between vice and San Anna legalistics situation or legalistic terms. And you see, that's what you find in most traditional applied religions, Judaism, Islam, um, some of the Eastern religions, you know, it's a vice, because we say it's a vice or it's a sin because we say it's a sin.[01:00:48] Or, you know, our holy book says it's a sin, but for the follower of Christ, whether it's a sin or [01:01:00] not in legal terms or traditional religious terms, the love of Christ and the forgiveness of Christ covers those sins. So this, this question of is that a sin or not a sin, is this behavior a vice and not a vice?[01:01:15] Is this behavior. Sin becomes irrelevant except to the self-righteous and hypocritical one who wants to hold that as the standard for reward or punishment. And this is the importance of spirituality. That spiritual connection, you know, covers you from this past behavior that others might have said was a sin.[01:01:48] They can still call it a sin and still be, you know, lambasting you as sinful. But the hypocrisy is in their own statement, [01:02:00] a sin as a sin, um, in God's eyes, you know, murder is no more or no less a sin than covetousness. So that's where we, you know, religion encourages us to get caught up in this hypocrisy of I'm right.[01:02:19] And you're wrong, or this behavior is okay, and this behavior is not okay. And whose to make that judgment and that determination while the hypocrites love to be the judge and the jury. Right. Um, whether it's the ISIS faction of Islam or the evangelical extremists in Christianity, they love to throw stones, um, you know, at others who are sinning, but their sin is okay.[01:02:54] You know, I, I, there's an old joke. Um, and I'll, I'll tell you just because you're from [01:03:00] the south and I live in the south and it's, um, why do Baptist never make love standing up? They're afraid somebody is going to see them and think they're dancing. I see. So, you know, who's going to determine sin activity and righteous activity.[01:03:23] Well, ultimately God is going to determine that he's the judge, um, and his justice is right. So, you know, if somebody says your activity is sinful and you shouldn't be doing that, first of all, let them look at their own sin, you know, get that speck of dust in that plank in correct proportions. And then you, you worry about, you know, how you're going to a tone when you stand in front of God, it's between you and him.[01:03:54] And here's the whole point of Christianity. If you're a believer and a follower in Christ, [01:04:00] he's already covered that sin for you. You will not have to stand in front of God. You will be judged. But Christ's sacrifice for you as a Christ, believing Christian, and one who emulates Christ will be covered. So don't worry about, you know, who calls you a sinner?[01:04:22] Um, let them worry about themselves. You do, you know, love God first and most and treat others the way you want to be treated. And you're on the path to becoming less sinful in the eyes of God. Um, right. [01:04:37] De'Vannon: And, um, I like to say, I agree with you said, and the simplest way I've learned to look at it, is that okay?[01:04:49] So in the Bible it says that like the Lord changes us and deals with us, like a line upon line precept upon precept here, a little there, a little bind by, [01:05:00] so we don't have power to change like our behavior necessarily ourselves and, uh, [01:05:11] Branch: or we would, [01:05:12] De'Vannon: or we would, but you know, the Lord, you know, already told us that, you know, we, by taking thought cannot add one cubic of height to ourselves.[01:05:19] And so he was, he was telling us, you know, it was him that's going to change is what he's not going to do it until he's ready to do it. And so in its simplest form, as long as you are true in your pursuit of the Lord, He, you just left that, you know, as long as you're really getting after him and sincerity, that anything that's that he doesn't want you to be doing, eventually you're going to naturally fall out of agreement with it anyway.[01:05:43] Amen. [01:05:44] Branch: Amen. [01:05:44] De'Vannon: That's it. And then you [01:05:45] Branch: don't need it. Yeah. Become a new creation in Christ. When you give your heart and soul to Christ and choose to start following him, you will change your behavior, your [01:06:00] thoughts, your desires change, because the holy spirit now lives within you and with him in you. This is the great thing about Christianity for the believer.[01:06:10] Every time you have to make a choice, whatever it may be something, you know, monumental in your life or something simple in your life. Every time you've got to choose, you have a choice to make, you can say, am I going to do this my way or the world's way? Or am I going to do it Christ way? Am I going to do what God would have me do?[01:06:32] And when Christ spirit lives within you, his holy spirit is the same holy spirit of God. The father, when that spirit is alive within your spirit, and you ask in this situation, what am I going to do? Your next question is what would Jesus do? In this same situation, I find myself, what would he respond? How would he respond?[01:06:59] What would he [01:07:00] do? And when you ask that question, his spirit living within you will answer and we'll show you the consequences of not being obedient of not choosing God's way. Look, God, nobody in your life has your best interest at heart, more than God himself. That's why he sends his spirit to be with us, to help us, um, get through the day.[01:07:29] And so when you have a choice to make, and you say, what am I going to do? Um, what do I want to do with the carnal world branch thing would want to do, do I want to do what's in it for me? Or am I going to do what Jesus would have done? I have a choice to make, but if I choose to do it my way, then I will, you know, reap the benefit or suffer the consequences of whatever that choice has at the end of the [01:08:00] road.[01:08:00] If I choose to do it God's way or ask, what would Jesus do? His spirit living within me is going to show me right then the consequences of doing it my way of doing it, the world's way. He's going to show me the downside to that decision. This is the amazing thing of God's love. He will show you your future before it even takes place.[01:08:28] Before you put into action, the choice of the decision you've made, he will show you the downside, the negative outcome of choosing the world's way. When the closer we get to God, that becomes more and more self-evident. So our behavior on our actions automatically begins to change. We change ourself with the strength of God's spirit living within us.[01:08:58] That's what spirituality [01:09:00] is all about. That's what a relationship with Jesus Christ or a relationship with God through Jesus Christ, because we now possess his same spirit. He will show us the way and that keeps us out of trouble. It keeps us away from the holes of adversity. It allows us to not go down that path.[01:09:24] The greatest thing about the love of God is the further you go down the path, responding the way he wants you to respond, because he has your best interest at heart. The more you respond that way, the more he begins to bless your life. And those blessings could be run the gamut. It could be material blessings, it could be, you know, possession, blessings.[01:09:50] It could be psychological blessings relationship wise. It doesn't matter. The love of God and obedience to his [01:10:00] spiritual leadership fills your heart. That's the true blessing. Your heart is filled. Like nothing else can fill it. There's nothing of the world that can fill your heart. Like the spirit of God, if it did, you wouldn't want that new car or that new house, or, you know, another appliance that desire for material goods is the core.[01:10:25] Of the world and that's where its tests and temptations know live in our house. This is why you never can grasp happiness through the ways of the world because the world, no matter what, you have always encourage you to want more and to desire more when you have the love of God in your heart, because the spirit of God lives within you, your heart and your soul are full.[01:10:51] There's nothing that the world can offer you that can fill you more than that spirit. And when you have his spirit within [01:11:00] you and you are fulfilled, you see the truth in the world, you see the folly in the world and you realize that the fall is nothing more, you know, than illusion. The love of God will, will reward you more than you could possibly imagine.[01:11:22] And this is why going down the spiritual path led by the light of Christ brings you closer to God. And the closer you get to God, the more like Christ you are. So your natural action and your natural inclination is against the sin of the world. [01:11:41] De'Vannon: And, um, and so. And so branch is not saying there's anything wrong with cars and houses and stuff like that.[01:11:48] What he's talking about here with balance and perspective. And, um, and as it says in the Bible to learn how to be content with whatever state that we're in and to be happy there with, um, he's [01:12:00] also talking about how, um, in the book of Hosea, how it talks about like the more God blessed people, it's like the less, they want it to be close to him.[01:12:08] He's talking about not making idols out of the blessings that we have and remembering who it came from and being sort of at our passion is greatest for God of all things, no matter what, there's also another part that says that the eye's not satisfied with seeing nor the ear with hearing. And so we, so we just gotta mind ourselves and be careful how we let ourselves get carried away with things in there's life.[01:12:31] But that's a, that's a part of, you know, this life. And when, uh, when branch is talking about the Lord will tell us and deal with us, you know, always use the fit in church. In wonder when people would say the Lord spoke to them, or he showed them something. I'm like, okay, how, you know, how does this, how does that go?[01:12:48] So it could be, for me, it's in brings a lot. I've always been a gift that dreamer, and as I was a child, you know, things, that's the, my dreams come true, you know, and stuff like that. It could be audible voice. It's like [01:13:00] what we talked about earlier, it could be through a friend, a loved one, a family member, a relative, or a total stranger.[01:13:07] It could be an inclination, a no. You know that it really comes deep within you, but you'll know that it's him without a shadow of a doubt. God speaks to us in many, many different ways. So when we say, God will tell you, he will talk to you. One thing I would suggest to add to your prayer life as you're seeking this sort of God to speak to you, you know, and, and to really, I wish he's going to do this anyway, but it never hurts to, I think, state the obvious, especially when you're, or at least when you're new with God, and you ask him to talk to you in a language or in a way that that's gonna mean something to you.[01:13:41] And so that you'll know that it's him and, um, [01:13:46] Branch: excellent, excellent, excellent point. You know, it, if you're open to the Lord, he'll answer, um, as nothing he wants more than for you to turn towards him so he can embrace you with all he [01:14:00] is. Um, it just, uh, and I don't want you to think new cars. Aren't nice. Uh, God wants us to be good stewards of the things that we have and the things that we get.[01:14:14] If you look, if you know the stories in the old Testament, you know, virtually every wealthy person in the old Testament, um, gained their wealth through their obedience to God. And he made them even more well. When they stayed that course and stayed obedient. So what he did for them, he'll do for you and me.[01:14:36] Um, you know, I have, I was 40 years on the world's path and have nothing but regrets for the damage I did and the people I hurt. Um, my 40 years on the spiritual path has been nothing but blessings. And, you know, I was homeless once. Like a lot of people, I started out at the bottom, like a lot of people, [01:15:00] but you know, every blessing that I have has come from him and I recognize that and what he has done for me and for others he'll do for you.[01:15:10] We're not special. Um, we're just here walking the path, just like you are trying to figure out, you know, what's in our life for us and how do we be the best person we can be? [01:15:24] De'Vannon: You know, I was homeless at one point in here. It's nothing like starting from the bottom and being rebuild. Um, I want to, we're going to get into the whole, like self-confidence self-sufficiency movement and X, but just for a second, I wanted to talk about like your thoughts on tithing, because I know that's, that's a really big deal and people who are going to be new in the faith, especially if they come across any kind of Christian Church is going to be hit with offerings, top ties and offerings as they call it.[01:15:57] And, um, From my [01:16:00] experience, it was always presented in a threatening way. Like if you don't give this, then something bad will happen to you. If you do then great things are going to happen to you. And, um, and they use old tests, they use an old Testament scripture in Malakai, where it says that you'll be cursed with a curse.[01:16:18] You know, that that was going on with the years of her lives back then. And like I said before, when they had the meeting in the book of acts, they released us from everything that has to do with that culture, with the exception of eating strangled, with meat and, and crazy shit like that, that, you know, we wouldn't, you know, who, who would want to do that anyway, but probably somebody we have to say that.[01:16:37] But, um, so I don't feel like tithing is necessary. I feel like it's just like all of the other tradition from the old Testament. Like if you want to use it as a guide, if you want to do it phenomenal, if you don't want to do it, you're not about to get struck by lightning and maggots. And I'm about to eat of all your food, you know, which is something that happened when, when they left Egypt and the whole other thing, [01:17:00] but, you know, bad things are not going to happen to you.[01:17:02] You're not going to get flat tires and you're going to get fired from your job. But because anybody new and brave is gone and somebody is going to try to get money out of them and they're probably going to get threatened with it. And so I wanted to dive into that. What do you think about Tyler? [01:17:21] Branch: Okay, well, tithing cake cake that you know, was sor

“But when the set time had fully come, God sent His Son, born of a woman, born under the law, to redeem those under the law, that we might receive adoption to sonship.” Galatians 4:5   Throughout the month of June, we're featuring adoptive and foster dads on our Orphans No More podcast.    This week on episode 278, host Sandra Flach talks with an Assemblies of God missionary  who currently serves as the missionary in residence and chair of the intercultural studies department at Trinity Bible College and Graduate School in Ellendale, ND—David Jacob. David has been married to Angie for 26 years and they have five children, two of whom are adopted from China.   Listen in as David shares his family's journey to adoption and what he's learned about the theology of adoption from the Word of God. Sandra and David discuss the many parallels between physical and spiritual adoption and the contemporary Christian Church's view on the adoption of children.   Please be sure to subscribe to the podcast, leave a review, and share it on your social media.   Links mentioned in this episode: sandraflach.com justicefororphansny.org

How can you pray for more missionaries and the missionaries that are already on the field. Our guest today shares with us how.  Since 2008, David P. Jacob has been an Assemblies of God missionary to a sensitive country in Northern Asia. He currently serves as the missionary in residence and chair of the intercultural studies department at Trinity Bible College and Graduate School in Ellendale, ND. David is the author of It’s Your Call: To a Missional or Missionary Life, has a Master of Arts degree in Missional Leadership, and is currently an Intercultural Studies PhD candidate.  Founder & Director at The Center for Missionary Mobilization and Retention He is also the host of the Missionary Mobilization Podcast

President Dr. Paul Alexander provides updates about Trinity Bible College and Graduate School. 

Our topic today is: Overcoming the Porn Problem, and this being a sensitive topic, we suggest that children not be present as you listen to the show. In this episode, Dave talks with former missionary, Jen. Jen shares her heart-wrenching personal story about how pornography shattered her marriage and impacted her family's ministry on the field. Jen expounds on how mobilizers can help mentor someone who is struggling with pornography. Through Jen's story of restoration and healing she leaves listeners with the reminder that the pandemic of pornography in society must be stopped. Show Links: hello@missionarymobilization.org Trinity Bible College and Graduate School James 1:14-15 (NIV) When Your Husband is Addicted to Pornography: Healing Your Wounded Heart by Vicki Tiede Porn Stats (2018 Edition) - Covenant Eyes Job 31 (NIV) "The Dead End of Sexual Sin" by Rosaria Butterfield What Can I Do About Me? by Rhyll Anne Croshaw Pastor Addicted to Pornography - Focus on the Family "I'm a Pastor Struggling with Porn. What Do I Do?" - Austin Savage Covenant Eyes "Has Porn Already Broken My Future Marriage?" - Interview with John Piper "How Porn Is Sidelining Missionaries" by Greg Handley Nations Coffee Co Full Show Notes Here!

Dr. Paul Alexander President of Trinity Bible College & Graduate School

Dr. Paul Alexander President of Trinity Bible College & Graduate School

Dr Paul Alexander From Trinity Bible College & Graduate School - 9-13-2020 by Aberdeen First AG

Korey Harris is currently an assistant basketball coach for the Chinese Basketball Association's Beijing Royal Fighters under their head coach, former NBA All-Star Stephon Marbury. Korey went to China in August of 2018 and was hired by Marbury to coach with the Royal Fighters in September of 2019.  Korey Harris has spent over 9 years under the mentorship of Ganon Baker. Korey is a certified instructor and camp clinician under Ganon Baker Basketball, and has experience teaching at numerous national skill academies, coaching clinics, team camps, pro training camps, and clinics. Korey played college basketball on the JUCO, NCCAA, and NCAA levels and credits his development as a player to the same lessons he teaches on a daily basis to his clients. Korey finished his college career as a 2nd Team NCCAA All-American, 1st Team All-Region, and 1st-Team All-Conference Selection. He tied the Trinity Bible College school record for most assists in a game (13), helped lead the school to its first ACCA National Championship appearance, and its first season with an undefeated home record in school history.  Be sure to register for our Hoop Heads Pod Webinar Series with some of the top minds in the game across all levels, from grassroots to the NBA. If you’re focused on improving your coaching and your team, we’ve got you covered! Visit hoopheadspod.com/webinars to get registered. We’ve recently dropped two new shows as part of our Hoop Heads Podcast Network, Thrive with Trevor Huffman and Beyond the Ball. Make sure you subscribe and check out both shows on your favorite podcast app! The CoachMays.com Podcast, featuring actionable advice for high school basketball coaches, is coming soon! Please rate and review all our shows on your favorite podcast app. Get ready to be inspired and learn from the journey of Coach Korey Harris, currently an assistant coach with the Beijing Royal Fighters in China. Website – http://koreyharris.org/home.htm (http://koreyharris.org/home.htm) Email – sogtrainingco@gmail.com Twitter - https://twitter.com/KoreyHarris_ (@KoreyHarris_)                                                                                   Support this podcast

On this episode of Missions Pulse, David Joannes interviews David Jacob, the author of It’s Your Call, host of The Missionary Mobilization Podcast, Missionary in Residence and Chair of the Intercultural Studies department at Trinity Bible College, and the founder and director of The Center for Missionary Mobilization and Retention. David Jacob talks about welcoming the stranger, missionary stress, the underlying motivation of missional living, how to become a global Christian, missionaries as the best mobilizers, and the missions marathon, not a relay race. See the full article here: https://davidjoannes.com/063davidjacob Links mentioned in the show: https://www.missionarymobilization.org/ https://www.trinitybiblecollege.edu/ https://missionbooks.org/products/its-your-call Make sure to subscribe to the audio version of Missions Pulse podcast on iTunes, Google Play, or Stitcher. Visit https://davidjoannes.com/missionspulse/ for direct links.

Rural America is a part of the United States that is routinely overlooked when it comes to missions and church planting. Listen as Dwight Sandoz shares how this area is in need of revival and how Trinity Bible College in Ellendale, North Dakota, is successfully equipping pastors for this mission.

Billy Wendeln and Matthew Chisholm of the Bible Brodown podcast have Dr. Pritchett on from Trinity Bible College and Seminary to discuss the theory of the Flat Earth, and how others use the Bible to defend this idea. Please don’t forget to SUBSCRIBE! To listen to the audio only (podcast) be sure to subscribe on iTunes, Stitcher, Google Play or one of the other podcast players. The Bible Brodown is also part of the Trinity Commission consortium of Bible podcasts. Learn more here: https://biblebrodown.com/podcasts For articles and studies from the Bible Brodown, please visit our webpage here: https://biblebrodown.com/ Come talk and discuss theology with us on our Facebook Group here: https://www.facebook.com/groups/BibleBrodown/ You can also follow us and receive updates at https://www.facebook.com/biblebrodown/ or on Twitter @BibleBrodown  

David Jacob serves as the missionary in residence and chair of the intercultural studies department at Trinity Bible College and Graduate School in Ellendale, ND. He is also the author of It's Your Call: To a Missional or Missionary Life. Today, David shares his calling to the mission field, wrestling with God's silence, and the burning desire that led him to the classroom. Along the way, we discuss why our mission is to pursue the Lord not merely the next step he wants us to take. David's story reminds us that if we will trust the Lord, he will make the path straight. Listen to David's story now! Stories David shared: What it's like being a missionary in residence Growing up in a nominal Christian family going to church on the bus Rededicated his life at a Wednesday night group Discipleship with his youth pastor Becoming the midwest director of Operation Christmas Child Wrestling with God's silence while he sensed a call for more The vision he had of Jesus in the car with him Starting to sense God's call to Asia Fundraising as ministry for missionaries Learning to depend on the Lord in a foreign culture The desire to teach introduction to missions Why he wrote It's Your Call: To a Missional or Missionary Life Great quotes from David: God, I don't understand why you're not speaking. I have been seeking God's will instead of God himself. Fundraising and speaking to other Christians…is an incredible privilege to promote the cause of missions and God's Kingdom. Every believer has a role to play in the Great Commission. Resources we mentioned: It's Your Call: To a Missional or Missionary Call (Snapshot Series Book 2) by David Jacob Center for Missionary Mobilization and Retention Old, boring, and long Bible studies getting you down? Try my brand new 8 Day Experience series designed to get you thinking about the Lord beyond quiet time. 8 Day Experience will refresh your relationship with the Lord. The post David Jacob and Seeking After God appeared first on Eric Nevins.

David Jacob serves as the missionary in residence and chair of the intercultural studies department at Trinity Bible College and Graduate School in Ellendale, ND. He is also the author of It’s Your Call: To a Missional or Missionary Life. Today, David shares his calling to the mission field, wrestling with God’s silence, and the […] The post David Jacob and Seeking After God appeared first on Eric Nevins.

All believers are called to missional living. But what happens when Christian college a brings that to the forefront of their program? David P. Jacob shares what happened at Trinity Bible College and Graduate School.

TJ Is a Friend of mine, he is going to Trinity Bible College next year and we discuss absolutely nothing. Thank you for listening!

“All Scripture is God-breathed and is useful for teaching, rebuking, correcting and training in righteousness,” writes the apostle Paul in 2 Timothy 3:16. While all Christians agree that Scripture is useful, we don’t often understand how to use it. In today’s podcast, Influence magazine’s executive editor, George P. Wood, begins a series of occasional podcasts designed to help pastors improve how they read Scripture so that they can preach Scripture better. Joining Wood in this conversation is Rick Wadholm Jr. Wadholm is associate professor of biblical and theological studies at Trinity Bible College and Graduate School in Ellendale, North Dakota. He received his Ph.D. from Bangor University in Wales, and is author of the recently published book, A Theology of the Spirit in the Former Prophets.

On this week's LTU Coaches Show host Lorne Plant-State Champs recaps last weekend's LTU Football game with head coach Jeff Duvendeck. They're joined by several players and then they look ahead to their last home game against Trinity Bible College. Shot live on location at Shield's Restaurant Bar Pizzeria. For more info: www.ltuathletics.com twitter.com/LTUAthletics www.facebook.com/LTUAthletics www.instagram.com/ltuathletics

Trinity Bible College, Ellendale ND

Dr. Alexander is the president of Trinity Bible College in Ellendale, ND. Originally from South Africa, listen to his incredible journey of giving hope.

Workshop Wednesdays with Tony Gambone and Linda Ballesteros with Special Guests Branch Isole & Julian Hall Born in Osaka Japan, Branch Isole traveled extensively growing up calling many places home. Finishing high school in Rolling Hills, California, Branch went on to graduate from Texas State University, completed post-graduate work at the University of Houston and received an M.A.Theology degree from Trinity Bible College. Branch has authored twenty books in four different genres. The power of personal responsibility or its avoidance in relationships, spiritual paths and self-expression are subjects of his writing focus and his reader's interests. http://www.branchisole.com/ Julian's unique style of informal and energetic professionalism makes his topics sound like the “new sexy”, leaving its participants wanting to become part of the new evolution. He manages to draw on his personal experiences with his focus on excellence of paramount importance. This means those listening will leave feeling not only inspired with an “If he can do it, so can I” attitude, but empowered with the tools to tackle it themselves too. He has delivered these to audiences in London, government officials in Washington DC and the Caribbean.http://www.julianhall.co.uk/about