Jacobs Ladder Podcast

Loving God, others and ourselves at work and at home. Interviews and ponderings, from a Messianic perspective, and with a focus on men. Formerly the Christian Men at Work Podcast.

Are We Doing Church Wrong with Jason Pierce-JL227 11/11/2024

JL 226 - Morning Prayers - PPP112 11/04/2024

Praying the Psalms with Jim Papandrea - JL225 10/28/2024

Praying the Psalms with Jim Papandrea - JL225 Why did you write this book? The subtitle is “The Divine Gateway to Lecto Divina and Contemplative Prayer”. What is Lecto Divina? What is contemplative prayer? I’d like to drill down a bit into the 4 parts of Lecto Divina clarity The first is Lecto which means reading. What’s going on here? The second is Meditetio, meaning meditation or reflection. This is narrowing in a portion of the passage correct? You caution against private revelation, why is that ? Third is oratio, where reading becomes praying, where you make the words your own. Tell us more about this step Fourth is contemplation. You say this is complicated, more difficult than what it may seem at first and something you grow into. What about contemplating is so difficult? In the section on how to use this book, you rely on teachings from the church fathers. Tell us a bit about who you’re referring to when you say that and why you feel we should look to their advice? You talk about the difference between praise and worship vs prayer. What is the difference? Your book is a portion of the Psalms that are found in the Bible. What did you leave out and why? You made a new translation of the excerpts using the Hebrew, Greek (Septuagint), and Latin. First, why did you feel the need for a new translation rather than just using an existing one? Since the Psalms were originally written in Hebrew, explain what the Greek Septuagint is and why you took that into account. I don’t know much about Latin, other than it used a lot in the Catholic Faith and I know you are catholic. What’s unique about Latin, why has the Catholic Church used it and why did you consider it in your translation? You talk about how we should properly think about two references we see in the Psalms. One is our enemies, the other is images of fortifications like fortress, refuge and rock. Let’s take one a time, first how should we think about our enemies when praying? Next how should we think about images of fortifications? You chose to use the word “Father” when the name of God, or tetragramtron is used. For clarification, what is the tetragramatron, how has it been translated and spoken historically by Jewish believers as well as in modern Christian Bibles? Why did you decide to use the word “father” here. There’s a lot debate among the Messianic faith, which is what I practice, on whether we can and should pronounce the name of God. What is the position of the Catholic faith and you personally on this issue? We consider the Psalms as literary poetry, but you said you intentionally chose in your translation to focus on the meaning and less on the poetry. Am I correct in stating that and why did you take that approach? You suggest changing the tenses when reading the Psalms as well as inserting personal names where there are general references. Why ? I’d like to read a quote from John Cassian on pg 23 of the intro and get your thoughts on it With the breathing prayers and mediation you caution against Eastern or modern forms of meditation. What’s the difference between good and bad meditation? I do my quiet time in the morning and when I tried the breathing prayers I found myself falling asleep a couple times. How can I avoid this other than getting a good nights rest? Finally in your intro you had some thoughts on journaling and provided blank pages in your book for journaling, specifically that it can be beneficial but you had some cautions as well. What’s the best way to incorporate journaling into our prayers? At the end of your book you have a mood index where you have categorized the Psalm excerpts from the book based on feelings. I’ve heard a variety of opinions on how we as believers should think about and respond to our feelings, whether we should embrace them and be in touch with them, or alternatively redirect what we consider negative feelings and focus on being positive. This is particularly relevant when we’re going through difficult circumstances and trying to heal through those circumstances. For me personally my wife separated from me and has stated her intent to divorce me and I’ve experienced deep sadness both during this time as well as in the past, so this issue of our feelings is one I’m very interested in. How do you think we should think about our feelings? The bulk of your book is in fact the Psalms themselves and not your thoughts about praying them. Would you mind walking us through the process we’ve discussed by selecting one of them Psalms and demonstrating how you might pray with that Psalm. How can others get your book and contact you? Any final thoughts? /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/33291727

JL 224 - Cycles of Life and Work - PPP111 10/21/2024

JL 224 - Cycles of Life and Work - PPP111 Today I started over a cycle of reading the Bible in a year. Wikipedia on Rosh Hashanah In the first reading of the yearly Bible reading in Genesis it’s shows how God seems to have built this concept of cycles into the fabric of His creation. Day Week Month Year - disputes around the proper calendar - 12 months Shmita - 7 years - let land rest Jubilee - 50 years From Revival Ministries International Publish date: 03/30/2003 The Lord began dealing with me recently about the Year of Jubilee. I believe that this is our Year of Jubilee! In Nazareth, at His local Synagogue, Jesus was handed the book of Isaiah and He read from chapter 61: The Spirit of the Lord [is] upon Me, because He has anointed Me [the Anointed one, the Messiah] to preach the good news (the Gospel) to the poor; He has sent Me to announce release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to send forth as delivered those who are oppressed [who are downtrodden, bruised, crushed, and broken down by calamity], 19 To proclaim the accepted and acceptable year of the Lord [the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound.] Luke 4:18-19 AMP Jesus preached that the acceptable year of the Lord was here—the Year of Jubilee, which took place every 50th year—the day when salvation and the free favors of God profusely abound (Leviticus 25). What Jesus was really saying was, "I am your Year of Jubilee!" THE LORD said to Moses on Mount Sinai, 2 Say to the Israelites, When you come into the land which I give you, then shall the land keep a sabbath to the Lord. 3 For six years you shall sow your field, and for six years you shall prune your vineyard and gather in its fruits. 4 But in the seventh year there shall be a sabbath of solemn rest for the land, a sabbath to the Lord; you shall neither sow your field nor prune your vineyard. 5 What grows of itself in your harvest you shall not reap and the grapes on your uncultivated vine you shall not gather, for it is a year of rest to the land. 6 And the sabbath rest of the [untilled] land shall [in its increase] furnish food for you, for your male and female slaves, your hired servant, and the temporary resident who lives with you, 7 For your domestic animals also and for the [wild] beasts in your land; all its yield shall be for food.8 And you shall number seven sabbaths or weeks of years for you, seven times seven years, so the total time of the seven weeks of years shall be forty-nine years. 9 Then you shall sound abroad the loud trumpet on the tenth day of the seventh month [almost October]; on the Day of Atonement blow the trumpet in all your land. 10 And you shall hallow the fiftieth year and proclaim liberty throughout all the land to all its inhabitants. It shall be a jubilee for you; and each of you shall return to his ancestral possession [which through poverty he was compelled to sell], and each of you shall return to his family [from whom he was separated in bond service]. 11 That fiftieth year shall be a jubilee for you; in it you shall not sow, or reap and store what grows of itself, or gather the grapes of the uncultivated vines. 12 For it is a jubilee; it shall be holy to you; you shall eat the [sufficient] increase of it out of the field. 13 In this Year of Jubilee each of you shall return to his ancestral property. 14 And if you sell anything to your neighbor or buy from your neighbor, you shall not wrong one another. Leviticus 25:1-14 AMP Under the Old Covenant every seventh year was a time to let the ground rest so that it could recover and come back stronger, producing a stronger, healthier, more abundant harvest. But the fiftieth year—Jubilee—was an extra special year. It was a Holy year. In the last year, before the year of rest, God caused the ground to produce three times as much fruit so that His people could eat and be satisfied whilst the ground rested and whilst they rested in His goodness. Jubilee is a year of faith—where you rest from your own labors and your own efforts—allowing God's goodness to lead you and feed you. God wants us to remember that it is He Who watches over us, feeding us, guiding us, and providing for us. If we forget this, we will wear ourselves out with our own efforts, but if we remember that He is the source of our life and every good thing in our life, then we can relax in Him and focus on worshipping Him and yielding to Him. Jubilee is a time to let slaves go free, to redeem what has been lost and to reach out and help both family and neighbors and those who cannot help themselves. In the year of Jubilee, even though you do not plow or prune or sow, you are still able to eat of the fruit that the ground produces. You cannot reap from a field that you have never sown, but when you have faithfully sown and sown and sown and then God calls a Jubilee year for you, then you know that it is a year of rest for you, a year of extra blessings, a year of eating from the abundance of the provision that your Father has provided for you as you rest in Him. When Jesus said, "Today is this scripture fulfilled in your ears," the people of Nazareth were very angry with Him and did not receive Him, but I declare to you today that Jesus is YOUR Jubilee—if you receive Him you will go free! Jesus has come to restore your joy, your family, your property and your inheritance. Every promise that God has made you in His Word is yours. So receive Him as your Jubilee—rest in Him and enjoy His blessings. . Continuing on with cycles: Beyond Jubilee? 1 day is as a thousand years. Plan for His creation built into the first week of Creation Why the Jubilee? Freedom, pointing to Yeshua Messiah 2030 Uses many prophesies and the concept of the Jubilee Entering into year 5785 What is purpose of cycles? Virtuous vs vicious cycles Do not just a mindless pattern but an opportunity to repeat and through our choices either improve or get worse, evolve or devolve, become more like God or less like God, more holy or more wicked, more wise or more foolish How does our culture generally and Christianity specifically treat cycles Main difference is degree to which they are specifically tied to God and His ways as defined by God Himself With time, our week begins on Monday and ends on Friday defined by our work, followed by a 2-day weekend, defined by our priorities (fun or home projects), if you’re church goer that weekend also includes church on Sunday. What do we ask Monday morning and how do we answer? Our months vary in length of days, are named after Greek Gods. The year is mostly defined by a mix of civil and religious holidays, none if which were prescribed in the Bible and none of which significantly improve our understanding of God, His ways, and His grand plan for all time including His future plans, second coming of Christ and how we will spend eternity. Some other ways, depending on our interests, our cycles are defined are by sports or politics. There is no concept or even awareness of a Shmita or Jubilee year and there is no recognition of the moedim or appointed times throughout the year, namely the Lords Feasts of Passover, Unleavened Bread, First Fruits, Shavuot, Feast of Trumpets, Day of Atonement, and Feast of Tabernacles. One exception is the Christian church celebrates Pentecost or Shavuot but because there is no attempt to understand how it was originally practiced much of its richness and meaning is lost. Why is this important? Virtuous cycle. By our definition? Improving financially? More educated (know more of what we think is important to know)? More loving? Love is the common agreed upon worthy goal, but how should love be defined, by us? By the creation or the Creator? One of Gods desires for us, as stated by Yeshua, is for us to worship Him in Spirit and Truth. The New Covenant as described in prophesies like Jeremiah as well as by Yeshua and writers of the New Testament is for the law to be written on our hearts. My limited understanding of this is that God wants us to love Him and others, and to do it in the way He wants us to do it. I’ve only been participating in and practicing the Lord’s Feasts and observing His Sabbath on day 7 for a handful of years. I’m certainly no expert. But with my limited exposure and understanding I can see how following His law and His cycles of life, to the extent that I’m doing so, puts me into a virtuous cycle. Each day, week, month, year I’m learning more about the Fathers ways and how wonderful, and simultaneously complex and simple they are. I also am learning more about His great plan for all time including what to expect in the future. This is incredibly important at a time when the future of our nation and the world, as well as the future of our own personal lives, can seem on the surface to be so uncertain. We may at times feel like we’ve made no “progress” in our lives, especially if we’re going a difficult season. With the proper perspective, though, we can see how God works what appear to us to be tragedies and “bad” events for our good, helping shape us to be more like Him, understand His character better, and be more dependent on Him. Praise: Malachi 3:6 "I am the LORD, I change not" James 1:17 "Every good gift and every perfect gift is from above, and comes down from the Father of lights, with whom there is no variation or shadow of turning." Hebrews 13:8: "Jesus Christ is the same yesterday, today, and forever." Thank You Abba that You do not change. We're not trying to figure out how You changed, but rather than how WE need to change to be more like You, and more like the person You made us to become. Help us to understand how Your cycles which You built into the fabric of Creation are important, and why You asked us to follow them as You have commanded. And when we don't understand the why, Father help us to obey even without the full understanding and trust You that Your ways are best, best for us individually as well as best for all of mankind. Psalm 110:4: "The LORD has s /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/33536862

Apologia for the Law Pt 2 with Roger Hadad - JL 223 10/14/2024

Apologia for the Law Pt 2 with Roger Hadad - JL 223 There is another New Testament writer of just one book, who sometimes seems to counter Paul’s arguments relating to the law. I’m talking, of course, about the book of James, written by the brother of the Master, though I understand his real name was Jacob or in Hebrew Ja’akov. You make the point that many of James arguments mirror those of the Master, and that James did not have a pharasaical background as Paul did. Why is this important and what can we learn from James about our understanding of the law? Your chapter titled “The Sacred Law” begins perhaps ironically with a quote from Paul, Romans 7:12 “So then, the law is holy, and the commandment is holy, righteous and good”. You then devote about 11 pages to just a portion of the many scriptures that describe the law as good, holy and something we should try to keep. Not to bore our listeners who don’t get excited about arguments based on the original Greek and Hebrew meanings, but you make a fascinating point about the use of the Greek words nomos and entole referring to the law and the commandments. Walk us through this observation and it’s implications for our understanding. You are intellectually honest, as they say, in your book, and note that modern Christianity’s understanding of the law is not without reason. You list several verses commonly used to support a certain viewpoint. I’d like to read these verses and then ask you to respond. The first verse is 2 Cor 5:17 “Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation; old things have passed away; behold all things have become new” The next verse is Hebrews 8:13 “In that He says a New Covenant, he has the made the first obsolete. Now what is becoming obsolete and growing old is ready to vanish away” And third is John 13:34 “A new commandment I give to you that you love one another; as I have loved you, that you also love one another”. What is your response to these verses? When asked for the greatest commandment, Christ said basically to love God and love others. Why is it a mistake to think of this love as an emotional love? No debate on this topic is complete without a reference to Acts 15. Talk to us about what happened in Acts 15 and what we should learn from it as it relates to our relationship with the law? Another phrase used in this debate is the New Covenant. Now, I realize we could devote multiple podcast episodes just talking about the concept of a covenant and all its uses in the Bible, but to cut to the chase what is your understanding of what the New Covenant is and how it should impact our faith and our understanding of the law? You use an interesting analogy of a Rubik’s cube to describe the puzzle of understanding what Christ described as weightier matters of the law, those of justice, faith and mercy. What is the relationship of these three concepts to each other? /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/33291637

Apologia for the Law Pt 1 with Roger Hadad - JL222 10/07/2024

Apologia for the Law Pt 1 with Roger Hadad - JL222 Q&A: Before we start, I want to say that full disclosure is that I consider you a friend and we attend the same congregation. I also wanted to say up front that we’re going to talk about a book You wrote called “Apologia for thee Law and the Sabbath”. And in that book you often refer to Christ as the Master. One advantage of this is that we avoid turning off one group or another by referring to Him as either Jesus or Yeshua, so if it’s alright I’ll try to refer to Him during our interview in a similar way, either as the Master or as simply Christ. You begin that book by stating that the book is not for someone who has already made up their mind that the law has been done away with. I guess we could say the same thing to our listeners, that if they’ve already up their mind on this topic this interview is not for them. Why do you say that and how would you describe the mindset of the listener who is well suited to hear our discussion today? You use an analogy of 3 TV sets for sale to describe the acceptable doctrine of Christianity today. Share that analog with us to help set the table, so to speak, for our talk today. I don’t want to spend a lot of time on your testimony in this discussion in order to save time for all the arguments from your book, but you talk about how your faith journey included a time spent with what you call other’s centered legalism. Since legalism is often a knee-jerk reaction or description to what we’re going to talk about today, define for us others-centered legalism as you experienced it and how it differs from the inner cultivation of the spirit. You start out by asking a question, can we sin without the law, and to make your point you enlist a stop sign analogy. So what is the answer to this question and explain it to us using that stop sign analogy. There are many scriptures that challenge us “not to sin” or to be righteous, and yet as Christians we believe Christ’s sacrifice was needed. How do we rectify these two seemingly incongruous ideas? Your chapter titled “dead to the law” starts out with a quote from Peter where he states that Paul’s writings are hard to understand, to which I think we can all say “Amen”. This a big deal since 2/3 of the NT was written by Paul, and many Christian doctrines are based wholly or at least in part on his writings. So let’s address this concept of being dead to the law and what seem to be contradictions in Paul’s writings. You make the point that when there are apparent contradictions with Paul or anywhere in scripture we need to look beyond the superficial meaning. So let me ask you the question, did Christ cancel or nullify the law, and how does the Sermon on the Mount help answer this question? You state that the law is not an obstacle for salvation but its indispensable platform. What do you mean by that? Another twist on this same argument is that Christ gave us a new law and it’s called love. Is this true? Let’s talk about he concept of a bond servant as described in both the OT and in the NT most notably in an often ignored short book called Philemon. What can this tell us about our relationship to the law? So the concept of a bond servant can help us better understand our relationship to the law, but you say that the concept of a school master can help us understand the reverse, the relationship of the law to us. Talk to us about this. Now with the concepts of bondservant and schoolmaster as a background, how can we better understand what Paul means when he talks about the law of liberty? /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/33291597

JL221 - Welcome Part 2 - Welcome to the Jacobs Ladder Podcast 09/27/2024

JL221 - Welcome Part 2 - Welcome to the Jacobs Ladder Podcast This is the second Welcome Episode for this podcast and along with it I'm officially changing the name of this podcast from Christian Men at Work to Jacobs Ladder and along with the name change I'm changing the focus and purpose of the podcast. The purpose of the Christian Men at Work podcast, since it first started in October of 2016, has been to inspire you to have joy and purpose in your work. I've attempted to do that in two ways. First, I've interviewed men from all walks of life, with varying job titles, who have had one thing in common, they've all chosen daily to live out their Christian faith through their work, and because of that they've been leading, prospering, glorifying God, and finding joy and purpose in their work. The second way I've tried to achieve this goal is through short messages called Selah episodes where I've shared my thoughts, usually pretty closely related to the topic of faith at work. The last episode, which was #220, was Feb 5, 2024, where I interviewed Jason Pierce talking about a Vision for Life. Up to that point, I had conducted 110 interview style episodes with the other half being Selah episodes. If you've been a listener over the years, you may have noticed a trend in recent years toward more Selah episodes as well as a departure at times from the faith at work focus. I've never gone this long, about 8 months, without producing an episode. Before I resumed the podcast again, I wanted to be sure I was both mentally and emotionally ready to do so, and I wanted to clarify the focus and purpose for the podcast before moving forward. I felt I needed to do that first so that I could be passionate about it again, so that I would be motivated to pour myself into it, and so that I could be consistent with it. During the last few years I've had two primary changes in my life. One has been a gut-wrenching, life changing personal challenge which has driven me closer to my Creator and closer to other men in friendship, particularly men that are going through similar personal challenges. The other big change in my life has been that I've changed some of my beliefs and practices which are best described as more Messianic than Christian. To quickly address that issue, I share the belief with Christians that Jesus is the Son of God, that He is the long promised Messiah, and that my salvation comes from faith in Him and His righteousness alone and not my work or good deeds. Where I defer from most Christians is that I believe it's God's will for us to follow His law, including the Torah or first 5 books of the Bible, as well as the Prophets and Writings (i.e. Old Testament) out of love towards Him and not out of obligation or to earn salvation. In practical terms that means I observe the 7 Feasts rather than Christmas and Easter, I follow the dietary laws, I observe Sabbath on day 7 and not day 1 and other things that are usually practiced by observant Jews. You could say that I differ from Christians by following the the Law and I differ from Jews by following Jesus and I believe we should do both. If you've been listening in recent years you've probably noted those two changes in my life through the messages I've been sharing. When I started this Podcast I had just gone through a major challenge in my life where I had gone bankrupt from chasing get-rich-quick schemes and not having a biblical approach towards work and finances. I had, at the same time, gone through some other personal challenges but I felt led to write a book called Jesus is at Work dealing with the faith at work issue, and write a blog on the same topic. Soon after that, I switched from blogging to podcasting. I still feel passionate about incorporating my faith into my work. I love my job more than ever, and I am very thankful for it. I believe my work at my job is part of my purpose here on earth. I want to continue to weave into this podcast the faith at work theme and I want to continue to focus primarily on men. However, moving forward I will be broadening the focus. What is the new focus? Well, you could summarize it by a Beatles song "All you need is love", but seriously, love is the simplest way for me to summarize where I want the focus to be. Specifically, I want to talk about loving God, loving others and loving ourselves, at work and at home. Without love, having faith at work or in our personal lives doesn't mean anything, in my opinion. It's no coincidence that this is basically what Jesus, who I normally call Yeshua, said summarizes the two greatest commandments, upon which hang all the law and the prophets. It's also a paraphrase of the Sh'ma, which Jewish people in their synagogues and Messianics in their congregations recite every Shabbat. I chose as the new title for this podcast Jacobs Ladder, which was recommended by a dear friend. The intent of that title is to provide an image of an intimate connection between God and man, without which we have no hope of connecting with or loving others or ourselves. Here are a few other changes I'd like to implement moving forward. I want to continue the practice of having both interviews as well as my own personal musings. For interviews, the format will be very similar to what it's been in the past, though the topics will of course be more in line with the new focus of the podcast. For my personal musing episodes, I'm going to call them PPP episodes, which stands for purposeful pondering with praise. I became increasingly uncomfortable over time with my use of the term Selah in the past. The original intent was to invite the listener to ponder on the thoughts I was sharing. However, the musings are just one man's opinions which may or may not be prompted by the Holy Spirit and certainly not inspired in the sense that scripture is breathed from God. Therefore, I no longer want to use that term Selah and to leave that for its hallowed used within the Psalms. Through the new acronym PPP, I want to remind myself to keep my ponderings purposeful, in other words I want them to help you to make a change in your life, if you feel it applies to you, either in your thoughts or your actions. I don't want to just talk for talking's sake. The third P is a reminder to incorporate some form of praise into every pondering and to always try to make it about our Creator and not about me or you. I'm not making any promises at this time as to how often I'll be releasing episodes or how the mix will be between interviews and ponderings. I'd like to commit to both of those so you know what to expect, but at this time I prefer to keep my options open. Wondering about that question has been one of the reasons I've waited so long to bring this podcast back to life and so I don't want that to prevent me from doing so any longer. Whether you're a long time or first time listener, whether you're more focused on work or personal, and whether you consider yourself Christian, Messianic, Jewish or something else, I welcome you to the Jacobs Ladder podcast. I'm excited about this new beginning and I'm looking forward to the adventure we'll be going on together. /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/33238992

Vision for Life with Jason Pierce-CMAW220 02/05/2024

Real Estate Investing with Brett Snodgrass-CMAW219 12/26/2023

AI with Luke Richey-CMAW218 11/26/2023

AI with Luke Richey-CMAW218 For more info contact Luke Richey began coding software at the age of 14, a foundation upon which he has built a life dedicated to businesses that bring society and technology into the future. His broad understanding of the industry, paired with a passion for both integrity and optimization within the business domain, led him to create many successful startups. In 2009, after selling his business to a gaming company, he co-founded Gravity Jack with a vision to advance mobile-based augmented reality. With a strong patent portfolio, dedicated research team and a top-tier client roster, Gravity Jack was quickly established as a leader in the industry. On March 16, 2019, following multiple supernatural encounters with the Lord, Luke surrendered his heart to Jesus Christ. Transformed and fully submitted to his Savior, Luke saw God work many miracles in his life, including the restoration of his health, his marriage, his family and his finances. The impact of his spiritual transformation and new reliance on Christ was so evident to those around him that revival broke out throughout his extended family. The founders of Gravity Jack, Luke and Jen Richey, are passionate followers of Jesus who are on a mission to help spread the gospel to the 50% of the population that does not have the Bible translated in their heart language by using AI and an AR game. Automatic translation engines like Google Translate only support the top 100 languages (ChatGPT supports 95) and the likelihood of these tech giants supporting any more languages is close to none. This is due to smaller linguistic communities lacking the critical mass of users needed to justify a profitable investment, and they often lack the necessary large datasets for effective AI training. Consequently, corporations claiming to be global connectors are disregarding the economic, intellectual and social potential of half the world's population. Gravity Jack is aiming to leverage the appeal of the gaming industry and the dedication of its market to bring the other 50% of the world onto the international economic stage that otherwise would never see, hear or read much of anything in their native language. Gravity Jack has a unique opportunity to do something that has not been done before. The company is currently developing an original augmented reality video game, , which creates a multi-world war game with active and passive multiplayer role-playing, featuring revolutionary and patented augmented reality elements and geo ownership while simultaneously economically uplifting people in poverty. The video game bundles AR, AI and play-to-earn into one dynamic mobile app – all while generating what is poised to be the most robust translation service available on the marketplace. Ken Barun, Senior Vice President of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association was recently announced as one of the newest members to the Board of Directors at Gravity Jack. Ken is a distinguished leader with extensive corporate and philanthropic experience, including his role as President/CEO of Ronald McDonald House Charities Worldwide and Director of Projects and Policy on the White House staff to First Lady, Nancy Reagan. His commitment to making a positive impact is evident in his founding of the charity, and his dedication to charitable work and corporate social responsibility reflects his passion for making a difference in the world. /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/28773523

Get and Give Feedback-Selah113-CMAW217 11/13/2023

110% at Work-Selah112-CMAW216 11/02/2023

110% at Work-Selah112-CMAW216 An overused phrase is to give 110% effort. What does that mean when we think of living out our faith through our work Well, I can't spell that out in a cookie cutter fashion that applies to everyone in all circumstances, but I know it when I see it This morning I saw it. I’ll use a different name, Bob. Bob took my biometrics, all good except high blood pressure . I told him I had a lot of stress. He went on for about 10 minutes sharing with me his philosophy. Like extending your arm holding glass of water. Water is like stress. Talk to yourself, love yourself, if you hold Onto feelings and tell yourself you’re feeling something like sadness it helps no one. It certainly doesn’t help you and it also doesn’t affect the person who you’re thinking about. I thanked him and gave him a hug when I left. On my way back to my desk I was light in my feet. When I grabbed my coffee I saw someone who asked me how My morning was. I said I had gotten the biometrics and he asked what they did . I told him that the worker had given me some great tips on managing stress. My friend asked me what they were so I shared and he then told me a story about a 90 Yr old woman who was his neighbor across the street. She used to say to him if something isn’t going to matter in 100 years Then don’t worry about it. I share this story with you for two reasons. One is I hope you benefit front the advice related to worry and stress because at some level I know we all need that advice. Specifically I want to talk about the advice to love yourself. There was a time when I would have embraced that advice without a faith or biblical context, ie I was all about myself and my goals and was not humbly seeking Gods will. There was also a time in my life when I would reacted To that advice in knee jerk, holier than though fashion, ie I would have said “that’s wrong I should not love myself, I should be humble and repentant”. I believe I’m at a place now where I’m closer to the truth than either of those previous versions of myself. Loving yourself is a command found in both the Old Testament and New Testament, the Torah and the Apostolic Scriptures. You shall not take vengeance, nor bear any grudge against the children of your people, but you shall love your neighbor as yourself: I am the Lord" - Lev 19:18 Jesus quoted this in 3 of the 4 Gospels, saying this was the 2nd greatest commandment. Paul quoted this in the book of Galatians and Romans, and James quoted it as well.; In fact, I don't know this for sure, but this could be the most quoted command in the Bible. This command shows that God wants us to love our neighbor, but it also shows He wants us to love ourselves, and you can argue, it shows that we cannot love our neighbor if we don't first love ourselves. My second reason for sharing this story is to provide an example of what giving 110% might look like in your work, though at the same time I think it would be better to think of this as 110% relative to what is the norm, but should be the normal behavior for those of us who are believers My third reason is to encourage you to pass along something good that you year, as I did with my friend when I was getting coffee, and be ready to shut up and let the person share their thoughts once you've brought up something of moral significance. /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/28493201

Unseen, Seen, Unseen-Selah111-CMAW215 08/27/2023

Unseen, Seen, Unseen-Selah111-CMAW215 Phil 4:8 "Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things" During my self-help days, I often heard "You are what you think about all day long" or as it says in proverbs 23:7 "For as he thinks in his heart, so is he" What should we think about, or focus on, in this life? Our highest priority should be the unseen holy, set apart things, namely God and the things of God. The word for holy spirit or set apart in Hebrew is Kadosh Col 3:2 says "Set your mind on things above, not on things on the earth." Joshua 1:8 says "This Book of the Law shall not depart from your mouth, but you shall meditate in it day and night" Psalm 119:97 "Oh, how I love Your law! It is my meditation all the day" I used to think that when the Bible talked about meditating, or thinking, about His Word all day long, it didn’t literally mean all day, but now I’m not so sure. I’m finding the more I focus on God the more I’m truly living. In the Torah it encourages us to think about His word throughout our day In Deut 6:6-9 says "And these words which I command you today shall be in your heart. 7 You shall teach them diligently to your children, and shall talk of them when you sit in your house, when you walk by the way, when you lie down, and when you rise up. 8 You shall bind them as a sign on your hand, and they shall be as frontlets between your eyes. 9 You shall write them on the doorposts of your house and on your gates." Number 15:39-41says "And you shall have the tassel, that you may look upon it and remember all the commandments of the Lord and do them, and that you may not follow the harlotry to which your own heart and your own eyes are inclined, 40 and that you may remember and do all My commandments, and be holy for your God. 41 I am the Lord your God, who brought you out of the land of Egypt, to be your God: I am the Lord your God.” Lesser in value than the set apart kadosh things that are unseen but still having great value are those things that are seen but also set apart. What we experience with our 5 senses. You could say our natural reality. Traditions in Judaism include saying prayers the moment you wake, when you walk to the bathroom, etc By doing so we are making our natural world set apart or kadosh, not totally of course, since we are in a fallen world. Gnosticism was a set of beliefs focused on knowledge and considered things natural to be avoided. I believe by coming to earth and taking on flesh, in addition to the important work of providing the necessary sinless sacrifice, Jesus also demonstrated the importance of us living in our natural reality. Also God wanted the tabernacle and then the temple to be made by human hands, and for us to it holy, even though they were types of the temple in the unseen realm. There a number of Songs with the theme “this is not my home” or "this world is not my home" which capture this idea. I've also heard of the hotel analogy. Our life here is like staying in a hotel room but our true home will come after our death. That hotel room still has a purpose for us and is to be used and appreciated. If you want to go deeper on the concept of the unseen realm check out the book "The unseen realm" by Michael Heiser who died last last year. Also the Naked Truth podcast. So what are lesser thoughts or things we should avoid focusing on? Things of this world that do not honor God, that Satan has twisted and perverted. This can include things we might consider wholesome and good and G rated, but if focus on them too much, relying on them or making an idol of them, they become unholy and forbidden. There is another category of things to avoid, in my opinion even worse than the things of this world. Those are the unseen things that are not holy, set apart, that do not glorify God. This of course includes overtly evil practices like witchcraft, divination, going to a palm reader, playing with a ouige board, but it also includes things that most believers dont' think are a big deal but are also wicked and to avoided strongly. I’m talking about using your imagination to take you to a place that does not glorify God. This can include pornography as well as imagining images and activities that do not glorify God. Jesus raised the bar when it came to what is considered sin when he said that looking with lust and hating someone was the same as committing adultery and murdering someone. God cares about what we do but He seems to really care about what we think about or more specifically what is in our heart. 1 Samuel 16:7 says "For the Lord does not see as man sees; for man looks at the outward appearance, but the Lord looks at the heart.” If you have taken solace with your hands being clean but your mind being dirty, you are at risk of being hypocrites like the scribes and Pharisees who in Matt 23:27 Jesus said were "like whitewashed tombs which indeed appear beautiful outwardly, but inside are full of dead men’s bones and all uncleanness." The line can blur between the seen and unseen both with things that are holy and things that are unholy. Just take this one verse as an example So put away all malice and all deceit and hypocrisy and envy and all slander. 1Pet.2.1ESV In that one sentence is a mixture of unholy things that are tangible actions as well as our thoughts. I used to freak out over this idea of controlling my thoughts, thinking I could not control them. I now know enough about God to know He would not ask me to do something I could not do, and in His love gives me the Holy Spirit to help me. 2 Cor 10:5 says "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ," 1 Cor 10:13 says "No temptation has overtaken you except such as is common to man; but God is faithful, who will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you are able, but with the temptation will also make the way of escape, that you may be able to bear it" John 14:16 Jesus says "And I will pray the Father, and He will give you another Helper, that He may abide with you forever" Martin Luther said, “You cannot keep birds from flying over your head but you can keep them from building a nest in your hair.” I think of my thoughts as I do all of the commandments, they are ways for me to show my love for my heavenly Father, not a bunch of don’t’s I have to avoid out of fear. On the other side of obedience is a closer relationship with my Crestor and a life of joy and shalom. So to summarize, two things to focus on are both holy, one is unseen and perfectly holy, the other is seen and a type or foreshadow of holiness, or you could say a little slice of heaven. This is similar to the two commandments which is a summary of the law and prophets, to love God (unseen) and to love our neighbor as ourselves (seen). Note the second one has two parts to love our neighbor and ourselves. The two things to avoid, or to put more strongly to rebuke, hate and reject, are the unholy things, both seen and unseen. Another verse which captures this is Rom 12:2 "And do not be conformed to this world, but be transformed by the renewing of your mind, that you may prove what is that good and acceptable and perfect will of God." This is part of our human existence and Gods plan for us, at least as I’m beginning to understand and appreciate though will never fully comprehend since His ways are greater than my ways if you're looking for an application for your work, remember that you spend so much of your waking hours at your job, if you're going to focus on holy things all the day, you have to do so at work. Your work is a great example of where the unseen and seen come together in a beautiful way. /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/27800001

One Measure of a Man-Selah110-CMAW214 08/20/2023

One Measure of a Man-Selah110-CMAW214 52 minutes. One measure of a man and his life. Red was the name he went by, from the color of his hair, but his name was Roger. I met Red early on in my current job. Our paths crossed due to our work, but we connected and enjoyed our time together based on our common love for God, for family, and for conservative politics. While my shift away from focusing on politics change in recent years and I haven't been assigned jobs that had me working with Red as often, we still had a bond and I always enjoyed seeing him and even more so talking with him. Red worked for a contracting firm that did work at the factory where I work. Because of the constant need for repairs, maintenance and new equipments installations, Red was what was considered a resident contractor, meaning he wasn't an employee of the company but was there every day just as if he was one. Just about everyone who knew him at work though of him as not just an employee but as family to some degree. That's partly because of what he did, but more because of who he was. What he did was do mechanical work at a level of excellence I haven't seen with anyone else I've worked with. Red combined a high work ethic with skill, dedication, patience and a gentle spirit. He never blamed anyone. He took responsibility and he focused on what needed to get done not who got the credit. He worked for his company for over 50 years and worked at our plant for over 20 years. He was committed to his wife for life and to his kids and grandkids. Red was a constant in a changing world. He was often being assigned a partner with much less experience than him. With each one, I saw him intentionally try to pass along his knowledge to the less skilled person, along with patience and kindness. Red recently died tragically. The visitation and funeral were not far from the plant where I work so I decided to at least attend the funeral and pay my respects. As I entered the funeral home I instantly heard the quiet buzz of chatter and hushed tones. Then I saw the line. I stretched throughout multiple hallways and was the path to meet and greet Red's family. While in line I enjoyed sharing stories with others who appreciated Red. No-one was there out of obligation. They were there because they loved, at some level, the man everyone knew as Red. 52 minutes I waited in line to share with Red's wife, brother and children how much Red meant to me. Red more than anyone else exemplified glorifying God through his work, while also cherishing his family. He also demonstrated having convictions while not being divisive more than perhaps anyone I know. The world and my workplace is not the same, and won't be the same, without Red. I look forward to being with him in the glory that is to come, and cant' wait to see the great work the Father has in store for Him there. /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/27799779

Father Filtering Being Content-Selah109-CMAW213 08/06/2023

Father Filtering Service-Saleh108-CMAW212 07/30/2023

Fathering Filtering Speech-Selah107-CMAW211 07/23/2023

Fathering Filtering Speech-Selah107-CMAW211 “Death and life are in the power of the tongue and those who love it will eat its fruit “ Prov 18:21 “a fool’s voice is known by his many words.” Ecclesiastes 5:3 “In the multitude of words sin is not lacking, But he who restrains his lips is wise” - Prov 10:19 James 1:19 says " let every man be swift to hear, slow to speak, slow to wrath;" In corporate prayer my Pastor Julio Calderon challenged us to make sure that anything we say that day be more beautiful than silence I've talked in the past many times about the power of our speech, particularly in our work. One thing I don't I have discussed, however, is the power of the Father Filter in reverse. Not only should we filter what we are about to say, we should also filter what we hear. If someone speaks something to you and your instinct, your fleshly response, it to be offended by it, try to instead filter what they've said through Your Father and His Word. If what someone is saying is true based on what God has to say about, even if it's paintful your correct response very well may be to say "I'm sorry, please forgive me, please pray for me, I'll try not to do that again". if what someone has said is NOT true, or only half a truth, filter out the portion that is not true and, if possibly try not to let it bother. Don't defend yourself or react negatively, just let it roll off your back. I realize that it's easier said than done especially when you've conditioned to react to certain negative things spoke over you, but I believe this is so important that it's worth us trying to intentionally change the way we filter what we hear about ourselves and others. Here are my three challenges I have for you this week in your work to apply Father Filtering with your speech, and if you want you can simplify by just picking one of the 3 to make it easier to apply: 1. Try to apply active listening technique with at least one person, specifically do not interrupt the person who's talking, and if you do, only repeat back to them what you think you heard they just said to you and them to confirm it's correct. Resist the urge to share your wisdom, limit your speech to questions 2. Check in with your self lunch time every day and ask your self, did I speak more life or death with my words that morning? Was what I said more beautiful than silence? 3. Next time someone says something to you at work our outside of work that is painful and that you want to react to defending yourself, ask the Father to show you what is true and what is not true. If it's true, apologize, if it's not true don't react and let it go. You may need some time in-between when you hear these words and your response and that may be best. /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/27477774

Fathering Filtering Sight-Selah106-CMAW210 07/16/2023

Fathering Filtering Sight-Selah106-CMAW210 Father Filter 4 parts: Sight, Speech, Service, Being Content Each will be brief but felt best to split them up so you could focus on each specific topic and make an application in your life rather than taking them all on at once. Term I heard from Dr Joe Martin Beyond “what would Jesus do” and trying to be like Him, but rather about literally partnering with Him in our walk here in the flesh as justified but ongoing sanctified children of Yah Josh 1:9 says "do not be afraid, nor be dismayed, for the Lord your God is with you wherever you go.”" As believers, we all recognize that God exists and that He's always with us, but since most of us are not hearing an audible voice from Him, we may wonder sometimes what His constant presence in our lives means and looks like. One way I've begun to understand His presence is through this concept of Father Filtering. It recognizes God's presence while also recognizing our free will and the role we play in how God is part of our daily journey. God is the perfect filter. He is holy. He is perfect. Jer 29:13 says "And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart." What I'm going to be talking about with Father Filtering is not a passive activity. We have to recognize God's presence in our lives and intentionally seek His will, or you could say His filter for every part of our lives, what we consider the big stuff and the little stuff. It's interesting when I did a search to look up this chapter and verse to quote since I remembered the verse but not the location, a 2nd verse also showed up from Ecc 2:3 "I searched in my heart how to gratify my flesh with wine, while guiding my heart with wisdom, and how to lay hold on folly". What an interesting contrast between how Solomon search in his own heart how to gratify his flesh, vs what we're going to talk about which is seeking our Father's heart instead of our own. Jer 17:9 says "“The heart is deceitful above all things, And desperately wicked; Who can know it?" We can't trust our heart, we can completely trust the heart of our Father. Sight “Not Even a Hint” by Joshua Harris based on Eph 5:3 "But among you there must not be even a hint of sexual immorality, or of any kind of impurity, or of greed, because these are improper for God's holy people". He defines lust as craving sexually what God has forbidden, or to want what you don't have and weren't meant to have. God's standard with regard to lust is spelled out clearly in Eph 3, He desires that we no lust whatsoever, not even a hint. Though lust is a heart issue, our eyes or sight, particularly with men, are often a part of it. As Joshua Harris says in his book "Lust tells you lies, the truth sets you free" Song by Leland says “what are you doing when nobody’s watching”. With Father filtering it’s more than just knowing our Father sees all that we do and look at with our eyes, as a Father who is outside of us (which He is), but rather recognizing His Holy Spirit is inside of us as well and inviting Him to filter what we see. This can lead us to make different choices like not looking with lust at women, can also help us see others with more compassion, empathy and kindness. To see others and circumstances with His eyes. Work application - women at work your tempted to look at with lust? Are there co-workers tend to look own upon or with judgment, seeing their flaws and not their pain? Start Father Filtering what you see at your job this week and see how it changes your heart. /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/27477681

Liking Gap at Work-Selah105-CMAW209 07/10/2023

4 Work Tips from Gen 33-Selah104-CMAW208 06/12/2023

4 Work Tips from Gen 33-Selah104-CMAW208 Work Tips from Genesis 33 1. Glorify God and esteem Him for all the people and things with which He has blessed me 2. Consider others with the goals I pursue and the pace with which I pursue them 3. Keep in my mind always the end goal to arrive safely in the place God has intended for me as well as those with whom He has entrusted me with. 4. Along the journey, have a giving heart and esteem others above myself. Follow up to prevent a dreaded meeting outcome Avoid the worst: Holding a meeting to ensure a previous meeting met its purpose! You planned the meeting well. You had all the right people there. You controlled it with the precision of a brain surgeon. So that’s that, right? Not quite. Now comes the time to focus on what to do after the meeting ends. Taking on more work after a meeting might seem to betray the goal of unlocking more time to focus on the right projects. But in the long run, good meeting follow-through will save time for everyone involved. A recap supports good outcomes — and prevents redundancy Many people will agree this is one of the worst meeting outcomes: scheduling a meeting-after-the-meeting to ensure the original meeting served its purpose. Good planning and follow-up can make this a thing of the past. Some meetings are succinct enough to be self-contained, but most benefit from a recap to ensure everyone is on the same page. Here are just a few of the reasons for a written recap: In meetings with virtual participants, it can be hard for everyone to hear everything. If the host or note-taker can’t verbally recap the meeting at the end, a written recap makes sure everyone took away the same conclusions. A recap for meetings with multiple action items creates an extra layer of accountability. If someone doesn’t need to be in a meeting but does need to know the outcome, a recap or summary can reduce the number of meeting attendees. If the meeting generates actions, be clear on what they are and who needs to carry them out. And make sure to send out a recap within 48 hours so items are fresh in everyone’s mind. Recap structure matters Following a standard format will help readers quickly identify the main points and know what’s expected. Start the subject line with the word RECAP to make it identifiable. Structure the recap in sections: decision, actions, key takeaways and additional information. Bold or “@” the names of people with action items so they can easily spot their name. List major conclusions and lessons learned. Provide links to recordings and presentations. Gather feedback How did your meeting go? Feedback is important, and there are various methods to seek it. Use polling tools to solicit feedback or follow up with a few participants to gauge their opinions. For larger meetings, plan to save a few minutes at the end for live feedback. /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/27113784

Jokic vs Kroc-Selah103-CMAW207 06/04/2023

Jokic vs Kroc-Selah103-CMAW207 S God's voice stills you, Satan's voice rushes you God's voice leads you, Satan's voice pushes you God's voice reassures you, Satan's voice frightens you God's voice enlightens you, Satan's voice confuses you God's voice encourages you, Satan's voice discourages you God's voice comforts you, Satan's voice worries you God's voice calms you, Satan's voice obsesses you God's voice convicts you, Satan's voice condemns you From Greg Pruett's interview: Confusion-Me Condemning, Divisive-Demonic Bears fruit-from God also-Human Expectations Dr Joe If self serving-from Me if selfish-from Satan if selfless-from God E-example Nikola Jokic vs Ray Kroc Nikola defers to his teamates when interviewed, rather than taking credit he always says "It's a team effort" and when he was asked about the MVP trophy for the Western Conference Finals he said "this means nothing". I also noticed the way he engages with others, there seems to be a genuine playful friendship and mutual respect with those he works with. Watched Founders about McDonalds "founder" Ray Kroc. He divorced his wife to marry someone more ambitious, he treated the McDonalds brothers poorly and went back on his word about paying them royalties, and he was an alcoholic and very self centered and selfish and prideful. Unfortunately, I recognized some of Ray Kroc in my earlier life, and I have to be careful to check some of these traits now. I used to be very into self-help and Ray would listen to speakers talk about the power of persistence but they weren't talking about doing things in a Biblical way. Ray was a Billionaire and successful by the world's standards, but if his legacy is accurately depicted by this movie, he's not someone I want to emulate. leader at work about making sure we all go home safe, and added "in the end that is all that really matters" H-Handy Better meetings · Purpose — The “why” behind the meeting. Start with a verb. · Participants — Who should be there? If a person won’t have an active role, don’t invite them. · Agenda & Approach — The format and order of discussion. If a topic doesn’t contribute to the meeting results, leave it out. · Results / Outcomes — What should be different when you are done? /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/26979978

Hearing from God with Greg Pruett-CMAW206 05/29/2023

Principles and Whistles-Selah102-CMAW205 05/22/2023

Principles and Whistles-Selah102-CMAW205 You may have wondered when you saw the title what principles and whistles have to do with faith at work Perhaps you thought I would talk about living out your faith as a principal of a school, or since we’re in the middle of the NBA playoffs I might talk sharing Christ while blowing a whistle as a basketball referee. Well, neither would be correct. First of all the principles I’m talking about are spelled with an les on the end not an al. I heard a message recently from a friend and teacher Roger Hadad including a portion on principles. Values are very personal and temporary Our society is driven by values, which are not attached to principles Principles are impersonal, objective and eternal Values are temporary, based on culture and subjective Yeshua or Jesus showed how to take principles out of commandments, eg looking with lust is adultery The principle behind the commandment is fidelity which can be applied to anything (faithfulness) Turn the other cheek-teaching something higher than the commandment of an eye for eye which is love Values can become something negative if not rooted in principles We find principles in the word by asking what’s behind the statement we’re reading So I’d like to challenge you be in the word regularly and devote some of your time while in the word asking yourself what is the principle behind what you’re reading. Specifically as it relates to your work, what principles can you apply to your work life. Another question you might ask while at work is whether your employer is encouraging you to adopt certain beliefs or you might say values or principles. If they are, see if you can find in the Bible verses which support what your employer is encouraging. If you can then celebrate that your employer is encouraging biblical principles even if they aren’t quoting Bible verses. If there is a conflict, you now have a filter through which you can receive and interpret these messaging you receive at work and hopefully you can start to have a conviction about what your work principles are and actively live Out those principles So what does this have to do with whistles? Well, nothing actually but I wanted to share an ah-hah moment I had at work recently. I was walking around my workplace and noticed a fellow employee was whistling. I let him know I thought it was great he was whistling and to keep it up. In the past I’ve talked about simple things you can do to live out your faith at work. One of them has been to smile while at work. Another is to be encouraging to others while at work. While I’d like to add to that list whistling. First of all, it’s hard to have a bad mood when you’re whistling. Second of all, there’s a good chance you could lift the spirits of a coworker without saying but rather by puckering your lips and blowing some air. /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/26907081

Pandemic Study with Adam Rasmussen-CMAW204 05/16/2023

Which Direction-Selah101-CMAW203 05/01/2023

Which Direction-Selah101-CMAW203 Want to be distressed, look within myself, at my own power. Want to be defeated, look behind me, at my past. The enemy is happy to remind me of all my sin and mistakes. Want to be dismayed, look ahead, to the future. No one but God knows what will be. Want to be distracted, look around. There are plenty of things to keep our focus. Want to be delivered, sanctified, and transformed, then look up. Keep my eyes on Jesus. Article on better meetings called "Don’t let the ‘Dominator,’ ‘Downer,’ ‘Derailer’ or other derailing behaviors hijack your meeting!" Every train needs an engineer to keep it on track, and you can apply that principle to meetings, too. When you hold a meeting, consider yourself the engineer — the person who keeps the meeting moving forward and the purpose from being derailed. You may even have to deal with the “Dominator,” “Downer” or “Derailer,” but not to worry. We address that and more later in this story. Almost everyone has organized or attended a meeting that was derailed, and those off-track meetings can quickly become a costly time suck. Preparing for various scenarios and knowing the tools you can use will keep things on track. Manage for impact You don’t want everyone pitching in at once, but it’s valuable to encourage full participation from those attending so you can get to the outcomes of the meeting, and everyone feels fully engaged and their ideas heard. Use polls, hand-raising and breakout groups to ensure everyone is heard. If a group is particularly large, establish some rules to promote interaction. Call out quiet attendees so their perspectives are heard and seek out new perspectives that people may hesitate to share. Plainly tell people you want more guidance or feedback on certain subjects. Don’t be afraid of quiet — meeting silence can be your friend! It may feel awkward, especially for virtual participants, but pause for eight or more seconds after certain questions. That will tend to prompt people to speak, even if only to fill the void. It can also break the tendency for one person to do all the talking. Managing derailing behaviors in your meetings You want everyone in the discussion but watch out for attendees who can reduce meeting effectiveness. Use these tactics to keep things moving in the right direction. The Derailer goes off on tangents and introduces new ideas without making a connection to the purpose. Tactics: Offer separate times to talk about issues that aren’t the point of the meeting. Interrupt if you have to. Offer to set up a post-meeting talk. The Dominator interrupts, dominates the conversation and never asks anyone else questions. Tactics: Politely remind interrupters that everyone has to be heard for a broad discussion. Don’t be afraid to jump in and tell Dominator that you want to hear the rest of what an interrupted person has to say. The Downer shuts down new ideas and exclusively points out what can go wrong. Tactics: Ask downer to suggest improvements rather than just saying something won’t work. If you recognize any of these meeting derailing behaviors, you may also be familiar with the Distractor (Arrives late, has side conversations, multitasks), the Disappearing Act (Did they accept or decline the invite? Who knows?) and the Determined (Fixed on their view and is sure everyone should hear it). Wrapping it all up All good things must end and so must your meeting. If you’ve kept it on track, you should be able to wrap it up while offering some buffer time (close at 11:20, for example, rather than the stated 11:30). For any actions that need to take place afterward, clarity will go a long way. Don’t say, “Someone should look into this.” Do say, “Richard, make sure this is done by 10 a.m. tomorrow.” Don’t say, “We will keep this in mind.” Do say, “I will email everyone and give a decision on this within 24 hours.” If time has run out, still end the meeting. You can send a wrap-up afterward but say before shutting down the meeting – in-person, Teams or hybrid – that you expect everyone to acknowledge they got the message and understand what’s next. /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/26699940

2 Ways to Win at Work-Selah100-CMAW202 04/24/2023

Save Your Marriage with Jerry Jacobs-CMAW201 04/17/2023

2 Steps to Laugh-Selah98-CMAW200 04/10/2023

2 Steps to Laugh-Selah98-CMAW200 Topic of laughter, I want to talk about two steps that are essential to experiencing laughter. Neither of these two steps are to hear or experience something funny, though that certainly often helps us to laugh. The great thing about these two things are that unlike hearing something funny, these two things are under our own control. The first thing is to think positively. It sounds simple and it is. It also sounds secular, something you can read about in any self help book, but it’s definitely biblical 2 Cor 10:5 says "casting down arguments and every high thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every thought into captivity to the obedience of Christ," Philippians 4:8 says " Finally, brethren, whatever things are true, whatever things are noble, whatever things are just, whatever things are pure, whatever things are lovely, whatever things are of good report, if there is any virtue and if there is anything praiseworthy—meditate on these things." , I received this verse in a text from my friend Marco. It's from the well-known love passage in 1 Cor 13, but this AMPC, or amplified classic translation, really hit home to me. "Love bears up under anything and everything that comes, is ever ready to believe the best of every person, its hopes are fadeless under all circumstances, and it endures everything [without weakening]". It’s all about love. God is love. We are made in His image. We are made to love and to receive His love. This verse shows that part of love is believing the best in others, which is another way thinking positively. I was visiting a friend recently and he had a sign in his home that said “Family means you love and will be loved now and for the rest of your life”. At the moment I read this I felt some sadness because of what’s going on in my marriage and the threat to our earthly family. In my quiet time with God as I’m writing this, though, I’m thinking about our most important family and that is the body of Christ. That is the family we will spend eternity with and the family that matters most, with the head of that family, Christ, being the one whom should receive our greatest devotion and love and commitment. Matt 12:46-50 says " Jesus was still speaking to the people when behold, His mother and brothers stood outside, seeking to speak to Him. 47 []Someone said to Him, Listen! Your mother and Your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak to You. 48 But He replied to the man who told Him, Who is My mother, and who are My brothers? 49 And stretching out His hand toward [not only the twelve disciples but all] []His adherents, He said, Here are My mother and My brothers. 50 For whoever does the will of My Father in heaven is My brother and sister and mother!" Jer 29:11-13 shows how God feels about His family, which includes You if You have Christ as your Savior and been grafted into the commonwealth of Israel. Even though God's people had just been exiled to Babylon for their sins and grieving God's heart, Yah still oved them and as evidenced by this passage "For I know the thoughts that I think toward you, says the Lord, thoughts of peace and not of evil, to give you a future and a hope. 12 Then you will call upon Me and go and pray to Me, and I will listen to you. 13 And you will seek Me and find Me, when you search for Me with all your heart" To bring this back to thinking positive, it won't happen unless you choose to think positive, but it also won't happen unless you have the love of God in your heart. To muscle through being positive in your own strength is destined to failure. if you're forcing a positive attitude on the outside but it doesn't come from within, it takes the form of a mask and often negative emotions and actions erupt when that mask is disrupted. The second thing needed to laugh, in addition to thinking positively, is to smile. I’ve talked about the power of a smile, particularly in our workplace but in every part of our lives. I’m reminded about this again these days and realizing how my default facial expression is not to smile, it’s more of a frown or neutral. I can look in the mirror and force a smile, but if I first have a positive attitude the smile tends to occur naturally. /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/26491062

Forgiveness-Selah97-CMAW199 04/03/2023

Forgiveness-Selah97-CMAW199 I have a gift for you today, something that will provide you peace in a way that few things can. That gift is the awareness of the power of forgiveness Forgiveness from AJ Boncore interview on RealMenConnect podcast, he said there are 3 levels of forgiveness Upward, Inward, Outward Unforgiveness is like drinking poison and expecting it to kill someone else My thoughts Need the first two to get to the outward Ideally we’d get the first two as done deal, and focus on outward the rest of our lives, but reality is we need to continue to experience the first two daily to get to the third. We need to ask for forgiveness from God and repent of our sins, and we need to regularly forgive ourselves. 1 John 1:9 says "If we confess our sins, He is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness. " so in that verse we are told of the importance of confessing our sins and it also assures us that we will be forgiven. This was made possible by the once and for all sacrifice of Jesus Christ. I don't believe our salvation is dependent on repeatedly asking for and receiving forgiveness. Yet it's clear confession and repentance is a part of the daily Christian walk that we should all be living out. On the outward journey, forgiving others, another tip I got from the AJ interview was the power of writing a letter. I also learned this through some counseling I had the last few months. I was challenged to write a letter to someone in my life, my father, that I needed to forgive. My father is no longer alive, so I didn’t actually deliver or read that letter to him, I read it to my counselor as if he was that person. It was very powerful to write down what I needed to forgive including how that person’s actions and lack of action impacted me. To dig deeper on this topic of forgiveness I encourage you to read the books Total forgiveness and forgiving yourself by RT Kindell. I will probably expand on this topic of forgiveness drawing from those two books in the future. Currently I have in my pile of books I want to read Forgiving Forward, a gift from my friend Allen. I’ll let you know after I read it my thoughts on that. I also encourage you to listen to the AJ Boncore interview in its entirety. in the show notes. So, in your quiet time with God, be sure to confess your sin that the Holy Spirit is convicting you of. At the same time, be sure to forgive yourself and especially let go of your sins from the distant past that are haunting you. If you continue to beat yourself up over sins you've already been forgiven, the Devil is winning and you are arguably making the statement that you don't believe Christ sacrifice was good enough and you therefore have to finish the job by punishing yourself. Stop doing that. As Paul says in Phillippians 3:13-14 "Brethren, I do not count myself to have apprehended; but one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind and reaching forward to those things which are ahead, 14 I press toward the goal for the prize of the upward call of God in Christ Jesus." /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/26421276

Two Testimonies-Selah96-CMAW198 03/27/2023

Two Testimonies-Selah96-CMAW198 Your Two Testimonies Your past and your present First your past The first you can’t change what happened but you can change how you think about it Do you look back with regret and sadness and feel sorry for yourself and self condemned? Or instead do you see Gods hand through it all, His faithful presence, and His plan to change you and shape you through and because of your past experiences, leading you to be the man He wants you to be. Your second testimony is your present. Story of man at work saying he was fantastic and that he decided long ago he would be fantastic just for today, not worrying about tomorrow. I don’t know if he’s a believer. I hope to find out soon. So I don’t know the source of his philosophy on being fantastic, but I agree with the sentiment. Yeshua on do not worry about tomorrow. "Therefore do not worry, saying, ‘What shall we eat?’ or ‘What shall we drink?’ or ‘What shall we wear?’ 32 For after all these things the Gentiles seek. For your heavenly Father knows that you need all these things. 33 But seek first the kingdom of God and His righteousness, and all these things shall be added to you. 34 Therefore do not worry about tomorrow, for tomorrow will worry about its own things. Sufficient for the day is its own trouble." - Matt 6:31-34 "This is the day the Lord has made; We will rejoice and be glad in it." - Ps 118:24 We cannot change the past, we can only change or affect how we think and talk today about our past. Will we focus on ourselves or on God. Will we see God in our past? If we do, it may be the only way we can be fantastic today which will allow us to have a powerful testimony today, which is our second testimony. Here’s another thought. Every day we contribute to our first testimony, our past, i.e. today's present becomes tomorrow's past. So as we make positive changes in our daily testimony we make positive changes in our past testimony as well. Over time these seeds were sowing will reap a harvest so that over time we’ll have a better outlook on our past testimony. "11 And they overcame him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony, and they did not love their lives to the death." - Rev 12:11 /episode/index/show/slmaw/id/26347761

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