When it started raining in the mountains of Western North Carolina, Bobby and Alyssa Forest had an inkling that maybe this storm would be different than anything they had ever seen. They were right.
Within days of the arrival of Hurricane Helene, their home and their church, Asheville First Nazarene, became a soul-saving and life-giving haven for thousands over the next three months. And that story continues.
Episode 56 of Michael in the Middle explores how one couple found their way toward helping others even in the middle of their own need. It's a fascinating hour of love and care. As the Janet Pascal song from several years ago reminds us, "It Won't Rain Always."
Dan Fogelberg sang a memorable line in the late 1970s, “my life’s a living legacy to the leader of the band.” It hit me again as I listened to my friend, Gary Barker, tell his story of building businesses and adding value to people over the past as several years.
Gary’s a successful member of the Maxwell Certified Leadership Team but his journey was marked by his relationship with father and other influential people. The conversation found here in Episode 55 flowed with practical leadership tips but also several affirmations of simply being present in positive ways in the lives of others.
Episode 54 features a frank discussion of the necessity of honesty as well as the price that is paid for true forgiveness to occur in our most significant relationships. Before the conversation gets heavy there's also a healthy dose of Boston Red Sox family lore. Jeff Scott's grandfather, Stephen Nease, was president of Eastern Nazarene College for a number of years. He also served as president at Mt. Vernon Nazarene University, Southern Nazarene University, and Nazarene Theological Seminary. Jeff is deeply ingrained in the church and in higher education. He is thoughtful, highly learned, and also funny. The story he shares in the podcast centers largely around a crisis of faith and, later, the journey he and his wife, Joy, have taken toward wholeness. It's worth every minute of your time!
In his return to the podcast after a long layoff, Michael talks about the temptation to give up when the going gets tough. In the pursuit of doing something worthwhile there are often moments when the simple determination to keep going is the key to breakthrough.
My wife and I recently moved to a new home. One of the things we love most about it is the "sunroom" that looks out over a sprawling back yard. Watching the sunrise from time to time as it breaks the darkness across our yard and the 160 acre farm with which we share a fence line is never not amazing. Even the tiniest bit of light can start the process of shattering darkness. Episode 52 includes two stories of well-lit graciousness and gratitude. In a time when the darkness of anger, even evil, abounds, the light of goodness can help us overcome it!
With the arrival of Episode 51, I was drawn to #51 of the St. Louis Cardinals, worn so well and for so long by Willie McGee. As a rookie center fielder for the Cards, McGee patrolled the field like a boss. He's still teaching young Cardinals outfielders how to play the game. I played a lot of baseball growing up, well enough to have had college baseball opportunities. I chose a different path, influenced greatly by my parents and other mentors. The in between of life both in age and in circumstance is an interesting place to live. It's my turn now as a sort of patriarchal figure in our family lead the way in getting the middle of good things for the sake of others.
Episode 50 of Michael in the Middle was a few weeks in the making, but it was worth the wait. Joe Drake is one of the most interesting men any of us will ever know. His life story took almost as many twists and turns as any motorcycle enthusiast ever took on a mountain road. On the verge of divorce years ago, Joe and his wife, Val, were invited to church and lovingly brought into a relationship with the God from whom they had been running for years.
"Smokin' Joe" Drake is now "Reverend" Joe Drake. Still "ready for adventure and whatever comes our way," Joe is an international leader in Bikers for Christ as well as lead pastor at Bethel Church of the Nazarene in Nashville, TN.Join Michael and Joe for an often entertaining yet deeply moving chat about loving God and loving people!
With a long and successful career in baseball including college and the pros, Nick Hiter knows what it takes to lead a winning team. In Episode 49, Michael and Nick talk about the similarities involved in baseball and business and how the lure of competition can bring out the best in us. Every game, every new day keeps us running toward our goals that should also include helping others "score" as well.
A few years back, Lauren Alaina recorded a terrific song entitled "Getting Good." The lyric expresses how we are prone to think about all that could go wrong or could be better and often miss out on all the goodness that is already surrounding us. In these days of global unrest and warring factions, it might seem that we are doomed. There is much to be concerned about, to be sure, but there is so much good to be found and shared. Living generously is a great way to be part of a brighter future!
Steve Pennington has been speaking life into audiences, particularly of children and their families, for almost 50 years. Episode 47 of Michael in the Middle offers insights into how giving life to creatively designed puppets allowed Steve and his "friends" to share an uplifting and fun message with millions. The conversation touches on how the characters were created, including the brilliant Snowbird, and how family imprints the persons we become. http://www.steveandfriends.org/ http://www.prokidsusa.com/
We all have times in our lives where relationships can feel as if they're beyond repair. Maybe some are, but they don't all or always have to be. In Episode 46 Michael talks about looking for redemption whenever and wherever we can find it. Take a few minutes to consider how you can be a conduit for redemption in your own life and in the lives of others.
Dr. Ron Jackson is back for a second time on Michael in the Middle to talk about old times, old friends, and the age-old quest for finding oneself. Michael and Ron enjoy some laughs, which everyone needs to do every day, but also get reflective about the passage of time and even the passing of friends.
Dive in to the reality of time-tested friendship and the truth of God's desire for each of us to find our ultimate identity in God's creative process.
Episode 44 of Michael in the Middle of explores the notions of goodness and the power of a moment. Listen as Michael tells stories of goodness and challenges is to seize the moment when it is available to us.
Episode 43 of Michael in the Middle is out and it's sure to be a fascinating journey for listeners. Josh Cobb can hardly remember a time when he wasn't singing. The son of immensely talented musicians, Josh has seen the way an audience can be moved to tears or shouts of joy with a well-delivered song. He's widely regarded as having one of the great voices in the music world today. The singing came fairly easily. The voice is a gift. But the redemptive road to where he is now has had its share of bumps and bruises and twists and turns. As a grateful husband to Beth and father to Judah, Josh Cobb can sing with a soul that is freer than it's ever been. You can hear in his story and you can hear it in his songs.
Teachers are an indispensable, too often taken for granted, mostly underpaid group of people. Even if they are living paycheck to paycheck, it’s not unusual for them to buy essential school supplies for their students who have even less in the way of financial means.
Teachers work as many hours outside the classroom as they do in it. Simply put, teachers are heroes who make a world of difference in the lives of their students.
Ep. 42 of Michael in the Middle pays tribute to the profession and three hero teachers in his life. Listen and then share the love with a teacher you know.
When Michael and Rob (Varnish Media) set out build this podcast, the alliterative "Michael in the Middle" just had a nice ring to it. Now the phrase has become a working brand and a way of life. As Season 2 begins with Episode 41, Michael takes a look back at some significant excerpts from five of the episodes shared in the last half of the inaugural year. A doctor, a couple of preachers, a couple of singers, a songwriter, and a play-by-play college football announcer each demonstrate a commitment to excellence and a commitment to love. With our world spinning outwardly and away from each other, maybe Diamond Rio had it right again with "we gain a lot of ground when we both give a little... Ain't no road too long when we meet in the middle."
Moved by the death of one his dad's oldest and dearest friends, Michael focuses Episode 40 on what it's like to take a moment to remember one another and to be in touch while the opportunity presents itself. Recounting the story of a visit with his dad to see a friend in a nursing home a few years back, Michael reminds us God reaches out to people in a personal way, and most of the time God reaches out through us.
Gary Morsch is a medical doctor with a sincere heart of love for the world and an adventuresome soul that has seen most of the world. In Episode 39 of Michael in the Middle, listeners are invited into the amazing mind of one of the most interesting persons one could ever meet. With time for only a few vignettes, Gary and Michael discuss the founding of Heart to Heart International, a leader in relief work around the globe, meeting Mother Teresa in Old Calcutta, among other stories. You'll want to listen to every minute and then maybe listen again!
What's it like to tell the stories of others' days of glory on a basketball court, baseball field, or football field? Michael knows at least one good person to ask such a question.
Greg Ruff is a veteran who served in the Air Force. Not only did Greg Ruff do a stint in the US Air Force, but he is also a veteran of the broadcasting business, specializing in live play-by-play, sports information, and marketing. With more stories than an hour can hold, Episode 38 of Michael in the Middle is a fun look back at some great moments in middle Tennessee sports, while also offering a glimpse into what it takes to succeed in any field.
In an era where name calling and labeling of others is rampant, Episode 37 seeks to redeem the way we talk about each other. We are all known by our names given at birth or by titles we've been given, but many are known by names given them by others that are less than kind. The world is longing for redemption whether it knows it or not. We can and should do better as we think of and address one another. Be a part of the movement that leans in that direction.
