Old news. Bad news. Fake news. Sometimes you want to shut down and get no news at all! I aim to change that by focusing on good people doing good works. I visit with artists, educators, civic & spiritual leaders, musicians, business owners, students, volunteers, and everyday citizens who are using their creativity, resources, and talents to bring hope, happiness, and goodness to their corner of the world.
Episodes
Thursday Jan 30, 2020
Thursday Jan 30, 2020
EP. 70 - The Unintentional Pedestal Ft. Shakiyla Solomon
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One of the most gratitude producing activities I think one can participate in is meditating on the origins of things. When you look closely at any good thing in your life and trek backward, beautiful worlds of intersecting experiences and chance circumstances begin to unfold. A bigger picture is revealed, and new light shines on individuals, revealing value that may not have been fully appreciated at the time. Reflecting on this blessing in my life—this podcast I call "Find the Good News"—it was clear that its origins flowed from many places, like little streams connecting into this one river of conversation. One of those streams formed during a video interview I conducted many years ago with a local educator named Shakiyla Solomon. I interviewed many of the best-and-brightest teachers in our region for that project, but there was a special light about Shakiyla. She spoke with uncalculated care, in a manner and tone that made every word seem important. While she was talking specifically about education, there was an undercurrent of wisdom that seemed to carry her words along effortlessly. In the full-scope of that mini-documentary, only a fraction of what Shakiyla and I talked about made the final cut. Reflecting on that project put the idea in my head that perhaps there was a way to capture more of these beautiful conversations in the long-form. If you listen to this podcast, then you can draw the connections from there. A lot has changed for Shakiyla since we visited at Washington Marion High School. She answered the call to serve as an educator in a Christian village in Nigeria. At the time of our conversation, she had been working there for one year. In speaking with Shakiyla, it was very clear to me that her time in Nigeria has expanded her comforting presence, deepened her gratitude, and strengthened her faith. It has shown her that one who chooses to teach can do so in ways that reach beyond the classroom walls, radiating out to others through small everyday actions. Teaching can be shared through a kindness shown, or even in the ways one teaches others how to value themselves just as they were created. In Nigeria, Shakiyla is gaining a new perspective, revealing a communal way of living that I am sure will continue to shape her as she moves on to the next stage of her journey. She has been a part of my journey too. Now, she can be a part of yours. This is my conversation with Shakiyla Solomon.
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SUPPORT FIND THE GOOD NEWS ON PATREON >> www.Patreon.com/FindTheGoodNews
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FOR MORE INFO ON BETH FIELDS BUNCH >> https://www.facebook.com/shakiyla.renae
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FIND THE GOOD NEWS IS PRODUCED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com
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SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
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SULPHUR TODAY >> www.facebook.com/sulphurtoday / #SulphurToday
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BRIMSTONE MUSEUM >> www.brimstonemuseum.org or Call (337) 527-0357
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Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
Ep. 69 - The Surrender Ft. Beth Fields Bunch - Find the Good News with Oran Parker
Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
Wednesday Jan 15, 2020
EP. 69 - The Surrender Ft. Beth Fields Bunch of Almost Home Ministries
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Finding out that there are even more good people doing good works in your hometown is always exciting to me. A year ago, I would have never believed that people would just come up to me when I’m out and about and hand me a slip of paper with a lead on someone doing some excellent service in the community I grew up in, but that’s my new reality. Still, as often as it happens, I can’t get used to the light that rises in me, that warm feeling that drives away sneaky thoughts of gloom and doom, and replaces them with something that’s sorely missing in this world. That rising light is hope. That’s what I discovered once again when Beth Fields Bunch agreed to come and visit me on Find the Good News. Beth runs Almost Home Ministries, a Christian recovery ministry in Sulphur, Louisiana that helps individuals rebuild their lives while overcoming the heavy burdens and sorrows caused by substance abuse, and subsequent addictions. Beth and those in her ministry meet people in their hopelessness and brokenness, offering them a ladder out of the deep hole of despair they’ve often climbed. Almost Home Ministries provides loving structure and guidance, helping those that many have written off as lost causes. Christian discipleship pays off for Beth and those in her ministry. They take the call to love and serve the lost sincerely. Where others may see a burden, Almost Home Ministries sees a fellow child of God. Many aren’t able to look past the stigma and the shame of past mistakes, but Beth believes in transformation, using the genuine pains and troubles of the past as gifts to reach others that may be on the same sorrowful path. She understands this because her feet trod that same road, and she found a better way. For Beth, the path to rebuilding and healing presents itself when, in our brokenness, we surrender to something greater than ourselves. It is this something greater that changed her life and gave birth to Almost Home Ministries. For individuals shattered by substance abuse and addiction, It is this something greater that continues to hem frayed edges, knitting and reforming their lives, healing broken families. It is this something greater that offers them the rising light of hope.
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SUPPORT FIND THE GOOD NEWS ON PATREON >> www.Patreon.com/FindTheGoodNews
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FOR MORE INFO ON BETH FIELD BUNCH & ALMOST HOME MINISTRIES
BETH FIELDS BUNCH >> https://www.facebook.com/bunch2love
ALMOST HOME MINISTRIES >> https://www.facebook.com/AHBunchofus/
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FIND THE GOOD NEWS IS PRODUCED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com
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SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
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SULPHUR TODAY >> www.facebook.com/sulphurtoday / #SulphurToday
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BRIMSTONE MUSEUM >> www.brimstonemuseum.org or Call (337) 527-0357
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Wednesday Jan 01, 2020
Wednesday Jan 01, 2020
EP. 68 - The Shot in the Dark Ft. Pastor Sean Barron
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Most of my conversations on Find the Good News start off right at the round table. In the case of Pastor Sean Barron, I got to have a long friendly chat with him the night before we recorded. I usually get to see each guest as they walk up to the studio door. With Sean, I walked right up to him as he was coming in, and what a joyous greeting he provided. He offered a genuine smile, a hug, and one of my favorite gifts to receive, the gift of common ground. Sean shared happy memories with me of his youth spent scouring the shelves of my Daddy's local video and gaming store, Bo's Videos. I think fondly on those times in the 80s and 90s, and it was clear to me that Sean does as well. In my case, and I think perhaps in Sean's, those times hold high-value because they were before the troubles. You know the troubles. We each have them in our lives, to one varying degree or another. Depending on the ever-changing variety of circumstances in life, the troubles could be little speed bumps, or they could be tire-shredding potholes. In Pastor Sean's case, the troubles came, and they came again, and again. These troubles became the very ground on which Sean's salvation was built, the tilled earth that gave our region the Christian recovery program "Freedom Ministry of the South. He said something to me in our conversation that stood out, partly because it was familiar and mostly because it was powerful. "My name is Sean, and my life has become unmanageable." Maybe you've said some version of this, or perhaps you're on your way there. Wherever you're at, whatever your troubles, however unlovable you feel you are, Sean Barron and "Freedom Ministry of the South" is there to give you the gift of common ground. You haven't fallen anywhere that they haven't fallen too. Because they've been shredded in the same potholes, they know how to change a tire and get you back on a better path. Sean has been there himself, and he knows the way out is through loving and compassionate Christian accompaniment. His message is one of falling down, getting up, redemption, love, transformation, and hope. This is my conversation with Pastor Sean Barron.
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SUPPORT FIND THE GOOD NEWS ON PATREON >> www.Patreon.com/FindTheGoodNews
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FOR MORE INFO ON PASTOR SEAN BARRON & FREEDOM MINISTRY OF THE SOUTH
PASTOR SEAN >> https://www.facebook.com/seanB009
FREEDOM MINISTRY OF THE SOUTH >>https://www.facebook.com/FREEDOMMINISTRYOFTHESOUTH337/
SEAN'S BOOK "FINISH YOUR MILK (AND DON'T DRINK THE KOOl-AID)" >> https://www.facebook.com/finishyourmilk/
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FIND THE GOOD NEWS IS PRODUCED BY PARKER BRAND CREATIVE SERVICES >> www.ParkerBrandUp.com
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SUPPORT OUR ADVERTISERS
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SULPHUR TODAY >> www.facebook.com/sulphurtoday / #SulphurToday
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BRIMSTONE MUSEUM >> www.brimstonemuseum.org or Call (337) 527-0357
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