A black man befriends KKK members in his quest to tear down racial barriers

Tonight we return to the topic of racial reconciliation.  Our guest is Daryl Davis, a local musician, author, and black man who is on a mission to tear down some of the most extreme barriers between whites and blacks in our country.  For the past 30 years, Daryl has been seeking out and befriending members of the KKK, and watching them radically transform when they came to know him.  Some of these transformations have been so remarkable that a number of Klan members have rescinded their beliefs and given their hoods and robes to Daryl for a museum he plans to create.  Daryl joins us to talk about the power of crossing the divide, truly listening to people who are radically different from us, and building relationships.  He’ll also talk about what he learned performing with people like Chuck Berry, Jerry Lee Lewis, and Bo Diddley.   

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

How can you hate me if you don't even know me? 

The power of giving your adversary a platform, genuinely listening to him or her, and talking with them and not at them.

The power of rock and roll.

FULL INTERVIEW WITH DARYL DAVIS

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For more information:  Daryl Davis Website;  Daryl's Steve Harvey Show Appearance;  Accidental Courtesy - Daryl Davis, Race & America documentary;  Klan-Destine Relationships: A Black Man's Odyssey in the Ku Klux Klan

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Opening music:  Daryl Davis, Y2K Boogie

Closing music:  Daryl Davis, Double "D" Blues

Transforming prisons into places of economic, social, and spiritual flourishing

There are over 2.2 million prisoners in the United States.  Wouldn’t it be great if we could harness their potential, give them meaningful work, and pay fair wages that they could use to help their families outside of prison?  Well tonight’s guest has done just that.  Since 2010, Pete Ochs, CEO of Capital III (“3”), has run businesses inside the maximum and medium security prisons at the Hutchinson Correctional Facility in Kansas.  Pete joins us to talk about how these businesses came about, the profound effect they have had on everyone involved, and the lessons he’s learned over his 40+ year career.    

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

Our impact is limited when we have one foot in worldly success and one foot in surrender. 

Prisons are deserts of human flourishing, but when you offer economic opportunities and treat inmates with dignity the doors to flourishing fling open. 

Success, significance, and surrender.

FULL PETE OCHS INTERVIEW

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For more information:  Capital III Website;  Documentary Trailer for Prison-Based Seat King Business (Scroll down for video)

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Opening and closing music by Chris Tomlin, Your Grace Is Enough

Why capitalism is the best economic system for lifting up people and societies

Over four years ago, Anne Bradley gave birth to her daughter, Bailey Grace, nine weeks premature.  After her delivery, Bailey spent five weeks in an incubator with a tiny tube that passed through her nose and down to her stomach to feed her.  Anne often wondered what she would have done if she lived somewhere like Bangladesh where the type of medical care we take for granted isn’t widely available.  She also thought about that tiny breathing tube and the people who conceived, designed, tested, made, and delivered it – people who almost certainly encounter mundane and frustrating things in their jobs and never get to see the impact of their work on folks like Anne and Bailey.

Anne is the Vice President of Economic Initiatives at the Institute for Faith, Work & Economics; teaches at Georgetown and George Mason Universities; and is the co-editor of two books including the recently-released Counting the Cost: Christian Perspectives on Capitalism.  She joins us to talk about the higher purpose and impact of our work, no matter how ordinary it may seem; and how capitalism, while imperfect, is the best system we’ve got for lifting up people and societies.

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

You have a personal role in our economic system, so be encouraged and joyfully serve others.

There is no mundane job in a market economy when God has called you to do it.

Market economies motivate people to innovate and profit by giving others something that helps them. 

FULL ANNE BRADLEY INTERVIEW

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For more information:  Counting the Cost: Christian Perspectives on Capitalism;  The Institute for Faith, Work & Economics

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Opening and closing music by Chris Tomlin, Your Grace Is Enough

Inova’s CEO reflects on 30+ years at the helm of the non-profit

Knox Singleton has been the CEO of the Inova Healthcare System for over 30 years.  Under his leadership, the non-profit has grown to serve over 2 million people annually with revenues of $3.3 billion in 2016 and over 16,000 employees at its five hospitals.  Knox joins us to reflect on the changes at Inova during his tenure, the promise of personalized medicine, and the things that most significantly shaped his career and life.    

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

A call to live life with a sense of urgency.

The biggest shift in Knox's life. 

Facing your own mortality.

The promise of tailoring medical treatments and early detection.

FULL KNOX SINGLETON INTERVIEW

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For more information:  About Inova;  Inova's Center for Personalized Health (ICPH)

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Opening and closing music:  Leah Mari, Bethel Music, Healer

A local businessman who's been serving Sri Lankans since the 2004 tsunami

In 2004, the 3rd largest earthquake ever recorded struck the Indian Ocean triggering a series of tsunamis that killed at least 230,000 people in 14 countries.  The earthquake caused the entire planet to vibrate and triggered additional earthquakes as far away as Alaska.  In Sri Lanka, at least 36,000 people were killed.  Watching events unfold halfway around the world, local businessman Jack Schwab felt compelled to go to Sri Lanka and help.  He quickly formed a team that was on the ground within weeks of the disaster and has been serving the people of Sri Lanka ever since.  Jack joins us to talk about those dark days when he first arrived, the love he has developed for the people he has served, and how anyone can respond to the promptings of their heart and make a difference, no matter how busy they are.   

INTERVIEW HIGHLIGHTS

When you feel the pull to do something, just do it!

For I was hungry, and you fed me. I was thirsty, and you gave me a drink. I was a stranger, and you invited me into your home.  I was naked, and you gave me clothing. I was sick, and you cared for me. I was in prison, and you visited me.  (Matthew 25:35-36)

Focusing on things that fall through the cracks, and providing simple things that brighten children's lives.

FULL JACK SCHWAB INTERVIEW

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For more information:  Service, Love and Hope Website

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Opening and closing music by Chris Tomlin, Your Grace Is Enough

Dramatically improving the lives of hundreds of thousands of prisoners and their families

Our criminal justice system is broken.  We lock up way too many people in awful conditions; we generally don’t help them rehabilitate and heal; our prisons seem to drain the life out of inmates and train them in new forms of criminal behavior; and the majority of those released commit more crimes and return to prison.  Today we're joined by James Ackerman, the President and CEO of Prison Fellowship – the nation’s largest outreach working to improve the lives and futures of prisoners, former prisoners, and their families.  Prison Fellowship is active in 449 U.S. prisons and jails and offers intensive year-long programs in 76 of those facilities across 23 states.  The non-profit estimates that it serves 25,000 prisoners each month, and impacts 200,000 unique inmates per year.  Prison Fellowship also operates the Angel Tree program where volunteers purchase and deliver Christmas gifts on behalf of parents who are incarcerated, providing gifts to 291,000 children last year alone.

Prisons can be incredibly dark and dangerous places, but they can also be places of tremendous renewal and hope.

Prisoners are people just like you and me.

The passion behind Prison Fellowship and the success of its programs.

You haven't lived...

Full interview with James Ackerman, Prison Fellowship's President and CEO.  (This may take 30 seconds or so to load.)

Vanishing Grace - An interview with Philip Yancey

About 20 years ago, I (Ed) was adrift in my Christian faith.  I had stopped attending the legalistic church I had been part of for many years, I was chasing the big payday in the high-tech startup world, and I had recently become a father.  All the while, though, something kept gnawing at me, but I couldn’t quite put my finger on it.  As I wandered through Barnes and Noble, as I often did in those days, I kept passing a book entitled What’s So Amazing About Grace?  At first I thought, that’s a catchy title.  Then I started to think more and more deeply about that question until I finally said to myself, “What is so amazing about grace?!?” So I purchased the book and read it, and it changed my life.  Today, we’re joined by Philip Yancey, the author of that book and 20 others (four written with Dr. Paul Brand), many of them award winning.  Philip’s most recent book is entitled Vanishing Grace, Whatever Happened to the Good News?  In it, he revisits the topic of grace noting that his original question has only grown more urgent in recent years.   

Christians should be characterized by their joy, love, unity, generosity, and how well they get along with people no one else can get along with. 

A near-death experience leads to a greater awareness of grace.

We need to replace anger, divisiveness, judgement, and condemnation with the Spirit of grace demonstrated by Jesus.

Full Philip Yancey interview.  (This may take 30 seconds or so to open.)

For more information:  Philip Yancey

Opening and closing music by Chris Tomlin, Your Grace Is Enough

Redemption and forgiveness through 20 years of prison and beyond

Jeff Lisanick was like many of us who grew up in Northern Virginian.  After a good, middle-class upbringing, he went off to college and started partying and experimenting with alcohol and drugs.  His story becomes remarkable, though, in what happened next.  On November 29, 1989, while high on laughing gas, he ran a red light and rear-ended another car, killing its two occupants.  He was later convicted of involuntary manslaughter and sentenced to 37 years in prison.  Jeff joins us to tell about his life journey since then, and the power he discovered that radically transformed a terrible event into an amazing story of forgiveness, overcoming, and redemption.   

The beauty of a victim's forgiveness.

Three men minister to Jeff and express the love of Christ as he faced serious charges.

After serving 15 years in prison, Jeff deals with the shock of finding out he's not being released in 24 days as expected.

Moving people from homelessness to housing.

Full Interview:

Unimaginable forgiveness in the face of murder

“This man’s grandson killed this man’s son.”  This is how our guest, Azim Khamisa, is often introduced when he appears before groups gathered to hear him speak.  His story begins back in 1995 when his only son, Tariq – a 20-year-old student – was shot and killed while delivering pizzas in San Diego. His killer, Tony Hicks, became the first 14-year-old to stand trial as an adult in the state of California.  Tony received a 25-year-to-life prison sentence.  Not long after his son’s death, Azim founded the Tariq Khamisa Foundation – an organization committed to stopping children from killing children.  He also invited Tony’s grandfather and guardian, Ples Felix, to join him in this cause, and the two of them have since been sitting side-by-side on stages across the country sharing the power of forgiveness. 

There are victims at both ends of the gun.

Forgiveness displaces resentment and guilt, and leads to a fuller and more peaceful life.

An Eastern Muslim and Southern Baptist team up to promote forgiveness and nonviolence.

Full interview. 

For more information:  http://tkf.org/;  http://www.azimkhamisa.com/

 

Educating and feeding children on Haiti's Forgotten Island

Larry Thompson is a Lieutenant in the Arlington Fire Department who felt called to go to Haiti back in 2012 and serve earthquake victims.  He has since formed a nonprofit called The Least of These Foundation that feeds and educates 240 children on an island off the coast from Port-au-Prince, Haiti.  His story is a great example of the impact that a “regular guy” can have when honoring his or her calling and simply determining not to give up. 

Two minute call to action.

A favorite story.

Why "the least of these"?

Full interview. 

For more information:  http://www.leastofthesehaiti.com/