Author Mark Gregston has been working with teens for over 40 years. His years as a youth minister and area director for Young Life inform his expertise and passion for helping teens through their most turbulent years. He and his wife Jan have opened their home to those in need of guidance, or even just a warm hug from a caring parent. After moving their family to Texas, Greg and Jan started Heartlight, a residential counseling center for struggling teens and families in crisis. Now, after years...

'Brought Me to Tears': Operation Blessing's Gift of Clean Drinking Water a Game-Changer in NC

'A Miracle from God': Lives and Livelihoods Restored as Operation Blessing Helps Brazil Flood Victims

Operation Blessing helps retired police officer with clean-up from downed trees and debris after Hurricane Helene.

Joseph is legally blind, making the cleanup after Hurricane Milton particularly challenging. Operation Blessing provides a team of volunteers to restore his property and minister to his spirit. 

After Hurricane Helene devastated their North Carolina property, the Browns didn't know how they would move forward. That's when Operation Blessing arrived to help them begin to rebuild their lives.

If you are a Christian, then you are called to use your gifts at church in a volunteer role or perhaps professionally. Choosing the roles that best fit your personality and interests can lead to serving God and the church more effectively. Your job satisfaction will also increase as you serve people out of your strengths.  John Holland created a theory that can help you to have more job and ministry success and satisfaction. Holland identified six personality themes: Realistic, Investigative,...

Linda Beavert never thought she’d be able to enjoy retirement. “I've just sailed through it. I know because God's held my hand, you know.  He answers, and he leads me and there's just no better peace, no better confidence.” For most of their thirty-seven-year marriage, Linda and her husband struggled financially, even though they both worked full-time. “I was never comfortable about our money situation. We didn't know about budgeting; we never budgeted, and we lived from hand to mouth, just...

Over the past decade, plant scientists have quietly transformed the way we think of trees, forests and plants. They discovered that trees communicate through vast underground networks, that plants learn and remember. If plants are intelligent beings, how should we relate to them? Do they have a place in our moral universe? Should they have rights?

Human identity cannot be separated from our nonhuman kin. From forest ecology to the human microbiome, emerging research suggests that being human is a complicated journey made possible only by the good graces of our many companions. In partnership with the Center for Humans and Nature and with support from the Kalliopeia Foundation, To The Best Of Our Knowledge is exploring this theme of "kinship" in a special radio series.

Original Air Date: December 19, 2020

Guests:

Robin Wall Kimmerer — Matt Hall — Monica Gagliano — Brooke Hecht

Interviews In This Hour:

We've Forgotten How To Listen To Plants — We Share This World With Plants. What Do We Owe Them? — Guided by Plant Voices — The Botanical Medicine Cabinet

We’ve all been changed by the experience of living through a pandemic. We figured out how to sanitize groceries, mute ourselves on Zoom and keep from killing our roommates. But we’re also tackling bigger, existential questions — how can we, individually and collectively, find meaning in the experience of this pandemic?

Original Air Date: May 23, 2020

Guests: 

David Kessler — Tyrone Muhammad — Nikki Giovanni — John Kaag — Alice Kaplan

Interviews In This Hour: 

Grief Is A Natural Response To The Pandemic. Here’s Why You Should Let Yourself Feel It. — 'You Smell Death': Being A Mortician In A Community Ravaged By COVID-19 — Nikki Giovanni Reads a Poem of Remembrance — Does Philosophy Still Matter In The Age Of Coronavirus? — Why Camus' 'The Stranger' Is Still a Dangerous Novel

There are old folktales and legends of people who can become animals. Animals who can become people. And there’s a lesson for our own time in those shapeshifting stories — a recognition that the membrane between what's human and more-than-human is razor thin.

Original Air Date: November 20, 2021

Guests: 

Sharon Blackie — David Abram — Chris Gosden — Stephen Graham Jones

Interviews In This Hour: 

Reclaiming the fierce women who are shapeshifters — How a man turned into a raven — Shapeshifters, shamans and the 'New Animism' — Horror author Stephen Graham Jones on what our monsters say about us

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Jeff Blackwell has been a beloved on-air talent for Catholic Community Radio in Baton Rouge for many years, but in 2020, Jeff was in a fight for his life. After going to dinner with his wife Diane, he became violently ill.   “I knew I was sick,” Jeff says. “I had never felt that bad before in my life. I couldn’t hold anything down. I finally told my wife, ‘I've got to go to the ER. I can't handle it.’"  Jeff was then admitted to a local hospital. He was later transferred to ICU where his...

Few of us can say we were planning on the COVID-19 outbreak and the resulting lockdowns of 2020. Let’s be honest—the coronavirus pandemic was unexpected. I know I speak for most when I say we weren’t planning on the heightened health protocols and stay-at-home orders that ensued. One of the consequences many encountered in the months of the pandemic was closed churches. Instead of the regular Sunday morning family outing to our local parish, we grew accustomed to the intimate setting of our...

By the time I got to the chorus, my voice was completely gone. Suddenly, I was painfully aware of the lights, and the countless faces staring up at me. And how the song kept going even though when I opened my mouth to sing—barely a whisper came out.  I panicked. I’m not ashamed to admit it. On a team of people, and in front of the entire church, I felt completely alone. Isolated in my embarrassment. Drowning in my confusion. Almost as if a wave had exploded through the front doors of the...

What do you think of when you hear the word hope? Hope is powerful. It is a necessity, right next to food and water. Hope that comes from the Lord and from knowing Him is life changing. In fact, Hebrews 6:19 tells us that the hope the Lord gives us is an anchor for our souls. It is firm and secure. Meaning, it is powerful enough to hold us steady when the wind and the waves of grief and trouble beat against us. Have you experienced this kind of hope in your own life? Grief is one of those...

God keeps His promises. You’ve probably heard that before, but have you experienced God’s promise-keeping abilities in your own life?  Whenever I think about God’s promises, I think of Abraham. God made some big promises to Abraham, including some that were hard to trust. He would be the father of many nations and God would take care of him. God also promises that He will take care of us (see Matthew 6:25-34). After job loss left me without a home, I struggled with feeling disappointed with how...

Specification writers should think more about inexperienced installers.

There is a correct way to go about a construction project, and not doing so can have consequences.

Employers, manufacturers, distributors, contractor services, and career seekers with entry-level to advanced experience are all invited to attend the 2022 Insulation Career Fair & Training Expo. 

Hospeco Brands Group, a United States-based, full-line manufacturer of cleaning and protection products to serve the janitorial, industrial supply, food service, health care and hospitality markets, has purchased Innocore of Ontario, Canada, maker of Touch Point and Certainty Brands premoistened, non-woven, surface and personal wipes and other hand care products.

Fresh Coat Painters, a leading national residential and commercial painting franchise with over 170 units, is pleased to announce the appointment of Wayne Scherger as its new Chief Operating Officer.

Two powerful market leaders are joining together to form one powerhouse partnership. Hospeco Brands Group, a United States-based, full line manufacturer of personal care, cleaning and protection products to serve the janitorial, industrial supply, automotive, foodservice, health care and hospitality markets, is announcing a merger with Monarch Brands, wholesaler and manufacturer of microfiber, commercial laundry linen, institutional textiles and wiping products.

If you are involved in the EIFS business, are you concerned with insurance? The guess is it depends on who and where you are.

How Florida lawmakers’ attempt to make property insurance more affordable could affect your business.

Are credit cards the right path for subcontractors to buy materials for a project? Here’s a breakdown.

The International Fire Code requires annual visual inspection of all fire-resistance-rated assemblies and the protection features – firestopping included. Fire doors can be the entry to building owners to help them satisfy the annual visual inspection requirement in NFPA 80 and the International Fire Code.

Specified Technologies announced the launch of its new corporate website. The new face of stifirestop.com is designed with customers in mind, increasing discoverability and ease of use while still empowering the core group of power-user customers.

ClarkDietrich is giving framing contractors greater flexibility in leveraging the firestopping power of its BlazeFrame family of products with the introduction of BlazeFrame Tape.

Specified Technologies announced that its SpecSeal LC Endothermic Firestop Sealant is now being offered in three colors: deep red, gray and white. Customers have been asking for both the white and gray for gypsum wallboard and concrete block spaces.

Third-party contractor accreditation programs are required in specifications around the world. Special inspection agencies and their inspectors are required to demonstrate competence and relevant experience. This is demonstrated by passing a Firestop Exam.

Milwaukee Tool has once again expanded its presence in the United States with the opening of its newest manufacturing facility, which is located in Grenada County, Mississippi.

Your wealth is at risk if you do not understand these myths.

It is important to reduce embodied carbon in the built environment.

On Oct. 7, IIBEC sent a letter to the mayor and city council of Wilmington, North Carolina, recommending that they consider establishing a building façade inspection program in light of two recent building failures.

There's value in using specialized gypsum panels for a home. But the benefits don’t stop there.

After a year at the Gypsum Association, Technical Services Specialist Greg Woolley is more than ready to answer your questions related to gypsum panel products.

Glass mat gypsum sheathing is common for commercial uses but rarer in residential construction

The American Concrete Institute has released its 2024 collection of concrete codes, specifications and practices.

Registration for the American Concrete Institute’s 2024 Professors’ Workshop is now open. This year’s event will be held in three stages on July 15, 23 and 24.

The American Concrete Institute is excited to host the ACI Concrete Convention on Nov. 3-6 in Philadelphia. Known as the world’s gathering place for advancing concrete, the convention will take place at the Philadelphia Marriott Downtown.

The CIT fund has an interesting initiative for a building envelope program.

The role of polyisocyanurate insulation in high-performance systems.

Imagine training employees with a virtual reality, audio-visual headset that puts them on the job, inside a realistic house, with saws buzzing, hammers tapping and birds chirping. That is the concept behind an industry-leading virtual reality training program sponsored by Owens Corning.

Knauf Insulation, Inc. announced the opening of its new, state-of-the-art facility in McGregor, Texas, bringing Knauf’s manufacturing network to eight locations across the United States.

Prefab construction is here, and it’s happening. The combination of a severe labor shortage and extreme shortfalls in housing supply is driving a renewed interest in prefabricated construction as a more cost-efficient alternative to traditional building.

Summer is a great time for construction work, but a brutal time for construction workers. Excessive heat and sun exposure pose significant dangers, such as sunburn, dehydration, heat cramps, heat exhaustion and heat stroke. Every year, construction workers become ill on the job and some even lose their lives due to heat exposure.

How spray foam can fight climate change and help companies achieve their energy goals.