You can't deny the physiological benefits of working out. You get up in the morning and you punish your body to perfect your soul. And I do honestly believe, and I know, because I feel it every day, that working out and testing your limits and getting beyond those really does kind of make you a better person. What I would say really kind of defines my job is putting out fires. I walk into each and every day and I really never know what I'm going to be facing. I never know what challenges are going to be presented to me. But what I do know is, when I go into the gym or when I go for a run, I can control that. And I can also mentally work through any sort of challenges in my head while I'm doing it. And it really just helps kind of refocus me, makes me sharper, makes me feel like I can respond quicker. When I don't work out every day, prior to coming and taking on this job, I just don't feel like I'm ready for the challenges I might have to face. I think there's a difference between working out and being an athlete. When you work out, you're doing great things for your body, you're doing great things for your mind, but you're kind of trotting along. Being an athlete is understanding that there's an excellence quotient to it, right? It's not just about working out. It's about going in there, getting after it, and being just a little bit better than you were the day before. It's setting those goals, understanding your limitations, and being willing and daring to get beyond it. I'm Major April Moore, and this is how I stay resilient.


So welcome to faith-based tech connections I want to thank everybody for being here today and I know some people may have to leave So this is being recorded and it'll be emailed to everyone who's registered within 48 hours. Do me a favor Please remain on mute if you would like to make a response to a questionnaire or make a comment You used to be action button down at the side and some people like I don't have time to find I'm just ready to tell you so you can wave at me if you would like You know wave your hand if you'd like to ask a question or make a comment But if you can try to keep yourselves on mute, so I have some special guests here today I hope they pop up because everybody's busy, but gail carpenter She's the chief business development officer The last week you all asked about some products that we don't have in our catalog and gail is the person to tell Because she it gets them here.  I got a couple announcements I want to ask you to do me a favor If you're having an event that's coming up a conference or anything invite us to speak invite tech soup Sherry, excuse me Shannon cherry is over our communications and events you can copy down her Email, I'll put it in the chat room if you cannot remember Shannon because I know you're seeing me a lot Then you can email me any events that you're having Even this if it's a sponsorship, so just email us and let us know I would love for you To become a feature speaker. I know I mentioned that but I don't like to be the one speaking all the time And I would love if you have something to share something that you're doing that's working or even Maybe challenges that you're having and other people need to hear about it because it's gonna help them That's what we're here for to help each other Email me at a simons at tech soup or I would love for you to become a feature speaker Especially next month because next month. We're gonna be talking about Strategies that you are using for 2022. I want you to share the knowledge And I want you to do me a favor I want you to help me choose the name or us choose a name for this group I got a survey a little later So I would love for you to help me choose the name of this group. We go back and forth with tech soup faith faith-based tech connections or Faith-based chat, so I'm gonna put a poll up here and you can help Choose the name and then that'll be it and then I won't have to go back and forth because I changed it Faith-based leaders one time and then it was faith-based tech connection. I want to know what you think We didn't want to call it pastors chat because everybody's not a pastor and and everybody has different titles, so Whatever name that you guys choose. That's what we're gonna stick to the last time. I had a small group that chose and I'm gonna see where we're at. We're almost done 63% is saying faith-based tech connections. Love it And I'll show you in just a moment. We're gonna end the poll in just a moment But I want to talk about things that you brought up. I'm gonna open my laptop or survey Last month when you fill out the survey. I was so so First of all thankful that you took the time to fill out the survey I'm gonna end this poll and then I'll share the results. So it's going to be faith-based tech connections Thank you very much. That is that is it. Okay faith-based tech connections so Last month when I asked you to fill out the survey There were a lot of great questions that people asked and again, I wanted us to continue the conversation Did you guys enjoy the conversation last month? Put a one in the chat room because there was so much Information that was giving out and even myself. I was just blown away By the feedback that you all gave to each other and by the camaraderie Thank you, Asia for being here is your first time. Welcome. Welcome. Welcome. Awesome. A lot of first-timer Cynthia First time. Thank you so much. So you were invited. That means the word is getting out. Oh Chuck Welcome. This is great. Mike first time Good. I love it. I love it. I love it. That means you're sharing Francis first time I phoned first time. I got an iPhone 2 my first time have an iPhone But thank you all so much. So I want to get to one of the common things that somebody asked and I believe I have it here When in that There was I put it in my poll question because I wanted you guys to to see Okay Share the results. All right. This is one of the common questions How are other leaders using software to serve their communities now? There's no way for you to answer So here on this poll, but I wanted you to see it in on the screen How are you as a leader using software to serve your communities? So what I would like for you to do is use the raise your hand button Unmute yourself and comment or you can as I said wave because some people, you know are not on Don't can't find the unmute button not the unmute button the reaction button. So I would like for you to share What are you doing? Great? This is great. I'm I'm glad a lot of first-timers here. I hear somebody I'm muting their cells Who would like to share? What are you doing? Okay, great Edwina? Please unmute yourself. Thank you. Oh I just Start start up start over again. I'll meet yourself again Yeah, I just came off of a call that's looking at how we're updating and improving Both our public website and we are a member organization So our internal website plus we have a conference center and how we have another website But how they're all connecting and the whole new look and trying to make it more Well less dense than our own website. I'll be polite and say Use that word but that that's what we're doing really working really hard on that right now And as I said, I just came off a call with the website developers and other people from our organization And that was very interesting. In fact one person who's supposed to be here now And it's coming as late because she had some questions. She's the techie person Okay, thank you for sharing that your website because your website is what they're gonna go to it's like your new business car Is the face of your organization now? We are already seeing results from our new extra website of people wanting to use our space for meetings and Retreats and you know that kind of stuff very good So that's a stream of income that's coming in and they're using their websites to do that I'm gonna meet you for a quick second. I see Steven here. Welcome Steven. Would you introduce yourself to everybody? Sure, sorry, I'm late folks. My name is Steven Jackson. I'm the senior content producer at TechSoup so I work in the marketing department and Sort of have my hands in a lot of different things and the editor and chief of our blog lead our content and video teams I Send out the buy the cut newsletter, which some of you may receive. That's my Thing and I also help with content on many different websites across the TechSoup brand And work with kind of most of the people here at TechSoup who help make all of our programs reality Awesome. Nice to meet you all. Thanks for taking this time to talk about your Tech needs and how we can how we can help you better I'm also looking forward to hearing more from you folks about what you need because as I'm creating content It's really important for me to be Reactive and empathetic to everything that's going on out in the real world community. So thanks Mm-hmm. Yeah, thank you Steven. Oh, I see lots of hands raised is Gail here Gail Carpentier. Oh Gail, would you unmute yourself and introduce yourself and then I'll get to everybody Hi guys, my name is Gail Carpentier I've had the pleasure of being part of TechSoup as their chief business development officer since 2001 And so pretty much any of the companies that have been added to the site to help you all Are companies I've had the pleasure of working directly with And there's a huge team that backs that up to make sure those relationships remain robust and exciting And I'm just pleased to be that that you invited me here today So I can hear directly from these good folks to see how else we can help them So if you guys have any things that you want me to Consider drop them into chat or else you can also go to the TechSoup main site In the forums there's a group called the technology wish list that I moderate. So if there's ever a hey Maybe they could get this or maybe they don't know that we really need this Please share those with me because that is really the fastest way I can help all of you So delighted to meet you all today Thanks, Aretha Excellent. Thank you so much. Okay. So I'm going to go in this order I see hands raised sister Joanne then Eric and then somebody that has a name owner And we'll go with it. Okay, sister Joanne, please don't meet yourself Hi everybody. Good to see you again um What I do after each of these conferences is I go back to our website I'm affiliated with a girls academy six through twelve who purposes to Make women good leaders and I go to see do we have What you said we should Then I get lost and I think that's what I find in a lot of websites that No matter how simple I state things. I can't find it on the website And it's frustrating and then you you know, so I think what I'm looking for is how to make Our school website a little bit more user friendly because I can't find it. I know it today for The information, but I can't find it Yeah, you know, we have um, we have some great console I We have we text you does all this different stuff So it's kind of hard for people ironically to navigate through our site sometimes to find like all the things that we can offer But we have a website consultation service. Um And for all of you folks who do have some website questions. Um, I look uh, Alicia Drop that in the chat We it really it's it's very user friendly to get to and to understand and the people on this work are really great. Um, But so that's one way to help but I you know About The idea of building websites or anything I'm also happy to kind of field those questions here today I'm also going to drop a couple other Blogs and things like that that we've created in the chat that kind of takes you through different website. Um, sort of planning and development Items, so I I'll share those resources too, but I'm happy to answer any questions on the fly you may have to the best of my ability Awesome, thank you, Steven. Um, Eric Yes, I I belong to a church in downtown Baltimore And we have a number of groups that like to do surveys of the congregation to see This since the pulse sort of figure out, you know, what they think of things So we've been using survey monkey Free of charge, but it's but it's it has limitations So, um, and we're not with the tight budget. We're not Ready to buy on an annual You know on subscription So I'm looking for some suggestions for surveys Wow, any suggestions that you all are using I think surveys are great. It's great to figure out what your members need Anybody using surveys They want to share with them. Okay. So you can let us know in a moment. Um, someone has the name owner You can unmute yourself Hi, um I'm mary from um, monomony michigan um I'm a bookkeeper for the school here Is she on tech soup? I got it It's okay scott. You keep coming on mute and I unmuted you that's this navigating Muting people. Okay, go ahead. Okay Um, yeah, I'm from st. Paul st. John paul's second catholic academy I'm also the bookkeeper for One of our churches, um But I also Do a little dibble and dabbles as in You know Trying to keep everything In tech related around, you know You know new software new this and what's you know, how to work it and stuff like that so right now I forgot what the question originally you had but I can imagine So people were asking what are they using to help with their community? What kind of technology are you using to help with the community? Oh, yeah, um with our community We just started up a new program For our tuition assistance program or you know tuition to Keep our tuition Together but also to get all our Things and we're using facts right now um Other things that we do is like i'm working with microsoft and google and I know those two don't play well together with each other and so But sometimes you just need to use microsoft and sometimes you just need to use google So, you know, we kind of do a lot of both Okay, all right. Well, thank you for sharing.  Can you hear me? Yes, we can Okay, my name is marcia matoso and I run a food bank in selam oregon And we're serving about four to five thousand people per month But I would I would like to to increase our Visibility what right now we I use facebook. I use our website Our website is okay. In fact, we just had a donor who went to our website And they didn't know about us and we're interested and because of that we're going to receive a truck Full truck semi truck with donations. So I think it is okay, but I like to improve that and also donor management if you have any Tips about it. Okay. Excellent. I like that and and there's lots of Chats going on here. Alicia's putting links in here gail putting links in here and anyone that want to Give information how you're reaching out to your donors. Let us know at least uh, oh you can unmute yourself Hi, uh, I'm Alicia. I work for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul in San Mateau County We're located in the San Francisco Bay Area I took on the tech role about a couple years ago right at the start of the pandemic and it was great to have TechSoup as a resource because I had a aging on-premise server. I had a very expensive email server So we were able to consult with TechSoup and get the hardware This is also at the time when wind 7 was transitioned to wind 10 and they were cutting off support So we were able to use the bulk discount rates to get wind 10 Computers with some great solid state drives for all of our team We were able to purchase laptops so that we could work remotely down the pandemic We were able to transition our on-premise server using the Microsoft connection and the azure credits to move to Microsoft 365 So we were able to do this all in a year. Basically creating a virtual Infrastructure so that our team could work remotely and do campaigns right now We're mostly interested in we're with sales first for our donor management. We're kind of curious if you have any connections or advice there Also, our website is doing pretty good But what we're experiencing now is with the increase in traffic. We have lots of spam security risks We're with Bluehost, but we're kind of interested in once you start getting that traffic How do we keep our website from getting hacked? So Just kind of want it to make it accessible but also secure. That's how we're doing right now. Thanks Very good lots of good questions in there and I know gale has Put some links in there for donor management But security that's another big topic. I would like to know what kind of security We do have a vast and other security here at tech soup But I would like to know what everybody else is using after we hear from james. Hi james. You can unmute yourself Hey everybody So Oh james, we lost you Okay, we're gonna go to jaret while james. He may be having some technical difficulties. We're gonna go to jaret. You can unmute yourself Yes, thanks. Um, i'm it director for back-to-back ministries near Cincinnati, Ohio We do global orphan care community development. We're going to phone roll families Some in Cincinnati, but the rest is a lot internationally working with domestic partners overseas Haiti Mexico and then other locations A lot of what i've been doing is Around areas of security infrastructure. We're google shops. I use google workspace Doing a lot of integration though using our erp CRM system and integrating that with google so Making use of the google context directory to be populated by our crm which makes it a whole lot more helpful Makes it a little more hr friendly. You can see reporting And structure there Really have dove into learning management systems as well We use that internally and then also externally and so have had a online storefront called trauma free world And using that as a storefront for other partners that are in that space to come in and make use of the training that we're doing or regarding security Email spamming. I just think every organization needs to have a d-mark policy And that is just sending up some dns records on your domain It is a little bit of a process. It's not a one-time fix But getting a partner in there and someone that has to know how just to do A few records at your domain level just helps Bring your email system under control so much more and disallows people from spoofing your domain identity Jared, I would love if you would be a feature speaker for next month No, seriously, I mean I I I would take at least three of you or two or three of you because you just said a lot and A lot of what you said everybody couldn't absorb so they need to you break it down a little bit more Some people got it and you know, but some people like need to maybe see it visual So I would love if you would be a feature speaker. Would you um, would you email me? Would you email me? I have a follow-up with you on that. Okay, awesome. Have to consider them. Thanks On the security piece. I I drop the link To all of our security tag Content on the tech suite blog. There's a lot of great stuff in there. I also highlighted One particular blog that features a tool that we offer. It's actually a training program called know before and some folks in the it community will already be Familiar with this but the the one piece I'm going to say is there are tons of you know, like tools and Endpoint protection and all of that kind of all of the security sort of infrastructure these sort of like hard tools but The majority of you know, it threats start with phishing or spear phishing campaigns where essentially somebody Who is gaining? Privilege access they shouldn't right and so you could have all of the security infrastructure in the world, but if but but a human error Can can break through all of it, right? So uh, they're in hackers typically use this thing called social engineering Where they where they know that they need to They they can actually play upon certain Biases that you already have Uh, so certain such as like you're going to respond to an email That's from the head of your organization and things like that. And so they can kind of identify people manipulate those um manipulator socially engineer people to Provide privilege access. Um, so the know before program actually allows you to Send out a training program for your staff and then it also runs sort of secret Fake phishing campaigns to see if people are actually, you know, like following the best practices or not So there's a lot of technical stuff, but there's also the training portion That's super important for like a full security package today Wow, thank you, steven for that and I see kevin moho Shined in the chat room kevin. I need you on a webinar with me. Thank you so much Hi, mr. Williams. How are you? Thank you for joining us Hi, how's everybody? So i'm a first timer just learned of tech soup. Oh, probably about 36 hours ago So, uh, I was just recently appointed the chairperson for The laity organization of my church's denomination um task with the mission of Um enhancing our communications right now. We're we're at a stage where we don't even collect email addresses from folks so We're starting Really basic, uh, so i've got a couple of campaigns going on in order to capture that But I started looking Uh at a campaign for Um, you know, how do I bring everyone together? And I was looking at the google workspace for nonprofits and that's what sort of led me here And where when I when I saw the google non-space or the google workspace for nonprofits I thought I had tapped into something that I wanted to say eureka But then when it led me here, I don't even know what to use as an exclamation anymore This is awesome. I'm looking forward to Being here further down the road and jarrod. Yeah, I'd love to have you as a speaker next month So that I can hear more about that topic matter So we're just looking at a bunch of things. Uh, membership management system We're looking at email. We're looking at I'm my my I guess my uh My mission is to bring the uh the laity part of the diamond of the denomination into the 21st century And right now I think we're still In the pony express phase Wow, you're not alone. I'm sure there's some other people probably feel the same way on here I see a lot of heads nodding. So you're not alone. Thank you for sharing that And welcome come back again next month january 19th Hi, Cynthia. Welcome Hello, and thank you for having us and for having me. I'm Cynthia. I'm with exalted arts and um, I this is my first time I'm happy to be here and with everything that I have heard thus far and it's just getting started I know this is the right place for me. Um, I lead a faith-based theater company by the way But to answer your question, um, we just signed up with network for good You were asking how are we communicating with our donors and in all of our, you know, constituency? And I absolutely love it They have a texting feature video features you can do personalized emails They have templates and for a small organization like ourselves. It is wonderful I I am not being paid to say any of this by network for good. But um, if I had known about it, uh Previously it would have been I I think we would have been that much further along But I'm happy that I found it at the time that we did And so far it's just working wonderfully and I just wanted to let you know, thank you Yeah, thank you for sharing that network for good. It's awesome. Thank you for sharing the enemy As you see there are lots of pieces as she mentioned Alisha, uh, Sadam, I didn't get a chance to introduce you, but I know you're in the chat room We can come in the chat room If you don't want to come on camera, it's okay No, okay, uh, so someone said it can this be a quarterly gathering. It's actually a monthly Gathering we did a little survey and people said they'd like to do it once a month. So, um Lots of great comments in the chat room Jared said patchwork management is a key area of training and empowerment for staff to handle Content in this space of work, which is so true So so true Eric Harry says even better. Okay. So one of the other questions that was asked From the meeting last not last month I would like to know if there are others who are not comfortable placing their members information in the Cloud Let's talk about the cloud because that's what we are right now We're in the cloud right now Any any comments? I don't know who put that comment because your surveys are anonymous But any comments on how you feel about moving to the cloud Phil Williams, I see you are muted. Did you want to say something? So Jared, um, I think no, was it James? Was it James that we couldn't hear before and I see you Cynthia and sister Joanne just a moment James, are you able to come back on? No, okay. Yeah, could you hear me? Okay. Yes, we can hear you good Oh, okay, great so I help with a currently with a foster care organization that provides That pretty much works with a bunch of different churches in the state of virginia to provide services to families in need specifically families that are picking in orphans and are doing foster care and We use sales force for our crm I've been building it out from the past year and it's going really well Takes a long time to do it right. So just a word for anybody who is thinking about using sales force It is really worth it But you probably have to spend a long time developing it to match what you the way that you want to make it And we're using a market for our text message system And we actually figured out a way to not have to use mail champ. We just use sales force for our emails by adding in an unsubscribe code into our emails And sending them directly so that we can use better mail merge Options and actually use the data from our CRM. So that's pretty cool The one thing that I'm trying to figure out how to do better is manage interns and People that may go through our program that also want to be a part of the learning process So like for instance, if we have a program where we're Where the people who are our clients are also trying to learn the technology that we're using Is there a good kind of a technology for that like a training type of technology or anything that helps manage Internships and externships Wow, if anybody's using that please put the links in the chat or feel free to unmute yourself to To share with James. Thank you so much James for that John would you like to comment and then I'll go to sister Joanne Um, I would I would say first I'm kind of in the journey that James is on I'm implementing sales force for our group as well And it is a lot of work and it takes you know It takes investment of time and energy that to kind of get it there But I'm excited for the journey and certainly I would love to see even if this group had like some a little special interest chapters That could focus in on things like Salesforce or Microsoft teams or tools that people use I think the second thing I wanted to address you ask if How I felt about putting data in the cloud And I think two things. I'm old school. I've been doing IT since we used to call it data processing So I've been doing it about 50 years And in the process of doing those 50 years Um, I always have this little sign that says People who fail to back up and live to talk about it And the cloud makes a big difference. I think people don't recognize how Valuable the cloud can be and in many ways the people who are securing your data on the cloud Are doing a much better job of securing your data than you will do On your desktop Or on your little laptop the the ones, you know, I get people come to me all the time. It's like Uh, my my laptop is not working. Mr. F. So what do I do now?  You never you never backed up the data So you just got a kind of so I I think you have to be willing to Um learn how to use it properly and the comments that came up earlier about security and know before I think are really important because The weakest link in your company is where the problem is going to come from more than somebody outside They're going to click on something And they're going to be the ones who actually give away your data. It's going to be your own people So it's not I don't blame the cloud. I blame people Uh, and then I just want to say Without any question, this is One of the best things I've ever been a part of And I'm not getting paid either Cynthia to say that But just being a part of this group. I've worked with churches for 30 years I mean literally, you know, and I've helped many churches get their little, uh, you know member information systems in place And I got to say having a forum like this where we can come together and talk Is great And then lastly, I don't think I'm I'm happy to be a speaker if I can be if I can help But I also would love to hear some people Who are trying, you know, the term that I hear a little bit that I've got a master's workflow Just how do we make the technology Do more work so that we do less work? And I think we need Guidance in that area to even I don't think if you don't know what the possibilities are then you can't Build toward it. So if we can In-house if you guys have some people in tech suit Or if within this group, there are some people Who would be willing to talk about Workflow projects where they've taken some of the work they they haven't automated it and made it Easier and make things happen I really think that would be really valuable for this group and thank you very much for this Thank you for everything you just said Really means a lot to me that you think that this is great to be a part of excuse me. I'm getting emotional. Sorry about that I um I was an it in the navy and people don't realize stuff has been in the clouds For years. I spent 20 years in the navy as an it so the cloud is not new Is just new to us and so it's something that we definitely have to um Be prepared for and someone mentioned that I mentioned that the next event is going to be on january 19th and it's not on the calendar Correct. It's not on the calendar. Um, there's a process that that it goes to it should be on the calendar within the next few days Because I just came up with a date earlier today. So it has to go through different departments. All right, James You can unmute yourself Cool. I just wanted to respond and say, uh, thanks for that information and also, um Yeah, I like I like the idea because sales force is such a big thing when nonprofits like if if you guys had something about that or a group where we could all kind of get together and trade shared our trade secrets and ways that we Do our build out stuff. That'd be pretty cool. Um, but also as far as, um With the putting stuff in the cloud I think anybody who's like leery about it And that the one thing that's super important is you should be using them like stripe or like some type of donor management essentially cvv codes in you never have to type that in right The person who's giving you the money is typing it in and then it go and then it never goes into your database ever So they don't have to worry about that security, you know So if you are typing that stuff in somewhere, then you have to probably figure something out because that's that's uh Just the idea behind Why you use stripe and all those other things because then you they're liable not you Very good. Very good. Thank you so much. Um, wow. So lots of comments in the chat room going on as you see People are connecting. I love it. Uh We're connecting. I love it. Thank you moe said. Oh, yeah, I read that. I love it cloud backups. Um, lots of I met grace hopper when I started program training. Okay, great lots of comments You guys definitely connect with each other. You want to form small groups? Um outside of techsoup do that if you want us to try to navigate it That send me an email a simons at techsoup I want to leave with this one last question Which I think is important. Every question is important, but um, someone left a comment in the Survey that says they want to know about experiences that churches are having with various live streaming, um services What kind of hardware you're using for setup or software or whatever they want to know Give us give them some examples of how you broadcast your church services It says across a broad altar area. I don't know what that means. You probably know what that means Any comments on that pastors? leaders in the faith-based community What do you use? Hi, this is this is Keith. Um, and I can answer some of that I mean, I am going to get our tech guy to be a part of these as well hopefully in the future He because he's uh, uh, we were very fortunate to have someone who's very tech savvy So when the pandemic hit we were able to do live stream My wife and I became pastors here kind of in the middle of that so we do We we do it through youtube. Um, we live stream through youtube and We send out a link That only goes our church didn't want A lot of things publicized like a public link to just sort of And I know various churches do it different ways But they just didn't want a lot of the private information to go out like a prayer concerns and things like that. So We have a youtube link That we send out to people who want to be on that link And we send that out right before We're going to go live And so then we live stream that way there's usually just a few people in the Sanctuary, but we did Our numbers went down a little bit. So we are Now doing both doing a hybrid And we will continue to live stream even with people Coming because we have noticed that even though our link was not public People would share the link with family and friends And our church, which is a small church actually has grown During the pandemic because people shared the link and And what it does is it allows people to I guess Sort of see what's going on get a feel of what's going on And somehow strangely Even though it's nice when we can all be together somehow People still are able to connect to each other via technology, which I just find remarkable And in spiritual terms, it's just another moving of of god's spirit so I love that. I agree Anybody else want to share what they're doing how they're doing? Mike says I don't have a camera or a mic on this computer, but user training is my biggest headache The shortage of staff or our church is causing us to hire and take volunteers that have less and less computer skills than in the past Especially since covid hit What end user services does tech soup offer? So I least I think alicia will put an email in the chat room for the services that tech soup offers anybody else want to share How they're um what they're using to stream. I love that you you share the private youtube link and then they're sharing with everybody else Um, this is um, I'm sorry Any true heart and um, we also Started with live streaming and we were using a combination of zoom for our Sunday school classes That started with what the gentleman just said, you know, it went out to our members But then they began sharing it with others. So now we have people joining our Sunday school classes That are from all over the place and far beyond, you know Our reach was before and then as far as our worship services when we came back into the sanctuary We continue to do a hybrid of that, but we used um facebook live because we found that a lot of our folks were more familiar with that and I already had that set up or in either a tablet or their phone or Or a laptop particularly some of our older members who were less, you know tech savvy So that seems to work and you know, we're just going to continue to stick with that Okay, awesome. Thanks for sharing that. Thank you I see a comment in the section um from mo he said he just retired from the navy Thank you for your service and he's taking on an existing nonprofit But really a major restart in a short period of time What products would you recommend out of the gate to jumpstart fundraising? He doesn't have a staff just a couple volunteers. So Something for novice. So I I think mo it depends on what type of nonprofit you have That would decide on what type of fundraising that you would use. Um Can you can you share you want to come off mute and share with us? Mo you still there? Yeah, I'm sorry. I need to unmute myself. Don't I? Okay I'm sorry. Could could you repeat that? So you you said you want to know what kind of fundraising can you do to jumpstart What what what type of nonprofit is and that might help give us an idea to Suggest what type of fundraising you might do. Oh, that's awesome. Yeah, thank you I guess I could put my camera on too there. I apologize Um, so Aretha first of all It's great to have a fellow navy veteran online. No wonder why you're so successful I'm sure there's a lot of reasons but So I just retired from 28 years working with the navy and the marine Corps as a chaplain about a third of that was with marines the rest with on the blue side I just took over a A camp that is an outreach to veterans backpacking fishing hunting and it's uh It's kind of been like more of a covert ministry, but it's becoming a faith-based nonprofit as of Uh, about two weeks from now and so It's small. It focuses on veterans Retreats backpacking hunting and we're we're adding a marriage retreat component right now It's focused on one site in eastern oregon But the vision is to start doing things in various sites and really Be more of a director and not a program manager of a single site Does that give you enough information? It does and somebody else can chime in but as you were talking I was thinking first um think about Write down all the things that you need. Um, I'm sure you probably already have those things And then how much it's gonna cost and so say if you happen to retreat and you need food First thing I would do is find out who who is the nearest um grocery store And find out how you can get a sponsorship from them It could be in the form of money or it could be in the form of gift card So it's gonna be based on the needs that you have and I could probably go down the list Depending on what needs you have But if it's a strictly money, then I probably would start within um 50 mile radius of where you are Corporations doctors lawyers friends families all people you know and have relationships with until you build it up Where you're 9 9 it can show that you having some success and then you can start going out to those major grants Anybody else want to chime in? No, okay Um, this has been amazing. Um, I'm gonna first of all Remind you again That if you haven't in an event and you would like a tech soup to come and speak at any of your events email shannon curry or Myself and I can get it to shannon. Um shannon's email is s cherry. I said shannon curry Think about steve curry Shannon cherry s cherry at tech soup dot or we would love to come to any events even if you happen a hybrid We talk on facebook or zoom whatever events that you're having We would love to share about more of how tech soup and technology can help your non-profits or other Sister organizations that you have. Um, I want to thank steven jackson for being here I want to thank alisha stadham for being here. I want to thank gale carpenter for being here I want to thank all of you for being here. This has been amazing and it just takes my breath away First of all to see your faces I know we're not face-to-face all the time but seeing your faces.  So please fill out the survey. Let us know more of what you want to talk about The list was a lot longer So there was a lot more that we could say but we value your time We want to keep it to 45 minutes to an hour But i'm just going to open it up to see if anybody have any Comments or anything you would like to say before we say goodbye I and I am going to jump in just a moment. Uh, if there are any comments specifically your question for me I'm happy to stay on otherwise. Thank you for all the great work you do Um, and uh, we'll see you next time Thank you, steven Thank you Anybody else have any comments Yes, gail Hey guys, thank you so much I have been furiously jotting down the requests that you've made in chat and what I've been listening to so Um, you know just to share with you. I am a member of my own parish council So I share a tremendous amount of synergy with all of you guys and I know that we moved from Yeah, and when nobody could meet here in the bay area And we also used facebook and continue to use that for the 9 30 service to be able to Reach more people and what we find is that people that had been part of the community had left are now re-engaging And so you know with the one bit of advice I'd give you is pull up your records from wherever anybody has ever been and remind them that they can find you online Because people you know need the sense of connection as aretha was saying to be able to You know, even if you're not going to be in the same building You can at least be part of that same spirit of community so just I'm looking forward to the next meeting and if Anybody needs to reach me directly. Um having been here this long It's just gail g a y l e at techsuit.org and I'm going to jump off to aretha But I know you're going to send us the notes in the chat, right? Yes. Yes. All right guys Good meeting you all take care. Thank you so much gail Again, this is being recorded. It'll be sent to everybody via email If you were sent the link and you did not register Then you can look at tech soup's youtube channel in a couple of days. It'll be there Again, my email is a simons at techsuit.org I'm going to also let you have a floor if anybody have any comments Or any questions and by the way gail if you need something added to the tech soup Product catalog gail is a person to make it happen Anybody have any comments? I did have one question if I may Because I have to make a presentation to our executive board and one thing that I searched on the website Was to find something that says Who are we? So that I can share with them. This is tech soup and this is what they're all about But I I did not find that so maybe you can help me point me in the right direction for that Okay, alicia will put a link in there about tech soup and how to join Very good very good observation And hey, we all need Somebody to remind us. Hey, I can't find this button. I can't see this and this is what we're here for Thank you so much. Um, mr. Williams Anyone else comments No, okay. Well, thank you all for your time today. This has energized me. I came in Feeling some kind of way, but we can't let that stop the show And you know you guys brought that level energy up and the love I could feel it through the screen So thank you so much. Have an amazing day We're gonna be sending you an email about the next event. I'm looking for my feature speaker So I would love for you to email me and let me know that you Would like to be a speaker a feature speaker. Don't don't think that you have to be an expert a feature speaker is really sharing Um, could be their problems could be their successes. We people need to hear from you Everybody that spoke today. You don't know how much you help somebody else So thank you again. Have a great day everybody. Make sure you take care of yourselves. Bye. Bye Thank you Thanks, mr. Rita is great. Appreciate you. Thank you. Appreciate you guys and thank you for all the comments in the comment section Bye


ಸನ こಗನ್ತಸಿಡವಭನ ಸೇಾಳಸ್ಬ್ರಿಲ್ರ ದಧಿನೆ ಪಡದೆಸೃರರನ,  ಇಸಿನಶಾರುು ಮ್್, ಕಾ telev Even you know it, ḍdḍdḍmḍgḍdḃᵗʰʰᵗᵉᵈ ᵗʰᶰᵉᵄʰᵗᵗᵗʰᵉᵉᶼᵗᵇᵗʰᵉᵗʰᵗʰᵉᵉᵉᵗʰᶰᵜᵉᵗʰᵜᵉᵉʰᵗʰᵗʰᵜᵉᵗᵉᵗʰᵓᵗᵉᴏᵜᵐᵗᵉᵉᴇᵜᵗᵝᵜᵜᴄʰᵉᵗʰ of its administration and thirdly to describe the influence of Islam on the administrative structure and functioning during the sultanate period, introduction. The administrative initiative by the delhi sultanate largely influenced by the principles of the general Islamic administration of the world. At the same time, in India, the sultans did not always try to impose their way of governance on the Indian people. On the many occasions, they allowed indigenous people to retain their own laws. In this presentation, we will have references to two main administrative bases that is central and provincial administration of the delhi sultanate. This is my presentation tour. In this meeting, I have discussed the administration of the delhi sultanate and the administration of the sultanate of the sultanate of the delhi sultanate. I will discuss the administration of the delhi sultanate of the sultanate of the delhi sultanate, but we are not aware that, due to the influence of the Islamic administration of the delhi sultanate of the sultanate నీ మ్వథాతాస్వం మ్వమ్యా మాసిందాం ౔ండి మావన్యలా మాట్ాస్ మాట్యి మాంది అఆం,మానిసినోనీ Ḥamayon, Ḥarotiyo jibila, indigenia's administrative systemasile heibiliakoro influence hoisil. Now, who were sultanates? The Delhi sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large part of Indian subcontinent for 320 years. That is, from 1226 to 1526. Five dynasties ruled over the Delhi sultanate. Subsequently, the Slav dynasty, the Khilji dynasty, the Tuglov dynasty, the Soyer dynasty, and the Lodi dynasty. Now, who were sultanates? The Delhi sultanate was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large part of Indian subcontinent for 1226 to 1526. That is, the Rajbankhoy dynasty. Five Rajbankhoy dynasty was an Islamic empire based in Delhi that stretched over large part of Indian subcontinent for 1526 to 1526. That is, who were sultanates? The Slav dynasty, the Dakh dynasty, the Khilji dynasty, the Tuglov dynasty, the Soyer dynasty, and the Lodi dynasty. Now, the whole administrative system of the Delhi sultanate was divided into two main branches. The central administration and the provincial administration. First of all, we shall discuss the central administration. That is, the sultanate was divided into two parts. The first part was the Kenyay part, and the second part was the Padakh part. First, we will discuss the Kenyay part. Now, the sultanate. Under the sultanate, the sultanate were the head of their government. The post of sultanate was not hereditary in India. It was an elected post. Of course, priority was first given to the eldest son of the deceased sultan. Moreover, a sultanate could be deposed under certain circumstances. These were, if a sultan failed to carry out his trust. If a sultan lost his power of judgment. And, thirdly, if a sultan lost his physical ability. That is, the sultanate was divided into two parts. First, the sultanate. The sultanate was divided into two parts. The sultanate was divided into two parts. And, the victory was not hereditary in India. So, of course, the head of the sultanate was divided into two parts.  ಽ Hui ಅಮ್ು ಹಮಿ ಸಿತೆಯಾರಂದ ರ್ರ್ಕಹೆೊತ __, ಗಿಗಾಕrèsurious ಻ಳ್ನಕಟದಕದದ ದluence31 ಇಖೆ ಕೆಗಕಿ ಬಿಗಾಳಿನಕ ಆಂಗ musiತ ಸಿಕದೋಷರಂ ಯಂídaತರ೅rils�ು ಹ್ಹಾನು ಬಬಿಕ exclud� stretches ಹಥ ಸಾನ್ಲಿ ಇಂಗೊಗ ಕಾದಽಾರಿಮ అత the territories of islam to settle disputes among his subjects to enforce criminal law to strengthen the frontiers of muslim territory to wage holly wars against the enemies of islam and to collect taxes these were the duties of a sultan it is a as on sultan or kiki duty asil they are kiki asil te pathamati hul te islamor principle bilak rakhakoriboh pariboh lagiboh secondly kiki koriboh pariboh lagiboh te islamor isikini teritori atha zikini thay islam dhormor hakhansoli se hei teritori hini teo defend koriboh pariboh lagiboh teo rakhakoriboh pariboh lagiboh thirdly jhe prajarmal jibhilaq dispute atha jibhilaq ghusor hei ghusor bilak teo khamadha koriboh pariboh lagiboh thirdly jhe to enforce criminal law then to strengthen the frontiers of muslim territory aru koi se jhe muslim territory jibhilaq se hei muslim territory bilakor jibhilaq hei hei ma bilak teo korakkariboh pariboh lagiboh lagiboh lagiboh hei ma bilak korakkhita hakti hali hii hei sape koriboh pariboh lagiboh thirdly jhe aho kia hii le jhe to wage holly wars against the enemies of islam jhe jhe hii hii jhe aak teo lukhe islamar khottu bribhishana kori se hii khottu hako lor vipori te teo lukhe pobitto juddha koriboh pariboh lagiboh aro lastly to collect taxes atha teo text collect koriboh lagiboh hei tea ma hii zoti hei duties of sultanar jibhilaq duty hei duty khani zoti ma hii bhaldhore bisle khan kori sao te tea ma hii dekha pao jhe teo lukhe islamdhormo ba islamdhormo jikni principle aro teo lukhe teritori ekni potekkarae teo lukhe pratham pratham dai to asil then come to the ministers under the delhi sultanen the sultan was the head of his government we already discussed it he was assisted by a number of ministers of defined ranks and status the head of the civil administration was known as wazir his department was known as diwan e wazir the wazir had to perform two main duties what were these two duties firstly he was the central finance officer at the headquarters so collection of revenue was his main duty and responsibility secondly the wazir had to supervise the workings of other officers at the headquarters again he appointed the civil servants at different departments ita monti hakala bikhue alusona kori baile gole pratham te ami iti madhi ami gampalo jhe delhi sultan hakala dinon sultan e asil prakhana murabi teo hohai kori baile vivinna montri asil te s civil administration teo hohai kori baile asil wazir civil administration was the head hezon was wazir and wazir department was known as diwan e wazir te wazir had to perform two main duties pratham te asil jhe teo hohai kori baile asil teo hohai kori baile asil and second important right to asil jhe jihilak civil servant head quarter taki ba hi civil servant bilaka tekete appointment kori baile gi ba alu teo lukar kankar swasita kori baile gi ba now the additional responsibilities of the wazir what were the additional responsibilities of the wazir besides these two main duties the wazir had to meet all requirements of the military department his office kept all military accounts disbrushed salaries among the officers and eloted land assignments secondly the office of the wazir paid stipends to the scholars and learned men the office of the wazir distributed money among the poor and the needy jhe ami iti pointhe zi dhuta daihtar bhi khe alu sana kori wazir hei daiht parhan daihtar dhuta baile asan wazir aru kisuman baile responsibilty taki daihtar taki tarbhi to pratham te hol jhe teo military hohai kori baile kori baile gi ba teo vivak to hitu swasita kori asil aru officers bilak kori zikni salari ba account to tarji bilak heesap teo hoti heesap bilak teo nirikhan kori baile asil tarbhi sura heile jhe zikni learn art manu aru iskola teo lukhe waziror department wei selek kori baile ibo teo lukhe iskola sif dr viastha kori baile ibo thirdly teo lukhe zi bilak dukhya manhu ase he dukhya ba zak dhanar poizhan teo lukhe basi wile teo lukhe mazhar artha hai jho dibo dr viastha kori baile gi ba hei kitai hoise waziror parhan daihtar iti waziror ba hiu ekon ministry aru bilak bilak minister asil ba bilak bilak bivak asil hei kitai ami ee slide konon dekhababisa issu jhe head of the prahakan sultan head of the state den wazir finance and prime minister den duwan ee risala teo asil minister of foreign affairs sadaar us sadaar teo asil minister of islamic den duwan ee insa minister of external affairs duwan ee aris defense minister den waziror den wazir minister of law ee slide konon dekhababisa teo ami dili pokhakanor kendio zi tu pokhakanik viastha aru monti ho kolo kiki bikhoibab diya hoise ee slide konon ami ko fundor koi dekhapao now we shall discuss the other branch of the delhi sultan head that is the provincial administration the empire of the delhi sultans was divided into many provinces it also included many tributary states as long as these tributary states did not take any action against the policies of the sultans they were allowed to manage their own affairs the duties of the rulers of these tributary states were clearly defined by the sultans these were to protect imperial officials then to protect muslim residents and lastly to give good administration to the subjects these were the main responsibilities of the head of the provinces it is a padekhik pokhakanor bikhoe ami zi di alusana kuru dekhul ze delhi sultan hokole teo lukor po dekhana kisuman horu horu baleik istetot ba po dekhok bhakkor isil pokhakanor kubidhar bave it is a tributary state billakok tributary state buddik isil teo luke nidivstvata pori manor rajo kendyo pokhakanor dibolakisil zeti aloike tributary state billakke central administration or against itot ba sultana or against itot kunu ekshon nulisil ba kunu reiknokor isil teo lukor po lisil teti aloike tributary state billakkor lukor kandor kunu place 1 nasil ba teo lukor nizor isi samote teo lukor pokhakan solayza bolu solayni bolu diya ho isil if pra dekhik zi bilak rulara isil ba hakhaka isil teo lukor zi bilak da hito hei da hito bilak kendo sultana nidivstvata pori bhakkor isil hei bilak ho isil ze teo luke zi bilak imperial officials hei officials bilakko protractor ibo paribola gibo secondi teo luke zi bilak muslim residents isil muslim bakhinda isil hei pored khanon teo luko prakha dibo paribola gibo alo thirdi zi teo luke ekhan bhaal poha khan poha khani poha khan bisata teo luke solapo paribola gibo alo hakhaka kolab eita bhaal administration teo luke dibo paribola gibo now the governors and their powers governors means the head of the provincial states there are two types of provinces under the delhi sultanate some of them enjoyed limited powers and other partially unlimited power enjoyed each province was administered by a governor the governors were appointed by the sultan the governors were to act only with the help of some other executive officers in all departments these were same with those of the central departments the sultans had all say in the appointments of such officers secondly the ministers of the central governments had control over the same departments in the states the governors had power the delhi sultanate hakhaka kolab the governors had two types of provinces kishuman province had full power they were able to do it and kishuman had a partial power the governors had a lot of power but the governors were not kishuman executive officer kajya bahi officer they were able to do it a governor had a sultanate appointment again thirdly although each province had its own army but the governors had no direct control over it then the divisions of the provinces provinces were further divided into six these were put under sikdas however taking advantage of the sultans from time to time provincial dynasties grew in many provinces the six then emerged as sarkars then each sarkar was divided into many parganas the governments maintained direct relation with the peasants only through the parganas eti ame padekh bilagok padekh bilagok hakhakhan keneke solile hebi khe ame alushanakorim ze padekh bilag keneke bhakkara huisiil hakhana hui dha baphe padekh bilagok ako kishuman horu horu sikar sikbili eti admissative division kheisiil he admissative division bhakkara huisiil ekwe kujan sikdara atola ekwe kukhan sikasil atha sikar jizan murobi te omk sikdara bili kwa huisiil kete ba ki vesezez sultanar advantage loi kishuman sikdara nezake ekwan sarkar heisepe uttan loi uttan kheisiil aroi sarkar bilagok ki kueisiil kishuman bhelek bhelek horu horu pargana bhakkara huisiil aroi pargana bilagok eti asil ze te omkhe kikhokar logare atha direk relation te omkhe rakhi balagi bo ekute bhi dhi bhejan bhi lagata ekute bhakk bhi lag bhakkana hui dha athe kora huisiil now the main officials of the parganas who are the main officials of a pargana the amil he was the head of the pargana administration then the munshif he was the chief assessment officer then the treasurer he was the collector of the revenues then karkons karkons were assigned the duty of registers of the parganas then kanun goi they maintained previous records of the produced in their respective provinces these were the main officials of the pargana ze pargana bilagok kiki officials asil kene ke te omkhe hakhandu solisiil ze patham te goisiil amil amil bilagok amil kuna siil ze pargana zi zon heida siil hejana amil bilikoi siil then the munshif he was the chief assessment officer travisora hele ze treasurer kanuni he was the collector of the revenues te omkhe atot kisiil ze te omkhe atot kisiil ze revenue raja hongokor deitot haki siil travisora karkons karkunor kisiil ze pargana bilagi register koibol hebo te o karkunor deitot koibol travisora kanuni goi kanuni goi kisiil te maintain previous records of the produced india respective provinces te kanuni goi juabasor pa agor basor juabasor te omkhe produci bila utpadan hoisiil he utpadan bilagok hisa brakhatu ason kanuni goi te itot asil now we are at the end of this presentation what we have learned in this presentation we have learned the defined the two divisions of the administration that is central administration and provincial administration then we have learned duties of the sultans then responsibilities of the sultan then in the provincial administration we have discussed the divisions of the provinces different officers and their duties again we have discussed ministers and their responsibilities etia ami a aidhaytu hekhor bhaile ahi upasit hoisiil agor e oidhaydut e presentation tut ami kiki alusana goilu pathamti ami alusana goilu ze delhi sultanit ho kalor praha khan bilastha dhuta bhakar bhakar haisiil pathamtuhul central administration otthat kanjo praha khan agor dityut hoiseil pra dekhik praha khan otthat provincial administration tarbisana mi alusana goilu ze duties of the sultan sultana kata bahumu ami alusana goilu tarbisana responsibilities of the sultan sultana kiki dhita asil hei dhita bilastha goilu ze alusana goilu ze tarbisana provincial administration otthat pra dekhik praha khanon ami alusana goilu ze divisions of the provinces provincial bilastha pra dekh bilastha kidore khanon bhi dhata bhakar haisiil tarbisana goilu ze different officers and their duties pra dekhik administration officer khamu kunkun asil aru te onukar daito kia asil praha khanon aru hekhore ami alusana goilu ze ministries and their responsibilities minister khamu kola daito kia asil aru te onukar kata bhakia asil ebi khe ami alusana goilu aji amar yoi daitu imante ho mahto hoise dhain na bad


this morning, we're really gonna zero in on Jesus in the storm. And it's one of those promises that you have over your life that maybe you aren't excited to declare, but John 7 declares, when the storms of life come. It is actually a promise that storms of life are going to come. And what we do in those moments and where Jesus is and how we see him is everything. And we get to see that play out. And there's just something about a storm in life that's so scary, disorienting. When you're in one, you feel like you're never going to be out. I was, as I was preparing this message, I was just remembering when I was 11, we were camping in Canada and I was out in a canoe. We were fishing, it was just me, I was fishing. And as I was out fishing, I remember this strong wind came over the lake and I went to try to go home and every time I paddled this canoe, I was only by myself. It just pushed me further and further and further and further down this lake. And I just remember that just the fear I felt in my heart, like I just felt like, how am I ever gonna get back? Like I'm gonna be stuck on this lake and nobody's gonna save me. And I just remember my mind running and me being so overwhelmed. And I felt like the Lord was reminding me of that picture this morning because it can feel like that when the storms of life hit, when there's a diagnosis, when there are relationship collapses, when we get fired from our job and there's these big moments in life and it's so important to stop and ask, where is Jesus in this storm? And so that's what we're gonna dive into today. Before we do that, we're gonna nerd out a little bit on the gospel of John and why this story in particular matters. And I hope you've been, how many of y'all have been enjoying this series, the gospel of John? I love the gospel of John so much because John got the advantage. He wrote his gospel after the others had finished theirs. And so John, if you notice, he's not as worried about dates and getting as many events in as possible, but he does these long moments where he's showing you dialogues with people like the Samaritan, like the woman at the well, like Nicodemus, where he's just giving you these long, unabridged conversations or it's telling you details like it says, like when the woman caught in adultery was thrown at Jesus' feet, John says that Jesus wrote down and was writing in the sand or one of my favorite verses in John 12. Everyone talked about Mary breaking her alabaster jar open, but John gives you the detail. It says the fragrance filled the house. John is just this amazing storyteller that he's saying, hey, the word was made flesh and dwelt among us. And he wanted to show the humanity of Jesus, the closeness of Jesus, how he walked amongst us. And so during the gospel, he mostly focuses on that. He doesn't hit as many of these miraculous miracles as some of the others, but John six is different. John six, he takes this moment and he kind of anchors the first half of John. See the book of John is broken down really into two main sections. The first is Jesus' earthly ministry, John two through John 11, and then John 12 through 21 is Jesus just during Passion Week. That's what I love about the gospel of John is that it takes so much time to talk about Passion Week and Jesus going to the cross. And in this first half, this John two through 11, there's something called a chiastic structure. And so a chiastic structure is a Hebrew literary device where ideas are laid out and then repeated in reverse order. So think of the phrase, when the going gets tough, the tough get going. That's a chiasm. It's the ideas are laid out and then they're reversed to show the significance. Jesus says it in short little phrases too. He says the Sabbath or man wasn't made for the Sabbath, but Sabbath was made for the man. And there's something about the Hebrew writers that constantly in the Psalms, you'll notice like it'll start with praise the Lord and then it'll end with praise the Lord. And then there's typically an anchor in the middle that is kind of the crux or the most important part. When we tell stories, we wait and the climax is the very end. The most important thing is the last thing that happens. That's the way our movies are, our stories are. But in Hebrew literature, actually the middle was the most important. That was the crux. And what I love about that too is creation is actually chiastic. It started in a garden. It ends in a garden city. It started with man walking with God with no sin. It ends with man walking with God and no sin. And in the middle of this chiastic structure called the creation story, you have what? The cross and resurrection of Jesus. The most pivotal, every event before that points to it, every event after it points back to it. And so John, you can go ahead and throw that up on the screen. What you can see is John is brilliant. He's not just a storyteller, but he gives us seven signs that Jesus did, seven miracles, seven I am statements, and then seven discourses that match those. And you can see on here, this is kind of laid out chiastically. And so the first sign and the seventh sign is really these ends. And it starts with Jesus turning water to wine and it ends with Jesus turning Lazarus from death to life. And in between you have a lot of healings. And then right at the crux of it is John six, where you have the feeding of the 5,000 and then you have the discourse of I am the bread of life and then you have Jesus walking on water. And how do we know that this is kind of the chiastic anchor? Well, there's a couple of things that happen. First is right in John two in John 11, they both happen at Passover. And John six is the other passage in John that talks about Passover. So it actually Passover, Passover, Passover, it all is happening at the same time. The second thing is the very first I am statement that Jesus makes is I am the bread of life. That happens in John six. And then also if you look at the nature of the miracles, what you have is sign and wonder, sign and wonder. And then in between you have these little, not little, but healings. He's healing the nobleman's son. He's giving sight to the child born blind. But then right in the middle, he has this dramatic set of miracles feeding the 5,000. It's beautiful obviously that Jesus heals an individual, but there was a shock and awe factor of all the sudden there's no food and 5,000 people are eating. How many of you know there was a shock and awe factor when the disciples were out on the Sea of Galilee and all of a sudden in the middle of a storm, this figure comes walking on the water. And I don't care what anyone says. I think Jesus was messing with him a little bit. I mean, he just had to have been, you know, one of my favorite things to do, I'm not really anymore, but as a kid, I still like to do it. You know, do you like to hide and wait and scare people? I remember me and my buddy Bob in college, we waited in a girl we knew's car for over 30 minutes with a blanket over us and waited till she was 15 minutes down the road. So we jumped out and screamed. And she really appreciated it. We had to walk home after that moment. And I honestly, I'm not even just being funny. I do believe there's literally an element where Jesus is surprising them and setting them up for this revelation of walking on water. And John is basically telling us the story. And I was originally gonna preach this message and that was gonna kind of be the crux of the message, but I'm gonna kind of reveal why that matters right now. So, you know, move that bus. I'm gonna tell you why this matters. And then we're gonna kind of talk about it specifically. But what I believe John is doing in this passage with a feeding of the 5,000 and then the miracle of walking on water, he's given a story within a story of the cross and the resurrection. See, the feeding of the 5,000 and Jesus saying, I'm the bread of life was a picture of there was multitudes and there was great need and Jesus had compassion and Jesus was the bread that was blessed, broken and then given. And then it says Jesus climbed up the mountain by himself. That was him scaling Calvary. The disciples could not go. And then when the 12 disciples were in the storm, they didn't know where Jesus was and they didn't know what was happening. In comes the resurrected Jesus walking on water, conquering death, conquering sin. They didn't know who he was at first, but he walks into their moment and says, it is I peace be with you, be still. And it's this incredible moment that John is showing us about how Jesus is hinting and telling stories of the cross and the resurrection even before the cross and the resurrection. And as we kind of dive into the text, it's a good reminder in these moments in the gospel that we are quick to spiritualize these moments. And we're gonna talk about some of it. We read that story and we're like, oh, how Jesus comes the storms in my heart. And that's good to do. We're gonna take time to do that, but it's good to look at just the slain and risen Jesus and the power and might that he has and the fact that he literally walked on water. Like that is the God we serve. This is not a God who is just giving us some helpful religious advice who's giving us some nice ways to live our life, but this is a God who stepped into creation and revealed himself as God by walking on top of the waves. So you guys ready to dive into the text? Here we go, John 6 starting in verse 15. We're gonna go verse by verse and pause and then we're gonna camp out at the end and ask some questions. So John 6 starting in verse 15 says, Jesus perceiving then that they were about to come and take him by force to make him king. Jesus withdrew again to the mountain by himself. I love this, we see this over and over again. When Jesus starts to have this wave of influence and people are rising up and what are they wanting? They're wanting Jesus to be a part of the cause that they believe in. And we see that Jesus flees the multitudes that try to use Jesus for their cause. And we see that today. And let me tell you, Jesus is not your trinket. Jesus will not fit on your ideological flag that you fly. Jesus will not be the person that you hold up that advances the cause of what you want. Jesus will flee from that person in that crowd every time. He is Lord of lords and king of kings. He will not be handled, restrained or controlled. He is the Lord of all, we follow him, he does not follow us. And they wanted to make him king because they wanted to be free from oppression. And when Jesus even just perceived that, instead of riding the wave of influence, he departs and he climbs up and he goes to the mountain alone. Verse 16, when evening came, his disciples went down into the sea, got into the boat and started across to the sea of Capernaum. So they're on the sea in this moment and already there's a test of faith happening because in Mark's account and Matthew's account, we see the disciples aren't going on their own volition. But Jesus very explicitly told them to get in the boat and go to the other side while he left them. And you can imagine in that moment where they're getting in the boat and going across the other side there's a moment when the storm starts to come and set in where fear is starting to take root. Where they're starting to question, wait a minute, why would Jesus send us in this storm? Why would Jesus command us to go and get in this boat without him and then send a storm? And in verse 17, it accents that even more. It says he got in the boat and started across the sea to Capernaum. Now it was dark and Jesus had not come to them. And this is their first test of faith. Jesus said to go to the other side, but now it's dark and Jesus isn't coming and all of a sudden things are starting to get darker and darker. And this is the moment where you start replaying, wait a minute, did Jesus really say that? That's where the enemy comes in and he says, did God really say that was the temptation to Eve? And it's the first moment of fear when you step in and Jesus commands you to do something and you feel great when you're going into but all of a sudden it changes. The Lord opens the door and then asks you to apply for a job and you get accepted and it's exciting but then you start the job and it's really, really hard. And you feel anxious and stressed about it and you're not handling the work well. Or he tells you to disciple somebody and you begin discipling them and it ends up being really hard and they're not listening, they're not paying attention and suddenly you're in that moment where fear and doubt enter and that's what happens with the disciples. And that's the question I wanna ask, what do you do when God leads you but isn't coming through in the way that you want him to? Imagine the disciples saying, why would Jesus do that? And all of a sudden the doubts creep in. Oh my gosh, could it be that Jesus sent us into the storm that he wasn't going in because he actually meant us harm? Is this the moment Jesus leaves us? Is he mad at us? Did we do something wrong? Does God hate me? And in the moment of the disorientation of the storm, those lies and those accusations start to creep in. And then you see in verse 18, the sea had now become rough and a strong wind was blowing. There's something about the fear when you're in a windstorm because it's the evil that you don't know.  You know those old like, would you rather questions? Like one of the classic ones is, would you rather fight a shark or a bear? And I'm like team bear all day long. And this is just, this is not survival advice. So do not apply this because you'll probably die. But my thinking is if I'm going up with a bear, like at least I can square off with this thing. And I feel like I can get a few good shots in.  Like if I'm going against a shark, I'm just sitting there in water and I'm just like a tasty dessert with a little strawberry on me. I'm like, hey, I don't know where you are. I don't know what's coming.  And I don't know which one's actually safer, but give me the bear all day. Who's team bear? I mean, I'm team bear.  And so there's a lot of advantages to fighting the bear. But there's something about being in a storm with wind because you don't know where it's coming from. You don't know where it's going. And you have no power against it. It completely strips you of all control. And in these moments, there is the true testing of faith. As I was preparing for this message, I was just thinking of the many storms of life. But the one that kept coming up to me was about six years ago, the Lord sent us to this retreat in North Carolina. And he spoke this phrase and he said the Lord wanted to bring healing to us to go to this retreat. And it was kind of this beautiful moment where the Lord met us and was bringing this deep healing to us personally. But while we were there in North Carolina, I got bit by some radioactive mosquito and came back to Colorado and I contracted viral meningitis. And we had a couple scary episodes where I basically seizureed, I couldn't really breathe and lost all control and function. The doctors didn't know what it was because no one gets meningitis in Colorado because there's not mosquitoes. And I find myself in and out of the hospital and just the nature of meningitis, it was so intense. My brain was swallowing up to concussion level symptoms. And there definitely was a large threat that I might not make it out. And there was a moment where the doctor even told me that even if I made it out, because of the swelling in my brain, I would have permanent brain damage. And in the middle of it, on top of that, I had a level 10 migraine the entire 40 days. So that was like the starting points with this migraine. But the way that it was in my brain is I actually wasn't fully in my right mind either. So I would hallucinate at different moments. I would see things that weren't really there. I kind of lost my grasp on reality. And I remember in the midst of that storm, feeling all of those same feelings of, wait a minute, God, you sent me to this place for healing. Like, this is your idea of healing? And what came out of my heart, instead of faith and confidence, was this accusation of, God, you hate me, you're against me. What did I do? I'm in this storm because I did something wrong. And the enemy comes and prays and brings those accusations in those moments. And so what we do, how we respond in the storm before we see Jesus is everything. So I wanna flip over to Mark's account in Mark 6. And we're gonna see the same story, starting in verse 45. I'm gonna look at what we do in the storm. So starting in verse 45, immediately he made his disciples get into the boat and go before him to the other side, to Bethsaida. Well, he dismissed the crowd. And after he had taken leave of them, he went up on the mountain to pray. And when evening came, the boat was out of the sea and he was alone in the land. And he saw they were making headway painfully for the wind was against them. And about the fourth watch of the night, he came to them walking on the sea. And this is how I know Jesus was messing with them. He meant to pass them by. Like Jesus is walking. And all of a sudden they see this figure and he doesn't go right for the boat, but Jesus aims past them and just keeps walking. But when they saw him walking on the sea, they thought it was a ghost and they cried out for they all saw him and were terrified.   Like this is what I don't know what to do and you're just fear has just completely gripped you in this moment. But immediately he spoke to them and said, take heart, it is I do not be afraid. And he got into the boat with them and the wind ceased and they were utterly astounded. And here's the key verse. For they did not understand about the loaves, but their hearts were hardened. Lacking clarity of your last season believed you susceptible to fear and doubt every time. Because the disciples did not have clarity on what Jesus did for them in their last season. They were ill equipped to have faith in the current storm.  Good fathers before they send their kids to school, they take time and they build thoughts and ideas and patterns of ways they should approach this new challenge so that when they're in their challenge they know how to overcome. Yet the disciples did what we do so often which we just weather the storms of life and we just end and we say, well, I'm glad that's over with. And we don't know what Jesus did. We don't know why and we don't know how that current season is supposed to affect the next one. And it marks says they didn't understand or they were afraid because they didn't understand the feeding of the 5,000. So what does he mean? Well, we're gonna talk about three ways of not having understanding leads to not having faith in the storm. And so the first one is lacking clarity of his last miracle will harden your heart in the storm that you're in. So what does it mean? They didn't understand the feeding of the 5,000. What did that have anything to do with them being freaked out because they thought they saw a ghost? Well, for starters, the disciples, they were teenagers, older teenagers, some young adults, Peter was the oldest, probably around 28, 29. But the rest of them were basically older teenagers. And the reason that detail matters is because if you remember, Jesus just fed the 5,000 and how many baskets of food were left over. And I know firsthand, whenever you have teenagers or young adults and there's food left over, they're gonna carry that food in their shirt, they're gonna find grocery bags, they're gonna do whatever they can to make sure they take that food home. And so what was chilling in the boat with them when that storm was happening? It was that bread and that fish. They had a doggie bag in the boat of Jesus's last miracle, and yet they couldn't connect the power of that last moment to the current one. And here's what happened on the last miracle. You see, we always read it and we say, Jesus fed the 5,000. And of course, there's some truth and reality to that. But you know what Mark 637 says? Jesus said, but Jesus answered his disciples, you give them something to eat. So Jesus broke the bread and broke the fish, but then who did he give it to? Disciples, who handed out the food to the people? The disciples, who fed the 5,000? The disciples. Jesus broke the bread and then gave himself to the disciples and it was the disciples who were meant to take that bread. Who Jesus was and they were the ones and as they passed it out, it multiplied. So what is Mark saying? He's saying the disciples didn't get it. They thought Jesus did everything and they were just the ushers that were passing out the elements. But Mark was saying they didn't understand that it was actually their faith. They obeyed Jesus and so they actually saw a miracle at their hands. What Mark is saying is if they had really understood the miracle that had just happened, then they would have stood up in that boat and say, the reason I have bread and fish here is because I just saw that I obeyed a command of Jesus and he worked a miracle. Jesus commanded me to go into this storm and so I'm gonna speak to the wind and the waves and I'm gonna tell them to cease. And when you know the last miracle that God did for you, that the authority and power that you have in that moment causes you to command the wind and the waves to stop. So how do we do this in the storm? And the first thing which is so important is that we thank God for his provision. Thankfulness is the key to great faith. I don't roll out of bed in the morning and I don't just have faith to be like, mountain, get into that sea. Like sometimes we think of faith and it's almost like a wishful thinking of like, as long as we wish for it really hard and like, will it to happen, then we have enough faith. But that's not faith. Faith comes by hearing and hearing the word. Faith has way more to do with obedience, hearing God's voice and obeying than it does mustering up this great faith. But how do we access that when we're confused? Well, I'll tell you how it's thankfulness. Thankfulness is like when your windshield has mud all over it. I'm saying this because I just was with Ryan kind of this weekend, we got lost and then all of a sudden we had mud from the top of our car because we were like gunning it through this field in Kansas. We couldn't see. We were like pouring water bottles on the windshield. And thankfulness is the water bottle on the windshield to clear off the dirt. When you start saying thank you, when you start thanking God for his provision and what he's done, all of a sudden you start to remember what God has done and you start to see things that you don't see. Thankfulness expands your vision. You know what complaining does? It narrows it down. You want to feel more overwhelmed in a storm? Well, start pointing out everything that's wrong. You wanna be more fearful and have more doubt in your storms? Start complaining about all the things that are hard and difficult. It's like throwing mud on the windshield and you can't see. And it's so simple that we don't do it. We're like, I already know what I'm thankful for so I don't need to say it. No, you do need to say it because you're focusing on the wrong thing. So when you're in that storm and you have the provision and the miracle in front of you, you start to say, Lord, I thank you for what you've done. I thank you for how you've moved, Lord, in past seasons this is how you've redeemed me. This is how you've saved me, Lord. I used to be stuck in this place and you delivered me. Lord, I used to be bound by this sin but you set me free from that and I know if you did it before, you will do it again. And in the middle of that storm, if you can stop paying attention to the wind and waves for two seconds and activate thankfulness, what happens is all of a sudden it kicks you into the high gear of faith. Thankfulness, Thanksgiving in faith is like the two fuel sources in a car. In a car, you have the battery and then you have the combustion system that's triggered by gas. You can't get into a car and the combustion system isn't automatic. But thankfulness is like the battery and faith is like the combustion engine because I don't always have access to great faith but I always have access to thankfulness and it's the battery that is guaranteed energy. Now that energy can't carry me very far. I need faith but I turn the ignition. No matter how little faith I have, I just start declaring thankfulness for God's provision and who He is. And all of a sudden it leads me into the place of great faith where now I can rise up and speak to the storm and the wind and the waves and tell them to cease. The second thing that the disciples lacked for their understanding is that lacking clarity of your assignment will lead you to doubt in the present storm. You see, Jesus had prophesied over Simon Peter that he was gonna be a fisher of men. He had prophesied to Nathaniel and Philip that they were gonna see Jacob's letter. He kept telling the disciples about the kingdom come that they were going to see. But when you forget and you don't remind yourself of the assignment that God has, you start to feel like this storm is actually gonna take you out. And if the disciples had stopped for a moment and said, this can't be it. This is not where I'm dying, nope. I'm supposed to be a fisher of men. I'm supposed to proclaim the gospel to the Gentiles and to the nations. God has signs and wonders in store for me. There's no way that this storm has taken me out. And in those moments of those storms, reminding yourself of those prophetic promises are so, so valuable and important. My wife and I are learning that in this season right now. I talked a few weeks ago about our six-year-old son who has special needs and was born from an absolute miracle where God gave us a son when we had infertility for seven years. And when you're struggling with just the basics of life and there's discouragement and heartache that happens from these setbacks and struggles that he has to endure, we are learning, we're writing these down and we're starting to proclaim these prophetic promises. Lord, you said through a prophet nine months ago that Jordan would minister to the nations. Lord, we pray and prophesy that over him. Lord, this is who he is and you start to prophetically proclaim, which is number two. What do you do in the storm? You declare the prophetic promises of God for your life. You start with Thanksgiving, but then you start to declare those truths. Mothers and fathers do not stop praying the promises that God gave you. I don't care how bleak it looks. I don't care how far from God your son and your daughter is. I don't care the challenge that they're walking through.  That is what faith is.  Rise up, choose thankfulness and then declare that prophetic promise until your son and daughter comes home. Amen. The third and final thing that we lack understanding in the storm is lacking clarity on what Jesus did in the last storm will keep you in fear in your current storm. And let me read this moment because Jesus commanded them to go into a storm, but he had already been in a similar situation with these disciples in Mark four, Mark four, verse 37. And a great windstorm arose, but the waves were in the boat, so the boat was already filling. But he said to the stern asleep in the, but he sat in the stern asleep on the cushion and they woke him and he said, teacher, do you not care that we're perishing? And he awoke and rebuked the wind and the sea and said, peace, be still. And the winds ceased and there was a great calm. And he said to them, why are you so afraid? Have you still no faith? Here's what I love, the progression of storms. First storm, Jesus is with them in the boat. Second storm, Jesus sends them, but he's not with them. Third storm, Jesus climbs the hill of Calvary.  There's a progression of these storms. What is Jesus doing? He's building their faith. He's preparing them. If I delivered you in the last storm, I'll do it again. And I know that it's different. And this time it's a little bit harder because this time Jesus isn't in the boat. Last time we just had to shake Jesus. Now this time he's praying on a mountain and we're all alone and it's dark and it's scary. But all you have to do is remember what Jesus did in that last storm. This is what you did for me. This is how you revealed yourself to me. And this is who you are. And I remember in that season of meningitis because I wasn't in my right mind and I had so much fear of death.  And it was disorienting and confusing. And I remember on the 37th day. I remember the day because it was July 4th because it was the day that Kevin Durant left the thunder and went to play for Oklahoma City. And I was already just in a horrible place and I read that news and my despair went to level 10. And still haven't got over that. So you can pray for healing there. But I remember that day I was in bed and I was just was crying and feeling so overwhelmed. I just remember Jesus leading me and saying, hey, I want you to come down to the piano. And I sat down at the piano and the Lord led me to sing Psalm 23, surely goodness and mercy will cover me all the days of my life. And I'll dwell in the house of the Lord forever. And like a vision, the Lord showed me these pictures of time and time again when I felt so overwhelmed, when I felt confused, when I felt like I lost my way of how he delivered me. And as I sang those truths, it was, I'm not kidding, it was like a waterfall of God's presence and love and favor washed over me. And what's amazing is if you've heard the story, on day 40, three days later, the Lord miraculously healed me in a moment. I got a clear MRI scan, no damage. It was an unbelievable miracle. But before Jesus did the miracle, he appeared to me in the storm. But I didn't feel the shift until I started declaring who he was and what he had done for me in the previous storms. And as soon as I opened my mouth and started singing, because in the moment of meningitis, I felt the, God, you've abandoned me.  Your goodness and mercy, where are they? But I just started declaring the truths that I had forgotten because of the wind and the waves. And as I declared those truths, his love and his presence washed over me. Jesus got in the boat and he said, Caleb, it's I. I'm actually in the center of the storm. And that's what I love about this story. And what I'll say to you this morning, I don't care how dark the night is. Jesus has not left you alone. He is at the center of the whirlwind. He's in the middle of the storm. I don't care what the trial is and how difficult it is. I promise you, you might not recognize him. He might look like a ghost. He might be appearing to you in a way that you do not expect, but he is there. And sometimes you have to step up with a heart of thankfulness and gratitude, declaring his provision and then proclaiming his prophetic promises and telling yourself, reminding yourself, if God delivered me before, he'll do it again.


I'm Sharath Singh and I am working in an organization called SPWD, Society for Promotion of Wastelence Development and we are really pleased to be part of this, present our understandings in this conference because of the importance that customary tenures bring to the way land is governed by the community in many areas of the country. SPWD has been working on these issues for more than 30 years being the pioneer organization to have mapped the areas under wastelands and to develop those lands to be a productive asset for the community. This conference really brings forth many practitioners as well as academicians new thoughts and processes so those things really interest organizations like us who have been working on this. We have also worked on mapping conflicts of land then issues on how land governance should be there what's the role of land use as a policy to make land governance more sustainable less conflict oriented. So this is something which is of interest and that really makes me be here as part of this conference and I'm really glad to be associated with it.