The Wellness Journey with Lynnis Woods-Mullins with guest Elaine Yoshikawaairs March 8th-14th
How To Make The Shift To Living a Life of Spirituality, Virtue and Love
What is the shift journey? Many people involved in the spiritual movement are now talking about the shift from experiencing life as a human being having spiritual experiences to a spiritual being having human experiences. There are many ways to think about this shift. Join us as Elaine Yoshikawa, PhD discusses some ways of thinking about the shift, from the perspective of values, virtues, and unconditional love.
Elaine Yoshikawa, Ph.D., is an author, speaker, university lecturer, and founder of Thousand Blossoms. Her first book is The Shift Journey: Spirituality, Virtues, and Unconditional Love. Her second book that is going to be released this March 9th is: Awakening in God’s Heart: The Ascension of Humanity (book available on Amazon).
Their Story Matters with Sara Troy and her guest Monika Wilczynska on air from February 16/07
TRANSGENDER. The Pope said I don’t care what your faith is as long as it is about love and kindness. So if a Transgender person wants to be in faith who are you to dictate NO.
Who I Am is a drama short film based on true events, and is based on from the life of a friend of mine from Sweden, with an original script written by Monika Wilczynska . It is a coming of age tale about Elijah, a young transgender teenager from a very religious background, who has to try to reconcile their identity with their faith and their family’s expectations of them.
It is about believing in ourselves and not compromising our own integrity in order to please our surroundings.
Can an LGBTQ-identifying person benefit from religion whilst staying true to who they are? Why is it important to tackle identity in regards to religion? How restrictive is our perception of spirituality and divinity? Who I Am does not attempt to answer these questions but it aspires to open the dialogue to the public on subjects that have been under-represented or taboo for far too long.
A lot of progress has been made in the past few years regarding LGBTQIA community and rights, but we still have a long way to go. Especially with transgender people, who are, in certain places, even less accepted than the rest of the LGBTQIA community. By giving visibility and voice to a transgender character, we aim to not only bring to life an honest and candid portrayal of their daily struggles but also to help educate people who may have never been directly confronted with this subject matter.
Monika the filmmaker says, “I am interested in the subject of identity and how different human beings identify themselves versus how they are seen by society and portrayed by the media. Religion and spirituality are also an interest of mine because we are wired in such a way that our actions come from our beliefs. Most of our deep-rooted beliefs, as well as many social, economic and political systems are based on religious teachings; whether we ourselves are an atheist, agnostic or a member of a particular religion. Therefore changing, or at least questioning our beliefs can help a positive change in the world happen much faster.”
Paul O’Deawho plays Elijah
“I think having a voice as an artist is really important because we can speak up about issues that are close to our hearts but which are also socially relevant. Historically, creative people have always been pioneers when it came to ‘taboo’ subjects and revolutionary ideas. We are continuously being told that we are separate, that we don’t matter and that we cannot change the circumstances in which we live. But look at Rosa Parks, look at Martin Luther King, look at ‘Tank Man’ in Tiananmen Square. We do matter and the more we realize that the more we can achieve in a quicker amount of time. The first step to that is ending all sort of prejudice, especially one based on an individual’s ethnicity, religious affiliation or sexual orientation.”
When writing the script for Who I Am, it was important for me to stay true not only to the subject’s essence but also to the representation of a transgender person on screen. There is a history of misrepresenting transgender and non-binary characters by cis-gender people, and I wanted to steer clear of that. This is the reason why I not only spent countless hours talking with my friend on whom this story is based but also engaged with the transgender community through social media.
One of the reasons behind our fundraising campaign is our objective to screen this film at as many International Film Festivals as possible to raise awareness about its subject. We aim to submit it to Cannes Film Festival, Sundance Film Festival, BFI Flare, San Francisco International LGBTQ Festival, Melbourne Queer Film Festival and Berlinale Film Festival (Teddy Award section) amongst others.
Monika Wilczynska has a theater, literature, and philosophy background and is currently in her last year of BA (Hons) Film, T,V and Digital Media Production degree at Regent’s University London. As a Scholar, she has benefited from EU-sponsored film development courses all over Europe, including workshops with Academy Award nominees. She works as a freelance screenwriter, producer, and director. She aims to bring to life meaningful tales from under-represented communities. Her work includes campaigns, commercials, music video,s and short films. She wrote and directed ‘Who I Am’ as part of her graduation project for her degree.
Monika has been inspired by Mika and once had the awesome experience of being on stage with him, here is a song that unites us all.
In order to make this project a reality, we have started an Indiegogo campaign to raise the funds necessary for its making, which can be found here:
All of our shows/interviews are done by donation; if you enjoyed this show, please support us here with either a one-time donation or subscribe and support. Thank you. Please support Our Forgotten Seniors anthology and help to bring this book into awareness.
Choose Positive Living with Sara Troy and her guest Dr. Joseph Castleberry aired October 13th-19th
Immigrants, the world is made up of them and now we are seeing a new renewal in faith because of them.
In The New Pilgrims, Dr. Castleberry provides an understanding of how immigrants are contributing to the renewal of American faith, as well as the positive contributions they are making to our churches, families, schools, politics, along with the economy.
Dr. Castleberry presents to the reader not only from a Christian perspective but from a practical point of view the significant impact immigrants are having on the church in America. Dr. Castleberry says, “The New Pilgrims is a bold, fresh look at how immigrants are renewing America’s faith.”
The New Pilgrims clearly shows us the impacts that immigrants have had from the very beginning of America, immigrants have had a powerful role in keeping America’s faith strong. They have continually renewed America’s economy, its churches, family values, education, and politics.
Leaders like Varun Laohaprasit and Jesús de Paz renew churches by establishing new congregations that reach out to their fellow immigrants and help them establish productive lives as assimilated Americans. Immigrants like Ilona Trofimovic and Isaac Canales renew family values by serving as a check and balance to rugged individualism, modeling family unity, community cohesion, and selfless sacrifice.
Motivators like Jesse Miranda bring hope, ambition, and innovation to America’s schools, and visionaries like Samuel Rodríguez help political parties move past polarizing debates and into new policies that serve the emerging national interest. Today’s immigrants have not yet determined their future political loyalties, and they will gravitate to the party that serves the national interest best by providing the most opportunity for them and their families
The New Pilgrims helps readers to understand why people who like religion should love immigrants. Contrary to some recent, politically biased attempts to make the Bible speak against “illegal immigrants,” careful study reveals the Bible’s powerful pro-immigrant teaching that has traditionally shaped America’s reception of newcomers.
American Christians who want to see the renewal of their faith should strongly support immigrants, as a massive wave of immigrants has arrived with new confidence in America’s historic faith and mission. Primarily composed of Christians, such immigrants are “The New Pilgrims,” and they have already begun to restore our national faith.
The New Pilgrims show political as well as religious leaders that despite significant recent declines in church attendance by White Americans, immigrants have increased the overall numbers of Christians in America. Among Catholics, 70 percent of new adherents in the last 50 years have come from Latino immigrant families alone.
As for Evangelical Protestants, perhaps 100% of all net growth has come from immigration. Evangelical immigrant churches, in particular, have experienced a powerful religious revival in recent years, a phenomenon included in a movement Time Magazine has referred to as “The Latino Reformation.”
But Latinos are not alone. The revival includes immigrants from all over the world. The new Christian immigrants bear comparison to the Mayflower Pilgrims because of the way they see their journey to America as well as their interpretation of America’s national purpose.
Like the Puritan John Winthrop, they see America as a shining city on a hill, a beacon for godliness, freedom, democracy, and perhaps above all, opportunity. Among them, leaders like Samuel Rodriguez of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference predict a Third Great Awakening in America that will lead not only to religious renewal but also to the renewal of American society as a whole.
Dr. Joseph Castleberry is President of Northwest University. He holds a Master of Divinity degree from Princeton Theological Seminary and a Doctor of Education degree in International Educational Development from Columbia University. During 20 years of missionary service in Latin America, he spent three years as a university professor and pastor in El Salvador, Central America, three years as Associate Dean for Latin America at Global University in Texas, and five years as a pastor, seminary dean, and community development leader in Ecuador.
La fe en los Estados Unidos está experimentando un potente avivamiento religioso, en particular entre los inmigrantes hispanos, ofreciendo una emocionante oportunidad para la renovación espiritual. Los Nuevos Peregrinos compara a los actuales inmigrantes hispanos con los primeros inmigrantes religiosos del siglo XVI: los Peregrinos de Massachusetts. Castleberry describe el efecto positivo que estos inmigrantes están teniendo, especialmente en términos de moralidad y valores familiares, al igual que de políticas conservadoras. + El Dr. Castleberry es el primer orador en la conferencia en 2015 para la Asociación Nacional de Latinos Evangélicos Hispanos, la organización latina más grande en los Estados Unidos. + Tiene un máster de la Universidad de Princeton y un doctorado de la Universidad de Columbia. + El Dr. Castleberry ha pasado más de 30 años en Latinoamérica como misionero y también como líder de desarrollo comunitario.
Their Story Matters with Sara Troy and Chris Williams aired from September 22nd-on with instant listening.
What would you do if someone took your loved ones away from you? Would you want revenge? none would blame you, BUT; how do you forgive. How do you JUST LET GO and let love heal? Chris Williams did, this is his story.
On a cold February night in 2007, a devoted father of four and a seventeen-year-old drunk driver both received life sentences. In one violent, devastating instant, each faced a drastically different and uncertain future. But as Chris Williams sat in his demolished vehicle, staring at the car that had just caused the death of his wife, his unborn baby, his nine-year-old daughter, and his eleven-year-old son, he committed to do something extraordinary: he would forgive.
Chris Williams’ story is the cinematic tale of how a person can forgive despite the retaliatory tendencies that surface within the dark corners of the human heart, showing the world that hope, love and forgiveness can overcome all when you let it go. In addition to the inspirational presentation of Just Let Go, audiences will be treated to an exclusive introduction from radio personality Delilah!
Chris Williams was born and raised in Salt Lake City, Utah. After serving a mission to Paraguay for The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and graduating from the University of Utah, he went to work as an IT architect and systems engineer. He is now an executive with IBM. After the death of his wife Michelle and two of their four children, he married Mikkel Fuhriman Jones, a widow with two young children. They have since been blessed with two daughters. He and his family currently reside in Salt Lake City.
RISE & FALL – Ryan Innes (JUST LET GO – Soundtrack)
Choose Positive Living with Sara Troy and Pastor Aubrey Shines aired September 8th-14th
We all have a right to believe in our own faith and no one government, fanatics, or activists have the right to take that away from you. Christianity is under attack and discord is prevalent throughout America, how do we keep the faith out of law and keep it as a human right to believe?
Faith, prayer and uniting in a belief gives us strength, gives us sanctuary, and shows us, unconditional love. Today we are speaking to Christianity and the erosion that is taking place, we all have the right to free will and to stand tall in our faith and when we come together in respect not dictatorship we understand the meaning of faith.
Pastor Aubrey Shines speaks to the activist who are dictating the rights of Christians to practice and believe in their own faith, and how they need to stand tall in their faith and not let political correctness erode their belief. The right to embrace God in their own way.
Pastor Aubrey Shines, a Chicago native, began ministering in the Cook County Correctional System in Chicago, IL as an evangelical minister licensed by the late Bishop D. Husband (Churches of God in Christ). In 1987 God moved greatly upon Pastor Shines’ heart and he became the founder of Glory To Glory Ministries. The ministry has since transcended denominational, cultural, and ethnic boundaries. Glory To Glory Ministries is now located in the inner city of Tampa, Florida. Over the past twelve years, this congregation has grown tremendously because of the anointing that God has placed on Pastor Shine’s life. In September of 2014, Glory to Glory Ministries International will extend its boundaries by opening the doors of ministry in their second location, Glory to Glory Ministries of Orlando, Florida. Pastor Shines most recent accomplishment is being one of the seven founders of the International Communion of Evangelical Churches organization under the dynamic leadership of Presiding Bishop Harry R. Jackson, Jr.
HOMOSEXUALITY? Things That The Media Won’t Tell You!
By Bishop Aubrey Shines
In this timely and provocative book, Bishop Aubrey Shines focuses a spotlight on the gay agenda and the current status of legal efforts to legitimize same-sex marriage. He issues a clarion call to the church to get informed and to get involved.
With a well-reasoned and balanced perspective, Bishop Shines offers a cogent analysis of the contemporary debate including:
The insidious attempt of extremists to re-define marriage
Legal, political, social, moral, and religious implications of same-sex marriage
Intentional blurring and confusion between “civil rights” and “human rights”
Exposing the “myths” of same-sex marriage
Why Christians must become more educated and engaged to defend traditional marriage.
Homosexuality? will help you understand exactly how this is a watershed issue for the church today and why Christians must step forward and let their voices be heard!
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