Going Big (Richard Magnussen interview)

Today I am having a conversation with Richard Magnussen who last year released his memoir ‘Going Big: Lessons On Success In Business, Life And Faith.’

From the early years growing up in an immigrant family and building a productive life in Kitchener to becoming one of Canada’s big business success stories, Richard was able to remain focused on what was most important. His stories are worth hearing.

Former Member of Parliament Harold Albrecht from Kitchener-Conestoga wrote on the flyleaf, “Richard’s story is one of hard work, incredible perseverance, and deep faith in Jesus. Powerful evidence of the difference that Jesus makes in the life of a family. Great leadership principles based on the wisdom of God’s Word!’

Links:

Book - Going Big: Lessons On Success in Business, Life and Faith

https://www.siretona.com/goingbig

Magnussen Home Furnishings

https://www.magnussen.com/

Creekside Church

https://www.creeksidechurch.ca/

The Hope-Filled Streets of Barrie (Kevin Mast interview) (Copy)

Kevin Mast has served as pastor of Hope City Church in Barrie, Ontario for all of its 12 years. It has grown to a family of ministries making a difference for the street-affiliated and marginalized of their city.

Kevin and I reminisce about my visit a few years ago and how urban ministry always involves shifts and upheavals.

Hope Barrie

https://www.hopebarrie.com/

The Election Episode (Tim Schindel interview)

As we approach Canada’s federal election with political fever running high, I interviewed Tim Schindel to talk about the spiritual realities we hold onto, regardless of how the country votes.

Tim Schindel is a visionary leader and strategic influencer dedicated to equipping and supporting leaders in Canada’s political and business communities. As the Founder and National Director of Leading Influence, he has built a nationwide network providing chaplaincy, mentorship, and faith-based leadership support to elected officials across Canada. Since launching the organization in 2006, Tim has expanded its reach, fostering a culture of integrity, encouragement, and service among political leaders. With nearly 40 years of experience in ministry, leadership development, and executive coaching, Tim is known for his ability to cast vision, build high-impact teams, and drive meaningful change.

 Links:

Leading Influence

https://leadinginfluence.com/

Previous interview:

Season 2, Episode 18

https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/tim-schindel-providing-spiritual-care-for-politicians

DEI and Glocal Church (Harold Gutierrez interview)

Diversity, equity and inclusion are all Christian virtues, but they can be disguised as PCIE - Pressured Conformity, Inequity and Exclusion. That can happen easily inside or outside of the Church, but the Church cannot afford to conflate virtue with political pragmatism. The prophetic Church does the quiet work of diversity, equity and inclusion without press releases.

On today’s episode I have a conversation with Harold Gutierrez, who is from Langley BC where he works as the Intercultural and Indigenous Ministries director for the British Columbia and Yukon District of the PAOC. He has pastored in Florida, North Carolina and BC and currently working on a PhD. Today we want to talk about cross cultural communication, discipleship, pluralism and the ways that we can grow in working together across the cultural divides.

Link:

British Columbia and Yukon District of PAOC

https://www.bcyd.ca/intercultural-indigenous

Road Home For Prisoners (Peter Ochs interview)

Today I am having a conversation with Peter Ochs and Steve Fox. We are going to have a conversation about Peter’s creative response to helping prisoners get established in a new life.

Peter Ochs is a lifelong faith-driven entrepreneur. His 30-year journey has been dedicated to building prosperous businesses God’s way. Pete’s life mission is to inspire and equip business leaders worldwide to live with a purpose greater than themselves, leveraging their businesses to make a Christ-centered impact on the world. He is author of High Impact LIFE and High Impact Business.

Peter is a friend of a friend. Steve Fox is my friend and a 30-year veteran of the church I pastor in Windsor. Steve was initially invited to join me as a core member for this new church plant that became New Song Church. His six-month trial turned into thirty years where he served in many capacities.

Links:

Enterprise Stewardship

https://www.enterprisestewardship.com/pete-ochs

Peter Ochs Books:

https://www.enterprisestewardship.com/events-and-resources

Kingdom Advisors

https://kingdomadvisors.com/

The Attention Economy (Rick Hiemstra and Andy Gabruch)

In Elizabeth Oldfield’s book ‘Fully Alive’, she wrote, “For most of the week, my value is in what I produce and what I consume. If I’m not careful my main goal in a day becomes impressive and competent, subtly signalling my status with the things I buy, say and post. Sabbath is the opposite. It is a line in the sand. Today I am just a person, and a person is beyond price. Sabbath is about valuing, fighting for and fiercely guarding rest.” [1]

What are the things that demand our attention and distract us from being fully alive in Christ? My guests on this episode are Rick Hiemstra and Andy Gabruch.

Rick is the director of The Centre For Research On Church And Faith at The Evangelical Fellowship of Canada.

Andy is the author of Infobesity: How To Be Followers Of Jesus in an Information Overload World.

[1] Elizabeth Oldfield, ‘Fully Alive’ p. 110.

Links:

Rick Hiemstra – Evangelical Fellowship of Canada

https://www.evangelicalfellowship.ca/RickHiemstra

Infobesity Book

https://www.infobesity.ca/infobesity-the-book

Andy Gabruch Website

https://andygabruch.com/

Increase in Bible sales

https://www.wsj.com/business/media/sales-of-bibles-are-booming-fueled-by-first-time-buyers-and-new-versions-d402460e

Igods: How technology shapes our spiritual and social lives 

https://www.amazon.ca/iGods-Technology-Shapes-Spiritual-Social/dp/1587433443/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2S9HZCBUQI4AB&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.aU0UvmNAvigfu5nWqrKrFEHSnGQ3khC7TdlsGEpma7Dh2AL0SQBTynVWPDJdNxiGKBFG4NGYwFYf12HG0uaIRBtYpGkjNDVLOJHh49psynjr5KKvlDMNu7MN3SM321BEta6Qgse8spoyMRskcBQ6LA.8jP7J3hj5dwOXlJLWRq1VxLP1EByMu0-bHGFuMjti0c&dib_tag=se&keywords=igod%27s+book&qid=1738874432&sprefix=igods+book%2Caps%2C130&sr=8-1

How to Break Up with Your Phone 

https://www.amazon.ca/How-Break-Up-Your-Phone-ebook/dp/B072J77B68/ref=sr_1_1?crid=2GGZXH7IPGOBT&dib=eyJ2IjoiMSJ9.BrxH8fEW3onrWcfbpGanIrANsvt6MSIDPqgn5-pSmVTH2GUIK3bWrZs3artkG3YW1j4acqps1fo-SxngnRPaTSYwNS8OYM8R0otTX9mQUkjrebv2r4n8qq26vqiXMXSBmXvnORQva9XAHK_DTOAHBbapuY-WwCtpSfNLmAEw3DcQU0QxlmfhULzrvgWhgAcZL1R4IOIvYZgiqfTK71A1M9TbhNFuuM6FVtZSQDJODca9stta5nkG29p7pEk2t2-pdj5CzDiV7XZ51BmaNuEhP-FnevnRKzMuFaDx0Di147zdbV2QFg_hNiO66zzy_3PIt5kbfNwkdrLWMoaG4ahPUoc8ZOHZ7BBi148PniSPR1nngKF6Np7sSRU7zoJDNrLMGw-9kC_N-wxHHoG3kVxXtbfWQoqWfJ5_mw9LuY1ELKvw5tGHg4Z4WBb_FqmC5ble.D5txhFM3pS0OoIUgFcyslqJ2opGcqJ9nEifsapFD7vE&dib_tag=se&keywords=catherine+price&qid=1738874618&sprefix=catherine+price%2Caps%2C155&sr=8-1

Sidewalk Skyline Podcast – Season 5, Episode 19

https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/infobesity-techicism-and-tekton-andy-gabruch-interview

Entrepreneurs In Love (Mike and Lisa Difazio)

Michael Difazio and Lisa Shurrock are two young, successful entrepreneurs in Windsor Ontario. As they fell in love, they did not realize how God would appear in their lives to disrupt business as usual and surprise them with miracles.

Here’s my interview as they share the lessons they’re learning about trusting God with everything.

Links:

Michael Difazio

https://www.michaeldifazio.ca/

Elite Studios

https://www.facebook.com/Elitestudioswindsor

Hope And Light In Cobourg (Leigh-Ann & Thomas Davidson)

After a couple years working in Mission Canada with Street Level Advocacy (Peterborough), Leigh-Ann Davidson felt the call to launch new initiatives in Cobourg, Ontario. Along the way, her biggest supporter (who happened to be her husband Thomas) joined in her efforts in reaching out to the street-affiliated and homeless population in the small city of Cobourg.

Together they are ‘Hope And Light Urban Outreach’ making a difference in a place of intensifying need.

Links:

Mission Canada Profile

https://paoc.org/donate/leighanndavidson

Facebook Page

https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=61564632950348

Intensity In Tent City - Sidewalk Skyline Podcast - Season 3, Episode 22

https://youtu.be/BD7j0NqRwgo?si=X0K8asD0YQ5HyK3U

The Nine Lives of Joe Ritchie

Joe Ritchie grew up with a history of trauma and abuse that nearly killed him. At age fifteen he was in a car accident that left him quadriplegic and without hope. After three times of dying and being resuscitated, it would be a vision of Jesus that would change his life trajectory.

Today Joe serves as part of the pastoral team at Windsor’s New Song Church. Listen as he shares transparently about his struggles with addiction and the journey to freedom.

Weaving Hope From The Unraveled Church (Alan Roxburgh interview)

Alan Roxburgh is a pastor, teacher, writer and podcaster with more than thirty years’ experience in church leadership, consulting and seminary education. I first heard of him through my friend Karen Reed who will be co-hosting our conversation today. Karen has been a past guest on the podcast and is very much entrenched in a life of loving her neighbours, a true example of intentional community building.

 Links:

Leaving Egypt Podcast

https://podcasts.apple.com/ca/podcast/leaving-egypt-podcast/id1699200527

Alan Roxburgh - Reflections On The Refounding Of God’s People

https://alanroxburgh.com/

The Missional Network

https://www.themissionalnetwork.com/

Why I Help People Take Drugs (Dr. Meera Grover)

Today, I’m talking with Doctor Meera Grover who works in Calgary, Alberta extensively in the field of addiction medicine.

Working in Vancouver’s notorious downtown eastside to pay for her theological education at Regent College, Meera Grover was faced with questions about whether or not providing people who use drugs with sterile supplies and a place to inject contravened her faith. She knew she wanted to care for people with addiction but did not know how to do so in a way that fit with her own moral code.

She wrestled with these questions over the years and through her transition, from nursing to becoming a fully licensed physician who specializes in addiction medicine.[1]

Meera has written a book entitled “Why I Help People Take Drugs”. In this interview we delve into the often contested practice of harm reduction and the importance of the human connection in addressing addiction issues.

Link:

Dr. Meera Bai Grover

https://meeragrover.ca/

[1] Benjamin Perrin, flyleaf of ‘Why I Help People Take Drugs’

The Shift Every Decade (Bob Gal interview)

Bob Gal has been an iconic figure in my life for 40 years. From my first recollections of his speaking at youth retreats and leading street ministry outreaches, he has been a man that has followed the cloud by day and fire by night.

He and his lifelong sweetheart Karen live in Edmonton, Alberta where he serves as our oldest Mission Canada urban worker at the age of 74. Today I want to hear Bob’s reflections as we review his relationship with Jesus and the nuanced perspective shifts for each decade.

Links:

Mission Canada Profile

https://paoc.org/donate/bobgal

Lovedmonton Chapel

https://lovedmonton.com/

Complex Trauma And RE/ACT (Tim Fletcher interview)

Tim Fletcher is the Founder and President of RE/ACT (Recovery Education for Addictions and Complex Trauma). He used his skills as a pastor and counsellor to develop a program to help the people he cared for overcome addiction. He realized the need for individuals to first become equipped with tools, and then put those tools into practice in a healthy, safe and loving environment - and herein lies his unique skill.

During his early years, he learned that everyone has a loved one who struggles with addiction, and many people struggled with unrealized addictions and unhealthy coping techniques. He found that 97% of addicts also struggled from Complex Trauma (C-PTSD) - corroborating the research of Dr. Gabor Maté. After researching C-PTSD which was identified as, “A series of events that occur where a victim feels unsafe, and as such, develops mental disorders which inhibit them from coping in stressful or harmful circumstances”, he concluded that research was showing that there is a physical difference between the brains of those who grew up in loving and nurturing homes and those who didn’t – before any addiction became prevalent.[1]

Links:

Tim Fletcher Website

https://www.timfletcher.ca/

Theo Von Interview

(language warning. Theo is a comedian and a spiritual seeker)

https://youtu.be/K60u6ObDsrI?si=_Oc2yXE9OfWqS7lf

[1] https://www.timfletcher.ca/about-tim-fletcher

Healing Spiritual Cataracts (Tim Meisenheimer)

Timothy Meisenheimer has spent decades on the streets with beatitude vision, first in Ottawa and now in Windsor, Ontario. This was his session at the Our City Windsor 2024 conference. Tim takes seriously the path of Jesus in his sidewalk vision of the Kingdom of God.

Links:

Urban Cry School of Mission

https://www.facebook.com/urbancryschoolofmission

Downtown Windsor Community Collaborative

https://www.dwcc.ca/

Capital City Mission

https://capitalcitymission.com/

The Ottawa Mission

https://ottawamission.com/

Infobesity, Technicism and Tekton (Andy Gabruch interview)

This is my interview with Andy Gabruch. Besides being a husband to Annick and father of four teens, he is the pastor of Home Church, formerly known as Vancouver Chinese Pentecostal Church.

 Andy has his Doctor of Ministry in semiotic studies on Christ, culture and the Church from George Fox University and teaches the Contemporary Communication Course at Summit Pacific College.

 Dr. Andy Gabruch has a mentoring ministry called DUCO, meaning “to lead for today.” Since 2016, DUCO has intentionally mentored forty plus young leaders towards full-time ministry, coached dozens of churches on leading, reaching, and discerning younger generations, various strategic projects with non-profit organizations, and planted five next-generation ministries when he was the Next Generations Director with the PAOC British Columbia and Yukon District.

He has written dozens of resources on ministerial leadership and discipleship and is  releasing his first book, Infobesity: How to be Followers of Jesus in an Information Overload World.

Links:

Infobesity Assessment (Promo Code: DUCO)

www.andygabruch.com/redeemdigitalspaces

Infobesity the Book 

www.infobesity.ca

Redeeming Suffering: Contact Andy at duco@andygabruch.com

You’re Not Listening by Katie Murphy

https://www.journalistkatemurphy.com/#ynlbook

The Organized Mind by Daniel Levitin

https://www.penguinrandomhouse.com/books/313653/the-organized-mind-by-daniel-j-levitin/

Grit by Angela Duckworth

https://angeladuckworth.com/grit-book/

Receptivity To The Gospel In Canada (Brian Egert)

How receptive are Canadians to the Christian message?

Brian Egert is the director of Mission Canada, an agency that has over 50 workers across Canada to reach beyond the church walls. This episode features a plenary session at the Our City Windsor conference in March 2024.

Links:

Mission Canada

https://paoc.org/canada

More Of The Maury Story (Maury Blair interview)

This is part two of my interview with Maury Blair as we revisit his traumatized childhood in Paris Ontario and the journey to wholeness through coming to faith in Christ.

If you have not yet listened to part one, go to https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/revisiting-child-of-woe-maury-blair-interview

Links:

Breakthrough Ministries

https://overcomingabuse.ca/

Revisiting Child of Woe (Maury Blair interview)

Years ago I read Maury Blair’s autobiography ‘Child Of Woe’. I was shocked at the severity of the child abuse he suffered from his step-father. How could a man be so filled with contempt for an innocent child and more miraculously, how could a child of violence grow up to be so compassionate and well-balanced?

In this episode I visited Maury at his kitchen table in Cambridge, Ontario as we revisited his faith journey and ministry. We walked on the streets of Paris, Ontario to see the old homestead, the church and the streets he lived on.

This is part one of two episodes.

Link:

Breakthrough Ministries

https://overcomingabuse.ca/

The Heaviness Of Loss (Kim Court and Mike Morency)

(Recorded at Our City Windsor 2024)

No one is exempt from the impacts of grief and loss. When serving others in community it is imperative that we learn to recognize when and how their grief is showing up. However, it is just as important to learn how our own grief impacts our ability to serve others. Kim Court and her husband Mike Morency help participants better understand grief and provide tips on how they can help others, and themselves.

For the past 25 years, Kim Court (M.S.W., R.S.W.) has provided a safe place for individuals and families to reflect and experience personal growth. She values the uniqueness of each individual’s journey, and supports people of all ages as they become empowered to reach their goals.

As a Christian counsellor, Kim is experienced in helping people with struggles related to trauma, separation/divorce, anxiety, depression, attachment, parent-child, and family conflict, all through the lens of evidence-based practice and the Gospel. She is a certified Grief Educator, and is trained in, Brief Solution Focused Therapy, Cognitive Behavioural Therapy, and Collaborative Problem Solving.

Alongside her husband, and on her own, Kim provides engaging workshops and lectures on a wide array of topics.

Mike is Executive Director of Matthew House Refugee Centre which provides temporary shelter and settlement services for Refugee Claimants. He is a team pastor at New Song Church and a frequent speaker at conferences and retreats. Mike is passionate about helping the people of God find ways to “live out” Christ in the world.

He is also Lead Strategist for Synergistic Solution Groups where he assists churches and community charities develop effective strategies to increase their impact.

Additional resources:

Exploring the Companioning Model of Grief Care

https://youtu.be/pOlgifO9TEA?si=WcnesOUS2Q8uH9wS

My Grief

https://mygrief.ca/

Back To The Shack (Bobby Reaume interview)

Bobby Reaume is the lead operator with Feeding Windsor-Essex’s Soup Shack. Every night from 7-9 pm he ensures that up to 140 people are served with food, snacks, clothing and personal care items. The food is prepared in the kitchens of Feeding Windsor-Essex, a charitable department of New Song Church.

This interview at the Our City Windsor 2024 Conference is filled with stories of hope and the continuing miracle of Bobby’s journey to recovery.

As an update, Bobby and some interested parties are attempting to start a charity of their own to provide a greater platform of services to Windsor’s homeless and street-affiliated population. The Soup Shack would be enhanced by a building where more than food would be served.

In the meantime, donations to help fund current operations can be sent to Feeding Windsor-Essex. Find out how at admin@feedingwindsoressex.ca

Links:

Feeding Windsor-Essex

https://www.feedingwindsoressex.ca/

From Fentanyl To The Soup Shack (Season Four, Episode 18)

https://www.sidewalkskylinepodcast.com/sidewalkskylinepodcast/from-fentanyl-to-the-soup-shack-bobby-reaume-interview