Where Ya From? Podcast

What happens when God calls you to a life different from what you had dreamt up for yourself? With long-standing plans to play basketball professionally, rapper and activist who goes by Reflect initially felt uncomfortable when the Lord called him to community outreach instead of the court. In this episode of VOICES’ Where Ya From? podcast, Reflect joins host Rasool Berry to discuss giving God control and Jesus’ heart for justice.Guest Bio:Donal Cogdell Jr., also known as “Reflect,” is a passionate educator, hip-hop artist, motivational speaker, and minister of justice/advocacy. He serves as the National Director of Development for the K.I.N.G. Movement founded by Chris Broussard and as the Director of Justice for Hope Astoria Church in Queens, NY. As a hip-hop artist, he’s also released three albums, the latest of which is called “New History.” Donal aims to be a pioneering Christian leader and in the spirit of community reform and revitalization, he hopes to one day open an educational institution focused on empowering African Americans to fulfill their potential and to combat systemic injustices harming Black & Brown communities. In his free time, Donal enjoys debating sports, writing, and playing basketball.Notes & Quotes: “When you don’t anticipate the fruit coming from a destination the way you expected, it doesn’t mean that God is not moving . . . .” On seeking justice, “I think sometimes as Christians we feel like, “Okay, it’s just good enough to do good works, and love people, love your neighbor.” But in the Bible, we see firsthand prophets that speak out against kings . . . .” “Justice is not just an Old Testament thing. Justice is central to the New Testament as well because it’s who God is.” Links Mentioned: Explore Reflect’s music on Spotify and Apple Music. Listen to Our Daily Bread Media’s Juneteenth: Faith & Freedom soundtrack on Spotify and Apple Music.  Check out Reflect’s work with K.I.N.G. Movement and Hope Astoria Church in Queens, New York.   Visit our website to sign up for emails. Get new episodes sent straight to your email.  Tell us how much you love Where Ya From? by rating us five stars and leaving us a review.  Check out our VOICES Collection from Our Daily Bread Ministries Follow Where Ya From? on Instagram. Follow VOICES on Instagram. Verses Mentioned: Story of Moses (Exodus) Story of Joseph (Genesis 37–50) Story of King David (1 and 2 Samuel)  John 9 Mark 6:14–29 Matthew 21:12–17 Luke 4:18 Michah 6:8 Luke 18:1–8 Exodus 3:7 Isaiah 30:18 Luke 4:18 Isaiah 61:1 John 1:1 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How should we handle topics about Christianity that bring up potential offense and tension? In this episode of Voices’ Where Ya From? podcast, author Rebecca McLaughlin shares the surprising truth that facing these tough subjects can be an opportunity to show respect to people and to deepen our faith.Guest Bio:Rebecca McLaughlin is the author of Confronting Christianity: 12 Hard Questions for the World’s Largest Religion (2019), which was named book of the year by Christianity Today. She has also authored three additional books which encourage Christians to face uncomfortable questions in their faith. She holds a PhD. in renaissance literature from Cambridge University and a theology degree from Oak Hill College in London. She lives in Cambridge, Massachusetts with her husband, Bryan, and their three children.Notes & Quotes: It feels really distressing and alienating to feel like the culture around you is kind of actively hostile to Christianity in certain ways. I’ve always lived in spaces where there was active hostility to Christianity, so it’s not surprising or unsettling to me, it feels much more normal.  What I experienced from my father was the idea that Christians should definitely be the most intellectually curious people in town. There was no sense of faith being the opposite of intellectual inquiry or exploration. It’s typical for people to say—in order to respect somebody, you need to affirm their beliefs and choices. I don’t think that’s true. I think actually it’s ultimately a sign of disrespect to someone if you think, “Well, because of their cultural background, they couldn’t possibly make their own choice to repent and believe in Jesus.” I think that if we look closely, we will find that Christianity is the original and best foundation for love across racial difference.  I wrote “Confronting Christianity” in many ways as a love letter to my non-Christian friends. I wanted it to be something which I could put into their hands and say, “This is what I’ve been trying to say very inadequately for the last however many years that we’ve known each other." Links Mentioned: Check out Rebecca’s book Confronting Christianity, and see her other books on her website. Visit our website to sign up for emails. Get new episodes sent straight to your email.  Tell us how much you love Where Ya From? by rating us five stars and leaving us a review.  Check out our VOICES Collection from Our Daily Bread Ministries Follow Where Ya From? on Instagram. Follow VOICES on Instagram. Verses Mentioned:1 Peter 3:15 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you ever feel like it’s more important to “behave” at church rather than be yourself? With songs like “Church Gone Wild” and “Hammer Time,” Reach Records 1K Phew has dedicated his life to showing listeners that we don’t have to wear a mask when we sit in front of a pulpit. In this episode of VOICES’ Where Ya From? podcast, 1K Phew joins host Rasool Berry to discuss his music, upbringing, and reconciling who you are inside and outside of church.Guest Bio:1K Phew is among a new breed of Atlanta artists taking the trap sensibility and elevating it to great effect. At twenty-seven years old, Phew’s rise from a local rapper with swagger to a compelling artist equipped with a message, has been refreshing to watch. He’s fun and engaging, no doubt, but he’s so much more, as evidenced by his mixtapes Sunday Night (2015) and Life (2016). Phew’s got plenty of swag and wisdom to impart. Tracks like “TGIF” and “Church Gone Wild,” his biggest releases to date, show an artist who is vibrant and dynamic. His sing/rap flow has an infectious quality that is as catchy as it is alluring, and commercially viable as it is street-wise. His new mixtape Never Too Late is sure to build on his recent momentum, with hits like “Back Then” and “Load of Me,” an anthem for those not afraid to embrace their individuality. It’s no surprise that his sound—which Phew has dubbed “New CHUUCH”—is equally at home in the club or the church, and rappers like 1K Phew are proving that faith expressed with authenticity can be a welcome treat for listeners.Notes & Quotes: (On his song “Church Gone Wild”) “I feel like we got to go to church and just be in the shell and kind of act fake . . . [but] God knows us for who we are. He’s going to see us regardless [of] whether we put on or not.” (On church) “You got to go in and you go to be yourself because the more you be yourself, the stronger you get . . . the more you just all the way around become a better person and a better child of God.” Links Mentioned: Learn more about 1K Phew on Reach Records’ website. Follow 1K Phew on Instagram. Listen to 1K Phew on Apple Music and Spotify. Explore music produced by Zaytoven. Check out how to get involved in Kids Across America sports camps.  Visit our website to sign up for emails. Get new episodes sent straight to your email.  Tell us how much you love Where Ya From? by rating us five stars and leaving us a review.  Check out our VOICES Collection from Our Daily Bread Ministries Follow Where Ya From? on Instagram. Follow VOICES on Instagram. Verses Mentioned: The life of David, 1 & 2 Samuel Acts 16:25–40 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

How do you walk with someone you fully disagree with and not hold scorn or contempt for them in your heart? Duke Kwon, pastor and writer of Reparations: A Christian Call to Repentance and Repair joins VOICES’ Where Ya From? podcast to remind us that everyone—even people who have hurt us—is crowned with dignity because they are made in God’s image. God breaks His light of truth through even the most unlikely people and places—which means we can learn something from everyone, everywhere. Join us to rethink how being willing to let go and learn from others allows us to repair broken relationships.Guest Bio:Duke Kwon is the lead pastor of Grace Meridian Hill, a neighborhood congregation in the GraceDC Network in Washington, DC, and co-author of Reparations: A Christian Call to Repentance and Repair. He completed his undergraduate studies at Brown University (AB, Political Science) and received his MDiv and ThM degrees from Gordon-Conwell Theological Seminary. Duke has been active in public conversations around race, equity, and racial repair in the American church, and lectures on these topics around the country. He and his wife Paula live in the Columbia Heights neighborhood together with their three children.Notes & Quotes: …To be able to walk alongside folks and not have a latent scorn for their view of the world or their political convictions or of their moral differences. To actually be able to say, “Let’s walk, let’s talk” and not to have a quiet contempt for them in my heart. Every person is crowned with dignity because of whatever belief system they subscribe to, whatever difference they might have with the Christian faith, they are crowned with glory. And we need to treat them that way. Reparations are built on the root word repair. So specifically, it’s talking about the repair of broken things. It comes to mean the deliberate repair of theft. There’s been a theft of power and there’s also been a theft of truth, the truth about African American identity, the truth of God’s Word in the Christian context, the truth about American history that too has been robbed where we need to then restore and repair each of these different spheres and dimensions of theft. Links Mentioned: Visit our website to sign up for emails: whereyafrom.org Leave us a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/where-ya-from-podcast/id1581145346 Check out our Voices Collection from Our Daily Bread Ministries Follow Where Ya From? podcast on Instagram: @whereyafrompodcast Verses Mentioned: Luke 19 Luke 10:25–37 Psalm 23  Psalm 1:21 1 Corinthians 13 Isaiah 53 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Where do we find fulfillment? Do we find it in things like careers, relationships, or money? In this episode of VOICES’ Where Ya From? Podcast, FOX Sports host Chris Broussard joins host Rasool Berry to discuss how his earthly successes don’t compare to the ultimate victory he finds in God.Guest Bio:Chris is an internationally-known sports analyst, commentator, and broadcaster for the FOX Sports 1 television network and FOX Sports Radio. He is co-host of the daily morning show “First Things First’’ and can also be seen regularly on FS1’s “Undisputed’’ and “The Herd with Colin Cowherd.’’ Chris also co-hosts the nationally-syndicated FOX Sports Radio show “The Odd Couple’’ with Rob Parker on weeknights.A Board member for Athletes in Action, Chris is a frequent speaker at colleges, high schools, charitable fundraisers, youth-related events, and churches. He is also the founder and president of a National Christian Men’s Movement called K.I.N.G., which stands for Knowledge, Inspiration and Nurture through God.Chris has twin daughters and lives with his wife of more than twenty-five years in New Jersey.Notes & Quotes: “I’ve been blessed to meet so many famous and incredible people, but meeting all of them combined has not given me a fraction of the joy, the peace, the value to my life that meeting Jesus Christ did on my 21st birthday.” “. . . . no matter what comes, I’m rooted and grounded, and I know I’m founded on Christ.” “. . . you could reach the highest pinnacle in sports, but if you don’t have the Lord, it’s not going to fulfill you.” Links Mentioned: Learn more about Chris’ ministry, K.I.N.G. Movement. Visit our website to sign up for emails. Get new episodes sent straight to your email.  Tell us how much you love Where Ya From? by rating us five stars and leaving us a review.  Check out our VOICES Collection from Our Daily Bread Ministries Follow Where Ya From? on Instagram. Follow VOICES on Instagram. Verses Mentioned: Ecclesiastes 3:11 Matthew 7:24–27 1 Corinthians 9:24–25 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

In recognition of International Women’s Day, we’re pulling back the curtains at Where Ya From with an episode of producer’s picks— the powerful conversations about how God worked through women like Ekemini Uwan, KB Newton, and Jenn Peterson because they used what was “in their hand”—like Moses and his staff at the burning bush. They responded to the daunting call God was making on their lives by asking how they could possibly do that. And God said, look at what’s in your hand.  See how it all starts with using what God has given you in this very specific moment.Guest Bio:The Where Ya From podcast producers Mary Jo Clark, Jade Gustman, and Ryan Clevenger highlight high-impact podcast sessions with guests like KB Newton, Ekemini Uwan, Jenn Peterson, Kierra Sheard-Kelly, Dr. Christina Edmonson, and more.Notes & Quotes: “We’re going to have to actually love them for a long time, before the Gospel will even have a context.” —Beth Guckenberger “Hardship, for some people, actually can reveal who they really are. And it can really push them, it can really inspire them.”—Dr. Christina Edmonson “The family system that we are a part of, their stories, their experiences, they come right into who we are, right into our literal DNA and our emotional DNA, into who we are.”—Dr. Christina Edmonson “In the event that God doesn’t call you or allow for marriage, what does that mean for you in intimacy and deep meaningful connections with other people? Does that mean you forfeit that, because I’m not married yet or won’t get married?”– KB Newton “Though I am not your cup of tea, that doesn’t say that I’m not a cup of tea. Whatever your big is, embrace that and be bold about it.”—Kierra Sheard-Kelly “After a while, you just begin to believe it. Maybe I’m not attractive, maybe I am ugly. There was a lot of self-hate for me. Hating my dark skin, to the point where I started bleaching my skin.—Ekemini Uwan Links Mentioned: Check out Beth Guckenberger's ministry: Back2Back Ministries Here is Kierra Sheard-Kelly's book: Big, Bold, and Beautiful: Owning the Woman God Made You To Be  Listen to Ekemini Uwan's Podcast Truth's Table Learn more about International Justice Mission that Jenn Peterson supports Visit our website to sign up for emails: whereyafrom.org Leave us a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/where-ya-from-podcast/id1581145346 Check out our Voices Collection from Our Daily Bread Ministries Follow Where Ya From? podcast on Instagram: @whereyafrompodcast Verses Mentioned: Proverbs 31 Psalm 27 Exodus 3-4 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Has God really experienced the same pain and suffering we have? Speaker, author, and trauma counselor Sheila Wise Rowe asked herself this question as a child in post-segregated America, and the answer inspired her to later live and work in post-apartheid South Africa. Hear her story in this episode of VOICES’ Where Ya From? podcast.Guest Bio:Sheila Wise Rowe is a graduate of Tufts University and Cambridge College with a master’s degree in counseling psychology. For over 25 years she has counseled abuse and trauma survivors in the United States. Sheila ministered to homeless and abused women and children in Johannesburg, South Africa, where she also taught counseling and trauma-related courses for a decade.She is the cofounder of The Cyrene Movement, an online community for people of color seeking healing for racial trauma. She is the author of Young, Gifted, and Black; Healing Racial Trauma; The Well of Life: Heal Your Pain; Satisfy Your Thirst; Live Your Purpose; and The Wonder Years. She lives in the Boston area, where she is a writer, counselor, speaker, and spiritual director.Notes & Quotes: “God meets us in those places of pain and . . . He grieves with us.” “The Lord is inviting us to come to Him with that and . . . He will give us what we need.” Links Mentioned: Learn more about Sheila on her website. Read Sheila’s books, Young, Gifted, and Black and Healing Racial Trauma. Visit our website to sign up for emails. Get new episodes sent straight to your email.  Tell us how much you love Where Ya From? by rating us five stars and leaving us a review.  Check out our VOICES Collection from Our Daily Bread Ministries Follow Where Ya From? on Instagram. Follow VOICES on Instagram. Verses Mentioned: Psalm 56:8 Matthew 11:28–30 John 14:25–27 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

When Dr. Debbye Turner Bell won the Miss America pageant, she began the toughest time of her life. Join Rasool Berry on the Where Ya From podcast as he talks with Dr. Debbye Turner Bell about how isolation, burnout, and loss challenged her faith at a time when people expected her to be at her best. Learn how this experience taught her to be unflinchingly honest with God and to keep communicating with Him no matter what.Guest Bio:Dr. Debbye Turner Bell is a veterinarian, journalist, corporate trainer, minister, motivational speaker, wife, and mother. Her enduring passion is motivational speaking. Since being crowned Miss America in 1990, Dr. Turner Bell has spoken to millions of students at countless schools, youth organizations and college campuses. Dr. Turner Bell divides her time doing leadership development, motivational and Christian speaking, and television broadcasting. In addition to her speaking and media work, Dr. Turner Bell is the founder and CEO of Debbye Turner Bell Consulting, through which she provides leadership development training in communications, influence, and diversity to corporate and business leaders, managers, and executives.Dr. Turner Belle graduated from the University of Missouri-Columbia with a doctor of veterinary medicine degree. She earned a Bachelor of Science degree in agriculture from Arkansas State University. Dr. Turner Bell lives in Grand Rapids, Michigan with her husband and daughter.Notes & Quotes: When you don't know if you’re capable of making the step, but you know God is faithful. So you do it anyway with every fiber of your being, screaming, “I don't want to do this. I’m afraid of this. This is going to hurt me again," but you do it anyway. That is a place of intimacy and relationship with the Lord that defies human understanding. It’s that place, though You may slay me, God, I’m still going to trust You because You are holy and you are worthy.  That might be counseling. That might be medication. It might be a better diet. It might be exercise. It might be more sleep. It might be fasting and praying, but we have to admit, “I can’t do this by myself.”  What got me through that period was being just raw and unflinchingly honest with God. I prayed and I raged and I cried and I begged, but I never stopped communicating with Him. We might not be able to run in that season, but walk. And if you can’t walk, crawl. And if you can’t crawl, get on the floor and roll. But just keep moving. Don’t stop because really stopping is going backwards. Links Mentioned: Read Debbye’s book Courageous Faith Check out Debbye’s website Visit our website to sign up for emails: whereyafrom.org Leave us a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/where-ya-from-podcast/id1581145346 Check out our Voices Collection from Our Daily Bread Ministries Follow Where Ya From? podcast on Instagram: @whereyafrompodcast Verses Mentioned: Psalm 13  Hebrews 12:1 Philippians 4:12–13 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

Do you ever feel pressure to stay silent to fit into your political party’s talking points? Justin Giboney, attorney, ordained minister and co-founder of the AND Campaign, joins VOICES’ Where Ya From? podcast to explore how bringing our full witness to our political decisions and conversations can be a way of loving our neighbors as ourselves.Guest Bio:Justin Giboney is an attorney, political strategist, and ordained minister in Atlanta, GA. He is also the Co-Founder and President of the AND Campaign, which is a coalition of urban Christians who are determined to address the sociopolitical arena with the compassion and conviction of the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Mr. Giboney has managed successful campaigns for elected officials in the state and referendums relating to the city’s transportation and water infrastructure.He’s the co-author of Compassion (&) Conviction—The AND Campaign’s Guide to Faithful Civic Engagement and has written op-eds for publications such as Christianity Today and The Hill.Notes & Quotes: I’m seeing Black Christian candidates who want to run for city council in Black districts being forced to run as secular progressives. And I’m like, “I know you don’t believe that.” It just really made me feel uncomfortable. Because I’m in one party or the other, do I have to deny my witness? I just thought Christians weren’t having the opportunity to bring their whole witness into the conversation. if you’re going to love your neighbor as yourself, then you’ve got to care about their wellbeing. You’ve got to be socially concerned about your neighbor. Politics isn’t the only way to do that. But it’s certainly a robust way to show that you care about your neighbor. You need to know what you believe and you need to, regardless of the circumstances, be able to speak the truth in love. The gospel is love and truth. And in many instances, these two ideologies that we’re fighting over and we’re somehow trying to fit ourselves into are missing one or the other. That’s where AND comes from—the love and truth. It’s the compassion and the conviction. It’s finding a way to combine the social justice and the moral order. Links Mentioned: Visit AND Campaign website: https://andcampaign.org Explore Church Politics podcast: https://open.spotify.com/show/4DpmN1RMOH9aCpj3ZKl3nu Visit our website to sign up for emails: whereyafrom.org Leave us a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/where-ya-from-podcast/id1581145346 Check out our Voices Collection from Our Daily Bread Ministries Follow Where Ya From? podcast on Instagram: @whereyafrompodcast Verses Mentioned: Matthew 22:37–39 Ephesians 4:14–15 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

You know the stories of people facing impossible barriers—and then somehow they overcome each one? Carvens Lissaint’s life is full of those stories. Writer of Target Practice and actor on Hamilton, Carvens Lissaint joins VOICES’ Where Ya From? podcast to remind us that when we walk through wilderness, we can be both discouraged and faithful at the same time.Guest Bio:Carvens Lissaint is a Haitian American award-winning poet & actor. Most recently Carvens completed his run as George Washington in the Tony Award winning musical Hamilton. He was selected as an honoree by Blavity & Shadow and Act at the first annual Shadow and Act RISING Star Awards, featured on the second, third, & fifth seasons of the hit television series Verses and Flow and debuted his original poem “Embers in The Dark” on NBA on TNT’s show: The Arena. Carvens’ most recent work Target Practice was featured on Huffington Post, Broadway.com’s Front Row, and the Build Series. He is a graduate of The American Academy for Dramatic Arts, St. John’s University and holds an MFA from NYU Tisch School of The Arts Graduate Acting Program. He gives all glory and honor to Jesus.Notes & Quotes: There was overwhelming evidence that there was something far beyond this world that was at play. It’s just evident. No one goes through a poverty like that and gets out on their own volition. I have never not struggled for everything that has been remotely beautiful in my life.  I taught myself how to sing by listening to “End Of The Road” and memorizing that song. And I just knew every time I expressed something, I felt overwhelming freedom. I felt overwhelming catharsis.  Walking off stage, I remember saying to myself, oh, wait a second. If I have a gift that means someone gave me that gift. That suggests a gift giver. Right? Who’s the gift giver? That’s what really moved me about being in Hamilton, that I got to tell stories the way that I felt like God designed me to tell stories was through this medium. I think God’s a poet. I think God has lyrical dexterity. Links Mentioned: Visit our website to sign up for emails: whereyafrom.org Leave us a review: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/where-ya-from-podcast/id1581145346 Check out our Voices Collection from Our Daily Bread Ministries Follow Where Ya From? podcast on Instagram: @whereyafrompodcast Verses Mentioned: Matthew 5–7 Mark 4:39 John 11 Luke 23:34 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices