Voices In My Head (The Rick Lee James Podcast)

This is a preview sampler of each song on my album "Hymns, Prayers, and Invitations". I hope you enjoy the preview and will consider sharing it with others. If you would like to get a copy there are a few links for that. Thank you for supporting my artistic endeavors and being so encouraging.
•iTunes: https://itun.es/us/nB6V_
•Bandcamp: www.RickLeeJames.Bandcamp.com
•Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/Hymns-Prayers-Invitatio…/…/B01AQPXPQ4
•Rick Lee James Web Site: https://www.RickLeeJames.com
 

 On this episode of Voices In My Head, Worship Pastor Scott Kelley drops in to discuss how to engage our congregations using all 5 senses. It's a great conversation recorded on location at Dorothy Lane Market in Hillsboro Ohio.

Many believe that podcasts are the future of storytelling and many churches are using the medium to reach far beyond the walls of their churches. In this podcast, recorded at Team Day in Perry Michigan, we will discuss how to start a podcast, some tools for podcasting that are helpful, and how your church can implement them effectively.

It's our 200th episode and we wanted to do something special. This week's episode of Voices In My Head was recorded live at temple Sholom in Springfield Ohio. Rabbi Cary Kozberg was gracious enough to sit down for a bit to discuss the things that we share in common as people of faith. It is our belief that in Judaism and Christianity there is a whole lot more that we share in common than what divides us. This is the first of what we hope will be many inter-faith dialogues between the Voices In My Head Podcast and of people of other faith. There is so much in this world that we can learn from each other, no matter how young or how old we are.
Bio for Cary Kozberg
Rabbi Cary Kozberg is currently serving as Rabbi of Temple Sholom in Springfield Ohio—the position he first held after his rabbinical ordination in 1977.
Rabbi Kozberg served as Director of Religious Life at Wexner Heritage Village, a senior residential care facility in Columbus, Ohio, from 1989 to 2015.
 
A magna cum laude graduate of the University of Texas (Phi Beta Kappa), Rabbi Kozberg received his Masters of Hebrew Letters and Rabbinic Ordination from the Hebrew Union College-Jewish Institute of Religion in Cincinnati.  He served as Rabbi of Temple Sholom from 1977 to 1980, and then as of Beth Israel Congregation in Roanoke, VA from 1980 to 1982.
 
From 1982 to 1987, Rabbi Kozberg was the Hillel Director at the University of Texas in Austin, and then spent two years as a kibbutznik in Israel at Neve Ilan.
 
As Director of Religious Life for Wexner Heritage Village from 1989 to 2015, he developed and broadened religious and spiritual programming for both Jewish and non-Jewish residents, their families and staff, and worked to integrate spiritual values into WHV’s program of providing holistic care to older adults.  
 
He is a Board Certified Chaplain, and an active member of the National Association of Jewish chaplains, having received that organization’s “Chaplain of the Year” Award in 2012.
 
Rabbi Kozberg is a Past Chair of the Forum on Religion Spirituality and Aging, a constituent group of the American Society on Aging, and a past editor of FORSA’s quarterly newsletter. A published author and poet, he has presented workshops and seminars around the country, and is a nationally recognized resource on the spiritual, emotional, and psychological challenges that face older adults and their families.  His many publications include Honoring Broken Tablets: A Jewish Approach to Dementia (Jewish Lights Publishing), “The Whole World is Full of God’s Glory” in Broken Fragments: Jewish Experiences of Alzheimer’s Disease through Diagnosis, Adaptation, and Moving On, edited by Rabbi Douglas Kohn (URJ Press), and Flourishing In The Later Years: Jewish Pastoral Perspectives on Senior Residential Care, co-edited with Rabbi James Michaels (Mazo Publishing).  He has been an Instructor in the Florence Melton Adult Mini-School for Jewish Education in Columbus, and is a Past President of the Columbus Board of Rabbis.   As part of his commitment to healthy and sacred living, Rabbi Kozberg is committed to physical fitness and teaches personal self-defense techniques to children, teens and adults.

David Morrell is best known for his acclaimed thrillers, including The Brotherhood of the Rose, Creepers, Murder as a Fine Art, and his debut novel, First Blood, in which Rambo first appeared. But Morrell is also a master of nonfiction. Twenty of his essays about iconic writers, actors, and singers are collected in STARS IN MY EYES: MY LOVE AFFAIR WITH BOOKS, MOVIES, AND MUSIC.
Morrell describes how at the age of 17 he was fired from working on a construction project and walked home in despair, only to turn on the television and see Rod Serling’s Patterns, which gave him a life-long lesson about story construction. He tells how Stirling Silliphant’s scripts for the classic TV series Route 66prompted him to write to Silliphant for advice about becoming a writer. Silliphant replied with a two-page single-spaced letter that Morrell looks at every day. (Silliphant and Morrell eventually became friends and worked together on the NBC miniseries of Morrell’s The Brotherhood of the Rose.)
The essays in this captivating book range from Henry James’s ghost stories to Steve McQueen’s abusive personality to Bobby Darin’s tragic last days. Did you know that John Wayne was a master chess player or that Frank Sinatra had permanent facial scars or that when Marilyn Monroe was married to Joe DiMaggio, there was a reason apart from baseball for him to be called “the slugger”? Ever heard of Richard Harding Davis? In his day he was the most famous author in America. His adventures provided a model upon which Stephen Crane, Jack London, and Ernest Hemingway built their personas.
Alfred Hitchcock, Richard Matheson, Wilkie Collins, John D. Macdonald’s Travis McGee: these are some of the other fascinating figures that Morrell profiles in this mesmerizing collection that’s as compelling as it is revealing.
David Morrell's Web Site: http://davidmorrell.net
Gauntlet Press: https://www.gauntletpress.com/product/stars-eyes-love-affair-books-movies-music-3/
 

Voices In My Head Podcast Episode #198: The Invitation - The Wesleyan View of the Eucharist with guests Lisa Michaels and Matthew Price.
With the release of my new music video, The Invitation, on Ash Wednesday, March 1st, I wanted to have a conversation on the Eucharist as viewed through a Wesleyan lens. Lisa, Matt and I have a great conversation about the welcoming call to fellowship in the body of Christ at the Lord's table.
Matt Price teaches intercultural studies at Mount Vernon Nazarene University and is the pastor of The Shepherd's House, a Church of the Nazarene that meets in a local pub. 
L Michaels is a follower of Jesus, theology student, author, blogger, editor, educator, wife, mom, and aspiring peacemaker.  She has a B.S.M. (business management) from Indiana Wesleyan University and an M.A. and M.Div. (both in theology/spiritual formation) from Northwest Nazarene University.  L writes about theology, the sacraments, and ministry to the least of these at Flip Flops, Glitter, and Theology (.com). In her spare time, L sings and dances with babies (AKA teaches early childhood music), plans outlandish vacations, drinks voluminous amounts of Peppermint Bark Mocha (preferably at local coffee shops), and masquerades as Catholic, so she can participate in the Eucharist more often. 
 
The Invitation
Credits:
Words and music by Rick Lee James and Andrew Greer
Copyright
© Copyright 2014, Assigned 2015 McKinney Music, Inc. (BMI) (admin. by LifeWay Worship c/o Music Services, www.musicservices.org)/ Mr. Andy’s Music (ASCAP). All rights reserved. Used by permission. CCLI #7016054
- See more at: http://www.lifewayworship.com/findAndBuy/songPage/TheInvitation?versionId=93906&searchString=The%20Invitation#add-info

Philippians 4:8 is what guides this episode: Finally, brothers and sisters, whatever is true, whatever is noble, whatever is right, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is admirable--if anything is excellent or praiseworthy--think about such things.
 
 This episode is a study and meditation on how good things get imprinted into our thoughts. Take some time for prayerful listening to what God may be speaking to our hearts.
 
Feauring the original song by Rick Lee James: The Love of Christ

The level of discourse in this country seems to be at an all time low. Instead of having face to face conversations we just all seem to be writing rude, snarky, and disrespectful comments about each other on social media. As followers of Christ we should lead the way in having generous conversations, seasoned with grace. On this episode I dive into a few ways to have discussions with people with whom we disagree. The hope is that we might be able to stop looking at our conversations as a competitions to be won, and seek  honest dialogues where we hear each other, even when we disagree.

This episode deals with an article from the European Church of the Nazarene and conversations that they want Christians around the world to have with and about refugees. It's a highly volatile climate right now and it is my hope that this episode of Voices In My Head Podcast will bring us all into a greater understanding of the plight of refugees and our conversations with and about them. Alternative facts are not permitted.
Blessings,
Rick Lee James

 
Weston Skaggs is the Voice In My Head this episode. The dramatic birth of his daughter, near loss of his wife in that childbirth, and the adoption of his son all were life altering experiences that fed into the songs on his first full length album: Joy & Sorrow Meet.
Produced by Chris Hoisington of Brothers McClurg, Joy & Sorrow Meet marries Weston’s vocation as a church worship leader and his penchant for personal storytelling. Raw lyrics set to music that doesn’t mind showing off it’s “humanness” draws the listener into a journey of the heart. Stylistically, the album combines classic gospel and folk, strung together with alt-country instrumentation, then set in an indie-sonic landscape.
 
Weston Skaggs is many things. A South Carolina boy raised in Ohio. Husband to Amy and daddy to Paisley and Bo. Singer/songwriter. Beard enthusiast. Registered nurse. Star Wars nerd. A no longer suffering Cleveland sports fan. And most importantly: Christian. This causes his music to be painted with the brushes of redemption, faith, hope, and love. "I have a personal relationship with Jesus Christ that changed me from my blindness and self-centeredness to a life of purpose. I'm passionate to create a fresh and unique musical sound that offers encouragement to the church and hope to lost and hurting people.", Skaggs says.
 
Find out more at www.westonskaggsmusic.com