Mind of the Messiah

Gang, strap in for another round of Footprints and Photographs! Carmen, Tonkie, and I went to the Shalom Wildlife Zoo to celebrate Tonkie’s 40th birthday. Our original plan was to go to the Madison Zoo and find a place to hike afterward. That didn’t turn out. Tonkie ended up injuring her foot earlier that week, leaving us with limited options on how to celebrate. However, luckily for us, Shalom of...

Abraham’s topic - becoming a better/stronger person through family

This episode is dedicated to the 89 people who lost their jobs last night.

Hey, gang! It’s time for another round of Footprints and Photographs. The Exposure page that goes along with today’s segment was Tonkie’s first solo post. She was asked to shoot photos at a gender reveal party for Kayla and Colten VanHierden. Unfortunately, I was out of town with my father and couldn’t attend the event. However, they were in great hands with Tonkie! She did an amazing job; I could...

In today’s segment of Top of Mind, I examine how intrusive outside influences and opinions are while exercising your creative process. When you are left alone to indulge in your creative process—a process that makes you happy or fulfilled—it feels like you’re performing a beautiful dance. Every idea and action flows into the next with grace and harmony; every step brings you closer to a finished p...

Hello, friends! Welcome to the March compilation of Footprints and Photographs. It has been an insane month for Tonkie and myself. So much has filled our plate that if I hadn’t taken notes on important events as they happened, I would have been lost trying to do today’s podcast. A significant number of positives and a few monumental negatives have occurred. However, things were pretty good across...

Welcome back for more Top of Mind. In today's episode, I examine the principle of taxes on the most fundamental level - one human financially imposes an artificial system of control on another human. Through the perception of a power dynamic between "us" and "them" we blindly allow so-called "elites" to exploit our dollars for their gain. But what are we really allowing to happen here? We are allo...

Earlier this week—March 18th, to be exact—I celebrated my two-year podcasting anniversary and the creation of the Mind of the Messiah platform. As it turned out, my 200th episode was next to follow! This has been one hell of a week for me. I’m so happy that I’ve embarked on this creative endeavor, and I cannot believe what this platform has become over time. This road has been littered with immens...

Friends, it’s an emotional day today. It is my two-year anniversary since I created the Mind of the Messiah platform. I can honestly say that podcasting has changed my life! My show has been an amazing source of self-clarity and provides me with a mental outlet amid this chaotic existence. I’ve learned so much about myself during this entire process, and it’s only been two years! So, I wanted to s...

Welcome back to Footprints and Photographs! To celebrate our 3 1/2-year anniversary, Tonkie and I cleared the calendar to hike at Hayman Falls County Park. We had never been to Hayman before, but everything we saw online made it look promising. It was! We had a blast during our hike! Between having the whole place to ourselves, hiking through a wide variety of terrain, and relaxing along the Embar...

Welcome back to Top of Mind. On today’s episode, I address the negative stigma behind people using government aid—social programs such as healthcare coverage, food stamps, energy assistance, etc. The government has taken a dollar from every paycheck you’ve gotten and every dollar you’ve ever spent; in times of need there is no reason you shouldn’t be able to take some of that money back to aid you...

Today’s episode is a reflection on my latest interview with my good friend, Justin “Hillbilly” Fisher. He recently started his own YouTube channel, so I wanted to get him on the show to talk about his experiences with the new platform and pick his brain on a wide variety of topics ranging from guns, ammunition, hunting, and archery. It turned out to be a fantastic interview! He did a great job beh...

Friends, pull up a chair and grab a mug—it's time for Coffee and Convos! Today, I sat down with Justin "Hillbilly" Fisher. He's been a great friend and coworker of mine for the past 5-6 months. I was very excited for the opportunity to get him on the show; we've been trying to set up this interview for a few months. Recently, he's started his own YouTube channel - "Bubbas PH Handloads." Through hi...

It’s the end of the month, which means it’s time to recap with another segment of Footprints and Photographs. Our February began with a big change - Kristin started a new job working for the Covenant United Methodist Church. I couldn’t be prouder of her for taking the initiative to improve her circumstances by capitalizing on a great opportunity. She’s happy with it; I’m happy for her. Aside from...

Friends, thank you for tuning in for today’s episode. I’m happy to announce that my buddy, Justin “Hillbilly” Fisher, has recent started his own YouTube channel - “Bubbas PH Handloads”. His channel revolves weaponry, reloading ammunition, hunting, archery, and a wide variety of related topics. In these realms, he is the most knowledgeable person I’ve ever met. I’m glad I know a man like him; he’s...

Well, here we go with another segment of Footprints and Photographs. Today's podcast and Exposure page was a big release for us; it was by far the most important set of photographs we've assembled together as Red Velvet Photography. In November, my step-grandpa, Oswald, suffered a heart attack. After a triple bypass surgery, his recovery looked promising. A few months went by; we received the unfo...

Thoughts on our first day of going to church!

Hello, friends! Today's episode of Top of Mind comes from a trend I've noticed on Spotify for Podcasters. For a while, my platform homepage has been getting an increasingly high number of published articles (none of which I've asked for) that always seem to revolve around the same themes: how to increase your audience reach, how to gain popularity via social media platforms, catering to your audie...

Hello, friends! Welcome to my third conversation with my pal, Abe. I am thoroughly enjoying this new segment; conducting virtual interviews has truly been an interesting endeavor to say the least. With that said, it is going really well so far and I cannot wait to see how we continue to expand Virtual Coffee Shop as we move forward. I was responsible for picking the topic of today’s conversation,...

I wrote the following essay entitled "The Universe Owes You Nothing" on February 2nd, 12:45 a.m.

Welcome back for more Footprints and Photographs! RVP recently hit a noteworthy milestone: our four-year anniversary. To celebrate, we wanted to grab the cameras and hit the road. In an attempt to escape the monotony of winter, we wanted to find some fresh scenery—preferably that which can be found on a beach. We decided to go to the Lion’s Den Gorge Nature Preserve, which hugs the shore of Lake M...

*** There is no Exposure page for this segment. *** January has been a hell of a month for us; it’s hard to believe it is already over. Wisconsin has kept us on our toes with blizzards, negative temperatures, ice, and unforgiving winds. In short, it’s kept us locked up in the house for a majority of the month. However, we didn’t let that slow us down much. We still had an incredible month! We’ve h...

Hello! Today is a very special day for Red Velvet Photography; it has been four years since we created our Exposure platform. Back when this started, I never could have foreseen what this platform would become and what it would stand for. It is now a home for the photographs, travels, and all of the precious memories we’ve obtained over the years. Truly, it has become a living photo album and so m...

Big day today! I wanted to announce two new upcoming events: one for me and one for Tonkie - Skydiving at the Wisconsin Skydiving Center in Fort Atkinson and a Willie Nelson concert to celebrate Tonkie's birthday. I was ecstatic to be able to book both events on the same day without conflicting with each other. Tonkie will be waiting for me on the ground, but we will end our evening curled up in a...

Boy, it felt good to have Kylle back on the show for another sit-down interview! She did a fantastic job behind the mic; I was proud of the progress she’s made and her ability to sustain a long conversation—especially an hour-long recall of memories. It was a pleasure to hear about the adventures she had experienced and all of the places she had been able to see. Her stories made Kristin and I env...