The Do Gooders Podcast

We're doing something different in this episode—giving you a little behind the scenes of what happens in our office and a preview of what's coming. So I've invited Hillary Jackson, the managing editor of The Salvation Army's Caring Magazine, my partner in publication if you will, to join me today. Hillary also holds a master's in specialized journalism from the University of Southern California An...

We recently spent a season exploring The Salvation Army's Pathway of Hope—a national initiative to provide individualized services to families with children, addressing their immediate material needs and providing long-term engagement to stop the cycle of poverty. So what does that kind of support look like day-to-day? Maybe that axiom is correct: It takes a village.  You've heard that one before,...

It's not polite to talk politics. I'm sure you've heard the sentiment. Especially in any kind of mixed crowd where people might disagree on the issue at hand. We live, worship and work in diverse communities, but with politics becoming so tribal in nature, many of us simply avoid the subject. And that does a disservice to us all. Yet we can get comfortable with being uncomfortable and do it in a g...

Did you know we have some 50,000 storage facilities in the U.S.? That's more than the number of Starbucks and McDonald's locations combined. One estimate cites the number of items inside the average American home at 300,000. But what purpose does all of this "stuff" serve? Joshua Becker believes that a large amount of our stuff serves absolutely no purpose—and in fact, detracts from our well being...

"Conquering addiction is a miracle in itself." Those are the words of Lt. Timothy Pemberton, who leads The Salvation Army's Adult Rehabilitation Center in Santa Monica, California. The Salvation Army has more no-fee rehabilitation facilities than any other program in America. For more than 100 years, these Adult Rehabilitation Centers have offered spiritual, emotional and practical assistance to t...

Men lead. Women follow. The Bible tells us so. Or does it?  Is there a divine order when it comes to men and women? What if so-called "biblical womanhood" isn't biblical at all but arose from a series of clearly definable historical moments? What if there is a better way forward for the contemporary church? Dr. Beth Allison Barr lays out clear evidence that there is in her book, "The Making of Bib...

We spent a season discovering The Salvation Army's Pathway of Hope—a national initiative to provide individualized services to families with children, addressing their immediate material needs and providing long-term engagement to stop the cycle of poverty. But let's take a step back. What is hope?   Kierkegaard called it a passion for the possible. Psychologist C.R. Snyder said it's a reservoir o...

As Dr. Gary Chapman says, "No single area of marriage affects the rest of marriage as much as meeting the emotional need for love." After years as a family counselor, he developed a system to effectively communicate love to the people closest to us. His book—"The 5 Love Languages: The Secret to Love that Lasts"—has been translated into 50 languages and has sold more than 11 million copies worldwid...

This is a good word from the Good Word with Commissioner Doug Riley.  Commissioner Riley is the Territorial Commander of The Salvation Army in the western U.S. You may remember him from previous episodes of this podcast on gratitude and the Christmas story .  Here, he preached at the 2022 commissioning and ordination meeting of The Salvation Army in the western U.S., when the Army commissions thos...

"The sound of gentle silence." That's how 1 Kings 19 describes the voice of God. Which might explain why hearing him speak can be really hard. But Pete Greig's latest book is meant to help us do just that. It's called "How to Hear God: A Simple Guide for Normal People." You may remember Pete from Episode 71 of this podcast, when we talked with him about a simple guide for how to pray. Pete is a wr...

Take a quick inventory:  Do you often feel tired when you wake up in the morning? Have difficulty concentrating? Are your emotions easily affected by the actions of others? Have headaches, muscle aches, or generalized fatigue with no known medical diagnosis?  Do you depend on quick energy fixes like caffeine or sugar to help you get through the day? If you answered yes to any of these questions, c...

What are your plans for the New Year? Will it depend on how things are going in the moment? It doesn't need to. You really can trust God's plan for your life—in all things, no matter what your life looks like right now. That's what Megan Fate Marshman explores in her b ook, a power-packed, biblical look at Jeremiah 29:11-14—a familiar passage that begins: For I know the plans I have for you," decl...

Did you know we have nearly 140 published episodes of this show? That's a whole lot of inspiration right there at your fingertips for those days you feel a little stuck or like you need a little dose of goodness. We've covered everything from: How to effectively engage anxiety, the state of poverty today, plans for a Salvation Army adaptive camp, what hope does for our minds and bodies, what it me...

Hygge. From a Norwegian term meaning "to comfort" or "to console," hygge has gained in popularity in recent years. There's even a hygge line at Target. But it's more than cozy living. As author Jamie Erickson says, it's a way of making the mundane and necessary meaningful and beautiful. It's soul rest. Her new book, " Holy Hygge: Creating a Place for People to Gather and the Gospel to Grow ," show...

Right about now, as you are dashing through the snow … or around town … you might be wishing upon a star for a way to hit pause. Maybe you could use a prayer for hope. Or a prayer for paying the bills. A prayer for when you're too busy. Or a prayer for going on a walk. Maybe a prayer for friendship. Or a prayer for giving thanks. Authors Audrey Elledge and Elizabeth Moore offer these and more in t...

While The Salvation Army is much more than red kettles, Christmas is unquestionably the season of The Salvation Army.  And really, what better season to be synonymous with than Christmas?  Every year, kicking off at the Dallas Cowboys Thanksgiving Day game and running through Christmas Eve, you'll see red kettles and bell ringers standing outside supermarkets and shopping malls, encouraging you to...

You've no doubt seen a Salvation Army red kettle—maybe you've seen one already this Christmas season. It is an iconic part of The Salvation Army and of Christmastime itself. What started in 1891 with one creative Salvation Army officer or pastor wanting to provide a free Christmas dinner in San Francisco, has spread around the world. Today, public contributions to the kettles in the U.S. enable Th...

Could you use a good word from the Good Word? Today, Captain Emmanuel Masango is bringing us the Word from Exodus 33:12-20. Captain Emmanuel is a Salvation Army officer, or pastor, currently serving as The Salvation Army Territorial Youth Secretary in the western U.S. He preached here at a gathering of Salvation Army youth leaders from all across the West. He looks at Moses' conversation with God...

What are you grateful for today? Does your life experience help build the list? For Joaquin Galvan, it certainly does. He's the Director of Railton Place, a transitional and supportive housing program of The Salvation Army in San Francisco's Tenderloin community. And the path that led him here is not what you might expect. As he says, you can't plan life. Joaquin is on the show to share more about...

Are you out the door at 5:01, won't work weekends and prefer texting to face-to-face meetings? Or do you live to work, can't text and can't tolerate change? Like most stereotypes, these over-generalized generalizations about generational groups lead to further miscommunication—and often aren't correct. So how does one speak across generations, particularly in the Church? Rev. Dr. Darrell Hall lays...

I vividly remember my first real reporting outing as an intern. I met Jill, who lived in a Salvation Army shelter for families experiencing homelessness and HIV/AIDS in Los Angeles. Jill told me about the moment she learned she was positive—and pregnant. The baby would be born infected. Jill showed me the four vials of antiretroviral medication her daughter, then 2, had to take each day. She also...

Why do you trust in Jesus? "Why follow some ancient carpenter-turned-philosopher from a podunk town in the Middle East, a man whose own people didn't believe in him for the most part? It just doesn't make any sense. Or does it?" That's the question Ray Comfort asks in his latest book, " Why Would Anyone Follow Jesus? 12 Reasons to Trust What the Bible Says about Jesus ." Of all the gods, gurus and...

Could you use a good word from the Good Word? In this episode, Commissioner Dave Hudson—who was also the very first guest on this podcast—brings us the Word from the life of Jesus, who was known as a friend of sinners. This recording is from 2020, when Commissioner Hudson was just days away from retirement. After dedicating himself to ministry with The Salvation Army for more than 40 years, Commis...

What's bigger than Starbucks and Google combined? A $150 billion industry? Involving 25 million people worldwide? It's human trafficking. And it's a problem in your community. Across the U.S., The Salvation Army has 49 anti-trafficking programs. Recent statistics show The Salvation Army served 4,415 trafficking survivors in just one year. Erin Kauffman is the Housing Director for one of those Salv...

Did you know one-third of your life will be spent at work? That's 90,000 hours over the course of a lifetime. And that's a lot of hours. So, of course, you want to spend that time in a healthy environment. Al Lopus would call it a flourishing workplace. Al is the cofounder and CEO of the Best Christian Workplaces Institute and author of the new book, "Road to Flourishing: Eight Keys to Boost Emplo...