Inquisitive Pontification

Ruth Moen is my great aunt. We sat down at our family cabin on Fish Lake in northern Wisconsin to talk about how wonderful it is to have such an incredible gift as a family cabin and the story of how it came to be and her father's part in it. 

This is a recording of the purchase of our family cabin over 60 years ago. At the gathering, multiple family members share stories and reminisce about fond memories that happened at the cabin or other family histories. This is part one of a hopefully multiple-part series exploring my family's incredible family cabin and its many stories. Enjoy.

In this episode, I talk with an old friend of mine. Her name is Zaundia, she and I met in Duluth Minnesota years ago at a church called The Vineyard. Today she shares a story of a cult that she was able to escape from in California. This religious cult is called I'SOT (In Search of Truth). I wasn't aware of the name of the cult to begin with, as you see. But after some digging during a break on this episode, I was able to find out some more information. 

Below are some links with more information:
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/I%27SOT
https://www.isotsurvivors.info

Chippewa Falls, Wisconsin made national news because of the terrible tragedy after Lilly was murdered by her relative. I asked Michael Houle, a pastor for the Vineyard Church in Chippewa Falls, to talk to me about how a community can heal from such a tragedy and what we, as Christians, should be doing and what we should not be doing. 

This episode was recorded before the more recent tragedy in Uvalde, Texas. I plan on addressing it in a future episode, but the bottom line is that we need to do more than thoughts and prayers. 

Travis and I talk about his experience on the cruise he went on that had multiple Star Trek actors, including George Takei and other actors he met. We also discuss a few other movies like Coda, Jo Jo Rabbit, The Lost City and Moon Knight and, of course, the slap. 

Amanda and I discuss her experience with the Duluth Bible Church. A church in Duluth Minnesota that she says is a cult. We discuss her problems with it, why she says it's a cult, and the differences between unhealthy churches that are cults, or have cult-like characteristics and healthy churches and what makes them healthy. We also discuss gender, sex, orientation, race, politics and film. (so yeah, pretty much one of the best conversations ever :)

Travis and I discuss three new movies we both watched. Dune, Matrix and Spiderman. We also discuss Whoopi Goldberg's recent controversial statements and how that might effect our view of her character in the next Picard season. 

Travis and I catch up on what we've been watching, what we're excited for in series and movies, and try to stay on topic talking about Ten Rings...sometimes we suceed. 

Travis is an old collage friend of mine who shares a love of Star Trek and is also a cosplayer. He and I discuss the hope of Star Trek, specifically the end of racism, sexism, economic disparities, etc...among all the shows and movies. We also talk a lot about Deep Space Nine (because it's both our favorite series). Some of the details that we discuss when it comes to what actor or character did what, when and why might be wrong, so, take the "facts" with a grain of salt I guess. 

Libby is a friend of mine who lives in Minneapolis and a teacher there. We discuss her experience with the George Floyd protests, Black Lives Matter, and how she responds to it as a teacher in a school district with students who are predominantly people of color. We also discuss church experience and the election, and what she is reading and watching during the pandemic. 

Jonathan Miller served as Dean of Men in MPLS and Center Director in Duluth for Minnesota Teen Challenge for 10 years. He graduated Fuller Seminary with a Masters in Divinity. He currently co-Pastors a small church, The Vine, in Midtown Sacramento.   

The books/ authors I mentioned and their notable books: J. Phillip Newell (Christ of the Celts)/ Richard Rohr (The Universal Christ)/ Justo Gonzalez (Santa Biblia)/ Howard Thurman (Jesus of the Disinherited)/ Terry Wardle/ Karl Batth/ Jurgen Moltmann/ Sarah Coakley/ Catherine Doherty. For a little fun Nadia Bolz-Webber.

Daniel Plys (an old friend from Duluth) is longboarding the entire length of the Missippi to spread awareness and fight childhood hunger. This was a passion of his father's before he died of cancer and is now something he himself is fighting for as well. Take a listen. 

https://kbjr6.com/2020/09/04/duluth-man-to-longboard-down-the-mississippi-river-for-a-good-cause/

https://www.2500forhunger.com/

https://www.facebook.com/projectjoynorthland