Master Builder's Path is a faith-based podcast hosted by David Jacob Smith, a seasoned life coach and Christian ministry leader. This spiritually-rich podcast offers profound insights into living a purposeful life aligned with Christian values and principles. David Jacob Smith brings a wealth of experience to the podcast: - Founder of Master Builder Coaching and Kingdom Coaching Institute - Certified Christian Life Coach with over two decades of ministry experience - Author and speaker passi ...
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Brian Smith and Jacob O'Neal talk movies, comic books, games and other entertainment news in this weekly podcast from Abnormal Entertainment.
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Living for the Glory of God In a culture fixated on self, it is good to revisit the focus revealed in scripture. We exist for God and his glory, not the other way around. In this episode, I share some thoughts on the topic of living for the glory of God. I see glorifying God as the primary purpose of our lives. Those who bear God’s name have a holy…
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Navigating Transition Transitions are a staple of life experience. Some transitions are more significant in terms of their impact, moving us from one season into a different one. How we navigate these transitions makes the difference in what we experience as we move through them into what is next. In this episode, I briefly share a current transiti…
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The Kingdom of Heaven and Human Political Power A tension all followers of Jesus have to grapple with is how to be in this world but not of it. Our citizenship is in heaven, but we also find ourselves citizens of earthly nations. The Kingdom of God is not established on earth through political means. However, God has established human authority and…
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One Important Reason Why This Life Matters Most of us believe that our life matters enough to keep living it. Even if our quality of life is challenged in significant ways there is this, often unconscious, deeply embedded belief that our life matters and should continue to be lived. One evidence of this are the measures we take on a daily basis to …
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The Ultimate Aim of Christian Ministry There are a few key places in Scripture we can turn to discover the primary work Christ’s church is called to, not the least of which is Christ’s commission to his disciples found in Matthew 28:18-20. But what is the ultimate outcome this task is designed to accomplish in the lives of people. In this episode I…
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Coaching and Building People in Christ One’s spiritual growth process in Christ has been described as a uniquely tailored journey. Granted, there are common means God uses to form and develop his children, but how those means find application and the experiences those means produce are different for each individual. In this episode, I briefly share…
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What Makes a Good Goal? We all carry dreams and desires in our hearts. Everything we have accomplished has started as an idea, desire, or dream. But not all desires or dreams become realized. What is the difference between the desires and dreams we realize and those we don’t? One factor is the presence of a clear goal. In this episode, I share two …
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Coaching Requires New Thinking The predominant mode of communication in American culture is telling. Moving from the telling approach to the pulling-out approach requires new thinking. In this episode, I list eight shifts in thinking needed to move from telling to a coach approach to conversations. I have pulled these shifts from the book Faith Coa…
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Coaching - An Intentional, Relational Conversation In this episode I continue with the theme of coaching. Coaching is a unique facilitative conversation carried out within the context of a trusting relationship. As such, a coaching conversation has a particular look and flow captured in what is called a conversational model. I walk the listener bri…
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In this episode I briefly touch on two different pathways to learning. One is a delivery approach and the other is a discovery approach. Both approaches have their place and merit. But when it comes to learning that results in a higher retention rate and a deeper level of impact in the individual, that learning typically happens through a discovery…
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The Value of Coaching It has been said that people do not hire a coach for coaching, but rather for the results coaching can provide. In this week’s episode I address what some of those results are. Coaching is uniquely designed to address and provide solutions to the common obstacles people encounter when attempting to move forward in positive way…
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What is Coaching? Coaching is a profession that has really been growing in popularity over the past two decades. Recently I heard that coaching is among the fastest growing professions today. Since I have referred to my coaching in past episodes I thought I would take a few episodes to talk about what coaching is and the value it can bring to those…
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A Biblical Perspective on Suffering and Loss Another tension of living in the Kingdom of God in this present life is between trouble and triumph. In this episode I do a brief dive into providing a Biblical perspective on suffering and loss drawing the connection between temporary suffering and the eternal glory it is designed to work in our life as…
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The Bible reveals a number of paradoxes, seemingly contradicting realities, that make up life in God’s Kingdom. One of those paradoxes is between God’s sovereignty and human responsibility, or, as the title to this episode reads, between grace and effort. In this episode I briefly explore the tension between these two realities and how embracing th…
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The Distinguishing Marks of God’s Presence For followers of Jesus there is to be a differentness about our lives that distinguishes us from those who are not. This distinction is not for creating an us vs them mentality but as evidence of God’s abiding presence in the lives of his children. Drawing from the life of Moses and the children of Israel,…
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We all encounter obstacles in life that impede our ability to run the race marked out for us (I.e. our faith journey and purpose in Christ). The writer of Hebrews identifies those obstacles as hindrances and entanglements. Though these obstacles will look different for each person, in this episode I identify four hindrances from my own experience t…
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Drawing from Jesus’ parable of the seed and the Sower found in Matthew 13 and Luke 8, in this episode I share three characteristics of what Jesus describes as a noble and good heart. It is interesting that only one soil condition in this parable produced a crop. For our lives to be fruitful, the soil of our heart requires proper cultivation and pre…
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The end of each year and the beginning of a new one provides a built-in opportunity for an assessment and reset as needed for our life. In this episode I share a unique approach I took a few years ago going into 2022. Instead of setting a number of goals a question for Jesus surfaced in my thinking. That question was, Jesus, what questions do you w…
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Is Yours a Wonderful Life In this episode I share some of my takeaways from the 1946 movie, It’s A Wonderful Life, starring James Stewart. The movie does a good job at depicting what really makes life meaningful and wonderful, underscoring the values of family, friends, community, sacrifice, service and giving. I connect these values to the deep lo…
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The Kingdom of God is Within Jesus said that the Kingdom of God was “within you”. (Luke 17:21). In this episode I briefly explore this reality, equating it to another description of the Kingdom of God by the apostle Paul in Romans 14:17 where he writes that the Kingdom of God is righteousness, peace and joy in the Holy Spirit. The first and primary…
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Identity and Service In this episode I share some brief thoughts about the topic of identity. Reflecting on the statement about Jesus just prior to washing his disciples feet I see an important connection between identity and the ability to serve others from a place of true humility. Our contemporary culture seems to be fixated on the idea of ident…
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Discovering Your Purpose as a Follower of Jesus In this episode I explore the topic of purpose from the perspective of one who is following Christ. That purpose encompasses both a being and doing component which we see in the life of Christ. Our “being” call is to be with Jesus and be transformed into his likeness. This “being” component is foundat…
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God’s Kind of Love In this episode I briefly explore the topic of God’s love. I believe our contemporary understanding of love, even God’s love, has been allowed to be shaped by our contemporary culture’s concept of love described by words like tolerant, inclusive, accommodating, accepting, nice and agreeable as opposed to how God’s love is actuall…
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Building People Jesus’ Way In this episode I briefly explore the ways Jesus invested in the lives of his twelve disciples, some correlations of those ways with coaching, and the need to revisit and creatively re-employ those ways in the Church’s mission of building robust disciples of Jesus today. To learn more about who I am and what God has calle…
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Keeping What’s Most Important, Most Important In this episode I briefly address the often, and even well-intentioned focus on becoming like Christ versus being with him. Christlikeness is the fruit or by-product of a life spent with him. As Christ followers, what’s most important is being with him and cultivating our connection to him. The means of…
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Image is Everything In this episode I briefly explore the positive side of image as it relates to the image of God in man. In particular I focus on the moral aspect of God’s likeness (his righteousness and holiness), the beauty these qualities reveal, and ways these qualities are seen in the person of Jesus when he walked the earth. As followers of…
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In this episode I briefly address the topic of a healthy mind. Drawing from an article from Catherine Beard’s Blissful Mind blog, I share five characteristics she identifies with a healthy mindset. Our mind is the seat of our beliefs, values, perceptions, and perspectives which lend tremendous weight to how we are showing up in the world. A healthy…
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Humankind was originally created by God with a unique capacity and potential by being made in God’s own image. This original “glory” has been drastically marred and downgraded by sin. Living in a broken and sinful world also wars against this original glory. Glimmers of this original glory are often seen in the deep desires, dreams, and aspirations…
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As followers of Jesus our purpose, our “why” in life is to be seen from the vantage point of God’s bigger story - His eternal purpose. This meta-theme runs through the entirety of Scripture, from Genesis to Revelation. I believe it is important for us to see our life, the roles we fill and the assignment we have from God from this lofty vantage poi…
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The Value of Simplicity In this episode I briefly discuss the importance of simplicity - the practice of reducing our lives down to what’s most important, its impact on our lives and particularly on our devotion to Christ. The scriptures I refer to are as follows: 2 Corinthians 11:3 Luke 10:41 A.W. Tozer quote is from his book, The Pursuit of God, …
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The Lenses Through Which We See In this episode I briefly examine the role our developed beliefs and values play in shaping the way we see and show up in life. When we come to Christ, this “worldview” is to undergo a renewing process resulting in transformation that produces more light and life in us and through us. The scriptures I refer to are as…
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The Search for Significance In this episode I offer up my perspective on the foundational source for significance. Significance is an authentic need every human shares. How this need is designed to be met at the most fundamental level is my focus as I briefly discuss common means significance is realized over and against what I see to be the primar…
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Where Are You? In this episode I address the first question recorded in the Bible God asks of Adam. I take a brief look at the significance of this question for Adam and the significance of this question for our own lives. To gain a proper bearing for navigating our lives we need to know where we are in relation to where we are going. The context a…
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In this episode I briefly share my thoughts on what a life of substance is vs a more superficial way of being. It is my conviction that a life of substance is a gift we can give others and that it is formed by an intentional engagement with the deeper questions and challenges of our own being and with life - a willingness to wrestle with God, so to…
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In this first episode I share a brief story behind the name of my podcast, Master Builder’s Path, how I came to land on it and what it conveys. Scriptures quoted are 1 Corinthians 3:10 and Ephesians 2:10 from the NIV. Other Scriptures inferred are Proverbs 3:5-6, Psalms 32:8, Psalms 25:4-5, Isaiah 48:17 and Matthew 7:13-14 To learn more about who I…
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Welcome to Master Builder's Path podcast, hosted by David Jacob Smith. David introduces himself and shares the heart and vision behind the creation of this podcast. Drawing from his personal spiritual journey and commitment as a follower of Jesus Christ, David explains what listeners can expect from future episodes. David's mission for this podcast…
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Brian and Jacob make their triumphant return to The Gorram Nerd Hour with a special guest, Bill Oberst Jr.! They bring you the first installment of a multi-part series known as "Bad Impression Theatre" where the boys and their special guest cold read from Robert W. Zombie's first foray into script writing known as "The Crow 2037". It's gonna be a g…
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The boys start off with yet another celebrity death. Lou Scheimer who co-founded Filmation and was responsible for some of Brian’s favorite cartoons of the 80’s has passed away. They move into a ton of rumors, both casting and remakes. Of course, there are the reboot rumors as well. No surprise there. The networks have announced some shake-ups on T…
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Jacob calls an audible to start the show before Brian begins his weekly read through of the notes. This week they kick things off with some Marvel news and rumors, as there have been a lot again lately. Guardians of the Galaxy, Ant-Man, and the new Marvel TV lineup all get a mention. Some cool stuff happened at NYCC this year, and the boys touch on…
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You know Halloween is coming. You know Jacob loves horror movies. So why is he reviewing a comedy this week? Because he can! Now deal with it. It's still about carnival freaks. And it's funny. Just go listen. Please follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gorramnerdhour Follow Jacob at www.twitter.com/leathercheerio Follow Brian at www.twitter.com/…
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Doctor Who, Rapture Horror Expo, Bad remakes? It must be the Gorram Nerd Hour! Brian and Jacob have a great show for you this week as they go through the news and tidbits from the week. Make sure you check it out this week’s show for all this and more! Also make sure you go to the YouTube channel to see all the interviews Jacob got at Rapture. Plea…
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Jacob recently reviewed all of the other Chucky films for you, so he felt it was his duty to watch the latest film. From Don Mancini, writer of every Chucky movie, comes the latest in the franchise and a return to more traditional horror. So what did Jacob think? Listen and find out. Please follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/gorramnerdhour Fol…
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The boys start off with a court session and then head into box office news before really getting into the show and talking about some sequels and the state of DC movies. Garfunkel and Oates have been signed to create a show for IFC, and both Brian and Jacob are a little too happy. The guys spend a lot of time on JJ Abrams revelations and what is in…
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Most of the time it's action, horror, or sci-fi that is reviewed for The Gorram Nerd Hour, but Jacob couldn't help himself with Joss Whedon's new adaptation of a classic Shakespeare play filled with Whedon regulars from all of his former TV series. So what did Jacob think of the movie? Listen and find out. Please follow us on Twitter at www.twitter…
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It's that time again, boys and girls, a time of wonder and amusement and lots of fucks. That's right, The Gorram Nerd Hour is back! The Emmys went down without a hitch this weekend, and Breaking Bad was a big winner. So was Modern Family, but Jacob seems a little confused by this. Burn Notice and Dexter finished their respective runs, and Jacob was…
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Bad Milo - a man has a creature living in his ass that likes to come out and kill people. Sounds like a Troma production. But the execution was far from it. Filled with a great cast and very bizarre premise it could either be good or bad. Which side of the fence did Jacob fall on? Listen and find out. Please follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/…
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The boys bury the top story yet again, but we’ll start with it first in the synopsis: Justin Bieber and Batman vs. Superman. What has the world come to when this is a believable rumor? Avatard 2 might have its new villain. Maybe. Lucas Black and the Fast and Furious franchise? James Wan has bitten the hand that has feed him for so long. AMC has ann…
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Over the years, Chucky has been a character that people identify with horror in the same way as Freddy, Jason and Michael. He is an icon of horror movies. Does he deserve to be? Find out what Jacob thinks when you hear him review all five Chucky movies in this extended review episode in anticipation for the next installment, Curse Of Chucky. Please…
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The boys start the episode with an audible and then get into some crazy news form the Czech Republic. Thanks for that, Evolution Films. Ant-Man has a new release date and it’s sooner than we thought. Ian McKellen married Patrick Stewart over the weekend (yes you read that right). Pippi Longstocking does indeed have a sex tape, and it will have dist…
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When Jacob was a boy, there was nothing he loved more than playing with his G.I. Joe action figures, watching horror movies and the films of Chevy Chase and Steve Martin. Today Jacob reviews the 1983 film "The Man With Two Brains" starring Martin. It's a film about a brain surgeon, his evil wife and a brain in a jar. Does this movie hold up now tha…
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