I have been looking forward to this podcast for ages. The four of us sat down and talked about the over 150 books we collectively read over the last six months. I love these guys. Talking about books gives us the opportunity to discuss life, big ideas, fascinating people and have a good laugh along the way.

Here is a doc of all the books we discussed in the pod: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fwxRVGoXAU187TSX4si6dd0XJk_2sCONGmExH7vmNXQ/edit?usp=sharing

Owen is on Instagram @hebbert_the_writer

Jesse is on Instagram @boutjesse

John-Michael is on Instagram @aboutjem

I am always @itsthevalk

Love y’all.

Jake

PART 2: I included a document of all the books we discussed in the pod. I have been looking forward to this podcast for ages. The four of us sat down and talked about the over 150 books we collectively read over the last six months. I love these guys. Talking about books gives us the opportunity to discuss life, big ideas, fascinating people and have a good laugh along the way.

Here is a doc: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fwxRVGoXAU187TSX4si6dd0XJk_2sCONGmExH7vmNXQ/edit?usp=sharing

Owen is on Instagram @hebbert_the_writer

Jesse is on Instagram @boutjesse

John-Michael is on Instagram @aboutjem

I am always @itsthevalk

Love y’all.

Jake

I have been looking forward to this podcast for ages. The four of us sat down and talked about the over 150 books we collectively read over the last six months. I love these guys. Talking about books gives us the opportunity to discuss life, big ideas, fascinating people and have a good laugh along the way.

Here is a doc of all the books we discussed in the pod: https://docs.google.com/document/d/1fwxRVGoXAU187TSX4si6dd0XJk_2sCONGmExH7vmNXQ/edit?usp=sharing

Owen is on Instagram @hebbert_the_writer

Jesse is on Instagram @boutjesse

John-Michael is on Instagram @aboutjem

I am always @itsthevalk

Love y’all.

Jake

Brad Rhoads is the founder of Grace Marriage, a ministry committed to equipping marriage ministries in the local church. When Brad guest-lectured in one of my classes at Southern, I left wishing that every church member could experience what I just heard. I’m grateful he was willing to come on the podcast. He told me about the rocky start to his marriage and a mentor who helped him prioritize his life properly. We talked about the dangers the pastors and seminary students face of letting their ministries swallow up time that should be reserved for family. Brad talked to me about how he and his wife have built rhythms into their life to make time for a healthy relationship. I loved this conversation, and I hope it is helpful.

Learn more about Grace Marriage at https://www.gracemarriage.com/

I am always on Instagram @itsthevalk

Love y’all.

Jesse is a musician, graphic designer, and writer based out of Hamilton, Ontario, and one of my oldest friends. For the last few years, he has been taking the Inktober prompt list and writing a song based on it every day for the month of October. This year, he wrote a short story based on the prompt words and then scored the resulting audiobook. We talked about that process, and I loved this conversation.

Follow Jesse on Instagram @boutjesse

I am always @itsthevalk

Peace fam.

Nik is one of the handful of Canadian brothers I have here at Southern and he has an almost endless series of fascinating stories from his times living in South India, Saudi Arabia, Canada, Morocco, and Louisville. We talked about his story of leaving the financial world of Toronto to go to Morocco as a missionary and the lessons he learned about hospitality from ping-ponging all over the world. Nik is one of my closest friends here at Southern and I was stoked to sit down with him and chat for an hour.

Follow Nik on Instagram @_curlynico

I am always @itsthevalk

Peace fam.

Jordan Singer is a Senior Designer at Crossway and created the design for the book covers of R. C. Sproul: A Life by Stephen Nichols and Gentle and Lowly by Dane Ortlund among many others. We talked about how learned the craft of Graphic Design, some of his formative experiences, and the process of designing a book cover. I LOVED this conversation, Jordan is a craftsman and he is deeply passionate about beauty, art, and how to communicate truth through design. Jordan shared some behind-the-scenes stories about the books he has worked on that I don’t think have ever left Crossway. 10/10 recommend this episode.

You can find more of Jordan’s work on Dribbble at https://dribbble.com/JordanDanielSinger

I am on Instagram @itsthevalk

Love y’all.

In this episode, I talked with Wilf and Sharon Bout about their work with the migrant workers here in Niagara Ontario. They told me about the incredible influence their families had on them growing up and their formative years leading youth groups and doing evangelism during their early 20’s. We talked about their time living in Guatemala and what it is like to serve with the migrants that come here to work every year. I have known the Bouts for most of my life, so much so that I call them uncle Wilf and aunt Sharon and I’m grateful that they came on and shared their stories.

If you have thoughts or questions about this episode, HMU on Instagram @itsthevalk

Lover y’all

Jake.

I sat down with a woman who discovered 10 years into her marriage that her husband had been watching pornography. She wanted to talk to me about what it's like as a wife and mother to go through this experience of pain, betrayal, anger, and grief. She has asked to remain anonymous. This is an important conversation, and I learned a lot about how complex and horrifying it is to experience porn use as a spouse. Her husband has since broken free from this sin, and God has worked beautifully in both of their lives. She told me in the podcast multiple times that her marriage is 1000x better now than it has ever been.

She came on the podcast with the full support of her husband.

If you have thoughts or questions about this episode, HMU on Instagram @itsthevalk

Jake