Exempla

When I was a kid, there was a place that was, hands down, my favorite place on earth. It was a little yellow house in the mountains of western Massachusetts. But now, when I go back to that magical place, the joy is mixed with sorrow and it makes me long instead for another, better place.

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It's easy to make peanut butter. Just grind up a bunch of peanuts and... Voila! But if you try to market and sell your peanut butter in the United States, you'll discover surprisingly strict regulations. In this episode, I'll tell you the surprising story behind some of those rules and the woman who helped make them a reality.

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In 1828, veteran missionary Adoniram Judson left everyone and everything to move into a small hut deep in the jungle. But even when paralyzing grief drove Judson to the brink of despair, his life and ministry were not over. His story holds a lesson for us about the challenges of grief and how we can gently point others to the hope that is always available in God.

Pictures/sources/transcript: exemplapodcast.com/2025/09/27/a-dark-pit-in-the-jungle-replay/

Did you know that the author of Sherlock Holmes believed in fairies? He even wrote a book about it, detailing the supposed photographing of fairies by a couple of girls in a small English town. But how could such a smart man be so gullible? This “fairy tale” holds a lesson for all of us about why we believe what we believe and how to guard against falling for lies.

exemplapodcast.com/2025/09/13/arthur-conan-doyles-fairies-replay/

How much would you pay for a pineapple? For aristocrats in 17th and 18th century England and France, money was no object when it came to having and displaying pineapples. I want to tell you how that happened and share a lesson about how we view God’s good gifts.

Sources/transcript: exemplapodcast.com/2025/08/30/the-pineapple-craze-replay/

I told a group of kids the story of young boy being saved from a fire. I was not prepared for how deeply my son would be affected by that story. It made me feel like a bad father, but over the next few days, I learned a valuable lesson about telling others things they don’t want to hear.

Pictures/Transcript: exemplapodcast.com/2025/08/09/a-hard-story-to-hear-replay/

Godtfred Kirk Christiansen is responsible for turning LEGOs into a global phenomenon. But when Godtfred’s father first told him about his idea for a plastic building block, Godtfred thought it was a terrible idea. In this replay from season 2, there’s a lesson for us about humility and letting go of our obsession with fault-finding and blame.

Pictures/source/transcript: exemplapodcast.com/2025/07/19/the-man-who-hated-legos-replay/

It’s hard to fathom the suffering and sorrow faced by Horatio and Anna Spafford. Even after facing one of the greatest tragedies of his life, Horatio penned the words to the hymn “It Is Well With My Soul”. But Horatio's life took a strange turn that casts a shadow on his legacy. Still, the Spaffords’ sorrow holds some valuable lessons for us today.

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Episode 5 of the Counseling Talk podcast

Why in the world do I have a podcast? Good question. In this fiftieth episode of Exempla, I want to tell you about the series of events that led to me starting this podcast back in 2021. It encourages me to reflect on how God led, and I hope it will encourage you too.

Scott Pauley's podcast "Enjoying the Journey"

Paul Hastings's podcast "Compelled"

Proclaim Podcast Network

Episode transcript

When I first met my wife, I was attracted to her—but I thought she was way out of my league. And I was right. But that didn’t keep us from accidentally ending up on a date… that led to a relationship… that led to marriage. In this replay of an episode from season 2, I tell the story of that first date and how maybe it wasn’t as much of an accident as I originally thought.

Transcript: exemplapodcast.com/2025/06/07/accidental-first-date-replay/