The Michelin-star rating system is a way to help us think through our business and value-offering. Not every business can or should have that expectation. Sometimes we need just a convenient and affordable gas station. There's nothing wrong with that. It's a needed business. And, if that's you, expect to be "just another gas station."

But if you don't want that as your standard, if you want customers going out of their way to buy from you, or to have customers who can't wait to give you their money, then you'll have to dream a little bigger, care a little stronger, and work a little harder in order to provide that service and be a Michelin-Star Business.

Welcome to another special episode in the weekly “Prison Pulpit” series on the China Compass podcast! I'm your China travel guide, Missionary Ben, back from Asia. You can follow me on X (@chinaadventures) where I post daily reminders to pray for China (PrayforChina.us). To learn more about our ministry endeavors or get one of the missionary biographies I’ve published, visit www.PrayGiveGo.us!

Why the Prison Pulpit?

I want to remind you once again why I do this weekly Prison Pulpit series: to encourage you to pray for Pastor Wang Yi (and others like him) as Hebrews 13:3 teaches us, by sharing from his own words and sermons, as well as many stories and sermons from the late Richard Wurmbrand. 

Bucharest Below!

Speaking of Wurmbrand, just a couple hours after posting last week’s episode of the Prison Pulpit, my flight from Oman to London took me directly over Iraq (dry and desolate), Turkey (green and gorgeous), and then after crossing the Black Sea, Bucharest, Romania, where Richard Wurmbrand was from, and where he was arrested and spent years in solitary confinement! 

I’ve been to Bucharest once, even meeting a few folks who KNEW Wurmbrand, but I don’t know the city well enough to locate anything in particular from the sky. However, it was fascinating nonetheless!

Unbeaten.vip

Also, and I promise this is the last time I’ll mention this until NEXT year, Sunday, May 25, was the anniversary of my arrest and interrogation seven years ago…UNBEATEN.VIP!

May 25, 2018: 21 Japanese detained in China likely targeted in crackdown on missionaries

https://www.scmp.com/news/china/diplomacy-defence/article/2147864/21-japanese-detained-china-may-have-been-targeted

What Will You Do In the Time of Testing?

https://chinacall.substack.com/p/what-will-you-do-in-the-time-of-testing

Follow China Compass

Follow or subscribe to China Compass wherever you are listening. You can also send any questions or comments via comment or DM on X: @chinaadventures. Hebrews 13:3

Today’s episode is an “extra” for this week in anticipation of Friday’s podcast on “A Christian View of Law.” It is a sermon David preached on Psalm 25:14 in November 2023 to re-ignite the imagination of those who might have lost the wonder of the “secret” God reveals to “those who fear him.” David's story as a member of a  secret society for BMOCs and Chesterton's "Ethics in Elfland" expose how easily we can easliy lose ourselves in a made-up "real" world.

Don't forget to sign up for the 2025 FLF Con: https://flfnetwork.com 

Our real-life friend Kyrsti is at the table today, Neighbor! Is there any substitute for Real Life Community?  The answer is NO!  But we spend 50 minutes talking about why...

Also, the PodNinja found a video that proves we were too hard on him last week. Listen as he brings more evidence to prove we ARE in the middle of a cultural shift, by golly!

Email the Comedian's family (and friends!) at [email protected]

On today's episode the Pugsters welcome clinical mental health counselor Dr. Natalie Atwell onto the show. Dr. Atwell noticed a tremendous increase in the unusual number of rare mental health cases in her practice, many of which were in people who were engaged in occult practices. This has led her to work discerning the boundaries between mental health and spiritual warfare. Dr. Atwell’s ideas and experience generate conversation about the practical aspects of her work, the implications of Heiser’s work for mental health, and a variety of other related topics.

Support the Pugcast on Patreon: https://www.patreon.com/thetheologypugcast?fbclid=IwAR17UHhfzjphO52C_kkZfursA_C784t0ldFix0wyB4fd-YOJpmOQ3dyqGf8

Business growth is more comparable to a staircase than a ramp. It's not smooth and linear. It's patterns of straight up and flat plateaus. You seek growth, land more work, and increase your sales volume. Then, you stop to build up your systems and processes, train and equip your people, and make sure the new work volume is being digested well. You start to prepare for the next growth spurt, figuring out what you might need to be aware of as more work comes in. And then you go for the next growth spurt, increasing your volume.