Real Talk with Ben

In today's episode, I wanted to reflect on my holiday (or vacation) and share with you something that really hit me deep down. Homelessness, if you are like me and grew up in a small town. This is not something you discovered in your hometown very rarely. In my case, I never even remember seeing a homeless person in my town ever. It wasn't until I was 16, where I realized that homelessness is real and it is a problem. That is when I was on a missions trip in Denver, Colorado. This is where I had utter shock and God really opened up my eyes to things. To be honest, those thoughts and feelings all left me, until this past week while I was on holiday in Budapest. I saw numerous homeless people day after day. It broke my heart and I realized that in my own life I struggled with homelessness. Maybe not in the outer way, but emotionally and spiritually. I was didn't where to find hope, until I remember to come home to God. I hope this episode encourages you to reach out to those who need it and to help the homeless in your area. Everyone needs to hear the Gospel. We serve an amazing God, let's share about Him!

In today's episode, I decided to talk about the lessons I have learned this summer. This summer have been one of the best summers ever. I have grown and learned so much throughout the summer. From the long hours of video editing to the sanitation of sports equipment. All of this helped grow and mold me. I serve with an amazing team and an amazing God. There is never a day where I don't see Him working. I hope that we all can be focused on living for Him more and ultimately serving Him in everything that we do. I cannot wait to see what God has in store for me next here in Hungary. May I be a servant of Christ!

In today's episode, I am not talking about just camp...well sort of! A big story right now in the U.S. is the cancelling of college football. As many of you know, I am a HUGE Ohio State football fan. So when I heard that they were cancelling the Big Ten season (Ohio State's conference). I was bummed out, but most of all confused. It made me take a moment and think about the rest of the things we do. Is COVID-19 really that devastating? Or are we just looking at the media for answers? Those are questions that I was constantly asking myself over and over again. Now, I know not everything in this episode you will agree with it, but I hope you will listen and hear my perspective. Just know that God is always good and He is in control!

In today's episode, I wanted to cover a topic that is related both to camp and to what is happening around the world. That idea is showing love. I think so many times we hear people say, "show more love, and things will get better." While yes, that might be true, there is more than just that. We need to show love without judgement and in today's world that for some reason seems too hard for people to understand. We need to first understand loving without judgement before we can love. I know this is something that I have struggled with, but I also know that it is important especially during these unusual times. Let's love and not judge. This covers everything from political stances to thoughts on God to lifestyle choices. If we are to live out the Gospel, we must do this! 

In today's episode, I wanted to talk about how a conversation with someone can change their life. This happened to me this week during camp and God showed me how by having a simple conversation or showing love to someone can change their life. I had a rough group in basketball this week when it comes to their behavior and honestly I was starting to get frustrated, but I should have known that God was going to do something! For some reason, I decided to work one on one with a young camper with his basketball shot. This turned into a conversation with him through a translator. Long story short, this kid accepted Christ on Tuesday. God uses our conversations for His glory. What are your conversations associated around?

In today's episode, I wanted to honor a dear friend, who passed away on Monday while on duty as a firefighter. I have known Jason or "Cuff" as I call him, since my junior year of high school. He was playing basketball at Cedarville at the time and I met him at basketball camp. From the moment I met Cuff, he welcomed me with open arms and helped me get through some tough times. He came to a couple of my basketball games and he even drove up for my graduation party. He went out his way many times to be there for me. He was more than a friend, he was a role model. But over the past few years our relationship was not as strong as it once was for many reasons. I wish I would have been a better friend in these last few years. The last few days have made me realize once again that you cannot take this life for granted. We need to use everyday to honor God. This means being there for your friends and even doing the extra to show people God's love. I didn't get to Jason how much he meant to me and how much he had impacted my life. So, this is why I wanted to make this episode, so I could thank him and also encourage you all to never give up on friends or people. Let us remember Jason for the kind and caring man he was! Rest easy Cuff! We love you and miss you!

In today's episode, I decided to talk about some lessons that I have learned so far during camp season. And honestly, I feel like most of these episodes coming up will be focused on that and will hopefully give insight on what God is doing. Anyways, today I wanted to talk about leading, God working, a kid's heart and finally, balance. All of these obviously have their own reasoning, but truly all of these have been lessons that have humbled me. I truly believe that God uses lessons to mold us and build us up. I can honestly say that the last two weeks have been hard, but truly rewarding.

In today's episode, I bring both an update of camp and a podcast episode. I decided to talk about camp and how it is going, but I also decided to talk about the joys of camp. The joys of serving and the joys of seeing God work. We serve an amazing God! It has been a blessing already to see Him working even when sometimes I don't expect it. I personally enjoy when God surprises us with something we didn't expect. This for sure has happened for our camp team this year! Oh and by the way, I gained 41 new brothers and sisters Tuesday night! It's pretty awesome! I love camp!

In today's episode, I wanted to celebrate 50 episodes of the podcast. Now, for you it might not seem that impressive or amazing or even important. But for me, this has been a journey. A journey that covers years of trying find what I love and what I want to do in the future. I can say with 100% certainty that I love this and I want to do this for a long time. This episode covers not only my journey, but the lessons I have learned through this process. Real Talk with Ben was not my first choice of media, but rather it has become part of The Bowden Experience brand. It is just one small way that I am trying to make a difference and hoping spreading God's word in the process. I love what I do! Thank you all for everything!

In today's episode, we get to TALK ABOUT CAMP! I know I have talked about camp here or there, but I thought I would talk about it more in full this time around. I wanted to cover what camp will look like, what my role is during camp, what I am looking forward too and then lastly prayer requests for camp. I hope that this episode gives you a little insight on what camp will look like, but more importantly the importance of having camp. Let us pray that God will do some amazing things during these next seven weeks. I have seen him bless this ministry over the last 4 months, so there is no doubt in my mind that He can't do it again!