Charlie welcomes his friend and social psychologist, DeAngelo Burse. DeAngelo unpacks his personal story and shares how he beat the odds to overcome poverty and negative influences to emerge as a college professor and mindset coach devoted to positive social change.

As a deep-thinker, DeAngelo naturally gravitated to philosophy studies as a young man and challenged himself to find his foundation, belief, and faith. Although at the time he wasn't sure how, he knew his purpose was to use his education and personal life lessons to inspire and make life better for others. DeAngelo also talks about the importance of seeking out mentors and his belief that mentors should see a return on investment for their time.

Don't miss this first of four episodes with Charlie and DeAngelo!

You can find DeAngelo online: https://deangeloburse.com/ and follow him on social media: @iamdeangeloburse

This episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/zs0uXYZ5pl0

We hope you enjoy this episode, and subscribe to our podcast for a new story each week.

Visit https://www.storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.

In this sixth and final installment of Charlie's conversation with Pastor and NY Times Bestselling author Mark Batterson, they emphasize the importance of daily habits and annual planning.

Mark's 3M Framework for creating new habits focuses on making them Measurable, Meaningful, and Maintainable. Mark shares his annual two-day planning retreat with his wife, which includes setting a word or verse of the year, planning the calendar and budget, and coming up with an adventure or physical challenge. His daily habit includes a Bible reading plan combined with a morning latte at Ebenezer's Coffeehouse and some habit stacking.

His word of the year is "unoffendable" from Proverbs 19:11 and his new book "Please Sorry Thanks" is based on the idea that nothing opens doors like please, nothing mends fences like sorry, and nothing builds bridges like thanks. His life philosophy (that was inspired by his spiritual mentor Dick Foth) of neoteny is to remain young at heart throughout his entire life.

This episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/ngOW13pAA5o

To learn more or to follow Mark, check out https://www.MarkBatterson.com

We hope you enjoy this episode, and subscribe to our podcast for a new story each week.

Visit https://www.storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.

In this short, 5th installment of Charlie's conversation with Mark Batterson, Mark opens up about the the Capital Turnaround building (which is a 100,000 square foot multi-purpose building and serves as the home of National Community Church). He discusses how he believes that the church belongs in the middle of the marketplace.

Mark describes how Jesus didn't just hang out at the synagogue but at wells, which were natural gathering places. To that end, the Capital Turnaround is a place where church and community cross paths.

The church's primary motivation is serving the city Monday through Friday. They're not just trying to build a church, but instead are blessing a city for the coming generations.

The Capital Turnaround is used as so much more than just a weekend gathering place. It functions as a child development center Monday - Friday, because that's one of the city's greatest needs. It is used for conferences, concerts, and leadership gatherings as well as a kids ministry space for several organizations, such as Amazon, Axios, NBC, and the DC Government.

And, he discusses the idea for the next development phase of the Capital Turnaround, which is to create a mixed use marketplace that would include a sit down restaurant and be modeled on other types of marketplaces and food halls from other cities.

Ultimately, the vision for the Capital Turnaround would be a place where someone can come to work, eat, play, and pray.

This episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/1YZV-rp1IA4

To learn more or to follow Mark, check out https://www.MarkBatterson.com

We hope you enjoy this episode, and subscribe to our podcast for a new story each week.

Visit https://www.storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.

In the 4th installment of Charlie's conversation with Pastor and NY Times bestselling author Mark Batterson, Charlie and Mark discuss the benefits of mentorship and appreciating those with wisdom who have preceded us as well as the benefits of long-term, multi-generational thinking.

Mark talks about his mentor Dick Foth and his respect for elders. Mark describes his appreciation for those who have paved the way for us when he states: "We drink from wells we didn't dig; we eat from fields we didn't plant; and we live in houses we didn't build." Mark also shares that he wants to posture himself with people who have been there before.

Mark shares his belief that everybody has a unique anointing and how he wants to bump into that. And that he believes that everyone is his superior in some way. And that everyone is fighting a battle he doesn't know about.

Mark shares how his church National Community Church had just inherited a sacred assignment to take over the Easter sunrise service at the Lincoln Memorial. But, that this sacred assignment was inherited from Pastor Amos Dodge and Capital Church who had plowed the ground and planted seeds for 42 years before NCC was handed the sacred assignment.

Mark shares the story of the Capital Turnaround, which they purchased for $29.3M and how much they invested in the foundation as they are thinking in 70 year time horizons in preparing for the benefit of future generations.

Mark shares that faith is seeing through drywall that's not load-bearing and that before you build, sometimes you have to demo. Mark says that you've gotta have eyes of faith and see past what's already been constructed.

To learn more or to follow Mark, check out https://www.MarkBatterson.com

This episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/Ybiva9ox95g

We hope you enjoy this episode, and subscribe to our podcast for a new story each week.

Visit https://www.storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.

In episode three of Charlie's conversation with Pastor and NY Times Bestselling author Mark Batterson, Mark shares more details about his process for writing books and unpacks some of his more popular sayings. Mark believes that every leader should keep a short list of his or her favorite quotes or sayings.

Mark and Charlie discuss perspective and how to remain grounded in certain situations, so some of Mark's favorite quotes or saying tend to revolve around this. They talk about what to do when you're not feeling productive and to keep in mind that "There are decades when nothing happens, and there are days when decades happen."

To learn more or to follow Mark, check out https://www.MarkBatterson.com

This episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/eODEh6TwiDw

We hope you enjoy this episode, and subscribe to our podcast for a new story each week.

Visit https://www.storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.

In part two of this six-part series, Mark shares the calling that he felt when he was enrolled on a full athletic scholarship at the academically prestigious University of Chicago. Mark's calling led him to leave the University of Chicago and give up his full ride scholarship to transfer to a small Bible college (that doesn't even exist any more). Mark shares how faith is sometimes taking the first step before God reveals the 2nd step and his thoughts on obedience to God's calling. Mark shares how his spark of inspiration to begin reading started and what he calls a holy curiosity. This holy curiosity inspired him to read 3,000 books before writing his first book. Through prayer and listening to God's (inaudible) call, Mark felt led to become a pastor and also had felt the call to be a voice to his generation (which he interpreted to mean that he would be a writer). Mark encourages people not to give up on their dreams even if it requires sacrifice or takes a lot of time. But, he shares that the pursuit of your dreams will require taking action in a disciplined manner. For those who have the dream to write a book one day, Mark shares insights into his book writing process, including his annual book writing season and the editing process. To learn more or to follow Mark, check out www.MarkBatterson.com. Check back next week for episodes three and four in our Conversation with Mark Batterson series and thanks for listening to Stories from the River.

This episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/mRjRJlSNVY0

We hope you enjoy this episode, and subscribe to our podcast for a new story each week.

Visit https://www.storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.

Charlie takes the podcast on the road to Washington, D.C., to visit with his favorite author, Lead Pastor and NY Times bestselling author Mark Batterson. Mark's books have profoundly inspired Charlie over the years, and he has shared the insights as well as hundreds of copies of Mark's books with the Memory Makers at the River. So, through a mutual friend, Charlie connected with Mark Batterson, who graciously agreed to sit down and have a conversation with Charlie on our Stories from the River podcast.

In this episode, Mark talks about an intentional phrase (and its origin) that has really resonated with Charlie, which is "If you want to make the days count, then count the days." Mark also shares his thoughts on the power and design of a day, the compounding and multiplying nature of "doing the math," and his thoughts about crafting life goals with a relational component.

This episode was recorded at the Capital Turnaround (https://capitalturnaround.com) in Washington, D.C., which also serves as the headquarters for Mark's church, National Community Church (https://national.cc). This episode is part one of a six-part series where Mark and Charlie discuss many of the central themes within Mark's bestselling books (such as "Win the Day" and "Chase the Lion"), and Mark unpacks more of his personal story, including the path to becoming both a pastor as well as a bestselling author as well as some of the creative ways that he thinks about life, relationships, habits, and personal goals.

This episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/9043JzFlvJ0

We hope you enjoy this episode, and subscribe to our podcast for a new story each week.

Visit https://www.storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.

Charlie sits down with Bill Woodman, Broad River's Executive Vice President of Finance, to discuss how he is strategically elevating in Finance. This episode provides a great insight into what the five main components of the finance department at Broad River look like, and how Bill is planning to elevate within these departments.

This episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/0URNaENRcvQ

We hope you enjoy this episode, and subscribe to our podcast for a new story each week.

Visit https://www.storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.

Charlie speaks to Sam Blum, Broad River's Associate Director of the E-Team & Service about her plan to elevate in 2023. We get a glimpse behind the scenes of what it really means to be a Service team member, and how helping guests before, during, and after the purchase really elevates the guest and the Memory Maker experience.

This episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IhwpPneXE6M

We hope you enjoy this episode, and subscribe to our podcast for a new story each week.

Visit https://www.storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.

Charlie speaks to Anita Harris, Broad River's Associate Director of Customer Experience. Anita reflects on 2022 and how the year of Thrive prepared her team to be in the position to elevate this year. Anita goes into detail on the CX team identity, programs designed to celebrate guests and Memory Makers, and technology that will be used to elevate the day-to-day experience of the CX team.

This episode on YouTube: https://youtu.be/IhwpPneXE6M

We hope you enjoy this episode, and subscribe to our podcast for a new story each week.

Visit https://www.storiesfromtheriver.com for more episodes.