The Eagle's Eye Podcast

In the Torah, in Genesis 24:27 we read ‘And he said, Blessed be the Lord God of my master Abraham, who hath not left destitute my master of his mercy and his truth: I am in The Way of The LORD. The LORD led me to the house of my master's brethren.

I am in The Way of The LORD. By stating this, this servant of Abraham is declaring that he is a disciple of Abraham and is [walking] in the Way of the LORD.

So “Are we truly walking in The Way regarding our calling? Am I in The Way or am I [getting] in the way?

Show me The Way… (Part One)

Suddenly, after opening my Bible, God laid Israel upon my heart. Suddenly, all the stories that Dad used to say about our name being changed made sense. Suddenly the connection with Anne Frank was real, and suddenly I knew why those Jewish kids at Gateshead had such an impact upon me. And I knew God was laying on my heart a calling.

And yet, deep down I knew that with this calling came a huge responsibility. And this was too much.

But can we hear God’s calling and still walk away? And when God calls, do we have a choice? Find out more in this Eagle's Eye Podcast - session 10.

In the 80’s, I had no idea of the Jewish connection to Gateshead, nor my past, nor what the future would entail. And so, there I was, in a quiet street in Gateshead and suddenly a bell went! I mean, literally… a bell started to ring. Suddenly, I felt as if I was in labour. Okay, I know, I’m a bloke… how can I know what being in labour is like. But these pains within my gut were real... I felt as if something moved within me, in the way a baby might turn in a pregnant mum-to-be. And I was so excited! Why was I so excited? It made no sense. Yet all the way home I was ‘buzzing’ with excitement. Was this a move of God within me? But hang on, I didn’t believe in God then... find out more, in episode nine of The Eagle's Eye Podcast.

The photo here is of Anne Frank, a young Jewish girl who died during the Holocaust. However she left her diary which tells her story. I read her diary at a very young age of 12 years old, and it changed my life... or at least, God used it to change my life. In this podcast, I ask the question "...was God showing me something deep in my soul? Was He uncovering the dust from a dark past? Was He preparing me for a future position?" Listen as I take you on a journey - a journey to 'Life' itself.

All music in this podcast is licensed to David P Soakell.

To watch the short video I took at Yad Vashem go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vtzH-vUY0xo&t=9s

or at: https://www.david-soakell.com/helen-s-story-the-holocaust

To find out about the work I have been involved with for the past 25 years plus, click here https://www.cfi.org.uk/

For those listening to these podcasts in the UK who have never been further north than the infamous ‘Watford Gap’, life in the North isn’t grim at all, and though cobbled streets might be found – as indeed they are on the Champs-Élysées in Paris - flat caps and ferrets are about as popular as top hats and tails from Dickens’ era are today in London. Indeed, you may be surprised to learn that around 70 percent of the world's heather moorland is in the UK and the largest continuous expanse of moorland in England and Wales is in the North York Moors – where sheep can wander freely. With four national parks on our doorstep (The North York Moors, The Yorkshire Dales, Northumberland, and the Lake District) the Lord has indeed blessed us with beautiful scenery.For sheer scenic splendour (at least in my opinion), few places in England (or indeed the world) can measure up to the outlandishly beautiful Cumbrian Lake District.

Here in England's largest National Park, I simply love climbing Helvellyn. Indeed, I've climbed this more than a dozen times. The approach via Striding Edge is of course the classic approach, and I certainly feel it is the best. Whatever the conditions – and I have been up in scorching heat to thick snow - Striding Edge is impressive and I guess I do like a bit of scrambling to enliven a climb. So join me on my journey, as I continue to look at life through the 'Eagle's Eye'...

"They say Aslan is on the move. Perhaps he has already landed," whispered the Beaver. Edmund felt a sensation of mysterious horror. Peter felt brave and adventurous. Susan felt as if some delightful strain of music had just floated by. And Lucy? She got that feeling when you realise it's the beginning of summer. So, deep in the land of Narnia, the children set out on the most exciting and enchanting adventure ever written..." (From CS Lewis’ book The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe - (ISBN: 9780007323128).

As a child, I grew up on C.S. Lewis' stories about the land of Narnia, and how the children found this land through a magical wardrobe. I can remember thinking, as a young boy, how exciting it would be to find a magical place like this and to be able to spend eternity in this wonderful place. Well, to my surprise I did. Huh? No? Really? Well tune in to this, episode 6 of my podcast, where I ask "Is The Lion on the move"?

In this week's episode I ask the question "What is in a name?" and look at the area of Banias in Israel which is situated roughly 25 miles north of the Sea of Galilee and at the foot of the long climb to Mount Hermon, Caesarea Philippi (Banias as it is known by today) is the location of one of the largest springs feeding the Jordan River. Over the Hellenistic and Roman periods, many pagan temples were built at this area. St. Peter literally stood in this place and made the declaration of the status of who Jesus was. This area known as Panias however was corrupted in the Arabic language to its modern name of Banias. The reason is quite simple: Formal or Classical Arabic does not have equivalent letter P, and so, the ‘P’ became a ‘’B’.

An odd name to choose? Why? Well, find out by listening to this podcast.

'The Eagle & the Mezuzah'. Well we all know what an Eagle is... but what's the connection with this bird of prey and my family name? And what's the connection with a mezuzah? And what is a mezuzah anyway? Find out in this episode of the Eagle's Eye Podcast.

Thank you to all of you who have been listening to and following my personal new Podcasts, and I appreciate the very positive feedback I’ve received.

Episode 3 is here, and this is a special ‘Passover’ edition in which I will look at some areas of the Seder meal along with 'the meal covenant'. I hope you enjoy it.

You can also download these Podcasts in iTunes in the Podcast area.

Most of these podcasts are taken from a book I’m still trying to finish called, 'But Who Do You Say I Am?' However there is a lot of ‘ad-libbing’ that goes on too, of which I hope I won’t need to apologise for 😊.

These episodes are a journey into life itself and what that life entails for me. In many ways, it’s an autobiography, as I reflect on my life growing up in an industrial UK Northern town during the 1960's and 70s. However it is much more than that, as I try to wrestle with life; trying to come to terms with the demands of life and with the fact that like Jacob in the Scriptures, we all can wrestled with the whole issues of God.

Episode Two of my Podcast - The Eagle's Eye. In this edition we'll be entering into 'The secret place' Ohhhhhhhhhhh 🤔now where might that be? Well find out by clicking play.