Some stories from history don’t make the textbooks—but they still carry a warning that echoes into our present.

In my latest episode of The Journey Life, I talk about a moment from 1939 Britain, when fear—disguised as preparedness—led to one of the most heartbreaking and overlooked decisions in modern times: the English Pet Massacre. You probably haven’t heard of it. I hadn’t either, until recently.

On the brink of World War II, the British government issued a suggestion—not a mandate—that people consider euthanizing their pets to prepare for what might come. It wasn’t law. But it felt official. It carried the weight of fear. And people listened. In just days, over half a million cats and dogs were put down. Not because it had to be done—but because fear convinced people it might need to be.

Sound familiar?

We’ve all seen what panic can do, especially in recent years. Mandates. Misinformation. Rapid-fire decisions. Shaky trust. Whether it's public policy, personal relationships, or even spiritual choices—we're often tempted to react instead of respond.

But as followers of Jesus, we’re not called to react to every headline or emotional urge. We’re called to give thought to our steps (Proverbs 14:15). To seek wisdom. To discern the voice of God amidst the chaos. Because the loudest voice isn’t always the wisest—and fear is a terrible shepherd.

“A gullible person will believe anything, but a sensible person will confirm the facts.” Proverbs 14:15

In this video, I unpack the parallels between 1939 and now—and invite us all to pause, pray, and ask:

* What voices are shaping my decisions?

* Am I reacting… or responding in wisdom?

* And have I accidentally silenced something precious out of fear?

This episode isn’t about politics or pets. It’s about discernment. It’s about slowing down in a world that wants you anxious and reactive. It’s about learning to hear His voice in the noise.

If it speaks to you, share it with someone who might need the reminder.And let’s keep walking—discerning, wise, and grounded—in The Journey Life.

With you on the journey,Les

When I am around a group of Christians I often feel like more thought and passion has been given to the different Conspiracy Theories that are out there than thought or passion is given to what God is doing (in their lives or in this day and age).

Is that just me?

Let me now what you think!

I went out searching for some information specifically on The Epstein Files and got distracted.

This Podcast quickly started morphing into something different from the very beginning. As I started to exploring “facts” and thoughts around the Conspiracy Theories they became far less interesting to me than what was happening within US.

So I started pursuing WHY Humans LOVE conspiracy theories.

And specifically, from a Christian Perspective.

You can find the Outline below, as well as a link to the Video POD and a teaser for the second part of Why We Love Conspiracy Theories.

“Truth matters but wisdom and following Jesus matters more” (Les Herron)

Outline

00:00 Introduction

03:30 #1—The Unknown Feeds the Imagination

09:30 #2—Lack of Transparency

16:50 #3—Powerful People Without Accountability Feels Evil

29:00 #4—The Psychology Behind Our Fascination: Confirmation Bias

42:00 A teaser of what is coming in Part #2 of Why We Love Conspiracy Theories

Stay Tuned!

In Part #2 we will concentrate on one Main Reason we Why We Love Conspiracy Theories and that is because it gives us Emotional Comfort.

Stay tuned and let me know what you think by commenting below.

Here is a Teaser for Part #2…

Check out this article I wrote about mashing up Prophetic Words and what is happening in the world. We are to be bold in what we speak AND careful, especially when using God’s word!

Emotions are so important!

I just wrote a few articles on “Feelings are not Facts” but that does not mean they are not crucial to understanding ourselves and other humans.

“A life dictated by Emotions is a life controlled by others” (LH)

I would add to that quote above that a life that Ignores Emotions is a life that lacks connection to self, others and God.

Yikes! Emotions are crucial to our experience here on earth. Ignore them and/or be controlled by them at your own peril

I am working on some shorter, more pointed videos and this is my first attempt—just under 10-minutes.

If you are on social media like FB, YouTube, or Instagram then you might have noticed I am also putting out under 1-minute “Shorts”. You can see more of these from me if you subscribe to either of those 3 platforms above.

AND! Please like, share and comment on the content that inspires you, challenges you or makes you think differently.

Listen to the video and tell me if The Purple Giraffe experiment makes sense—I’d love some feedback on that.

Did you grow in 2024?

Do you have plans to grow in 2025?

As Christians we often only grow when forced, as in school or during a personal crisis; however, I am convinced that Growth is not optional but mandatory for the overcoming Christian.

Earlier this year I read a book by psychologist Carol Dweck. In this book she explores The Mindset Theory. The basic idea is that all of us have a Growth or a Fixed mindset and that mindset, more than talent, intelligence and practice, determines how well we will do in life (and how much we will enjoy life!).

It is not a perfect theory but I was intrigued by how much it was supported by scripture.

In this podcast I take her five key principles of The Mindset Theory, add scriptures and then record this conversation with Tim Stone.

If you are eager to partner with God and His transforming power then I think you will really like this one.

You can find the outline of the Podcast below, as well as how to subscribe to my iTunes Podcast to get automatic downloads to your phone (or listening device).

Thanks for reading The Journey Life with Les Herron! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Podcast Outline

00:00 Les Introduces the concept of a Growth VS Fixed Mindset

13:00 Step Into Challenges

18:00 Learning from Criticism

24:15. Cultivate Humility

31:00 Believe in Transformation (You are able to change and grow!)

34:50 Persistence and Endurance are Key

Conclusion

Subscribe to The Journey Life POD by clicking below…

Our YouTube Channel is picking up some speed and it is the best way for you to get me doing short clips under one-minute long. If you “Subscribe” you will see more of my in your YouTube Feed. During those times you are scrolling mindlessly you can be reminded to Think about something new!

Click below to go there. It is like magic!

Thanks for reading The Journey Life with Les Herron! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

This Podcast continues where The Wisdom Ladder left off.

I love practical Mental Models of Wisdom and the practical application of wisdom but I am always delighted when I explore and discover connections between…

* The Old and New Covenants (Testaments)

* The Mystical and the Practical

* The Something and The Someone

Podcast #55 is short and direct. Why? Because I get right to the point about how we must be on The Right Path with The Right Person in order to live a life of wisdom.

Thanks for reading The Journey Life with Les Herron! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Please leave a comment on CONTENT or the Editing of this Podcast. Why the editing? Well, I used AI to shorten it for me and I am interested in some feedback!

You can also watch and follow on YouTube—for those of you who prefer watching your PODS.

Please comment on any and all platforms, as well as commenting right here on Substack…

You will want to read the article that started this train of thought about Egg Prices VS Car Payments before listening to this POD. You can do that HERE.

I will get to the content of the newest Podcast but first, a chicken joke…

An egg pulled up in a sports car, just cracking up.Said it was the only way to shell out this kind of money and stay sunny-side up.

But, all Yoking aside…

Did you know that your brain is always doing something? That behind the scenes it is

You can go back to Taking Every Thought Captive and listen to the videos on YouTube.

Why Eggs Seem More Important Than Car Payment

The constant media attention is almost impossible to escape and what our eye sees our mind considers—more importantly, what our Eye Sees and our Ears Hear is what our Mind considers to be the most important.

Even when it is not.

Why is this a problem and how is it causing many Believers problems?

Most of us want to be Financially Free AND solving The Egg Problem will never solve The Financial Problem.

I have put the POD Outline Below with 6 reasons why our brain concentrates on the much smaller Egg Price instead of the often huge Car Payment (again, read the previous article!).

Thanks for reading The Journey Life with Les Herron! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Why Do We Concentrate on Eggs and not Car Payments?

A lot of Christians are praying for a miracle in their finances but what they really need is to start applying math.

People tend to react more emotionally to rising egg prices than to high car payments for several psychological and practical reasons. Here is the Outline…

00:00 Introduction

05:25 How Often We Buy Eggs

06:30 Wrong Perception of Expectation

08:00 How Visible the Price is Every Week (Visibility)

09:30 Psychological Anchoring

15:40 Necessity vs. Luxury Perception

18:00 Amplification of Egg Prices VS Hiddenness of Your Car Payment

22:40 Conclusion

Alright friends, that’s what I’ve got for you today. As always, thanks for hanging out with me here on The Journey Life. Let's keep learning, growing, and taking the next step forward—together.

Thanks for reading The Journey Life with Les Herron! This post is public so feel free to share it.

Did you know that you can follow me at The Journey Life Facebook page? You can find me HERE and get inspiring and interesting posts throughout the week that are easy to share with your Social media friends.

Great Memes (and some additional words to them) like this one from earlier this week…

This Podcast was going to be "5 Reasons Why Christians Don't Like the Enneagram and Why I Think they are Wrong" but then, after studying, it all seemed to come down to one main reason.

And it is one of those Big Reasons that Christians pull out in order to prove that something “secular” is not appropriate for Christians to utilize.

I go after that misguided way of thinking.

There are some pretty big ideas in here about HOW I think!!

If you want to watch this POD then scroll down and click the link to YOUTUBE.

Thanks for reading The Journey Life with Les Herron! This post is public so feel free to share it.

00:00 Introduction

01:00 The One Main Reason

05:00 Would You stop watching Football or wearing makeup because their origins are both steeped in demonic, false god worshipping cultures?

07:00 How We use a tool/technology really matters.

11:00 Defending a Falsehood puts us on the opposite of what is true

14:28 Always choosing The Third Option

The desire to do good based on a falsehood, the desire to make others do waht is right, the desire ot place in rules to bring order to our desires almost always goes bad!

18:00 The “T” VS The “t”

23:00 Why We might feel good about Rejecting The Enneagram

35:00 God is in the Redemption business!

Thanks for reading The Journey Life with Les Herron! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

I stood up and moved a bit to the front this past Wednesday in order to video Victoria singing.

About minute 2 I started crying.

Not because the singing was amazing but because an image of me, about 15 years ago, performing her biological Mom’s funeral crossed through my mind's eye.

It was like my mind could not handle the juxtaposition of my daughter, this young lady worshipping and her Bio-Mom with such a tragic story (to be told another day).

I think we miss a lot of the best thing from God because our we cannot wrap our minds around it so we push it away.

In fact, I think that almost ALL of what we learn and know about Grace, Peace, Love, Forgiveness, Etc. , if we would for a moment experience it instead of “hear” about it—that our minds just might blow up.

Wednesday night, experiencing Victoria leading worship and then having that funeral image flash in my mind, highlighted vividly the differences between what the enemy wants and what God wants.

I have, over the years, allowed my “Mind” to get in my way of comprehending the vastness of what it means to be Christian, to be a Child of God, to be a Loved One.

The pursuit of understanding my “Self” via life coaching, of learning how emotions are constructed, gratitude practices, meditation, etc. has been so beneficial for opening up my heart and my mind to knowing Him more.

Not sure if any of that makes sense but it is something I wanted to share.

BTW, minute 2 is where something ‘different’ starts to happen in the room and most of us in the service knew something had shifted.

For me it surely had.

I hope you keep pursuing spiritual experiences and placing yourself in position to be uncomfortable as you “practice” this extremely mystical thing called christianity.

Victoria was on the worship team this morning and I snapped a picture.

In this podcast I fly solo and explore the topic of complaining.

I explore some of the following…

* What is Complaining?

* Why Complaining is not all bad (and how to identify the ‘types’)

* Why people complain.

* Some scriptural examples about complaining

* How can we stop complaining

*

You can scroll down and see the outline for this podcast—just in case you want to get to a certain topic faster!

Beneath the picture below I have also placed a 1-minute video clip that shares how to complain like Job.

Complaining Like Job 1-minute Video

Everyone Complains Outline

00:00 Introduction

01:30 What is Complaining?

2:45 Four Types of Complaining (Actually 5!)

* The Direct Complaint

* The Chronic Complainer

* The Passive-Aggressive Complainer

* The Vent Complainer

* The Silent Complainer

08:45 Why Do People Complain?

* Releases stress

* Avoid responsibility

* Seeking wrong Empathy/Validation/Connection

* Bias to Negativity

* Habit

17:00 Healthy VS Unhealthy Complaints

19:30 Complaining in Old Testament

24:00 Are you Recycling Garbage?

26:50 Complaining in Philippians

27:40 Strategies on How to Go from Complaining to Singing Praises

* Be Aware

* Be Grateful

* Set Aside Time (and Time Limit!) to Complain

* Reflect On and Find Complaint Patters

* Get Good Feedback

* Seek Solutions

33:00 Conclusion: Complaining Is About Heart Condition, Not Words Spoken

The Video of this POD is linked below at YouTube.

This is an Old School, practical lesson on what goals are and how they both activate and prove our faith.

By Old School I mean—

I use a whiteboard.

I get practical.

Keep scrolling for the POD outline and for a link to the Video link.

Thanks for reading The Journey Life with Les Herron! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.

Goals Activate Faith Outline

00:00 Introduction & Goal Setting

05:30 Lay Aside the Weight…

07:00 If you will work on Practical THINGS, you will have a spiritual experience in that process

10:00 The Slough of Despond (The River of Misery) of Goal Setting

14:30 Why Can’t I Just Pray about it and let God do it?

19:13 Letting Go of the WEIGHT of Comfort

21:30 Listing Out Our Reasons for WHY We Cannot Move Into Our Promises (Goals/Hopes/Etc.)

23:45 Victimhood and Spiritual Excuses we give for not Being Intentional & Strategic

29:00 Time as an Excuse: We want it now, don’t get it and forget it OR we say, “I don’t have the time!”

31:00 Listing Out All of Our Barriers (Stumbling Blocks)

33:45 Turning Our Stumbling Blocks Into Stepping Stones

37:35 Bilbo Baggins—Look at all of this as an Adventure

41:00 What is your Plan for Dying? (assessing the previous Podcast)

42:30 What is coming next week? and The Conclusion

If You Prefer to Watch The JL POD

Thanks for reading The Journey Life with Les Herron! Subscribe for free to receive new posts and support my work.