What do you do when the unthinkable happens? Chris Norton was faced with this question when, after a tragic football accident, he was told by doctors he would never walk again.
Chris is the coauthor of The Seven Longest Yards, subject of the film 7 Yards: The Chris Norton Story and a motivational speaker sharing the story of how a life-altering football injury shaped his life for the better.
In this episode, Chris and Ken discuss how faith, radical responsibility, community, and having a purpose outside of yourself can turn pain into something great.
“I just have this belief that I am responsible for my future, right? You gave it to God, but then you got to do your part and put in the work, and I knew that I had to trust God. And what was going on and how we can turn this pain into a purpose. And then I got to do my part and get to work and see what can come from it.” – Chris Norton
“No matter what you go through in life, if you keep going, if you keep praying and keep believing, know that good things can come. You don’t know when it will come. But I do believe that God will turn your pain into a purpose.” – Chris Norton
Never miss another episode! Subscribe to “On the Edge with Ken Harrison” today. The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
KEN HARRISON is the host of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison,” a podcast building godly people for a better tomorrow. The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform, including Apple and Spotify. The podcast also offers listeners the opportunity to receive a challenging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
Harrison serves as CEO of WaterStone, a Christian Community Foundation whose clients donate over $2 million per week on average to build God’s Kingdom. For nearly 40 years, Waterstone has assisted givers in supporting their favorite charities by crafting customized, innovative giving solutions that empower donors to prioritize income, minimize taxes and optimize giving.
Ken started his career as an LAPD street cop in South Central and then spent nearly two decades in commercial real estate nationally and internationally. After successfully building and growing his company, he sold the majority interest to the second-largest commercial real estate company in the world while continuing as CEO of U.S. valuation and chair of international valuation.
Ken volunteers his time as the chairman of Promise Keepers. His mission is to provide executive leadership and strategic direction to the ministry while inspiring men to be bold, humble and ambitious about their faith.
It wasn’t until his feature-length film bombed at the box office that he stopped caring what Hollywood thought—and began working on a project that would touch millions.
For more than 20 years, Dallas Jenkins worked to make it in the film industry. But it wasn’t until his feature-length film bombed at the box office that he stopped caring what Hollywood thought—and began working on a project that would touch millions. Dallas is the director and producer of “The Chosen,” the acclaimed series on the life of Jesus and most successful media crowdfund project to date. “The Chosen” has been watched by tens of millions of people across the world and endorsed by leaders like Kirk Cousins, Pastor Sam Rodriguez, Anne Graham Lotz, and Joni Eareckson Tada.
In this episode, Dallas and Ken discuss how so often God allows us to walk a path of failure before showing us His grace and His plan. Listen in for a conversation on keeping the first things first and the vision for “The Chosen” into the future.
“I think there’s a reason why one of the first things Jesus says in the Sermon on the Mount is ‘Blessed are those who mourn.’ I really do. I think that we all have to get to the point of mourning our inadequacy and who we are. Then that can lead us to the beautiful grace and love of Jesus.” – Ken Harrison
“The moment I get at all distracted and start caring about what comments I’m going to see on YouTube—I think the show is dead. And so I just really want to maintain that posture of genuine surrender and focus solely on pleasing Him.” – Dallas Jenkins
Never miss another episode! Subscribe to “On the Edge with Ken Harrison” today. The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
KEN HARRISON is the host of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison,” a podcast building godly people for a better tomorrow. The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform, including Apple and Spotify. The podcast also offers listeners the opportunity to receive a challenging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
Harrison serves as CEO of WaterStone, a Christian Community Foundation whose clients donate over $2 million per week on average to build God’s Kingdom. For nearly 40 years, Waterstone has assisted givers in supporting their favorite charities by crafting customized, innovative giving solutions that empower donors to prioritize income, minimize taxes and optimize giving.
Ken started his career as an LAPD street cop in South Central and then spent nearly two decades in commercial real estate nationally and internationally. After successfully building and growing his company, he sold the majority interest to the second-largest commercial real estate company in the world while continuing as CEO of U.S. valuation and chair of international valuation.
Ken volunteers his time as the chairman of Promise Keepers. His mission is to provide executive leadership and strategic direction to the ministry while inspiring men to be bold, humble and ambitious about their faith.
“I realized that God does a perfect work through imperfect people, and that includes our dynamic with our fathers.” – Addison Bevere
If a father is a picture of God to his children—what happens when that father makes mistakes?
As the son of internationally renowned speakers John and Lisa Bevere, Addison Bevere has grown up in the public eye. Now he’s an influential author and speaker in his own right, serving as COO of Messenger International and founder of sonsanddaughters.tv.
In this episode, Addison and Ken discuss some of the challenges and tensions of father/son relationships and how God’s grace transformed Addison’s relationship with his own dad. Listen in as they discuss reconciliation, forgiveness, and parenting the next generation.
The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube.
KEN HARRISON is the host of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison,” a podcast building godly people for a better tomorrow. The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform, including Apple and Spotify. The podcast also offers listeners the opportunity to receive a challenging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
Harrison serves as CEO of WaterStone, a Christian Community Foundation whose clients donate over $2 million per week on average to build God’s Kingdom. For nearly 40 years, Waterstone has assisted givers in supporting their favorite charities by crafting customized, innovative giving solutions that empower donors to prioritize income, minimize taxes and optimize giving.
Ken started his career as an LAPD street cop in South Central and then spent nearly two decades in commercial real estate nationally and internationally. After successfully building and growing his company, he sold the majority interest to the second-largest commercial real estate company in the world while continuing as CEO of U.S. valuation and chair of international valuation.
Ken volunteers his time as the chairman of Promise Keepers. His mission is to provide executive leadership and strategic direction to the ministry while inspiring men to be bold, humble and ambitious about their faith.
The leader of the men’s ministry organization Promise Keepers denounced the use of pornography, stating that “God didn’t create you to be that way.”
Promise Keepers Chairman and CEO Ken Harrison spoke at the 2022 Promise Keepers Marriage Summit’s two-hour virtual kickoff event, which was live-streamed on Monday.
During his comments, Harrison recounted recently being with a group of men and how, when discussing pornography, they claimed that “they couldn’t help themselves” and “God created them to be that way.”
“I said, ‘no, no, no,’” Harrison said. “God didn’t create you to be that way. God created you to have an intense longing for your wife. For the two to become one flesh. Sin created that same longing for every other woman.”
“The Bible says we must flee from sin. It’s an action. It’s a running in terror from it, because it will separate us from God, from our kids, from our wives.”
Harrison added that “men think that they have to live their lives laden down with lustful thoughts and lust. I’m telling you that you don’t.”
“The Bible didn’t tell you to flee from lustful desires when it couldn’t actually happen,” he continued. “You can’t get there in your flesh, you can’t get there by trying harder, you can’t get there by feeling guilty, but you can get there by giving your life over to Christ.”
COLORADO SPRINGS — Ken Harrison is joined by best-selling author, political commentator, and TV host Lieutenant Colonel Oliver North, USMC (Ret.) on the latest episode of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison.” Together they discuss the mental health crisis among active duty armed forces and veterans, living with post-traumatic stress, and the importance of depoliticizing our military.
Highlights of the interview include (edited for clarity):
North explains how his faith has aided his mental health journey:
“I’m post-traumatic stress enabled, not disabled. In large part, it’s because my faith tells me where I’m going and I know why I’m going there. People ask how I can be so optimistic given all that is going on and what I have endured. I tell them it’s because I know the end of the story that I have great confidence. The most important day of Jesus’ entire ministry is after he’s been crucified. It’s horrific what he endured, but resurrection is what we’re all about. I ask the Lord that I can be an example to others as to how a Christian man ought to behave, not just talk, but behave. As a marine, we love missions and my mission today is to show my eighteen grandkids how a Christian husband, father, grandfather, brother, and son is supposed to behave.”
North’s book Veterans’ Lament: Is This the America Our Heroes Fought For?
“My and David Goetsch’s book is a remarkable coverage of what veterans are thinking about what’s going on in our country. Together we interviewed over 500 veterans. We realized there are parents who are just now talking to their kids about what we consider legacy enlistments and recruitments. A legacy recruitment or enlistment means that they looked at somebody who had served before them, a dad, an uncle, a teacher, a coach, and said, ‘I want to be like him or her.’ What is threatened is the continuity from generation to generation by having a sense that what I fought for is no longer the way I thought it was then and to a certain extent, they’re absolutely right. There are things happening in our country today that are worrisome to our veterans. They look at the America they’ve fought for and wonder why we are in the concerning place that we are.”
North’s vision looking forward:
“More than ever we need to encourage the spiritual relationship with our Lord and Savior, which I believe is crucial to marriage, raising kids, and the many things that you and I do all over the country. It is necessary for us to return to the spiritual roots of this country for us to move forward and claim the America our heroes fought for.”
“On the Edge with Ken Harrison” is a weekly podcast featuring fearless, no-holds-barred conversations from a biblical worldview with the leaders, influencers and changemakers behind today’s news. Harrison shines the light of God’s Word on the toughest, timeliest issues relating to current events, faith, family and fatherhood.
The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Podcast listeners can also receive an encouraging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
MEDIA NOTE: Please email [email protected] to schedule an interview with WaterStone CEO Ken Harrison.
KEN HARRISON is the host of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison,” a podcast building godly people for a better tomorrow. The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform, including Apple and Spotify. The podcast also offers listeners the opportunity to receive a challenging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
Harrison serves as CEO of WaterStone, a Christian Community Foundation whose clients donate over $2 million per week on average to build God’s Kingdom. For nearly 40 years, Waterstone has assisted givers in supporting their favorite charities by crafting customized, innovative giving solutions that empower donors to prioritize income, minimize taxes and optimize giving.
Ken started his career as an LAPD street cop in South Central and then spent nearly two decades in commercial real estate nationally and internationally. After successfully building and growing his company, he sold the majority interest to the second-largest commercial real estate company in the world while continuing as CEO of U.S. valuation and chair of international valuation.
Ken volunteers his time as the chairman of Promise Keepers. His mission is to provide executive leadership and strategic direction to the ministry while inspiring men to be bold, humble and ambitious about their faith.
“We have to awaken the church in America. We’ve got to interject the Word of God back into our national dialogue. We owe it to the next generation to lead them into an encounter with the Holy Spirit in such a powerful way that they hunger and thirst for the things of righteousness and truth again.” – Kevin Jessip
COLORADO SPRINGS — Ken Harrison is joined by Kevin Jessip on the latest episode of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison.” Together they discuss the success of The Return, America’s destined revival, and God’s sacred plan for those that have been tested, tried, and found true.
Highlights of Jessip’s interview in the podcast include (edited for clarity):
The Return grasped the hearts of 50 million people worldwide in 183 nations:
“On September 26th, 2020, we held The Return at the National Mall with about 250,000 people who came. I call them the remnant because they came as the remnant bride to do one thing, and that was to repent before the Lord for where this nation is asking for mercy in the midst of judgment. We broadcasted live around the world to 183 nations and 50 million people in 90 languages in real-time. It was a movement heard around the world that in fact, I was told it was the largest broadcast ever in Christendom. We had the favor of God because everybody intuitively knows that we’re at that place in time where many people who are in their prayer closets are hearing the voice of the Holy Spirit. They know the signs of the times. There are so many people around the world that were (and are) just intuitively waiting for the left shoe to drop. We believed it was time to come and have a solemn, sacred assembly before the Lord, asking him, and begging him for mercy in the midst of the judgment.”
America’s destined revival:
“I believe we are in judgment right now to a certain degree, and it may increase. It’s imperative that we prepare and know where we are in the season. I think God is doing three things right now. I think that he is cleansing his temple like he did the first time he came. We are witnessing a separation going on inside the church. Secondly, he’s allowing his bride to enter into the full measure of rest. In the days of the Israelites, to the prophets, to the judges, even into the New Testament and Hebrews it says there is yet a rest to be entered into. And God’s always wanted his people to enter into the rest. This is a time where God’s doing it. For us to be able to enter into the rest means that we are resting in the finished work of the cross in what he did, he finished it all. He won. Thirdly, he’s raising up people with a backbone of steel. They have no fear of man, no fear of death, and no fear of anything because of the faith that is being risen up with the spirit of Elijah. We’re about to see the greatest revival ever, the greatest awakening ever. I believe God, in the midst of the darkest storm, will rise above it. God is not about to let America’s days be over. We’re just getting started.”
God’s sacred plan for those who have been tested, tried, and found true:
“God is culminating the experiences of people’s lives down for the closure or what we call the consummation before his return. God is preparing his bride. Sometimes I think we failed in evangelizing the world. Right now we’re at a time where God’s going to evangelize them. He’s going to reveal himself and people are going to know this is a movement of God. The awakening that’s coming is a sovereign move of God. We can’t evangelize them like the great awakenings of all God. He is going to do it himself, but he’s going to use people that have been tested, tried, and found true. So, as we see America crashing and drowning it’s those of us who’ve been processed and refined that are going to be the anchor in the storm. We’re going to run across people who are looking for the piece that we have that God’s given us because we’ve been tested. The greatest thing you can do is surrender under the Lord and supernaturally, he’ll pull you out of that bit and he’ll lead you in the way of Christ.”
“On the Edge with Ken Harrison” is a weekly podcast featuring fearless, no-holds-barred conversations from a biblical worldview with the leaders, influencers and changemakers behind today’s news. Harrison shines the light of God’s Word on the toughest, timeliest issues relating to current events, faith, family and fatherhood.
The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Podcast listeners can also receive an encouraging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
MEDIA NOTE: Please email [email protected] to schedule an interview with WaterStone CEO Ken Harrison.
KEN HARRISON is the host of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison,” a podcast building godly people for a better tomorrow. The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform, including Apple and Spotify. The podcast also offers listeners the opportunity to receive a challenging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
Harrison serves as CEO of WaterStone, a Christian Community Foundation whose clients donate over $2 million per week on average to build God’s Kingdom. For nearly 40 years, Waterstone has assisted givers in supporting their favorite charities by crafting customized, innovative giving solutions that empower donors to prioritize income, minimize taxes and optimize giving.
Ken started his career as an LAPD street cop in South Central and then spent nearly two decades in commercial real estate nationally and internationally. After successfully building and growing his company, he sold the majority interest to the second-largest commercial real estate company in the world while continuing as CEO of U.S. valuation and chair of international valuation.
Ken volunteers his time as the chairman of Promise Keepers. His mission is to provide executive leadership and strategic direction to the ministry while inspiring men to be bold, humble and ambitious about their faith.
REV. KEVIN JESSIP is Co-Chair of The Return, President of “Global Strategic Alliance”, and an advisor to national and global leaders within the business, political, and faith communities. After years as an executive for one of the world’s largest publicly traded companies, Kevin was called into a deeper ministry, where he began as a youth evangelist over 40 years ago. Kevin has used his business experience as an executive and a visionary, for founding, developing, and funding ministries, and faith-based outreaches. Kevin has long carried the burden for a sacred assembly for the sake of restoration and is a dedicated leader for “National and Global Repentance”. This is a cry for our nation and the nations, to turn to God. Working closely with many faith leaders and the current administration, Kevin carries a burden for America and the nations to return to the foundation from which they were birthed. Kevin has worked to create a platform that involves governments, elected officials, community organizers, organizations, business leaders, pastors, rabbis, churches, synagogues, and other concerned citizens who are seeking like-minded transformation worldwide.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Ken Harrison is joined by New York Times bestselling author, speaker, and radio host Eric Metaxas on the latest episode of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison.” Together they discuss the life story of Dietrich Bonhoeffer, his commitment to justice on behalf of those who faced implacable evil, and how we can apply his courage today.
Highlights of Metaxas’ interview in the podcast include (edited for clarity):
Metaxas’ inspiration for his New York Times bestseller, Bonhoeffer: Pastor, Martyr, Prophet, Spy:
“Bonhoeffer’s life is just so beautiful that when you tell his story people are affected. I was affected by it and I felt like God called me to write prophetically for such a time like we are currently facing. We’re living through similar things that Bonhoeffer lived through as well. Such as, I think people recognize the state is trying to take control of people’s lives and push the church around. When I wrote the book, I had a prophetic sense of that. So, to see it happening right now, I’m not happy about it, but I do see God’s hand that caused me to write that book. There’s no other way for me to see it because I know it was God’s leading in my life.”
Bonhoeffer viewed Christ as an inspiration for his commitment to justice on behalf of those who faced implacable evil:
“In Bonhoeffer, I talk about the people who opposed Hitler, but who were too fussy to get their hands dirty and really oppose him in the way they needed to. This kind of let him rise into power because they didn’t check his rise when they could have. They thought, ‘I’m too good to do that. I’m not going to dirty myself.’ But sometimes we have to do something heroic and a little crazy because the situation calls for it, just like Bonhoeffer. When you’re dealing with real evil, and you’re in the midst of a war of some kind, you have to think about that. What does God want me to do right now?”
“I think we have a lot of people in the church that have gotten a bad idea of theology. They think Christianity means head knowledge and having it is almost like you can worship an idol of perfect theology instead of Jesus. I believe that some people are in this mindset and their goal is not to get dirty. And I think, well, Jesus got real dirty. He came to this scuzzy death-ridden sin-sick planet to die for us. He got dirty. If he really wanted to be holy and untouched, he could just stay in heaven and never touch that. That’s the model. Jesus is our model.”
“On the Edge with Ken Harrison” is a weekly podcast featuring fearless, no-holds-barred conversations from a biblical worldview with the leaders, influencers and changemakers behind today’s news. Harrison shines the light of God’s Word on the toughest, timeliest issues relating to current events, faith, family and fatherhood.
The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Podcast listeners can also receive an encouraging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
MEDIA NOTE: Please email [email protected] to schedule an interview with WaterStone CEO Ken Harrison.
###
KEN HARRISON is the host of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison,” a podcast building godly people for a better tomorrow. The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform, including Apple and Spotify. The podcast also offers listeners the opportunity to receive a challenging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
Harrison serves as CEO of WaterStone, a Christian Community Foundation whose clients donate over $2 million per week on average to build God’s Kingdom. For nearly 40 years, Waterstone has assisted givers in supporting their favorite charities by crafting customized, innovative giving solutions that empower donors to prioritize income, minimize taxes and optimize giving.
Ken started his career as an LAPD street cop in South Central and then spent nearly two decades in commercial real estate nationally and internationally. After successfully building and growing his company, he sold the majority interest to the second-largest commercial real estate company in the world while continuing as CEO of U.S. valuation and chair of international valuation.
Ken volunteers his time as the chairman of Promise Keepers. His mission is to provide executive leadership and strategic direction to the ministry while inspiring men to be bold, humble and ambitious about their faith.
ERIC METAXAS is the New York Times #1 bestselling author of Martin Luther, If You Can Keep It, Bonhoeffer, Miracles, Seven Women, Seven Men, and Amazing Grace. He has written more than thirty children’s books, including the bestsellers Squanto and the Miracle of Thanksgiving and It’s Time to Sleep, My Love, illustrated by Nancy Tillman. His books have been translated into more than twenty languages.
He is the host of the Eric Metaxas Radio Show, a nationally syndicated radio program heard in more than 120 cities around the U.S.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Ken Harrison is joined by three-time New York Times bestselling author Rod Dreher on the latest episode of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison.” Together they discuss how the Soviets gained control over Russia and the Eastern Bloc, the Communist exploitation of people who lost their identity and were overcome with loneliness, and the parallels in America today.
Highlights of Dreher’s interview in the podcast include (edited for clarity):
The parallels in today’s America:
“Much of communism started only among the intellectuals at first and many ordinary people thought it would never amount to anything. Then, one day they woke up and crazy theories were ruling their society. It happened so quickly because many of them weren’t paying attention. We think if we elect the right people to office or get the right judges on the bench things will take care of themselves, but this isn’t necessarily true because here America stands, losing its culture.
“For example, if future legislation passes, we’re going to see the persecution of Christian businesses and Christian institutions. The reason I tell people this is not to scare them. I do want to alarm them in a positive sense, but not in the sense of go hide under your bed and hope it all goes away because it’s not going to all go away. I want to make people realize that what’s happening in America and our culture is not normal. A version of this happened a century ago and we in the church need to get ready right now to fight back. If God is, for whatever reason, allowing this stuff to rule our society for any number of years, we have to be prepared to resist it, to be resilient in our faith, and not let it crush us.”
Recognizing and learning from the past:
“I learned from talking to the Christians who experienced hard totalitarianism that, they told me, ‘You shouldn’t think that most Christians were willing to stand up because most Christians wanted to keep their head down and avoid trouble. Only the ones who were willing to suffer for their faith and to suffer for Christ stood up.’ This is something that we have to cultivate among ourselves, among Christians today, and especially among our men.
We have to root ourselves deeply in scripture and we have to relate what we know from the Bible to what’s going on in the world around us. It can’t just be an abstract thing. We have to do like what Father Jakovčić and his groups did, which is coming together in small groups not only to pray, but to study what’s happening around us in light of scripture and then deciding what exactly what we are going to do.”
“On the Edge with Ken Harrison” is a weekly podcast featuring fearless, no-holds-barred conversations from a biblical worldview with the leaders, influencers and changemakers behind today’s news. Harrison shines the light of God’s Word on the toughest, timeliest issues relating to current events, faith, family and fatherhood.
The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Podcast listeners can also receive an encouraging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
MEDIA NOTE: Please email [email protected] to schedule an interview with WaterStone CEO Ken Harrison.
###
KEN HARRISON is the host of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison,” a podcast building godly people for a better tomorrow. The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform, including Apple and Spotify. The podcast also offers listeners the opportunity to receive a challenging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
Harrison serves as CEO of WaterStone, a Christian Community Foundation whose clients donate over $2 million per week on average to build God’s Kingdom. For nearly 40 years, Waterstone has assisted givers in supporting their favorite charities by crafting customized, innovative giving solutions that empower donors to prioritize income, minimize taxes and optimize giving.
Ken started his career as an LAPD street cop in South Central and then spent nearly two decades in commercial real estate nationally and internationally. After successfully building and growing his company, he sold the majority interest to the second-largest commercial real estate company in the world while continuing as CEO of U.S. valuation and chair of international valuation.
Ken volunteers his time as the chairman of Promise Keepers. His mission is to provide executive leadership and strategic direction to the ministry while inspiring men to be bold, humble and ambitious about their faith.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Ken Harrison is joined by former U.S. Navy SEAL and Founder of Life of Valor, Jeff Bramstedt, on the latest episode of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison.” Together they discuss what it takes to become a U.S. Navy SEAL, surrounding yourself with people whose strengths are your weaknesses, and Bramstedt’s story of donating a portion of his liver out of Christian love for someone he had never met.
Highlights of Bramstedt’s interview in the podcast include (edited for clarity):
Becoming a U.S. Navy SEAL and practicing the legacy of excellence:
“I would say to anybody who wants to become a SEAL, understand that your body is ten times more capable than your brain tells it that it is. When you become tired, and your muscles and your body are saying ‘I’m exhausted. I need rest.’ know that you can still keep going. In training, you’re going to be pushed to the edge of your capabilities and who you have always known yourself to be physically.
Once you are launched off the ledge of your limitations, you will realize that you didn’t fail and you didn’t fall down. Not only are you still on your feet, but you will have a whole set of new limits—this is what the training is all about, pushing you past your limits and coming through the other side. You will be able to do more than you ever thought possible.”
“When you become a SEAL, everything is done in excellence. From what you say, to the way you treat your teammates and boat crew—don’t let anything come out of your mouth that’s discouraging and always be there for somebody. Take care of somebody else before you take care of yourself because it’s just as much a team sport as it is an individual sport.”
Leadership and surrounding yourself with people whose strengths are your weaknesses:
“I think there are two kinds of leaders that are out there, the kind that are born and the kind that are created, mentored. Take someone who is a born leader and they’re not mentored, they can be kind of the bossy guy. Take someone who learned how to be a great leader because they were a great follower, they’re going to be a really good leader. Then, take a born leader who was teachable and a great follower, he’s going to be an amazing leader.
But, how great of a leader is someone if you were to ask the people that follow them? You will get a much different answer than from the leader who has their own view of themselves. So when we look at the distorted mirror of our leadership, it can be easy to think ‘I’m awesome at this.’, but this can be dishonest because we tend not to think about our weaknesses.
I looked inward at my own weaknesses and started to focus on them because I knew what my strengths were. After a long time of focusing on my weaknesses, I started thinking ‘What if I surround myself with the people whose strengths are my weaknesses and I keep those guys close to me?’ It changed the game for me, my growth, and my leadership. I’ve been doing this for close to a decade because it is important to surround yourself with these individuals, as well as those who are not going to say yes to everything.”
Bramstedt’s story of donating a portion of his liver out of Christian love for someone he had never met:
“I always tell my boys that character is the place inside you where the things that you say, the things that you do, and the decisions you make come from—from God’s center.
When I heard about Melinda’s story, I immediately said yes because it wasn’t okay that there was a man that was going to lose his wife and there was nothing he could do about it. So, I stood up in his shoes for his wife. Early on, I thought about what would it be like if I was in the position where my wife needed something and there was nothing I could do because maybe our blood types weren’t the same, or maybe I had something that would get in the way of me having to be who I needed to be for her. It would have destroyed me and changed me as a human being, husband, and father. When I met Melinda, I said, ‘I’m not doing this for you so much. No offense, I’m just doing it for him because I can’t imagine what it would feel like as a husband with your wife in this situation.’”
“On the Edge with Ken Harrison” is a weekly podcast featuring fearless, no-holds-barred conversations from a biblical worldview with the leaders, influencers and changemakers behind today’s news. Harrison shines the light of God’s Word on the toughest, timeliest issues relating to current events, faith, family and fatherhood.
The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Podcast listeners can also receive an encouraging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
MEDIA NOTE: Please email [email protected] to schedule an interview with WaterStone CEO Ken Harrison.
###
KEN HARRISON is the host of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison,” a podcast building godly people for a better tomorrow. The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform, including Apple and Spotify. The podcast also offers listeners the opportunity to receive a challenging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
Harrison serves as CEO of WaterStone, a Christian Community Foundation whose clients donate over $2 million per week on average to build God’s Kingdom. For nearly 40 years, Waterstone has assisted givers in supporting their favorite charities by crafting customized, innovative giving solutions that empower donors to prioritize income, minimize taxes and optimize giving.
Ken started his career as an LAPD street cop in South Central and then spent nearly two decades in commercial real estate nationally and internationally. After successfully building and growing his company, he sold the majority interest to the second-largest commercial real estate company in the world while continuing as CEO of U.S. valuation and chair of international valuation.
Ken volunteers his time as the chairman of Promise Keepers. His mission is to provide executive leadership and strategic direction to the ministry while inspiring men to be bold, humble and ambitious about their faith.
COLORADO SPRINGS — Ken Harrison is joined by former San Diego Charger, author, and pastor Miles McPherson on the latest episode of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison.” Together they discuss McPherson’s unique perspective on race, how to successfully build a diverse megachurch, and how to be humble and see people in the image of God.
Highlights of McPherson’s interview in the podcast include (edited for clarity):
McPherson’s unique perspective on race:
Harrison: “In this episode, we’re going to talk about race and I know a lot of guys just thought, ‘Harrison, you’re doing race again?’, but I believe you have some unique perspectives on race that I think are really going to help change the conversation. You’ve written this awesome book, The Third Option, so tell us about your perspective on the race conversation. What is your take on it that’s completely different from what we’re currently hearing?”
McPherson: “Well, first I will give you my background because it’s important for context and to know the definition of words. I have a white grandmother, half black Chinese grandmother, and two black grandfathers so I grew up in a pretty diverse family. I lived in a black neighborhood, where I was considered too light-skinned and not black enough, and attended school in a white neighborhood where I was called the N-word constantly and in front of teachers.
When I got a chance to enter the discussion and write a book, I wanted to write something that would bring people together, but not deny the reality of race because I had lived it.
I think in our culture, we have a problem that is seen as an ‘us versus them’. In this culture, you have people saying that my truth is better than your truth and that’s the conflict. The division we experience is an ‘us versus them’ mentality. In today’s culture, Defund The Police, Black Lives Matter, etc, whatever side of the issue you’re on, there are people who see it as in order for me to be right, you have to be wrong. So, we continue to argue about who’s right over the other person and everybody has their justification from their experience because we only see things from our perspective. It’s causing major division in the world. I wanted to bring about a third option where we honor what we have in common because we all have more similarities than differences. When we have relationships with people based on things we have in common, if we start there, then we can see our differences as often variations of the same thing. If we begin to focus on wanting to know the other side better, as well as their perspective, we can begin to honor what we have in common. This is the third option.”
Celebrating diversity in McPherson’s megachurch, Rock Church:
Harrison: “You have a multi-racial and multi-ethnic church in San Diego, which is an area that most people don’t realize is a pretty conservative city in a really liberal state. San Diego has its weird dichotomies. What are the things that you’ve learned about the church and running a church in this kind of an area?”
McPherson: “Yes, San Diego is very diverse. Our church has been diverse since day one. First, I think the important thing to know, for pastors who are trying to minister to a diverse community, is that having people in your room that don’t look like you doesn’t automatically translate to you having a diverse ministry.
Second, when you have people in your church coming from all different political places and different socioeconomic places, your job is to unite them and bring them to Christ. God brings together people of different backgrounds and experiences and I think it is necessary for pastors to be aware and respectful no matter a person’s circumstances. We have to remember we are all made in the image of God. Anyone should be able to go to a church where no one looks like them and be welcomed and loved.”
“On the Edge with Ken Harrison” is a weekly podcast featuring fearless, no-holds-barred conversations from a biblical worldview with the leaders, influencers and changemakers behind today’s news. Harrison shines the light of God’s Word on the toughest, timeliest issues relating to current events, faith, family and fatherhood.
The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on Apple, Spotify, and YouTube. Podcast listeners can also receive an encouraging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
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KEN HARRISON is the host of “On the Edge with Ken Harrison,” a podcast building godly people for a better tomorrow. The podcast, available in both audio and video form, can be found on YouTube and your favorite podcast platform, including Apple and Spotify. The podcast also offers listeners the opportunity to receive a challenging weekly devotional that will inspire them to put their faith into action.
Harrison serves as CEO of WaterStone, a Christian Community Foundation whose clients donate over $2 million per week on average to build God’s Kingdom. For nearly 40 years, Waterstone has assisted givers in supporting their favorite charities by crafting customized, innovative giving solutions that empower donors to prioritize income, minimize taxes and optimize giving.
Ken started his career as an LAPD street cop in South Central and then spent nearly two decades in commercial real estate nationally and internationally. After successfully building and growing his company, he sold the majority interest to the second-largest commercial real estate company in the world while continuing as CEO of U.S. valuation and chair of international valuation.
Ken volunteers his time as the chairman of Promise Keepers. His mission is to provide executive leadership and strategic direction to the ministry while inspiring men to be bold, humble and ambitious about their faith.
