Television Producer for Lifetime Television Gregory Fake Talks Literature

Gregory Fake

Gregory Fake

In the following interview, Gregory Fake, assistant television producer for Lifetime Television’s morning show, The Balancing Act, talks about his love of literature, a couple of his favorite authors, and how literature plays a big role in his career.

Q:  How did your love for literature begin?

Gregory Fake:  From a very young age, I had a ferocious interest in reading.  In fourth grade, I read 140 books, more than any other student at Sam Houston Elementary.

Q:  Your parents must have been very proud!

Gregory Fake:  Oh, yes!  Considering the fact they were both writers, they were very happy to see their son reading so much.

Q:  Who are some of your favorite authors?

Gregory Fake:  My interests vary, but I have continually returned to C. S. Lewis and J .R. R. Tolkien throughout my life.

Q:  These are two of the most famous authors ever; can you tell readers why you love their work?

Gregory Fake:  These two authors created works throughout their lives like no one else.  They created fantastical worlds that have the ability to draw readers in and keep them captivated for hundreds of pages.

Q:  Please give readers a little background on each author.

Gregory Fake:  I’d love to.  I might get carried away here, so stop me at any point!

Q:  Let’s start with C. S. Lewis.

Gregory Fake:  What a tremendous story. As a boy growing up in Ireland, C. S. Lewis was surrounded by the stunning landscape of the country.  There, he developed a profound interest in nature and in animals that lead to his boyhood stories about anthropomorphic animals, or animals that are humanlike.

Q:  Sounds like The Chronicles of Narnia in the making.

Gregory Fake:  Yes, C. S. Lewis’s early interest in animals and nature collided with his later interest in mythology, creating the basis for this tremendous series.

Q:  Now, what about J. R. R. Tolkien?

Gregory Fake:  Similarly, J. R. R. Tolkien took much from his childhood when developing his most famous works.  For Tolkien, the English villages, bogs, and countryside very much influenced the settings found in his books.  He and his cousin also created their own language when they were young, which lead to his eventual development of Naffarin, the made-up language used in The Hobbit and Lord of the Rings.

Q:  It seems like these remarkable authors had a lot in common.

Gregory Fake:  Yes, it’s incredible, really.  In addition to living in such a beautiful part of the world and being exposed to so much in nature as children, these authors, who were very close in age, went on to both become scholars and professors and were, at one point, friends.

Q:  How does your love for literature translate into your everyday life as a television producer?

Gregory Fake:  I am so lucky to be able to work with many bestselling authors, health and legal experts, and children’s authors when developing segments for the show.

Q:  Good for you! To close, what are you reading right now?

Gregory Fake:  I am diving into the many works written by members of the Inklings, a literary club that included both C.S. Lewis and J. R. R. Tolkien, amongst other authors, who were dedicated to fantasy writing in some shape or form.

Gregory Fakes lives with his wife and children in Florida, where he enjoys volunteering at his church, outdoor activities, and….reading!

The Best and Worst Holiday Gifts

When it comes to holiday gift giving, the main thing to remember is that it’s about the other person. Many people inadvertently give gifts that they think are thoughtful, but in fact can be upsetting or even, in a worse case scenario, actually offensive to the other person.

So, what’s a contentious gift giver to do? Information Nation has some tips that may help.

Charitable contributions are thoughtful, but only if the recipient actually likes the charity. Stay away from political charities, unless it’s absolutely clear that the person who’s receiving the gift believes in that particular cause. Generally, safe places are animal shelters and charities for children.

Another gift-giving faux pas is to give a gift that makes the gift giver look good. We all want gifts to be liked, but to give a gift that points out a difference in financial circumstance isn’t really a gift at all. For instance, giving an unemployed friend a Gucci bag when they’ve just been laid off, isn’t a gift – its thoughtless. No matter how polite the intention, presents should have a monetary equality. If someone has undergone a drastic shift in their financial circumstance, it’s tactful to keep in mind that they may not be able to reciprocate, and to anticipate that.

“Gifts” that make a statement aren’t usually the best way to show affection either. If a friend has gained weight, buying her something intentionally too small as an incentive to lose weight is likely to backfire. On the other hand, giving a friend a pair of work out shoes with an offer to walk together once a week to rekindle a friendship is a thoughtful gesture with benefits for both parties.

Re-gifting is a beautiful thought in theory, but it can be a dicey proposition. Shopping from the closet can be useful as a gift-giving tool, but it’s not a solid base for thoughtful presents. When in doubt, it’s better to take that extra blender and sell it, and then use the money for a gift that’s really what the other person wants.

Mendel Mintz Talks about Chabad JCC’s Hebrew School

 Mendel Mintz


Mendel Mintz

Mendel Mintz is a rabbi and leader of the Chabad Jewish Community Center in Aspen, Colorado. As head of the community center, Rabbi Mintz leads services each week. Rabbi Mendel Mintz answers questions about Chabad Community Center’s Hebrew School below:

Q: Chabad Community Center offers several adult education classes. Could you tell us about those?

Mendel Mintz: In addition to Hebrew class, which I’ll discuss in more detail, we also offer classes on Jewish history, Kabbala, Mysticism, Talmud, JLI and more.

Q: Where are these classes offered?

Mendel Mintz: They’re available at our community center, 435 West Main Street, in Aspen.

Q: Does someone have to be a member of the Chabad Community Center to attend these classes?

Mendel Mintz: Our classes are open to the entire community.

Q: Why would someone want to learn to read Hebrew?

Mendel Mintz: In addition to being able to read the Torah, it can help with a visit to Israel. Mostly, though, it helps our members get more out of our services.

Q: How long will it take to learn Hebrew?

Mendel Mintz: Hebrew is fairly easy to learn. Our Hebrew adult classes are provided in six lessons. This is a crash course.

Q: Will I be proficient?

Mendel Mintz: You will be a proficient reader. Unlike many other languages, Hebrew is very easy to learn.

Q: Do you find many people interested in learning Hebrew?

Mendel Mintz: Yes, it seems in recent years, more people than ever are interested in learning their native language. These people represent a broad spectrum of Jews. Some are learning Hebrew for the first time and some are merely looking to brush up on their Hebrew school teachings.

Q: How much does it cost?       

Mendel Mintz: Our crash course on Hebrew costs only $50.

Q: How do I register?

Mendel Mintz: You can drop by the Chabad Community Center or call (970) 544-3770. You can also send an email through the center’s website by going to www.jccaspen.com/tools/feedback.htm.

Rabbi Mendel Mintz is co-director of Chabad Community Center, an Aspen area facility that seeks to educate and inspire communication in the Jewish community. Rabbi Mintz lives in Aspen with his wife and five children.

Advice from Dan Sciscente: Work Hard, Play Harder

Dan Sciscente

Dan Sciscente

How Dan Sciscente, founder of Communi-T and Professional Project Manager – balances work and play.

Dan Sciscente is a business owner, a family man, and an avid recreationalist who says that he is a better provider for his family when he feels a sense of balance. He is the founder of Communi-T, the world’s most efficient SAP interface software, and a project manager with millions of dollars of successful ventures in his career. So how does Dan Sciscente create a harmonious home-life while running a multifaceted business?

Sleep

Dan Sciscente says that sleep, although it sounds like a given, is often the most overlooked area in a person’s life – especially when there is so much to fit into 24 hours. Finding a way to rest is one of the best things someone can do to recharge, both professionally and personally, says Dan Sciscente.

Find Good Help

As a business owner, Dan Sciscente knows the value of good employees. He claims that finding someone who is willing to work isn’t the most important aspect in hiring good help. According to Dan Sciscente, willingness doesn’t always equal ability, so it’s vital to wait for the right person. Otherwise, you’ll be spending more time training or even looking for a replacement.

Walk Away

When things get too tough, it’s time to walk, says Dan Sciscente. He doesn’t mean walk for good, but take a moment to look away and then your original issue doesn’t seem so impossible. According to Dan Sciscente, sometimes letting work sit for an hour or so is the best way to gain momentum and then get it done so you can enjoy the rest of your day.

Family Time

Family time without smart phones, tablets, PCs, or any interference from the outside world is paramount to finding balance, says Dan Sciscente. He and his family like to get out on the water and enjoy a day scuttling around boating to local beaches or lounging by the pool.

Alone Time

Often, parents feel guilty for taking a few moments for themselves when they are home, says Dan Sciscente. But, he says, it is necessary in order to ensure you are at your best for both your family and others in your life that rely on you. He enjoys his alone time watching Formula 1 and NASCAR racing, or simply making music in his studio

Dan Sciscente claims that it isn’t always easy to separate your personal life from other aspects but it is necessary in order to achieve balance. Doing so will not only improve your relationships at home but also those in your professional environment as well, concludes Dan Sciscente.

Mercy Ministries | One Dollar For Life

Mercy Ministries

Mercy Ministries

Nancy Alcorn – President and Founder of Mercy Ministries (speaking to camera): I’m here at our Mercy Ministries National Headquarters in Nashville, Tennessee and behind me I have forty amazing girls who are here to receive new life in Christ and to find out that God has a plan and purpose for their life and that their past does not have to destroy their future.  And because of churches who put Mercy Ministries in their missions budget across America and because of individuals who are monthly partners with Mercy Ministries and those of you who are going to participate in our Dollar For Life campaign–because of you guys, Mercy Ministries is able to take these girls in free of charge.

They are able to get the help they need and Mercy Ministries has freedom to share the love of Christ and the forgiveness of God and how He puts a new heart and a new spirit in us and gives us a new beginning.  And I just want to thank you.  Normally, Mercy Ministries does a video where we have testimonies and we edit and we try to make it all pretty but today I just wanted to do a live thing.  I wanted you to see the faces of the Mercy Ministries girls you’re helping.  And I wanted you to be able to hear from Mercy Ministries how much I love you and how much I appreciate you.

Right now Mercy Ministries has about seven hundred girls on our waiting list trying to get into the program. Mercy Ministries is getting ready to open a brand new facility in California that will take forty more girls.  So your support will enable Mercy Ministries to continue taking these young ladies in free of charge and sending them out to be awesome women who are going to fulfill their destinies.  In fact, we’re having a graduation at Mercy Ministries today and we’ve got a few girls that have just graduated and I thought you might want to meet her.  What do you want to say to the people?

Mercy Ministries Graduate: That I almost lost my life several times and God has given me new life and I’m ready to start fulfilling my destiny.

Nancy Alcorn: What do you want to say?

Mercy Ministries Graduate: I wanted to say thank you for all the support and for never giving up on me even when I did.

Mercy Ministries Graduate: I tried taking my life various times and now I’m thankful to be alive every morning.  Thank you.

Mercy Ministries Graduate: That hope has been restored through your support and through your prayers and through your love for all of us that came to Mercy without hope.  And I didn’t care whether I lived or died.  And now my heart beats completely for the Lord because of what happens in this place.

Nancy Alcorn: So in churches all across America we’re asking you to give a dollar or more if God puts it in your heart, for every man, woman, and child so that Mercy Ministries can help more girls. Mercy Ministries has decided not to participate in the recession. Mercy Ministries is believing God to meet every need.  So His ways are higher and we believe our needs are met because we’re givers and the Word of God says give and it shall be given.  So thank you today.  Believe with Mercy Ministries for our needs to be met and we’re believing with you for your needs to be met and the seeds that you sow will multiply back to you for many weeks and years to come and that you will prosper even during this difficult time.  Thank you all so much.

DR Marketing Group on Lifetime with Close Combat

DR Marketing Group

DR Marketing Group

The following segment aired on DR Marketing’s Incredible Discoveries. Joining DR Marketing Group was Close Combat to discuss self defense.

DR Marketing Group: What you’re about to learn will change your life forever. You’ll learn most secrets most self-defense experts don’t want to teach you. You’ll see why you don’t need years of training. A body full of muscle or any kind of weapon to step up in any confrontation.

Close Combat: If you’re searching for the truth about self-defense and you think you can handle it then don’t move. Captain Chris, the world leader in self-defense, is going to reveal the closely guarded self-defense secrets in the world. Secrets closely guarded for almost a century as we expose close combat training.

DR Marketing Group: When it comes to personal safety, there’s no such thing as too safe. You want to protect yourself and the people you’re with no matter what the situation. You want to have fun without feeling vulnerable. Go places without feeling intimidated or simply walk with confidence because whether you’re walking with someone or all alone, feeling confident and safe is your right.

Close Combat: In these series of videos, it’s very you know simplified, you can use it you know every you know people have absolutely no experience.

DR Marketing Group: Karate, Taekwondo, Ju-Jitsu, all these UFC Ultimate Fighting Championships. They all have rules. When we’re on the street, there are no rules. Close combat training is the best way possible to get out there and with low level basic skills to defend yourself.

Close Combat: People want to know how to defend themselves and their families and it’s information they deserve to know, and I was entrusted with that powerful information and specifically charged with that duty to share it. If I can help just one person stay safe then I’m making a difference and continuing on the legacy of all those in close combat who came before me.

DR Marketing Group: So you’re saying that the skills that you teach people are enough to protect them in any hand to hand or close combat situation?

Close Combat: Yes, literally anyone can use close combat to defend themselves, regardless of age, gender, or physical ability. But let’s get real. People don’t expect to get in hand to hand combat situations, I mean that kind of thing only happens in movies right?

DR Marketing Group: That is true.

Close Combat: But they can imagine themselves get into trouble when a stranger approaches on the street. An obnoxious guy in a bar, a drunk at a crowded venue or even just a sense of vulnerability you feel walking alone at night

DR Marketing Group: So really what this has to do with is confidence.

Close Combat: Exactly, and when you learn what I teach you, you never feel vulnerable again. You never intimidated again. You never feel afraid or worried about being humiliated again because you’ll have the confidence you need to take action.

DR Marketing Group: Okay here’s the big question. What about firearms? Do you need to carry a gun?

Close Combat: Absolutely not and here’s why…unless you are a trained professional, the only thing a gun is going to bring you is more trouble than you know how to   handle. All the facts support this. The bottom line is that when you learn what I teach you, you won’t even need a gun.

DR Marketing Group: And you’ve already taught tens of thousands of people just like me and all of our viewers how to stand up to any scary situation without a gun and walk away safely?

Close Combat: That’s right. I teach you step by step how to use the fear you feel in a confrontation and turn it into something you never knew you even had in you. You never feel scared, vulnerable or weak again.

DR Marketing Group: You know there’s going to be people saying, “Yeah right, why should I believe this guy? I’m going to pop a DVD in my living room and then I’m going to beat up anybody I want. How should I believe this?”

Close Combat: You’re absolutely right to answer that question. And when I first heard about close combat, I said the same exact thing. In other words, I know how you feel, but here’s what makes Close Combat so different from everything else you’ve ever seen or even heard of and it’s called Gross Motor Movements.

DR Marketing Group: Gross Motor Movements?

Close Combat: That’s right. Gross Motor Movements are basic muscle movements, like swinging your arm in a chopping motion, simply reaching straight out to push an attacker’s face or whipping your foot loosely as a simple kick. In a fear induced state, literally when you’re frightened for your life, you’re heartbeat shoots to above 175 beats per minute and your body enters into fight or flight and at this high level of fear under stress, only simple Gross Motor Movements are physiologically possible.

DR Marketing Group: That is very interesting. I am excited to learn more.

Close Combat: What I teach you will always work. No matter how big the other guy is or how small you are. No matter what training you’ve had or haven’t had before and like I said before if you can simply raise one hand above your head. It’ll work for you to.

A subsidiary of O2 Media Inc., DR Marketing Group is a Pompano Beach, Florida-based marketing firm providing direct response services to their clients. In addition to television and Internet-based consumer-capture strategies, DR Marketing Group’s team of experienced industry professionals also offers product fulfillment and customer service. DR Marketing Group has over 20 years of experience launching and managing successful campaigns, in turn helping their clients achieve a consistent ROI.

Dr. Pierre Bennett: Thou Shalt Not Lie

 

Dr. Pierre Bennett

Dr. Pierre Bennett

Dr. Pierre Bennett founded God’s Luv International Ministries Church after serving as Assistant Pastor at Upper Room International Church. With two services in Virginia, God’s Luv International Ministries Church seeks to preach the gospel and share the love of God.

Dr. Pierre Bennett believes honesty is one of the most important virtues for a follower of Jesus Christ. While God will forgive you of your sins, Dr. Pierre Bennett explains, it’s infinitely important that you be honest with Him in all things.

While determination and heart are important, according to Dr. Pierre Bennett a pure heart and pure determination are even more important. Even when Dr. Pierre Bennett walked outside of the Lord’s will before his call, he was honest.

A former military serviceman, Dr. Pierre Bennett likens his relationship with God to that of a soldier. When the Lord first brought him into ministry, Dr. Pierre Bennett says, he was a private, but in time, God moved Dr. Pierre Bennett up to become a general. When asked how that was possible, Dr. Pierre Bennett explains that the Lord told him if he can be a captain for the enemy, he can be a general for God.

Sinning isn’t the problem, Dr. Pierre Bennett explains. God expects us to sin and has provided the way for us to repent. Dishonesty is a problem because it blocks that repentance. According to Dr. Pierre Bennett, God doesn’t like a lying spirit because what He really wants is openness. He wants you to come to Him with an open heart. No matter what you’ve done, Dr. Pierre Bennett believes, God can help you through it if you’ll only be honest with Him.

Even if people hate you, it doesn’t matter, Dr. Pierre Bennett tells his congregation. God will separate you from those haters anyway. What does matter is that you ask God for help. He’ll help you if you ask Him.

Too often, people mistakenly believe God needs them. God doesn’t need you, Dr. Pierre Bennett points out. He can set someone else up to serve Him.

Dr. Pierre Bennett says God wants you to fight for righteousness until the enemy is destroyed. “The Lord told Elisha to tell the king “…. you must strike the Syrians at Aphek until you have destroyed them,” the Bible states. God wants you to fight Satan no matter how he comes. And according to Dr. Pierre Bennett, because of Satan, the enemy is all too often you yourself. The fight is within you. You must strike the enemy until it is gone. You must persevere at each level of the fight until you have rid yourself of everything that is not like God

Dr. Pierre Bennett can be contacted through God’s Luv International Ministries Church at 703-395-1430.