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T The hot buzz word in our society today is, TOLERANCE. We need to tolerate differences, tolerate religion,
tolerate sexual orientation, tolerate political views, tolerate a neighbor or coworker. So much of our energy is spent “holding our noses” and “putting up” with others, avoiding those we feel are different. We are taught tolerance in school, on the playground, in sports, in business, in social settings. We have museums of tolerance, movies of tolerance, literature on tolerance, and religions of tolerance. All of which are good and necessary for a society to live at peace, to thrive as a group and to understand our differences.
However, often we stop at the doorstep of tolerance. We feel tolerance is simply enough. We cannot begin to image going BEYOND tolerance.
So much of what people post on social media today are debates about who is the most tolerant group on a particular issue. But isn’t our life supposed to be deeper than that? Are we not asked by a gracious God to push way beyond tolerance into the place of loving and caring for others?
The Hundred Foot Journey – From Tolerance to Love
In a recent Walt Disney Studios movie based on a novel by Richard C. Morais called, The Hundred Foot Journey, we see a story unfold of human transformation. The most polarizing characters move from a place of intolerance, then to indifference, into tolerance, traveling into acceptance and finally and ultimately, to love.
The story is about a young aspiring chef, Hassan Kadam (Manish Dayal), who with his family are displaced from their native India, to settling in a beautiful and quaint village in the south of France. The family decides to purchase an old dilapidated property across the road from a world famous, classical French restaurant, Le Saule Pleureur. Much to the chagrin of it’s proprietor, Madame Mallory (Helen Mirren), the patriarch of the family, Papa (played by actor Om Puri), decides to open an Indian Restaurant on the old gravel road juxtapose to Ms. Mallory’s French cuisine restaurant, 100 feet away. Despite tensions and disagreements, what begins to unfold is a beautiful story of two, second generation chefs, who learn to understand, respect and embrace each others’ differences.
The Hundred Foot Journey is an amazing story about how relationships can often begin with intolerance towards people who look different, who are culturally different, or have different family systems, and end in a place of love and admiration towards others.
If we cannot end now our differences, at least we can help make the world safe for diversity. For, in the final analysis, our most basic common link is that we all inhabit this small planet. We all breathe the same air. We all cherish our children’s future. And we are all mortal. [Commencement Address at American University, June 10 1963]” ― John F. Kennedy
Passing Through Tolerance on the Road to Love
Today on the T. Randolph and Friends broadcast T. Randolph tackles the issue of Tolerance head on. Tolerance is not what the God calls us to do. God takes us 
way beyond what society asks of us, and He invites us to Love our enemies. Pray for those who despitefully use you and hate you. T. Randolph discusses this hot topic in today’s podcast and the the call to, “Love God and Love Others.”
This is difficult to do, because it demands we enter relationship with others who are hurting, who are messy, who are difficult, and who are different.
Listen in on how T. Randolph uncovers this mystery and seeks to balance out what society says, and what the words of Christ say.
Love God. Love Others.
© T. Randolph and Friends | Lawrence Media | From Tolerance to Love
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T Today on the T.
Randolph and Friends broadcast T. Randolph talks with Michelle Wortner, a marriage and family therapist, about “Facing Depression.” Many people face rejection, dissappointment, sadness, loneliness and depression. Depression can lead to very serious health and mental issues, and is some cases even to suicide and death. We see this all around us in our world with celebrities like Robin Williams, Chris Farley, Philip Seymour Hoffman, Whitney Houston, Kurt Cobain, Marilyn Monroe, Ernest Hemingway and many others.
Depression is Real
A recent article in theGuardian about the late actor Robin Williams says that,
It may well be that some of us are more vulnerable than others to feeling desperate, but this is likely to be a result of things that have happened in our lives rather than, or perhaps sometimes in addition to, our genetic makeup. All we really know is that people sometimes feel or act in certain ways. The rest is down to interpretation.
In a recent article in Relevant Magazine by Brandon Peach entitled, 5 Things Christians Should Know about Depression, the author talks about depression in the church.
Churches often don’t address mental illness, which gives the worship team guitarist or the elder even more incentive to keep it hidden away. Furthermore, the symptoms of depression often tend to contradict each other, which makes it really difficult for a person suffering from depression to recognize it for what it is—let alone for the Church to recognize it.
Depression is Crippling
Depression is a crippling and debilitating making people feel helpless and out of control. Only through a good family support system, a great counselor and through God’s grace can people see the light at the end of the tunnel.
Depression Can Be Overcome
In this broadcast of T. Randolph and Friends, T. Randolph talks with Michelle about how to walk out of depression, how to recognize it, how to get help and how to help others. They also talk about how God is there to guide us out of this depression and into a place of light and joy.
© T. Randolph and Friends | Lawrence Media
Photos from our visit with Michelle Wortner.
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M Manny Olivas is our special guest on the T.
Randolph and Friends broadcast. This is Part 2 of 2 of our interview with Manny on the subject of Forgiveness.
Manny has an amazing life journey growing up in Salinas, California in a broken family with drug trafficking parents and relatives, using Heroin, Meth and Marijuana. He often had altercations with the law, and was on the verge of being charged with 5 felony counts, which could have put him behind bars for the rest of his life. But every step along the way God was there to miraculously intervene and provide freedom, hope and forgiveness.
Listen in as we hear Manny’s story of his family’s victory, realized through mutual forgiveness and love for one another.
You can reach Manny at: [email protected] or visit Skyline Church website.
Photos from our visit with Manny.
© T. Randolph and Friends | Lawrence Media
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M Manny Olivas is our special guest on the T. Randolphand Friends broadcast. This is Part 1 of 2 of our interview with Manny on the subject of Forgiveness.
Manny has an amazing life journey growing up in Salinas, California in a broken family with drug trafficking parents and relatives, using Heroin, Meth and Marijuana. He often had altercations with the law, and was on the verge of being charged with 5 felony counts, which could have put him behind bars for the rest of his life. But every step along the way God was there to miraculously intervene and provide freedom, hope and forgiveness.
Listen in as we hear Manny’s story of his family’s victory, realized through mutual forgiveness and love for one another.
You can reach Manny at: [email protected]
Photos from our visit with Manny.
© T. Randolph and Friends | Lawrence Media
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Please join us for this very special “live event” of the T. Randolph and Friends broadcast. Recording at the Graf Barn in Southern California, we invited special guests, Michelle Wortner, Laina Graf, Don Dukes and Sam Gallucci to join in on the conversational topic of, “God’s Love vs Man’s Love.”This was an incredible time of enlightened discussion about how it is difficult to love others, ourselves and those around us unconditionally. Yet we can experience and learn to accept this kind of love, given freely from our Creator, even in ups and downs of our journey hear on earth. We hope that this broadcast will touch the lives of those listening, to bring hope, peace, strength and encouragement.
You can reach any of our guests on the broadcast by clicking on their name below.
Photos from our visit with the T. Randolph and Friends “Live Event” with Guests, Michelle Wortner, Laina Graf, Don Dukes, and Sam Gallucci.
© T. Randolph and Friends | Lawrence Media
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Don Dukes is our special guest on the T. Randolph and Friends broadcast.Don is an associate pastor at Skyline Church in Thousand Oaks, California. He oversees the CARE ministry at Skyline. He recently relocated from Whitefish, Montana where he served as head pastor and provided other ministries to the community. He grew up in Fort Lauderdale, Florida and served as an associate pastor at a 20,000 member church.
He has an amazing story of growing up as a pastor’s kid, being in ministry all his life, and recognizing that Grace is not earned by all the good we do, but rather it is given to us as a free gift from God and from others.
Don and his wife, Eliana, and daughter, Juliana, are enjoying this new journey of life in Southern California.
You can reach Don at: [email protected]
Photos from our visit with Don.
© T. Randolph and Friends | Lawrence Media
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Michelle Wortner, is a Marriage and Family Therapist at Kairos Counseling Center, and is our special guest on this episode, as we discuss, “The Core Emotional Needs of Human Beings.”Michelle has made her life’s career about understanding relationships. For more than 15 years Michelle worked as an anchor and reporter for NBC-TV, watching human tragedy alongside triumph, and seeing challenges and perseverance lead to accomplishment. In the years following she moved to leadership development and helped coach corporate employees and their companies to growth and success. Michelle completed her Master’s Degree in Counseling Psychology and expanded her outreach to include individuals and couples seeking personal understanding and improved functioning — often through transitions and changes they did not anticipate. She completed an emphasis in adolescent therapy and has helped students throughout the Conejo Valley deal with issues such as depression, anxiety, ADHD, social skills awareness, addictions, eating disorders, and cutting. As an interactive therapist, Michelle uses solution-focused therapy and practical feedback to help clients address current life challenges and long-standing issues. She partners with clients to help them develop the strengths and skills necessary to achieve their personal goals. A wife and mother-of two, Michelle believes that healthy self-esteem and solid relationships are two of life’s most rewarding gifts.
You can reach Michelle at her business at: [email protected]
Photos from our visit with Michelle.
© T. Randolph and Friends | Lawrence Media