Background Check Podcast

EP 73 ”Connection vs Position” with Jay Dan Gumm

Position vs Connection . In this episode, Jay Dan talks about the difference between the position you're in and the connection you have.  . The devil and this world can take your position, but not your connection.  . Your position is temporary, your connection is eternal.  . Your position has to bow to your connection, every time.  . We are praying that whatever position you find yourself in, you stay connected to the One who can get you through anything in life. God.  . Resources Mentioned in the Show: . Watch the Forgiven Felons Documentary: https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/7abf5e84134e54a394b5b42544c08caa/forgiven-felons/season-1 . How to get more involved with Forgiven Felons: . Leave a review and subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/background-check-podcast/id1515831127 . Learn about our Future Plans: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/future-plans . Give to our organization: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/support . Shop our merchandise: https://forgivenfelons.org/shop . Follow Forgiven Felons on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

EP 72 ”The Power of God in a Reformer’s Heart” with Pastor Becky Hennesy

Show Summary: . Have you ever felt a burning desire in your heart to see changes made? Is there a stirring in your core to see systems and methods that have been in place for years, morph into something more powerful and impacting? . You may be a reformer. You are a reformer. . In this episode we talk to a reformer, Pastor Becky Hennesy from Trinity Church, and she guides us through her journey of God breaking her heart for things that breaks His. . We talk about how we met. She used to take me to my probation meetings when she first came to the church. She and her husband Jim were there the day I got out of prison. She’s watched me change and I’ve watch her grow into this reformer who is changing her community. . We talk about her first Reformers Conference and all the reformers who will be there. If you a reformer who doesn’t know what next step to take, you should come. If you have a heart for change in your community, you should come. . Check out all the links below to register for conference, follow Becky on social media, and listen to the sermon she was talking about. .  Memorable Quote: “That walk home for those six years was the time God broke my heart for the broken people and their lives.” - Becky Hennesy . Resources Mentioned in the Show: . Reformers Collective Conference: https://www.reformersco.com/home . Reformers Co Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ReformersCo . Reformers Co Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/reformersco/ . Becky’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/beckyhennesy/ . Latest Trinity Church sermon by Josh Giles: Sermon, Word over Jim, Becky, and Jay Dan . Trinity Church’s website: https://www.trinitychurch.org/ . How to get more involved with Forgiven Felons: . Leave a review and subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/background-check-podcast/id1515831127 . Learn about our Future Plans: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/future-plans . Give to our organization: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/support . Shop our merchandise: https://forgivenfelons.org/shop . Follow Forgiven Felons on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.  

EP 71 ”Crazy Faith, $75K, and Wrongful Convictions.” Jay Dan Gumm

Show Summary: . In this episode Jay Dan talks about the crazy faith it took to raise his goal by $20,000 even though he’d never reached his goal before. He talks about sowing seeds into this goal for years before fruit showed up. . Jay Dan also talks about how tough it was to prepare for the fundraiser, get his house ready for market, and be a good parent and husband at the same time. He gives several things he held onto that might help you hold on during tough times. . Have you seen the documentary? It’s also on you tube now on the Christian Movies Channel. I won’t link all three episode here, just search for them and you’ll find them. They are getting lots of views. . Resources Mentioned in the Show: . Watch the Documentary: https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/7abf5e84134e54a394b5b42544c08caa/forgiven-felons/season-1 . How to get more involved with Forgiven Felons: . Leave a review and subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/background-check-podcast/id1515831127 . Learn about our Future Plans: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/future-plans . Give to our organization: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/support . Shop our merchandise: https://forgivenfelons.org/shop . Follow Forgiven Felons on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.  

EP 70 ”North Texas Giving Day, Tough Seasons, My 18th Birthday, and Injustices” with Jay Dan Gumm

Show Summary: . Have you ever had a tough season? In today’s episode I talk about North Texas Giving Day, our annual fundraiser, tough seasons, my spiritual 18th birthday, and some injustices that are taking place right now in our society and Forgiven Felons. . Check out the links below to buy raffle tickets, learn more about Forgiven Felons, check out some of our sponsors websites, and watch the documentary. . Resources Mentioned in the Show: Watch the Documentary: https://therokuchannel.roku.com/details/7abf5e84134e54a394b5b42544c08caa/forgiven-felons/season-1 . Buy Raffle Tickets for the Mower: https://spartanmowergiveaway.ourraffle.org/ . Visit PR Equipment Sales: https://www.prequipmentsales.com/ . Visit Express Employment Professionals: https://www.expresspros.com/waxahachietx/ . How to get more involved with Forgiven Felons: . Leave a review and subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/background-check-podcast/id1515831127 . Learn about our Future Plans: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/future-plans . Give to our organization: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/support . Shop our merchandise: https://forgivenfelons.org/shop . Follow Forgiven Felons on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

EP 68 ”His Praying Wife Brought Him Back to Life” Pastor Rod Vargas- Union Houston

Show Summary: . On this episode we interview good friend Pastor Rod Vargas of Union Houston, a life-giving church in Houston, Texas. . Rodrigo serves as the Lead Pastor of UNION Houston. Rodrigo is the visionary of the mission of Union Houston. Being living proof of the redemptive life-changing power of Christ Rodrigo’s passion is to connect the least the lost and the last to Christ. . Sara is the Operations Pastor of UNION Houston. She coordinates operations at UNION’s physical location, Sara provide support to the staff and attenders, and leads volunteer teams to execute initiatives of the vision of the Church music. . We talk about his family migrating to the US and all the challenges that came with that. Then we got into his first addiction, money and success. At one time Rod became an atheist. In 2007 he had DEA, ICE, and Condoleezza Rice wanting to interview him about some properties he sold to people who were in trouble. . We also dive into Rod’s bout with depression and how he overcame it. By the age of six he had already experienced physical, sexual, and verbal abuse and admits it robbed him of his identity, self worth, self esteem and filled him with shame and condemnation. Rod is the most real, transparent, big-hearted pastor I know. . Union Houston does a lot of mission work in Afghanistan. They’ve planted churches in Iran, equipped pastors in Afghanistan, and are now helping to extract them as well. Please check out the link below to see how you can partner with Pastor Rod and Sara, as well as Global Catalytic Ministries, to give support to their efforts in Afghanistan. . Memorable Quote: “I’m passionate about what I do because my intention is to reach that Rod, or the female version of Rod, that is actually intending on killing themselves.”- Pastor Rod Vargas . Resources Mentioned in the Show: . Afghanistan Relief: https://www.unionhouston.com/afghanistanrelief . Union Houston’s Website: https://www.unionhouston.com/ . Rod’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/revrodhtx . Rod’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/revrodhtx/ . Watch Rod talk about the vision of Union Houston: https://vimeo.com/527546692 . Buy Raffle Tickets for the Mower: https://spartanmowergiveaway.ourraffle.org/ . How to get more involved with Forgiven Felons: . Leave a review and subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/background-check-podcast/id1515831127. . Learn about our Future Plans: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/future-plans . Give to our organization: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/support . Shop our merchandise: https://forgivenfelons.org/shop . Follow Forgiven Felons on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

EP 67 ”Getting High with Friends” with Jay Dan Gumm

Show Summary: . I have to confess, I’ve been high all week. . I took a break from the interview podcast and went solo this week. This week was also the week we went on family vacation in Colorado with our friends, Matt and Crysti Robertson and their four kids. My wife and Crysti have been best friends since high school and I’ve gotten to know Matt really well since I’ve been out of prison. . Since they’ve been pastoring down in San Antonio we don’t get to see them as much so when there’s a chance we can vacation together, we do it. And Colorado is a great place to vacation. The scenic views are really amazing and the weather was nice compared to my Texas weather right now. . I was going to go in a different direction this week but changed my mind after our Monday hike. . In this episode I talk about my old way of getting high, getting physically high on a mountain, and getting high on Jesus. I talk about some of the things that can happen when you’re high and what to do when you encounter them. . We love the Robertsons and enjoyed our vacation with them. To learn what happened on our first day of hiking (getting high), listen to the episode, then check out the pics on the show page. Follow us on social media to see more pics of us getting high with our friends.  . Memorable Quote: “Be careful who you get high with.”- Jay Dan Gumm . Resources Mentioned in the Show: . North Texas Giving Day Raffle Going On NOW: Click here to buy tickets https://www.forgivenfelons.org/raffle-ntgd . Jay Dan’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/forgivenfelon/ . Jay Dan’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/forgivenfelons/ . How to get more involved with Forgiven Felons: . Check out our show page:forgivenfelons.org/backgroundcheck . Leave a review and subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/background-check-podcast/id1515831127 . Learn about our Future Plans: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/future-plans . Give to our organization: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/support . Shop our merchandise: https://forgivenfelons.org/shop . Follow Forgiven Felons on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

EP 66 ”Screwed Up Christian” with Herb Addison

Show Summary: . Ok, y’all, this is the first episode I’ve recorded with someone I was locked up with at the Lockhart Work Facility in Lockhart, TX. His name is Herb “FLAV” Addison. He’s an amazing young man of God and serves as the Director/Campus Pastor of the TSU Wesley Foundation. . He received his GED in prison, but went on to obtain his Associate of Art, Bachelor in Social Services, Master of Science in Leadership, and is currently working on his Doctorate of Business Administration. . He also has lots of music out there for you to check out. He’s married to an amazing women named Ashley and has two sons, Myles and Kedeon. . You’re going to love his story so listen to the interview first, then check out the links below for his show and music. . Memorable Quote: “When you connect to God, God will give you everything you need. Sometimes we don’t know what we need.” - Herb Addison . Resources Mentioned in the Show: . TSU Wesley Youtube Channel: Word with Wesley . Flavor in the City Video: https://youtu.be/8o2s7y9ltfE . Herb’s Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/addison.herbert.75 . Herb’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/herbertaddison/ . Watch the Forgiven Felons Documentary on Roku: Forgiven Felons: A Documentary Series . How to get more involved with Forgiven Felons: . Leave a review and subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/background-check-podcast/id1515831127 . Learn about our Future Plans: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/future-plans . Give to our organization: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/support . Shop our merchandise: https://forgivenfelons.org/shop . Follow Forgiven Felons on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

EP 65 ”Addiction Doesn’t Have the Final Say!” Jessica Price, LPC

Show Summary: . Jessica Bearden works as a Licensed Professional Counselor just outside Houston, Texas.  She has experience working with both court-ordered and voluntary substance abuse clients. She is the host of the Session in Progress: Bible Devotionals podcast, where she encourages listeners with short "no-fluff" Bible teachings.  She spends her free time with her husband and twin toddlers. . I’ve known Jessica since she was in eight grade and I was only a few months out of prison. My good friend and pastor, as well as my Bible Quiz coach in high school, asked me to coach the teen Bible Quiz team at our church when I was released from prison. I wondered what parents would think if they knew a convicted felon was coaching their kid. As it turns out, there was only three kids, my pastor’s two boys, and Jessica Price. I had no idea who this kid was but she was a feisty little eighth grader. . Through competition I got to know Jessica’s dad, Rob Price, and the rest is history. Our families have been friends ever since. I had the privilege of watching Jessica grow into a godly woman, wife, and mother. She has a heart of gold and so much wisdom and insight into helping people recover from addiction. Make sure you listen to her podcast, Session in Progress, and follow her on Instagram. The links are below. Let her know you heard her on Background Check. . Memorable Quote: “A relapse doesn’t define who we are.” -Jessica Bearden, LPC . Resources Mentioned in the Show: . Jessica’s Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jessica_bearden/ . Session in Progress Podcast: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/session-in-progress-bible-devotionals/id1526596293 . Watch the Forgiven Felons Documentary on Roku: Forgiven Felons: A Documentary Series . How to get more involved with Forgiven Felons: . Leave a review and subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/background-check-podcast/id1515831127 . Learn about our Future Plans: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/future-plans . Give to our organization: Click Here to Give to Forgiven Felons . Shop our merchandise: https://forgivenfelons.org/shop . Follow Forgiven Felons on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

EP 64 ”Either Be Free or Die” Elmer ”Junior” Lockett

Show Summary:   Junior had no running water or electricity while growing up as a kids. He would steal just to survive. His first brush with the law was at ten years old when his “crew” got busted for stealing.   As he grew up he got involved in gangs and more trouble came quickly. By his early twenties Junior found himself headed to adult prison, not once, but twice. While in jail his demons were strongly trying to get him to take his own life. He was so desperate to escape that he took the staples out of a daily bread devotional book and began cutting himself. He was seconds away from a gun while trying to escape custody, that if he grabbed it, he admits he’s not sure what he’d done.   That behavior went on for a while until he found himself in the psych ward and ask someone for something to read. There were lots of options and he really was looking for or something other than what the guy offered, which was a Bible.   Junior took it and the words began to jump off the page at him. From that point on he began to desire to grow in the Lord. It didn’t happen overnight, but he kept at it and found himself getting stronger every day.   Junior met his wife through correspondence in prison because of a chance meeting with his mom and stranger a waiting room one day. They celebrate over a decade of marriage now and do a radio program together in Huntsville on the first Sunday of the month at 8:15am.   Check out the links below to see Junior’s radio broadcast, the Wynne City Reunion clip, and his youtube channel.   Memorable quote: “I told myself, either I’m going to be free, or die.”  -Junior Lockett “I said, ‘God, they going to let me kill myself, and who gone take care of my momma, cause she need some help.’” - Junior Lockett   Resources Mentioned in the Show:   Junior’s Youtube Channel: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UC8CHzAnWVLw2Bw_sX60kMng   Radio Show Broadcast: https://youtu.be/xZhLhsNc9Aw   Wynne City Warrior’s Reunion Clip: https://youtu.be/ZXMyVjAJAlI   KHVL 104.9 The Hits: https://www.ilovethehits.com/   Watch the Forgiven Felons Documentary on Roku: Forgiven Felons: A Documentary Series   Visit the show page for pics of Junior: forgivenfelons.org/backgroundcheck How to get more involved with Forgiven Felons:   Leave a review and subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/background-check-podcast/id1515831127   Learn about our Future Plans: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/future-plans   Give to our organization: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/support   Shop our merchandise: https://forgivenfelons.org/shop   Follow Forgiven Felons on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.

EP 63 ”New Perspective On Background Checks” Jay Dan Gumm

Show Summary: Jay Dan talks about a new perspective on the background check, not the show, the actual background check report. Most people run a background check, looking for negative, to disqualify you from whatever it is that you're applying for.    Background checks are a useful tool but for the positive too. Even if there are some negative things on the background, that can mean some positive if you look at it from the right perspective.    For instance, if someone has mistakes on their report, that can be a good thing because that person can let you know when others in the company are at risk of making the same mistakes.    How to get more involved with Forgiven Felons:   Leave a review and subscribe on iTunes: https://podcasts.apple.com/us/podcast/background-check-podcast/id1515831127   Learn about our Future Plans: https://www.forgivenfelons.org/future-plans   Give to our organization: https://forgivenfelons.networkforgood.com/projects/131339-everyday-giving   Shop our merchandise: https://forgivenfelons.org/shop   Follow Forgiven Felons on Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter.