Podcast
Daily Got a Minute Message with John Ed
Hosted by John Ed Mathison · EN
In each episode of “Got a Minute,” retired Methodist minister John Ed Mathison will share a small piece of wisdom to help you through your day.
72episodes
Episodes
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Never Say Never
2w ago00:00:58Tap to summarizeDawn Zuidgeest-Craft is a 72-year-old grandmother who had always wanted to be a medical doctor, but there were a lot of things that stood in her way, and she could never accomplish it. She did have a long career as a nurse practitioner. When her husband died in 2020, she decided it was time to try to go to medical school. She enrolled in the St. James School of Medicine in the Caribbean. In May 2026, she became the school’s oldest graduate and just started her three-year residency in family medicine at a Michigan hospital in July. It took a long time, but she finally did it. Her motto is “never say never.” That’s a good attitude. Has God asked you to do something, but you have never been able to do. Never say never. Today is the best day to start.
Transcribe →Inconvenience
3w ago00:00:56Tap to summarizeDon’t complain about your personal inconvenience when that complaint might hinder somebody in need. This happened in a wealthy Seattle neighborhood that continually pressured Seattle’s Children’s Hospital to either limit or quit their emergency helicopter landings where they were carrying critically ill kids to the hospital. This neighborhood was demanding that the helicopters would land elsewhere. This would require them to transfer their patients to ambulances. Personal inconvenience should never stand in the way of helping save lives. Children need the best opportunity to get to the Children’s Hospital for treatment. A helicopter landing in an upscale neighborhood might be annoying, but it also might save a life or get earlier treatment. Please don’t complain about an inconvenience that’s making a difference.
Transcribe →Speak the Truth
3w ago00:00:59Tap to summarizeSome topics are controversial and might be appropriate or inappropriate. A commencement speaker at the University of Central Florida learned this recently. He was introducing some ideas about artificial intelligence and earned a lot of boos from the graduates when he declared that artificial intelligence would be “the next industrial revolution.” Then a little later, he remarked that “only a few years ago, AI was not a factor in our lives.” This earned cheers. Obviously, there were differences of opinion. Experts described artificial intelligence as a bipolar topic with that group. When you address a topic, if you really believe that you are speaking the truth, speak up. If you are not sure whether you are speaking the truth or not, it’s best to pick another subject. Bipolar topics must be carefully selected and dealt with.
Transcribe →Blessed to Be a Blessing
3w ago00:00:56Tap to summarizeWhen you have been blessed, are you willing to be a blessing to others? A North Carolina textile school invited one of its former graduates to speak at graduation. The speaker said that his father had studied at the school in the 1950s and was not only able to get an education but an opportunity to build a successful life. The former graduate’s son said that he and his family were going to pay for the final year student loans of those graduating. You can imagine the surprise and shock of the students. The speaker said that he wanted the graduates to leave “with greater freedom to pursue your goals, take risks, and build the lives that you have worked so hard to achieve.” Where have you been blessed that you can be a blessing to help other people get a better start in the things they want to accomplish?
Transcribe →Honesty
3w ago00:01:01Tap to summarizeOn January 1, 2026, a wholesale furniture gallery caught fire in Myrtle Beach, South Carolina. It was next to a Vietnamese restaurant whose owner, named Sak, helped save some of the furniture. The gallery owner picked up and left. This spring, Sak noticed a sunglasses case containing a stack of $100 bills. The NBC affiliate at Myrtle Beach came and interviewed Sak and that interview produced the former furniture store owner. Sak returned the money to him. Sak could have kept the money, and nobody would have ever known—except Sak and God. Sak said that it is always best to do what is honest. The TV exposure made him popular, and he today is known as “the guy who always does the honest thing.” Do people recognize you as “the guy who always does the honest thing?”
Transcribe →Your Sins Will Find You Out
3w ago00:00:57Tap to summarizeYou can always be sure that your sins will find you out. You can’t hide from them. Ask Kimberly Carroll who is a Michigan woman who was testifying in a scheduled court hearing via Zoom. The problem is that she was driving a car. Judge Michael McNally was irate when he asked if she was driving. Kimberly claimed to be a passenger. The Judge said that she was sitting on the left side and asked her to show him the driver. She politely said that she had to ask the driver’s permission and then jumped out of her car. Of course, she had no chance to get away. I bet she wished that she hadn’t been trying to drive and Zoom at the same time, and I expect she will think next time before telling a lie. Your sins will always find you out.
Transcribe →Solutions
4w ago00:00:56Tap to summarizeWe have many dangers that face us. Some people are utilizing creative technology to deal with them. There are some high schools in Georgia and Florida who can deploy security drones to take down active shooters. These drones are mounted on the ceiling and remain dormant until activated. They then can fly down hallways at over 100 miles an hour. The drones engage shooters with strobe lights and pepper gel. Chief drone pilot, Christian Can Sloun, from the drone company says that we don’t have to worry about getting shot. “We are metal and plastic.” I have a feeling that you won’t have active shooters in those schools in Florida and Georgia and hopefully other states. What are you doing today to help find a solution to major problems confronting us?
Transcribe →Tell The Truth
4w ago00:00:57Tap to summarizeThere is a name for a new behavior called “Kittenfishing.” This is a term used with people on dating apps who fudge on telling the truth so they will appear better. Kittenfishing makes you feel like it’s okay to add an inch or two to your height and maybe say that you studied at a prestigious university when you only walked through the library. Kittenfishing is especially good at putting your picture on a dating app that’s several years old. The interesting thing about Kittenfishing is that it will always have bad consequences. At some point if you make progress in getting a date with a person, they will soon discover that you are not truthful. Kittenfishing may gloss over the situation initially, but eventually the truth will sting and bring not so pleasant consequences. Tell the truth.
Transcribe →Little Mistakes, Big Consequences
4w ago00:00:58Tap to summarizeSimple mistakes can be costly. Be careful. A market in Scotland’s Orkney Islands intended to request 750 pounds of bananas. Instead, ordered 380 boxes containing 100 bananas each. That’s 38,000 more bananas than ordered, and because of strong winds, the ferries were cancelled and the bananas couldn’t be returned. Little mistakes can happen by mistake. We are human. Distractions and lack of focus are often the culprit, so eliminate the cause. The market did invite community groups and local schools to come have some bananas. Little mistakes can have big consequences—and if there is a problem, figure out a way to help make it somewhat useful.
Transcribe →Timekeeping
4w ago00:00:59Tap to summarizeAlmost everybody carries either a watch or a phone so they can check the time. Time is important in almost every aspect of our culture. It was just announced that a new nuclear timepiece is the most accurate timekeeper in the world. It is advertised to keep time more accurately than atomic clocks or other timekeeping methods. The nuclear clocks could eventually be used in navigation systems, gravitational sensing, and tests of fundamental physics that today’s instruments can’t measure. I don’t think we need more accurate timekeeping as much as we need to know how to use wisely the time that we might be inaccurately keeping. I applaud the advancement in accurate timekeeping, but I challenge you to join me in making better use of our time in doing what God wants us to do.
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