Plain Values Podcast

Plain Values
  • 4.9 (22)
  • Relationships
  • Weekly

The most inspiring and heartfelt podcasts you’ll ever listen to. Hosted by Plain Values magazine Publisher Marlin Miller, he regularly interviews the people with the stories, wisdom, and advice we all need to hear.

  1. 2d ago

    EP #61 - How Elvin & RuthAnn Zimmerman Chose The Simple Lifestyle | Plain Values

    When you hear the name RuthAnn Zimmerman you think of homesteading. In today’s episode of the Plain Values Podcast, we hear the full story behind RuthAnn and Elvin’s journey to becoming one of the leading voices of influence in the modern homesteading movement. Long before social media and RuthAnn’s millions of followers knew of her, both Elvin and RuthAnn grew up in Pennsylvania in the Old Order Mennonite church, though they did not meet there. As teenagers, both Elvin and RuthAnn seemed to have rebellious spirits and their parents decided it best to send them away for a time. The two rebel hearts connected in Iowa and were soon baptized and married in the church there.  RuthAnn was a school teacher for a few years there, so once they had their own children, she had the know-how to homeschool. She soon became friends with some non-Mennonite women in her homeschool group and she started to see things a bit differently. The Holy Spirit was calling Elvin and RuthAnn into a real relationship with Him.  One particular weekend, they both had a revelation that if Jesus was here today, He would not be allowed into their own church. Jesus was calling them to follow Him, but they were scared to lose their community. Already feeling on the fringes of their church because of their liberal thinking and uncommitted rule following, the decision came to a head when RuthAnn was denied communion in front of the church because of an incident with her frizzy hair.  Though they left the Mennonite church and embraced the modern conveniences of the world for a time, they quickly saw consequences. They all felt worse than ever from the grocery store food and their daughter especially became quite sick. So they turned back to the skills they learned from their upbringing and grew their own food again. They knew, though they had the freedom to choose any convenience they wanted, they could choose the simple lifestyle without the religious oppression.  Today, Elvin and RuthAnn are intentional about teaching their children to follow Jesus even if it goes against the world, their community, or even their parents. The freedom to choose our lifestyle and to choose a relationship with Jesus is the gift of the Gospel for everyone on earth.  Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

    EP #61 - How Elvin & RuthAnn Zimmerman Chose The Simple Lifestyle | Plain Values

  2. 4d ago ·  Bonus

    Tech, AI, and “The Lie” | Carson Combs on the Plain Values Podcast

    In today’s bonus conversation from the Plain Values Podcast, Marlin talks with Carson Combs about AI, the danger it poses, and the consequences it brings. Carson questions the power that AI uses just to have information at your fingertips. It’s like any tool, the user’s intent dictates whether AI is used for good or evil. His long-term concern is that AI is another way for people to isolate and stop communicating in face to face conversations.  The conversation then turns to busyness. Carson asks, “What are we really doing in our life, and how does that tie back to what the Bible says?” It’s not just about the “stuff” we collect, it’s also about how we’re filling our time. When we don’t take the time to pause, we don’t realize how far removed we’ve become over time. Our culture has been fed the lie that AI will help us have more time to slow down and connect with people again because we’re not focused on the details. And nothing could be farther from the truth. The advancing technology has only sped our lives up, causing us to work harder to keep up, and most of us just burn out. Carson shares that if we don’t put boundaries in place, we’ll never be free. Everything comes down to priorities and intentionality. Are we living for the world or are we living for God? Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 A great way to show support is to hit LIKE / SUBSCRIBE on this video, and most importantly, join the conversation in the COMMENTS below. We’d love to hear from you. 👉We have a beautiful magazine called Plain Values, sent quarterly ($49/year): https://plainvalues.com/pv-magazine-yt 👉To receive our FREE Plain Values emails: https://plainvalues.com/ 👉To find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plainvalues/ 👉To find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plainvalues/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

    Tech, AI, and “The Lie” | Carson Combs on the Plain Values Podcast

  3. Oct 23

    EP #60 - The Good, the Bad, & the Beauty of Foster Care | Brian Troyer | Plain Values

    In this episode of the Plain Values Podcast, Marlin sits down with Brian Troyer of Hope Bridge for a conversation about fostering communities and how Brian’s life led him into foster care ministry. They begin the conversation talking about Brian’s upbringing in a Hartville Mennonite family. At the age of 21, Brian lost a friend in a tragic softball accident. This experience woke him up to the life he was living, and he soon found himself breaking up with his girlfriend and requesting time off from his place of work to join Reach, a mid-term missions program.  Brian’s time with Reach was formative to say the least. It was there that he met his wife, Brittany, and later where they together saw the huge need for foster care in the world. When they moved back to Hartville after five years with Reach, they immediately began their journey with fostering. They fostered for seven years and are now working with Hope Bridge who builds up fostering communities in Ohio. One common rejection of foster care is how it may negatively affect a family’s other children. For Brian, he has seen the opposite effect in their son, Malachi. He loves to tell people he has 14 siblings and that his favorite day ever is the day they adopted his younger brother.  Not everyone should foster, but everyone should do something. Everyone can be involved in some way. Fifty percent of foster families drop out after the first year, and 80 percent after the second year, with the number one reason being lack of support. When a foster family has a supportive community around them, the chances of the family lasting over two years rises to over 95 percent. This is why Hope Bridge exists. This is the call to the church.  What can you do to support a foster family in your community today? Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com 🔵 Guest Bio and Links … https://hopebridgeohio.org 🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷 A great way to show support is to hit LIKE / SUBSCRIBE on this video, and most importantly, join the conversation in the COMMENTS below. We’d love to hear from you. 👉We have a beautiful magazine called Plain Values, sent quarterly ($49/year): https://plainvalues.com/pv-magazine-yt 👉To receive our FREE Plain Values emails: https://plainvalues.com/ 👉To find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plainvalues/ 👉To find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plainvalues/ 🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷 🎵 Hold My Hand - Sam Burchfield Recorded Live - Plain Values - Winesburg, OH Learn more about Sam: https://www.samburchfield.com/ 🎵 Other music - Soundstripe #plainvalues #hopebridge #fostercare #fostercommunity #reach

    EP #60 - The Good, the Bad, & the Beauty of Foster Care | Brian Troyer | Plain Values

  4. Oct 16

    EP #59 - When a Foster Child Ages Out | Rachel Baker | Plain Values

    In this episode of the Plain Values Podcast, Marlin sits down with Rachel Baker of the 99+1 Foundation. Rachel grew up in Holmes County but now lives in Oklahoma where she works for a foundation caring for young people who are aging out of the foster care system.  If a child enters the foster system above the age of ten, there is a very low chance of being adopted, and a very high chance of them ending up homeless, in prison, or dead within three years of aging out of the system. The 99+1 Foundation exists to change that story. The Foundation cares not only for the young aging out, but also for widows who may be in need of a place as well. This creates a beautiful dynamic of the older mentoring the younger.  Neurofeedback is an exercise for the brain that helps calm the central nervous system. Rachel uses Neurofeedback to work with young and old people who have experienced trauma and has helped correct anything from poor sleep to seizures.  Like George Mueller, the ministry often runs on prayer alone. Meals show up out of nowhere when needed. Buildings get renovated. Needs are met. The heart of the Father is not to disregard the broken, but to take what is there and restore it to something beautiful. This is the story of the 99+1 Foundation.  If you want to learn more or support this ministry restoring the Kingdom, go to www.99plus1.foundation.  Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com Timestamps: 00:00 - Intro 00:48 - Rachel's Backstory 03:29 - Hardships of Aging Out of Foster Care 07:02 - Education Challenges for Foster Youth 10:02 - Unconditional Love and Trauma 11:46 - Neurofeedback and its Huge Benefits 17:00 - 99 Plus 1 Foundation: Restoration and the Father's Heart 22:35 - Coffee Shop Initiative: Job Skills and Community Outreach 24:31 - Trusting God Just Like George Müller Did 26:15 - Don't Forget the Wise Older Generation 27:29 - 99 Plus 1 Today 28:29 - How to Support 99 Plus 1 29:42 - How Can We Pray for You? 🔵 Guest Bio and Links … https://99plus1.foundation 🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷 A great way to show support is to hit LIKE / SUBSCRIBE on this video, and most importantly, join the conversation in the COMMENTS below. We’d love to hear from you. 👉We have a beautiful magazine called Plain Values, sent quarterly ($49/year): https://plainvalues.com/pv-magazine-yt 👉To receive our FREE Plain Values emails: https://plainvalues.com/ 👉To find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plainvalues/ 👉To find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plainvalues/ 🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷 🎵 Hold My Hand - Sam Burchfield Recorded Live - Plain Values - Winesburg, OH Learn more about Sam: https://www.samburchfield.com/ 🎵 Other music - Soundstripe #plainvalues #fostercare #agingout #neurofeedback #restoration

    EP #59 - When a Foster Child Ages Out | Rachel Baker | Plain Values

  5. Oct 13

    When Dads Get Dumber… Then Smarter Again | Minute with Marlin – EP #24

    In this Minute With Marlin, Marlin is joined by his friends, Jerry and Lynn Wright, all the way from “the bad half of Washington.” They met at a homesteading event a few years ago and hit it off quickly once they realized they had something in common—they both had loved ones with Down syndrome.  The golden nugget of wisdom in this episode comes from Jerry as he shares what his father told him when he was a young teenager, “Dad said he was going to be getting dumber over the next few years, and then in my twenties he’d be getting smarter again.”  Looking back at the words his father spoke into his life during those “dumb” years, Jerry found this to be true. His dad never became dumber or smarter, but his perspective of the wisdom he shared changed over the years and impacted him differently. Do you have people in your life you’ve found to get smarter as you grow older?  Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹 A great way to show support is to hit LIKE / SUBSCRIBE on this video, and most importantly, join the conversation in the COMMENTS below. We’d love to hear from you. 👉We have a beautiful magazine called Plain Values, sent quarterly ($49/year): https://plainvalues.com/pv-magazine-yt 👉To receive our FREE Plain Values emails: https://plainvalues.com/ 👉To find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plainvalues/ 👉To find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plainvalues/ 🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹🔹

  6. Oct 9

    EP #58 - Big Fertility, Big Ag, & God’s Design for Healing the Destruction | Dawn Combs | Plain Values

    In this episode of the Plain Values podcast, Dawn Combs joins Marlin for a conversation covering all the Big Corps–Big Ag, Big Food, Big Pharma, Big Chemical, Big Tech and beyond. Being practically neighbors with Scott’s and Nestlè corps, Dawn says she lives “ in the belly of the beast.” Then, just on the other side of Columbus sits Licking County which has drawn the attention of Big Tech. Data Centers drink up to 50 million gallons of water a day and the large aquifers there have them drooling for the land. Dawn’s husband Carson happens to be the sitting City Planning Director within Licking County. Being a Christian man and advocate for holistic, regenerative ag and stewarding creation, Carson believes he has an opportunity to show the world how we can move forward alongside technology in a responsible way. Ethnobotany is where folklore and science meet. It’s the study of how certain cultures made use of the indigenous plants in each region, with the aspect of understanding the science behind why it worked. Due to its pagan nature, it’s not a subject many christians find themselves in, but Dawn has been drawn to it all her life, seeking the truth within the lore. Marlin and Dawn dive deep into the subject of the western infertility world which Dawn experienced for three years before she fired her doctors and diagnosed herself. Treating herself with herbs and teas, she went on to naturally have two children. Not only did she heal herself, but she healed a broken generational pattern within her family. Dawn explains, “Our best healing remedies mimic God’s design… in the western mindset it’s all about controlling the body and making it do what you want it to.” They continue discussing western medicine and processed foods and the “treadmill” these keep us running on. Big Ag and Big Fertility are essentially doing the same thing. They are forcing infertile soil to produce life beyond its capacity. They are bypassing God’s design and forcing their will upon it, without any thoughts of the repercussions. Dawn says there’s a better way, and she’s dedicated her life to discovering it. Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

    EP #58 - Big Fertility, Big Ag, & God’s Design for Healing the Destruction | Dawn Combs | Plain Values

  7. Oct 6

    Stories Worth Saving | Minute with Marlin – EP #23

    In this episode of Minute with Marlin, Marlin traces the origins of the podcast all the way back to when his dad died, 15 years ago. A few months after Marlin’s dad passed, he, his brother, and his mom visited Arthur, IL for a large family reunion. Inevitably at some point, the stories of his dad began to flow, and Marlin wished the day would never end. Marlin’s vision when he began the podcast in 2025 was to recreate that day of storytelling and connection, so stories and moments like those could live on. It became wildly clear how real that vision was soon after he sat down in the studio with his uncle “Monk” along with some cousins to record a four-hour conversation. Unexpectedly, just three weeks later, they lowered Monk into the ground and said goodbye. This is why the Plain Values Podcast exists. Capturing the stories for the next generations. If you have a story worth capturing, send us an email at reachout@plainvalues.com. Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com

  8. Oct 2

    EP #57 - Ben Garrett on Scary Stories, Materialism, Depravity, & the Cure for it All | Plain Values

    In this episode of the Plain Values Podcast Marlin meets Ben Garrett, a woodworker (though he failed at that), pastor, writer, podcaster, and bigfoot researcher. Ben is the pastor at Refuge Church in Ogden, Utah, the co-host of the Haunted Cosmos podcast, and author of the book Killing Lust: Fighting for Purity in a Pornographic Age. Ben begins the episode talking about how he came to Utah and Refuge Church. They discuss childhood, family, and parenting. Then they jump into the deep end discussing the spiritual realm, Bigfoot, mythology, scary stories, and what these should mean to us today.  What do we gain by talking about scary stories? Ben answers this question first by cautioning against an unhealthy fascination with the ugly. He goes on to say, “When you (in a measured and sober minded way) are exposed to the ugly, it gives you a greater appreciation for the beautiful. When you make adequate eye contact with the terrible lie, it gives you a much greater appreciation for the truth.”  Ben talks about “the cababasis of man.” The descent of man into death or the underworld, and the ascent out. In stories the character grows and learns something that could only come through that descent. Ben and Marlin also discuss materialism, AI, and Ben’s newest book, Killing Lust.  This book was written to be worked through alongside a mentor. Not an “accountability partner” or group of guys on the same level of maturity as the addict, but someone further along the journey who can call them out when needed. Anyone who struggles with lust, if they are in church, already has all the tools they need to overcome this sin. This book reminds us of those tools. They close in discussing Milton’s Adam in Paradise Lost and how even after his sin, he may have been the most joyful man who ever lived because he saw Christ and tasted salvific grace. Learn more about Plain Values at https://plainvalues.com 🔵 Where to find Ben: @tompawnbadil (X) newchristendompress.com/killinglust thehauntedcosmos.com Ben is the senior writer at New Christendom Press, Co-host of the Haunted Cosmos podcast, and Pastor at Refuge Church in Ogden, UT. 🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷 🤝THIS EPISODE’S PREMIERE SPONSOR: Rustic Strength Rustic Strength is the real deal. This hardworking family-owned company in Missouri makes high-quality, non-toxic laundry, home, and body care products in small batches… completely free from harsh chemicals, dyes, and synthetic junk you don’t want around your family. Learn more: https://rusticstrength.com/ 🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷 🤝THIS EPISODE’S FEATURED SPONSOR: Azure Standard Our friends at Azure Standard have been quietly setting the standard for clean, wholesome food since the 1970s. Family-owned and values-driven, they make it simple to fill your pantry with organic, non-GMO groceries, bulk staples, and household essentials delivered straight to your door or a convenient local drop point. Learn more: https://www.azurestandard.com 🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷 A great way to show support is to hit LIKE / SUBSCRIBE on this video, and most importantly, join the conversation in the COMMENTS below. We’d love to hear from you. 👉We have a beautiful magazine called Plain Values, sent quarterly ($49/year): https://plainvalues.com/pv-magazine-yt 👉To receive our FREE Plain Values emails: https://plainvalues.com/ 👉To find us on Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/plainvalues/ 👉To find us on Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/plainvalues/ 🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷🔹🔷 🎵 Hold My Hand - Sam Burchfield Recorded Live - Plain Values - Winesburg, OH Learn more about Sam: https://www.samburchfield.com/ 🎵 Other music - Soundstripe

    EP #57 - Ben Garrett on Scary Stories, Materialism, Depravity, & the Cure for it All | Plain Values
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4.9
out of 5
22 Ratings

About

The most inspiring and heartfelt podcasts you’ll ever listen to. Hosted by Plain Values magazine Publisher Marlin Miller, he regularly interviews the people with the stories, wisdom, and advice we all need to hear.

Information

  • Creator
    Plain Values
  • Years Active
    2025 - 2026
  • Episodes
    87
  • Rating
    Clean
  • Copyright
    © Plain Values
  • Show Website
    Plain Values Podcast

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