It doesn’t matter how much we achieve, or how much we do to show ourselves as worthy, haunting doubts can creep in, making us question our value and undercutting our confidence. Sometimes these feelings stem from an internal comparison with others around us, as we measure our lives against others&#39; highlight reels. However, there is a hope for the dark feelings we have that tell us we’re not enough, or that no one truly cares. The transformative power of God’s love encourages us to shed layers of self-doubt and replace them with an armor of self-acceptance and appreciation. In the face of this love, shame dwindles, losing its power to control our emotions and actions.  This week, actress Kerry Washington plumbs the depths of her family history to vulnerably reveal her own history, and found that she carried shame which made her feel unworthy and unlovable—which manifested into anxiety she would carry into adulthood. Through the help of therapy, prayer, and understanding her story, Kerry began vulnerably sharing her deepest secrets, and learned to love herself by letting go of shame. With a mixture of home design styling, DIY projects, and preaching from God&#39;s Word, Anh Lin has created a truly unique space on her YouTube channel, Girl and The Word. Anh recalls one of her darkest moments when she thought to herself, No one truly loves you, when she felt God comforting her and assuring her of her worth. Now, she works to help others transform spaces into healing sanctuaries of peace and reflection.    Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview:  Carley Summers Upcoming interview: Kelly Lang Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt    Kerry Washington  Thicker Than Water   Anh Lin  Girl and The Word YouTube channel www.girlandtheword.com  Forever Home   Interview Quotes: “I really have been on a journey to figure out how to take care of myself and provide a sense of safety for myself that helps me stay out of depression and anxiety.” - Kerry Washington  “We are each of us a child of God. We all deserve to be loved unconditionally. We are all worthy. We are no less than or no greater than any other person.” - Kerry Washington  “We don&#39;t all have the same journeys, but we do share these common human, unifying experiences of wanting to be loved, wanting to be seen, knowing what it&#39;s like to be afraid, knowing what it&#39;s like to love, knowing what it&#39;s like to have our hearts broken.” - Kerry Washington “My children and my husband are 100% proof of God to me. Each of us is a crazy, brilliant miracle, just a God blessed miracle to be here.” - Kerry Washington “My deepest relationships with God have come in my most challenging times. I think those ebbs and flows in life happen to invite us to get closer to goodness, closer to faith, closer to God.” - Kerry Washington  “I had that experience of [God] coming to me

Casting Out the Shadows of Shame With the Power of Love: Kerry Washington and Anh Lin

On this episode of Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer, we hear from author and Enneagram coach Jackie Brewster. Jackie shares with us how the Enneagram personality test can help us learn more about ourselves and how we can apply that knowledge to deepen our relationship with God.  Guest’s Links Facebook: @enneagramwithjb Twitter: @jb_rewster Instagram: @enneagramwithjb ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter  Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website   *Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

[MONTHLY SERIES] Connecting to God: Prayer & Your Enneagram Type with Jackie Brewster

Have you ever been told that you are “too emotional?” Perhaps there are times we feel like we’re failing because we’re feeling. But the truth is, God created us to be emotional beings. Jesus Himself experienced an intense spectrum of emotions—He embraced the sadness, the loneliness, and the anger that all of us feel—and by meeting those feelings, He was able to respond to people in ways that demonstrated emotional maturity and love.  News anchor and host of Big Brother Julie Chen Moonves always prioritized her career, and committed herself to every opportunity in her path, until she began to notice a deep sense of loneliness, and realized that in her pursuit of success she had tuned God out of her life. When she started to tune back into Him, she found the peace she’d been so desperately longing for. Dr. Anita Phillips has studied the intersections of mental health, faith, and culture—and made the discovery that Jesus was an intensely emotional being, and through His example, we can know that there’s an incredible amount of good that can come when we learn to embrace our emotions instead of running from them.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview:  Dr. Gary Chapman Upcoming interview: Kerry Washington Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt     Julie Chen Moonves  Big Brother Little House on the Prairie CBS News The Talk  But First, God   Dr. Anita Phillips  Matthew 13 NIV  Hebrews 4:15 NIV  Hebrews 4:16 NIV www.anitaphillips.com  The Garden Within   Interview Quotes: “There is no such thing as coincidence. God is in control. God either ordains it or He allows it.” - Julie Chen Moonves “If you don&#39;t put God first, what do you have? Everything you have is because of Him, and I didn&#39;t realize that until I was closing in on fifty, because I spent the first forty-eight years of my life ignoring God and having false idols.” - Julie Chen Moonves “It&#39;s easier to be in this world and look at everything just from your lens. Now, I know it&#39;s not about my lens, it&#39;s about His lens. Everything is about His agenda, not mine. That&#39;s what Amen means, it means Thy will be done. Not my will, Thy will.”- Julie Chen Moonves  “God knows how to give you what you need, depending on what you&#39;re going through at that moment in your life.” - Julie Chen Moonves “He has changed how I live, what I prioritize, how I think, how I speak, how I act, how I treat other people, whether I know them or not. Tomorrow is expected, but it is not promised. So having God first in my life has made everyone else in my life have a better relationship with me. It&#39;s a trickle-down effect.” - Julie Chen Moonves “God created gardens to give us an understanding of how He created us. Eden wasn&#39;t just about where we lived, it was about how we function.” - Dr. Anita Phillips “Every time Jesus allowed the full expression o

Your Emotions Matter to God: Julie Chen Moonves & Dr. Anita Phillips

Making mistakes is an inherent part of our human nature, and a crucial element of our learning and growth. It is through mistakes that we come to realize our imperfections, reassess our actions, and strive for improvement. However, when we are shown grace from others amidst our shortcomings, it transcends the simple act of forgiveness. Grace is a potent demonstration of understanding and compassion, a silent acknowledgment that we are all fallible and capable of erring. It serves as a gentle reminder that mistakes do not define us, but rather, it’s how we rise from them, empowered by the grace we&#39;ve been granted.  Madison Prewett Troutt, a former contestant from ABC’s The Bachelor who is now an author, always longed to be in a relationship. After breaking up with a person she thought might be “the one” and being thrown into the whirlwind of a reality TV show, Madison found grace through her struggle with finding love by a deeper understanding of the foundation of God’s love in her life. Dr. Esau McCaulley is a contributing opinion writer for the New York Times and an assistant professor of New Testament at Wheaton College. After learning of his estranged father’s death, Esau had to dig deep to find the words that he would use for his eulogy, which led him down a path to renewed empathy and believing that every life, no matter the mistakes made, is deserving of grace.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Matthew West Upcoming interview: Julie Chen Moonves Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt    Madison Prewett Troutt  The Love Everybody Wants ABC&#39;s The Bachelor  Matthew 22:35-39 NIV www.madiprew.com   Dr. Esau McCaulley  New York Times  Wheaton College  How Far to the Promised Land tenant farming   Jim Crow   Interview Quotes: “Rejection doesn&#39;t have to be such a bad thing. Rejection can actually be God&#39;s redirection to something better, and it can also be God&#39;s protection to keep you from something that you just tried to settle for. He&#39;s still in the no’s, just like He&#39;s in the yeses.” - Madison Prewett Troutt “I see what God has done and is continuing to do through me and how He&#39;s using my life to just encourage people. And man, just what God can do with a surrendered heart and a yes is truly amazing.” - Madison Prewett Troutt “It&#39;s by the grace of God that I was really able to experience almost all the different versions of relationships in life: the waiting seasons, the heartbreaks, the rejections, the singleness.” - Madison Prewett Troutt “My goal is to show everybody how to look to God and see ourselves and find deep love amid our culture&#39;s shallow ideas about love and romance. Because the truth is, finding love isn&#39;t as complicated as we&#39;ve made it.” - Madison Prewett Troutt “My mom always told me when I was a kid that, ‘When you get where you&#39;re going,

When Our Most Broken Moments Reveal God’s Grace: Madison Prewett Troutt & Dr. Esau McCaulley

Today, we have a very special episode honoring the life of the writer of Jesus Calling and countless other inspiring books, Sarah Young. Sarah left this world for her heavenly home on August 31, 2023. Sarah’s work has had a profound impact, and we’ve been privileged to tell so many stories of that impact here on this podcast with nearly 400 episodes and 700 guests. Nearly 50 million of her books are in the hands of people all over the world, yet Sarah never sought the spotlight for herself. Her sole concern was leading people to a deeper relationship with Christ through her thoughtful and intimate devotionals, which have met so many people in their deepest moments of need. This episode honors her legacy through the heartfelt words of her friend and publisher, Laura Minchew, SVP and Group Publisher of the Children’s and Gift Book Group at HarperCollins Christian Publishing, as well as some special guests whose lives have been directly impacted by Sarah’s work, including:—Lisa Harper, Ainsley Earhardt, Jim Burns, Morgan Harper Nichols, Amy Grant, Margaret Feinberg, and Kathie Lee Gifford.    Links Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Sarah Young  Ryan Sheckler  Lisa Harper  Ainsley Earhardt  Jim Burns  Morgan Harper Nichols Amy Grant  Margaret Feinberg  Kathie Lee Gifford ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter  Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website   *Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

[BONUS] A Tribute Honoring the Life of Sarah Young

We all make mistakes in our lives—big and small—and worry about letting people down, or not living up to who we think we should be. But imagine if someone saw our mistakes, no matter how grave, and instead of chastising us, still believed in us and thought we were amazing? That’s what God’s grace is like. It’s a kind of love that forgives us and gives us a fresh start over and over again, without end.  Author and pastor Max Lucado shares his personal journey from soaring to heights of success to rock bottom moments where he questioned why he was doing what he was doing. Max draws parallels between his experiences and the story of Jacob, and how God’s grace overflows to us, even in our worst moments. Veteran comedian Jeff Allen opens up about the struggles in his life caused by addiction, and the rock bottom moment that led him to seek help, and how he ultimately found his way through a relationship with Christ and the unfailing grace that comes with it.    Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview:  Michael Jr. Upcoming interview: Madison Prewett Troutt Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt    Max Lucado Oak Hill Church  God Never Gives Up On You   Jeff Allen Alcoholics Anonymous   Proverbs 17:22 NIV www.jeffallencomedy.com Are We There Yet?: My Journey From a Messed Up to Meaningful Life   Interview Quotes: “It was a wrestling with God moment, and just like Jacob was brought to his knees, I was brought to mine. And I realized that apart from God, I can&#39;t even make it through the day.” - Max Lucado  “God found Jacob in the Badlands and came to him and spoke to him, and God will do the same for us. I believe that God will meet us in those times.” - Max Lucado  “Be obedient. Acknowledge what you&#39;ve done. Find help, confess it, go to a circle of friends, begin to get your life in order, because the longer you resist Him, the harder it is to accept Him. Make sure you give problems to God before the problems get to you.” - Max Lucado  “We have a huge advantage. We know the pilot. We know what He has guided the church through or people through. We know He&#39;s not intimidated. We know we&#39;ll be okay. And so the key is not trying to live a life in which we are escaping turbulence or trying to manage the turbulence on our own. The key is making sure we know the pilot.” - Max Lucado “If God is big, then our problems are small. But if our problems are big, then it usually means our perception of God is small. So make a big deal out of God.” - Max Lucado  “As you learn in the Bible, anything apart from God that you think will make you whole usually destroys you.” - Jeff Allen “I loved the whole process of standup comedy, but it really wasn&#39;t until I got on my knees and I said to Jesus, ‘I&#39;m yours,’ that it all kind of clicked and made sense to me.” - Jeff Allen  “Unless you&#39;re doing it for

Life-Changing Grace for Our Darkest Moments: Max Lucado & Jeff Allen

Having friends and being part of a community can give us strength, understanding, and inspiration. When we have friends who share beliefs and/or support us, it’s like having a team that’s there to always lift us up whether it is spiritually, emotionally, or physically. Through friendships, we can actually help deepen and strengthen our faith by reminding ourselves that we are a part of something greater.  This week singer and songwriter Jordan Davis shares his experiences and conversations with friends and family that taught him about his faith, and his music. Psychiatrist Curt Thompson discusses what it’s like when we walk with someone through their pain, and how it makes us grow in spiritual thought and understanding.    Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview:  Victoria Osteen Upcoming interview:  Max Lucado Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt    Jordan Davis “Church in the Chevy” “Buy Dirt”   Curt Thompson  The Deepest Place   Interview Quotes: “Church is right now, us talking about it. Church is waking up and having a quiet time. It&#39;s all around. So you could be in a Chevy on a back road. You could be in a deer stand. You can be going through some tough things at home. You just grab your Bible and talk about it.” - Jordan Davis  “We&#39;re called to pray for everybody. Seeing the loneliness and some of the mental health issues in the world, like, the only way that I know to combat that is to pray about it and to just say, ‘Lord, I know you have this, but still help me show how I can help in any area….Lord, put somebody in my life today that could use a light, somebody that&#39;s lonely that I could help out, somebody that needs some guidance. Put them in the crowd tonight. Let one of my messages get through to them.’ I&#39;ve just prayed that I get a chance to actually make a difference.” - Jordan Davis  “The reality is that if we have a pulse, if we are human, we suffer.” - Dr. Curt Thompson, M.D.  “Faith in its most real form is really an act of trust that I place in a real person. So when I say I have faith in a person, whether it&#39;s Jesus or somebody else, it is because I am offering things about my life to them that I am entrusting to them in real ways. It’s easy for us to talk about having faith in God, we just don&#39;t trust human beings. The degree to which we actually trust God is measured in terms of the degree to which we trust others.” - Dr. Curt Thompson, M.D. “Suffering is what draws us together in so many ways that shapes, deepens, authenticates the relationship that we have, and so opens our minds and hearts and awareness to what it means for us to share in the sufferings that Jesus experienced.” - Dr. Curt Thompson, M.D.  “Our God&#39;s vision was for us to be those who, as His image bearers, steward and create and curate beauty and goodness in the world.” - Dr. Curt Thom

The Beauty of Leaning on Each Other: Jordan Davis & Curt Thompson

On this bonus episode of Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer, we hear from southern gospel artist Ben Waites, who was born with arthrogryposis, a condition that causes his joints to be locked up. Ben shares what it means to him to share hope through his music, the life changing moment one of his songs went viral, leading to a chance to audition for American Idol, and how he continues to spread the message of redemption through his music and his life.   Guest’s Links Facebook: @BenWaitesMinistries Twitter: @BenWaites Instagram: @bjwaites ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter  Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website   *Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

[MONTHLY SERIES] Prayers for Redemption: Ben Waites

One of the most fulfilling aspects of our lives is the opportunity for connection. We were not designed to live life on our own, but today’s world makes it so easy to be self-focused instead of others-focused.  John 13 tells us we should love one another as Christ loved us and “…by this all people will know that you are my disciples, if you have love for one another.” When we ask God to show us places we can connect to others, we will begin to reap the many benefits of those bonds, and also find ways to bless others as well.  Country music trailblazer Jo Dee Messina is known for her chart-topping hits, but in the process of building her legendary career, she found that everything she’d built was crumbling, mostly because she’d tried to do it on her own. That’s when she found God (or actually, He found her), and she began to see the importance of connection with Him, which in turn led her to see her music as her connection point to the world. Founder of Canines for Christ Larry Randolph and author Jennifer Bleakley found ways to connect with their faith through their animal friends, and they share how help and hope is brought to the world through the gift of therapy dogs.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview:  Walker Zimmerman Upcoming interview: Jordan Davis Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt    Jo Dee Messina  Steve Green “Just To Be Loved”   Larry Randolph Jennifer Bleakley National Dog Day Canines for Christ American Kennel Club   American Kennel Club&#39;s Canine Good Citizens certification  Finding Grace   Interview Quotes: “I think at the very end of myself is where in my spirit, in my soul, I sensed Jesus saying, ‘She&#39;s mine.’” - Jo Dee Messina “For me to connect with the fans is more of a humanities thing, being able to have compassion and empathy for someone else&#39;s situation, which just happens to be the same as mine.” - Jo Dee Messina “I was a hot mess. I built a kingdom on my own, I watched it crumble, and even at the very end of that—when everyone else was running away—[God] was running towards me.” - Jo Dee Messina  “Looking back, I can see how God planted seeds in my heart that day that would one day sprout into a career of writing books and stories about all the beautiful ways God works through animals to direct people&#39;s hearts and minds to Himself.” - Jennifer Bleakley “[God] had planned for me all along to have this dog in my life, this basset hound named Gus, to set up what was going to happen next for me, and that was to create a ministry using therapy dogs.” - Larry Randolph   “[A dog] can just put a little paw up on somebody&#39;s hand or in a wheelchair or give somebody a little kiss on the cheek, and wag that tail, and all of a sudden you see the loneliness stop and the sadness just go away. And it&#39;s beautiful to see how the dogs can just bring that out.

Surprising Ways to Find Connection in a Lonely Space: Jo Dee Messina & Larry Randolph and Jennifer Bleakley

The search for God is a deeply personal endeavor, often paralleling our journey to self-discovery. As we seek to know more about Him, we might read books, listen to sermons, or study Scripture. These all add to our understanding of who God is, but the best way to find Him is simply to talk to Him like you would a friend. And in case we think that we have to pray a certain way, or act a certain way to talk to God, we can rest in the knowledge that a relationship with Him doesn&#39;t demand perfection; instead, it thrives on authenticity and humility, fostering a safe space for exploration, growth, and understanding.  When actor Dennis Quaid was a young man, he went on a quest to find Him by simply asking along the way one question: Who is God? After much searching and not finding anything that filled the vacant space inside him, he returned to the faith of his childhood and found the joys of a relationship with Jesus. Country singer Makenzie Phipps has been playing music from a very young age, much to the delight of her grandmother who has supported her all along the way. But now, Makenzie has found herself in a place of needing to support her grandmother as she faces the long decline of Alzheimer’s disease, and now she’s seeking God through it all.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview:  Cam Ayala Upcoming interview: Jo Dee Messina Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt    Dennis Quaid Fallen: A Gospel Album for Sinners   Makenzie Phipps Alzheimer’s disease Alison Krauss Crystal Gayle Evanescence    Interview Quotes: “God was always over there or He was out there and not here, and it was just something about what Jesus said. He&#39;s a personal experience that you have with Him, rather than something that&#39;s just an idea…It&#39;s about letting go and letting God work in your life, that&#39;s all.” - Dennis Quaid “There&#39;s still room for you at the table.” - Dennis Quaid “We&#39;re all sinners, and it&#39;s taken me a lot to get the point that Jesus actually came here, and we were forgiven of our sins even before we committed those sins—that&#39;s all we need.” - Dennis Quaid  “I just hope people out there do realize that they are not alone, and that everything will work itself out in the end. There definitely will be some things that may take you a step back, but you can only push through and persevere and go to the next step because it&#39;s always just a climbing journey.” - Makenzie Phipps  “I just feel like God has a path for everybody and I feel like He&#39;s paving the way for me in my music. Every day is just a new opportunity and a new experience, and I just have to leave everything in His hands because He knows what He wants me to do at the end of the day and I just have to trust Him.” - Makenzie Phipps  _______________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel! A

Yearning for the Divine: Dennis Quaid & Makenzie Phipps

In our uncertain world, the quest for faith often becomes a beacon of hope and assuredness. Amid the constant fluctuations of the world, God emerges as a grounding force; offering us a sense of purpose and direction when navigating a path we’re not sure of. Even when the world around us is shrouded in uncertainty, faith can illuminate our path, fostering resilience, strength, and optimism. Dancers Austin and Marideth Telenko met in New York, both pursuing dance careers. Barely a month into their dating life, COVID hit, and the jobs they had dancing fizzled as shows and studios closed. Temporarily relocating to North Carolina, and uncertain about their future, they sought God for guidance, and were led to an opportunity that changed everything. Tom Rudelius is a scientist who began studying the mysteries of the universe long before he would ever have questions about the God of the Universe. His twin brother, who had recently become a Christian, encouraged him to explore his faith; so Tom pursued the truth of the Gospel, very much like he pursued scientific truths, and was amazed by what he found.     Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview:  Dr. Myron Rolle Upcoming interview: Dennis Quaid Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt    Austin and Marideth Telenko Bible Belt @Cost_N_Mayor   Tom Rudelius Cornell University of California Berkeley Durham University in England  Letters from a Skeptic  Book of Matthew  Book of Revelation  Chasing Proof, Finding Faith   Interview Quotes: “There&#39;s a lot of people, there&#39;s a lot of noise and voices telling you exactly who you should be and exactly what you should look like and exactly what you need to do to get to where you need to go. And I think it&#39;s really easy to sort of lose yourself in that noise, which is something that I struggled with a lot.“ - Marideth Telenko “It was really a risky moment of me being like, ‘This is what I have to do for my life, and if that does not align with you, that&#39;s okay.’ And I think that I really had to let [Austin] find it on his own.” - Meredith Telenko  “Putting our faith and our careers in His hands—man, look at what the Lord does, because we would have never, ever in a million years thought that coming out of the pandemic we would be in the position we&#39;re in.” - Marideth Telenko  “We always try to make sure that the light shining through us is brighter than the light shining on us.” - Marideth Telenko  “I think that science tells us how the world works in the absence of supernatural intervention, but it doesn&#39;t tell us whether or not supernatural intervention is possible in the first place.” - Dr. Tom Rudelius, Ph.D. “If we&#39;re going to talk about Jesus&#39;s miracles, we should really talk about it through the lens of the Christian worldview. If the Christian worldview is true, then the miracles of Jesus aren&#39;t ju

Finding Faith In A World of Uncertainty: Austin and Marideth Telenko & Tom Rudelius

Hope holds great significance in our lives and can shape our attitudes, behaviors, and outcomes. As hope affects our physical, mental, and spiritual well-being, the absence of it can cause adverse results. For Christians, hope is not merely a positive emotion or wishful thinking but is deeply rooted in faith and trust in God&#39;s promises. Life is hard, but we don&#39;t have to give in to hopelessness. Though seasons of grief and sadness will come, it is possible, as Paul says in the Bible, to be “Sorrowful, yet always rejoicing” (2 Corinthians 6:10). This week, we’ll hear from neurosurgeon Dr. W. Lee Warren, who shares about what hopelessness can do to our minds and spirits, how he wrestled with the idea that we can have a hard life and still have an abundant life, and what he did to cope after tragically losing his son. Author Lily Taylor shares about the devastation she experienced when her son was sentenced to 10 years in prison, and how by keeping God at the center, she was able to hang on to hope for herself and her son.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview:  Kirk Cousins Upcoming interview: Austin and Marideth Telenko Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt   2 Corinthians 6:10 NIV   Dr. W. Lee Warren  John 16:33 NIV  John 10:10 NIV  Balad Air Force Base  Glioblastoma  Romans 8:28 NIV C.S. Lewis  www.wleewarrenmd.com Hope Is The First Dose   Lily Taylor Unconfined www.prayersforprodigals.com    Interview Quotes: “I was trying to figure out how to be a good doctor to people when I couldn&#39;t save [my patients], and how to be a good brother in the Lord to people when I couldn&#39;t save their bodies.” - Dr. W. Lee Warren “The last thing I heard my son say in this life was, ‘I love you.’” - Dr. W. Lee Warren “I had to say, ‘God, this doesn&#39;t feel like refinement. It feels like you&#39;re burning me up.’ But if I want to move forward in my life, I&#39;m going to have to find some way to redeem this time and make something out of it that [my son] Mitch could be proud of.” - Dr. W. Lee Warren  “What happens with the gift of time, as time passes, God opens your eyes in a new way, and the light comes back on a little bit and you start being able to see ways in which those promises are actually true.” - Dr. W. Lee Warren  “Tragic events happen in our lives, and the bad news is they happen to all of us, but the good news is there really is a way back.” - Dr. W. Lee Warren  “We heard the news that [our son Stephen] was going to be sentenced to a very long prison term, and it was really hard. So we just had to do what we had been doing up to that point when we heard the news, which was to just turn to God and say, ‘Okay, God, you can still work a miracle here.’” - Lily Taylor “[Our son Stephen] started getting a little bit of joy back because he started to feel that presence, get comfort and peace from

Finding Our Way Back From Hopelessness: Dr. W. Lee Warren & Lily Taylor

Belief is a crucial factor in personal growth and success. It fuels our determination, inspires resilience, and empowers us to overcome challenges. When we trust what is true we are less influenced by the opinions and judgments of others, which can often be hindered by their own limitations or biases. The object of our faith and belief must be sound, reliable, and constant. When we define our worth by a divine standard instead of the perceptions of others, we find greater self-confidence, authenticity, and ultimately, fulfillment. This week, author and registered dietitian Leslie Schilling shares her philosophy on having a “full and fed” life where we resist what society tells us is “healthy,” and decide that the bodies God gave us, no matter their size or shape, are miraculous. Author and preacher Bianca Juarez Olthoff shares how she defied the voices that told her that she was “prone to fail” by believing her status as a child of God would bring her a true definition of success.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Upcoming interview: Dr. W. Lee Warren Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt    Leslie Schilling   CSI University of Memphis  University of Tennessee NBA  Cirque du Soleil  diet culture www.leslieschilling.com  Feed Yourself   Bianca Juarez Olthoff  Grit Don’t Quit The Father&#39;s House Bill Gates Millennium Scholar Harvard Business Review    Interview Quotes: “It&#39;s important to have a healthy relationship with food so we can actually feed ourselves, so we can have the energy to go out and connect with others and take care of those we love around us and do our jobs. We have to be fed to live this life well.” - Leslie Schilling  “My hope is that people realize that it&#39;s never wrong to feed yourself and that we are diverse by design so we can move into more of a fed and full life.” - Leslie Schilling  “Diet culture has made us not trust our bodies and not believe that body diversity is by design.” - Leslie Schilling  “I think connecting with God daily helps us have a healthy mindset. If we really think about what healthy means, it&#39;s our own definition of healthy and not the world&#39;s definition of healthy. And for me, that&#39;s starting my day with time with God.” - Leslie Schilling “I think pursuing health in a way that aligns with our individual values can help us spiritually by being fed. If you are living a fed life and not a restricted one, you can do more.” - Leslie Schilling  “No matter what I walked into, no matter what people said, no matter what my test scores evaluated me as, I knew that I was a child of God, and with God on my side and a whole lot of work, you can step into the God call upon your life with or without a traditional educational story or a traditional story of how you were raised.” - Bianca Juarez Olthoff “We all love an underdog story, but I think it was more the S

Nurturing Faith and Filtering Harmful Voices: Leslie Schilling & Bianca Juarez Olthoff

On this bonus episode of Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer, we’re talking with the head of faith-based partnerships at Facebook, preacher, and author Nona Jones about why we often compare ourselves to other people and their accomplishments, using that as a marker of our worthiness, and how she has had to deliberately learn to refocus her mind on her spiritual value as God’s beloved child.    Guest’s Links Facebook: @NonaNotNora Instagram: @nonanotnora ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter  Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website   *Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*  

[MONTHLY SERIES] Securing Our Identity in Christ: Nona Jones

Even though it may not feel like it, grief can be a source of great hope. The way that we react against what is wrong comes from a deep desire for things to be made right. Our loss may actually lead to healing and restoration. The Bible assures us that better days are coming when God Himself will wipe every tear from our eyes. “There will be no more death or mourning or crying or pain,” it says in Revelation, “for the old order of things has passed away.” (Revelation 21:3-4) Our guests this week have walked through deep and unexpected grief and what even seemed like unfair losses. Best-selling Christian author Philip Yancey uncovered a shocking secret about his father’s death while he was still in college, one that illuminated the sometimes overbearing religious convictions of his mother. Yancey shares how he dove into his family’s origins and how he ultimately found healing from what he calls “toxic faith.” After nearly thirty years of marriage, author Mike Nappa lost his dear wife, Amy, to cancer. Mike turned to scripture to help him get through the day and to cope with processing his grief—and even today, he sees how grief and joy can coexist.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview:  Eddie Montgomery Upcoming interview: Leslie Schilling Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt   Revelation 21:3-4 NIV   Philip Yancey  Christianity Today magazine  The Jesus I Never Knew  What&#39;s So Amazing About Grace?  Where the Light Fell   Polio  iron lungs American civil rights movement Martin Luther King Jr. Center for Disease Control  G.K. Chesterton  Columbine High School Virginia Tech  Sandy Hook www.philipyancey.com   Mike Nappa  Reflections of the Grieving Soul  Psalm 16:8 NIV  Queen Elizabeth  John 15:11 NIV  Matthew 26:38 NIV   Interview Quotes: “When you grow up in a church environment, it&#39;s easy to learn how to behave, how to give a testimony, how to pray, how to do the things that look spiritual. And then one day you wake up and wonder, Is this just a learned behavior pattern that I have, or is it genuine? Am I really connecting to the God of the universe?“ - Philip Yancey “I started looking for people who were made larger by their faith.“ - Philip Yancey “Don&#39;t just give up on God because of the way God may have been presented to you. It&#39;s worth that quest to try to find who God really is and to find that God loves you. And God indeed does imagine a role for you on this earth that no one else has. That&#39;s why we were created. We were created in God&#39;s image to reflect something of God back to others.” - Philip Yancey “There&#39;s nothing that you can do to get God to love you more. No amount of spiritual calisthenics, no amount of trying to be more spiritual than everybody else—there&#39;s nothing you can do for God to love you less.” - Philip Yancey “God wants to remake us in a way that&#39;s g

When Our Losses Take Us To Healing: Philip Yancey & Mike Nappa

In celebration of CMA Fest 2023—a country music festival that takes place in Nashville, Tennessee—we’ve got a special episode showcasing country music and faith. We’ll revisit some favorite episodes from country singers who share their stories of heartache, joy, struggles and success–—and how they trusted God through it all, including interviews with  Brett Young,  Lathan Warlick,  Tayla Lynn,  Granger & Amber Smith,  Reba McEntire with her sisters Susie and Alice, and  Travis Tritt.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interviews: Larry Fleet,  Lauren Alaina,  Randy and Mary Travis,  Aaron Tippin,  Gary LeVox Upcoming interview: Philip Yancey CMA Fest 2023 Samaritan’s Purse: https://sampur.se/44HesSt     Brett Young    Lathan Warlick  Luke 15 NIV    Tayla Lynn Loretta Lynn Coal Miner's Daughter    Granger & Amber Smith    Travis Tritt “Everything Is Beautiful” Carlos Santana  Ray Charles Eagles   Common Thread    Reba McEntire with her sisters Susie and Alice Opry    Interview Quotes: “I moved to Nashville and God said, ‘Here you go, here's your career.’ And from that moment on, I made writing songs important and I made being authentic in my songwriting important, because I feel like that is the only way to connect with your fans.” - Brett Young “God was calling me to be a light out into the world.” - Lathan Warlick  “I never felt abandoned. I never felt like God wasn't there. I always knew any time that I wasn't feeling God, it was because that was of my own doing. God is everything to me. Jesus is everything to me. You know, it's always been that way.” - Tayla Lynn “If you believe like we do that God is sovereign, then [our son] River had three years on this Earth and all of our days are numbered and we have to surrender to that and accept that. And then just do the next best thing to try to move forward to still continue to grow our faith.” - Granger & Amber Smith “I'm one of those people that can look back and say, honestly, my dreams have more than come true.” - Travis Tritt   “When I don't have anything else to pray about, I just stop and I say, ‘Thank you, God, thank you. I don't know what's coming next. I don't know how I'm going to do this, but I just want to say thank you.’” - Susie McEntire-Eaton ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel! Audio Episodes:     https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7  Bonus Podcasts:     https://bit.ly/3vfLlGw  Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer:  https://bit.ly/3Sd0a6C  Peace for Everyday Life:     https://bit.ly/3zzwFoj  Peace in Uncertain Times:     https://bit.ly/3cHfB6u  What’s Good?     https://bit.ly/3vc2cKj  Enneagram:     https://bit.ly/3hzRCCY  ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter  Pinterest YouTube Website

Country Music & Faith: The Stage, the Songs, and the Soul

Our guests this week speak to living a life where they’re seeing things they never thought possible come to fruition, and how faith factored into those events. From singing in small town church choirs to receiving the Golden Buzzer on America’s Got Talent, country trio band Chapel Hart never thought they’d be where they are today, playing music for audiences all over the country and sharing their faith.  Andy Partington, author of Hope in Addiction, grew up in a rehabilitation center where his parents worked. He discovered from a young age that recovery from addiction is possible no matter your story, and found his passion for helping addicts see there is hope in Christ for a better future.     Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview:  Emily Chang Upcoming interview:  Brett Young,  Lathan Warlick,  Tayla Lynn,  Granger &amp; Amber Smith,  Travis Tritt, and  Reba McEntire along with her sisters Susie and Alice   Chapel Hart America&#39;s Got Talent Simon Cowell  Glory Days Loretta Lynn  Dolly Parton     Andy Partington Novo Communities Yeldall Manor  Hope in Addiction   Interview Quotes: “It&#39;s been a joy for us to watch God bless people through our music and through our presence because we prayed before every show, ‘God just allow us to be the vessels, may nothing that we say be to glorify us, may all be to glorify You, but more than that, make people hear You through what we do and what we say.’” - Danica Hart “Every day won&#39;t be perfect, but we know that it&#39;s all a part of the journey, and that it makes the glory days what it is.” - Devynn Hart “You&#39;re in your glory days and because these are the times of your life, it doesn&#39;t exempt you from loss and grief and disappointment and heartbreak. All of those things still happen while you&#39;re in your glory days, and our faith has been instrumental in being on this journey.” - Danica Hart “Even in the things that you don&#39;t understand, trust that He&#39;s got your path laid out, that the path is there ,and everything you need for your journey is already inside of you, but you&#39;ve just got to trust that He&#39;ll lead you there.” - Danica Hart “Really, addiction is this experience of losing the power to choose, and recovery is discovering again that that power to choose addiction lives on a continuum.” - Andy Partington “We live in an age of addiction. Let&#39;s talk about addiction. Let&#39;s think about addiction, and let&#39;s work together, really, to create communities where we have the depth of relationship with one another and the depth of relationship with God, where actually we have a recovery promoting, and an addiction-preventing environment for one another.” - Andy Partington  “When we&#39;re in addiction, it&#39;s not about pleasure…it&#39;s about the avoidance of pain. It&#39;s about getting away from something, not moving towards

Believing In The Impossible: Chapel Hart & Andy Partington

There are no guarantees that we won’t face heartache and disappointment in life. But God guarantees that there is deep meaning in all the seasons of our life, and that grief can eventually give way to joy. This is reiterated in scripture, where in  John 16:20, it says “You will grieve, but your grief will turn to joy.” Whether we are grieving the loss of a person, or experiencing disappointment that we haven’t found what we’re looking for in life, God will find a way to bring us beauty from the ashes.   Singer and songwriter Jimi Cravity is a two-time Dove Award nominee whose music has made its way into the hands of artists like Ludacris and Usher. Cravity faced the tragic loss of his son and made a stunning discovery about God and music during his deepest sadness. Leslie Means thought she was living her dream as a news anchor, but always felt that she was made for something more. With the encouragement of her husband Kyle, Leslie stepped away from her news job and went on to create an online community that helps women in times of need—Her View From Home—and found what she’d been meant to do all along.    Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview:  Luke Weaver Upcoming interview: Chapel Hart  John 16:20 NIV   Jimi Cravity  Ludacris  Usher The Last Amen  liver cancer Potter&#39;s House at One L.A.  Revelations  Revelations 22:13-15 NIV  Deuteronomy 31:6 NIV   Leslie Means  Her View From Home University of Nebraska-Lincoln Houston Rockets  So God Made A Mother   Interview Quotes: “Of course, as a parent, you never want to become a bereaved parent. You never want to deal with loss, but what I can say now on the other side is that God has given me beauty for ashes, that He&#39;s given me a garment of praise instead of a spirit of heaviness, that He has turned despair into dancing, and I&#39;m thankful for that.” - Jimi Cravity “I remember there were Sundays where all I could do was just go into the service and I would just go to the altar and kneel and weep. And it was in those moments that I felt very near to Christ, that I felt very near to God, that I felt the nearness of His Spirit, that I felt strength, that I felt Him in those moments of bowing and kneeling at the altar there.” - Jimi Cravity  “The Bible says that God is near to those who are brokenhearted. And I think it&#39;s really clear to feel that when you feel blessed, when everything is going your way, when you feel like you&#39;re on top of the world–but it&#39;s challenging to feel that and remember that when you are experiencing loss and when you&#39;re experiencing some of the darkest days that you could possibly experience.” - Jimi Cravity  “I remember driving around for my lunch breaks and I would call my mom. I would call her every day and I&#39;d say, ‘Something is missing. I&#39;m not where I&#39;m supposed to be.’” - Leslie Means “I knew that God ha

A Time to Grieve, A Time to Heal: Jimi Cravity & Leslie Means

On this bonus episode of Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer, we’re talking to country music singer/songwriter Aaron Watson, who shares how an injury to his vocal chords necessitated a need for him to come off the road and rest his voice–with no guarantees that his voice would return. Aaron tells us how scary it was to consider that he may not sing again, but how he chose to trust that God would provide for him, and how he was motivated to tell others about God’s grace in a new way.     Guest’s Links Facebook: @aaronwatsonmusic Twitter: @aaron_watson Instagram: @aaronwatsonmusic ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter  Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website   *Episode produced by Four Eyes Media*

[MONTHLY SERIES] Resting on Faith During Seasons Of Waiting: Aaron Watson

Sometimes the people we least expect to make a difference in the world are the ones that show up in ways we never thought possible, and are used by God in big ways to draw others to Him.  Alice Marie Johnson had been sentenced to life in federal prison, but she didn’t let it define her. She consistently clung to her faith and then became a minister to other prisoners—despite the tragic circumstances—and she is now an active criminal justice reform advocate. While following anti-human traffickers in Southeast Asia to film a documentary, Christina Zorich witnessed the crippling heartache victims faced, and saw how God can bring hope and healing to anyone, anywhere.      Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview:  Aaron Tippin Upcoming interview: Jimi Cravity   Alice Marie Johnson   Psalm 23:4 NIV  John 1:5 NIV Yale University University of Washington  Clemency Project 2014  Kim Kardashian  Ivanka Trump  Jared Kushner Receiving &amp; Discharge   Christina Zorich  The New Abolitionists Olympia Dukakis  Louis Zorich Our Town Unlikely Heroes Polaris Project  Extreme Love Ministries  Tamar&#39;s Center   Interview Quotes: “I knew that the Lord was with me, because I had peace even standing there [in the courtroom] that I can&#39;t even explain to this day how I could be calm hearing that sentence, that executed sentence of death being pronounced over me.” - Alice Marie Johnson  “I asked the Lord, ‘Please show me my purpose in this. Show me what you have for me in this. There&#39;s got to be more than this. If You could use me in prison, use me wherever I am, Lord. Let my life stand for something.’” - Alice Marie Johnson  “I know that it was a sovereign hand of God. For someone to see me as a human being worth a second chance, worth redemption, I know that it was God.” - Alice Marie Johnson  “Going on the journey [following anti-traffickers in Asia] was actually in some ways so simple, because I had to be so dependent on God. I had to be so dependent on just getting every little opportunity, appreciating it, and if I made a mistake, I had to learn from the lesson.” - Christina Zorich  “I realized the simplicity of the experience really helped guide me and made my life just simpler in a way. Because when you&#39;re doing something for the first time, that wide-eyed openness makes you appreciate things and value things. And the experience and the journey changed me in many ways.” - Christina Zorich  ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel! Audio Episodes:     https://bit.ly/3zvjbK7  Bonus Podcasts:     https://bit.ly/3vfLlGw  Jesus Listens: Stories of Prayer:  https://bit.ly/3Sd0a6C  Peace for Everyday Life:     https://bit.ly/3zzwFoj  Peace in Uncertain Times:     https://bit.ly/3cHfB6u  What’s Good?     https://bit.ly/3vc2cKj  Enneagram:     https

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