Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith

During a season when “love” is celebrated with flowers, candy, and romantic cards, it’s easy to forget that love has many facets. The kind of love that sticks around when it feels like there’s not much to celebrate. The kind of love that forgives in the face of disappointments and dishonesty. The kind of love that lives up to the promise that God, who Himself is love, made to us; that no matter what, He will never leave us or forsake us. Our guests this week are two couples who have walked together through joyous and difficult seasons—only to find that their love had the capacity to carry them through it all.  We’re talking to country singers Linda Davis and Lang Scott and one time fugitive Bobby Love and his wife Cheryl.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Listens Past interview: Danielle Coke Upcoming interview: John Siebeling and Wayne Francis   Linda Davis Lang Scott Grand Ole Opry Reba McEntire Love Remains Hebrews 11 NIV Lady A   Bobby Love Richard Nixon The Redemption of Bobby Love   Interview Quotes: “God has blessed our life and our family with wonderful opportunities and experiences that we share with people now that we can go out and talk about.” - Lang Scott “Music has been our life. It's been our life together and now for our children as well. God uses what we have done in our life to make an impact in a positive way and in a spiritual way to us, to others.” - Lang Scott “My mother, she prayed that I would straighten up and do the right things, and she prayed that God would just be there for me.” - Bobby Love “I knew somewhere in my deepest of hearts that this is what I had been feeling for so many years, that he was keeping something from me. I just didn't know what it was.” - Cheryl Love “We had a faith in God, and we talked about that, that God had always been with us. He had never left us. And, you know, I just felt like I had to forgive [Bobby].” - Cheryl Love ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PrbuwH Video Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PsmEkJ What’s Good? Playlist: https://bit.ly/3i7VUlZ ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website   Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Perhaps the biggest thing that contributes to having a happy and fulfilling life is faith. Our guests this week can attest to that—even though they’re talented, attained fame, and are adored by millions, they each say that the only thing that has gotten them through life, brought them where they are today, and continues to sustain them is their faith. Are you having trouble living in faith? Has your past been difficult and you’re struggling to see where God has shown up for you? Even though it may seem impossible, you can still live in faith. You can take that first step by just talking to God. Tell Him your hopes, your fears, your disappointments. And as you develop that relationship with God, you won’t be afraid to dream bigger dreams, to imagine that your life can be better, to believe that any sadness that envelops you now can be replaced by peace one day. When we believe things can be better and that God will fulfill His purpose in our lives, we begin to develop a faith that is unstoppable and will carry us through every challenging season. Here to share more about what it means to have an unstoppable faith is country singer Granger Smith and his wife Amber and singer, songwriter and author Chiquis Rivera.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Listens Sarah Young Upcoming interview: Linda Davis   Granger Smith   Chiquis Rivera Jenni Rivera Unstoppable   Interview Quotes: “When you hold little humans, you know, and you realize that they depend on you for so much and you look into their eyes and you see the reflection of you.” - Granger Smith “God, help me make the right decision in this moment right now for my family. I'll follow your lead because I'm not in control here." - Granger Smith “The thing that we did was we ran to Him. Yeah, we just ran to Him and he's just carried us for these last two years.” - Amber Smith  “I would tell people at school, all the kids at school, like, ‘My mom is going to be famous one day,’ and they would laugh at me and make fun of me. And I had so much faith in her from the very beginning.” - Chiquis Rivera  “When life drops you on your knees, you're already there, you might as well pray. And that's what I've always done throughout those moments, I always keep my eyesight focused at the light at the end of the tunnel.” - Chiquis Rivera “I'm very well aware that everything I have is because of God, because of His grace. And I keep that in mind. It helps humble me and keep me grounded every single day…What makes me unstoppable? It’s really no secret. It is my faith.” - Chiquis Rivera “What makes me unstoppable? It’s really no secret. It is my faith.” - Chiquis Rivera “When I don't try to fit God into my schedule, everything else goes around Him, around my faith, it's something that I think has helped me. I have this most of the time, unshakable faith where it's like, Okay, no matter what, I know, everything is going to be okay.” - Chiquis Rivera ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PrbuwH Video Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PsmEkJ What’s Good? Playlist: https://bit.ly/3i7VUlZ ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Perhaps you’ve received some news recently that has thrown you for a loop. Someone you love or care about is sick or dying. Or maybe someone close to you is struggling with the darkness of mental illness. Or maybe you yourself have had a health problem or a devastating diagnosis. In this life, we can be reasonably sure that none of us will be spared from suffering. How do we reckon our pain and suffering with a loving God who is supposed to take care of us? There’s a verse in first Peter that says, “After you have suffered a little while, the God of all grace, who has called you to His eternal glory in Christ, will Himself restore, confirm, strengthen, and establish you.” Our guests have found comfort in the truth that God is a God of healing and restoration, and that their suffering has produced endurance, strength, and knit them together in compassion for others. For this episode, we’ll hear from Meg Apperson, a mother of four who advocates for her special needs daughter Avery, and Karlie Green, a congenital heart disease survivor.    Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling Jesus Listens 1 Peter 5:10 NIV Past interview: Amanda Kloots Upcoming interview: Granger Smith   Meg Apperson Craniosynostosis Single suture craniosynostosis Sky Full of Stars: Learning to Surrender to God’s Perfect Plans   Karlie Green Two Hearts, One Hope: A True Story of Enduring Faith in the Messiness of Life Congenital heart disease Non Hodgkin's Lymphoma   Interview Quotes: “The Lord really supernaturally spared both my life and Avery's life by kind of shielding us from how involved her defects would turn out to be.” - Meg Apperson “When you become a special needs parent, initially, your every thought is just consumed with either the present, how you're going to support this child, or you're learning how to meet their needs.” - Meg Apperson “It's so hard to come into a place where you can kind of release that white-knuckled control over your life or your children's lives or your future. And so really, what I, as somebody who struggles with wanting to control things, I really just have to pray, you know, ‘Lord, help me, help me to be malleable. Helped me just be able to surrender.’” - Meg Apperson  “The Lord is not surprised by our humanity. He made us human, and so He is not put off by the struggle to surrender.” - Meg Apperson “There is light at the end of the tunnel. There is. And that light might not show up today, it might not show up tomorrow. But when you put your faith in God, when you start praying and really talking to Him and getting to know Him, you know, just like the Bible says, He does everything for the good.” - Karlie Green ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PrbuwH Video Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PsmEkJ What’s Good? Playlist: https://bit.ly/3i7VUlZ ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

This special bonus episode of the Jesus Calling Podcast features multiple guests who have appeared in their own episodes on the Jesus Calling Podcast speaking to the topic of love. Love comes in many forms, but none is more powerful than to know we are unconditionally accepted and loved by God, the one who created us. We hope you are able to tap into the powerful force of love in your life through these stories about how love transformed, healed and brought a sense of belonging and purpose to those who were willing to recognize and welcome it into their lives.    Links To Full EpisodesLauren Alaina Danielle Coke Rick Steves Jennifer Greenberg Ginny Owens Andrew & Shawn Johnson East Lecrae Moore ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website   *Episode produced by Four Eyes Media* Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

What’s the central driving force to your life? Is it career? Family? Achieving success? In the Bible, there’s a verse that says “Whatever you do, do it for the glory of God.” What does this mean? “To give glory” is to praise, to recognize the importance of another, the contribution that someone gives to your life. And when we allow God to be central to all we do and say, we’ll realize our potential for love, healing, and relationship in new ways. Musician Jonathan Singletary and his wife, journalist, Project Runway judge and host of CBS’s The Talk Elaine Welteroth find their marriage and their individual purposes in life strengthened when God is in the middle of it. Researcher and writer Juni Felix found hope and healing from trauma when she allowed Jesus inside the center of her pain and believed that she was worthy to live a life outside of the trauma that once defined her.    Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast 1 Corinthians 10:31 NIV Jesus Calling Jesus Listens Sarah Young Past interview: Paula Faris Upcoming interview: Meg Apperson   Jonathan Singletary Elaine Welteroth South Bay Community Church Yvonne Orji More Than Enough Piano and Prayer   Juni Felix John 17:3 NIV www.junifelix.com You Are Worth the Work   Interview Quotes: “God puts people in our lives to show us a piece of His character, a piece of His heart in a different way.” - Jonathan Singletary  “When God gives you a gift, it can go either way, depending on what we're acting out of. If we're acting out of the purity of our relationship with God, then you can see the beauty of it, the light of it. But if we act out of our wounding, we can use that same gift, and there could be kind of a darkness to it, or a lack of love, or a lack of self-love in it.” - Jonathan Singletary  “It's your sole obligation while you are here to uncover your purpose and to put God at the center and to never give up, like, never, ever give up on what God has shown you is for you.” - Elaine Welteroth “When we are really standing in the light of God's love, we know that we are whole, we know that we are more than enough.” - Elaine Welteroth “I hope that as I share some of this, those who are blessed with opportunities to show kindness to children who are homeless and displaced don't ever hold back. I'm living proof that kindness really matters. And so these wonderful seeds of hope, they can literally last throughout a lifetime.” - Juni Felix “The reason that so many people, myself included, who sincerely love the Lord and want to live out His love and shine His light;  they struggle and stumble and get stuck because deep within, we feel unworthy of God's love and grace because of those adverse childhood experiences.” - Juni Felix “Dare to believe that you are worth the work because trauma recovery is hard work, but you are so worth it.” - Juni Felix ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PrbuwH Video Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PsmEkJ What’s Good? Playlist: https://bit.ly/3i7VUlZ ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

It seems that much of our lives is driving toward something big. Whether it’s career, personal goals, seeking success or building a life for our loved ones, we’re often aiming high to be or do something big. However, we’ll miss some important moments if we don’t look at the small ways God is showing up in our lives: a simple word from a friend that brightens our day, an act of service from someone that makes our day go smoother, or even a thought from a complete stranger that reminds us we are seen and heard. When we actively look for these moments, we realize that God is all around us, at all times—in the small details of our days as well as the big moments—and recognizing His presence in all of our moments will draw us closer to Him. Flight Attendant Taylor Tippett started a project of leaving encouraging notes on the planes she worked on for passengers to find as a small act of kindness that has netted big results. Texas country music artist Curtis Grimes sees the value of reaching people for God not only in the big stadiums and auditoriums, but in the small honky tonks, fairs, festivals, & rodeos he plays regularly.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling  Jesus Always Jesus Listens Past interview: Lisa Harper Upcoming interview: Elaine Welteroth and Jonathan Singletary   Taylor Tippett Pan Am @wordsfromthewindowseat Words From The Window Seat   Curtis Grimes The Voice  CeeLo Green Andraé Crouch song, “Through It All”  “Graves Into Gardens” Interview Quotes: “I'm a very big believer in things happening for a reason. And so I was like, What if somebody finds this and really needs this? And so I wrote “Be kind to yourself” and took a picture and left it on the seat back.” - Taylor Tippett “Through this project of really keeping an eye out for the small moments and for the kindness, that's my whole goal with this; it's just that people would feel understood and loved where they're at.” - Taylor Tippett “I think just having patience and grace with people that look different from us or act different from us or seem different from us is so important.” - Taylor Tippett “I was having a lot of conviction for how I was living and just was not representing Christ the way I should in not only in my music, my lifestyle. And from that point on, just kind of really made a conscious effort to use the talent and ability that God had blessed me with to reach people, to go into the bars, honky tonks, fairs, festivals, rodeos, wherever we were playing, and actually use that to point people to Jesus, not do the opposite.” - Curtis Grimes “Initially, my thought was to just remove myself from the environment, just get out of the scene, get out of the lifestyle, get away from it, and just go lead worship in a church. But God really put it on my heart that, ‘I have you here for a reason. I want you to do whatever you think that you were going to do in a church out here where you're actually reaching people in a place where people aren't going to hear about Jesus.’“ - Curtis Grimes ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PrbuwH Video Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PsmEkJ What’s Good? Playlist: https://bit.ly/3i7VUlZ ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

You might have heard about the popular personality typing assessment called the Enneagram. What you might not know is that the Enneagram has many applications for Christians and has some of its early formation shaped by historical Christian thinkers. By looking at ourselves and those we care about in the context of the nine Enneagram types, we can understand ourselves and who God created us to be, so that we can in turn better understand others and have a more compassionate heart. For this episode, we’ll speak with several experts on the Enneagram who help us walk through the different personality types and share deep personal insights they found from utilizing the Enneagram in their relationships both at home and in their church community.    Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Listens Jesus Calling Jesus Calling YouTube  Enneagram Relating to God through the Enneagram YouTube Series Jesus Calling Enneagram discussion guides Past interview: Shannon Bream Upcoming interview: Taylor Tippett   Mark Eaton Dr. Harv Powers Enneagram assessment Enneagram Two  Matthew chapter 7 www.eatonleadership.org   Jackie Brewster Eve Annunziato Jesus Calling app Jesus Calling for kids Hearing God Speak   Interview Quotes: “The Enneagram studies motives, it studies drivers, it studies what motivates a person. And if we know what motivates us, what drives us, what's the thing behind the thing, then we can be much more effective in our leadership.” - Mark Eaton “Enneagram twos tend to withdraw when we get into a little bit of conflict. We don't understand our own needs. We understand everybody else's, if you will, but we have trouble getting our own. So I can tend to withdraw for sometimes for two or three days before I understand what I'm feeling.” - Mark Eaton “Enneagram can help us. It's just a tool, but it can help us have much more intimate relationships with those who we say we love.” - Mark Eaton “The Enneagram helps me become the humble guy that I really want to be. When I'm facing my wife, I am aware, at least at some level, of the logs in my own eye and maybe, just maybe, I can help someone else with a splinter in their eye.” - Mark Eaton “I had never really looked at my life through the lens of the Enneagram. And so because of the tool that it is, it's allowed me to really slow down, process what's happening in my life, like take notice of patterns of behavior, ask myself where they're coming from. And it really has made a huge, huge difference and impact on the way that I function in my marriage with my children and in my business, with my friends, just really understanding what's happening on the inside of me and owning my own parts of my story.” - Jackie Brewster “I feel like through the work of the Enneagram, I'm accepting my own personality. And really, most importantly, I'm accepting other people's personalities that perhaps are different than mine. It's helped me view my life with compassion and empathy for others and even for myself.” - Eve Annunziato “I realize that there is no better or worse or best number and that our numbers aren't a problem to be solved. Our numbers are a beauty to be embraced, and that's helped me warmly welcome my own personality, my own vulnerability.” - Eve Annunziato “As we do recognize different parts of ourselves, [God] doesn't want us to try to fix them on our own. He wants us to bring them to Him and ask Him to be in it with us…I do love using the Enneagram as a tool, but the Bible as a transformation for our lives.” - Jackie Brewster ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PrbuwH Video Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PsmEkJ What’s Good? Playlist: https://bit.ly/3i7VUlZ ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website   Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

This season is a time for giving, reflection and joy. But what if you’re having a hard time seeing God in the swirl of busy-ness that encompass the holidays? Or what if you’re not connected with him how you’d like to be? There’s a powerful verse in the Bible from 1st John 4:12 that says even though none of us here on earth have actually “seen” God, “if we love one another, God lives in us and His love is made complete in us."  Our guests today believe that love and understanding toward others, along with prayer and seeking Him are our primary connections to God and find their faith strengthened when they are acting in kindness and service. We’ll talk with Oscar-nominated actor and recent New York Times bestselling author Will Smith and Grammy Award-winning iconic Christian singer Amy Grant.   Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast 1st John 4:12 Jesus Calling Jesus Listens  Sarah Young Past guest: Lauren AkinsUpcoming guest: Enneagram through a spiritual lens with experts Mark Eaton   Will Smith  Carnegie Mellon University Will    Amy Grant Church of Christ Belmont College  Word Records www.AmyGrant.com Interview Quotes: “External success doesn't fix your internal difficulties.” - Will Smith “I'm flawed, but so is everybody, and I get to be better moving forward.” - Will Smith “A concentration on love and service above all things can't yield anything but greatness.” - Will Smith “I want to be an ambassador of God and goodness trying to correct the lack of love in the world.” - Will Smith “Little by little, my stage grew and the audience grew and my proficiency grew and took me places I never dreamed I would go. I'm really grateful and surprised how my life turned out.” - Amy Grant “Prayer changes circumstances, it changes people, it changes the person who's going through it, it changes the person who prays, and I believe prayer is active, compassionate thought wrapped around another person.” - Amy Grant “One of the first things that comes out of my mouth in the morning is, ‘This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.’ And I feel that joy. I'm so glad to be alive.” - Amy Grant “I think we're all wired so uniquely that God gives us gifts because He knows that's what we need to get through. And then when you enjoy that gift, then it pours out on other people.” - Amy Grant ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PrbuwH Video Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PsmEkJ What’s Good? Playlist: https://bit.ly/3i7VUlZ ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website   Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

This special bonus episode of the Jesus Calling Podcast features multiple guests who have appeared in their own episodes on the Jesus Calling Podcast speaking to the topic of hope. Through a variety of situations, many difficult, some tragic, our guests from all walks of life share how hope stayed alive in their hearts and how their faith fueled that hope.    Links To Full EpisodesDr. Rick Rigsby Jim & Jill Kelly Tammie Jo Shults Randy & Mary Travis Hal Donaldson Kristin Chenoweth ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website   *Episode produced by Four Eyes Media* Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.

Though Christmas is typically a happy time of year, full of gifts and parties and celebrations, many find it hard to find joy at Christmas time. Maybe you’ve had a loss, or received some bad news, or a scary diagnosis. Through all the celebrating and good cheer, God still sees you. And in Him, you can draw strength that will never fail you. Jeremiah 33:3 tells us that God is just waiting to do mighty things if we’ll just reach out to Him. “Call to Me,” He says, “and I will answer you, and show you great and mighty things, which you do not know.” We wish we could know what our future holds or if and when we’ll get out of a season of hurt and pain—but what we do know is that we can call on God and He will be there for us. His very existence assures us that we’re never alone. Our guests this week, country music star Steve Wariner and country gospel group The Isaacs know a little bit about what leaning on God looks like, and how He shows up not only in the Christmas songs and celebrations we hear and see at Christmas, but through times of confusion, doubt, pain, sickness and sorrow.    Links, Products, and Resources Mentioned: Jesus Calling Podcast Jeremiah 33:3  Jesus Calling Jesus Listens Jesus Always Past interview: Dave Pittman  Upcoming interview: Amy Grant   Steve Wariner Dottie West Bobby Bare Jim Ed Brown Chet Atkins Capitol Records Burnin’ the Road House Down COVID Feels Like Christmas Time   The Isaacs The Isaacs Foundation Polish Jewish Holocaust survivors Bergen-Belsen concentration camp  Buna concentration camp  Feldafing Grand Ole Opry www.theisaacs.com   Interview Quotes: “I remember the first time I played music was in church, the first music I heard was in church.” - Steve Wariner “During those really hard times when you look around and so many friends are going away and friends of friends or relatives that it was starting to get really close, the circle closer, I found myself really turning into faith a lot. And really, you know, you get down on your knees and you go, Man, this is an unprecedented time we're in. And you draw back on those early experiences in your life lessons and turn to those things. It's very humbling, these times, that’s for sure. And I try to turn to some people that need some help and help them if I can.” - Steve Wariner “It really does my heart good to play that music and bring it out and sing beautiful melodies, and the real lyrics that really mean what Christmas is.” - Steve Wariner “We recorded when we were just small children singing in harmony. And so it was something that was just surrounding us. And so it was a very natural fit for us to grow up loving music, different kinds of music…faith has been the core of everything that we are and everything that we've ever wanted to do, just to be whatever God wanted us to be. ” - Sonya Isaacs Yeary “There was a banjo and a guitar and prayer in our home all the time.” - Rebecca Isaacs Bowman “To be able to be where I am now and look back on my past and know that God has ordained our family in the positions that we are, I look at it now and I could see it the alignment all the way from Mom and Dad getting saved into who we are today, who we are independently.” - Ben Isaacs “We know how blessed we are to have each other.” - Sonya Isaacs Yeary “I'm convinced that if you can just let your egos at the door and pray together, then you'll stay together.” - Rebecca Isaacs Bowman “The minute my flesh hit the floor, God already knew my heart. He knew I was open to whatever He had. And it was a process.” - Lily Isaacs “I think that choosing the type of songs that you sing and knowing that you can sing them anywhere makes a big difference in how you can spread the word and the word of hope.” - Ben Isaacs “We do love to share what God has brought us through and His faithfulness and everything, because He is so faithful, He's been so faithful to us through all the things and so much more. And He still is leading us through.” - Sonya Isaacs Yeary ________________________ Enjoy watching these additional videos from Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PrbuwH Video Playlist: https://bit.ly/2PsmEkJ What’s Good? Playlist: https://bit.ly/3i7VUlZ ________________________  Connect with Jesus Calling Instagram Facebook Twitter Pinterest YouTube Jesus Calling Website Discover more Christian podcasts at lifeaudio.com and inquire about advertising opportunities at lifeaudio.com/contact-us.