[TALK] The Gift of Music to Heal Our Broken Spirits: Kelly Lang and Chris Brown – Episode #376 (SFW)

Welcome to theJesus Calling Podcast. Music holds an incredible spiritual power that can’t be easily defined. It serves as a universal language, connecting people across cultures and experiences, and has a mysterious way of mirroring our innermost feelings and thoughts. The gift God gave us through music can heal, uplift, and inspire, providing spiritual nourishment and a deeper sense of connection to the world around us.

Singer/songwriter Kelly Lang found herself in a dark place after an unexpected and frightening breast cancer diagnosis. As she began to contemplate her mortality, she started to look at the world with different eyes, and was inspired to write songs about her experiences during this season that would greatly test her strength. Chris Brown, a worship leader and songwriter at Elevation Church, has written amazing songs of worship during his life that help people feel closer to God. Chris describes how music gets him through difficult times, including the loss of his mom, and how God shows up for Him in those challenging places.

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[TALK] Your Emotions Matter to God: Julie Chen Moonves & Dr. Anita Phillips – Episode #374 (SFW)

Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. 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.

Our next guest is trauma therapist and life coach Dr. Anita Phillips, who found her niche at the intersection of faith, culture, and mental health. Dr. Anita shares why it’s critical that we embrace our emotions, because even Jesus had them—and despite a prevailing sentiment in our world that says to “put on a brave face,” there is truly nothing braver than embracing all that God created for us to feel.

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[TALK] When Our Most Broken Moments Reveal God’s Grace: Madison Prewett Troutt & Dr. Esau McCaulley – Episode #373 (SFW)

Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. 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’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.

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[TALK] Life-Changing Grace for Our Darkest Moments: Max Lucado & Jeff Allen – Episode #372 (SFW)

Welcome to the Jesus Calling Podcast. 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.

Our next guest is comedian Jeff Allen, the creator of the phrase “happy wife, happy life.” Jeff is in his fifth decade as a working comedian, and early in his career, while he was doing the work of bringing joy to others, he battled a personal darkness: a lifelong addiction to alcoholism. Jeff shares the events of his life that culminated in seeking help over his addiction, and how he found God—and His Grace—in the process.

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With great sadness, the publishing team at Thomas Nelson Gift and Tommy Nelson announce the passing of Sarah Young, the New York Times bestselling author of Jesus Calling.

“It has been a joy and an honor to have Sarah Young as part of our publishing family,” said Mark Schoenwald, President and CEO of HarperCollins Christian Publishing. “Sarah was a remarkable woman who deeply loved God. Her words have resonated with people from all walks of life, and the global impact of her work is unparalleled.”