Jesus Calling: Stories of Faith

We’re able to share our hearts and to love others because God chose to love us first. Today’s guests, Joseph “Rev Run” Simmons of RUN-D.M.C. and his wife Justine, along with evangelist and founder of Think Eternity Matt Brown share how they’ve learned to develop qualities of pure, selfless love and how this love has profoundly changed their lives. When he was at the height of his music career, Rev Run couldn’t ignore the void inside him, and it wasn’t until he discovered Jesus that he finally felt whole. He and Justine share their marriage secrets and what it takes to make a relationship work (spoiler alert: put God first!). There’s one nagging thought that keeps Matt Brown up at night: how will the world ever feel God’s love if Christians don’t accurately represent it? If we want to experience the full love that God has for each of us and spread that love to others, we need to set our intentions of seeking that love daily. Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling bookJesus Calling for Kids, Girls Edition devotional BibleGateway   Patti Callahan Henry Becoming Mrs. Lewis book Rev Run & Justine Simmons Old School Love: And Why It Works bookJoseph "Rev Run" Simmons God, Can You Hear Me? Children’s bookRolling Stone Magazine   Matt Brown Think Eternity Truth Plus Love: The Jesus Way to Influence book   Interview Quotes: ”It's just funny how you can visualize and set your intentions, and things just come to pass.” - Rev Run “There's this void that success and money can't fill.” - Rev Run “You’d think that making hit records or money or cars or fame or people saying, "Oh, you're the greatest," people praising you for making your music would do it. But actually, when you start praising God, that's when you get happy.” - Rev Run  “I love [my husband] so much, but I love God more.” - Justine Simmons “Spending and dedicating time with God leads to a better hearing ear.” - Rev Run “Enjoying each other's company is probably a big part of staying together.” - Rev Run “God has a way of making it clear to us where He wants us to go and what He wants us to do. . . . To grow in the Lord, and to reflect God to the world around us, we need both truth and love.” - Matt Brown “How is the world supposed to see the grace of God if the people of God are not gracious?” - Matt Brown ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    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.

Jesus didn’t come for perfect people—He came to heal the broken and the hurting. Today’s guests, artist and author Amy Kavelaris and Christian music artist Austin French, share how God met them in their broken places and healed their lives and hearts. Amy draws inspiration from the awe-filled way her three little girls see the world, and it reminds her of the light God is in her life. When she gets overwhelmed by demands on her time or struggles to navigate life’s changing seasons, Amy remembers that God is creating opportunities for her. Austin French faced an internal battle with Christianity for years, only to realize he wasn’t hurt by a broken God, but by broken people. He finally found peace and healing when he learned that Jesus wants every piece of us. We are not defined by our scars—we’re defined by His.    Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling book Jesus Calling AppJesus Calling® for Easter. With 50 Jesus Calling devotions Jesus Calling interview with Mercy Me’s Bart Millard Amy Kavelaris Bloom Print Studio Harper Collins / Thomas Nelson / Tommy Nelson Good Night, My Darling Dear book   Austin French ABC’s “Rising Star” NBC’s “The Voice,”   Interview Quotes: “I just had this innate feeling that God existed and that I just wanted to follow Him with my life.” - Amy Kavelaris ”I think it's so important that we celebrate God's creation. It's fun to add a little whimsy and sparkle into the everyday, because our kids see the everyday as wonderful and extraordinary.” - Amy Kavelaris ”I get so much more from watching [my girls] and seeing how they react to [the world]. It's just this beautiful relationship that we have, where it 100 percent inspires what I do every day.” - Amy Kavelaris ”This is all about Him. He’s the only reason I'm doing any of this.” - Amy Kavelaris  “I find that the only joy and freedom is when we gaze upon His light and His truth. It's then that we find that true, indescribable joy, and stop chasing after what the world tells us we need.” - Amy Kavelaris “I didn't understand why we had to change who we were at church and why we couldn't be who we were all the time. As an eight-year-old kid, I wrote down: I never want to be a Christian.” - Austin French “I realized that I had been hurt by broken people, not Jesus. Jesus is what He told me He was—He was the Healer of broken people.” - Austin French  “We're very needy people, all of us. We need people. We need a God who's with us and working with us.” - Austin French ”I think the only way to find a relationship with Jesus and truly find freedom in Jesus is to understand that brokenness is a part of this story.” - Austin French “We're not defined by our scars or the scars that you're walking through right now— we're defined by His. - Austin French ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    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.

Life will give us our share of dark times, but we can choose to be the light. Today’s guests share how they use the power of story to share messages of hope and purpose. Award-winning ABC News correspondent Linsey Davis shares how she has taken lessons from her childhood in church, her time as a reporter, and the values she’s trying to instill in her young son to show that what’s important is loving people, not focusing on our differences. After several miscarriages, when Angela Rodgers discovered she was pregnant again, she was told the baby would have several health issues—but Angela loved her little girl and knew God had a plan for her life. Dynamic mother-daughter duo Angela and Grace Anna Rodgers are now sharing nine-year-old Grace Anna’s gift of singing with the world, spreading happiness and reminding others that what matters about people is who they are on the inside, not the outside.    Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling book Jesus Calling Family Devotional Jesus Calling: 365 Devotions for KidsJesus Calling App   Linsey Davis ABC’s World News Tonight ABC’s Good Morning America ABC’s Nightline The World is Awake: A Celebration of Everyday Blessings book One Big Heart: A Celebration of Being More Alike Than Different book   Angela and Grace Anna Rodgers GraceAnnaSings.org  Grace Anna Sings: A Story of Hope Through a Little Girl with a Big Voice book Who Do You See When You Look at Me? book Grace Anna singing the National Anthem (Facebook video) Conradi Hunermann Syndrome Sammy Kershaw Bobby Henline   Contemporary Christian Music artist Austin French   Interview Quotes: “[My mom was] very much responsible for my falling in love with storytelling and with writing and with the English language.” - Linsey Davis  “When I look back now, I think [my time in church as a child] was so important to who I am today.” - Linsey Davis  “I can see God's hand in other people's lives, for sure. But when truly catastrophic things happen, I don't know how to explain it. But I have to believe that God has a plan.” - Linsey Davis “My son's five, and when he comes home and he's met a new friend, he doesn't tell me about their race or their background or religion or culture. He just says what they have in common.” - Linsey Davis “Let's say, ‘Hey, we have different color skin and hair and features and likes and dislikes. But guess what? God gave us all this one unique gift. He gave us all one big heart and that's the most important part, because that's where love starts.’” - Linsey Davis “From the very beginning, we wanted Grace Anna, even when the doctors didn't give us a whole lot of hope.” - Angela Rodgers “What would touch my heart so deeply is you would see these colonels and these generals with all these medals be brought to tears when Grace Anna would sing the national anthem.” - Angela Rodgers “Sometimes you go through things that change who we become.” - Angela Rodgers “I think God made each of us with unique gifts. We’re all different in some way. So we can show love by being kind and trying to learn from each other.” - Grace Anna Rodgers ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    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.

Our planet holds more than seven billion people, and each one reflects who God is—because He created every one of us in His image. Today we hear from two women who have learned the value of who God created them to be and now lead others into finding their own worth as they carve out new spaces to foster connection. Nona Jones, head of faith-based partnerships at Facebook, shares how she overcame years of abuse and trauma to learn that she’s more than what happened to her, and chose forgiveness as a way out of her shame. Today she connects with churches all over the world and people searching for God’s purpose for their own lives. Pastor Alex Seeley shares how difficult it was to uproot her life in Australia to follow God’s calling for her family in America, only to discover that churches in the US didn’t seem to have a place for her. Alex shares how she and her husband Henry created The Belonging Co as a place to help artists and musicians in Nashville without a church home to experience God’s presence, and the life-changing power of discovering His presence in our own journeys.   Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling book Jesus Calling Weekly Prayer Call Nona Jones Success From the Inside Out: Power to Rise from the Past to a Fulfilling Future Book    Alex Seeley The Belonging Co Church The Opposite Life: Unlocking the Mysteries of God’s Upside-Down Kingdom Book  Biblegateway (The Beatitudes) Planetshakers Ministry   Interview Quotes: “The reason I was acting out [was] because of so much chaos at home. I was responding and reacting to trauma, and nobody ever asked me why I was acting that way. They just assumed I was a bad kid.” - Nona Jones “I have this scar on one of my wrists that's a constant reminder of what I tried to do [to end my life], but it's also a reminder of God's grace, because He determined that my life was worth living, even when I didn't see it.” - Nona Jones “Trauma really changes the way you see yourself. The thing I would like to encourage other people to know is you are not what happened to you.” - Nona Jones “Twenty-five minutes after I resigned from my job in faith, Facebook called me out of the blue.” - Nona Jones “If you look at the life of Jesus, He didn't tell people, ‘Hey guys, come see me at the temple on Sunday at 11:00, I have this amazing series that's coming up.’ He didn't do that. He ministered to people wherever they were.” - Nona Jones “Just like a healthy family needs both parents to bring balance to home life, I think a church so needs the balance of male and female attributes of the father heart of God.” - Alex Seeley “There are so many people that are hungry for an encounter with God, but they're being given a religious experience, but not this amazing encounter with the Holy Spirit and Jesus.” - Alex Seeley “To have an encounter where Jesus changes your life, and then people take note of the change that's happening.” - Alex Seeley “I think the world is confused, because people who call themselves Christians are not acting in an opposite spirit. They're acting like everybody else.” - Alex Seeley “I've been a Christian for thirty-five years, and I can't get past the fact that He loved me while I was a broken mess.” - Alex Seeley ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    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.

None of us is guaranteed a pain-free life. But when we can’t see the right way to move forward, that’s where God steps in to take us by the hand and leads us out of the dark. On today’s episode, Army veteran and Bachelorette contestant Luke Pell and author/speaker Jack Deere share some of their painful moments—an unexplainable, near-death experience; watching a spouse slip into an alcohol addiction; losing a child—events that almost caused them to give up. But each man reminds us: when it feels like we have nothing left to cling to, God is there. And He’s ready to guide us through those experiences so that later, we can support others who may not be able to find their way out, either. Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling book Jesus Always Family Prayer Calendar   Luke Pell ABC’s The Bachelorette show West Point - United States Military Academy Mayo Clinic (PTSD) BibleGateway   Jack Deere Dallas Theological Seminary Even in Our Darkness: The Story of Beauty in a Broken Life book Young Life C. S. Lewis John Snyder Oil Company   Nona Jones, Facebook’s Global Faith-Based Partnerships   Interview Quotes: “As you become an adult, you have to figure out what your faith really means to you.” - Luke Pell “If you're not growing and getting stronger and [going in] the direction of your goals, you're going to be digressing in the wrong direction.” - Luke Pell “One of the biggest victories in my faith was that I came back to a spot where I was completely surrendering my plans and my expectations back to God, and what purpose I was put on this earth for, instead of [wondering] what I could get out of this world and what people thought of me.” - Luke Pell  “Only one thing does matter: it’s the legacy that you left, the inspiration that you left in the world, the people that you inspired, your faith that you were able to show to the rest of the world around you, and the lives that you were able to change.” - Luke Pell “Then God shows up and comes alongside you through somebody [who] gives you inspiration, or however that message comes, ‘You're gonna be okay. You're gonna make it through.’” - Luke Pell “I've really learned to appreciate those moments of uncertainty, when you're feeling more alone and you're feeling like you don't know what tomorrow holds. . . . Those are the times when I get the most direct purpose from God in my life.” - Luke Pell “We have to really stay true to ourselves and true to our faith, and keep that faith walk intact, regardless of what the rest of the world is throwing at you every day. The more we're thinking about the rest of the world and what they're thinking about us, the less we're thinking about what God has for us and where our faith walk should be.” - Luke Pell  “[My] childhood produced this desire to keep really tight control in my life. I blocked out some of the stuff and thought, Feelings are bad. Stay in your mind. Don't go to your feelings. That was the hardening effect that my childhood had on me.” - Jack Deere  “When you're seventeen years old and everybody you've ever loved has left you, to hear that God won't leave you is just too good to be true.” - Jack Deere “The only Person who never needed any help chose twelve helpers. Why? For the pleasure it gave Him to love those twelve apostles and to teach them to love what He loved.” - Jack Deere “Although I had plenty of my own shame, I didn't even think in those categories. I just thought, You have an unpleasant feeling. Just get rid of it. I lived out of my mind, not out of my feelings.” - Jack Deere “I began to see that the most important thing in life is feeling the affection of God, actually being friends with Him. We love Him because He first loved us.” - Jack Deere  ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    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.

Ever wonder exactly who you are and what you were made for? Today’s guests tell how, as they pursued ways to know God and themselves a bit more, He’s helped them understand their true selves—not what other people say they are. Enneagram coach Beth McCord shares how she and her husband, Jeff, used this popular personality test to understand each other and improve their marriage, finding out the attributes God gave them both along the way. Author Esther Fleece Allen explores the power behind the names that God gives us, and how this can help us shed labels others might give us so that we can hear who God says we are while discovering His purpose for our lives.  Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling Weekly Prayer Call True Connection with God and Each Other: Darlene Zschech and Margaret Feinberg episode    Beth McCord YourEnneagramCoach.com The Enneagram Collection Book Series Becoming Us: Using the Enneagram to Create a Thriving Gospel-Centered Marriage book   Esther Fleece Allen No More Faking Fine: Ending the Pretending book Your New Name: Saying Goodby to the Labels that Limit book     Interview Quotes: “If we learn why people do what they do, we can have more empathy, understanding, grace, mercy, compassion, and love in ways that really reflect the heart of Christ.” - Beth McCord “God created us all differently, and each of the personality types have a beautiful way that we reflect in it.” - Beth McCord  “So often my heart wants to do it myself, to figure it out myself, to pull myself up by my bootstraps. But only Christ can fix me. Only Christ can love me. Only Christ has everything accomplished for me.” - Beth McCord “Something that is very sacred and important to God is names.” - Esther Fleece Allen “[I ask myself,] ‘Who does He say that I am and how can I begin to believe the new names He's given me, apart from the labels that I've associated with for far too long?’” - Esther Fleece Allen  “God does not speak to me in a condemning way like these labels are doing. God speaks to me in a new way, a language that I'm not even really familiar with, because we're so used to criticism in this life.” - Esther Fleece Allen “There's power in a name. There's power in what we name others, what we name future generations, and there's power in the name we take on for ourselves, of who we're going to become.” - Esther Fleece Allen ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________  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.

No matter where we grow up, no matter who our parents are or which zip code we live in, each of us will meet challenges. And in those moments, we have a choice: do we give up, or do we keep going? Today we talk with two athletes who, with God by their sides, have endured the sting of defeat and the joy of victory. Lolo Jones is one of only ten athletes who have competed in both the Summer and Winter Olympic games. Lolo shares how some of the hardest moments of her childhood helped her to compete on the world stage. When he was growing up in Atlanta, Evander Holyfield found community (and a hint at his athletic future) at the Boys Clubs of America. He shares how his mother and his faith guided him into a storied boxing career, and why sometimes our defeats are more instructive than our wins. Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling Weekly Prayer CallJesus Calling app Serving Our Savior in the Spotlight: Josh Turner and Michael McDowell episode    Lolo Jones  Salvation ArmyHurdles of Hope FoundationLondon Olympics   Evander Holyfield Atlanta’s Boy’s Clubs of America   Riddick Bowe Michael Moorer Mike Tyson Lennox Lewis John Ruiz Muhammad Ali Interview Quotes: “I definitely think that my hardships molded me for the life that I would have to go through later.” - Lolo Jones  “This statistic of kids that have incarcerated parents—it tremendously increases their chance that at one point in their life, they will be incarcerated as well. I wanted to break that chain.” - Lolo Jones “I know my childhood strengthened me for a time to stand on the world stage and compete.” - Lolo Jones  “If I go through hardships, I know to say, ‘Okay, this really, really hurt me. This is frustrating. I wanted this so bad, and it was ripped away,’ instead of being like, ‘How could you, God?’”- Lolo Jones “As Christians, we try to predict how God's going to use us, and when He doesn't use us in that manner, we become hurt.” - Lolo Jones  “I became who I am because I really wanted to please my momma. My mom was so disappointed so much her life, and I wanted to be that joy.” - Evander Holyfield “Having setbacks paves the way to show you how good God is.” - Evander Holyfield “Every time you mess up, you've got to have Somebody who will give you another opportunity.” - Evander Holyfield ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    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.

Some of God’s greatest miracles come when He brings good out of dark places. In Ogden, Utah, pastor Matt Roberts felt he didn’t feel comfortable inviting his friends and neighbors to church as it didn’t feel like a place where people could be vulnerable, so he decided to create an open community he thought they—and he—would feel like they belonged. When his former youth pastor, Rob Cowles, came for a visit, Rob knew The Genesis Project was something special and decided to plant his own location in Fort Collins, Colorado—in, of all places, a former strip club. Carrie Stuart Parks was a young woman with a flair for art when her father, the head of the School of Law Enforcement in northern Idaho, decided to invite Carrie to use her talents on crime scenes. Carrie became enamored with the work, helping victims close the chapter on some of the darkest moments of their lives. She even began a second career as a thriller novelist—not knowing her mentor was a wildly successful author himself—and work to help reach not knowing her mentor was a wildly successful author himself—now reaches the world through stories and emotions we all can relate to. Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling Large Text Cloth Botanical Cover God Can Redeem Your Struggles: Joel & Luke Smallbone and Sandi Patty Lolo Jones Olympic athlete   The Genesis Project Matt Roberts The Genesis Project, Ogden, UT   Rob Cowles The Genesis Project, Fort Collins, CO   The God of New Beginnings: How the Power of Relationship Brings Hope and Redeems Lives book Gary Haugen International Justice Mission, founder   Carrie Stuart Parks FBI Academy in Quantico, Virginia Secrets to Drawing Realistic Faces book Frank Peretti author Unitarian Universalism HarperCollins Christian Publishing   Interview Quotes: "It was really hard to invite [my friends and community] to church with me. It was such a cultural gap . . . " - Matt Roberts “That time in Portland was very monumental for us, really learning what it meant to be an embedded church in the middle of a culture that desperately needed a Savior.” - Matt Roberts “What does it mean to live bravely in the way of Jesus?” - Rob Cowles, on Gary Haugen “There was an authenticity about their worship [at The Genesis Project], because they really knew what it was to be brought back from darkness, brought back from death into new life.” - Rob Cowles “Community doesn't happen by accident. We have to actually cultivate and create a space where people can come in and be real, be open, and be honest.” - Matt Roberts “What happens is if you create a culture where it's not safe to talk about your brokenness, to talk about your failure, to talk about your pain, that then you naturally create a culture where you have to be fake.” - Rob Cowles  “I pray that I will be salt and light to them as I speak to them. I wear a cross, I let them know, just by having that cross on the outside, where I'm coming from. I don't say anything to them. I just let the presence of that and my words be, hopefully, helpful.” - Carrie Stuart Parks  ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________  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.

Christmas can be a time for joy, but also for reflection—and for many, a reminder of lost moments and loved ones. This week’s guests, musicians Dailey & Vincent and Ernie Haase, remind us this season is filled with hope, because God loved us so much that He sent Jesus into the world. These artists tell us how they fell in love with music (from bluegrass to gospel) and why they center their songs and shows around positive messages. Dailey & Vincent recently released The Sounds of Christmas project, and share their warmest (and most hilarious) Christmas memories and family traditions. Ernie Haase gives a behind-the-scenes look at the way his new album with Signature Sound, A Jazzy Little Christmas, was born out of a fun-filled holiday trip to New York, and how we can still celebrate the holiday while honoring those who are no longer with us at Christmas. Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling for Christmas Dolly Parton Belives with God, All Things Are Possible episode Celebrating the Power of Jesus’ Love:  Mark Lowry and CBD President Ray Hendrickson episodeChoosing Christ Through Doubt & Fear: Bear Grylls & Rhonda Vincent episode Lifting Up Others Through Service: Country Singer Jimmy Fortune and US Army Veteran Jess Key episode Shining God’s Light Through Music: Oak Ridge Boys & Aaron Watson episode Dailey & Vincent The Sounds of Christmas album The Dailey & Vincent show on RFD Television “Jingle Bells” video International Bluegrass Music Association Ricky Skaggs BibleGateway (1 Timothy 6:12) Hallmark Channel Christmas   Ernie Haase “A Jazzy Little Christmas” album Cathedral Quartet The Message Bible, Eugene Peterson New York Cares (Winter Wishes program)   Interview Quotes: “The most important part about all the music, just boiling it down to the bare bones, is the way you speak to other people. The songs that we pick and the way the songs speak to their hearts and give them such peace and joy.” - Darrin Vincent “It's a universal language—music speaks to everybody.” - Darrin Vincent “We don't know what all these people are going through. But many people in that audience are going through something. It is our job to go out there and take them on a 90-minute ride that will make them forget whatever they're dealing with, and hopefully leave there feeling a lot better.” - Jamie Dailey “My testimony is that a perceived no might be just a not now from God.“ - Ernie Haase “What Sarah has done with the Jesus Calling book, for me, she’s made Jesus very personal, very relatable.” - Ernie Haase “Hopefully, by people listening to our music and enjoying our music, it'll make the season a little bit brighter for some people.” - Ernie Haase  ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    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.

Whether our friends walk on two legs or four, connection gives meaning to our lives. God often uses these bonds to show how we can care for others, but what we don’t often realize is that those opportunities help us learn how to care for ourselves, too. Bull rider Cody Nance talks about how his faith and career blossomed through his family and through friends he met on the rodeo circuit. HIS Haven Ranch mentors Laurie Baer and Janice Larsen share how they serve kids who are hurting in their community through horse therapy by providing an additional support system to their lives, reminding us all how God's creatures, big and small, can bring joy to our lives.  Links, Products and Resources Mentioned: Sarah Young Jesus Calling Podcast Jesus Calling books Jesus Calling Weekly Prayer Call God’s Gift of Pets: Animal Rescue Advocate Lavonne Redferring and Country Singer Irlene Mandrell   Cody Nance Paris, Tennessee Cody Nance Instagram Cody Nance Facebook Cody Nance Twitter    HIS Haven Ranch   Dailey & Vincent   Interview Quotes: “I've been able to be used on a platform like I've never imagined before, and I'm just thankful that God is allowing me to do that.” - Cody Nance “I do believe that God saved me when I was young, but I believe I lost track of the most important thing, and that was being faithful in my love for Him and His worship.” - Cody Nance "[When] I'm strapped to the back of a [2,000 lb. bull] jumping in the air and kicking . . . sometimes it gets a little wild. But He's always there and He's always taking care of me." - Cody Nance “Our four-legged friends gave us a picture and a model of something that God could do on a greater level.” - Laurie Baer “Our mission was to make a place that would empower and transform lives through healing and the Savior.” - Laurie Baer “We pray that the perspective that [our riders] have will be an eternal perspective, so we'll use a horse and we use the Word of God. And they seem to work really well together.” - Laurie Baer  “It's not our job to judge the growth. It's not our job to judge the fruit. It's our job to sow the seed, to water the seed, and that means giving God's Word and dispensing it freely.” - Janice Larsen  “We're all at risk for something, if we're being honest with ourselves. We all have vulnerabilities.” - Laurie Baer   ________________________ Enjoy these videos on Jesus Calling YouTube channel: Audio podcast: https://bit.ly/2uCnNM0  Original Series video podcast: https://bit.ly/2WzFY0O  ________________________    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.