Christian Devotions SPEAK UP!

Kimberly Pickens is a preschool teacher at her home church daycare. She has written two stories that are featured in Christmas Moments and Spoken Moments. Her story, Molly's Promised Land, won an honorable mention from The ACFW First Five Pages Contest. She is a member of a writing and critique group, Crosses and Pens. She is also a member of NACFW and the ACFW. Kimberly likes spending time at home with her husband and best friend of over twenty-five years. They have a daughter and a son. Besides writing, Kimberly's passion is her faith in God, her family, and helping children achieve academic success. She has recently started her own enrichment program in preschools to help children develop a positive attitude early-on in math and science. Her program is called Math that Counts. It is Kimberly's heart's cry to bring glory and honor to God Almighty by using the talents He has blessed her with, to advance the kingdom of heaven through her writing.

A veteran attendee of Writers Advance conferences, Mary is an experienced photographer, seeking to capture memories that bring smiles. A 2013 graduate of Christian Communicators Conference, Mary speaks about her own experiences with abuse, leading her to begin her Be A Voice 4 Kids ministry.  She recently shared at the Chosen Chicks for Christ Conference and local church events, with the latest being the guest speaker “What's I Your Purse?” banquet at Faith Temple Baptist Church. With much prayer she followed through with the calling of becoming trained as a facilitator of Stewards of Children through Darkness to Light to help prevent child sexual abuse. She loves to share the Love of the Lord and brings hope to those who hunger for only what can be found through Jesus Christ. Find Mary on her face book page at Be A Voice 4 Kids or at www.writeblessings.com or  www.beavoice4kids.vpweb

Join us this week on Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! as writing teacher, speaker, and suspense author Mike Dellosso shares his cancer-surviving story and new book.

Mike Dellosso is the author of eight novels of suspense, an adjunct professor of creative writing and popular conference teacher, a husband, and a father. When he’s not lost in a story, working, or spending time with his family, he enjoys reading and dabbling in pencil sketching. Mike has a master’s degree in theology and serves with his wife in their local church. He is also a colon cancer survivor and healthcare worker. Born in Baltimore, Mike now resides in southern Pennsylvania with his wife and four daughters.

His newest book Centralia has just released. Get your copy at http://www.amazon.com/Centralia-Mike-Dellosso/dp/1414390416.

Join us this week on Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! as writing teacher, speaker, and suspense author Mike Dellosso shares his cancer-surviving story and new book.

Mike Dellosso is the author of eight novels of suspense, an adjunct professor of creative writing and popular conference teacher, a husband, and a father. When he’s not lost in a story, working, or spending time with his family, he enjoys reading and dabbling in pencil sketching. Mike has a master’s degree in theology and serves with his wife in their local church. He is also a colon cancer survivor and healthcare worker. Born in Baltimore, Mike now resides in southern Pennsylvania with his wife and four daughters.

His newest book Centralia has just released. Get your copy at http://www.amazon.com/Centralia-Mike-Dellosso/dp/1414390416.

Trot Nixon played twelve years in the Major Leagues for three different teams but is best known for his play with the Boston Red Sox, where he was a fixture in right field for ten seasons. He was among the most popular players in Boston due to his hustle and intensity.

Trot attended New Hanover High School in Wilmington, North Carolina, where he was a two-sport star. As a senior, he was named North Carolina Baseball Player of the Year and Baseball America’s High School Player of the Year while leading his team to a State 4A title. In football, Trot broke several school passing records and was offered a scholarship to play quarterback at North Carolina State.  He gave up football after being selected by the Red Sox in the first round (seventh overall) of the 1993 MLB Draft.

Trot’s first full season with the Red Sox came in 1999 after being called-up sporadically the previous two seasons. He had a career-best year in 2003 when he batted .306 with twenty-four doubles and twenty-eight home runs. In the deciding game of the 2004 World Series, Trot hit a two-out, two-run double off the right field wall at Busch Stadium in St. Louis in the top of the third inning to give Boston a 3–0 lead. Those runs proved to be the difference as the Red Sox swept the Cardinals for the team’s first World Series title in eighty-six years. For the series, Trot batted .357 with three RBI’s.

Trot’s wife Kathryn was a guest on Speak UP last year and shared her heart through her book, The Spirit in Baseball. She and Trot have two children.

Join us this week on Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! as Scott interviews Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas author, Karen Campbell Prough.

Karen Campbell Prough grew up with a love for old books, the out of doors and steadfast characters. She spent some of her childhood entertaining younger brothers with short stories created by a wild imagination. She and her husband Edward have often camped in the Georgia Mountains, and there she placed the characters of her first book, The Girl Called Ella Dessa. 

Join as she shares the importance of writing what you know and the importance of the images your characters see, touch and feel.

Join us this week on Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! as Scott singer, author and songwriter Buck Storm.

Buck Storm grew up in Yuma, Arizona—a true son of the American Southwest. He's marked time as a commercial diver, fisherman, sailor, and musician. As a singer/songwriter and purveyor of tales, he's bounced around the planet with a guitar and a pocketful of stories and has made friends in venues across the country. Whether lyrics or prose, Buck writes about this mixed-up, out of control, beautiful cacophony we call humanity. Buck and his wife Michelle have a happy love story, a hideout in North Idaho, and two wonderful children. The Miracle Man is his first novel.

Join us this week on Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! as Scott interviews two Lighthouse Publishing of the Carolinas authors, Buck Storm and Karen Campbell Prough.

Buck Storm grew up in Yuma, Arizona—a true son of the American Southwest. He's marked time as a commercial diver, fisherman, sailor, and musician. As a singer/songwriter and purveyor of tales, he's bounced around the planet with a guitar and a pocketful of stories and has made friends in venues across the country. Whether lyrics or prose, Buck writes about this mixed-up, out of control, beautiful cacophony we call humanity. Buck and his wife Michelle have a happy love story, a hideout in North Idaho, and two wonderful children. The Miracle Man is his first novel.

Karen Campbell Prough grew up with a love for old books and steadfast characters. She spent some of her childhood entertaining younger brothers with short stories created by a wild imagination. She and her husband Edward have often camped in the Georgia Mountains, and there she placed the characters of her first book, The Girl Called Ella Dessa.

Join us this week on Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! as Scott brings in a friend of the ministry, respected teacher and theologian Israel Wayne.

Israel Wayne is an author and conference speaker who has a passion for defending the Christian faith and promoting a biblical worldview. The author of Homeschooling from a Biblical Worldview and Full-Time Parenting: A Guide to Family-Based Discipleship, Israel is the Director of Family Renewal and site editor for ChristianWorldview.net. He is a homeschooled graduate, father of eight and author of Questions God Asks, which was released in the spring of 2014 by New Leaf Press.

Jesus rarely answered questions He was asked, but instead turned the tables by asking a piercing question of His own. Questions Jesus Asks goes through a broad spectrum of these, dealing with issues like morality, suffering, humility, faith, and much more.

Join us this week on Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! for a preview of Christian concert Jam for the Lamb at Rock Lake Christian Assembly on May 23.

John Schlitt officially joined Petra in 1986, bringing with him his amazing vocal range and abilities that made him a legend with Head East. Except this time, his mind was no longer blown on drugs and alcohol. He was clean, focused, and armed with a powerful message: God made us to be winners—Jesus Christ is alive and, through Him, we are to be victorious in His perfect plan for each of us.

Justified is a Christian quartet that has been together since November 2011. These four gentlemen have either sang or played with other gospel quartets over the past twenty years and have now come together to spread the word through song and music. Singing with the blending of their voices, as well as their hearts, are Tim Caldwell, Mark Jacoby, Carl Ledford, and David Potts. 

The Lasting Hope, a Christian rock band out of Southern Indiana, has a high-energy pop-rock sound that gets audiences on their feet and singing along. The band is uniquely formed by five young and very talented men who have a heart completely sold out to worship. Formed in 2010, the band has gone through some directional as well as member adjustments, but the final result has been a hard-core worship experience that audiences of all ages are positively reacting to.

Join us this week on Christian Devotions SPEAK UP! when Scott brings movie Director Chad Burns, of the movie Byeond the Mask to the show.

Chad Burns is the award-winning director and co-producer of Burns Family Studios' first feature film, Pendragon: Sword of His Father. Chad completed his Ph.D. in Mechanical Engineering, Control Systems and Human Factors at the University of Illinois in the spring of 2011. Chad recently married Angie in August 2011 and lives in Champaign, IL.

Beyond the Mask is an action-packed, Gospel-centered, historic, adventure film. It is set in the turbulent months leading up to the American Declaration for Independence.

The story explores identity and redemption through the lens of one central question: "What does it take for a man to remake his name and redeem his identity?" The assassin-turned-vicar, Will Reynolds, tries two classic approaches to fixing himself. First, he hides behind a mask of assumed identity. Second, he works to do enough good to outweigh his bad past. When both approaches fail, he discovers that only in Christ's finished work can he find his own redemption.