Crossroads with Jenny Bushkell

Christmas is supposed to be the happiest season of all. But for some, the holidays can be a very painful time that triggers hurts, loss or resentment.  The stress of having the perfect Christmas may be robbing your joy.  Jenny's guest is Elizabeth Sullivan, a counselor with Ebenezer Counseling,  talking about the challenges of this season and some tips for maneuvering step by step through Christmas!  She's sharing how God has been working in her life!

So much confusion & chaos is all around us.  What we are seeing is unprecedented in our lifetime.  We have been so blessed in America, that we can’t even comprehend the depth of evil and yet we are seeing & hearing about it almost daily.  It’s mind-blowing to think what our children and grandchildren are dealing with & what they will face in the future.   Is the silence of the church opening the door to evil, persecution and a loss of freedom?  Jenny is talking with noted Speaker &  New York Times Best-Selling Author Eric Metaxas.  He is the host of The Eric Metaxas Show, a nationally syndicated daily radio show heard on 300 outlets nationwide and aired on television on TBN. In is latest book,  Letter to the American Church he issues an Urgent Call to the Church at this pivotal time, yet familiar point in History.  This book will inspire Christians to step into the calling God has placed on our lives :   to borrow from Esther - “for such a time as this.”   He contends the American church today mirrors the silence of the German church before the Holocaust.  If church leaders, he said, don't learn the lesson of the 1930s, "we are going down precisely the same path.”

"Delight yourself in the Lord, and he will give you the desires of your heart." Psalm 37:4.  Jenny’s guest today is the delightful Award-winning Author, Keely Brooke Keith, talking about her latest book,  UNCHARTED CHRISTMAS that weaves an exciting faith-filled story!  Keely writes the popular  UNCHARTED series and talks about how God gave her the desire & passion for writing Christian fiction! She encourages writers and shares how she gets encouragement from her husband, Recording Artist and Worship Leader Marty Keith!  Keely has created a series of softcover journals called Guided Journals for Writers. They will guide you on a journey to rediscovering your purpose as a writer or help you get started! She is a blogger, too! keelykeith.com

“For to us a child is born, to us a son is given, and the government will be on his shoulders. And he will be called Wonderful Counselor, Mighty God, Everlasting Father, Prince of Peace.” Is 9:6.  It’s the Christmas season with many distractions & stress. It’s a hectic time and can become a burden, even to the point of missing the real reason for the season - the birth of our Lord & Savior Jesus Christ!  With Jenny today is Judy Witt, President of the Nativity Pageant of Knoxville - a special way to get the family together to celebrate how much God loves us by sending his son Jesus to save us. Immanuel - God with us!

The holidays are here and along with all the festivities for many comes dread. In the midst of all the excitement, there can be stress and anxiety. Family dynamics, old hurts, losses, prodigals -missing or returning can lead to stress, and especially for those in early recovery.  Jenny’s guest is Ashlee Crouse, REGIONAL FAITH-BASED COORDINATOR  for Metro Drug Coalition talks about the stresses and tips to help those in recovery get through the season. Ashlee shares her recovery story and how Jesus has been working in her life. 

In Hebrews, God speaks on leadership. “Remember your leaders, those who spoke to you the word of God. Consider the outcome of their way of life, and imitate their faith.” Heb 13:7.  Jenny interviews Author, historian, Public speaker, former college Dean, Professor & Actor Dr Timothy Holder!  He has a new book and a new radio show on leadership -  “The Leading Edge with Tim Holder.” They’re talking about his show and the Red Carpet evening when Pure Flix premiered the faith-based movie ‘Nothing is Impossible,’ a feature film shot around included Tim and his Actress wife, Jill Holder! 

On facing death by his captors & asked to denounce Jesus to be set free, his reply was "Jesus died for me, I will die for Jesus."- Pastor Botrous Tutu. Pastor Botrous Tutu, Spring of Living Water Church carries the scars of persecution and torture.  In the 1990s, he was arrested at church by extremists, for preaching about Jesus & establishing Protestant churches in his war-torn nation of Sudan.  He was kidnapped, jailed, separated from his family, tortured, & sentenced to death and narrowly escaped his execution…he still has scars from the beatings he suffered, but that didn’t stop him from proclaiming Christ as his Savior! And it still can’t stop him from the mission to bring the Gospel to Sudan. He is desperately wanting to bring Jesus, clean water, medicine, churches & schools to Sudan!  Do we have this kind of faith?  This interview is a powerful reminder of how many people are killed in our world because of proclaiming Jesus as Lord and Savior! 

Who is like our God?!! “The steadfast love of the Lord never ceases; his mercies never come to an end; they are new every morning; great is your faithfulness.” Lam 3:22-23. How many times have we messed up and wished we could have a second chance! Jenny’s guest is Actress Tanya Christiansen who stars in The Mulligan movie, a faith -based & heartwarming story about life, inspired by the game of golf that shows the power of a second chance. What if being successful in business isn’t the answer to finding peace, happiness & joy? Hear behind the scenes fun and inspiration! She shares how she and her co-stars interacted and the importance of forgiveness. 

The daily battle for sobriety is an all-too-familiar struggle for many recovering addicts. Substance abuse & addiction is tragic and directly impacts millions of individuals each and every year.  As many inside & outside of recovery know, HOPE is one of the most important things to hold on to. To recover from anything, we need to heal the mind, body and spirit. It takes community support of recovering individuals and families.  The Metro Drug Coalition just opened Phase One of "The Gateway,"  a recovery community center providing support services.  MDC’s Executive Director, Karen Dawdy Pershing and Jenny share about the obstacles that have been overcome to get this started and how it parallels broken lives restored! 

How many of us would love a more powerful prayer life and see our life change?  Jenny is speaking with Dr Brent McDougal, Sr Pastor of First Baptist Knoxville. He is the Author of the books River of Soul and Faith, Hope, & Politics: Inspiring a new generation to Community - Changing Political Engagement.  He has an exciting new book just released called  Prayer Power, and Jenny and Brent  just completed a six part video series about how to have power in prayer — “The School of Prayer.”  Brent’s book draws from lessons from the life of George Müller, a 19th century pastor in Bristol, England who helped build orphanages to care for over 10,000 children in his life’s ministry. But more than that, Müller was a great man of prayer, who estimated he had over 50,000 answers to prayer in his lifetime.  What does it mean to “pray without ceasing and do our prayers really make a difference?  Are you earnestly seeking God through prayer? Brent suggests there are six principles he learned for cultivating a stronger faith and a more effective prayer life!