Crosswalk Talk: Celebrity Christian Interviews

Natalie Layne grew up with worship leader parents, was playing keys in church by age 12, and gave her life to Jesus at 13. She never had the dramatic testimony — no alley moment, no rock bottom, no radical rescue story. For a long time she thought that made her story less powerful. Her new EP Still Running to You, releasing September 9, is her answer to that lie.

Steadfast faith, the gift of being kept, and a hymn that still says everything: Natalie shares why she believes the church kid testimony is just as miraculous as anyone else's, because what God kept you from is just as worth celebrating as what He brought you through. She also talks about writing Big World with horns, saxophones, and a whole room full of musicians recording together at the same time to capture the feeling that nobody is doing this alone, why she still takes scripture and sets it to music the way she did as a kid, and how landing at Belmont University in Nashville — not because she knew she needed to be there, but because she just liked the school — opened every door she has walked through since.

Highlights

• Why she spent years thinking her church kid testimony was less powerful than someone else's dramatic rescue story
• The realization that what God kept you from is just as miraculous as what He brought you through
• How growing up running around her parents' worship rehearsals shaped everything about who she became as an artist
• Big World, recorded with a full room of musicians all tracking together, and why she wants it to open every live show
• Why she still sets scripture to music the same way she did as a child and why it remains her favorite way to write
• The decision to put Blessed Assurance on the EP and why those hymn lyrics — this is my story, this is my song — capture her entire testimony
• How nine years at Belmont in Nashville introduced her to collaborators and opened doors she never could have planned for
• Meeting Nichole Nordeman at an awards show and what it meant to tell her how much those songs shaped her

Resources / Links / CTA

• 🌐 Natalie Layne website: https://www.natalielayne.com
• 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/natalielaynemusic
• 🎵 EP: Still Running to You
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John Cooper, lead singer of Skillet, wrote Scream during one of the hardest seasons of his life — betrayal, slander, and the kind of disorientation that comes when the rug is pulled out from under everything you trusted. The song is raw, reaching, and ends with a cry to God: come pull me out from under the noise and thunder. The new EP is called After the Storm, and he says the title is aptly chosen because he is finally on the other side.

Suffering, social media, and the 4-billion-stream song his label almost never let him record: John shares why he believes Monster resonates because it captures what the Bible actually says about being a sinner and a saint simultaneously, why he limits his time on social media and never reads the comments, and why eleven tours through Russia convinced him to love America in a way that no amount of political debate ever could. He also opens up about what has kept his marriage, his band, and his faith grounded through decades in the public eye, a shared agreement that the Bible is above everything, including him.

Highlights

• Why Scream is the most vulnerable Skillet has been in years and what personal betrayal and suffering inspired it
• Why he believes Christians can be simultaneously sinners and saints and why Monster is a deeply biblical message
• How Monster broke bigger than rock and why soccer moms relating to it was something he never saw coming
• Why he almost never goes on social media and what he would say to Christians about how to handle the cesspool
• What eleven tours through Russia taught him about loving America, freedom of speech, and the gift of liberty
• Why he is not a Christian nationalist but still believes America's form of government was built on reformers' ideas rooted in Scripture
• Why he tells Christians who say they love Jesus but aren't into doctrine: if you want to know who He is, read the Bible
• How a shared agreement that the Bible is above everyone in the band and the household has kept Skillet grounded for decades

Resources / Links / CTA

• 🌐 Website: https://johnlcooper.com
• 📱 Instagram John Cooper: https://www.instagram.com/johnlcooper
• 🎵 Single: Scream
• 🎵 EP: After the Storm, coming soon
• 🌐 Follow, share, and explore more of Crosswalk Talk
• 👉 Follow, share, and subscribe for more faith-driven conversations on Lifeaudio

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Mena Massoud grew up doing church plays and Stations of the Cross as a Coptic Christian, the son of Egyptian parents who moved to Canada when he was three and a half. He went to the University of Toronto for neuroscience, auditioned for theater school on a leap of faith, got one of the thirty spots, and eventually landed Aladdin after a six-month silence from Disney followed by a call to fly to London and screen test with Guy Ritchie. Now he is playing Daniel in Daniel in the Fiery Furnace, a biblical film about a man who refused to bow, literally and figuratively.

Faith, identity, and the question every generation has to answer for itself: Mena shares why Daniel's story resonates so deeply for him as an immigrant who knows what it is like to leave everything familiar and hold onto your culture, language, and faith in a foreign land, and why he believes the central question of the film — who do you hold in the highest regard — is one every young person is wrestling with right now in a world full of athletes, celebrities, and influencers competing for that place. He also talks about what it was like to audition for Aladdin, forget about it for six months, and then get the call that changed his career.

Highlights

• Why Mena has been circling biblical projects for years and why Daniel in the Fiery Furnace is the one God put in his path
• Why Daniel's refusal to bow is as relevant today as it was in Babylon, especially for young people on social media
• How his parents' immigration from Egypt to Canada, speaking Arabic at home and cooking Egyptian food every night, mirrors Daniel's experience in Babylon
• What it was like to grow up in a tight-knit Coptic community in Ontario where his closest friendships were formed at church
• How Aladdin came after a six-month silence from Disney and why the real surprise was getting called back, not booking the role
• What his four years at theater school looked like: 13–14 hour days, six days a week, singing, dancing, Shakespeare, and mask work
• What he would wish for if the genie were real, and why health is the only answer that matters as you get older

Resources / Links / CTA

• 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/menamassoud
• 🎬 Daniel in the Fiery Furnace: https://www.imdb.com/title
• 🌐 Follow, share, and explore more of Crosswalk Talk
• 👉 Follow, share, and subscribe for more faith-driven conversations on Lifeaudio

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Kristin Jordan was trying to get her three-year-old son to sleep when he started talking about the monster under his bed. Instead of dismissing the fear, the Holy Spirit gave her a thought — what if the monster is more afraid of you than you are of him? That became the seed of Shilo and the Not So Scary Girl Above His Bed, a children's book about a lovable character who is afraid but takes one brave step anyway, written by Kristin and her husband Montell Jordan, the R&B singer behind This Is How We Do It.

Facing fear as a child, facing cancer as an adult, and the courage that can only be received and never manufactured: Montell shares what it was like to hear the word cancer in January 2024, to have surgery to remove his prostate in November, to face a recurrence nine months later requiring 37 proton therapy treatments, and to receive a call from his doctor on Christmas Day 2025 with results showing his cancer was undetectable. He and Kristin also open up about three decades of marriage, why she started chasing God before he did, and why they now spend their time pastoring the unpastored — musicians, entertainers, and people in secular spaces who would never walk into a church on a Sunday.

Highlights

• The bedtime conversation with their three-year-old that sparked the idea for Shilo and the Not So Scary Girl Above His Bed
• Why Shilo is not fearless — he is afraid, and he does it afraid, taking one brave step at a time
• Why Kristin believes dismissing a child's fear with "you don't have to be afraid" is the wrong response
• Why manufactured courage is unsustainable and true bravery has to be received, not produced
• Montell's cancer diagnosis in January 2024, surgery, recurrence, 37 proton therapy treatments, and the Christmas Day call declaring him undetectable
• Why he immediately said "this is not going to kill me" the moment the doctor used the word cancer
• Their 72-hour water fasts, dietary overhaul, and holistic approach to healing alongside medical treatment
• How This Is How We Do It has become an entry point for ministry — the same man, a different heart, pointing to something bigger

Resources / Links / CTA

• 🌐 Montell Jordan website: https://montellandkristin.com
• 📱 Instagram Montell Jordan: https://www.instagram.com/montelljordan
• 📱 Instagram How We Do Marriage: https://www.instagram.com/howwedomarriage
• 📖 Book: Shilo and the Not So Scary Girl Above His Bed
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• 👉 Follow, share, and subscribe for more faith-driven conversations on Lifeaudio

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Sujo John arrived in America from India in February 2001 with $60 in his wallet and two bags full of dreams. By September he was on the 81st floor of the North Tower, his pregnant wife was on the 71st floor of the South Tower, and the morning of September 11 he sent an email to a friend at 7:32AM saying something is happening to me — I've been chasing stuff in America and I need to chase after God. Sixteen minutes later, American Flight 11 hit his floor.

Survival, purpose, and a girl in a red light district who grabbed his arm and changed everything: Sujo shares what it was like to walk down the stairwell past hundreds of firefighters heading up, to be buried in debris when the South Tower fell and pulled out by an FBI agent who ran back in and never came out, and to receive a phone call later that day from his wife — whom he was certain was dead. He also shares why the doctors told them to abort their son, why they refused, and how that child is now 24 years old and in medical school. And he tells the story of a trip to a red light district in New Delhi where a girl grabbed his arm, said get me out of here, and God said this is exactly what I rescued you for.

Highlights

• Arriving in America with $60 in February 2001 and landing a job on the 81st floor of the North Tower six months later
• Sending an email about his spiritual state at 7:32AM on September 11, then the plane hitting at 8:48AM
• Walking past hundreds of firefighters going up as he was running down and what that image still means to him
• Being buried in debris when the South Tower fell, pulled out by FBI agent Leonard Hatton, who ran back in and died
• Finding out his pregnant wife was alive — and that she had been two minutes late to work that day
• Why doctors urged them to abort their son because of the toxic air she had inhaled, and why they refused
• The red light district in New Delhi, a girl who grabbed his arm and said get me out of here, and the founding of You Can Free Us

Resources / Links / CTA

• 🌐 Sujo John ministry: https://sujojohn.com
• 🌐 You Can Free Us: https://youcanfreeus.org
• 📱 Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/sujojohn
• 🌐 Follow, share, and explore more of Crosswalk Talk
• 👉 Follow, share, and subscribe for more faith-driven conversations on Lifeaudio

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Patrick Hill was a fullback at the University of Miami, had stints with the Titans, Broncos, and Texans, and when football doors stopped opening he asked God to lead him somewhere else. That somewhere else turned out to be a nursing program at UCLA, and eventually a career as an inpatient psychiatric nurse and orthopedic nurse practitioner. The transition made more sense than people might expect — a fullback's whole job is selfless service, blocking so someone else can score. Patrick just traded the field for the ward.

True strength, Mercy Ships, and the devotional series that brought an NFL player and a Jacksonville Jaguar together: Patrick shares how nursing reshaped everything he thought he knew about strength — that the loudest victories at the bedside are often completely silent, that the most vulnerable patients carry the most unwavering faith, and that a smile from a dementia patient who remembers your name is one of the most powerful moments a human being can witness. He is part of Strength in Service, a 10-part devotional series on the Glorify app in partnership with Mercy Ships, and his message to every young athlete who thinks strength means never showing weakness is simple: be yourself, be rooted in Christ, and the sky is the limit.

Highlights

• How a conversation with the dean of UCLA's nursing school during the NFL lockout changed the entire direction of his life
• Why the fullback position — the most selfless role on the field — prepared him perfectly for a life of service in healthcare
• What nursing taught him about strength that football never could, including the power of a hand on the back or a smile at the right moment
• Why he believes the strongest people he has ever met were patients at their most vulnerable
• How his faith shapes his approach to every patient, modeled after Jesus going after the sickest and most broken
• What Mercy Ships does and why its model of volunteer surgeons and free care in the world's most medically scarce regions moved him deeply
• His message to young Christian athletes: don't be afraid to be rooted in Christ and you will play more freely than you ever thought possible
• Why he believes God answered his high school prayers through a path that looked like disappointment before it looked like a blessing

Resources / Links / CTA

• 🎧 Strength in Service devotional series
• 🌐 Mercy Ships: https://www.mercyships.org
• 🌐 Glorify app: https://www.glorify.global/app
• 🌐 Follow, share, and explore more of Crosswalk Talk
• 👉 Follow, share, and subscribe for more faith-driven conversations on Lifeaudio

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Darlene Zschech was singing commercial jingles to pay the bills, her husband's business was struggling, they had two small children, and the dream of full-time ministry felt impossibly far away. She sat down at her piano, opened her Bible, and prayed. Twenty minutes later she had Shout to the Lord, and she was so unsure of it that when she finally played it for her worship pastor, she made him turn around and face the wall so she wouldn't have to watch his reaction.

Worship, revival, and a song that left her hands before she understood what it was: Darlene shares the story of Shout to the Lord and how God took it global before the internet existed, why she believes the early Hillsong era was a season of hiddenness where God let the roots go deep before anything grew tall, and what she thinks makes a true worship song as opposed to a song that merely expresses feelings. She is also part of The House of Worship, a new film bringing together 25 years of worship music's most influential artists to celebrate songs that have shaped generations — and she believes another revival is already beginning.

Highlights

• Why Darlene made her worship pastor turn and face the wall while she played Shout to the Lord for the first time
• How the song went global before the internet existed and why she says none of them can take credit for it
• The first Sunday it was sung over an offering, everyone stood with their hands in the air, and a visiting minister said it would go around the world
• Why she calls the early Hillsong era a season where God hid them so the roots could go deep before the fruit came
• What real revival looked like in those days — altar calls where heaps of people would just get saved, week after week
• Her definition of a worship song: not one that expresses feelings but one that reveals Christ and exalts Jesus
• Why she believes the new song has always accompanied historical revivals and why she thinks we are there again
• What The House of Worship captures — 25 years of songs written for the local church by people within the local church

Resources / Links / CTA

• 🌐 Darlene Zschech website: https://www.darlenezschech.com
• 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/darlenezschech
• 🎬 The House of Worship: https://houseofworshipmusic.com
• 🌐 Follow, share, and explore more of Crosswalk Talk
• 👉 Follow, share, and subscribe for more faith-driven conversations on Lifeaudio

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DOE, Grammy-winning singer and founding member of Forever Jones, has been leading worship her whole life. But her third solo album Shiloh, releasing August 28, is different from anything she has made before. Her mother is singing on it. Three of her siblings are in the videos. And the central conviction running through every song is one she has carried since long before she had a child of her own — someone had to make sure you knew who Jesus was, and it is your job to make sure the next generation knows too.

Generational legacy, the gospel as the only lasting wealth, and a Grammy win discovered between frantic airport searches: DOE shares the heart behind Shiloh and the lead single Know Your Name, co-written with Anthony Brown and David Spencer as a declaration that if it is up to her, every generation will know the name of Jesus. She also opens up about writing Black Boy Joy for the men in her family before she was married or had a son, why she sang it at Carnegie Hall for Juneteenth, and what it felt like to find out she had won a Grammy while postpartum, running through an airport, and looking for her milk bag — holding what she calls her greatest accomplishment in her arms while receiving her greatest musical one.

Highlights

• Why DOE says Shiloh is not just her most personal album — it is her life, her upbringing, and her mother singing beside her
• The central theme of the album: generational transfer of eternal wealth, the kind that can only be found through the gospel
• Know Your Name, co-written with Anthony Brown and David Spencer, as a declaration to pass the name of Jesus to every generation
• How becoming a mother sharpened her understanding of how God sees us when we are trying, striving, and not yet understanding
• The story behind Black Boy Joy, written for her father, brothers, uncles, and grandfathers before she had a husband or son
• Why she sang Black Boy Joy at Carnegie Hall for Juneteenth and what that celebration means to her as an American milestone
• Finding out she won a Grammy in an airport while postpartum, searching for her milk bag, and surrounded by a flood of missed calls
• Why she believes her next album may be entirely congregational worship and the prayer she takes into every writing session

Resources / Links / CTA

• 🌐 DOE website: https://www.doejonesmusic.com
• 📱 DOE Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doejonesmusic
• 🎵 Album: Shiloh, releasing August 28
• 🎵 Single: Know Your Name
• 🌐 Follow, share, and explore more of Crosswalk Talk
• 👉 Follow, share, and subscribe for more faith-driven conversations on Lifeaudio

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Nick Skytland, Vice President of AI Research at GLOO, has been tracking how pastors use AI for a year through a joint research initiative with Barna. The headline finding will surprise people: 87% of pastors are using AI in some form. Only 13% say they do not use it at all. But how they are using it — and where the cautions lie — is where the conversation gets important.

Brainstorming, biblical research, and the Friday sermon temptation: Nick walks through the data, including the 24% of pastors who now use AI to write or edit sermons, double last year's number, and why he believes the biggest risk is not that pastors are using it but that they stop thinking critically about what it gives back. AI is biased, not theologically neutral, and trained on secular pluralistic information — using it for spiritual formation without pastoral judgment, he says, is like turning to Reddit for marriage advice. He also shares what GLOO is building to address that gap and why he believes the church's mandate for human formation has never mattered more than it does in the age of AI.

Highlights

• Why 87% of pastors are now using AI in some form and what that actually looks like in practice
• The top uses: brainstorming, idea generation, biblical research, small group questions, and administrative tasks
• Why 79% of pastors worry about AI replacing God and 63% worry about it replacing spiritual leaders entirely
• Why AI is not theologically neutral and defaults to secular pluralistic responses unless specifically prompted otherwise
• The Friday sermon temptation and why tired pastors need to be most on guard against outsourcing their judgment
• Why the church's core calling is formation, not information, and why friction in human relationships matters
• What GLOO is building to make AI values-aligned for faith communities and where to find the full research

Resources / Links / CTA

• 🌐 GLOO Flourishing AI research: https://gloo.com
• 🌐 Barna State of the Church research: https://www.barna.com/stateofthechurch
• 🌐 Nick Skytland Twitter: https://x.com/skytland
• 🌐 Follow, share, and explore more of Crosswalk Talk
• 👉 Follow, share, and subscribe for more faith-driven conversations on Lifeaudio

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Nathan Gamble grew up in church. He knew the creed, got confirmed, got baptized as an infant, and showed up every Sunday. He knew every rhythm of the Christian life — and had nothing in his heart for any of it. Then at 18 he moved to LA by himself, worked a lot, had no friends, hit rock bottom, and considered ending his life. A few connections later, he found himself hanging out with broke Bible college students in Ventura, California who were inexplicably joyful, and he wanted whatever they had. Two weeks after enrolling, he got saved.

Isolation, genuine joy, and a faith that finally moved from the head to the heart: Nathan shares how he went from playing Sawyer in Dolphin Tale and Commissioner Gordon's son in The Dark Knight to being all in for the kingdom, and why he believes the most powerful form of the Great Commission is simply loving people so well they start asking what you have. He also gives a preview of Bad Counselors, releasing July 22, a film following two frat brothers who pose as counselors at a Christian youth camp to fulfill court-ordered community service — and why he thinks it is one of the smartest faith films made in years because it puts the audience squarely on the side of the non-believer.

Highlights

• Why Nathan says most of his career he was not a believer — he just knew all the rhythms and performed them for his parents
• Moving to LA at 18 alone, hitting rock bottom, considering ending his life, and how Bible college students changed everything
• The premise of Bad Counselors and why he thinks the script is a page turner that made him laugh out loud
• Why showing Bad Counselors to non-believing students at USC got a 90% approval rating
• His philosophy of being a light on secular sets without needing to identify every moment as a ministry opportunity
• His dad's three rules for success — show up early, memorize people's names, memorize your lines — and why they are all biblical
• His upcoming projects, Miracle on the Precipice with Sean Patrick Flanery and a show he co-created called Bible College

Resources / Links / CTA

• 📱 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/nathanleegamble
• 🎬 Bad Counselors: in theaters July 22–27
• 🌐 Follow, share, and explore more of Crosswalk Talk
• 👉 Follow, share, and subscribe for more faith-driven conversations on Lifeaudio

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