In Faith Network

Sheila English and I were pleased to welcome singer, speaker, and author, Shannon Perry, to our show. She told us how she connects her singing with her speaking, about her latest CD, and what audience members are saying about her talks. Also, you don’t want to miss the moving story about how her singing career was launched and the miraculous story about how God gave her a son.

Please listen in to our show and enjoy our interview with the entertaining and inspiring, Shannon Perry!

Listen to internet radio with COS Radio on Blog Talk Radio

Here’s a bit more about Shannon:

One night after a concert not long ago, someone suggested to Shannon Perry that she should become a speaker. Shannon’s response was swift; “Thank you, but I’m not a speaker. I’m a singer.” A few months later, Shannon found herself with a lot of time on her hands while her husband endured chemotherapy treatments for cancer. Finding herself camped out in hospital waiting rooms, Shannon decided to start jotting down some topic ideas for a conference. And the “If the Shoe Fits” women’s conference was born.

And please check out Shannon’s book, Grace in High Heels—26 upbeat stories of humor, hope, and healing:

Here’s the site to learn more about our guest, Shannon Perry:

http://shannonperry.com/

Blessings!

Anita Higman

CBA best-selling author of 27 books

www.anitahigman.com

Sheila English and I were thrilled to have Bill Myers on our show this week. He gave us a fun ride with all his witty answers about writing for teens. And Bill was candid when asked about some of the controversial novels teens are reading these days. Also, you don’t want to miss what he had to say about his writer’s journey and how he became a writer instead of a dentist!

Please listen in to our show and enjoy our interview with the imaginative and entertaining, Bill Myers.

Here’s a bit more about Bill:

Bill Myers has written and/or directed a few dozen films and has written 60 books for all ages, which together have sold over 8 million copies. Bill’s projects have won over 40 awards. He also gets to travel all over the world with his work, and he just loves it.

To find out more about Bill’s books for teens and adults, click here:

http://www.billmyers.com

Comedy is that velvet hammer that breaks the ice between us. It’s the unexpected joy that makes our hearts warm and our belly jiggle. Laughter is good medicine!

James Watkins

Sheila and I were delighted to have Rhonda Rhea and Jim Watkins on our show with their velvet hammers of humor. They are both comedy writers and speakers, and if you love to laugh you’ll want to tune in.

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Rhonda Rhea

Some of our fun chatting points were:

• What makes good comedy?
• Why do humans need to laugh?
• Does your family think you’re funny?
• Does being a Christian make writing humor harder or easier?
• Who’s your favorite comedian?

To find out more about Rhonda’s writing and speaking click here.

To learn more about Jim, his books, and his speaking go here.

Thanks, Rhonda and Jim for bringing us that good medicine called comedy!

Hugs to you all!

Anita Higman - CBA bestselling author of 26 books

www.anitahigman.com

by Cheryl Holt

Several years ago, I had a visitation from an angel.

Directly after the incident, I told my husband about it, and close friends have always known that it happened to me.  But other than that handful of people, I was reluctant to talk about it.  It’s such a fantastical claim, much like pronouncing I’d been abducted by aliens.  It always seemed to me that the sorts of people making those wild assertions were crazy or publicity seekers.  I wasn’t either one, so I kept quiet.  I didn’t crave the types of exposure I was afraid the story would bring me.

Nor am I a religious person.  I don’t go to church, and I’ve never been affiliated with any particular denomination or belief system.  When I’ve always been such an agnostic, it was just too preposterous to believe that an angel would seek me out.

But it happened, and I’ve finally written about the amazing encounter.

In the 1990s, my husband and I had moved to Hawaii.  He’s an electrician, and he got a job on Maui, building some of the huge resort hotels that sprang up in the past two decades.  I tagged along after him.  I’d lost my job and was floundering, trying to figure out what I wanted to do and what my future should be.

At the time, I thought my trekking off to Hawaii was a random event, that I’d gone because I felt like having an adventure, and with the pitiful state of my professional life, I didn’t have anything better to do.  However, as I would soon learn, there had been nothing random about my decision.  I was shown that my entire life had been arranged so that I would end up on Maui when I did.

While Hawaii is probably the most beautiful spot on the planet, it’s also an extremely expensive place to live.  The poverty rate is very high, and during the years I lived there, official estimates were that ten percent of the population was homeless.  As a new resident, I was extremely shocked by the sheer numbers of people who were living in tents and campsites.

My angel asked me to build a soup kitchen—the first one in Hawaii.  He told me that God wanted me to do it, that hunger was the greatest sin in God’s eyes, and that God was asking for my help.  I didn’t want to do it; I was a newcomer on Maui and thought the task would be extremely difficult.  I argued and complained that it would be impossible.  I was sure they had asked the wrong person, that there had been a huge case of mistaken identity.

But the angel insisted they had sought me out because, yes, the task would be very difficult, and I had the fortitude to see it through.  My life experiences—life experiences that had been celestially implemented and directed—would give me the inner strength I needed to succeed.

Twenty years ago this summer, I built the first soup kitchen in Hawaii.  It’s called, Hale Kau Kau—the eating house.  I built it because God asked me to.  I built it as a favor to Him.  It’s still there today, going strong twenty years later.

Read my remarkable account:  Little Miracles by Cheryl Holt.
Now available as an e-book download on Kindle and Nook

Printing is underway for 1.2 million Life Books, and half of those have already been spoken for. Don’t miss your chance to let the churches in your area know how they can get involved in this fall.

What is the Life Book Movement? Founded by The Gideons International, The Life Book Movement is an innovative strategy to reach high school students with the Word of God. The movement is a Christian mission centered on The Life Book, a unique presentation of Scripture designed to engage high school students with the truth of God’s Word, created by Carl Blunt, president and CEO of The Life Book Movement. The Life Book presents a brief overview of the Old Testament and the Book of John using an interactive format with honest student comments and real-life questions in the margins. Readers are drawn into the only story that can change their lives forever.

The Life Book Movement works with churches throughout the country by providing free copies of The Life Book for students to give as gifts to their friends and classmates during school. Blunt’s organization brilliantly takes advantage of a student’s freedom to distribute religious literature by getting The Life Book into the hands of Christian high school students and having them pass the books out to classmates at school—a practice that is acceptable, as long as the books are not distributed by school staff or other adults. In less than two years since the Life Book Movement got it’s start, over half a million Life Books have been distributed and the movement is growing by leaps and bounds.

Summer is almost here, but now is the time to think about mobilizing your students to reach their classmates this fall.  Don’t miss out!  1.2 Million students will be reached with God’s Word in the coming school year and we want Christian students in your area to reach them.  If you wait until the fall, you may be too late – books are being spoken for every day.

A full online version of The Life Book is available for you to take a closer look at by clicking here.

www.thelifebook.com – www.twitter.com/carlblunt – www.facebook.com/carlblunt

For review copy and interview information, contact:

In That’s When I Talk to God, the husband and wife writing team of Dan and Ali Morrow tells the story of a child learning more about prayer. From thanking God for best friends and the flowers in the garden to praying for hurting people and the courage to do things that scare her, she comes to discover over the course of one sunny Saturday that we can talk to God about everything. And at the end of the book, when she asks if God ever talks to us, both she and young readers will learn about all the ways God does in fact speak to us, including one big way—through His Word.

Targeted to children four to eight, That’s When I Talk to God mirrors the day of the typical child, creating an opportunity for readers to put the practices in the story to use in their own lives. Through beautiful illustrations and an engaging, familiar character, readers can relate to That’s When I Talk to God. Children will learn to go to God with their fears, their joys, their questions, and their desires. They will also learn the hows, whens, and whys of praying to the Lord in a way they can easily apply to their own experiences. And adults will be reminded to communicate the benefit, simplicity, and beauty of prayer.

Watch the That’s When I Talk to God preview.

An interview with Dan and Ali Morrow, authors of That’s When I Talk to God

Q: Where did you find the inspiration for this enchanting series? Within the lives of your children or elsewhere?

We were pregnant with our oldest when Dan was came up with the idea of a boy and his grandfather talking about “something”—that eventually evolved into That’s Where God Is. The more we worked on that book, the more we found ourselves not-very-impressed with a lot of the children’s books out there that talk about God and Christianity, and we started brainstorming about what we would do differently.  You start thinking long and hard about these things when you have a little one on the way!

Q: Why do you feel it is vital to introduce the foundation of spiritual truths at such an early age?

Young children’s minds are open to new concepts in a way that older children’s and adults’ minds are not. Immersing them in the faith early on takes advantage of this. It’s like teaching them their native language—we don’t wait until children are older before we start talking to them. We start from the minute they’re born, and we talk as if they understand everything we’re saying. Talking about spiritual things should be no different.

Q: Do you think that adults often forget to teach their children to talk to God other than at meal or bedtime? Why?

Unfortunately, adults are often so busy with life that they themselves don’t think to talk to God except during mealtime or bedtime prayers. I (Ali) struggle with this and I’ve been a Christian for thirty years! So if we’re not talking to God throughout our day, it’s hard to model the kind of prayer life for our children that we want them to have. I’m slowly getting better, and God is faithful to draw me closer to Him—in fact, He uses my girls to do it! They’re the ones who will say, “Mom, look, a fire engine is going somewhere—we should pray that everyone is okay.” I only thought to suggest that once or twice myself, but they’ve really grabbed hold of that kind of mindset, and now they’re very diligent and faithful to ask that we stop and pray for people whenever we see emergency vehicles out with their sirens going. And whenever we do that, it brings God back to the forefront of my mind, and I’m more likely to remember to suggest that we pray for other things in the course of our day—thanking God for creation, for health, for safety; asking Him why things are the way they are in the world, etc.

Q: How will it benefit children to learn to talk to God early in their lives?

The earlier and more thoroughly we immerse our children in the faith, the deeper those roots are going to go. And the deeper those roots go, the more stable their spiritual foundation is going to be. Kids are leaving the church in droves when they turn 18—I think that we can put a dent in that statistic if we help our kids to cultivate a rich prayer life and teach them the deeper things of the faith early on instead of feeding them “spirituality lite” in the form of Christian cartoons or isolated Bible stories.

Q: Do you have suggestions for those who purchase your story to effectively emphasize the truths presented?

Children learn through repetition. Anyone who has lived with a toddler or preschooler knows they love to read the same books, play the same games, and ask the same questions over and over. God wired them this way, and parents can use this to their advantage. Both books in the series include a variety of familiar scenes and situations that kids and parents can easily relate to.  You can incorporate That’s When I Talk to God into your bedtime routine (the book actually starts and ends with a bedtime scene, so it suits nighttime reading well!) and talk about times in your own child’s life that they can talk to God like the girl in the story did. Kids also bow to peer pressure, as we all know, and parents can encourage the “peer pressure” of the girl in the story by drawing parallels between her experience and their child’s. Parents can also read through the Scriptures in the back of the book and talk about how God speaks to us through the Bible. I think emphasizing the fact that God actually does respond to us is key, because so often prayer can feel like a one-way street. By pointing out that He talks back—and identifying the times He does throughout our day—parents can help their children to avoid the common pitfall of thinking that prayer is just them talking and no one responding.

That’s When I Talk to God by Dan and Ali Morrow

David C Cook/April 2011

ISBN: 978-1-4347-0018-6/36 pages/hardcover/$12.99

www.davidccook.com

For review copy and interview information, contact:

We welcome authors DiAnn Mills and Colleen Coble to In Faith Network radio and discuss their books, their lives and their relationship with God. We put both authors on the hot seat with hard questions like;

• Is it okay to include the ugliness in life, such as murder, extortion, kidnapping, etc. when reaching out to a Christian audience?
• How much of God’s word can you fit into a work of fiction without it becoming the main focus of the story? Is that a challenge?

DiAnn talks about her current novel Under a Desert Sky and how she includes suspense in both her historical novels and her contemporary novels. Then we catch up with Colleen Coble whose new novle The Lightkeeper’s Ball was just released.

In Faith Radio 4-21-11

Leave a comment for a chance to win a copy of Lightkeeper’s Ball! We will announce the winner next week!

I love going to the movies. I love to get swept away in a good story, especially if the tale is not only entertaining but inspiring.

The theme of this week’s show is “Taking God to the Movies,” and Sheila English and I had the opportunity to interview two amazing people—Dave Moody, a film maker, and Rusty Whitener, a novelist and screenwriter.

Here is a little background on the multi-talented, Dave Moody:

Dave Moody

Few music entertainers from North Carolina have accomplished more than Dave Moody. As the driving force behind The Moody Brothers, Dave has led the family band to national recognition and international acclaim, earning two Grammy Award Nominations and three International CMA Awards. Dave is also directing motion pictures, and he’s already won numerous awards as a filmmaker. To learn more about Dave visit his site at http://davemoody.com/

Dave answered a variety of questions on the show, sharing about his transition from the music business to filmmaking, and he gave us the latest news on his upcoming project, A Season of Miracles.

We also talked to Rusty Whitener, who wrote the book, A Season of Miracles.

Rusty Whitener

Rusty is a novelist, screenwriter, actor, and pastor. His first screenplay, Touched, won second place at the Los Angeles Movieguide Awards and first place at the Gideon Film Festival. A lifelong baseball enthusiast, Rusty and his wife Rebecca live in Pulaski, Virginia, where he writes a weekly column for The Pulaski County Patriot. Find out more about Rusty at http://rustywhitener.com/

The connection Rusty has with Dave Moody is that Dave’s company, Elevating Entertainment is making his novel, A Season of Miracles, into a film. In the interview Rusty told us how thrilled he was about this opportunity and how wonderful it will be to see his work on the silver screen.

Here’s a marvelous endorsement for Rusty’s novel:

Matt Diaz (Atlanta Braves’ outfielder) said, “A Season Of Miracles” is a touching, challenging and beautiful story about how God can use the unlikeliest among us to draw us to Him. I was reacquainted with my childhood. This is a ‘must read’ for anyone who ever played youth baseball.”

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Thank you, Dave and Rusty, for a fun and fascinating look behind the scenes as Sheila and I explored the making of movies. And thank you for creating a beautiful and uplifting film that the whole family will be able to enjoy. I’m really looking forward to A Season of Miracles!

Blessings!
Anita Higman
Bestselling author of 26 books
Coming March 2012: Blue Moon
www.anitahigman.com

Oh! Sister Betty what have you gone and done? LOL Okay, so “Sister Betty” is a character but Pat G’Orge-Walker brings her to life in such a big way you may feel you know her, or someone a lot like her. Pat G’Orge-Walker and the amazingly talented Shelia Goss joined us tonight on our new In Faith Network radio show!

Tonight we celebrate Black History month and talk about the progress, or lack of progress, we’ve seen over the years for African American authors. We talk about God, books, life, politics and of course we have a few laughs along the way!

Both authors have very different books, but share one thing- their heroines are both named Delilah! Shelia’s book is about a woman who falls in love with her pastor and the pastor’s struggle with temptation and Pat’s book is about a woman reaching out to her son that she abandoned long ago to pursue her own dreams.

I love this podcast because you can feel the love and support these two ladies have for each other and we had readers in the chat room talking and we mentioned them, it was a wonderful time and I hope you’ll enjoy this half hour podcast! We invite you to leave comments for us or for the authors as well!

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Sheila and I were thrilled to interview authors Lisa Harris and Bo Caldwell on our show this week. At the opening of the show, Sheila said, “Over the last couple of weeks I’ve had several personal friends of mine leave the comfort of their homes to do missionary work in Haiti. I followed them on Facebook and in church news. I saw pictures and was so encouraged by everything that was happening. That has made this show even more exciting for me because in this show we will be talking about the stories of missionaries. We have two amazing guests with us tonight, authors Lisa Harris and Bo Caldwell, and they’re going to share their stories, their books, and their feelings about missionary work.”

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Bo Caldwell

Lisa Harris

And I have to say, both Lisa and Bo did that beautifully. If you missed the show, please feel free to listen to it now. We have it archived on Reader’s Entertainment Radio.

I’d like to tell you a little about Lisa Harris. She’s an award-winning author who has over twenty novels and novella collections in print. She and her husband, Scott, along with their three children, live near the Indian Ocean in Mozambique as missionaries. Life is busy between ministry and home schooling, but she sees her writing as an extension of her ministry. When she’s not working she loves hanging out with her family, cooking different ethnic dishes, and heading into the African bush on safari.

Lisa gave us some wonderful insights into missionary life in Africa. In fact, she answered some questions for our blog.

I asked Lisa what a typical day looked like for her and her family. Lisa said, “This question made me smile, because I’ve had to throw out words like “typical” from my vocabulary, as no day ever seems to go as planned. Even so, I do try to keep life as normal as possible for our three children.”

I was also curious about how her life in Africa affected her novels? Lisa replied, “One of the things I love about traveling and living in different countries is that it widens my worldview and gives me a greater understanding into the lives of other people. And I love the chance to share what I have discovered—the people, culture, and setting—through a fictional story.”

Lastly, I asked her about her latest books. Lisa said, “In February, Zondervan will release book two in my Mission Hope series. While the first book dealt with the very real issue of human trafficking, the second is another fast-paced suspense novel set in a refugee camp. And if you enjoy historicals with a strong thread of suspense and romance, I have a new book from Summerside Press, An Ocean Away, which will be released in March. This story is about a young girl caught between the two worlds of Africa and New York City in the early 1920’s.”

These novels sound amazing, Lisa! I hope everyone will pick up some copies!

For more information visit Lisa’s website at www.lisaharriswrites.com or her blog at http://myblogintheheartofafrica.blogspot.com.

Also, here is a link to Lisa’s non-profit organization at www.theECHOproject.org.

To learn more about Lisa’s ministry please go to www.africanoutreachministries.org.

Sheila and I were also excited to have Bo Caldwell on the show. She is the author of the national bestseller The Distant Land of My Father. Her short fiction has been published in Ploughshares, Story, Epoch, and other literary journals. A former Stegner Fellow in Creative Writing at Stanford University, she lives in Northern California with her husband, novelist Ron Hansen. Since Bo has written about missionary life in China, she also gave us some fascinating answers to our questions.

As a fellow author I want to give Bo some praise here. She truly has a unique voice and an amazing literary style—lyrical and heart-felt and memorable. On the day of the interview I was reading her novel, City of Tranquil Light, and I started to cry because the story was so moving to me, so beautiful. I hope our listeners get an opportunity to read this wonderful story, which was inspired by the lives of her beloved grandparents who were also missionaries in China.

Here’s a link to learn more about Bo’s latest book: us.macmillan.com/cityoftranquillight. Also, listeners can purchase the book online at amazon.com and bn.com.

Thanks Lisa and Bo for being our guests on the show!

Blessings to each of you!

Anita Higman

Bestselling author of 26 books

Love Finds You in Humble Texas

www.anitahigman.com