New Canaan Society Franklin Podcast

#74: Larry Warren & Jeremy Johnson

If you are concerned about what seems to be a shrinking influence of Christ on our culture, this podcast will be an encouragement.
 
It’s true that Pew research reports that only 63% of Americans say they are Christians – down from 75% ten years ago. And Barna research reports that Generation Z is the least Christian generation in American history with only 4% of today’s teenagers holding a biblical worldview.
 
If you think the church is on the ropes because of what you’re seeing in the U.S. and Western Europe, you will be blown away by what the Holy Spirit is doing in other parts of the world – Africa, for instance.
 
This Thursday we will hear from Larry Warren, founder of Leadership International, and Jeremy Johnson, vice president of Oasis International, a book and Bible publisher in Africa. You’ll hear amazing stories of a hunger for the Word of God unlike anything in the U.S. and the tremendous opportunities to satisfy that hunger.
 
“How much more do I need to say? It would take too long to recount the stories of the faith of those in China, the Middle East, Latin America, and more.” (adaptation of Hebrews 11:32). Join us on Thursday to be encouraged by a few amazing stories of the work of the Holy Spirit in Africa.

#73: Morgan J. Wills

Morgan comes from a family who has served Nashville well. His great grandfather founded the National Life and Accident Insurance Company, his mother helped establish Vanderbilt’s Children’s Hospital, his father has written 28 books on Nashville’s history, and his parents were key to the restoration of the Belle Meade Farm.
 
Morgan has been president and CEO of Siloam Health, a faith-based, volunteer-supported clinic for people with no health insurance and limited resources, primarily immigrants. Siloam serves people from 70 nations who speak 50 languages. Morgan has also received an MA in marketplace theology from Regent College.
 
Siloam does not just meet the physical needs of the people it serves. It provides a place where they can feel safe and loved. It’s called whole-person medicine.
 
This month Morgan is stepping down from his position at Siloam to become an associate professor at the Thomas F. Frist Jr. College of Medicine at Belmont, a school that in April, 2024 will begin training medical providers to treat patients as human beings and not just broken bodies.

#72: Buddy Greene

Buddy got his start playing with country superstar Jerry Reed’s band. He has played at a Billy Graham crusade before 250,000 people in Central Park, NY, and ten years later played the “William Tell Overture” on harmonica at Carnegie Hall (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=zoauBe465qQ). Buddy feels equally at home playing with Jeff Taylor at Station Inn or reading a book by Reinhold Niebuhr in the back of a tour bus. And as a songwriter, he is best known for having written – with Mark Lowry – the Christmas classic, “Mary, Did You Know.”

#71: Chip Arnold

“Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! . . . Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! . . . There will be famines, pestilences, and earthquakes. . . . You will be hated by all nations for My name’s sake. . . . Then the King will say . . . , ‘Come, you blessed of My father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.” Jesus speaks passionately in Matthew 23, 24, and 25.
 
Last March Chip Arnold, a Nashville actor who has played Paul, Jesus, and King Saul as well as Willy Loman (in “Death of a Salesman”), Henrik Ibsen, Henry Potter (in “It’s a Wonderful Life”), and many others, presented The Sermon on the Mount to us at NCS.
 
This Thursday Chip will present Jesus’s powerful words in three chapters at the end of Matthew. Chip says, “The words I memorized and speak are true. Most important, the words reveal the One who was and is the true source of power and life. I am not the same man.”  
 
By the way, if you want to hear Chip’s presentation of the Sermon on the Mount, go to https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1X6LL8ZMghs&t=11s

#70: John Chisum

John Chisum, founder of Nashville Christian Songwriters, says that in spite of a successful career as music business executive and songwriter . . .
 
“At age 58 my life fell apart. I found myself struggling to connect with God, myself, my loved ones, and with meaningful ministry and work. It all just came to a grinding halt. I was hitting rock bottom in almost every area of my life. I fell into a darkness I had never known before.
 
“That was the toughest year of my life, but little did I know that it was all a set up for something much bigger: a new me that was much braver, much bolder, much more fearless and internally successful than ever before.
 
“I want to share what I’ve learned these last few years. I want to share how changing my perspective on faith, God, and myself has allowed me to flourish like never before.”

#69: Chandler Means

Chandler Means and his wife have been foster parents to more than 30 children over the last 16 years. Some of those have been from horrific backgrounds and Chandler and his wife have experienced heartache, joy, frustration, and celebration. He is now executive director of Agape, an organization in Nashville that strengthens children and families.

For this breakfast we invited brothers to share their stories with us. Paul Aldrich and Denny Brownlee (part of our leadership team) led us in a few songs and then Chandler told us about his experiences as a foster father.

#67: Scotty Smith

Last summer my wife, Lois, heard a radio interview with Barbara Miller Juliani, who told about growing up in a Christian family, rejecting her parents’ Christianity, and joyfully reconciling with her parents and with the Lord. Lois bought the book that Barbara wrote with her father – Come Back, Barbara.

When I realized that Barbara’s father was Jack Miller – professor at Westminster Theological Seminary, founder of World Harvest Mission (now Serge), and a mentor of Scotty Smith -- I reached out to Scotty because I had heard him talk about Jack Miller in reverential tones for nearly as long as I had known Scotty.
 
One of Jack Miller’s sons said the story “is not just the story of a prodigal daughter, but also of a father who was acting like the elder son. Dad’s willingness to first take the beam out of his eye transformed him into the kind of dad a prodigal would want to return to.”
 
Jack Miller died 26 years ago and cannot be with us in person. Scotty will be Jack’s stand-in to tell us the story of a father’s pursuit of a prodigal daughter.

#68: Jeff Allen

Jeff Allen combines clean and hilarious humor with inspiration.
 
He’s performed for American troops, twice at the National Prayer Breakfast, starred in specials on Comedy Central, and been featured on Bill Gaither’s Homecoming Tours.
 
And although “Jeff is a class act and true gentleman,” (according to the CEO of BlueCreek Investment Partners), he’s going to be with us this Thursday, December 15. If you know anyone who is a class act and a true gentleman – unlike the rest of us -- invite them to join us.

#66: Allen Shamblin

Have you heard this story before?
 
A real estate appraiser in Austin quits his job and moves to Nashville to pursue his career as a songwriter. He supports himself by parking cars and working in a warehouse.
 
Remember that your next valet parking attendant may become another Allen Shamblin. Allen has written hit songs for Randy Travis, Bonnie Raitt, Miranda Lambert, and others and is a member of the Nashville Songwriters Hall of Fame.
 
At one point, however, Allen was at what he thought was the end of his career. He had writer's block and the words just would not come to the page. Feeling useless and frustrated he turned to God and . . . well, you will have to wait for the rest of the story when Allen Shamblin joins us this Thursday at Puckett’s.

#65: Rob Touchstone

Rob Touchstone, our speaker this Thursday, is passionate about helping students at Lipscomb (where he just founded the Center for Vocational Discovery) discover who they are and what they are living for and how their vocation fits into God’s plan for their lives.
 
Young people wrestle with this. Then they settle into their vocation and many of us — men especially — find our identity in our jobs. That seems to serve us well until . . . our job ends. Mostly through retirement.
 
So perhaps Rob’s experience helping young people discover who they are and what they are living for will be of benefit to a few older men who are once again asking, “who am I and what am I living for?” Come on Thursday when Rob tells his own story and how he found the answer in Christ Jesus.
 
There’s a lot more to Rob’s story than just the Center for Vocational Discovery . . . more than I can include here.