Loading summary
Transcript169 lines
- [00:00]
A
Let me introduce Shannon to you. Her bio is I had to trim it. It's so great. But I'm going to read this much of it because it's important for you to know just all of her accomplishments. Shannon Bream currently serves as the anchor of Fox News Sunday. How many of you. Well, you're here at church. You may not. Well, wait a minute. When does it air on Sundays? Like 2 o'? Clock?
- [00:23]
B
It re airs it.
- [00:24]
A
It re airs it too, because that's when I see it. But okay, so how, how many of you watch it when it re airs at 2:00'? Clock? Okay. Yeah. There you go. Better be here. All right. She's held that post Since 2022, the first female anchor of Fox News Sunday in the 26 year history of Fox News. She also serves as the chief. Yeah, you can give her some applause for that. She also serves as the chief legal correspondent for the network and hosts a podcast, Living the Bream. Don't you love that play on words. And she had me on podcast not too long ago. She was born and raised in Tallahassee, Florida. She attended Liberty University. She earned a business management degree. And while there she competed to be Miss Virginia in 1990. And she won that. Yep. She went on to be one of the top 10 finalists in the 1991 Miss America pageant. And. Okay, you know what, hold it till I get through all of this, all right? Because there's a lot of good stuff she's done. Then in 1991, sorry. She moved back to Florida and earned her juris doctorate with honors from Florida State University College of Law. And while in law school at FSU, she won the 1995 Miss Florida USA pageant. She just travels from state to state winning pageants. She ultimately placed fourth in the 1995 Miss USA pageant, which paid for law school, right? Yeah. What a good gig that was. She worked a lot of small market television before coming to WRC TV where she met Britt Hume, who convinced her to send in some tapes to FOX News. A fun fact. Shannon is a classically trained pianist and she says she is happiest at home with her husband Sheldon, who couldn't be here tonight, their dog Biscuit, and a good book. And speaking of good books, she is the author of three books, including the number one New York Times bestseller, Women of the Bible Speak. And she's grateful to be a messenger of the greatest story ever told, that God loves you and wants a relationship with you. And so tonight we're going to discuss her latest book, nothing is Impossible with God. Would you please stand to your feet? Give a warm welcome to Shannon Bream, everybody.
- [02:57]
B
You gave away all my deep, dark secrets.
- [02:59]
A
Yes, I know I have.
- [03:01]
B
The pageant stuff is last century. We're keeping track. And we're in the 1900s.
- [03:06]
A
Well, it is true, because I have to say now, I was born in the 1900s. So this was you?
- [03:10]
B
It was. It was ancient times for people who weren't born until the 2000s.
- [03:16]
A
All right, I have to ask this. I have to get this out of the way first. Shannon, everybody here knows I'm a dog lover and that I think cats go to hell. And I. Or they. Or they come from there. But one of those. But Shannon. Shannon Biscuit. Really?
- [03:34]
B
Yes.
- [03:34]
A
You named your dog Biscuit? I did. Is this a male, female dog?
- [03:39]
B
She is an English Cream Lab. So she looks like a tasty little Biscuit. Especially when she was a little puppy. When I was growing up, we had sibling yellow labs that were named Sourdough and Buttermilk.
- [03:50]
A
Seriously?
- [03:51]
B
Now, that was my mom's doing. Okay. But when Biscuit came along, it just. It felt like the right name for her.
- [03:57]
A
Okay. So if you enjoyed it.
- [03:58]
B
She's not a cat.
- [03:59]
A
Well, that's good. And I'm happy about that. If you and Sheldon get another dog, I recommend you name it. Gravy.
- [04:05]
B
Yes, we will do that. Gravy. We'll do it.
- [04:09]
A
All right. If you don't mind, I want to have just a little bit of fun before we get into the book. Okay, so this is what I thought, everybody. And hopefully you'll go with this. She doesn't know anything. I'm going to ask. We didn't go over the questions. Okay. So, first word that comes to your mind to describe some of your Fox News comments. Colleagues. And I'm going to give you the names.
- [04:32]
B
Okay. And I'm just. It's like rapid fire.
- [04:34]
A
Yeah, Rapid fire.
- [04:35]
B
Okay.
- [04:35]
A
And I'm going to give. I also came up with a one word for each, just as an observation from somebody who doesn't know them.
- [04:42]
B
Okay. So I'll be from the inside.
- [04:44]
A
Don't forget, you're the inside, I'm the outside. Okay. And maybe we'll have the same word. All right, here we go. Rapid fire. Jesse Waters.
- [04:50]
B
Ham.
- [04:51]
A
Ham.
- [04:54]
B
He would probably say that, though. Jessica.
- [04:56]
A
Okay. I said happy. He seems happy all the time.
- [04:58]
B
Yes, he is.
- [04:59]
A
Okay. Dana Perino.
- [05:00]
B
Adorable.
- [05:01]
A
Nice. Greg Gutfeld.
- [05:06]
B
Naughty, naughty, naughty.
- [05:08]
A
Yeah. See? I said witty, but I could see the naughty point. You'd get rich off a cust Jar with him if you had.
- [05:15]
B
Yes, you would.
- [05:16]
A
Ok. Jessica Tarlov.
- [05:18]
B
Spicy.
- [05:19]
A
Spicy.
- [05:20]
B
Yeah. I mean, listen, she shows up going into kind of the lion's den every day, and I admire that about her.
- [05:26]
A
I do, too. I picked Resilient for her for that very.
- [05:29]
B
It's a good one, too.
- [05:30]
A
Yeah.
- [05:30]
B
Yeah.
- [05:30]
A
All right. Kennedy
- [05:33]
B
Cool. Because she's way cooler than I will ever be. She's definitely cool.
- [05:37]
A
I said glasses cool, too.
- [05:39]
B
Yes.
- [05:40]
A
That's all I can say.
- [05:40]
B
She's got so many different colors and pairs.
- [05:42]
A
Brett Baer.
- [05:44]
B
Solid.
- [05:45]
A
I said. Serious.
- [05:46]
B
Yep.
- [05:47]
A
Last one.
- [05:48]
B
Bill Hammer, Bestie.
- [05:51]
A
I said cool. He just looks cool.
- [05:53]
B
He's very cool. And there's no one you would rather sit on a set with for breaking news or crazy things that are happening. He's just a consummate professional. Yeah, That's a good dude.
- [06:02]
A
All right. I noticed, and I want to say thank you. You gave me an acknowledgement in the acknowledgment page. But I did notice that the acknowledgement page is in the back of this book. It's page 288, everybody.
- [06:18]
B
Were you looking through the whole book?
- [06:20]
A
I had to read the whole book until I found my name.
- [06:24]
B
That's how we force you to read the book. Put your name at the very back.
- [06:27]
A
Aren't acknowledgments usually in the front of a book?
- [06:29]
B
I don't choose that. They asked me to write the acknowledgments, and then they put the book together so I won't pass off.
- [06:34]
A
Well, you put me in a good category because you. You also acknowledged a couple of other pastors, Robert Jeffress and Greg Laurie and Max Lucado. So my question is, who's your favorite?
- [06:48]
B
Obviously.
- [06:49]
A
Sorry, you're not the answer. I'm not?
- [06:52]
B
No. But to explain a little bit more about why include you, because I love all of your teaching. But Wednesday night, when you really are doing what I consider a real Bible study.
- [07:01]
A
Thanks. So Sunday's just. Yep.
- [07:03]
B
No, no, no. Sundays. Sundays are amazing. But I like the deeper dive sometimes that you get to on Wednesdays. So I watch your sermons and your stuff all the time, and it really informed a lot of my study of these stories.
- [07:14]
A
So I appreciate that.
- [07:15]
B
Gary Hamrick, ladies and gentlemen.
- [07:16]
A
Thank you. I appreciate that. That was a very selfless plug right there. But thank you for that. You didn't have to do that. So let's get on with the book, because I know this is going to be a great tool to reach a lot of people. And your dedication, I loved your dedication. You dedicated it to your mom that you affectionately call Mama. And you said in the dedication, my first Bible teacher and lifelong model of what it means to overcome life's challenges by faithfully resting in our Savior, Jesus Christ. Talk about your relationship with your mom and why you wrote it that way.
- [07:54]
B
You didn't have any Kleenex up here?
- [07:55]
A
No, I'm sorry. I should.
- [07:57]
B
She truly was my first Bible teacher. Taught me to study God's Word, taught me to memorize God's word, and she was very, very intentional about that being in every part of our life. My mom is really one of those people that is hands and feet. She is Christ to anyone and everyone who she thinks needs his love, needs some tlc, needs encouragement, needs a meal. That's just my mom. I mean, she's just very, very selfless. And so everything that she taught me, she also modeled. And I probably learned even more from watching her than I did from listening to her. Yeah.
- [08:32]
A
Before we came out here, you were trying to text your mom to let her know about this is live stream, but you said she's probably at choir rehearsal right now.
- [08:39]
B
She is in. She's in church right now. Yeah. So she won't be watching.
- [08:43]
A
So people could easily look at you. You're a public Persona. You know, people can see you and they can look at your life. They can. You know, you've been married to Sheldon now. How many years did you tell me?
- [08:55]
B
30 years.
- [08:55]
A
30 years. And so you have a good marriage. You're at the pinnacle of your career. You've met and interviewed a lot of powerful, important people, and they can just kind of get this image of Shannon Bream, like, having it all together. But the reality is you've experienced your own hardships. You've gone through some very trying things in your life. So has Sheldon. So has your husband. Maybe start there because Sheldon got a diagnosis when you were engaged to be married and then weave that in. They would be benefit. They would benefit from hearing your story about your own personal, literally physical pain, emotional, spiritual pain. Talk a little bit about what you guys have been through.
- [09:36]
B
Yes. So Sheldon and I met at Liberty. Go Flames. And yes, thank you. I'm so glad there's so many fellow Flames here. I'm a little biased, but we met there and we dated. We did not meet till our senior year, the last, very last semester. And people are like, ring by spring. It was not that we just met right before graduation, but we knew it was something. And I went off to law school. He got a job in Tallahassee. He lived with my parents while I lived by the law school because they wanted to keep an eye on him, of course, so it was a good way to do it. But we had, you know, your typical felon love, wanted to get married, and I was getting my way through school and he started having some trouble with ringing in his ear, his sinuses. And you know, you as a 24 year old, healthy young guy, you just treat that as a visit to the ent. Now, he didn't have insurance, he loved his job, but he didn't have insurance. And so everything was kind of coming out of pocket. So he wasn't in a hurry to spend a lot of time at doctor's offices. But they could not clear this thing up. He had antibiotics and they finally, several months into this, said, well, this is really long shot, but we do need to rule this one thing out. We think you should get an MRI because you could have a brain tumor. Which just shocked us completely and we're planning this wedding and planning our lives together. And sure enough, he went through that test and they said, you do have a golf ball sized brain tumor. And they said, we won't know until we take it out whether it's benign or not. But it was a very specific and acoustic neuroma, if anybody has experience with that. And it was growing on his hearing nerve, which is why he was having all this trouble with his hearing. So we went through months of trying to find the right doctor, found this amazing surgeon at the University of Florida. And listen, as a Florida State Seminole, it took humility to go there and accept the help from a gator. But this guy was world renowned, taught the surgery all over the world. And he said to us, listen, there are some complications that can happen here, but I feel very good about my ability to take care of this. So he got the surgery and we were like nine, ten hours into it. It was going into sort of overtime and the doctor came out, met with my family. We were all there wa in the waiting room and he said, I think that we got everything and he looks good. We're going to send off the pathology and we'll just have to see. And my dad, my late father, who could not ever resist being the jokester, said, how much sawdust fell out when you finally got in there. This is this world class neurosurgeon who's not laughing. He's like, you're welcome. So listen, it was benign, which was the good news. The problem was two or three days after his surgery, he did have complications and paralysis that was triggered by that surgery and the swelling that happened with the healing. He permanently lost his hearing on that side. So I always make sure I'm on the correct side if I have to say something. Because he has this out with like, oh, I didn't hear you. Yeah, I never heard that.
- [12:25]
A
That could actually come in handy.
- [12:28]
B
And, you know, if you've been through a big surgery and a physical, terrible recovery period, that it really spun him into a deep depression. And we were just kids, you know, we didn't know what we were doing. But we had people praying for us all over the place. And we would get notes from churches we'd never been to. And the body of Christ is amazing. We'd just say, we heard about you. We put you on our prayer list. Here's a note to let you know we're praying for you. So it tested but strengthened both of our faith. So fast forward, years later, we're married and I'm working here in D.C. and my dream job. And I started to have these incidents that were waking me up at night that were extremely painful. It started with one eye. Over time, it started both eyes. And I would just rummage through the cabinet for eye drops. I would try a compress on my eyes. The pain was a 10 out of 10 and couldn't really figure out what was happening. But it was always overnight with my eyeballs. So I went to my regular doctor. I was the kid wearing glasses in third grade. I'd always had sort of bum eyes that didn't really work that well. And my doctor said, you know, you're getting up there in years now. Women begin to have dry eye symptoms. I'm like, I think this is more than dry eye, but okay. So we tried a few things. He said, I think you need to go to a specialist. Eventually, I went to a specialist here in Northern Virginia who came highly recommended. Saw him a couple of times, and I got to a really, really bad place where I couldn't sleep more than two or three hours at a time. I would set alarms so I could try to get ahead of whatever was happening, put drops in. I just couldn't sleep because if I fell asleep, I knew I was going to be awakened in this pain. And there were many nights I just sat on the bathroom floor. I could not articulate a prayer other than just, please help me, please help me. That's all I could say. So I went back to this doctor. I'm several months into this at this point where I am not sleeping. I'm in pain all the time. I've got migraines and double vision. I'm trying to keep it together at my job and hide it from them. So Sheldon, my husband, was the only one who really knew what was going on. And I go back to this specialist for a follow up visit and I tell him, like, this is not really working. I'm in a bad place. I'm really struggling to kind of hold myself together. And he said to me, you're very emotional. And I said, yeah, it's the worst
- [14:41]
A
thing to say to a woman.
- [14:43]
B
Yeah, yeah, he should know better. He must have been sick. But I left there and I was done with the medical establishment. I was like, this guy is supposed to be the best of the best. I'm not getting any better. I'm getting measurably worse. And so for months I just kind of gave up and just was existing. And I got to a point where I was deeply depressed and I did what I tell people, don't ever do this. I went online to try to diagnose what was going on. Don't do that. You'll find out. You've got 13 seconds to live.
- [15:11]
A
Yes, it's not good.
- [15:14]
B
What I did find though, were other people with the same symptoms to say, yes, I'm being turned away from emergency rooms. I can't find help. But I started to piece together some more clues about what may be happening. And there were people in those chat rooms who would say, I just want to end my life. Didn't sound crazy to me at all. I said, yeah, that sounds like it would be a relief. I feel like the Lord knows just how badly I'm suffering. But that was enough to kind of shock me into having a conversation with my husband. To say like, that's seems like such a restful solution. I can't live like this anymore. I'm a couple years into it at this point. And we prayed that night and I thought of the words of Paul with his thorn in the side where, you know, he wanted the Lord to heal him. And that wasn't God's choice. He said, you know, my strength is made perfect in your weakness. So Paul says, okay, I will boast all the more gladly about my weaknesses so that Christ's power may rest on me. And that was what I just clung to. And I said, lord, if you're not going to heal me, would you please lead me to someone to help me and Sheldon? And I said, we're just going to start working the phones. The next day I found another really highly regarded specialist in D.C. and I called up and I said, I know that you say he's not taking patients and this is a very sought after guy, but I'm in a really tough place, would you consider taking a new patient? And she said, can you hold on? She came back and she said, I just had someone cancel for tomorrow. If you can take the slot, it's yours. And that was an answer to prayer to me. It really was, clearly. And I would say to that doctor for the years I would see him afterwards, like, you know, you're an answer to prayer. And he'd be sort of like, you're weird, but okay. But it was true. And that first visit, I got in there and I told myself, hold it together, don't be emotional, you know, try to keep it together. His assistant does the workup on me, puts my folder in the slot and I heard him pick it up before he came in. And he said to me, hadn't even examined me, said, I know what you have. He said, let me do the exam, but I'm 95% sure did the exam. He said, yep, this is what it is. It's called map dot fingerprint dystrophy. And you have a situation where your corneas don't root back into the eyeball like they should. They're constantly tearing. You've been tearing your corneas day after day, night after night for two years. And he knew how much pain I was in. And I was the first, first glimmer of hope. I felt like that answered prayer, like there was something hopeful. And before I left, he said, here are the follow up appointments we need to do. Here are all the things that we're going to try. And he said to me, you should know something, there's no cure for this. And I left there just. I don't even remember leaving. I remember getting into my car, my husband's waiting for me to call him. I was filling in for my buddy Brett. At six o' clock that night, I knew I had to get back to work. And I just sobbed in my car, just poured myself out, like, lord, I don't get this. I don't know how I can live like this. I'm just, you know, I'm at my wit's end. And it was in that that I heard him say to me, not audibly, I heard him in my spirit say to me, I will be with you. Not I'm going to heal you, this is going to go away, but I'll be with you.
- [18:15]
A
Yeah.
- [18:16]
B
And that was enough? Yeah, that was enough.
- [18:18]
A
That's awesome. And how are you doing now?
- [18:20]
B
I'm doing great because of that doctor. I went several years before I had a surgery that's not guaranteed to work in my.
- [18:28]
A
It did.
- [18:28]
B
It's really difficult to get through. But I thank the Lord, literally, for every face I can see in here, for every road sign I can see, every bird, every leaf. I'm just. I'm eternally grateful that he brought me to the other side of God.
- [18:40]
A
The things we take for granted till we don't have it. All right, it's after seven. We're not ready for questions yet. Hold on. But I can officially now let everybody know. Your book's only been released, like, four days, maybe four.
- [18:55]
B
It came out a week ago.
- [18:56]
A
A week ago.
- [18:57]
B
This is the first official week out,
- [18:58]
A
so I can be the first to say.
- [19:00]
B
Yeah.
- [19:00]
A
That it's. It's already number one on the New York Times bestseller list. Congratulations. I had to wait till after seven because that's, I guess, when it's published. So we wanted to. All right, your book, you have 11 different. I'll call them heroes of the Bible, really, that you. That you write about. Gideon, Moses, Paul, Peter, Joseph, Jonah, Daniel, Nehemiah, Noah, Joshua, Elijah. And then you end, of course, with Jesus aside, because we'd all picked Jesus. But aside from Jesus, which person or story was your favorite and why it
- [19:38]
B
changes day to day? But I keep going back to Peter.
- [19:40]
A
Yeah.
- [19:41]
B
Because his thing that he had to overcome was his own failure. He was such a fiery, passionate defender of Christ in his closest inner circle. He spoke in superlatives. It was always and never. And when Jesus said to him, like, you're going to betray me, it was like, I would never do that, Lord. Never. If I have to die with you, I would never do it. And then, of course, it was just a matter of hours later where he betrayed Christ. And I imagine the deep sorrow he must have felt in that weekend before the resurrection, knowing he had abandoned Christ at the moment he needed him most. But Christ didn't leave him there. I love that he. He comes back and he lovingly restores him and redeems him. He named him the rock. He built the church. The early church was built with Peter's help and evangelism and sharing of the Gospel. And so I find such encouragement in his story that we make mistakes. I've made mistakes. I haven't always been clear and strong about my faith. So I think we all have moments of Peter. But what a beautiful redemption on the other side.
- [20:40]
A
Yeah, I love it, too. Gideon. You write about Gideon. One of my favorites of the Bible, too. You said about him, quote, to see ourselves as imperfect creatures in need of God, who saves. What was it about his life that struck you?
- [20:55]
B
He's such an underdog when we meet him, you know, and God appears to him and addresses him as a mighty warrior. And the interpretation of what Gideon says is, pardon me. Yeah, like, you know, not me. I'm the least in my family. We're the least in the clan and at least in the tribes. And he's hiding out essentially, when God meets him doing this work. Israel was being oppressed by the Midianites, and God is going to lead Gideon on this journey to, you know, go into battle and release them from these oppressors, the Midianites. And so he takes these baby steps of faith along the way where he's asking for the fleece and he's asking. I think God knew he wasn't being disrespectful. He really. God knows when we need assurance. He knows our hearts. And we just see Gideon grow and grow and grow in this transformation of his faith till when he goes into battle with just 300 men in a way that God has scripted it, like he often does with us. We are flawed and fallible, so only he can get the glory when those things happen.
- [21:52]
A
That's right. So good. You also wrote about Joseph. Now, this is Joseph of the Old Testament, not the legal father of Jesus, but how he experienced such deep betrayal at the hands of his family. But instead of continuing that dysfunction, you wrote that, that quote, he broke the cycle of betrayal. And I think it's an important lesson. What does Joseph's life teach us about remaining faithful to God and life's circumstances when they are deeply unfair?
- [22:22]
B
And his whole life story, to the point of redemption was unfair, was unjust. If you know his story, his brothers were so jealous of him, they're like, let's kill him. Okay, we'll step one step back and just sell him into slavery, into a foreign country. And we never see Joseph arguing with God or turning on God or saying, how could you let this happen to me? We don't ever see that. We see such integrity and faithfulness for him that wherever he was placed, he rose to the occasion of being a faithful man of integrity. And I have doubts that I would be that same person thrown into jail for something I didn't do, left there when there was somebody who could have had an opportunity to free me over and over and over. Again. But obviously it was all part of the story. Because when his brothers 20 years later come, there's a famine in the land, he's now in a position to get them the food they need. That's the genesis of the Hebrew people. That's Israel. And so when his brothers and I love how he leads them on for a while, he doesn't tell them it's him. He recognizes them. But when he ultimately reveals himself in Genesis 50, that verse that we're all going to be familiar with, when he says, what you meant for evil, God meant for good.
- [23:29]
A
That's right.
- [23:30]
B
Not what you meant for evil. God cleaned it up and turned it around and changed it into good. Like, God knew the entire path. God meant that for good. All of those valleys and all of those injustices. So I think it's hard for us when we're in those valleys to see how God is working good from it. But what a beautiful story that Joseph was faithful all the way through, and God was. There was a purpose in the pain that he suffered.
- [23:54]
A
Yeah. And to your point, it never records that he asked the whys. He never just. And the prime of his life, like a decade was lost in prison. But yet he just doesn't ask the why question. And it's not necessarily wrong if we like why God, But I just love that integrity about him. In the chapter about Jonah, you. You dig deep here. And I liked what you. What you wrote. You said, quote, jonah was so comfortable in his disobedience and his sin that he was casually able to fall into a deep sleep. I never thought of it that way. And then you wrote, are there sins in our lives that have become so commonplace that we too are able to go on about our routines, not stopping to acknowledge that we are defying a holy God? Talk about that a little bit.
- [24:37]
B
Yeah. I mean, when you think about the, you know, the storm is being tossed, the ship is being tossed, and all these other people with pagan gods on the ship are trying to figure out which God they have to appear and how they're gonna do that and all of this, like, everybody thinks they're gonna die, and he's just snoozing. It is crazy to me that he would be so comfortable in saying, you know, God tells him what to do. And he's like, nope, I'm going in the exact opposite direction as far as I can go. And it's easy to judge these men and women in the Bible. Cause we have hindsight. But then I look in the mirror, I'm like, When have I said no to God? When have I tried to run in the other direction? When have I become so comfortable in my favorite little comfortable situation, sins, that I am blissfully unaware of God's calling and of his voice and my outward rebellion? To me, Jonah's story is about rebellion, and we've all probably walked through that. I will speak for myself that I have. So his story was very much a mirror to me.
- [25:29]
A
I wish we had time to go through every single person. I'm going to highlight just another quick couple of few before we open up the mics on the floor. Daniel. I love the story of Daniel. I did the podcast with you about Daniel and you stated that Daniel and his friends, how they underwent a process of being completely getting a whole new identity. Their captivity from Israel, taken to Babylon, new language, new names, new culture, exposed to a new pagan religion. What would you say? And what I marvel about Daniel and his friends, they stayed true to the Lord despite the cultural influence. Speak to the younger generation, how can they live all of us, but in particular because Daniel was a teenager when he was taken captive. Speak to the young generation, how can we stay true in our walk with the Lord despite the pressures of the culture?
- [26:23]
B
Yeah, because we all of all ages obviously feel that. And this area has been some of the battleground for some of those really tough. And the thing I note about the Babylonians, unlike the Assyrians, which we talk about in the book of Jonah, who are just brutal and the way that they treat their enemies is horrific. The Babylonians had a totally different strategy. They wanted you to come and see their beautiful city and their food and their fine things and be wooed over by that, which I think is more of what the world is now. It tries to tell us that, you know, come to this, this is what's going happen to fulfill you, you know, more likes, become an influencer, whatever it is, you're going to find familiar fulfillment in all of these worldly things. But man, if you can surround yourself with people who share your convictions just like Daniel did, the friends that stuck together, it's really nice to have a group with you that you can stand together against the pressures, against the lies, against the, you know, the temptations, we're all going to face temptations. But especially as a young person, I would say when you have good people, that you can pull them up when they need it, they can pull you up when you need it, but you're staying true to the compass of Christ and being involved in organizations where you're going to Be growing your faith, and that's going to be celebrated and not mocked. That's where you want to invest your time.
- [27:41]
A
That's great. So, last question before we open the mics and the floor, you. And I think appropriately so, you put Jesus as the last chapter. And, you know, here we are coming up on Easter soon. He's praying in the Garden of Gethsemane, and he is in such agony, he's perspiring droplets of blood. And there's this moment, especially on the cross, where he says, my God, my God, why have you forsaken me? Because he feels this. He's bearing the sins of the world. He feels this separation. He feels this loneliness. And so what would you say, Shannon, if you kind of just even summarize the whole book for people who don't know Jesus, and the last section is about when God feels far away in your book, for people who feel far away from God, what can you say to them about Jesus and the importance of knowing him as Lord and Savior?
- [28:38]
B
Yeah, he's the bridge. He's the connection that willingly left heaven to come experience all of the things that we walk through. Fully man, fully human, fully God. But coming here to be, you know, hurt, to be tempted to suffer, to struggle in all the ways that we did. And so what a beautiful thing that he's there advocating for us. He came and took our place. You know, there were all these sacrifices in the Old Testament that I talk about. I mean, it was one thing after another. It was never done until Christ came. And so he wipes clean the slate that. That darkness, that sin and separation that we have from God the Father. And so he willingly came and knew exactly what he was going to suffer. But what enormous hope. All of these are overcomers in the book, but he overcame sin and death. And that gives us the hope for everything else. That is the story that matters. And because of that, he loves you past, present and future. Every human being that's created all in his image. He wants relationship and redemption. And I think sometimes if people are outside looking in, they think of religion as a list of do's and don'ts, or you're going to be in trouble all the time and he's upset with you. But Jesus came not to condemn, to redeem, to tell us, yes, turn from your sin, but with enormous love, selfless love, unconditional, unending love. So if you are searching and you're hurting, there's only really one thing that is going to calm that hole in your heart. And Christ is there reaching to you. So even if you feel far away from him, he's there.
- [30:12]
A
Beautiful. The book is Nothing is Impossible with God. If you all want to ask some questions, you can go ahead and line up at the mics. And if we want to put the QR code back up on the screen for just a moment, if we can do that, we all to do that. Especially for those of you watching with FOX Nation or you're watching online, here's the QR code so you can order the book. It just went number one on the New York Times bestseller list. So. All right. Questions down here? Yes, sir. Hi, Shannon. Thanks for coming tonight and sharing your story. Full disclosure, I'm asking for a friend,
- [30:45]
B
right, honey, you're going to point out the friend. Can I see the friend from here?
- [30:52]
A
I don't know what you're talking about. So of all the women of the Bible that you've written about, which figure story do you think is most relevant to the challenges women face today?
- [31:03]
B
You know, I love in the first book that I did with fox, Women of the Bible Speak. I love the story of Deborah because if people look around and say like, oh, there are no strong women in the Bible. It's all about men and nothing wrong with men. I happen to be married to one and I love him. And of course, there are holy, faithful men that we can be inspired and encouraged by their stories, but they're women, too. And I think Deborah sometimes gets overlooked. But she was a mighty warrior. I mean, she was leading as a judge, leading the people of Israel. And she was, you know, God said, go into battle. And the leader of her army was sort of like, I don't really want to do that. And she said, oh, we're doing battle. God has told us. And, you know, she was faithful to him. And she, you know, you see too, like, she writes music. She's kind of doing everything but leading like the CrossFit class at this church. I mean, she really was godly and brave and humble. And so I think she's an amazing story if you need encouragement as a woman specifically.
- [32:00]
A
And I think your team told me we have some of that book here as well, a few copies of a couple of your books. And I think that's among them. All right. Over on this side. Yes, ma'. Am.
- [32:10]
B
Hi. Hi. I love fox. I watch it from morning till night.
- [32:16]
A
Thanks for being here and taking time away from your TV.
- [32:20]
B
She's DVRing.
- [32:21]
A
She's DVR. Yeah.
- [32:23]
B
But I wanted to thank you. I got hurt at work eight years ago. And I have migraines every day and I've gone to the doctors for everything. And the one thing that I've not done, that I wish I had is has gone to God and really asked him for help. So your story has helped me and I'll be praying every day to God to help me with my issues. And I really appreciate you bringing it to me the way that I needed to hear it.
- [32:55]
A
What's your name? What's your name, ma'?
- [32:56]
B
Am?
- [32:57]
A
What's your first name?
- [32:58]
B
Kim.
- [32:58]
A
Kim, can we pray for you right now? Sure, yeah. Lord, we just pray for Kim and we just ask you to relieve her of these migraines and these headaches and do something supernatural for your glory. We thank you in Jesus name. Amen. Thank you, Kim. Thank you.
- [33:12]
B
God bless you.
- [33:18]
A
Yes, ma'.
- [33:18]
B
Am. Shannon, my daughter and I used to watch you at Fox News at night before Sundays. So I guess my question is that like everything I've succeeded in, like I still have so much self doubt of that I'm not enough. And how do you, like, if you've ever dealt with that, what advice do you have? Yes, that's a great question. I still do. I think that we all look around at things and sometimes think that feels insurmountable and I can't do that. Or you feel like a little bit of an imposter, like I'm doing this, but am I really doing this? And I think sometimes it's just stepping forward. Like we talk about one step at a time, trusting the Lord's leading, but I think it's very real. And sometimes I just go to him and say, lord, just meet me where I'm at. I don't even know how to articulate what I'm struggling with. But the book includes Moses and so many of the others, Gideon. They all have that seed of self doubt and feeling like I'm not up to the task of what you're asking me to do. I think it's a very human thing and I think God understands that and he knows our hearts better than we do. So I know when I go to him with it, he already knows. You just say, I'm waiting for you to come. But you know, God bless you. I know that that is a difficult struggle. Whatever you're doing, if it's in the home, if it's in the workplace, or whatever you're trying to accomplish, there's a lot of self doubt. And we see that through these holy men and women in the Bible that they struggle too. And I'm glad that that part of their story is there so that we can take encouragement from how God used that. And for me, it makes me more dependent on him and realizing I can't do it by myself. I'm never going to be enough by myself. But thank goodness he is.
- [34:59]
A
Yeah. Thank you for your question. Over here. Hi, my name is Oliver Chan. You're truly an inspiration. I sit here up here every, every Sunday at the 8:15am Service. And I'm also into politics and international affairs, but. And it's probably embarrassing to ask this question because my family will either watching this right now or will be but.
- [35:27]
B
Hi, Pam,
- [35:30]
A
how do you look at everyday news and politics and just all the depressing, horrible stuff every single day and it's just getting worse. How do you look at it and still be like you talk about that in your book a little bit. Go ahead.
- [35:45]
B
Yeah, I think. I wonder how people don't have faith, how they do this business, because you do. I mean, you'll sit with a family who's lost a child. You'll talk with families who've been through a mass shooting or a natural disaster. I mean, really terrible moments in life. So if I do not start the day in the Word in prayer journal when I have time, sometimes it's Cece Winans singing me through. I just have to put on the armor. I really do. Because the world is so broken and so far from what God intended for us. Evil is everywhere. We have to be the good. We have to be the light and the truth. And so I have to be equipped in the morning. And trust me, when I oversleep and have one of those mornings where I don't get my full armor on, I feel like I'm running around all day unprotected because the world is just going to throw things at you all day. But I also keep the eternal focus. Knowing that we know good ultimately triumphs over evil, we know how the story ends, doesn't mean this life won't be difficult. The key verse for the book is John 16:33, where Jesus says, you're going to have trouble in this world. But then he says, but take heart because I've overcome. And so resting in that promise is the way that I wade through every day.
- [36:59]
A
Yep. Good. Over here. Yes.
- [37:02]
B
Hi. Thanks so much for your time tonight. My name is Taylor. I'm curious with your background as an attorney, but also your profession in the communications industry. I work on a comms team for a law firm. And so I'm curious how you kind of Manage the law that we have the law of God from the Bible and then also talking about it in the public square. And how do you kind of rank what are we going to turn first, culture or the law? Yeah, great question. And because I cover so many of these legal battles that end up at the Supreme Court, we know that a lot of cultural issues are fought through the courts, but a lot of times culture happens first and then the courts catch up with things. So it's always very interesting interplay to me and the fact that I have to be neutral as a news person when I'm reporting on cases. It's funny because if it's something that's one of the really big cultural things, it's abortion. It's something else like that. I can do a report and I'll get from people on X or emails like, you clearly were XYZ on this. And the very opposite will say, you were clearly, you know, ABC on this. So I'm like, okay, I'm doing my job. People are projecting. But I'm trying to be as neutral as possible. I mean, obviously, where things are in conflict, to me, God's law is always going to supersede what man says. But as you tell us, I mean, we are commanded to follow earthly authority and that God sets up rulers and kings. But I think when there's a conflict, there's not a question for me about where I'm going to go on that.
- [38:27]
A
Yeah, good question.
- [38:28]
B
Yeah, great question.
- [38:30]
A
All right, young lady, you're up.
- [38:32]
B
What inspired you to make your book? Thank you so much. What's your name? Charlotte. It's so nice to meet you, Charlotte. Thank you for asking a question with this one. I'd written some other books, and there are always people who don't make it into the book. You just don't have enough room. And so I'd always collected these stories because they did have that thread to me of being overcomers. And I thought all of us at some point are in the process of overcoming or need to overcome, or something's going to come into our lives for us to overcome. And these stories were really encouraging to me personally. And so I thought, what a blessing to put them together in a collection and hope that they'll encourage somebody else.
- [39:10]
A
Thank you, Charlotte.
- [39:11]
B
Thank you, Charlotte.
- [39:12]
A
Over here, sir. Shannon. Good evening. My name is Peter.
- [39:17]
B
Oh,
- [39:21]
A
you got a whole chapter in here.
- [39:23]
B
Yes, I wrote about you.
- [39:27]
A
Thank you. I want to start by saying that there are many reasons that I shouldn't be here, but for the blessing of God and I'm thankful for that. And my question is, when you run into people and you're interviewing them and they are not with the Lord or it doesn't seem as if they're with the Lord, how difficult is that to actually interact with them?
- [39:56]
B
Well, I always try to start from a place that we're all created in God's image, and we each deserve the basic respect of that. You don't have to compromise your principles, but you can have a tough conversation with somebody. Robbie George, professor at Princeton, who I just love, is such a humble guy, and he does this. He'll have his debates with Professor Cornel West. They're good friends, but they could not be more diametrically opposed on just about every life and political issue. But Professor George said one time, if you can go into a tough conversation with the open mind that you might be wrong about something and at least give the basic respect to the other person to hear them out, you might learn something. So that's the way I approach these conversations. And I want to make sure that people speak their minds. They explain their motivation for where they are. I think it's. It helps us to understand where people are coming from and maybe to reach them, too.
- [40:48]
A
Thank you. Because of time, I want to respect your time. We only have time probably for two more, so we'll go over here and then one more at this mic. Yes, sir. Hi, Ms. Shannon. I have a friend who's in a lot of physical pain right now, and
- [41:02]
B
he's just very angry, and I think
- [41:06]
A
he feels kind of forsaken by God. He's not a believer, but he seems, like, willing. And I just am wondering, like, how to minister to somebody that doesn't have faith without kind of scaring him away from the Gospel.
- [41:24]
B
Yeah, that's really difficult, because when you're in physical pain, it just overwhelms everything else, every one of your senses, your ability for me to think logically. I was exhausted and overwhelmed all the time, but I had the Lord. I mean, I had that faith. So my heart breaks that he doesn't have that comfort. Is he open to you praying for Him?
- [41:46]
A
I think he will be.
- [41:48]
B
I mean, even starting there, you know, just to share with him that you would pray for him, that you care about him, not just about winning him over, but that you care about him as a person and that God loves Him. Sometimes it's just those simple things. Your presence, being a faithful friend and praying for him, that sometimes people are just won over by the life that we live. I mean, that's the Jesus that they see. But, yeah, it makes me sad to know he doesn't have that comfort. But hopefully through you, you'll be one of the seeds. Or you're watering a seed that's been planted in his life.
- [42:20]
A
That's right. Don't underestimate your own testimony. It'll be a good example for him. Thank you for your question.
- [42:26]
B
Thank you.
- [42:27]
A
All right, last one over here. Thank you. Yes.
- [42:30]
B
Thank you for being here. Shannon, I've watched many of your interviews, especially enjoyed the one with Joel Rosenberg, who's also a believer. And just curious, as a believer, as a newscaster, what has been your favorite interview? Oh, I'm going to get myself in trouble.
- [42:48]
A
It's this one, isn't it?
- [42:49]
B
Well, I mean, other than this.
- [42:50]
A
Okay. All right.
- [42:52]
B
Present company accepted. You know, I often share a story that years ago when Justice Gorsuch had one of his first books out, we wanted to do a special on the book, and he let us go to his Colorado fishing camp. There's this little thing he has with his brother and some other people in the family. And we went there and it was a rainy day. We were going to be fly fishing. I like to do that. I'm no good, but I just like to go and have fun. But he's a serious fly fisherman. And so we went out and it was a drizzly day. We needed B roll, you know, video for. For the story, and we needed him casting. And we're out there on the river, and he's like, it's not a good day. You know, it's not. The fish aren't biting. It's not going to be any good. I'm like, that's fine. We just need the video of you casting. Sure enough, he casts it and hooks the fish immediately. And so it's raining out there, and I've got all my gear on. Like, we have our microphone packs on and all that. So I'm like, okay, I'll net the fish. I've got the net. So I'll go down the shoreline and get the fish he's bringing in. This is going to be great for our piece. And I got over there and slipped into the river.
- [43:49]
A
Oh, no. Oh, no.
- [43:51]
B
So the only thing I'm thinking about is not dying and getting swept away is I have this mic pack on my belt and the team is going to kill me if this goes underwater. So my dignity is also in shreds at this point, but I'm trying to pull myself out of there. He drops everything, pulls me out. I'm covered in mud. And that was the beginning of the day. We were there to shoot all day. Yeah. But he was such a good sport, and I tease him that he saved my life. And that was a fun interview.
- [44:21]
A
That's great. Well, Shannon, thank you so much for being with us tonight.