The Call with Nancy Sabato

How do you thank God when someone has hurt you—and your mind won’t let it go? Stu Epperson, author of Thanks-Living, shares his own struggle with thoughts that wake him at 4 a.m. He describes bringing resentment to God and finding his prayers shifting toward compassion for the person who hurt him. This honest conversation explores gratitude during grief, the grace Jesus offers, and the Scriptures...

Have I done enough good to be sure God will welcome me? If that question keeps coming back when you think about eternity, I hope you’ll listen to this conversation with Arnie Cole of Back to the Bible. Arnie became a follower of Jesus at 47. Before that, when Christians warned him about hell, he usually answered with a joke. He tells me what helped him find faith: discovering the love of Jesus. Th...

Where was God when the worst happened—and what do you say to Him when you’re hurting? Pastor Jay McCarl joins Nancy Sabato for an honest conversation about grief, anger at God, and faith after tragedy. Drawing on his experience beside people in crisis, Jay shares how practical care and quiet presence can matter when explanations cannot reach someone’s pain. One grieving husband asked where God had...

Does your suffering have any meaning? When hardship continues, you may wonder whether anything good can happen in the middle of it. Todd Nettleton from The Voice of the Martyrs shares the account of an Eritrean pastor who endured imprisonment. While Todd imagined solitary confinement might offer relief from overcrowding, the pastor saw it differently: being alone meant having no one with whom to s...

What if the readings you turn to for reassurance have become something you’re afraid to leave? Jenn Nizza once worked as a psychic medium. What began with a tarot reading at 13 grew into a career and a sense of identity. She shares the distress she experienced, the moment she called on Jesus, and how she later heard and believed the Gospel. Leaving that work raised practical questions. Jenn descri...

Still carrying the worry you prayed about yesterday? You may wonder whether God wants to hear it again. Nichole Suvar spent years suppressing her worries because she believed she needed to fix herself before coming to the Father. At a low point with depression, she began recognizing that God wanted her struggles brought to Him. Nancy and Nichole discuss recurring anxiety, living in maintenance mod...

When you’re grieving and still caring for others, who cares for you? Nurse and author Jill Hoven shares how losing her mom changed her life and led her into unfamiliar memory wellness work. Years later, that experience helped her care for her dad through dementia—but knowledge did not remove the personal weight of grief. Jill describes asking God for strength when she felt overwhelmed, staying con...

Facing cancer again can leave you asking, “God, where are You?” Even prayer may feel difficult. Danielle Ripley-Burgess shares how repeated colon cancer diagnoses shook her faith. She had followed God and served in ministry, yet found herself facing more suffering. While recovering from surgery, remembering Jesus’ suffering on the cross helped Danielle recognize that He understood physical pain. S...

Something can happen years ago and still affect the way you live today. Dean Sikes was sexually abused at 15 and kept it secret for 22 years. Then an unexpected encounter with the person who abused him brought the buried pain back to the surface. Dean shares his journey through Christian counseling, his struggle to forgive, and the moment he began understanding that what happened to him was real—b...

People may see your family, your work, and your faith without seeing the pain you carry. Veronica Petrucci knows what that can feel like. She shares the fear and depression hidden behind a life that appeared successful, the day she reached a crisis, and how she began crying out to God. In this conversation with Nancy, Veronica describes the gradual change she experienced through Scripture and lear...

When children suffer losses from war, you may feel helpless watching from a distance. Dr. Jeff Johnson shares about meeting Yarden Bibas and the Butterfly Project’s response to children in Israel affected by grief and trauma. Through Israel Today Ministries, Jeff reports thousands of meals provided, alongside counseling and education. He describes this care as a way to share the love of Jesus. The...

If shame has kept you silent about pornography, Crystal Renaud Day’s story may help you feel less alone. As a teenager and a new Christian, Crystal feared what would happen if anyone knew. She tried to overcome the struggle through doing the right things, but she remained isolated. A change began when another woman shared her own experience. Crystal said “me too,” then began the slow work of accou...

What happens when the pain carried by your family affects what you believe about God? Olivier Melnick grew up in a Jewish home in France shaped by the Holocaust. His grandfather was taken by the Gestapo and murdered in Auschwitz, and his mother carried that trauma for the rest of her life. Faith in Jesus was not part of Olivier's upbringing. Then Olivier met the woman he would eventually marry. Sh...

You believe in Jesus—but tomorrow still scares you. How do you keep trusting Him when suffering feels overwhelming and you cannot fix what is happening? Dr. Jeffrey Johnson shares his perspective on Israel and explains what sustains his own faith: reading Scripture, praying it back to God, and honestly admitting his fear. Isaiah 41:13 reminds him that God promises His help. This is a conversation...

What if you believe God is asking you to do something—but everything in you says, “I'm not qualified for this”?Shawn Whitson understands that fear. When his company wasn't working, he reached a point of surrender and told God, “You tell me what to do with this company.”Months later, Shawn says God gave him an assignment he never would have chosen for himself. His immediate reaction wasn't exciteme...

Have you ever looked at your life and quietly thought, “God, I can't do this”?Katie Kelley has faced circumstances she once believed would be more than she could handle—the end of her marriage, single parenting six children, addiction within her family, and raising a son with severe autism. But God taught Katie something she couldn't have understood beforehand: you don't receive all the grace for...

What if you want to believe in Jesus, but you're still wondering whether the Gospel accounts can actually be trusted? That question can sit quietly underneath someone's faith for years. New Testament scholar Dr. Craig Evans joins Nancy Sabato to look at the historical evidence surrounding Jesus and the Gospels—including archaeology, ancient sources, eyewitness connections, Paul, the Dead Sea Scrol...

Do you feel like you are praying into an empty room, wondering why everyone else seems to hear God except you? When life is heavy and your mind is racing with anxiety, the silence from heaven can feel like rejection. In this episode, Dr. MaryAnn Diorio shares how she broke through years of spiritual silence to cultivate a vibrant, two-way daily conversation with the Lord. You will learn the exact...

God? Or whether years of waiting mean He has forgotten what you've prayed for? Justin Gambino knows both of those questions. At 18, his choices brought him to a courthouse that became connected to painful memories and shame. Years later, God called him back to those very courthouse grounds to lead worship. Justin didn't want to go. But there, he felt the Lord remind him that God's plan had not dis...

Watching your child struggle with depression and anxiety is one of the heaviest burdens a parent can carry. You want desperately to fix their pain, but the pressure to be their savior only leaves you exhausted and afraid. In this compassionate episode, author and educator Beth Hendrick addresses the epidemic of youth depression, the subtle signs of isolation, and why parents must stop trying to fi...

If you look at the empty seats in your local church and wonder where the next generation went, you are carrying a burden shared by thousands of praying believers. It is heartbreaking to watch young adults drift away from community while headlines insist everything is fine. In this episode, researcher Arnie Cole exposes the real truth behind America's spiritual climate—from declining Scripture enga...

and still feel like a hollow shell the second the lights go out. You’ve been silently praying into the dark for years, wondering why God feels a million miles away and whether you’ve drifted too far to ever walk through those church doors again. Jeff Lukas looked like the model husband, father, and professional. But beneath the surface of a seemingly perfect life, a quiet drift pulled him out into...

What happens when routine surgery unexpectedly plunges a young man into a 33-day coma on the brink of death? Rickey Offord was a rising music producer in Los Angeles when a sudden medical crisis turned catastrophic, sending his spirit into the reality of eternity while his body lay motionless in an ICU bed. In this deeply moving episode, Rickey and his mother, Diann Rodgers, share the unseen reali...

Are you tired of pretending everything is fine while holding onto deep relational hurt? In this episode, Nancy sits down with Dr. Winfred Neely to address why loving difficult people feels so hard and why self-protection often leaves us feeling isolated. Discover how Jesus empowers us to love beyond our natural capacity and bring real peace into our hardest relationships. For more information abou...

What happens when you've faithfully followed God—and suddenly find yourself questioning Him? Mark Folk remembers sitting beside a fire after receiving devastating news about his daughter's health and asking God why. He had served Him, surrendered to Him, and tried to obey Him. Yet now his daughter was suffering. God's response wasn't the answer Mark wanted. It was the answer he needed. This conver...