Butch Wilmore's Website

The recent success of the NASA space mission that took the Artemis II spacecraft on its first crewed flight beyond low Earth's orbit since 1972, has seemingly re-invigorated interest in exploring the outer limits of our galaxy. With plans to have man walk the surface of the moon once again in 2028, the thought of eventually reaching Mars and beyond seems likely to become fact rather than science fiction in the not-too-distant future.

Butch Wilmore is a former NASA astronaut, who spent his career pushing the limits of human spaceflight, logging hundreds of days in orbit and commanding missions aboard the International Space Station. Known for his steady leadership and deep faith, Wilmore has faced the extraordinary challenges of life beyond Earth with resilience and clarity.

In his new book, “Stuck in Space”, Wilmore offers a gripping first-hand account of an unexpected and prolonged stay aboard the International Space Station – an experience that tested not only his technical skill, but also his endurance, perspective, and sense of purpose. But most importantly, he recounts how his Christian faith provided stability when circumstances became uncertain.

Through vivid storytelling, this Tennessee native brings readers inside the isolation, wonder, and intensity of being truly cut off from Earth, revealing what it means to adapt when there doesn’t seem to be a way home.

Wilmore joins us to talk about exactly what happened at the International Space Station that required him and his fellow astronauts to extend their planned stay from eight days to nearly a year. Listen as he shares whether he had doubts that he would ever return to Earth and the reminder that what feels unexpected is never unexpected to God.

TRIP LEE - OFFICIAL SITE

Upon initial consideration, it would appear that praise and worship music doesn’t exactly go hand in hand with hip hop. After all, the thought of syncopated beats and rhythms highlighted by the spoken word in a Sunday morning church service might be hard to comprehend for some.

Not so fast. Rapper Trip Lee has always believed that cultural expression could naturally meet congregational worship. With the launch of BRAG Worship, a musical collective born from his long-standing BRAG movement, there is a strong conviction to forge a culturally forward sound created for both corporate and personal worship.

“I’m not a worship leader, but I am a worshipper,” says Lee, who has previously released eight albums and spent years in pastoral ministry. “This music, this collective, it’s for us. This is my expression of it."

Seeing the hip hop musical genre blended with worship as a vital discipleship tool, Lee and BRAG Worship have released a new EP titled, For Your Glory. His hope is to broaden what worship can sound like while remaining focused on the greatness of God.

Lee joins us to discuss how pastoral ministry helped prepare him for this project. Listen as this thoughtfully engaging influencer shares the vital need to bring some unity to the Church, and how worship music needs to become a broader concept as we move into the future.

America Reads The Bible | Join the Movement Now
https://www.americareadsthebible.com/

Bunni Pounds Website
https://www.bunnipounds.com/

We are currently living in a nation that desperately needs leaders who are resolute in standing upon the principles created by our founding fathers. It is these tenets of freedom and liberty that have forged a nation of opportunity and promise.

But long before foundational leaders like George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and James Madison, shaped the constitutional framework that defined our American Ideals, there was a Fifth Century Jewish cupbearer who was renowned for his leadership, relying on prayer, courage, and integrity to rebuild Jerusalem’s walls in just 52 days.

Author Bunni Pounds is calling Christians to reclaim their influence by following the leadership principles of that aforementioned Jewish leader, Nehemiah. Pounds points out that God uses ordinary people like him to respond to national challenges with extraordinary courage.

In her forthcoming book, Stepping Up to Lead: Building a Nation in the Footsteps of Nehemiah, Pounds challenges believers not to retreat from cultural and civic arenas, but to engage them boldly—rebuilding what is broken and shaping the future with godly conviction. The book serves as both a guide and a practical roadmap for those ready to step up and lead in their communities and beyond.

As a former political consultant who spent 16 years in politics and government, the Texas native launched Christians Engaged in 2019 to mobilize believers to pray, vote, and engage biblically in every election.

In her latest initiative, coming April 18th through the 25th, Pounds has rallied more than 450 Christian leaders to come together for “America Reads the Bible”, a week-long Bible reading event to celebrate our nation’s 250th Birthday at the Museum of the Bible.

I recently sat down with Pounds to discuss why the story of Nehemiah is especially relevant to Americans right now, what Biblical leadership should look like at this moment, and the value of coming together to read the Bible in anticipation of America’s 250th Birthday.

A GREAT AWAKENING | Official Trailer
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H4-rMC88ylQ



Sight & Sound Theatres | Bible Stories Live on Stage
https://www.sight-sound.com/

As our nation gears up to celebrate her 250th Anniversary later this summer, one can’t help but feel patriotic about a remarkable journey that began in 1776. It is an opportunity to honor the ideals of freedom, democracy, and resilience that have shaped our country’s history.

It is a time to celebrate the diversity, innovation, and enduring spirit of the American people, while also acknowledging the challenges and complexities of the past.

Our founding fathers would be humbled by the renewed commitment to the values that they established, foundational truths that will guide our nation into its next chapter.

Through the years, so much has been said about George Washington, Thomas Jefferson, and Benjamin Franklin, about their contributions to charting the course of our history, but there are so many other heroes from that era that we know little about.

Take Rev. George Whitefield for example. A close friend of Franklin, Whitefield is best known for sparking the first Great Awakening, a movement that united an entire nation with his proclamation of liberty in Christ.

To honor Whitefield’s contribution to the foundational bedrock of faith in our nation, Sight & Sound Theaters, best known for their spectacular theatrical presentations of the Bible, is releasing a new full length feature film called “A Great Awakening”. With the nation’s freedom hanging in the balance, “A Great Awakening” explores how an unlikely friendship resulted in one of the most defining moments in American history.

Joshua Enck not only wrote and directed “A Great Awakening”, but he also serves as Chief Story Officer for Sight & Sound, a ministry he has served since he began there in 1995 as a stage hand.

Enck, who has previously directed six Sight & Sound theatrical productions, joins us to chat about how the role of faith inspired unity during a very divided time in our nation's history. Listen as he shares how the relationship between Whitefield and Franklin shaped the early foundations of America.

Tim Hawkins Website
https://timhawkins.net

Cletus Take the Reel Video
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zfs3BJZxKkc&list=RDZfs3BJZxKkc&start_radio=1

The origins of comedy are rooted in ancient Greece, evolving from rituals and performances linked to festivities surrounding Dionysian celebrations.

From there, comedy has evolved over the centuries to serve not only as entertainment but also as social commentary, allowing audiences to reflect on their society’s follies and vices. So, in a sense, it became a way for people to laugh at the absurdities of society that was being marked by injustice and social change.

In the late 20th Century, comedy became a staple of modern society as satire, farce, and stand-up comedy explored different aspects of human behavior and societal norms.

If the aforementioned statements seem a bit high falutin’, well, they are. Simply put, we all like to laugh at ourselves and the world around us. We know funny when we see and hear it. From early Vaudevillians to Bob Hope to Jerry Seinfeld, we all seem to gravitate toward someone who can bring out the mirth and merriment in us.

Tim Hawkins is just that sort of person. Over the past three decades, the beloved comedian has gone from open mic nights at regional comedy clubs to headlining theaters and arenas across the United States with his own special brand of humor.

A committed family man, Hawkins, who is known for his hilarious song parodies, has become a YouTube sensation over the years for “songs” like “Cletus Take the Reel” and “Pretty Pink Tractor”. Genuinely funny and values driven, he has a new comedy special debuting this month called “Fist Bump”.

I recently sat down with the comedy veteran to discuss how he decides which real-life moments turn into comedy, why music plays such a vital role in his work, and why he didn’t pick up a guitar or write a joke during COVID.

Oracles of God Website

It has long been said that the Holy Bible has been and is the most influential book in the world. And why not? Written more than 1,500 years ago by more than 40 writers in three different languages, this tome known as the Word of God has influenced and shaped Western civilization in a host of notable areas as related to law, language, and cultures.

Christians view the Holy Bible as a living document, one that deepens their faith and serves as a guidebook to navigate through the challenges that daily living presents.

For as much as modern civilization continues to utilize the valuable lessons found within the Bible’s 66 chapters, little is known about how it came to be. How it was created and came together is sometimes a bit of a mystery to those who spend time immersed in reading it day by day.

Erin Zimmerman is a documentary filmmaker who has devoted much of her professional life to digging deeper into how things came to be as viewed through the lens of Scripture. In her latest film, “Oracles of God: The Story of the New Testament”, Zimmerman uses expert interviews, stunning cinematography, and dramatic reenactments to present how the text of the New Testament was written, painstakingly copied, and preserved over thousands of years.

Filmed on location in Israel, Zimmerman places a special focus on the oldest copies of the Hebrew Bible and the Dead Sea Scrolls.
Zimmerman joins us on the Crossmap Podcast to walk us through why the bestselling book of all time remains one of the most controversial texts in world history. Listen as she shares various misconceptions about the Bible and how she set out to dispel them in "Oracles of God".

Seeking Beauty with David Henrie | EWTN+ Documentary Series

We have all heard the phrase that “beauty lies in the eyes of the beholder”. In other words, what one person finds beautiful, another may not.

For you, beauty may be the pleasing visual of a young child’s laughing. For another, it might be a stunning mountain vista or the sight and sound of powerful ocean waves crashing on the shore. A few might even find the architecture of a pristine cathedral breathtaking and impossible to forget. Whatever may be the case, it is important to remember that any form of beauty within our range of experience or thought is God-given or divinely breathed.

Actor David Henrie, best known for his work on Disney’s Wizards of Waverly Place, and more recently in the movie Reagan, has made it his ambition to connect people with truth and beauty in an increasingly divisive world.

In the new documentary series, Seeking Beauty, currently streaming on EWTN+, Henrie tours Italy, on a quest to reveal authentic beauty and its undeniable connection to the divine.

Henrie joins me on The Crossmap Podcast to discuss where God fits into seeking beauty. Listen as he shares why beauty is more than what we see, and how he sees the world differently since making this series.

New York Times bestselling author Lee Strobel's journey to faith in Jesus Christ is well documented. A highly successful editor at the The Chicago Tribune, he was an atheist who set out to prove that Christ was nothing more than a solid teacher rather than the Son of God. What Strobel found forever changed his life and the lives of millions who read his book, The Case for Christ.

Over the years, this author of more than 25 books, including 11 from his The Case For series, has meticulously researched and investigated many of the claims made in the Bible, only to find them accurate and true each and every time.

Strobel's latest project is a continuation of his 2018 bestseller The Case for Miracles, a work that was designed to answer an age-old question: Do miracles still happen today? The Case for Miracles, the 2026 edition, is a documentary that takes viewers on a cinematic journey through suffering and ultimately joy to reveal the true essence of God’s design for miracles.

In the film’s 147 minutes, Strobel uses his trademark journalistic style to craft a case that challenges skeptics, strengthens believers, and ultimately leads audiences to the ultimate miracle, the Messiah’s birth in a stable more than 2,000 years ago.

I recently sat down with the astute and affable author to discuss the sociological and physiological impact or miracles in our lives, common threads he found in people who have experienced a miracle, and the most spectacular miracle he uncovered while working on this documentary.

• Lee Strobel's Website