Here’s the latest from the crossroads of faith, media & culture: 06/28/23

Sheila’s journey. A native of Scotland, Sheila Walsh first became known to American audiences co-hosting The 700 Club with the recently-deceased evangelist (and one-time presidential candidate) Pat Robertson in the late eighties and early nineties. From there, she went on to make her mark as a successful singer-songwriter, author, inspirational speaker and TV host. Beginning tonight at 9:30 PM she can be seen on TBN in the aptly titled eight-part series My First Trip to Israel with Sheila Walsh.

JWK: Before we talk about your new show, I’m wondering if you have any thoughts on the passing of Pat Robertson.

Sheila Walsh: I have to tell you when I got the call that morning that Pat had passed I was very, very sad for those of us who loved him and yet very grateful and happy for him. Pat was an interesting man. He was absolutely brilliant. He had a brilliant mind. He could recall things he had learned…He was just a brilliant man! And he was, within many circles, a controversial character because, you know, he had very strong (opinions) and would share them. But, for me, the great sadness was that – however other people experienced Pat – to me he was like a father. Just from the first time that we met – from the very first show that I did – there was a warmth and a kindness to him.

One of the things I respected most about him was (that while) I didn’t always agree 100% with things he said or ways he saw life he said to me “You can always disagree with me as long as you can back it up with Scripture. And I loved that – that fact that I could say “That’s not how I think about this. What do you think about this Scripture?” So, there were times when that would happen on the air and the camera guys – who were like my buddies – would (jokingly) say to me “Okay, you’re fired today! You’re definitely fired today!” But it was never like that with Pat. He was somebody that I had great respect for but – not only that – great fondness for.

He has a lasting legacy all around the world. People are very aware of what Pat did on The 700 Club but I would imagine almost 90% of what the Christian Broadcasting Network does is impacting other nations around the world.  

JWK: Can you tell me about that?

SW: He had a whole organization called Operation Blessing. I remember my first trip that I took with Pat with Operation Blessing. We were in Manila in the Philippines on the garbage dump just outside the city where so many people live. We were there that day just distributing blankets, water and small New Testaments. And I was with him in Africa in different places where they would set up different missions to find out what the actual need was rather than our perceived idea of what the need was. You know, working with locals in a nation to find out what they really need. That made such a profound imprint that will proceed for generations if the Lord carries it.

JWK: Given your background, I’m surprised it took you so long to make your way to Israel.

SW: I’m surprised too! The funny thing is I’ve probably gone to every other country in the world apart from Israel – and yet that’s always been one of the countries on the top of my bucket list but I just never went before. I spent so much time working with groups that work with anti-sex trafficking (efforts) in Thailand and Cambodia. I spent a lot of time in Africa and different European nations but this was very first time to set my feet in Israel and it was kind of a life-shifting trip for me.

JWK: How so?

SW: Because it wasn’t what I expected. I guess I’ve always thought – even when I was a teenager – I had this feeling that the minute you set feet in Israel it would just be this incredible sense of the Lord’s presence but, in many places, I felt a weight of disbelief – particularly standing on the top of the Mount of Olives and looking down across the Kidron Valley and looking at Gethsemane and there in front is the City of Jerusalem and remembering how Christ wept over the city…I remember turning in my Bible to Zechariah 14 where it talks about the fact that that is where Christ will return and He will stand on the Mount of Olives which will split in two.

So, the places I felt the Lord’s presence most (included) simply sitting by the edge of the Sea of Galilee. There were tourist boats that go out onto the Sea of Galilee but I didn’t want to do that. The Trinity Broadcasting Network’s team and crew in Israel were able to get a little fishing boat. Being able to be out on a little fishing boat on the Sea of Galilee was just…there’s where I felt the presence of the Lord.

In Israel the believers tend to rate sites on a one-to-five (scale) – five being “We know for sure Jesus was here” – you know, like the Sea of Galilee – and two or three would be “This could be the place. We’re  not absolutely sure.” With the Garden Tomb, they’re not 100% sure that that’s where Jesus was buried – or was it in the Church of the Holy Sepulchre? The morning that I was at the Garden Tomb it was closed to the public but the people there were kind enough to say to me “You can come in and spend the morning there.”…Taking Communion at the Garden Tomb was one the experiences that I will never forget – just being so close to the place where Christ intentionally set His face toward the Cross knowing what that would mean for Him but (but did so) out of His overwhelming love for us.

JWK: So how did this journey – and the television show – come about now?

SW: In November of last year I had been working for seven years with James and Betty Robison co-hosting Life Today. Every single year – I’ve done this since I was a young teenager – I kind of put everything back on the table and ask the Lord “What do you want me to pick up again and what do you want me to put down?” I never wanted to assume that just because God had called me to something particularly in one year that that was always going to be the same. So, I did that at the beginning of 2022 – just kind of laying everything I was doing down on the table and asking the Lord, you know, was there a shift? Was there a change? Should I step back from something? Should I move toward something else? I really felt through most of 2022 that there was a shift coming but I wasn’t quite sure what it was.

Then in November – probably earlier, probably in October, of that year – I sat down with Matt and Laurie Crouch. Matt shared his vision for where Trinity Broadcasting Network was gonna be headed and it so matched my own heart in telling God’s stories. You know, not just “Here’s what we’re doing and here’s what we want you to support” but “What is God doing around the world and how can we join in?”

So, when I went and talked to James and Betty, who I had worked with for seven years, and shared that with them they simply prayed a blessing over me – that they felt that was where God was leading.

So, when I began working officially with Trinity Broadcasting, Matt (said) “We’re gonna go to Israel with Jentezen Franklin and a couple of other people in February. Would you like to come?” That’s when we talked about “Wouldn’t it be great to film my first trip to Israel (as a) series?” but I wanted to do it a little differently. I wanted to do it almost more like an Anthony Bourdain trip. It wouldn’t just be me standing up in front of something. I would actually rent a car and drive from place to place and experience driving from Jerusalem a couple of hours north to Magdala where Mary Magdalene we believe was born and where they recently excavated a first century synagogue. That was one of the places where my guide that day said “Yeah! We know that Jesus would have been here!”

I cannot tell you how much I enjoyed that – rather than just being part of a tourist group or just being plopped in different places to speak to the camera – to actually say to the viewer “Okay, you’re gonna be in the passenger seat…and we’re gonna go visit these places and see what it was like, meet some of the local people and eat some of the local food.” I simply loved that. It was a wonderful experience.

JWK: How long were you actually there filming? How much time did you spend in Israel?

SW: About three weeks.

JWK: You mentioned Anthony Bourdain and his show. Could this go on where you do other seasons in, perhaps, other places?

SW: Well, honestly, what I would love to do is to do one where we follow Paul‘s trips – all the places that Paul went and where the early church was. I would love to do something like that. That’s really on my heart because when I think of a trip to Israel or following in the footsteps of Paul (I realize) not everyone can do that. Not everyone can afford to do it. Not everyone has the ability to do that. So, to be able to say “Listen, let’s do this together. Come along with me and experience it with me” is something that really would enjoy.

JWK: So, from this first trip to Israel, what did you take back within yourself? What did it mean to you?

SW: I’ve been a Christian for a long time but I felt it was a kind of a spiritual reset in terms of remembering the last thing that Christ said to His disciples. You know, “Go and make disciples of all nations” – not go and make a quick altar call and get people to sign a form or tick a box but “Teach people how to follow Me, teach people how to live for Me.”

It kind of reinforced my commitment to knowing that Christ is returning and He will return to the Mount of Olives – that rather than thinking  (about) this mess the world is in…spending every moment fulfilling that Last Commission that Jesus gave us. My life verse is Acts 20-24 where Paul said “My life is worth nothing to me now unless I use it for finishing the work assigned me by the Lord Jesus Christ, the work of telling others the Good News about the incredible grace of God.” So, it just kind of lit a fresh fire in me to be part of the Body of Christ on the Earth at this moment fulfilling His Last Commandment.

JWK: And I guess you would hope that the show has the same impact on viewers at home.

SW: Absolutely! That is my prayer – that they would capture that vision and remember that this isn’t just something that happened 2000 years. This is fresh! This is alive now!…The Holy Spirit is with us! We have this mandate to share this good news in a world that’s rapidly falling apart.

JWK: So, do you feel the series will bring more optimism and light to the world?

SW: That really is my prayer because it’s very hard at the moment. If you just saturate your mind (with) the news or social media it is very discouraging and very alarming. Yet, if we saturate our mind (with) what Christ has called us to do and the great hope that we have that, no matter what might be the news headlines tonight, the hope that we have in Christ is never-changing. God is sovereign! Whether it appears that other people are in control or not, we know as believers that is not true. God is still on the throne. We have a mandate – and, not only that, we have the power of the Holy Spirit to fulfill that mandate.
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Karen Abercrombie holds court in Eleanor’s Bench, a new Pure Flix series dropping Friday (6/30). The acclaimed singer-songwriter and actress known for her roles in 2015’s War Room, 2020’s Discarded Things (which she co-wrote and executive produced) and 2023’s MCU epic Guardians of the Galaxy Vol. 3 (playing Grandma Quill) plays idealistic Juvenile Court Judge Eleanor Thompson in the six-episode legal drama which she also executive produces. She and co-stars Cameron Arnett (Saved by Grace) and T.C. Stallings (No Vacancy) talk about their respective roles in the trailer below.  

John W. Kennedy is a writer, producer and media development consultant specializing in television and movie projects that uphold positive timeless values, including trust in God.