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The Shaun Tabatt Show

The Shaun Tabatt Show is an interview-based program connecting you with thought leaders from across the globe, digging into important topics like creativity, personal development, marketing, spirituality, and more.
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Now displaying: March, 2016

The Shaun Tabatt Show is an interview-based program offering discussion on a variety of topics including books, music, film, and more.

Mar 28, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! In this episode I speak with Bruce Ashford about his and Chris Pappalardo's new book One Nation Under God: A Christian Hope for American Politics (B&H Academic, 2015).

About the Book:

Is it possible to be passionate about the gospel and care deeply about politics? Can we engage in politics responsibly, confidently, graciously—even Christianly?

When it comes to politics, Christians today seem lost and confused. Many Christians desire to relate their faith to politics but simply don’t know how. This book exists to equip the reader to apply Christianity to politics with both grace and truth, with both boldness and humility.

Politics is not an evil arena to be avoided. Neither is it our only avenue for impacting society. The reality is much more complex and, oddly enough, much more promising.

About the Author:

Bruce Riley Ashford is Provost / Dean of the Faculty at Southeastern Baptist Theological Seminary, where he also serves as Professor of Theology and Culture. He is a Fellow in Theology at the St. George's Center for Biblical and Public Theology (Ontario, Canada) and a Research Fellow at the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission.

He is the co-author of One Nation Under God: A Christian Hope for American Politics (B&H, 2015), the author of Every Square Inch: An Introduction to Cultural Engagement for Christians (Lexham, 2015), and the editor of Theology and Practice of Mission (B&H, 2011). His forthcoming books are I Am Going: To the Nations and In the Streets (B&H, Summer 2017), The Problem with American Politics (Fall 2017), The Doctrine of Creation (IVP, Spring 2017), and For the King: One Story, One Gospel, One Mission (Baker, Fall 2017).

He has appeared on the Eric Metaxas Show, the Pat Williams Show, In the Market with Janet Parshall, Janet Mefferd Today, Chris Fabry Live!, and other nationally syndicated shows. His writing has been featured by Fox News, First Things Magazine, The Daily Caller, The Blaze, Canon & Culture, and other national outlets.

His research interests include theology and culture, public theology, theology of mission, theological method, and contemporary theology. He is married to Lauren, with whom he has two daughters (Riley Noelle, Anna Katherine) and a son (John Paul Kuyper). He is an elder at The Summit Church (Raleigh-Durham, NC).

Connect with Bruce:

For additional show notes, visit ShaunTabatt.com/063.

Mar 21, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! In this episode I speak with Brian Godawa about The Dragon King: First Emperor of China (Chronicles of the Watchers Book 1).

About the Book:

Two Epic Storytellers and a Clash of Ancient Cultures

Brian Godawa, best-selling author of ancient historical fantasy, teams up with Charlie Wen, Co-founder/Head of Visual Development for Marvel Studios, to tell an action-adventure romance rooted in the ancient history and spiritual reality of China.

Written through the Watcher paradigm that was familiar to readers of Chronicles of the Nephilim.

East Eats West

It’s 220 B.C. The ancient Western Empire is crumbling. In a desperate bid to save his throne, the Greek Seleucid king over Babylon sends his son, Antiochus, a dishonored warrior, into the mysterious land of the Far East to capture a mythical creature that will give him absolute power: a dragon.

Antiochus takes with him his longtime friend, Balthazar, a member of the Magi order of Babylon, responsible for both the religion and science of the empire. But Balthazar also carries with him a dangerous secret that could destroy Antiochus’ plans and plunge the world into chaos.

They sail beyond their maps into the mysterious and uncharted Eastern Orient. They are discovered and escorted inland to the empire of Ch’in (now known as China), ruled by the first emperor, Ch’in Shi Huang Di. The emperor is a brutal ruler and is on the edge of insanity in a mad quest to find the elixir of immortality.

Antiochus meets and falls in forbidden love with a beautiful concubine of the emperor, Mei Li. But she also harbors a secret that can bring down the mad emperor. It’s the truth of China’s spiritual past that is mysteriously connected to the ancient Tower of Babel.

And there are spiritual principalities and powers who seek to stop them all. These are the Watchers, who have their own plans to rule the world. Finding and capturing a dragon is the least of Antiochus’ difficulties in this action-adventure clash of cultures and war of gods.

Part of the Historical Fantasy Series Chronicles of the Watchers

The Dragon King is the first book of the Historical Fantasy Series, Chronicles of the Watchers that charts the influence of spiritual principalities and powers over the course of human history. The kingdoms of man in service to the gods of the nations at war. Completely based on ancient historical and mythological research.

About the Author:

Brian Godawa has been a professional writer and filmmaker for over 15 years. His creative versatility was born of a passion for both intellect and imagination, both left-brain and right-brain. The result: Brian is an artisan of word, image, and story that engages heart, mind, and soul. Just think, “Renaissance Man.”

Filmmaker. As an award-winning screenwriter, his first feature film was To End All Wars, starring Kiefer Sutherland. But his skills and experience quickly expanded to include writing and directing feature films, documentaries and video promotionals.

Author. But Brian is also an author and international speaker on art, movies, worldviews, and faith. His popular book, Hollywood Worldviews: Watching Films with Wisdom and Discernment, is used as a textbook in schools around the country. He is a contributing scholarly writer to various journals and professional orgs, and his articles on movies and philosophy have been published around the world. His Chronicles series of novels are his most important contribution by incarnating his worldview and theology in narrative unlike anything you’ve read before.

When he isn’t reading, watching movies, or loving on his wife, he is reading, watching movies, or loving on his wife. He knows, he knows: He should get out more.


Connect with Brian:

For additional show notes, visit ShaunTabatt.com/062.

Mar 18, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! I had the chance to catch up with Christian music artist Jean Watson at NRB 2016 in Nashville. In the interview she gives us an update on the fan response to her recent album Steady My Gaze.

About The Album:
Steady My Gaze features an abundance of Celtic-infused violin, Watson's signature haunting vocals, along with the special treat of stellar fret-work from master guitarist, Phil Keaggy and guest vocals from Tree63's John Ellis!

About The Artist:
Internationally acclaimed singer/songwriter and classically trained violinist Jean Watson delved into the Christian recording world in 2003. During a time of great brokenness in Jean’s life, her landlord accidentally heard her sing and donated money to make her first CD! She gave the CD away to anyone who would listen and soon was singing and speaking in churches, coffeehouses, homeless shelters, and prisons, sharing the story of how God was transforming her life.

Since that time, Jean’s voice and testimony of God's grace and healing have touched thousands of lives around the world. She has recorded seven albums to date including her latest CD, Steady My Gaze featuring Grammy nominated producer Billy Smiley, guitar virtuoso Phil Keaggy, and John Ellis of ‘Tree63’.

Jean’s musical style is eclectic and features an abundance of celtic-infused violin and Watson’s signature haunting vocals. She has been honored four times as the Best Female Praise and Worship Artist USA by the UK Christian Music Alliance. Watson can be heard worldwide on UCB Radio Ireland where she hosts a daily inspirational radio show. Watson has appeared on The 700 Club, TBN's Praise The Lord, Cornerstone Television Network's flagship show, Real Life, LeSea TV's The Harvest Show, CTN's Bridges and many more media outlets across the globe.

Though her ministry is now international, Jean is still passionate about bringing hope to the hopeless through words and music. Having performed in majestic cathedrals and grand concert halls, her favorite venues are still homeless shelters and prisons. When she is not traveling, Jean enjoys playing violin in the Kalamazoo Symphony, spending time with her family, and riding her horse, Rosie.

Connect with Jean:


For additional show notes, visit ShaunTabatt.com/061.

Mar 17, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! I had the chance to catch up with Christian music artist Cheri Keaggy at NRB 2016 in Nashville. In the interview she gives us an update on the fan response to her recent album No Longer My Own.

About The Album:
No Longer My Own seeks to embolden fellow sojourners of the faith to live more fearlessly for Christ. Perhaps that sentiment is best expressed in the album's title cut, a song inspired by the "Covenant Prayer" popularized by John Wesley.

Listeners can look forward to such vertically oriented songs of celebration as "Lucky To Be Breathing Your Air," prayerful petitions like "Jesus, One and Only," poignant ballads like "You Go Before," and the powerful anthem, "Overcome," a response to recent news reports of believers facing persecution, even unto death, and the increase of moral decay in our nation. She also enlists her uncle, Grammy nominee and Dove Award winner Phil Keaggy, who contributes a jubilant ukulele track in the lighthearted Scripture song, "Whatever is True (Phil. 4:8)."

Keaggy employed the innovative Kickstarter crowd-source business model to fund the project, joining such high profile Christian recording artists as Carman, Shaun Groves, John Schlitt, Five Iron Frenzy and Thousand Foot Krutch, who also used the outside-the-box service to fund recent projects. Keaggy is no stranger to the business model, having successfully employed Kickstarter to raise nearly $25,000 to fund her 2012 release, So I Can Tell.

While Keaggy admits to being both humbled and excited by the number of doors that opened for ministry through concerts, church services, women's events, TV appearances, interviews, and radio airplay as a direct result of So I Can Tell, she insists the story is far from over. With a quiver full of new songs burning in her soul, Keaggy prays No Longer My Own will inspire and embolden fellow saints to live more fearlessly for Christ.

About The Artist: 
Cheri Keaggy began her career as a worship leader at a small church in Southern California before recording her debut album on Sparrow Records, Child of the Father, in 1994. Honored with a Dove Award nomination for New Artist of the Year, Keaggy has gone on to record eight additional albums, resulting in nine No. 1 songs, three Dove Award nominations and a Dove Award win. After more than two decades in music, her ministry has expanded to include speaking engagements as well.

For additional show notes, visit ShaunTabatt.com/060.

Mar 16, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! In this episode I speak with Lisa Murray about her new book Peace for a Lifetime: Embracing a Life of Hope, Wholeness, and Harmony Through Emotional Abundance.

About the Book:

What image best describes your life?

A well-nourished, deeply-rooted, overflowing shade tree?
Or a shriveled-up, fallen-down, hollowed-out stump?

We know what a tree needs in order to thrive. Just take away the water, the sun, the soil and watch what happens. The nutrients a tree is given determines how healthy and vibrant that tree will grow.

The same is true for people. If we are not planted properly or given the nutrients necessary for our overall health and functioning, we too, will struggle to survive. We will wind up empty, resentful, exhausted. The opposite of anything deeply rooted or overflowing.

Emotional abundance means we are living deeply rooted, overflowing lives. Our relationships are strong and we are creating a life of peace.

So how do we build a life of emotional abundance? How do we experience a life of peace?

Lisa Murray shares the answer to these questions. Through personal and professional experience, Lisa discovered how to take the broken pieces of life and find indestructible peace with herself, God and with others, and she passionately shares her breakthrough in this timely, well-written, book.

Through Lisa and other’s stories you’ll realize that you can experience the life for which you long. You can experience abundance beyond anything you can imagine. You can experience peace, not just for today, not just for tomorrow.

You can experience peace —for a lifetime!

About the Author:

Lisa Murray is a Licensed Marriage and Family Therapist specializing in spiritual, emotional, and relational healing as well as a full spectrum of mental health issues. As a result of her own personal and professional experiences, Lisa is passionate about helping others find healing and wholeness in their lives as they learn to embrace a life of abundance and peace.

Connect with Lisa:

For additional show notes, visit ShaunTabatt.com/059.

Mar 15, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! In this episode I speak with Mark Antonacci about his recent book Test the Shroud.

About the Book:

Mark Antonacci makes compelling arguments about many prominent points in Test the Shroud. His accurate description of all the unique features on the Shroud of Turin allows him to convincingly argue that this is the authentic burial cloth of Jesus Christ. He presents a very testable hypothesis that particle radiation emanating from the dead, crucified body wrapped within this burial cloth caused its unprecedented, full-length body images, its still-red blood marks, its erroneous carbon dating and so many other unforgeable features. He even describes advanced scientific testing techniques that could be applied to this burial cloth and its human bloodstains that could demonstrate whether a miraculous event actually occurred; when it happened; where it happened; the actual age of the burial cloth and its bloodstains, and the identity of the victim.

He contends that we live in a singular moment of history. These new scientific test results combined with previous unparalleled evidence would prove that the passion, crucifixion, death, burial and resurrection of Jesus.

About the Author:

Mark Antonacci is an attorney and author who has studied all aspects of the Shroud for 34 years. He wrote The Resurrection of the Shroud (New York: M. Evans and Co., 2000), the most comprehensive book ever written on the Shroud until his landmark book, Test the Shroud, was published in 2015.

He gave the keynote address at the international conference held in Italy in conjunction with the Shroud’s exhibition in 2010 in which he proposed that a new series of sophisticated, minimally-invasive tests be performed on the Shroud at the atomic and molecular levels of this famous burial cloth. He has written the leading scientific hypothesis that not only explains the Shroud’s body images, but also its radiocarbon dating, its excellent condition, its pristine human blood marks, their still-red coloration, the possible outer side imaging, coin features and flower images, skeletal features and all of its other unique features.

This hypothesis has been published in a peer reviewed scientific journal, and although it involves a miraculous event consistent with the resurrection, its occurrence can be scientifically tested. He asserts that these proposed tests could prove whether the Shroud was irradiated with particle radiation; whether the source was the length, width and depth of the crucified corpse in the cloth; when this event happened; where it occurred; the age of the Shroud and its blood; and the identity of the victim. He asserts this technology could also test all other natural or artistic explanations for the Shroud’s images or its radiocarbon dating.

Connect with Mark:

For additional show notes, visit ShaunTabatt.com/058.

Mar 13, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! In this episode I speak with Israel and Brook Wayne about their new book Pitching' a Fit!: Overcoming Angry and Stressed-Out Parenting (New Leaf Press, 2016).

About the Book:

ANGER DESTROYS FAMILIES. You don’t have to let it destroy yours.

Parenting comes with stresses that can make the most laid-back among us feel irritable, frustrated, and angry. Even parents who sincerely love their children sometimes use the wrong methods of anger and frustration in an attempt to control their children. But angry parenting doesn’t just weaken relationships between parents and their children; it can, over time, destroy them. Few parents set out to become yelling meanies who no longer enjoy their children. Yet many feel stuck, unable to pull themselves out of their ugly habits. This book:

  • Provides practical and biblical solutions to get to the other side of the issue
  • Gives hope and freedom from the tyranny of stressed-out and angry parenting
  • Offers solutions that are ideal for any family.

If anger is in your home even in small ways this book is for you. It is time to replace that anger with something more powerful: patience and peace. Israel and Brook share candidly from their experience as parents.

About the Authors:

Brook Wayne has a desire to point parents to raise their children with a biblical worldview. Brook is a well-received author and conference speaker, as well as a full-time homeschooling mother. Together with her husband Israel Wayne they are raising their nine children and are founders of Family Renewal.

Israel Wayne is an author and conference speaker who has a passion for defending the Christian faith and promoting a Biblical worldview. The author of Homeschooling from a Biblical Worldview, Full-Time Parenting: A Guide to Family-Based Discipleship, Questions God Asks and Questions Jesus Asks.

Israel, and his wife Brook, are homeschooling their nine children in SW Michigan. Since 1995, Israel has traveled the nation speaking on family, homeschooling, revival, discipleship, and cultural issues.

He is a frequent guest on national radio and television programs. Israel has been featured in national and international publications including TIME Magazine, The Arizona Republic, WORLD Magazine and the Wall Street Journal. Israel has been featured as the keynote speaker at numerous conferences, some with over 5,000 in attendance.

Israel serves as the Director of Family Renewal, LLC and is the Site Editor for ChristianWorldview.net (a Christian apologetics site).

Connect with Israel & Brook:

For additional show notes visit, ShaunTabatt.com/057.

Mar 10, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! In this episode I speak with Melodie Tunney and Bonnie Keen of First Call about their new album Second Birth.

About Second Birth:

Melodie Tunney, Bonnie Keen and Marty McCall have come together to record a brand new EP, appropriately entitled Second Birth. The six-song project, slated for release later this year, will thrill fans of the group's pristine harmonies and introduce a whole new generation to First Call's signature sound, which has been likened to mainstream supergroup Manhattan Transfer.

About First Call:

The vocal trio of Melodie Tunney, Bonnie Keen and Marty McCall were considered the "first call" background vocalists and commercial jingle singers by studio producers in Nashville, Tennessee during the mid-1980s. Their pristine vocals soon compelled them into the spotlight, resulting in a 30+ year career that included has 13 recorded projects with Word Records and Warner Alliance, earned the group three Dove awards, five Grammy award nominations, and multiple national and international tours.

Connect with the members of First Call:


For additiional show notes, visit ShaunTabatt.com/056.

Mar 9, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! In this episode I speak with my buddy John Schlitt about John Schlitt Ministries, his new book Why, and a brand new album called The Union of Sinners and Saints.

About Why:

In “WHY,” John Schlitt relates his discovery of why God won’t let him stop singing and ministering to the Body of Christ. His search for his “why” is an encouragement to every reader to find his or her “why.” The book includes emails from fans, song lyrics from John’s Petra days and his own recording projects.

About The Union of Sinners and Saints:

"The idea of a new project really intrigued both of us," Schlitt declares. "With our histories, it only made sense to feature Petra and Whiteheart favorites along with the new songs that we were writing in the studio."

Smiley adds, "John and I got together last fall and started writing some songs and reminisced over both of our histories and journeys. With the chemistry and friendship that developed, we also started brainstorming about taking this new material we were creating out on the road in 2016."

Fans can look forward to the release of the new CD project, available exclusively at Lifeway Stores and digitally on iTunes worldwide. The project will feature eight new compositions and updated versions of Petra and Whiteheart classics.

Joining Schlitt and Smiley in the studio is Anthony Sallee of Whiteheart on bass, new artist Jason Fowler on guitar and vocals, Steve Brewster (Peter Cetera) on drums, Jonathan Crone on guitar, and John Ellis, lead singer from Tree63, on guitar and vocals.

Smiley is producing the record and bringing in on select songs an all-star cast of musicians including Brian Wooten (Whiteheart, Trace Adkins) on guitar, Chris McHugh (Whiteheart, Keith Urban) on drums, Brennan Smiley (The Technicolors) on guitar, Peter Furler (Newsboys) on drums and vocals, and Dave Ellefson (Megadeth) on bass.

Richie Biggs (Whiteheart, Petra, and The Civil Wars) is mixing the record.

About John Schlitt:

John Schlitt is known for his career as the lead singer of Christian rock band Petra from 1986 until the band’s retirement in late 2005. Prior to joining Petra in 1986, Schlitt was the vocalist for Head East.

Connect with John:

For additional show notes, visit ShaunTabatt.com/055.

Mar 8, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! In this episode I speak with Lucas Miles about his brand new book Good God: The One We Want to Believe in but Are Afraid to Embrace (Worthy Publishing, 2016).

About the Book:

Good God introduces the God we all want to believe in but have been too fearful to embrace. With the Bible as his guide, Lucas Miles takes readers on a journey, tipping over some sacred cows along the way, to uncover the lost and forgotten nature of the Creator of the Universe and discover a real relationship with him through the person of Jesus Christ: God's goodness incarnate.

About the Author:

Lucas Miles is a writer, speaker, life coach, film producer, and senior pastor of Oasis Granger, a church community he and his wife, Krissy, planted in 2004. He is also president of the Oasis Network for Churches, which services churches in more than ten countries. Lucas is also the principal and founder of Miles Media, Inc., and is committed to creating films with a purpose. Lucas and Krissy have been married since 2001 and reside in Granger, Indiana with their Doberman, Kenya.

Connect with Lucas:

For additional show notes, visit: ShaunTabatt.com/054.

Mar 8, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! In this episode you'll get to hear my conversation with the amazing Caspar McCloud from NRB 2016. We discuss his upcoming album The Communion Project and his upcoming book Unmasking the Future.

About Caspar McCloud:

Caspar McCloud is an accomplished portrait artist, as well as an equestrian, he is also a virtuoso guitarist, singer, and songwriter, as well as ordained minister, and author. He signed to Atlantic Records after leaving his home in England for New York City and was touted as the next Jimi Hendrix by Ahmet Ertegun, the CEO of Atlantic Records. As an accomplished musician, he has completed several projects over the years, since his first UK release Messin Round, In Adoration, The Living Word, Soul Saved, and In Our Life Time with his band, Caspar McCloud and the Ministry of Three.

Connect with Caspar:

For additional show notes, visit ShaunTabatt.com/053.

Mar 4, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! In this episode I speak with Terry Brennan about his new novel The Aleppo Code (Kregel, 2015).

About the Book:

Will the code reveal history's most powerful weapon for destruction--or humanity’s only hope?

The living members of Tom Bohannon's band of adventurers gather again in Jerusalem--physically battered, emotionally exhausted, spiritually challenged, and in various stages of shock--to examine a copy of the tenth-century Aleppo Code, the oldest complete text of Jewish scripture. What the clues inside reveal could lead to the reuniting of the Ark of the Covenant with its true source of power, a weapon that could lead to victory for this ragged bunch trying to save the world.

Hunted by the relentless assassins of the Prophet's Guard and caught in the web of an international conspiracy plotting the conquest of Europe, Bohannon's team searches the ruins of Ancient Babylon. Their search lands them amid the chaos that engulfs western Iraq, but they must press on to accomplish one of the most pivotal pieces of end-times prophecy. This intrepid group will uncover secrets that require them to risk everything for their faith, their country, and the peace of all mankind.

Unfolding against the backdrop of an Israeli/U.S. strike against Iran and the planned economic overthrow of the European Union by the sinister, secret head of the international Muslim Brotherhood, The Aleppo Code is a heart-pounding race. Brennan takes an epic story on a grand scale and tells it primarily through the eyes of one man who is desperately trying to save the world as he follows God's purpose for his life.

About the Author:

Terry Brennan is the award-winning author of The Sacred Cipher and The Brotherhood Conspiracy, the first two books in The Jerusalem Prophecies. He is also a Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist and has received the Freedoms Foundation award for editorial writing. Brennan is currently chief administrative officer for Care for the Homeless in New York City.

Connect with Terry:

For additional show notes, visit ShaunTabatt.com/052.

Mar 3, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! In this episode I speak with Nabeel Qureshi about his new book Answering Jihad: A Better Way Forward (Zondervan, 2016).

About the Book:
From New York Times bestselling author and former Muslim Nabeel Qureshi comes this personal, challenging, and respectful answer to the many questions surrounding jihad, the rise of ISIS, and Islamic terrorism.

San Bernardino was the most lethal terror attack on American soil since 9/11, and it came on the heels of a coordinated assault on Paris. There is no question that innocents were slaughtered in the name of Allah and in the way of jihad, but do the terrorists’ actions actually reflect the religion of Islam? The answer to this question is more pressing than ever, as waves of Muslim refugees arrive in the West seeking shelter from the violent ideology of ISIS.

Setting aside speculations and competing voices, what really is jihad? How are we to understand jihad in relation to our Muslim neighbors and friends? Why is there such a surge of Islamist terrorism in the world today, and how are we to respond?

In Answering Jihad, bestselling author Nabeel Qureshi (Seeking Allah, Finding Jesus) answers these questions from the perspective of a former Muslim who is deeply concerned for both his Muslim family and his American homeland.

About the Author:
Nabeel Qureshi is a speaker with Ravi Zacharias International Ministries. He holds an MD from Eastern Virginia Medical School, an MA in Christian apologetics from Biola University, and an MA in religion from Duke University.

Connect with Nabeel:

For additional show notes, visit ShaunTabatt.com/051.

Mar 2, 2016

Welcome to The Shaun Tabatt Show! In this episode, I speak with Sommer Floyd about her new album Ray of Light.

About Sommer Floyd:

If you look up "The Girl Next Door" in the dictionary, chances are the definition will be accompanied by a picture of Sommer Floyd.

Born and raised in the Texas Hill Country, Sommer was an honor roll student, gifted athlete, beauty queen, and genuinely nice person. Voted "Class Favorite" by her high school classmates, Sommer was the quintessential cheerleader, earning four individual high school All American designations, and three team National Championships.

Attending college on a cheerleading scholarship, Sommer was designated a college All American as a freshman, an almost unheard of accomplishment. She ran on the varsity track team, played tennis, showed livestock, participated in rodeos, earned her Deep Sea Diving certification...

Oh, and she sings.

While Sommer certainly has all the credentials for The Girl Next Door, she is also 100 percent human. And she is the first to admit, in addition to all the accolades, she has made her share of mistakes.

"As a teenage girl I disappointed myself with some of the choices I made," she confesses.

One of those choices resulted in an unhealthy relationship, and the out-of-wedlock conception of her daughter, Heidi.

Broken-hearted, at the lowest point of her life, Sommer returned home to her loving, supportive family where she dug deep into God's faithfulness. As she reconnected with the God of her youth, songs began to pour forth.

"Putting my brokenness on paper helped to get me through the hard times," Sommer says, "and the lyrics started to turn into worship."

Sommer's experience of brokenness and restoration resonated strongly throughout her community, opening doors for her to share her music and lead worship at churches and charity events throughout the Texas Hill Country.

Her fetching vocals, ear-pleasing melodies and spiritually mature lyrics caught the ear of multi-Dove Award-winning producer, Steven V. Taylor, and Sommer soon found herself in Franklin, Tennessee with some of Nashville's finest musicians, recording her debut CD at the legendary Dark Horse Recording Studio.

Ray of Light is slated for release in May, 2016.

Connect with Sommer:

For additional show notes, visit ShaunTabatt.com/050.

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