The GPS Podcast Turns 10: A Decade of God’s Goodness

On this episode of GPS: God. People. Stories., we celebrate a decade of the GPS podcast by revisiting some of the most powerful and transformational stories from the past ten years. From a well-known musician’s battle with addiction to a Navy fighter pilot facing a life-threatening emergency at 32,000 feet, these testimonies reveal God's incredible power to redeem, restore, and transform lives.

Whether you're new to GPS or have been listening since 2015, this episode reminds us that no matter how dark our circumstances get, God meets us in our moment of greatest need and makes all things new. 

Connect with us through email at gps@billygraham.org or on Facebook at Billy Graham Radio. 

If you’d like to know more about beginning a relationship with Jesus Christ, or deepening the faith you already have, visit FindPeacewithGod.net. 

If you’d like to pray with someone, call our Billy Graham 24/7 Prayer Line at 855-255-7729. 

Transcript

Tammie Jo Shults: 
[00:00:00] About 20 minutes into the flight, passing 32,500 ft., we heard an explosion and had such a hard hit. It felt like we’d been hit by another aircraft. And I remember thinking this could be the day that I meet my maker.  

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:00:18] That’s Tammie Jo Shults, a commercial airline pilot. 

Mark Whitacre:
[00:00:23] The most adversity that I’ve ever experienced in my life was wearing a wire and the FBI telling you, Mark, if they catch you, they’re going to kill you. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:00:32] And that’s Mark Whitacre, a business executive who became an informant for the FBI. Over the past 10 years, this podcast, GPS: God. People. Stories. has had the privilege of sharing their stories and over 300 others. In every story, in every situation, God has worked powerfully in the lives of our guests. And in this special episode, we celebrate with just a few of the standout stories of God’s work we’ve heard over the past decade. I’m Jim Kirkland. And this is GPS: God. People. Stories. An outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Here we are. Ten years of GPS. That is hard to believe. When this podcast started back in 2015, we had no idea how God would use it to share stories of redemption, hope, and faith with you and others who are listening around the world. As I mentioned a moment ago, we have featured hundreds of guests. Some well-known. Others you probably never have heard of before. But every one of our guests has something powerful in common. It’s a story with clear testimony to the transformational power Jesus Christ has in our lives. As Billy Graham explains. 

Billy Graham: 
[00:01:53] Jesus said you must be born again. It’s the work of the Spirit of God that changes your life and changes your heart and makes you a new person. 

Jim Kirkland:
[00:02:04] We’ll have more from Billy Graham later on in this episode. But if you’re curious about what it means to be born again, like every one of our guests on GPS, we can help. Visit our website. FindPeacewithGod.net. When you’re there, click where it says begin a relationship with Jesus. That’s at FindPeacewithGod.net. As always, we have a link for you to get there through our show notes. 

Audio tag:
[00:02:34]

Jim Kirkland:
[00:02:40] In March of 2023, a story of redemption that touched my heart is the story of Ben Fuller. Today, he’s a well-known Christian artist. But that would have been unimaginable to him just eight or nine years earlier. Ben Fuller was a hardened young stone mason from Vermont who played guitar in bars for drinks and money. 

Ben Fuller:  
[00:03:03] I was a functioning addict. And so, I could work 60 hours a week. And then, I could go get high on Friday night. And I could get high on Saturday. And I could sober up on Sunday, and I could go back to work during the week and work another 60 hour week. You know, along with that came the drinking as well. And so, you know, there-there was a point where I was drinking, you know, 15 to 17 beers every night. And it became, you know, during the week too. And I would just pass out and, you know, wake up the next morning. I was just, again, I was functioning. So, I was able to put it down and go to work and keep my job. And you know, do my best … or so I thought to hide it from everybody. 

[00:03:40] Ben Fuller song playing. How’s it going out there/acting like you ain’t scared? How’s that heart of stone/ ain’t so hard when you’re alone. Crying tears you hope nobody sees/Guess the good news is He’ll never leave you be. Jesus loves you black sheep. 

Jim Kirkland:  
[00:04:13] He’d only been in church for funerals and weddings. And he found his happiness albeit temporarily in drugs, sex, and living fast. By the time he moved to Nashville to pursue a music career, Ben knew he was in a battle with addiction. He thought the focus on music and a new environment might change things. It didn’t. Ben cautions from firsthand experience you can never go anywhere far enough to hide from addiction.   

Ben Fuller: 
[00:04:43] My addiction continued all the way through up until I moved to Nashville. That’s the thing about addiction is that you can run wherever. Go ahead, run away. You know, run to Colorado. Run to California. Run to Mexico. I don’t care where you go. It’s going to follow you. 

Jim Kirkland: :  
[00:05:00] But God had other plans. Through what appeared to be an amazing coincidence, a case where people from his area of Vermont had also relocated to Nashville. God introduced Ben Fuller to Christ. And when Ben surrendered his life, everything changed. 

Ben Fuller: 
[00:05:18] I had an experience at a Worship Night that really changed everything. And I believe it was the first experience that I had with the Holy Spirit. And, uh, I had some strangers pray over me. And, um, it was like if somebody were filming it. I swear, I could still swear that my feet were off the ground. It was the highest, as an addict, it was the highest that I had ever been in my life. And I did nothing for it. And I had to spend no money. And I had to have no regret. And no shame. And no guilt. And I was like what is this? And that’s when I said, yes. That’s when I just said I want more of this. Fix me. Help me. Change me. Send me. And so, my 17 beers a night went to 12, went to 10, went to two. Over two months, it was about two month period. My-my-my mouth, I had a fowl mouth. Language was awful. Just literally the words just fell out. Took them right out of my vocabulary. I stopped having sex. Stopped using. Drugs. All these things. Just stopped with the lying. I had to face my problems. All of a sudden, I started feeling convicted over things. I was like what is happening to me? I’m going to preach until the day that I die that Christ has … He died for me. And He healed me from those things. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:06:33] That’s the power of the Gospel. Second Corinthians 5 verse 17 says Therefore, if anyone is in Christ, he is a new creation. The old has gone; the new has come. It’s exactly what happened to Ben Fuller. And that’s the kind of story we love to share here on GPS. Another fascinating person we met through GPS was Tammie Jo Shults. We met her in December 2019. Tammie Jo was a Navy fighter pilot and a commercial airline pilot. One of the first female F-18 jet pilots thanks to her perseverance and the gifts God has given her. But here’s what’s key, she always had God to turn to in times of weakness and despair. She’d been a follower of Jesus since junior high, but she had no idea how she would have to call on the Lord for help during a seemingly routine Southwest airlines flight from New York City to Dallas. 

Audio recording:  
[00:07:32] Southwest 1380 has an engine power descending. Southwest 1380, are you descending right now? Yes, sir. We’re single engine descending. Have a fire … 

Tammie Jo Shults:
[00:07:43] About 20 minutes into the flight, passing 32,500 ft., we heard an explosion and had such a hard hit. It felt like we’d been hit by another aircraft. And I remember thinking this could be the day that I meet my maker.  

Jim Kirkland: 
[0008:01] Tammie Jo’s consist relationship with God meant the difference between life and death in more than one way. The story is not a story without loss, but it is ultimate a story with victory. And Tammie Jo quickly and unapologetically thanks her Lord, Jesus Christ. She also shares what she calls the gifts of wise habits, the potential of being a hero, and the critical need of hope all rooted in biblical teaching and a relationship with Christ. 

Tammie Jo Shults:  
[00:08:31] When I think about flight 1380 and pray for different people at different times from that flight, it’s kind of like a kaleidoscope. In that every time I-I look at it, it has a little different appearance and take aways. But three of them always remain constant. And that’s habits, heroes, and hope. Habits on a good day become more instincts on a bad day. And God has given us that generous gift of choice. And what we choose to make habits both in our thought processes as well as our priorities and practicing. Heroes don’t require equipment or title. They just require someone to be attentive. To take the time to see and the effort to act on behalf of someone else. And hope, it doesn’t have to change our circumstances. It changes us. 

Jim Kirkland:  
[00:09:32] Habits, heroes, and hope. What a powerful framework for living life. Another guest who shared a remarkable story of God’s redemptive power was Mark Whitacre. He’s a business executive who became a whistleblower. His life took some dramatic turns including time in prison. But it was in that brokenness that he encountered Christ.    

Mark Whitacre: 
[00:09:58] The most adversity that I’ve ever experienced in my life was wearing a wire and the FBI telling you, Mark, if they catch you, they’re going to kill you.

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:10:07] But listen to what Mark learned through all this.  

Mark Whitacre: 
[00:10:10] I look back and I would say the eight and a half years in prison were the most productive years of my life at $20.00 a month. Because I learned for the first time in my life how rewarding it was to help someone else besides myself. You hear the word servant leadership, but I sure never experienced it until I went to prison. Until I became a believer and a follower of Jesus. And it changed my life forever  

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:10:36] Mark made what he calls a trainwreck of his life. But God held it all together. He didn’t just survive, he thrived. His family grew stronger. His children walked with God. And Mark says today … 

Mark Whitacre: 
[00:10:51] I look back today and I thank God that it even though it took prison for me to get there, I thank God for brokenness. Because that’s what it took me. I had to get to the end of myself to get to know God. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:11:03] That is a theme we’ve seen again and again on GPS. Sometimes God allows us to reach the end of ourselves so we can truly begin to rely on Him. Here’s one more story to share with you today. It’s from Angie Thompson who survived a devastating tornado that destroyed her home while she was inside the house under a staircase. 

Angie Thompson: 
[00:11:28] I was screaming out to God that I knew I was dying. And I kept saying, God, I’m dying. I’m dying. The floor underneath me – I’ve tried to think of an explanation. And it has to be a jackhammer was underneath me on the floor, at my head, underneath. And I remember crying out to God about three or four times saying that I was dying. I knew I was dying. At that moment, that’s the most closest near death experience I’ve ever had. And then, after those three screams out to God, I-I said, God, please make it stop. Please, make it stop. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:12:05] Angie’s husband, Tim, was on the phone with her during the ordeal. He shared with us how God protected her that night in ways that could only be described as miraculous. 

Tim Thompson: 
[00:12:16] God protected her that night. There’s no other question. No other explanation. God, by His grace, protected her. Everyone that met her said that God’s got a plan for you. And God’s not through with you yet. And it’s only by the grace of God. Now, I’m talking about people that didn’t go to church. People that didn’t know us. They smell Jesus all over her. And I thought of that last night. God protected her for a reason. And God’s got a plan for her life. And we believe that.

Music tag:
[00:12:54] 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:13:04] You’ve heard just a few of the incredible stories we’ve been privileged to share over the past 10 years. From every single GPS episode, there’s at least one take away for me. That’s not an exaggeration. There is in every episode a life application or a reminder or a conviction or a praise to take away. All these stories, Ben Fuller’s, Tammie Jo Shults’, Mark Whitacre’s, Angie Thompson’s, and the hundreds of others we’ve featured, they all point to the same truth. God is faithful. He meets us in our darkest moments. He redeems even our worst mistakes. He transforms lives in ways that only He can. Whether it’s through addiction, tragedy, imprisonment, or near death experiences; God shows up. He changes hearts. He makes all things new. And sharing these stories is what GPS is all about. 

Audio tag:
[00:14:04]

Billy Graham: 
[00:14:15] Jesus said you must be born again. 

Announcer:
[00:14:19] Billy Graham … 

Billy Graham: 
[00:14:20] It’s the work of the Spirit of God that changes your life and changes your heart and makes you a new person. You see, when Christ comes into your heart, He changes your nature. You become a new creation in Christ. Old things pass away, and everything becomes new. Your sin is forgiven, and all the penalties are removed. He produces a new person. He gives you a new capacity. You have a new attitude. I’m asking you tonight to respond to Jesus Christ’s command that spiritually you be born into the kingdom of God. You may be, but you’re not sure of it. There isn’t that certainty. You can be sure tonight. 

Jim Kirkland: 
[00:15:04] Like every guest we have had on GPS, you too can be born again and experience a new life through Jesus Christ. Learn how at our website. FindPeacewithGod.net. And when you’re there, click the link that states begin a relationship with Jesus. Once again, that’s at FindPeacewithGod.net. And if you’d rather speak with someone, we’re here for you at the Billy Graham 24/7 prayer line. (855) 255-7729. That’s (855) 255-PRAY. And the easiest way to get the link to our website or to get that number again is to pay a visit to our show notes. As we celebrate this 10 year milestone, all of us who put together GPS want to thank you. Thank you for joining us on this journey. Thank you for sharing these episodes with people who’ve come to mind while you were listening. Thank you for your emails and your messages encouraging us and telling us how these stories have encouraged you in your own walk with Christ. And a reminder that the stories you’ve heard come from our extensive library of over 350 episodes. You can browse them in your podcast app, on YouTube, and at Billygraham.org/GPS. In the middle of life, GPS is here in the middle of the week, every other Wednesday. It’s a pleasure and an honor to bring you these stories. Here’s to many more years of sharing how God is moving in the lives of people all over the world. Thank you for listening. Thank you for your support. I’m Jim Kirkland. This is GPS: God. People. Stories. It’s an outreach of the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association. Always good news. 

Music tag:
[00:16:57] 

End of transcript