The Christian Post

By Billy HallowellSaturday, January 17, 2026Ashley Tankard speaks with CBN Faithwire about overcoming fear and her new book, "Fear Didn't Win," on Jan. 13, 2026. | Screebngrab/YouTube/CBN News Ashley Tankard always dreamed of performing on "American Idol," using her God-given voice to entertain and inspire.But Tankard also had a major barrier to overcome: crippling anxiety. In fact, she spent years fighting fear, and it impacted virtually every facet of her life. From the inability to speak out in school as a child to the paralyzing worries she faced in her professional life, everything was tainted. All of that changed in 2025, though, when Tankard diligently listened to God's call for her life. Still mired in worry, she had long felt the Lord prompting her to share her testimony in book form. She had started the process years ago, but her call to complete the project only intensified as 2025 came to a close.Tankard, who recently released a book about her journey, Fear Didn't Win, knew the Lord wanted her to complete the project before Jan. 1, so she set out to do just that. Still unsure how her story would end, she continued on a journey of trust amid uncertainty."I first heard the Lord speak to me about this book when I was 18 years old, and ... I did not have ... an intimate and close relationship with Him back then, but ... I actually knew His voice," she said. "So I knew that was Him telling me to write this book or start this book, and I never really knew the end result of what the book would be."Watch her story:One of the hallmarks of Tankard's story is her passion for music. In the years before she felt called to write her book, Tankard sought to live out her dream of auditioning for "American Idol." At age 15, she recalled trying out for the very first time — an experience that ended in rejection."For seven years, I auditioned for the producers multiple times with this fear and this thought of ... 'I don't know how I'm gonna even get in front of the judges if I make it,'" Tankard said. "I was still auditioning because it was just a dream that was in my heart for a very long time. So I auditioned for seven years straight, multiple times every single season."When Tankard was 22, she auditioned for the 15th time and finally earned the right to perform for the "American Idol" judges. Soon, fear — her familiar foe — came sweeping through, with Tankard worried not only about flying to the audition but also about standing in front of some of the biggest acts in music."It was actually one of the hardest things I've ever done," she said, noting she was "on the verge of a panic attack" as she prepared to sing for Katy Perry and the other show judges. "I kind of just went through the entire audition process, like in a full-blown panic attack."Despite struggling, Tankard said she was elated to have made it through the triggering moment and was finally able to see herself on TV."To be able to actually get through the audition and make it to Hollywood was ... one of my biggest accomplishments," she said.Despite that accomplishment, the fear didn't go away, and she continued to struggle even with basic social situations. Flashing forward to 2025, Tankard struggled with crippling fear even as she followed God toward the finish line on writing her book — until a friend said something that transformed her understanding."In November of 2025, I was kind of in a place in my life where I wanted to, quote, unquote 'Get my life together,' but not in a way of, I was like doing bad in life, but just in a way of walking in my calling and walking in my purpose," Tankard said. "So I called up a friend and basically was trying to get advice on certain areas of my life."Tankard told this friend the reason she wasn't doing some of what she wanted to do was because of fear — something she felt she simply couldn't get rid of throughout her life."I actually ended up sharing with him that I was diagnosed with an anxiety disorder when I was 17 years old," she said. "And what he told me was that fear and anxiety is actually a spirit that comes from the enemy, and after I had that conversation with him, it kind of struck something in me."Throughout her life, Tankard had assumed fear was merely mental and hadn't spent much time pondering its potential spiritual elements. This was quite an interesting realization, as intense anxiety started when she was just 7 years old and expanded in subsequent years until she spoke with this friend and started to think a bit differently about it.After Tankard's friend discussed the spiritual nature of fear and anxiety, Tankard started talking to another Christian friend about these issues — and then something else happened. Ironically, that very night, Tankard's church tackled the same issue during a service she attended."I ended up going to church that same night, and the pastor that was preaching that night ended up having like an altar call for some people that were dealing with crippling fear and anxiety," she said.Tankard answered that call, was prayed over, but said she initially "didn't really feel any shift." When she got home that night, though, she decided to openly rebuke the fear she had allowed to overtake her for so long."I kind of had this out loud dialogue with the enemy and kind of was just telling him, 'I'm done letting you rule my life. You have no power over my mind, no power over me anymore.'""After that, I kind of went to sleep, woke up, and long story short, I was literally completely free from fear and anxiety," Tankard said.It was a freedom she never could have expected. After so many years of dealing with a diagnosis of anxiety, she assumed she would spend the rest of her life trying to cope with these struggles. Now, she said she's walking in true liberty."It is just a very overwhelming feeling ... walking in freedom ... and it's still very new," she said. "Six months ago, I definitely would not have been able to freely talk about any of this, like over like an interview, just because I would've been afraid of ... being honest and I would've been afraid ... to say the wrong thing."Tankard continued, "But ... now I'm ... an open book because I know that God delivered me and I know it's gonna help someone else."What's perhaps most interesting is that Tankard said she felt a strong sense from God that she needed to finish writing Fear Didn't Win — but that prompting came a week before her deliverance from anxiety.Watch her tell the incredible story and grab your copy of the book here.This article originally appeared on CBN’s Faithwire.

By Jon Brown, Christian Post Reporter Saturday, January 17, 2026LUIS TATO/AFP via Getty ImagesThe 2026 World Watch List recently released by Open Doors US, a U.S.-based persecution watchdog group, found that approximately 388 million Christians around the world face some form of intense persecution or discrimination for following Jesus Christ.The report found that Christian persecution has reached an unprecedented scale, with more than one in seven Christians being called to suffer for their faith last year, an increase of more than 8 million compared to 2024. "We're seeing a continuation of a multi-year trend where persecution is expanding," Ryan Brown, the CEO of Open Doors US, told The Christian Post earlier this week.Despite being afflicted in every way, some of the reports from the darkest regions of the world include accounts of the Lord manifesting supernaturally to Christians amid their deepest and loneliest tribulations.Here is a list of some of the countries where Christians are facing the worst persecution.

By Ryan Foley, Christian Post Reporter Friday, January 16, 2026Robert Wolgemuth shares the story behind the Men’s Daily Bible a video uploaded to YouTube on April 24, 2024. | Screengrab/YouTube/B&H Publishing GroupThe widow of the recently deceased Christian author and publisher Robert Wolgemuth, remembered by ministry leaders as a “legend in Christian publishing,” has revealed the heartfelt note she left for her husband to find days before his death.Prominent Bible teacher and Revive Our Hearts Ministry founder Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth, who married Wolgemuth in 2015, published a social media post on Thursday, providing additional details about her husband's final days before his death on Jan. 10 at age 77.  She shared an image of a note she left for him on a napkin the evening of Dec. 23, reading “I love you so” and “Happy Christmas Eve.” The note was positioned so it would greet him when he got up for his morning coffee on Dec. 24. He had not been feeling well in previous days. “Early Christmas Eve morning, I took him to the ER, as he was in pain, struggling to breathe,” she explained. “He declined quickly and within a few days was totally unresponsive. On Jan. 10, I returned to our home a widow. That same day, Robert moved to his eternal Home, to find unending joy and rest with Christ.” Late the night of Dec 23, I left this note for @robertwolgemuth to find when he got up for his early morning coffee. He had not been feeling well. Early Christmas Eve morning, I took him to the ER, as he was in pain, struggling to breathe.He declined quickly and within a few… pic.twitter.com/o4xXz3h20W— Nancy DeMoss Wolgemuth (@NancyDeMoss) January 15, 2026 The widow expressed confidence that “this contented, grateful man is happier today than he ever dreamed of being on earth.” Although she has cried “tears aplenty,” Wolgemuth said she rejoices "in the incredible joy and gift of walking with Robert as his wife for the last ten years.” “I have no complaints about the path the Lord has led us on — only profound gratitude.” “I have tasted His goodness and grace in every season of the last 67 years. I know there will be more than enough where that came from — in this time of grief and heartache, and all the way till I reach my own ‘finish line,’” she predicted.Wolgemuth’s post concluded with the phrases “Heaven rules” and “Jesus is near.”She announced his death on social media last Saturday, calling it the next step on his eternal journey. "This faithful, courageous, precious man of God has entered his eternal rest and reward — not because of anything he did to deserve it, but because of the magnificent, redeeming grace and love of Christ," Wolgemuth stated. During her husband’s final moments early Saturday morning, she played a song titled “Come to Jesus."“On the phrase, ‘with your final heartbeat,’ Robert took a gasping breath,” she stated.“We watched intently, waiting to see if he would take another one. It was to be his last."