Dr. Lisa Burkhardt Worley is the founder of Pearls of Promise Ministries, a ministry that helps women overcome past dysfunction in their lives through media, books, blogs, Bible studies, and conferences. She is the Executive Producer and Co-Host of an award-winning topical television and radio show called POP Talk, now seen and heard on 26 television and radio platforms. POP Talk recently received the ICVM Gold Crown Award for “Best Christian Talk Show.” Lisa was named the “2024 Best International TV Host” by the Prayze Factor Awards. Lisa is also a conference speaker and twelve-time award-winning author of eleven books, including her most recent book, Treasure, a 52-week devotional co-authored with Lane Jordan Burday. Treasure has been named the “Devotional Book of the Year” by the AWSA Golden Scroll Awards” and “Best Christian Non-Fiction Book” by the Next Generation Indie Book Awards.”

Lisa also has a heart for fighting antisemitism and has created three award-winning documentaries on the subject. Her most recent documentary, Their Blood Cries Out, is designed to fight Holocaust denial and features two men, Father Patrick Desbois and Marcus Roberts, who, in separate outreaches, are preserving the graves of the Holocaust. The film has already won 14 international film festival awards: “Best Documentary,” “Best Educational Film,” and “Best Producer.” Her previous documentary, Terror in Toulouse: Has the Community Recovered, retells the story of an antisemitic attack on a Jewish high school in Toulouse, France in 2012 and examines the state of antisemitism in France today. To date, it has won over 50 international film festival awards.

Burkhardt Worley recently earned her Doctor of Ministry in Messianic Jewish Studies from The King’s University. Her doctoral project was on “The Impact of the Antisemitic Attack on Congregation Beth Israel” and examined the emotional, physical, community, and security impact of a January 2022 hostage situation at the Congregation Beth Israel Synagogue in Colleyville, Texas. She is a two-time ISGAP-Oxford Scholar–in–Residence and received diplomas for fulfilling the requirements at the Institute for the Study of Global Antisemitism and Policy. Burkhardt Worley has also created classes on antisemitism and now serves as the Executive Pastor of Messiah’s Hope Congregation, a Messianic church.

Lisa spent twenty years as a national and local sportscaster on HBO Sports’ Inside the NFL, ESPN, and as an anchor at the Madison Square Garden Network. She also worked at KENS-TV in San Antonio and at WTVC in Chattanooga, TN. In addition to her Doctor of Ministry, she earned a Master of Theological Studies degree from SMU Perkins School of Theology in 2008. Lisa has been married for thirty-nine years to Jeff. She has two grown sons, Kyle and Bret, a daughter-in-law Bailey, and a beloved grandson, William.

Welcome to 12-Minute Converse with Jesus Believers.

God chose first to have a conversation with us, his creation.

Our prayer is that this listening space brings growth and transforms your life forever.

Praise God for you Lisa.

What part of the world are you in today?

Up here in North Texas.

So I've been here since 2005.

Has it been difficult living there and doing ministry from home or has that adjustment been one that you've actually enjoyed tremendously?

I've been doing ministry from my home for a long time.

I like it because I'm a writer.

I produce shows, I produce books, I produce different blogs and so when I'm here it's pretty quiet so I'm able to hear from the Lord when I'm writing and I'm able to put it down on paper especially what he says to me that's important and so it's really good.

It's not a cluttered office or a chatty office.

I'm here just in the presence of the Lord and just trying to tell people what he tells me.

Yes, he said he and I saw the capitalization of the H immediately in he and then thought about your interviews where I put together that you lost your father before you were born while your mother was pregnant actually and how important focusing on the true father is.

Would you dive deeper into that for us?

You know I didn't really know God as father for a while.

I thought of God as a very distant God because my own father wasn't around because he died before I was born and and I lived somewhat of a solitary life.

My mom never really recovered from that day so I was often on with my grandparents growing up but when I was actually led to Christ by a friend in my high school English class that I began to experience a relationship with God and I still didn't exactly know him as father until my 30s when I rededicated my life to Christ and I began studying the Word of God.

That is so important so I began to experience the Word and began to be spoken to by the Word and I began to hear God's voice and began to pray and began to worship and all these things that lead us into the presence of God and that is when I realized that he was the father that I never knew.

He was my father.

He is the one that had watched over me all those years and protected me when I really didn't have a lot of protection around me and it was then that I began to teach others about God as father and have actually written a book about that and constantly I'm consistently trying to point people to the Lord as father especially when I hear that they've had some kind of a father wound in their life.

You've also continued along the video world as well.

You've now moved from writing to as well producing and amazing audience if you're listening it's not just another video another movie.

You've gotten tons and tons of awards for these things.

I actually started out in television as a sportscaster.

I was on television for 20 years on both national and local television.

I left it and I said I really don't need to ever go back to television.

I've done that.

I don't need it and 20 years to the day almost after I left television I felt the Lord calling me back but to actually work for him and to do a tv show that promoted him and to help people overcome past dysfunction in their lives.

We call that pop talk.

It was named the best television show in the country Christian television show in 2025.

Then I felt a call to do some documentary film.

My dad

was Jewish and I was in my doctoral program at school when I took an anti-semitism class

and I felt like I needed to do something using my gifts and talents and so I created a video

for the class that turned out to be a half hour documentary and then I did a couple more after

that and the two that I did after that have won almost 70 international film festival awards

and they were both created to fight the hatred and fight anti-semitism and that is really in

my heart and I'm still doing the documentary work.

I'm working on another one about online anti-semitism so I'm doing that as well as continuing our television show pop talk to help men and women to thrive.

Did you ever visualize this is where you would be today?

No.

I can remember when I first went into ministry that was about 2013.

I had been in seminary.

I was actually women's ministry leader at our church for four years and then in 2013 I felt the Lord say now it's time to go outside on your own and start this ministry that I've placed in your heart but when I started it I really thought I was going to be like Beth Moore if people know who Beth Moore is a very gifted speaker writer and and I thought I was just going to write books and speak.

That's really how I saw it but someone prophesied over me and they said Lisa you're going to reach the nations but it's not going to look like what you think it looks like.

It's not going to be what you've imagined and I really never thought it would be or mean going back to the television world.

I had no plans to do that.

I didn't want to do that.

I didn't care if I was on television or not.

I just really didn't like some of the things that went with being on television but sure enough that's what happened so it was not like I thought it was going to be but I was obedient and that's really important for people to hear that when God calls us to something we need to be obedient and we need to step out and do it.

Let's talk to the person who's listening who possibly thinks you're so far ahead of them and it's not possible to get where you are.

It's not possible to achieve the things you've achieved.

What's the advice you would give to that person?

Scriptures that I live by is do you work heartily for the Lord for it is the Lord God whom you serve and so when I know that I know that I know that God has called me to do something for him I want to give it my all.

I give him a hundred percent.

I will work on it until it's completed and so I think that's the thing if you know that you've been called to something don't wait.

Start working on it.

Put all your time in it because you're doing it for him.

This is a call of God and that's very very important.

You know I can be a little like Moses who made a lot of excuses when he was called by God because he was afraid.

He didn't want to do it and we can all be like that and I've done it myself but really once the Lord makes it so clear and usually it's repeat messages for me I say okay okay I'm all in.

I'm going to do it so I would say that I would say that the Lord wants us to be obedient and he wants us to move forward when he calls us because guess what he'll equip us.

He will give us what we need.

I was always in front of the camera when I did television.

I didn't have to do the production or do any of the stuff behind the camera.

Five years from today you're listening to this conversation.

What's one message you'd leave for future you?

I would say did I do everything that the Lord called me to do and did I do it with excellence which is very important for me and I would have to say at this point I made some mistakes along the way but yes my heart is to honor my Heavenly Father and to be a good daughter and I think that I did maybe one day I'll hear the words well done good and faithful servant.

Lisa this has been a great pleasure.

In closing is there anything else you'd like to share with our world amazing audience?

All of us have had some kind of dysfunction in our past.

You might have had a bad dad a bad mom or maybe they weren't there but that does not have to define you.

You need to look at the Word of God and look at the promises of God in His Word.

That is what should define us.

We should post those on our mirrors.

We should repeat those promises to ourselves and walk forward in His strength.

One of my favorite verses that's my life verse and this might be for you now too.

I can do all things through Christ who strengthens me.

Philippians 4 13.

I didn't do this in my own power.

I should be in a gutter somewhere because of my upbringing but no the Lord has lifted me up out of the pit.

He's used me for His purposes and I'm strong because He is strong.

Amazing audience if you're listening and Lisa's voice has captured you.

There are links in the show notes to connect books and of course everything that she's done.

Lisa, a pleasure, a treasure.

Thank you for being on What is Inspired by 12 Minute Converse.