🔥 Show Notes 🔥
On May 14, 1988, seven-year-old Daniel Breeden stood on his front porch watching flames engulf a school bus. Twenty-seven people died that day in the Carrollton bus crash. But amid the screaming children and chaos, something miraculous happened. Daniel felt an unexplainable peace wash over him, and he heard God speak: “You’re going to spend the rest of your life rescuing kids off that bus.”
Three decades later, that calling has taken Daniel through youth ministry, working with abused and trafficked children, devastating burnout, and a supernatural reunion that reignited his passion.
Now, as Executive Director of Tennessee Right to Life, Daniel is on a mission to unite the church across denominational lines and rescue lives across an entire state.
This episode isn’t just about the pro-life movement; it’s about what happens when ordinary people say “YES” to an extraordinary calling, even when fear tries to shut them down. It’s about persistence through burnout, God’s perfect timing, and why the battle for life is far from over.
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✏️ Connect With Our Hosts & Guest:
🎤 Kevin Beasley - Co-host, Kingdom Effect Podcast & Discipleship Network Leader 🌐 Website: kevinebeasley.com
🎤 Glenn “Buckshot” Buckley - Co-host & Former Law Enforcement (Sex Trafficking) 📘 Facebook: facebook.com/rambler113.6
❤️🔥 Daniel Breeden - Executive Director, Tennessee Right to Life
🌐 Website: TNRTL.org
📧 Email: Daniel@TNRTL.org
Kingdom Effect Podcast Community
👥 Facebook Group: facebook.com/groups/472921304143638
Ready to Say Yes?
Tennessee Right to Life is onboarding around 30 new chapters across the state, but there are still many counties to go. This isn’t just Tennessee’s fight; Right to Life organizations exist across the entire country.
Next Steps:
Visit TNRTL.org to learn more and find resources
Email Daniel@TNRTL.org if you want to start or lead a chapter in your county
If you have connections to the Carrollton bus crash (May 14, 1988), reach out to Daniel
Pray this prayer: “God, break my heart for the unborn and vulnerable.”
Don’t just listen and do nothing; this is your invitation to say yes
🎯 What You’ll Discover:
The Moment Everything Changed
The Carrollton bus crash: 27 lives lost and one divine calling given to a 7-year-old
How Daniel’s father was a first responder and turned tragedy into a message
The miraculous healing of Daniel’s bowed legs through prayer, going from a predicted wheelchair to dunking basketballs
Why does God sometimes give us glimpses behind the curtain to sustain us
From Calling to Crisis: The Burnout Journey
Moving from youth pastor to working with mentally and physically abused kids at Kentucky United Methodist Children’s Home
The heartbreak of kids so traumatized that they couldn’t even speak or be touched
When “serving” becomes “punching a clock,” the six-month burnout period when Daniel wanted to quit everything
The danger of neglecting fasting and prayer when doing difficult kingdom work
The Breadcrumb That Changed Everything
The supernatural encounter at his son’s basketball practice
Harold Dennis walks into the gym, a survivor from the bus crash Daniel witnessed as a child
How their sons became friends, and Harold became Daniel’s best friend
God’s reminder: “This is why I had you everywhere, every step along the way”
Tennessee Right to Life: Uniting a Divided Church
The shift from Operation Saving Life (frontline abortion ministry support) to statewide advocacy
Why fear is the number one obstacle, not the opposition, but fear within the church
The challenge of bringing Protestant and Catholic churches together in unity
Pastors who won’t meet at their own churches because they don’t want to be seen with pro-life advocates
The Battle After Roe: Why We Can’t Stop Now
The misconception that overturning Roe v. Wade meant “we won.”
How the enemy just changed strategies, now it’s the abortion pill in your mailbox
The real battle isn’t against procedures, it’s for people’s hearts
Why “I thought we won” is the most dangerous phrase in the pro-life movement
💡 Game-Changing Insights:
“My greatest fear isn’t the abortionist. My greatest fear isn’t the pill. My greatest fear isn’t euthanasia. My greatest fear is when people who agree with us listen to this podcast and turn it off and do nothing.” - Daniel Breeden
“When you see that, even in those moments when I was 20% or 30%, now I see my two adult sons asking me about fasting and prayer. They want to know how to get into this pro-life movement. So, although I went through those times and would beat myself up, I think it was God saying, Stay the course.” - Daniel Breeden
“We’re not citizens of the United States of America. You’re a citizen of the kingdom of heaven, and the kingdom has a king, and you’re a servant to the king. We are refugees in a foreign land, but our citizenship is with a king.” - Kevin Beasley
“A good prayer, a consistent prayer in your prayer life is: God, break my heart for [fill in the blank]. When my heart’s broken, my passion ignites because I want to do things that heal my broken heart.” - Glenn “Buckshot” Buckley
“Don’t tell me God can’t. Don’t tell me that when I get so depressed and so down and ready to give up, I got to be reminded of those things in the past.” - Daniel Breeden
🔥 The Breakthrough Moment:
A retired OBGYN who delivered thousands of babies recently came into Daniel’s life with a confession: “I delivered babies. That’s what I did. But I knew right down the hall, right across the street, that abortions were happening every day by the hundreds of thousands here in Tennessee. And I didn’t do anything about that. I was convincing myself that what I’m doing is what I’m supposed to be doing. I’ve spent the last four or five years of my life committing fully to this movement. I’m gonna give everything that I’ve got for the remainder of my time here on earth to save as many babies as I can.”
This is the wake-up call for the church; you can’t sit in the pew and do nothing while the battle rages just outside your door.
📚 Key Topics Covered:
The importance of proximity in discipleship and community
Male loneliness epidemic and the need for intentional brotherhood
Creating “Great Good Places” for healthy conversation across differences
Balancing family and ministry and when to share the hard stories with your kids
The spiritual discipline of remembering God’s faithfulness (communion as a daily practice)
Why the church struggles with controversial topics and how to overcome fear
Finding unity across denominational lines for kingdom causes
The ongoing need for volunteers and chapter leaders in every county
“We’ve become comfortable with the uncomfortable and kept going back to scripture. Let God meet you right where you’re at.”
The battle isn’t over. The enemy just changed strategies. Will you be part of the army that refuses to sit down?
Kingdom Effect Podcast - Where ordinary people discover they can do extraordinary things for the Kingdom. Available on all major podcast platforms and Substack.
