Lighthouse Faith – FOX News Radio: Recent Episodes
None
The most patriotic day for America is July 4th when we celebrate the country’s birthday commemorating the Founding Fathers’ signing of the Declaration of Independence in 1776. But the month of June that precedes it is filled with three commemorative days also steeped in faith and patriotism, made possible because of what happened at the Second Continental Congress as America woke up to its power as a free Republic, and its even greater responsibility to bow down to Divine Providence. Flag Day, Father’s Day, and Juneteenth. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, historian, best-selling author and speaker William Federer explains how all three of these special days exist only because of the authority the signers gave to the vital importance of faith in an Almighty God, and the value of the family. Hear how Father’s Day began because of the worst coal mining explosion in the nation’s history; how the American flag stands as a standard that should unite all Americans; and how Juneteenth celebrates the day the last slaves were told they were free from bondage.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Former Ohio Governor John Kasich believes the power of faith is not just a tool for personal happiness and fulfillment, but a great resource to help build communities and solve some of our most pressing concerns like poverty, health care, and building strong neighborhoods. Not content to leave civic involvement to government agencies, Kasich, who’s also a former Fox News Channel contributor and GOP presidential candidate, sees religious institutions as the best hope for trench warfare against the evils of our time. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Kasich discusses his book, “Heaven Help Us,” and how faith groups don’t need government to strengthen communities; only a person with a great idea whose willing to work, like the man who was inspired by his meeting with Mother Theresa and went home and delivered groceries to a couple of homes, and now is feeding over a half a million daily. Good works are infectious. And it’s the kind of virus that brings positive changes all around.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Celebrity marriages come and go… and they do so rather quickly and often. But a true power couple is one where both man and woman, individually, are first devoted to God. So says Grammy Award-winning Christian artist Rebecca St. James and her filmmaker and pop band co-founder Cubbie Fink. Each found success in their careers before they even met, and both held up a godly standard for dating and for potential mates. Now married for 14 years, they have three children and full schedules. In this season of weddings and the hope in a love that lasts forever, St. James and Fink offer advice to couples on what gives a marriage the power to succeed. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, the couple talks about their new book, “Lasting Ever: Faith, Music, Family & Being Found By True Love.” The book’s title is the giveaway, because the only true love available to the whole of humanity, is the love that survives into eternity, the love of Jesus Christ. Through ups and downs and sickness and health, marriage is a journey that needs Divine Guidance, to give it the best chance to not just survive, but thrive.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Torah is made up of the first five books of the Bible: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers and Deuteronomy. Both Christians and Jews revere these books as containing incredible wisdom and a wealth of knowledge of who God is and His purpose for humanity. But theologian and author Mark Gerson actually thinks the Torah should be in the self-help section of bookstores for its wealth of common-sense instructions on how we can have fulfilled lives. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Gerson, entrepreneur and Jewish leader, unpacks his book “God Was Right”, explaining how social scientists today prove the Torah true; not just subjectively, but objectively. When it comes to marriage, dating, money management, etc., the Torah (the book Moses penned several millennia ago) is true to its Word.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Attorney Vernadette Broyles knows her biology and science when it comes to gender and sexuality. She has an undergraduate degree in biology from Yale and was headed to medical school before the legal profession became her passion. She now advocates for children and parents, walking alongside them in their legal battles against the powerful lobby and juggernaut of the gender ideological movement that’s pushing transgenderism on children in schools, government, and the culture at large – stripping parents of their rights to determine their children’s care. Broyles is the President and General Counsel for Child & Parental Rights Campaign. She and her team have created tools for churches, pastors and parents called The Church Transgender Response Guide. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Broyles explains the deeper evil fueling the transgender movement, its historical roots, and the legal cases she’s now taking on. She’s sounding the alarm, offering churches videos, in person training, and even zoom calls. A full court press to fight back and give parents and churches the ammunition to live out their God given authority.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
When the white smoke billowed from the Sistine Chapel chimney Thursday evening, Fr. Roger Landry, like millions around the world, waited to see who among the 133 cardinals had just become the 267th successor to St. Peter. He knew to listen for the Latin version of the Cardinal’s birth name in order to translate to a media outlet. He knew there were only four Cardinals with the first name Robert. But he was listening for “Petrus”, thinking that getting white smoke on the fourth ballot of the conclave must mean that the frontrunner, Cardinal Pietro Parolin, the Vatican’s Secretary of State, had secured the needed two thirds vote. But instead, he heard Robertus… And he was shocked! This is the drama that unfolded in St. Peter’s Square as tens of thousands packed into the piazza and the Via della Consilizione, cheered as the Basilicas bells peeled with joy knowing Habemus Papem, “We have a Pope!” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast coming to you from Rome, Italy, Fr. Landry, the National Director of Pontifical Missions Societies USA, talks about that moment when he realized the first American born pope had just been elected. The former Cardinal Robert Prevost, now Pope Leo XIV, surprised the world. Who is he? Why did he impress the electors so thoroughly? Fr. Landry has insights and predictions about this American made pontiff who truly is more citizen of the world.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The movie Conclave, stocked with A-list Hollywood talent, has attracted much more attention since the death of Pope Francis and the impending Conclave to choose his successor. But how closely does the movie mirror the actual secretive event that has taken place for centuries under the frescoed walls of the Sistine Chapel? For veteran Vatican journalist and author John Allen, the only truth that is in the movie is that “Cardinals do vote for the pope.” Unlike the election of a new president of the United States which occurs every four years, electing a pope occurs only when the person occupying the throne of St. Peter dies. St. John Paul II was pope 27 years, a very long period of time. Pope Benedict XVI was pope eight years, and Pope Francis, twelve years. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, coming to you from Rome in the shadows St. Peter’s Basilica, Allen talks about what the movie got wrong, which is most of it, and some of which was true to form. He also elaborates on some of the top contenders from the College of Cardinals who are papabile, Pope-able.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Courtney Walsh is an American who has lived in Rome for most of her adult life. She speaks Italian fluently, is married to an Italian, they have three children — one of which is getting married this summer in the Italian countryside — and for several decades, Walsh has covered the Vatican, reporting on the popes, traveling on the papal plane coordinating coverage for several networks. She is the consummate producer, the often-unsung hero, and the source of a plethora of inside information that other journalists rely on to do their jobs best. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Walsh reflects on Pope Francis, his death, his life, and what it’s like working with the Vatican Press Office, covering one of the most historical events of modern day.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Easter Sunday celebrates Jesus Christ rising from the dead. That day changed the trajectory of a world drowning in sin. God broke through the barrier separating Him from His highest and most valuable creation… humanity. But believing in the Resurrection of Jesus means believing in the supernatural, in a vast world of power that exists outside the realm of physical matter. Author Lee Strobel says the Resurrection is part of the plethora of spiritual mysteries in the Bible and also in our modern world today. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Strobel talks about his book, “Seeing The Supernatural”. The Supernatural includes angels, demons, mystical dreams, near-death experiences, and of course, the Resurrection. Many of these mysteries have been investigated and studied separately. But putting them all together as part of a massive metaphysical reality is a game changer, because it means all these mysteries point to One Being who controls it all.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
How many Roman soldiers does it take to arrest one man? If the man is Jesus of Nazareth… hundreds. On the night of His arrest, Jesus’s reputation was that of power and miracles. The Romans were taking no chances. In the Garden of Gethsemane, we see the Lord of all creation humbling Himself to take the place of humanity. He knows His arrest will end with death by crucifixion. But what happens on that night in that Garden has far more inciteful details than most biblical readers have fathomed, like who was that young man who ran away from the soldiers naked after being stripped of his loin cloth? Or the High Priest’s servant whose ear is cut off? Why are these and more events even included in the biblical narrative? On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, theologian Rick Renner explores his new book for adults and children, “Easter: The Rest of the Story.” He explains how even the most minute details of the various scenes in the Garden are important to understanding who Jesus is and what He came to do. He is God incarnate, come into the world to pay the penalty of sin for all of humanity, for all time. Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus from the dead. It is the cornerstone of Christianity. Without it, nothing in the Garden makes sense.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Polls show the vast majority of people believe in miracles. But what is a miracle? When does a healing defy the laws of medicine? Investigative journalist and author Billy Hallowell journeyed through the realm of the supernatural and the natural to find out if miracles do happen, why they happen, and why they don’t happen. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Hallowell talks about his documentary “Investigating the Supernatural: Miracles”, now streaming on Christian Broadcasting Network (CBN). Hallowell says the bar was set pretty high to determine if someone indeed was miraculously healed, that there could be no other scientific reason for the healing. The investigation focuses on several different people including the case of Dr. Chauncey Crandall, a cardiologist who prayed over a patient who suffered a massive heart attack and had no pulse for 40 minutes. The patient was given one more jolt from the defibrillator after Crandall’s prayers and his heart began beating. But that was only part of the miracle… The patient had no resulting brain damage. But why was Crandall’s prayer for his patient answered, and yet years before his prayer for his own dying child was not? That, Hallowell says, is part of the mystery of our walk with God in searching for a miracle.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Thirty-two years ago, finance expert Art Ally got tired of investing in companies that had a track record of diverting from biblical moral principles. So, he created The Timothy Plan, an investment firm that would screen out companies that pursued “unholy agendas,” like abortion, pornography or sex trafficking. And the biblical directive has been profitable… to the tune of nearly $3 billion in the fund. But that’s not the first priority. The often-misquoted verse in the Bible, Timothy 6:10, doesn’t say money is the root of all evil, but that the “love of money” is the root of all evil. It’s a big distinction. It means people of faith should put God first and make decisions about investments that align with God’s Word. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Ally speaks frankly about the spiritual warfare going on in the financial world, and that companies like Disney and Target have lost their way morally. They are not even considered as part of a Timothy Plan portfolio. While supporting Israel, as the land of God’s chosen people is the basis of their Israel Common Values Fund. Why is it important to care about where your money goes? Ally says, because there’s nothing more central to anyone’s life than money. And there’s nothing more important than glorifying God.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
There’s a spiritual battle waging in the world today. It’s the same ancient warfare waged since the beginning of time. Today’s manifestation is targeting our children. Christian author and speaker Laine Lawson Craft is out to give parents the spiritual ammunition they’ll need to bring their prodigal child back into the fold of faith. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Craft talks about her devotional “Warfare Parenting” and the book it’s based on “The Parent’s Battle Plan.” Craft says her “aha moment” came during several fights with her three children. There would be screaming and shouting over how each wanted to live their lives. Then she realized… she wasn’t fighting against her child, but with the forces of evil that are out to kill and destroy them. Drugs, alcohol, sexual promiscuity, depression and thoughts of suicide are part of the spiritual forces of evil today. Craft says, prayer and handing a child over to God, is one of the first steps a parent must take.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
A split-second look in the direction of a screaming baby out of the corner of the bride’s eye became a viral TikTok video and sparked a wave of heated debates about ‘childless’ weddings. Texas bride Claire Kendall Taetz now regrets posting the video, which she thought would be a lighthearted way to ‘get over’ the crying baby interruption at the most important event of her life. But instead, it’s become a source of pain. The video has had more than 3.5 million views online, the story surfacing on Facebook, People, New York Post and more, while garnering more than three thousand comments; the majority of which are positive. But the small percentage of haters has shaken her. The comments were mean and spiteful, and some even questioning whether or not she’s a ‘good Christian’. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, newlywed Taetz talks about the ordeal that has shocked her to her core, while also driving her deeper into her identity in Christ, and helped along the way by the devotional “Light For Today”, written by the host of this Lighthouse Faith podcast, Lauren Green.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Your faith and your finances don’t have to live in two separate worlds. In fact, counter to popular opinion, the Bible has some very positive things to say about the accumulation of wealth. But it also, of course, has some negative things to say as well. One of the most misquoted verses in the Bible is 1 Timothy 6:10. It’s quoted as “Money is the root of all evil.” But that’s not actually what the verse says. It actually says, “For the love of money is the root of all evil.” What’s the difference? Well, having money is not a bad thing, it’s when money has you. It’s when money becomes your fundamental trust instead of the God who allowed you to prosper. Fox Business anchor Charles Payne joins this special edition of Lighthouse Faith podcast to discuss a special episode of his show “Making Money” this week. It’s called “A Matter of Faith,” about how more and more people are using their faith to guide their portfolios. Catch the special Tuesday, March 11th at 2pm ET on FBN!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
While Pope Francis appears to be slowly recovering from severe bronchitis and double pneumonia, talk is turning to the inevitable… Who will be the next Bishop of Rome to emerge from the next Conclave? It will be one of the 252 members of the College of Cardinals, the Catholic Church’s bishops whose most important task is to elect the next Pope. But one of the challenges for the Cardinals? They don’t know each other very well. Normally they would have an opportunity to encounter each other and learn more about each other at a Consistory, a Cardinal meeting in Rome usually held when new Cardinals are created. But Pope Francis hasn’t called for a Consistory in more than ten years. So veteran Vatican journalist Diane Montagna is part of a group that created a website called ‘Cardinalium Collegii Report’, aka, The College of Cardinals Report. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Montagna talks about the website, why it was created, who are the Cardinals, what they believe, and most importantly who are the most papabile, able to be Pope.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Pope Francis has been in the hospital for the longest stay of his papacy. More than two weeks as of February 28. And while the latest updates out of the Vatican continually report a slow steady improvement from his severe bronchitis and double pneumonia, it hasn’t stopped the Vaticanista rumor mill from speculating on his possible resignation. But papal historian, author and biographer Austen Ivereigh dispels the rumors saying that despite the secret letter of resignation he wrote at the beginning of his election as the Bishop of Rome, Francis believes the papacy is for life. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, recorded in Rome in Vatican City, Ivereigh talks about hopes for the pope’s healing, his work ethic, and how this simple and humble man from Argentina has molded the Roman Catholic Church in ways so different from his predecessors. Ivereigh is the author of “Pope Francis: The Great Reformer,” “Francis and the Making of a Radical Pope, “and also “Wounded Shepherd: Pope Francis and the Struggle to Convert the Catholic Church.”
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Who knew that the most popular podcast streaming today has nothing to do with politics, gossip, or getting ahead in life? In fact, it’s the exact opposite of all those worldly and material aspirations. It’s “The Rosary in a Year.” It’s a ten-to-fifteen-minute devotion hosted by a Franciscan monk, to help people to draw closer to Jesus Christ. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, RIAY host Fr. Mark-Mary Ames, of the Fransiscan Friars of the Renewal, talks about the spiritual hunger in the world that’s making more and more people turn away from the unsatisfying pursuits of worldly wealth, and draw closer to the God who made them. Fr. Mark-Mary’s calming, yet strong voice, helps listeners open their eyes, ears and hearts to the power that’s in the name of Jesus, His mother Mary, and the Holy Spirit. Take that Joe Rogan!
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Metropolitan Yevstratiy, the Deputy Head of the Orthodox Church of Ukraine’s External Church Relations, accuses the Russian Orthodox Church of being nothing more than an arm of the Kremlin, doing the bidding of President Vladimir Putin, the proverbial ‘wolf in sheep’s clothing’. In this case, religious vestments, and telling Russian soldiers fighting against Ukraine that if they die in battle, they will immediately go to paradise, all sins forgiven. In 2019, Ukraine’s Orthodox Church was granted independence from the Russian Orthodox Church. It caused an uproar in Moscow. Kirill and Putin refused to recognize the authority of the Ecumenical Patriarch Bartholomew in Constantinople (modern day Istanbul, Turkey) that authorized Ukraine’s identity as an Autocephalous Church. That Russia is engaged in a Holy War is not in question. But it’s Patriarch Kirill in Moscow, says Yevstratiy, that claims the Russian aggression against Ukraine is for the “Liberation of Ukrainians from Godless West… From the evil.” And to, “bring to Ukraine the light and truth.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Metropolitan Yevstratiy also reveals a scarier version of the war in Ukraine; that Putin and Kirill want to make Moscow the third and final Rome, labeling the rest of Christianity, Catholics and Protestants alike as heretics and pagans. As President Trump and Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth look for diplomatic solutions to the war’s end, Yevstratiy and His Beatitude Metropolitan Epiphany, the leader of the OCU, are faithful that God Himself will bring an end to the battle.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
It’s a heart-wrenching film that recounts the beheadings ten years ago this week of 21 Coptic Christians at the hands of ISIS, Islamic radicals. And yet, the film also tells the poignant story of the incredible faith these martyrs had, diligent to the end, never once denying their Savior, even unto death. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, producer Mandi Hart, talks about the making of “The 21” and the transformative power of learning about what these men endured for their faith. They were laborers from Egypt, working in Libia, when ISIS members kidnapped them and demanded they denounce their faith in Jesus Christ, the only condition to secure their freedom. The men refused. For a month and half the men were tortured and abused. Then they were put in orange jumpsuits and paraded to a sandy hill where masked, knife-wielding radicals lined them up and beheaded them. All of it was filmed by ISIS for the purpose of propaganda and power. But there were other supernatural forces also at work on that sandy hill, and those forces struck fear in the hearts of many of the radicals. The 21, although only 13 minutes in length, makes a power statement as it is animated using the imagery and style of Orthodox Christian iconography, intercut with the actual film ISIS shot.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Now that Roe v. Wade is securely in the rear-view window, the pro-life movement has entered a new phase… and yes, a new battleground. The annual March For Life, now in its 52nd year, just wrapped up in Washington, D.C., and while it’s clear pro-lifers are celebrating major victories with many states outlawing abortion altogether, it’s also apparent there are new battles arising as some states expanded abortion access and others grapple with what their access should be. In the year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, abortions actually increased. Fr. Frank Pavone says it’s because chemical abortions have become a growing “choice” among those who want to end a pregnancy. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pavone, founder and CEO of Priests For Life, talks about where the pro-life movement is headed under President Donald Trump and how it’s not only important to change laws, but also hearts, in the fight for the sanctity of life.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The National Cathedral’s Prayer service the day after President Donald Trump’s inauguration has stirred up a controversy that’s been brewing in Christianity for decades, if not more. It’s the divisiveness over how the Body of Christ should respond to the LGBTQ community. Forget how the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Washington D.C., chose to use her pulpit to scold the newly re-minted President of the United States; that’s actually a side bar to the real concern. The underlying dispute is Mainline Protestantism’s schism over gender and sexuality. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, culture expert and theologian Dr. Alex McFarland, a frequent podcast guest, uncovers the long-simmering discord in Christianity that simply can’t be ignored any longer. Much of what Dr. McFarland says may be unsettling to many people, if not downright offensive. But he says, if The Bible is indeed God’s Word, and faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, then he is called to speak the truth in love.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Actor John Schneider is best known for his role as Bo Duke on iconic 1980’s TV show “The Dukes of Hazzard,” but his talents go much deeper than playing a good ol’ boy, and the resumè shows it. Originally from Mt. Kisco, NY, he’s a singer who’s recorded some 20 albums. He played Superman’s father on the show “Smallville” and starred on Broadway. He’s currently (through February 2nd) in the longest running show on the Great White Way, “The Perfect Crime,” but his personal life took a tragic and traumatic turn a couple of years ago with the cancer death of his wife Alicia Allain. It was a time where he truly learned, ‘God has a plan’. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Schneider and his new wife Dee Dee Benkie, talk about how their life together now can only be Divine will. Benkie, a former Fox News contributor, had also suffered the trauma of the death of her husband, actor Paul Sorvino. Together they have a powerful testimony about faith, family… and trusting in God.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
Christian persecution is growing globally, and the biggest reasons are radical Islam, Communist regimes, and Secular forces in the West. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Jeff King, President of the watchdog non-profit International Christian Concern, delves into its most recent Global Persecution Index. One of the most dangerous places to be a Christian is Nigeria, where in the last 20 years nearly 100,000 Christians were murdered and about 3.5 million Christian farmers have had their land stolen by the extremist Muslim group Boko Haram. King says, “It’s slow-motion genocide and stealth Jihad.” While in Communist China, face-recognition AI technology monitors more than a billion people for the purpose of assigning a social credit score determining where they can work or go to school. And going to Church or reading a Bible assigns a much lower score. But in the West persecution is happening as well where the legal system has been weaponized to malign or marginalize certain believers. In one state, conservative Christians weren’t allowed on a jury because of their religious views. King says he has hope that the incoming Trump administration will turn the tide and strengthen religious freedom around the world.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
For former cold-case murder detective J. Warner Wallace, the horrific New Year’s Day terror attack in New Orleans followed an age-old pattern of why people kill. He says of all the homicides he’s worked, there are only three reasons why people commit crimes: sex, money, power. There’s no fourth reason. And those three reasons fall into the larger bucket of Pride. Authorities say the suspect, 42-year-old Shamsud Din-Jabbar, had been radicalized into a distorted view of Islam, and was inspired by the terror group Isis, a power obsessed group. But Wallace, a former atheist who used his forensic skills to try to debunk Christianity and came away a believer in Jesus, has a much more nuanced view on the nature of religion. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Wallace talks about his book, “The Truth In True Crime: What Investigating Death Teaches Us About The Meaning Of Life.” Wallace says most religions, except for Christianity, are performance based; perform these rituals and services and God -or the world- will bless you. Even an atheistic worldview does this. However, that form of religion or belief falls prey to the greatest of deadly sins, pride. The only antidote to pride is humility, and humility is nothing anyone can achieve by works. And studies show, says Wallace, that humility leads not to the taking of life, but to human flourishing and the giving of life.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Chosen is the widely popular television drama about the beginnings of Christianity. It is now in its fourth season, and no one is as surprised at its success than Amanda and Dallas Jenkins, the show’s creators. They were skeptical of Angel Studio’s crowd-funding business plan and thought they could raise at best $800; They ended up raising $10 million. But the career success has been accompanied by personal sadness with a chronically ill child. However, Amanda says, this has kept life and all its ups and downs in perspective- and that’s God’s plan.
On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Amanda Jenkins talks about her book, “God’s Goodness For The Chosen”, and explains how they learned that God allows success in our lives but that He allows struggles also to help us stay close to Him. For her, the bottom line is that “God is doing a new thing.” That He is “drawing people around the world back to Himself.” And that The Chosen is all part and parcel of that grand plan.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
More than two thousand years ago God broke through the barrier separating sinful humanity from a Holy God and took on human flesh in the form of a tiny baby. Christianity says all of human history had been building to that monumental event that separated time. Why did God, the creator of the universe, decide to enter our world, not as an avenging angel, but as a vulnerable and innocent baby? It’s because of love. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Max Lucado, best-selling author and preacher, talks about the true meaning of Christmas. That Christmas set into motion the life-altering cosmos calamity that closed the chasm between God and sinful man.”Christmas”, says Lucado, “begins what Easter celebrates.” The two highest holy days of the Christain calendar are eternally linked. While Christmas has become much more commercialized with shopping and Santa taking center stage, it hasn’t changed the reality that the peace and joy we talk about on Christmas cards and ad slogans, flows only from this one event, the birth of Jesus: “For God so loved the world!”
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
While religions of the world have some similarities, like the
importance of family or mercy, Christianity makes a claim no other religion
makes; that the founder of the faith is God in human form, Jesus. Every other
religion tells followers, “this is the way to God.” But Jesus says, “I
am the way.” Christianity says God has come to us. That means Christmas is
all about the doctrine of the Incarnation, God taking on human flesh, born of a
woman, entering into our world and the conditions under which we live, in order
to save us from ourselves.
The secular culture is very eager to have Christians
pay more attention to superfluous trappings of the season, the glitz and
glamour, rather than the real meaning of Christmas. On this episode of
Lighthouse Faith podcast, Hank Hanegraaff, the Bible Answer Man, explores what
the Incarnation should mean to us, and why the Virgin Mary should be understood
in the fullness of the gift she gave the world in saying “Yes” to
God’s invitation to be the mother of the Savior.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices
The Martin Scorsese production of “The Saints”, now streaming on Fox Nation, is wrapping up its first four episodes this week with Maximillian Kolbe, a Polish priest who sacrificed his life in a Nazi concentration camp so that another prisoner could be spared. The series will continue in the Spring, during the Lenton season, with four more stories of extraordinary people of faith: Francis Of Assisi, Thomas Becket, Mary Magdalene and Moses the Black. And after that, the creator of the project Matti Leshem, wants audience input about who they want to see next. The Catholic Church recognizes more than ten-thousand saints, so there’s a lot to choose from for future episodes. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Leshem, who is Jewish, talks about working with Academy Award-winning director Scorsese, and how even people who aren’t Catholic or Christian can be inspired by these stories of regular men and women, whose faith compelled them to unimaginable heights of bravery and courage.
We are now in the Advent season, the four weeks leading up to Christmas and the joy of Jesus’ birth. Like Advent itself, the birth of the Savior has a lot of back story. Woven through the Bible’s Old Testament are hundreds of prophecies that tell of a Messiah that will be born sometime in the future. Many of the prophecies, like those in Isaiah, are written centuries before the birth of Jesus. Cumulatively, they predict the conditions of the birth, the location of the birth, who he will be born to, what he is coming to do and so much more. Jesus fulfills every one of those prophecies. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, evangelist Anne Graham Lotz and investigative filmmaker Tim Mahoney delve into the prophecies of the Old Testament and the archeological evidence that shows that the core tenets of Christianity are grounded in the historical record. Mahoney’s Patterns of Evidence production house has investigated the archeological evidence biblical prophecies and events from the Exodus to his most recent on Israel Dilemma that explores the Israel’s covenant with God and the land. Lotz, well-known author and Christian speaker, is the daughter of the late evangelist Billy Graham.
Fleeing from Europe to the New World for religious freedom in 1620, the Pilgrims intended to settle in northern Virginia, not far from Jamestown where there was an established community. But their ship was blown off course and landed instead at Plymouth, Massachusetts. And because they were in unsettled territory, the Pilgrims (before disembarking the Mayflower) created a document that became the prototype for America’s Declaration of Independence and
Constitution. On this episode ofLighthouse Faith podcast, author and historian Dr. Jerry Newcombe explores the faith steeped history of Thanksgiving and the Pilgrims who landed in the New World and created the essence of the American experiment, the agreement for self-government, a civil body politic under God. The very first Thanksgiving, as the Pilgrims sat down with the Indians to share a meal, was always about giving thanks to an Almighty God, through whose Providence they were brought to a new land. Unfortunately, the education system in this land of the free has worked to erase God from the history books. But Newcombe, the Executive Director of Providence Forum, is pushing back.
The book of Acts seems to sit benignly in the Bible, following the four Gospels of Matthew, Mark, Luke and John. It’s presented almost as a travelogue of what happens to the apostles and the growing community devoted to a man named Jesus who was crucified. But Acts, if read properly, is quite subversive, and a potential source of great fear for the kings and rulers of the world because it directly challenges their authority, says Dr. N.T. Wright. Acts, written by the Apostle Luke, announces that the Kingdom of God has been launched, and that Jesus is its head. Why is this a problem for us today? Because the Western world’s ‘Separation of Church and State’ is a wobbly philosophy if in fact Jesus is King, and really can’t be lived out to its most extreme manifestations, that they are on a collision course we can in fact see today in politics and the culture. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Wright, author, theologian, scholar, and Anglican priest, explains his new book, “The Challenge of Acts: Rediscovering What the Church Was and Is”. Wright says, “Acts is a dangerous book; and if people take it seriously, it’s still dangerous today because the powerbrokers don’t like the idea that actually there is this thing called the Kingdom of God.” Luke also wrote one of the two Gospels that includes the narratives of Jesus’s birth. Luke describes it as the Royal Birth, of a King that will be at odds with all the Kings of the earth.
The election is over, and Donald Trump will be the 47th President of the United States come January 20th, 2025. The voters have spoken and they’ve spoken decisively; the popular vote, the electoral college vote, the Senate, and the House likely. What’s also very clear is how religious voters were key to Trump’s victory. In almost every faith category, Catholics, Evangelicals, Jews — Trump increased his share of the spiritual pie. It’s proof that America’s strong faith foundation still holds and that the path to the White House still runs through the nation’s pews. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Alex McFarland, faith and culture expert, breaks down why Bible believing Christians were key to Trump’s victory. And how it was more than a difference over politics, but in fact a widening gap of worldviews.
Ryan Bomberger has a challenge to the ladies of “The View”- have him on the show to debate all things related to abortion. He knows it’s a long shot that they’ll extend an invitation but it’s worth a try. For that matter Bomberger also has a challenge to Kamala Harris, Donald Trump, Senator Raphael Warnock, Arizona Senate candidate Kari Lake and even Melania Trump. All of whom he says have position on abortion that rankle him. Bomberger is the co-founder, along with his wife Bethany, of The Radiance Foundation, a faith-based pro-life advocacy non-profit. Its mission is to “illuminate” that every human being, no matter how they are conceived, has inherent and God-given, equal worth. Bomberger boldly tells anyone and everyone, “I was
conceived in rape, but adopted in love.” He’s one of 10 children of different races, adopted by the Bomberger family. He’s just written an op-ed to answer the question, “What About Rape?” When abortion is debated, cases of rape and incest are often used to justify the cessation of a life in the womb. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Bomberger answers that question and more. For him, abortion is personal. He says, “Imagine for a moment, watching repeated news stories where people say that a person like you shouldn’t exist. Imagine hearing, over and over again, that you should be dead. Imagine someone telling you on TV or in real life, that you should’ve been aborted.”
God made humans male and female not to build a divisive wall around their strengths and weaknesses, but to create a powerful union of husband and wife. Both have traits the other doesn’t have. It doesn’t make men and women better or worse… it makes them different. New York Times bestselling author Lisa Bevere is pushing back against the secular culture’s obsession with gender ideology that she says is destroying the God-given image of male and female. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Bevere talks about her book “The Fight for Female, Reclaiming Our Divine Identity”. Bevere is no feminist. In fact, she says feminism to her is teaching women how to be men. Instead, she’s empowering women to be women; strong enough to be wives and mothers, and noble enough to see in their male counterparts a co-traveler on a journey of faith.
Have you ever wondered why so many Evangelicals are starting to
drift to the left? There’s a good reason. Daily Wire journalist Megan Basham’s
new book uncovers the infiltration of conservative Evangelical churches by
far-left billionaires like George Soros and Pierre Omidyar, the founder of
eBay. Since around 2013 there’s been a concerted effort to essentially buy off
pastors through opportunities or large amounts of funding if they support
left-leaning causes like climate change and abortion.
On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Basham talks about the research for her book, “Shepherds For Sale: How Evangelical Leaders Traded the Truth for a Leftist Agenda.” Back in 2013 the likes of Soros and others saw religious voters as the one huge impediment to advancing their vision of America. Organizations like Soros’ “Open Society Foundation” learned how to use the language of faith in order to lure pastors and their congregations to look more favorably toward a wide range of issues from the environment to gender ideology. Basham says, “They talked about how they could harness the power of high-profile Evangelical leaders in the hopes of influencing the rank and file in the pews.”
The grade school rhyme about Christopher Columbus will not suffice in today’s Woke world, “Columbus sailed the ocean blue in 14-hundred and 92.” That’s what Columbus Day, a national holiday, commemorates, the Italian explorer’s founding of the Americas. Some municipalities have changed the title to “Indigenous Peoples Day”, to honor the natives Columbus encountered, or conquered, or displaced… depending on which history class you take. But Columbus’s intent, though, was to find a new Western trade route to Asia, since Turkey, conquered by the forces of Islamic Jihad, cut off the Eastern passages. Columbus, in his underestimating the circumference of the earth, may have stumbled onto the New World, but does that make him unworthy of accolades? And does it mean he was motivated by greed instead of the Gospel? No, says historian William Federer. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Federer, an author and national speaker, gives a veritable graduate school class on the centuries of history that leads up to Columbus’s journey across the Atlantic, his spiritual motivation for lobbying the Queen of Spain to sponsor him, and the subsequent effects of what has happened in the centuries since, as even those who’ve benefited from the establishment of the United States of America have forgotten its roots. Columbus may have had no idea that a vast swath of land, another continent lay in his path to Asia; in fact, till his death he thought he had found a shorter, western trade route. But there was no mistaking that his faith in a God, who moves mountains and calms the raging seas, was real.
Scripture says, “The battle belongs to the Lord”, (1 Samuel 17:47). Coach Joe Kennedy can attest to that. His whole life of trials and frustrations, anger and pain, were preparing him for a battle over the right to pray on a football field. Kennedy is famous for winning a Supreme
Court case in 2022, after being fired for praying on the 50 yard line after
every game, as he promised God he would do, win or lose. Now a major motion
picture will be released about his life and court battle. Actor Eric Close
(Nashville, Suits, American Sniper), portrays Kennedy in the film.
On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Kennedy and Close talk about making the
film, and how they worked together in understanding Joe’s journey from being a
forgotten child, tossed between homes and growing up angry, to becoming a
Marine, marriage, and then to a high school football coach. All the while, says
Kennedy, God’s hand was there. He says, “I didn’t see until later in life
that God had his fingerprints all the way from when I was in the womb, and all
those trials and tribulations I went through. I didn’t see how they fit all the
puzzle pieces into the bigger picture, and it prepared me for the Marine Corps,
prepared me for this battle.”
For author and national Christian speaker Craig Huey, the group “Evangelicals For Harris” is bent on deception. Granted Donald Trump is no angel he says, but at least his policies were pro-life and protected religious freedoms far greater than the Biden/Harris administration. And yet, the left-leaning Evangelicals have launched a major seven-figure ad campaign targeting Evangelicals in swing states through Christian media, Google, TikTok and sites where only Christians will see them. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Huey talks about his book “The Christian Voter: How to Vote For, Not Against Your Values to Transform Culture and Politics”, and takes aim at the new campaign and its clever marketing strategy that uses the image and powerhouse preaching of deceased evangelist Billy Graham, to make the point that Trump is unfit to be the leader of the United States. But Huey, who’s worked in marketing for decades, says it’s a classic misdirect, but one that could have a tremendous impact on the election if you just look at the numbers. According to Huey’s research, nearly 7 million Evangelicals in swing states did not vote in 2020. In Michigan, nearly 1.3 million Evangelicals did not vote. Trump lost the state by 154,000. Huey explains that the campaign is not so much
about convincing Evangelicals to vote for Harris, as much as it is about convincing enough of them NOT to come out to vote for Trump.
With the overturning of Roe v Wade two years ago, which sent the issue of abortion back to the states, the political battle over abortion entered a new phase that has seemed to stymie those on both sides of the argument. Shawn Carney, founder of the pro-life national organization, “40 Days For Life”, says that the Supreme Court decision was probably a shocker for both Republicans and Democrats, for different reasons of course. For decades the question has been over your stance on abortion, are you for it or against it? Each side being able to simply check a box. But neither side got too far into the weeds to actually discuss abortion; what it is, and what it isn’t. But that’s exactly where we are today as several states now have abortion matters on the ballot this election. On this episode ofLighthouse Faithpodcast, Carney talks about his new book, “What To Say When 2: How to Discuss, Clarify, and Question Abortion in a Hostile Culture”. Like its title suggests, it’s a “how to” for people of faith, and no faith, to respectfully debate a very contentious and controversial topic. Carney also grades how both Donald Trump and Kamala Harris did during their debate. He says Trump could have done better, and Harris didn’t do as well as she thinks she did.
We are in the final stretch of a very contentious presidential cycle. The two candidates vying for American votes couldn’t be more different than day and night, and we’re not talking about race or gender. They represent two almost diametrically opposite political views and two different visions for the future of the United States of America. What’s more challenging for people of the Christian faith is the question, “How can you be a witness to the gospel in casting your vote when neither party or candidate is fully committed to Christian values?” Dr. James Spencer advises that they do what Jesus said to His disciples, “I am sending you out like sheep among wolves. Therefore be as shrewd as snakes and as innocent as doves.” In other words, be informed but still bow to the authority of God to whom also the government is under, even if it doesn’t operate that way. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Spencer, best-selling author and president of the D.L. Moody Center in Northfield, MA, talks about his new book written for just a moment as this, “Serpents and Doves: Christians, Politics, and the Art of Bearing Witness.” This “Serpents & Doves” directive is like threading a needle. It brings up the very problematic New Testament Bible verse about God giving government authority, Romans 13. Spencer explains how believers should interpret it, and why it’s so important to understand its ramifications and how to stay true to your faith values when casting your vote.
Former Arkansas Governor Mike Huckabee calls the newest installment of the God’s Not Dead film series a story made for this moment in history. He says it’s a little like Mr. Smith Goes to Washington updated to this modern age where faith in God is not as publicly proclaimed and religious freedom totters in the wake of Woke political agendas. Huckabee plays himself in the film, and on this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, he jokes about getting his Oscar speech ready. But in all seriousness, this film, subtitled “In God We Trust”, is meant to inspire millions of Christians, especially the 40 million who sat out last election, to make their voices heard at the ballot box this November. He says every vote counts. He also talks about why he, as an Evangelical Christian, still supports former President Donald Trump, and why even now, sees him as the best candidate to lead America… and why Kamala Harris is not.
Pastor Max Lucado has never been an end times kind of preacher. It’s just not a major factor in his preaching wheelhouse, which is why his most recent book, “What Happens Next: A Traveler’s Guide Through The End Of This Age” seems at first a departure from his normal uplifting spiritual guidance. Predicting the end of the world has become a bit of a cottage industry of late. But prognosticators wouldn’t pursue the subject if there wasn’t widespread interest and attention given to it. Even though Jesus said no one but the Father would know the actual date and time, it hasn’t stopped the forecasting. However, Jesus did tell His followers the conditions to look for when the end times will be upon us: “Wars and rumors of wars… famines and earthquakes.” But Pastor Max says the ‘when’ of the end times is not nearly as important as the condition of our hearts, which is something we can address every moment of every day. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Max explains that the main point of his book is that, if you have clarity about the future, if you know what your ultimate destiny is, that allows you to be courageous about the here and now, and be able trust in the God who controls it all.
First of all, there is no party called “Christian Nationalists”. That’s why many conservative Christians are stymied by how to respond to the left’s accusations of Christian Nationalism. So, with that in mind, it makes more sense to have two Christians representing each side of the debate, talk with each other about what Christian Nationalism is, and what it is not. The problem though is that it is a term created and defined by liberals and tends to strike fear for those on the political left. It describes what liberals believe Christian conservatives want to achieve politically for their faith, a theocracy where Christianity is the favored religion. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Alex McFarland and Pastor Doug Pagitt, respectively challenge and debate each other. McFarland is a Christian evangelist, author and speaker on culture and religion. Pagitt is the founder of Vote Common Good and a self-described progressive on issues concerning faith and politics. If you’re a liberal Christian who can listen to a conservative, or a conservative Christian who can listen to a liberal, then congratulations; you are part of the work crew who will help repair and rebuild the Body of Christ.
An investigation is underway involving an anti-Christian group that targeted a family of ten and almost succeeded in having the couple’s children taken away from them. But the details of what led to the scare should shock everyone. JD and Britney Lott are both veterans. The couple in their 30’s are the proud parents of eight children ranging in age from a newborn to young teens. They have a following of some 600,000 on social media as they travel the globe posting their events, praising God and homeschooling their children. But an anti-Christian group on Reddit began targeting them, claiming their children were abused and also making false claims to the Florida Department of Families. On the basis of those false claims, a social worker contacted them demanding that they submit their newborn to inspection or risk having all their children taken away. The Lott’s contacted an attorney and The Family Freedom project. They were eventually cleared of any wrongdoing, but the fact remains that people who pedal in hate can weaponize a government agency to do their bidding. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, the Lotts tell their story. It’s a cautionary tale of social media’s dark side, and also how what happened to the Lotts can easily happen to anyone.
King Herod is probably one of the most, if not the most, ruthless character in the Holy Bible. Brilliant, but evil. And yet, his paranoia that led him to kill several members of his own family and issue an edict to kill all the children under two in Bethlehem and Jerusalem, still wasn’t enough to thwart God’s plan, the birth of a Savior. This is why Kathie Lee Gifford, TV personality, best-selling author, singer and composer, is fascinated with this character. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Gifford talks about her newest book “Herod And Mary: The True Story Of The Tyrant King And The Mother Of The Risen Savior”, plus her recovering from her health emergency and the faith that is getting her through it all. Gifford researched the historical documents on King Herod and found some interesting swaths of information, like his friendship with Marc Antony and Cleopatra, Rome’s power couple. But also, Herod may have occupied a blip in the biblical narrative, but his historical presence was significant, a master architect and powerful politician. But his undoing was his debauchery and derangement. Gifford says Herod’s story is a testament to the fact that “When the world thought nothing more evil could be happening in the world, something far more glorious than anything that had ever happened was happening in the womb of a little teenage girl from Nazareth.”
Voting according to your faith values. We all do it. Yes, even an atheist. And that’s one of big the problems with political polls and surveys measuring how much impact faith has on elections. They are based on the notion of institutional religion. But religion is not confined to a denomination or doctrine or congregation. Religion in its larger sense answers the big questions of life: “Why am I here? What’s the purpose of my life? How do I treat people?” Morality and purpose. The answers to these questions, said one theologian, are at least implicitly religious because the answers have to be taken on faith, there is no scientific proof. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Jason Yates, president of My Faith Votes, explains the work ahead as his non-partisan organization endeavors to educate Christians about keeping a biblical worldview in the public square, not to be stymied by the demonization of Christianity which has grown larger and larger with the vitriol around “Christian Nationalism”. Yates says, “They’re trying to demoralize and shame, those of any beliefs that come against what they stand for… Too many people of faith have created a void and believe that lie that they should not be involved in the process… As a result, secular humanistic values and beliefs policies filled the void.”
The belief that science disproves the existence of a creator God is so last century! It’s an out of date, intellectually feeble assertion that has no basis in, well, science! The fact is, says Dr. Stephen Meyer, “The major discoveries of modern science over the last 100 years in cosmology and physics and biology are pointing in exactly the opposite direction.” In other words, the more we delve the deepest depths of cosmology, biology, physics and beyond, the more we understand, “there must be a God somewhere,” as the spiritual says. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Meyer, best-selling author and director of the Discovery Institute in Seattle, talks about his most recent book, “The Return of the God Hypothesis: Three Scientific Discoveries that Reveal the Mind Behind the Universe”. For instance, DNA, the foundation of human building blocks. Meyer shows that scientists have known for quite a while that it would be a mathematical impossibility that random forces could create even a fully functioning amino-acid sequence to produce a protein for DNA; it would be about 1 in 10 to the 195th. That’s a direct assault on Darwin’s theory of evolution. Meyer writes, “Over the past three decades, many evolutionary biologists have challenged a key tenet of the neo-Darwinian synthesis, namely the idea that small-scale microevolutionary changes can be extrapolated to explain large-scale macroevolution innovations.” It’s complicated, and yet so simple: “And God said…”
Most politicians tend to write books about what they’ve done while
in office. But Scott Morrison, a former Prime Minister of Australia, wanted to
write about what God has done and continues to do for him. Morrison is candid
about how God brought him through some of the most harrowing days of his
leadership of Australia, a country not known for its religious fervor. And
that’s what makes Morrison’s faith all the more interesting. One would expect
such devout beliefs in America, a country that Morrison greatly admires. But
the land down under is a bit of a head scratcher. Founded as a penal colony for
the United Kingdom, Australia had a rough and tumble beginning. On this episode
of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Morrison talks about his book “Plans For Your
Good: A Prime Minister’s Testimony Of God’s Faithfulness.” It’s based on
the Old Testament prophet Jeremiah’s prescient words to the children of Israel,
and to us, “‘For I know the plans I have for you,’ says the Lord. ‘They
are plans for good and not for disaster, to give you a future and a hope.'” In
this political season, such comforts are words to cling to.
Back in the early 1990’s Matthew Barnett thought he was headed to Los Angeles for a short-term mission trip at a small church. Thirty years later, he’s still there, but the operation is much larger. The Los Angeles Dream Center is the result. A massive operation that includes a 400,000 square foot facility and a church, which serves the homeless, getting the drug addicted unaddicted and seeing in all people the image of God. But the sad news is, despite the center’s successes, the city of Los Angeles and the state government hierarchy refuses to partner with them because they are faith-based. While the city of Los Angeles announced they would spend $1 billion on the problem of homelessness, the equivalent of an estimated $50,000 for each homeless person, Barnett says it costs the center $7,500 to rehabilitate someone out of drug addiction. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Barnett talks about the triumph of transforming lives when God is at the center of the process. He says they’re not just ministering to people’s needs; they’re ministering to people’s potential. God-given dreams give people hope that there’s something greater to live for.
In 1996 Bishop W.C. Martin and his wife Donna Martin, from the small town of Possum Trot, Texas, adopted four children out of foster care. They inspired their entire congregation of Bennett Chappell Missionary Baptist Church to adopt every available child in the county’s foster care system. Twenty-two families adopted all 77 children. Many of those children were some of the hardest to place; victims of sexual and physical abuse, neglect, trauma, and unsafe living situations. Thier story inspired the movie, “Sound of Hope: The Story of Possum Trot.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, the Martins talk about the movie and the extraordinary saga of their lives that can only be described as God working miracles. The adopting of children with deep emotional and physical needs put untold strains on church bmembers’ families and their finances. But through it all their faith helped them triumph. The Holy Spirit, not the spirit of the age, is what brought about astonishing transformations in the lives of the children and the families. The Martins challenge other churches to do the same. Right now there are some 400,000 children in the foster care system in the United States and 100,000 available for adoption. The Martins say if every church committed to giving every available child a loving home, the numbers would be reduced to zero. Answering the call of Jesus to look after the orphans, the least of these, is true religion.
Author Stephen Strang says it’s hypocrisy that mainstream media on the left
skewers Donald Trump’s Evangelical supporters, asking the question, ‘How can
believers in Jesus Christ support a man known for his philandering?’ Strang,
who’s also the founder of Charisma Media, says, “Did we hold Lyndon Baines
Johnson or John Kennedy or Bill Clinton or a bunch of other people up to that
high standard? I don’t think so.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Strang,
who’s the author of “God And Donald Trump”, and “Trump Aftershock: The
President’s Seismic Impact On Faith And Culture”, talks about Trump’s legal
woes, now that he’s a convicted felon thanks to New York’s District Attorney, and
why Evangelicals still support him. He points out that when Trump was a New
York billionaire Playboy, part of the social scene, attending Chelsea Clinton’s
wedding, for instance, he was the darling of the press. But when he got serious
about life, protecting America’s borders, joining the Republican Party, and
getting serious about his faith, that’s when the media turned on him. Strang is
worried that many of the new Evangelicals are engaged in hero worship of
Trump, but he says most of Trump’s supporters are silent, wanting only the right
choice for their communities and the country.
The cultural clash over the LGBTQ community has spilled over into the Christian Church. One blaring example now is the schism in the United Methodist Church. But on a personal level, Christians are asking and voicing their opinions over Pride Month, which celebrates the gay community. It forces Christians to deal with one blaring question, “Is homosexuality consistent with Christianity?” Is it a sin, and part of human brokenness, or is it not a sin, and something that should be praised and honored? On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, two Christians offer their opinions. Ryan Bomberger, author and co-founder of the Radiance Foundation, and Doug Pagitt, an author and pastor who’s been leading the conversation on progressive Christianity through Vote Common Good. It’s not often people of faith talk to each other in a reasoned and respectful way about this culturally divisive issue. But for people who are followers of Jesus Christ, it is essential, if there ever could be a realization of John 17, “May they all be one.”
Willie Robertson is all about having a conversation… about Jesus. Robertson is a member of the famous Duck Dynasty clan whose reality show became one of the most popular ever. It was a program that might never have been until producers promised patriarch, Phil Robertson, they could talk openly about their faith in Jesus Christ. The show became known for the family’s prayers at mealtime. Now Willie, Phil’s son, has a new book out called “The Gospeler: Turning Darkness Into Light One Conversation At A Time.”On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Robertson explains how believers in Jesus can live out The Great Commission (of spreading the Gospel) in everyday life situations. His own father’s life was turned around after a preacher sought him out while in a bar.
You can always tell how important something is by the priority placed on
it. In Genesis, the very first chapter of the first book of the Bible, God
establishes a family, Adam and Eve. The very first thing God does in the New
Testament is the merging of family between Mary and Joseph in the birth of
Christ. And the very first miracle Jesus performs is at a wedding, the wedding
at Cana. It is now officially wedding season, in the month of June more
weddings will take place than at any other time of the year. But how do you
ensure that a beautiful wedding with all the pomp and pageantry creates a
strong marriage, where husband and wife move forward joyfully in whole-life
oneness? Enter Fr. Nicholas Louh and Dr. Roxanne Louh. Fr. Nick is a Greek
Orthodox Priest who’s presided over the nuptials of scores of couples. His wife
Dr. Roxanne Louh is a clinical psychologist and family therapist who sees many
of those couples after the luster has worn off the glitz of the wedding and a
life of children, careers and financial strains complicated their “happily
ever after”. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, the Louhs talk
about how to overcome difficulties in marriage, even some of the
worst things that could happen, like an adulterous affair. But more
importantly, how God’s design for marriage is the key to a strong marriage, one
that truly is, “for better or for worse.”
Eden Gefner was born and raised in Kibbutz Reim in Israel, just three miles from the border with Gaza. On October 7th, her life changed from being a normal 28-year-old thinking about her future, to believing she was now in the Holocaust, that she and her family would die, just for being Jews. But instead, she and her mother, father, and boyfriend narrowly survived the Hamas attack. Hiding in the safe room and holding tight to the door, they heard automatic gunfire break the front door, a terrorist searching their home and finally, a tug on the door. Eden says it was a miracle they survived when so much death surrounded them. On their community “WhatsApp” chain a neighbor is yelling to help two children who just saw their father gunned down in front of them, others are giving updates on how many Hamas terrorists are surrounding the Kibbutz. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, we travel to East Hampton, New York to interview Eden just before she told her story of survival to a small group at Chabad of the Hamptons. It’s part of the Faces of October 7th Project, which aims to “humanize the consequences of terrorism and challenge the support that terrorist organizations like Hamas have garnered, particularly among young people.”
Imagine all the love you’ve experienced in your entire life, from parents, spouses, friends, family, and then multiply it a thousand times. That’s the kind of love experienced by people who’ve had Near Death Experiences; they report being in the presence of God. NDE’s, as they are known, are scientifically recognized phenomenon that occur when people are clinically dead and see visions of themselves, their bodies as paramedics try to revive them, doctors as they operate, or even family members in waiting rooms. Some even describe scenes they couldn’t possibly have seen except supernaturally. But the one commonality: a love that is so deep and so complete they never want to return to their lives. It’s the love they, and probably all of us, are searching for. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, John Burke, best-selling author of “Imagine Heaven” and now his follow-up “Imagine the God of Heaven,” explains that millions of people from all different faith traditions, cultures, and educational backgrounds have had NDE’s. But the vast majority report similar events, a welcoming benevolent Light and a Love that penetrates the deepest recesses of their souls. Burke says the only explanation is, it’s evidence of not only the reality of God, but also God’s relentless love. As the Scriptures say, “A love that surpasses all understanding.”
It is hard to fight against an enemy whose reason for being is to eliminate you. So says author Rick Richman, as he answers the criticism leveled against Israel of committing genocide in Gaza. It is Israel, he says, that is trying to prevent a genocidal operation perpetrated by Hamas. Richman, the author of “And None Shall Make Them Afraid: Eight Stories of the Modern State of Israel,” says the anti-Israel, pro-Palestinian protests are filled with misinformation and misguided passions by young people, students and even faculty, lured into a political position by authorities who choose to ignore the facts surrounding the centuries of clashes between Jews and Arabs and its modern day manifestations. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Richman talks about a long list of topics concerning Israel, including: the ongoing protests on college campuses and why so many are ignorant of what Zionism actually is, Zionism and Americanism, the two great “isms” of the 20th century, that Palestine was never an independent state, why Arabs rejected having their own independent state six times including in 1947, reaction to claims that Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, and war crimes by Hamas as they use their own people, innocents, as human shields. Jews, says Richman, are the “canary in the proverbial coal mine”, what happens to them is only the start. Islamic militants will not stop with them until the world is converted to its rule.
When stars align it’s hard not to see God’s hand in it. For world class percussionist, Zoro, it’s hard not to see his mother as the gift that kept on giving. How does a young boy of a single mother of seven children go from abject poverty to the highest ranks of musicians, performing with the likes of Lenny Kravitz, Earth, Wind and Fire, and hob-knobbing with the Jackson Five? It’s a faith that moved mountains. It was also a mother’s love that believed in her children’s dreams. Like the unknown author said, “Mothers hold their children’s hands for a while… their hearts forever.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Zoro talks about his rise in the music world, his faith, and his new book, “Maria’s Scarf: a Memoir of a Mother’s Love, a Son’s Perseverance, and Dreaming Big.” Christian minister, pastor, evangelist, and now author Zoro seems to have no limits to what is possible to achieve. With faith and his mother’s orange scarf, Zoro lived out her prophecy of doing something fantazmical!
Bible verses like Romans 12, “Be transformed by the renewing of your mind” and 2 Corinthinians 10, “Take every thought captive to make it obedient to Christ”, turn out to have real scientific structural foundations. How do you ‘renew your mind’? How do you ‘take every thought captive’? Those directives wouldn’t be possible unless the brain was pliable. Unless the gray matter between our ears, instead of being fixed through its DNA, possesses a plasticity, able to be molded by it’s environment, by what we do and say to it constantly. Dr. Alan Weissenbacher and his new book, “The Brain Change Program: 6 Steps to Renew Your Mind and Transform Your Life,” takes to a spiritual level, Dr. Norman Doidge’s best-selling book, “The Brain That Changes Itself”. Weissenbacher is a counselor to drug addicts and is the managing editor of academic journal “Theology and Science”. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Weissenbacher explains how the Bible always understood our biology better than we did. And while it may speak in poetic terms, there’s real science underneath the prose.
For three decades, Tom and JoAnn Doyle’s ministry has focused on the Middle East. The two affable and faith-filled Americans have smuggled in Bibles and helped locals organize Christian house churches in places where it could bring a death sentence for converting from Islam. And yet, even under threat of death, there’s been a massive conversion there, particularly in Iran, the country that just launched hundreds of missiles on Israel. What’s the real take of how Iranians feel about their country’s regime and its attack on the Jewish state? Is the missile strike fulfilling an ancient biblical prophecy in Ezekiel of Gog and Magog? And why are so many Muslims having dreams of a mysterious man in white? On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, the Doyle’s talk about what’s happening spiritually in the Islamic Republic, and how the Word of God is making miraculous changes in a people hungry for the truth.
The Bible’s words saying “God made them male and female” for centuries had been upheld by the scientific community, that is up until just a few years ago. In today’s woke culture, gender dysphoria, a mental health problem, has spurred many young people into surgeries that they later regret. Once celebrated for expressing their “true self” as transgender male or female, they are often attacked when they realize they made the wrong decision and begin the arduous journey of de-transitioning. Jennifer Lahl is telling their stories. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Lahl talks about her new book, “The Detransition Diaries”, the saga of eight men and women who once felt they were born in the wrong body, and then realized the solution to their struggles were more spiritual than physical. Lahl is the founder and former President of The Center For Bioethics And Culture as well as an award-winning documentary maker producing several films, including the one the book is based on: “The Detransition Diaries: Saving Our Sisters”.
The old adage that ‘a picture is worth a thousand words,’ was never truer than when faithful Christians told stories of injustices, not with words, but through photos. At a time when photography was new technology used more for entertainment, Alice Seeley Harris, an English missionary, documented the horrors of human rights abuses in the Congo under the regime of King Leopold II of the Belgians. Children and adults with limbs cut off as punishment. Thousands of miles away, Jacob August Riis, a Denmark native, was exposing the squalid conditions of New York City neighborhoods. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, best-selling author Christina Stanton delves deeper into their stories that she first told in an article published last year, “Capture This: How Christians Used Cameras To Expose Injustice.” What’s disheartening about Riis and Harris’ stories is how over the years secular media has ignored their Christian faith, even while honoring their work. Yet, it was their faith that compelled them to expose grave injustices at the turn of the century in parts of the globe that had been forgotten by Western culture, even when it was in their own backyards.
While Easter, as it is celebrated in America, has morphed into bunnies, bonnets, baskets, and egg coloring… the reality of the Resurrection of Jesus Christ is in fact a ‘revolution’. So says Bishop Robert Barron, the founder of Word On Fire Catholic ministries, and the bishop of the Rochester-Winona diocese in Minnesota. On this special Easter episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast recorded at his studios in Rochester, Minnesota, Barron, who’s also a best-selling author and former auxiliary bishop of the Los Angeles diocese, explains why Christians should not ‘domesticate’ Easter. Instead, we should spend this day meditating on the ‘subversive’ nature of what Christianity unleashed more than two-thousand years ago. Says Barron, “It turns everything upside down, and there’s nothing more subversive, literally subversive, than the resurrection of Jesus from the dead.” It’s that Divine power of love in raising Jesus from the dead, that is now available to humanity today. It proves that that Love is in fact the foundation of all creation.
It may be a surprise to some folks, but the Easter Bunny has nothing to do with the true meaning of Easter. Neither do Easter baskets, bonnets, spring flowers or any of the plethora of secular imagery that have taken center stage during the Lent and Easter season, pushing the Resurrection of Jesus, the cornerstone of Christianity, to the side or dismissed entirely. But best-selling author Anthony DeStefano is fighting back. He’s embraced the Easter Bunny for a children’s book about Jesus, His life, crucifixion and resurrection. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, DeStefano talks about his new book, “The Story of the First Easter Bunny”, and about the culture wars all parents of faith are battling in trying to teach their children the true foundations of their beliefs. DeStefano is the author of more than 25 books for children and adults; some of which delve into the headier issues of Christianity like heaven and hell.
Twenty years ago, Mexican actor Eduardo Verastegui made a promise
to God that he would not do any work that offended his Catholic faith, his
family or his culture. The vow meant he didn’t work for four years as he had to
constantly turn down offers. Then he started a production company with two
friends and together produced “Sound of Freedom,” about child
trafficking and sexual exploitation that starred Jim Caviezel as the agent who
hunts down traffickers. And now Verastegui’s new film, “CABRINI.”
On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Verastegui talks about Cabrini,
which tells the saga of Mother Cabrini, Frances Xavier Cabrini, an Italian
immigrant Catholic nun whose feistiness defied her frail health. She fought the
power structure of the Catholic Church and the city of New York, to build
orphanages, hospitals and schools, relieving the poverty of Italian immigrant
children. Verastegui says 100% of the film’s profits will go to charity, continuing
the work of Mother Cabrini.
Former GOP consultant Bunni Pounds may have lost an election for U.S. Congress, but she gained valuable experience. And she’s using that experience to mobilize Christians to come out and vote. In 2020, some 25 million sat on the sidelines and didn’t cast their ballots. Now Pounds, from the great state of Texas, is pulling out all the political stops to make a serious dent in that number. She’s created an organization that shows churches how to get their congregations involved in praying, engaging, registering, and researching candidates and issues. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, recorded at the NRB Convention in Nashville, Pounds talks about her book “Jesus and Politics: One Woman’s Walk With God in a Mudslinging Profession.” The bottom line is, if Christians want to live out a biblical worldview, then they must lobby government; because government has the power to subvert and control their lives. Pounds says the problem has been that “We keep this separation between what we think is secular and sacred, and not see that God should encompass every part of our life, even our civic duties.”
Who knew prayer could be so offensive to so many? But that’s exactly the
reaction Pastor Jack Hibbs received from several members of Congress after he
gave a prayer on January 30th to open their session. Hibbs is the pastor of
mega church Calvary Chapel in Chino Hills, California. House Speaker Mike
Johnson invited him to deliver the invocation. In his prayer, Hibbs called for
“humility and repentance of national sins in a time of great need.” In a letter that
was sent to the Speaker of the House, 26 Democrats accused Hibbs of being “an
ill-qualified hate preacher” who was pushing a “Christian Nationalist
agenda”, according to Roll Call. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith
podcast, recorded from the National Religious Broadcasters Convention in
Nashville, TN, Pastor Hibbs answers the Democrats’ accusations, talks about
what he prayed for, and why he believes it rankled the nerves of those on the
left. He also discusses his new book, “Daze of Deception: How to Discern
Truth from Culture’s Lies.”
There’s a hunger in this world for God. You may not know it; you may not feel it. But the insatiable need for a transcendent love that surpasses all understanding, is at the root of all our angst and anguish. Just think about this year’s Grammy Song of the Year, “What Was I Made For?” It may be the Billie Eilish tune for the movie Barbie, but it may as well be the soundtrack of this generation’s burning question: What’s the purpose of my life? Why am I here? With mounting levels of despair, depression and suicide, the secular world in all its technology, A.I. and social media, needs answers. And I know that the Word of God is what they’re looking for. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, theologian, author and Christian defender Dr. Alex McFarland, joins me to talk about my new book, “Light For Today: A 365 Day Devotional from the Lighthouse.” I’ve rarely inserted myself as the subject of these podcasts, but I wanted to let listeners know that God is Love. And whatever needs we have He can meet. It takes a daily walk with Him. Reading His word and listening to His voice. God works in the natural everyday existence; in the simple, even in seemingly mundane. God is with us. He is a our refuge and strength.
The data doesn’t lie. Getting married and staying married benefits
women, children… and men. Social scientist, Professor Brad Wilcox, gives
convincing proof that marriage, despite being much maligned today, is actually
a better way to live, well, happily ever after. But there are some caveats.
First, the myth of the soul mate. No human is perfect and so no potential
spouse, no matter how much he or she makes your heart flutter, is capable of
fulfilling your every desire. Sooner or later the butterflies go free and what
remains is the reality of a relationship that takes work. But it’s well worth
it.
On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Wilcox, Professor of
sociology at the University of Virginia and a “Future of Freedom” Fellow
at the Institute for Family Studies, breaks down the evidence he found while
researching his new book, “GET MARRIED: Why Americans must Defy the
Elites, Forge Strong Families, and Save Civilization.” It’s a tall order,
but the data shows that coming from a two-parent household is a better
reassurance that a child will do well in school, be happier and have a better
chance of achieving the American dream. Case in point, Ivy League colleges and
universities have an overabundance of overachievers with one common
denominator, the majority come from stable, two parent households. Wilcox
points out, this is actually odd since many professors at these liberal
establishments tout diversity of family types–single parent, parents never
married –but in their own lives represent the more traditional, married
parents with children.
In the more than 25 years since Promise Keepers began, the culture
has shifted tremendously. And it’s not been a positive move for men.
Masculinity is called “toxic”, and “straight white male” has
become a euphemism for “devil incarnate”. But Promise Keepers
president Ken Harris and Dr. A.R. Bernard, the Senior pastor of New York mega
church, Christian Cultural Center, are undaunted, and fearless in beckoning men
to biblical manhood, and understand and live out what God has called them to
be. It is not the secular culture or social media that defines a man, or the
purpose for which he was born, it is God. Later this month Promise Keepers will
meet in Florida, where thousands of men will step out in a move of “Daring
Faith” hoping to build men of God. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith
podcast, Harris and Bernard speak about the problems men face in the world today,
the messages they get wrong, and spiritual solutions to both.
While technology moves ahead with seemingly lightning speed, it’s sad to say that in the realm of religious freedom, we as a culture are moving backwards. This week, the Religious Freedom Summit wrapped up in Washington, DC. One of lead participant was Eric Patterson, president of the Religious Freedom Institute in the nation’s capital. He spoke to Lighthouse Faith podcast just before the summit began, but already knew what the pressing issues would be. The basic human right to worship how you want, to live out your faith is under assault. In fact, worldwide we are worse off than we were 15 years ago. In Nigeria, Christians are being slaughtered. In China, the Communist regime is trying to mold faith in Jesus into a subservient of the party line. Even in Muslim majority countries, if you don’t practice the type of Islam that’s acceptable, you could be ostracized, or even killed. What’s at stake here is what it means to be human. No one can take that away, but the evil in this world is trying its best.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
“Light For Today” is my hope for friends, family, colleagues and everyone to find God in everyday life; to find opportunities to draw closer to God in the simplest of activities, as well as the most profound and challenging. The lighthouse has been for me a visual reminder of God’s first commandment, “to have no other gods before Me;” of a beacon of His sovereignty. But also, a lighthouse offers a promise of safety, warning travelers of unforeseen danger and guiding them along their journey. It symbolizes hope and salvation. Similarly, God, who is the Light of the World, is our refuge, leading and beckoning us to safety during the storms of life. I wrote these pages so I would be reminded daily of God’s Omnipotence and Omnipresence and that His love is as near as the air we breathe.
The destruction of the biblical sister towns of Sodom and Gomorrah is one of the most well-known and controversial stories in the Bible’s Old Testament. God’s reasons for obliterating this thriving metropolis have had incredible consequences for us today and hence the subject of intense debate. But for centuries, many secular, and some Christian scientists, believed Sodom was just a mythical town meant to support an allegorical telling of God’s wrath against sin. But in 2001 archeologists began researching a site around the Dead Sea that matched the Bible’s geographical description of where Sodom was located. A few years later a dig began, and a few years after that, archeologists confirmed that a city matching the description of Sodom had been located. But more interestingly still, recently they found evidence of it being destroyed by a cataclysmic event, like an asteroid burst similar to the one, but larger, than the one of Tunguska, Russia in 1908. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, chief archeologist of the site, Dr. Steven Collins, explains how they know this recently unearthed site has all the markings of one of the most notorious stories in the Bible.
Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices
Nearly every poll shows Donald Trump the likely GOP 2024 Presidential nominee, which is why the vitriol against one of his largest group of supporters has risen to near derangement levels. One MSNBC anchor accused White Christian Iowans of wanting to have people of color bow down to them, while another said White Evangelical Christians are worshipping Trump as the Second Coming. But California Pastor Shane Idleman is pushing back, saying this battle is not about Trump, but about spiritual Kingdoms colliding. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Idleman, lead pastor of Westside Christian Fellowship in Southern California, talks about why Evangelicals are such strong supporters of Trump, and about how he believes this country, spiritually, is headed in the wrong direction. Although he is not an ardent Trump fan, he understands that “We’re not looking for pastor in chief. It’s Commander in Chief.” He also points out that throughout the Bible, God has used men of questionable character to bring about his plans.
The 9th Commandment against bearing false witness seems straight forward as a directive against lying. But what happens if you tell a lie unknowingly because you’re trusting nature is being abused and used for evil? That is the message of Mitch Albom’s novel, “The Little Liar.” Set during the Holocaust, the story revolves around a lie that a Jewish boy in Greece tells the people in his community a lie he doesn’t know is untrue. “The trustworthy boy is discovered by a German officer, who offers him a chance to save his family. All the boy has to do is convince his fellow Jewish residents to board trains heading to “new homes” where they are promised jobs and safety.” In fact, they are trains headed for concentration camps. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Albom, best-selling author of “Tuesday’s With Morrie,” and “The Five People You Meet in Heaven,” explains what happens long-term when a deadly lie is perpetrated against a young boy’s trusting nature, and how the lie kills more than just trust, but people, relationships and even the soul. Albom’s gift is in letting fiction tell the truths about reality. Communities can’t survive without truth.
Hollywood rarely makes a positive film about priests. You have to go back a few decades to 1945 to find Bing Crosby in his role as the respected Father O’Malley in “The Bells of St. Mary’s.” That was way before the decline in reverence for not only faith, but also for the men and women of the cloth. But Fr. Stephen Fichter, a New Jersey priest, wanted to be a part of changing people’s attitudes about the priesthood. The feature length film, “Trinity’s Triumph,” is his offering. It was a 25-year journey, with some notable encouragement along the way from people like Italian director Franco Zeffirelli, and some mentoring from best-selling novelist, Mary Higgins Clark. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Fr. Fichter talks about why he wrote the screenplay, and how it shows the real struggles and triumphs of the men who enter seminary. The film is about three seminarians but only one of them is based on Fr. Fichter’s life. The other two are based on composites of his fellow travelers. The film pulls no punches, talking about sexual abuse in the priesthood as well as challenging the tradition of why priests are not allowed to marry. But the key line from the movie is said by the film’s Monsignor Heck, played by A-list actor Joe Morton (Speed, Terminator 2: Judgment Day). He tells the first-year seminarians, “You are setting out on an extraordinary odyssey to answer the highest of all calls.” And that is the film’s most positive message about the priesthood. It is a Divine calling of both sacrifices, and the highest of commitment.
As we say goodbye to 2023 and reflect on this past year, Cal Thomas has some observations about the last fifty years! He says, “One thing that always amazes me is how things never really change. You can change hairstyles, clothes, styles, modes of transportation. You can even change politicians. But nothing really seems to change. A lot of that has to do with human nature.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Thomas, best-selling author, syndicated columnist and political commentator, talks about his book, “A Watchman in the Night.” It explores what he’s witnessed over the past 50 years of journalism and the thousands of columns he’s written commenting on world events, cultural movements, politics and all things involving human existence. But there is one mandate that separates Thomas from the herd; his standard of truth is based on Scripture. All his commentaries have as their guide the light of God’s Word. Yes, Thomas has met and interviewed world leaders, American presidents and Hollywood and Broadway stars; but also, just plain folk whose names no one will remember. All the while, his keen observances have made him a ‘Watchman’; a custodian of a culture that has separated itself from God. And as we say hello to 2024, Thomas will continue to do the same, but with a hope that his words will help people find their way back to the truth that made America the land of the free and the home of the brave.
If the Bible had never been written, America probably wouldn’t exist. Our founding documents and beliefs about law, justice and grace come directly from the pages of Scripture. It also means that it is so much more vital for Christians to not only celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, the birth of Jesus, but to live out its core tenets by engaging a culture that continues to grow more secular. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Robert Pacienza, Senior Pastor Of Coral Ridge Presbyterian Church in Fort Lauderdale, Florida, talks about the many ways Christians can bring Christmas into their everyday lives, but also, how they can live out its directive of truth and love. Pacienza, who’s also the President and CEO of D. James Kennedy Ministries, also gives some very simple suggestions to how Christians can be a light in darkness, and to point the way to true light of Christmas, Jesus, born to be the Light of the world.
King Josiah of Judah was one of the leaders of the Hebrews who, as the Bible said, “did right in the eyes of God.” Despite his father and grandfather being wicked men, Josiah emerges as one of the heroes of God’s chosen people, becoming a light in a darkened world. Best-selling author Jonathan Cahn says there is more to Josiah than just his ancient standing as a Jewish monarch. Cahn taps into clues from Josiah’s reign to show that recent events like the October 7th attack on Israel, the January 6th incursion at the Capitol and even understanding Donald Trump’s presence on the world stage could have been predicted from Scripture and history. In his latest book, “The Josiah Manifesto,” Cahn weaves his revelations about King Josiah around today’s events, looking at the 50-year mystery behind the war in Israel, as well as recent events in America.
This time of year is filled with expected joy, dazzling lights and festivities. But if you’re suffering from a recent loss, these few weeks can be acutely painful. You feel the absence of someone or something that at one time contributed greatly to your happiness and wellbeing. Dr. Lee Warren understands the pain of searing loss; his son was stabbed to death by a close friend. The details of the murder are not clear, so Warren, a brain surgeon, inventor, and Iraq War veteran, had to deal with not only the pain, but also the inconsolable emotion of not understanding why. So he became his own patient. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Warren talks about his book, “Hope Is The First Dose: A Treatment Plan For Recovering From Trauma, Tragedy, And Other Massive Things.” It’s a follow up to his other book, “I’ve Seen the End of You,” a book that looks at treating people with untreatable brain tumors. “Hope…” is not only Warren’s self-analysis, but expands the scope to say that we all have these ‘massive things’ in our life that we must come to grips with in order to move forward. We can either be crushed by them, or find hope in overcoming them.
Chapters:
0:00:00-Finding Hope and Faith Amidst Tragedy
0:10:44-Coping With Trauma and Loss
0:18:29-Overcoming Negative Thoughts and Grief
0:26:22-Grief, Transformation, and Finding Hope
As the Christian Advent season begins, there’s always talk about faith and what people actually believe. The Jewish Festival of Lights, Hanukkah, is also a part of the season. But for Christians, Christmas is the high and Holy time of welcoming the birth of Jesus, Savior of the world. And it’s also the time atheists offer more vitriol against belief in God. So, here’s a preemptive strike that will help people of faith enjoy the Christmas season. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, best-selling author and radio host, Eric Metaxas, turns the tables on atheism and explains his book, “Is Atheism Dead?” The short answer is that while there are still people who profess no belief in an Omniscient Being, Metaxas blasts that position as intellectually untenable, and that those who still hold to it haven’t done their homework. Metaxas takes on the four-horsemen of atheism: Dawkins, Dennet, Hitchens and Harris. He says while they appear scholarly, they’ve ignored the advances in science that give much more proof of there being a God than no God. Science, it turns out, has far more in common with faith in God.
Chapters:
00:00:00-Is Atheism Dead? Evidence for God
00:09:05-Fine-Tuning and the Existence of Life
00:20:32-The Impact of Science on Atheism
00:30:34-Debating Atheism and Political Ideology
With war raging in the Middle East between Israel and Hamas, historian Rick Richman wants people to know the back story of how Israel came to be and why IDF soldiers know they’re fighting for the very survival of the Jewish state. In his book, “And None Shall Make Them Afraid,” Richman, a resident scholar at American Jewish University in Los Angeles, highlights the lives of eight individuals with different backgrounds and talents, that helped bring about the creation of Israel. From Viennese journalist Theodore Herzel, to a Supreme Court Justice, and even a Hollywood screenwriter. They became passionate about the creation of a Zionist state, as the world was becoming more and more radically antisemitic. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Richman talks about how the creation of modern day Israel actually begins in 1895 and that the Balfour Declaration in 1917 was a dream that became a reality through the work of Jews who realized their very existence was being threatened.
00:00:00-The Historical Context of Israel’s Creation
00:18:04-The Balfour Declaration and Golda Meir
00:25:10-Challenges in Israeli Leadership With Golda Meir
00:36:01-Israel and Jewish Army Books
Professor Al Fadi was born in Saudi Arabia and felt privileged to be born in the center of Islam. He believed the only sure way to get into heaven was through giving the ultimate gift to Allah-sacrificing his life in the “holy war” against nonbelievers, that Jews and Christians were infidels, and that Islam was the final revelation from God. But while a student in America he became a devout Christian and biblical scholar who now teaches at Arizona Christian University. Since the October 7th Hamas attack on Israel, he has been schooling students at ACU about the conflict from his unique perspective. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Professor Fadi discusses why today’s young adults are ignorant of the historical context of Israel, either political movements that created it 75 years ago or the thousands of years of history of the Jews. As a former Muslim, Fadi gives incredible knowledge about Islam; that the Koran, the holy book of Islam, says the “land” that is being fought over today, belongs to the Jews. Fadi also explains what Islam has to say about the other two Abrahamic faiths, and why when he was schooled in the real gospel of Jesus Christ he became a believer, who now prays for the conversion of Muslims.
Chapters:
0:00:00-Journey From Islam to Christianity
0:08:18-The Israel-Palestine Conflict and Religious Claims
0:14:29-Understanding the Conflict
0:26:41-Religion’s Role in Promoting Peaceful Coexistence
There’s a plague running rampant in Western society. But there’s no vaccine, no shot you can take. But it’s the infection causing so many other problems including crime, homelessnes, drug addiction, even suicide. The plague’s name: fatherlessness. More poignantly, it’s fatherhood abandonment. Men walking out on their children and the mothers who bore them, either through divorce or dysfunction. And what’s the root cause? John Smithbaker says it’s men’s inability to forgive. Is it that simple, that forgiveness is the antidote? Forgiveness is the foundation of the Christian Gospel, Jesus dying on a cross to bridge the chasm between loving God and a sinful humanity. But forgiving in relationships is probably the most difficult for humanity to emulate. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Smithbaker, the founder of Fathers in the Field, talks about his book, “Man Enough to Forgive,” and why he created his organization: “To help men recapture their divinely assigned roles of pastor, provider and protector in the home as well as the church.”
Chapters:
0:00:00-The Impact of Fatherlessness in Society
0:12:32-The Lies and Consequences of Fatherlessness
0:19:06-Fighting Cultural and Economic Demands
0:30:38-Father Wounds and the Importance of Forgiveness and Masculinity
0:37:43-Healing and Forgiveness for Fatherhood Wounds
More than 200 times a second the question ‘Is God Real?’ is Googled. So best-selling author Lee Strobel decided to do the research and answer the question. He wasn’t answering for himself since Strobel, a former atheist, is known for his best-selling book, “Case For Christ,” as well as other books exploring the big questions surrounding Christianity about Heaven, Christmas and Easter. But for millions of people in this tech-saturated world, God, if there is One, seems distant at best. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Strobel talks about his new book, “Is God Real? Exploring the Ultimate Question of Life,” and the very strong scientific evidence for the existence of God as well as the strong historical proof of the truth of Christianity.
We are at a crucial time in America. And the waning of a biblical worldview among younger generations has had catastrophic consequences. The pro-Palestinian support on college campuses, in communities and in the halls of Congress is part of it. Back in 1858 at the close of the Illinois Republican State Convention, then senate candidate Abraham Lincoln quoted the words of Jesus when he warned that “A house divided against itself cannot stand,” that America could not be made of half free and half slave states. It was a prophetic statement because in less than three years the American Civil War began. The clash nearly tore the republic apart. Not since before the Civil War has America been so deeply divided, so says Author and historian Os Guinness. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Guinness, the author and/or editor of more than thirty-five books, talks about one of his most recent writings on America’s political, philosophical and religious divide… called, “The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai’s Revolutionary Faith and The Future of Freedom. Guinness says there are two competing revolutions going on in the United States. One based on the ideals of the American Revolution of 1776, and the freedoms that come from Judeo-Christian faith handed down at Sinai. The other is based on the misguided ideals of the French Revolution of 1789; postmodernism, radical multi-culturalism, the sexual revolution, the cancel culture, critical race theory all stem from 1789 not 1776. Guinness says, “The distinct voice of the American Revolution largely comes from the Bible and the Book of Exodus and Deuteronomy.” He warned also that support of Hamas is support for the extinction of the Jewish people. Says Guinness, “Hitler in 1941, in November invited the Grand Mufti of Jerusalem to Berlin, and together they swore to wipe out the Jews. And that radical link between Nazism and Islamism has been powerful ever since, and it was picked up by the Muslim Brotherhood. And of course, Hamas is the paramilitary wing of the Muslim Brotherhood.”
It is one of the most controversial books in the Holy Bible; some say its theological underpinnings are responsible for launching the Protestant Reformation, blaming the Jews for the problems in the world, and challenging the cultural conflicts of today’s post-modern society. But right in the middle of the Apostle Paul’s letter to the churches in Rome is the summation of Christianity, its power, its hope in a Spirit filled life, and the edict that nothing can separate us from God’s love! On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, renowned New Testament scholar Dr. NT Wright unpacks his book on the eighth chapter of Romans, called “Into the Heart of Romans: A Deep Dive Into Paul’s Greatest Letter”. Paul wrote a great portion of the New Testament, and his letters to the early churches show their struggles and their triumphs. And they’re much the same as they are for us today. Only now we have two-thousand years of post-Resurrection living to fall back on. The early Church had the Hebrew Scriptures, the Old Testament, and how to understand the Law. Wright sheds light on all of this and informs us about the conflict going on in Israel today, as the Jewish land is once again under siege from its adversaries. It’s a call to lament, for the pain of history is a heavy weight that the entirety of the world must bear.
Chapters:
0:00:00-Biblical Narrative and the Middle East
0:11:29-Understanding Romans 8 and Its Importance
0:22:05-Led by Spirit, Embracing Old Testament
0:36:24-Romans’ Impact on Paul’s Letter
0:40:51-Fresh Readings of the Pauline corpus
It’s the part of Christianity that is not often talked about but is central to its doctrine embedded in the Gospel. Theologians call it eschatology, that which is “concerned with death, judgment and the destiny of our souls.” But Anne Graham Lotz, daughter of evangelist Billy Graham, and her daughter Rachel Ruth Lotz Wright, simply call it, “Preparing to Meet Jesus.” The Bible is very clear that no one really knows when the end of the world is, although Anne is certain that with all the wars and evil erupting over the globe, it is nearer than we think. However, thousands of people every day will see the end of their world. They will die: some old, some young, some suddenly and without warning, others will have time to prepare. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Anne and Rachel Ruth talk about their new book, “Preparing to Meet Jesus,” which is a “21-day Challenge to Move from Salvation to Transformation.” It’s a call to live each day to the fullest looking at the example of the Patriarch Abraham, as he sends out his servant to look for a wife for his son Isaac, who will be the grandfather of the twelve sons of Jacob, aka Israel. It is in the sought for qualities of a bride, that the authors see the same in those believers who are part of the Church, the Bride of Christ.
Chapters:
0:00:00-Preparing to Meet Jesus
0:13:13-Rebecca’s Kindness in End Times
0:16:35-Anticipating Jesus’ Second Coming and Life
0:20:27-Finding Hope and Strength in God
0:24:29-Being Ready for Jesus’ Return
Last March 27th, a tragedy of unimaginable proportions unfolded in Nashville, Tennessee, as a transgender gunman opened fire at The Covenant Christian School, killing three adults and three children. While news outlets brought the calamity to the world, counselors at Daystar Counseling Ministries, some three miles away, mobilized immediately, grabbing therapy pets and other tools to the reunification centers. Sissy Goff, Director of Child and Adolescent Counseling, was one of them. She spent the rest of the week helping parents and children navigate and go on with their lives in the aftermath of such evil. Goff understands that rare tragedies like what happened at Covenant are piled onto the already burdensome stresses of everyday life. And being a Christian-based counseling center, she offers the only hope, which is that found in Scripture. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Goff talks about what happened that day of the Nashville shooting, as well the rise in depression and stress in children’s lives today. Divorce, death, bullying and more are all part and parcel of the reason for the 27% rise in anxiety among 3- to 17-year-olds. Hear some solutions as Goff explains how to become a worry-free parent.
Highlights:
0:01:23 – Counseling After School Shooting and Anxiety
0:06:11 – Guidance for Grieving Parents
0:14:53 – Understanding Childhood Anxiety and Resilience Development
0:17:46 – Parental Anger and Anxiety
0:25:49 – The Impact of Divorce on Children
0:37:46 – Impact of TikTok on Mental Health
Pastor Joel Penton discovered not too long ago a well-hidden law in the United States that allows children to be dismissed for one-hour during school for religious education. The only three stipulations: it must be off school property, it must be privately funded, and the child must have a parent’s permission. Pastor Penton said, “No problem.” He is the founder and CEO of Lifewise Academy, a non-profit created to teach the Bible to children during school hours. In less than five years, Lifewise is now operating in more than 300 schools and eleven states. And the numbers are growing. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Penton talks about what atheists’ organizations don’t want you to know, that God’s Word can be a part of a child’s daytime education. Public Schools by law are secular, but we’re also a nation steeped in faith. So, in 1952 the Supreme Court ruled that public school students could be released during school hours to receive religious instruction as a means to providing that faith formation. Lifewise Academy is making it happen.
A Duck blind is a camouflage hut that hunters use to hide from their intended targets. Until the popular TV reality show “Duck Dynasty” became popular, most folks probably didn’t know the term. So, the new movie “The Blind,” about the couple behind the dynasty, has a double meaning: Duck hunting, and the darkness we live in when sin is our master. The Blind is a raw and rough look at the love story of Kay and Phil Robertson, without whom there would be no Duck Dynasty. While faith overcoming hard times is certainly the major theme and the end result, the road to getting there is paved with alcoholism, abuse and separation. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Willie and Korie Robertson talk about why they produced the movie about their parents, and how difficult it was to watch the most painful parts of their family’s lives. But it’s what created a dynasty, the love that surpasses all understanding.
There is hardly a more incendiary topic of conversation than homosexuality and the Bible. It is a debate that people of faith have been forced to deal with, because it confronts them in the public square, schools, government, neighborhoods and in their families. Pastor Sam Allberry’s take on the issue may surprise many people. His position is purely personal but could have widespread influence, as he was the featured pastor at the memorial service for Dr. Tim Keller back in August. Keller chose him to give the homily which made a lot of people curious, but when Keller was dying of pancreatic cancer, he himself designed his service choosing the hymns, the Scripture readings and the people who would give the all-important message. So, why Sam Allberry? On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Allberry answers that question and the central theme of his ministry. He hails from England; is a pastor and has authored several books on God and human sexuality like, “What God Has to Say About Our Bodies”, “Seven Myths About Singleness”, and “Is God Anti-Gay?” It should also be noted that Allberry, for as long as he can remember, has been attracted to men, both romantically and sexually. He says he was bullied as a child for being gay, and as an adult, was bullied by the Anglican synod members for rejecting the church’s liberal stance on homosexuality. Hear his nuanced response to the question, “Is God anti-gay?” And, “What did Jesus say or didn’t say about homosexuality?”
Some folks with less than stellar reputations may feel they are beyond God’s help or interest. Biblical phrases like “God is love” simply ring hollow for them because their life has been one big sinful escapade after another. Best-selling author and minister Pastor Max Lucado destroys that kind of thinking with something that may surprise people. He uses one of the patriarchs of the Bible, Jacob, the father of twelve sons that become the twelve tribes of Israel. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Lucado talks about his new book, “God Never Gives Up On You: What Jacob’s Story Teaches Us about Grace, Mercy, and God’s Relentless Love.” He writes, “If your halo never tilts, your faith never wavers, your Bible never closes, and your feet never stray form the straight and narrow, let me save some time. You won’t relate to this story.” Lucado makes it clear that God always works with faulted human beings, because frankly, that’s all there is. He makes the point that none of us is immune from sin… but that sin never hinders God’s love for us. Jacob’s story in the Old Testament shows us that “When we are at our lowest, God is watching over us from the highest.”
As a secular society is trying to redefine right and wrong, one pastor says a revival is already underway that is combatting the forces of spiritual evil. Think Asbury, Kentucky and other pop-up revivals as young people hungry for Truth and meaning are coming to Christ. Pastor Signorelli, the lead pastor of The V1 Church in New York City, is unabashedly preaching the Word, seeing the devil fall and the truth spread like dominoes. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Signorelli talks about the revival that’s going on and the new documentary which brings it all to light; called “The Domino Revival,” it will have a one-day theatrical release on October 24th. But Signorelli says, the effects will be far longer lasting.
The Catholic Church is in a precarious cultural moment in history as it balances the need stay true to its teachings, but also to being a welcoming church. And there’s hardly a more reasonable voice out there than Bishop Robert Barron, who says the church must first decide what it means by the word “welcoming”. It can mean different things to different people depending on what side of the political aisle they sit. But Barron’s passion is really engaging the younger generations who are fast losing their interest in organized religion. His ministry Word on Fire is raising money to give thousands of Bibles away to freshman entering college as a way to thwart the indoctrination into secular worldviews. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Barron, a best-selling author and Bishop of the Rochester-Winona Diocese in Minnesota, talks about how to reach the younger generations and what are the challenges and hurdles to overcome. Then he also talks about the recent conversion to Catholicism of actor Shia LaBeouf, who sat down with him for a lengthy podcast interview about his walk of faith.
It’s full circle for actor Kelsey Grammer. Beer and Faith. Grammer, the star of the long running sitcom “Cheers,” its spinoff “Frasier,” and the recent film “Jesus Revolution,” is living his dream of running a brewery. The result is his new microbrew, Faith American, the product of his own brewery in the Catskills he founded in 2015. He recently promoted two of four flavors of the ale at one of the most popular restaurants in the Hamptons of New York’s Long Island, 75 Main in Southampton. That’s where Lighthouse Faith podcast caught up with him. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Grammer talks about the beer, his personal faith, and the fact that he considers God as his partner in this venture to bring a renewed faith in America and a reinvigorated prosperity to a community that has lost some of its economic luster.
Born in America, raised in Silver Springs, Maryland, Rabbi Dov Lipman loves the land of his birth. But the call from Israel, his spiritual home, was so great that he renounced his citizenship after winning a seat in the Israeli parliament, the Knesset. The first American born MK in thirty years. He experienced what is known as Aliyah, the Hebrew word meaning rising, ascending, or exalted. It’s the word used for Jews making the pilgrimage to Israel. Lipman explains, “There was a moment on a visit to Israel in 2003 where I just felt we have the opportunity to raise our family in the Jewish state. Why not take advantage of that blessing from God to be part of that? And it was the best decision we ever could have made.” It was because of his dual life that Lipman was able to create Yad L’Olim, an organization that helps Jewish immigrants from all over the world on Aliyah, navigate the complex bureaucracies of moving to Israel. With the war in Ukraine, Yad L’Olim opened “a special division to provide guidance to tens of thousands of Olim expected to arrive in Israel affected by the war in Ukraine.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, recorded at the National Religious Broadcasters convention, Rabbi Lipman talks about how he came to love Israel his home, and still adore America, the place that gave him life.
Men becoming women, women becoming men… Best-selling author Stephen Strang says it’s why he wrote his new book, “Spirit-Led Living in an Upside-Down World.” Strang is the founder and CEO of Charisma Media, a Christian multi-media company. He’s probably most known for his books on the faith of Donald Trump: “God and Donald Trump,” “God, Trump and the 2020 Election,” and more. But his latest book focuses on faith itself. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast recorded at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in May, Strang talks about how he uses his skills as a journalist and a devout Christian, to unveil the spiritual realm of our lives, which he believes is far more real than the physical. He says common sense has been thrown out the window. And even though people are fighting back, it’s an uphill battle. The only weapon that people of faith can rely on is hope in the Holy Spirit.
Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, or PTSD, has become all too familiar a topic today. Most of the time it’s in reference to veteran soldiers, coming back from the theater of war after experiencing its untold horrors. But what about the victims of conflict who are not trained soldiers? What about the children? David Rubin is the former Mayor of Shiloh, Israel. In 2001 he was driving home from Jerusalem with his 3-year-old son in his car seat, when a hail of terrorist’s bullets struck their car. His son was hit, the bullet missing his brain stem by one millimeter. Surgeries and physical therapy healed his body but couldn’t heal the emotional trauma. After realizing his son suffered from severe PTSD, Rubin realized children needed a different kind of therapy, and he founded the Shiloh Israel Children’s Fund. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, recorded at the National Religious Broadcasters (NRB) convention in May, Rubin talks about that harrowing day when he desperately tried to escape the barrage of bullets, and save his son. Then, the long road to creating the Children’s Fund, which gives young people with PTSD specialized therapy through education, recreational projects, music and more.
The Old Testament’s book of Ezekiel mentions precious stones like beryl, carbuncle, diamonds, emeralds and more. This means that these stones were likely available in the Middle East where the Scriptures were written. Also, the books of Job, Isaiah and others also mentions jewels. So where are these precious stones? Well, at this year’s National Religious Broadcasters convention in Orlando, a company called Holy Gems displayed some of the jewelry they’ve made using the precious stones excavated in the land of Israel. The search for these stones took decades, and the man who began the search didn’t live to see them unearthed. But his daughter did. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Tali Shalom Taube, the CEO of Holy Gems, is joined by Shari Rigby, well-known veteran actress from the Kendrick Brothers film Overcomer. They talk about their collaboration on the Holy Gems project, bringing the jewels to the market, and producing a faith-based documentary about the discovery.
For Scott Beck, Artificial Intelligence is a technological tool that can be used for human flourishing. For example, imagine your depressed teen searches a site asking for advice about living or dying. Then imagine that when that teen gets search results back, that teen sees a message inviting them to connect to someone for conversation or prayer. When they respond, they’re connected minutes later to a local church or pastor who can talk with them about life, and be a listening ear. This is the possible good of the algorithm-based AI technology imagined by “AI & the Church Initiative”, a new effort just launched by Beck’s company, Gloo, a technology platform dedicated to connecting the faith ecosystem. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Beck, founder and CEO of the Boulder, Colorado based Gloo says, “We believe there is a moral imperative to responsibly use technology to advance human flourishing. AI is a powerful technology that should better support, not replace, relationships.” With most talk in the public square about the fears associated with AI, Gloo is seeing the good.
Heresies have existed in Christianity for more than two-thousand years, since the faith began. Early followers of Jesus Christ fought hard, first to understand the faith, and then to create doctrines that more faithful through the centuries could follow. The Nicene Creed, promulgated at the Council of Nicaea in the 4th century, comes out of that struggle, and is still the accepted profession of faith for the majority of Christian denominations whether Protestant, Orthodox or Roman Catholic. But a new heresy has seeped into Christianity, one that has been hard to detect, but there non-the-less. Pastor Lucas Miles is working to expose the dark deeds of heretics in his book, “Woke Jesus: The False Messiah Destroying Christianity.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, recorded at NRB (National Religious Broadcaster’s Convention) in Orlando, Florida, Miles talks about the book and about how the new woke culture has infiltrated the Christian pulpit. Miles is also a writer, film producer, president of Nfluence Network, and lead pastor of Nfluence Church in Granger, Indiana. He has taken a lot of hits from critics in the Church, as he exposes Critical Race Theory (CRT), Black Lives Matter (BLM), and other social causes that run counter to the Gospel of Jesus Christ. The bottom line is, people need to know the true faith, in order to detect the heresies.
The depths of depravity of human sin are never more blatantly on display than in the horrors of human trafficking. It is the focus of actor Jim Caviezel’s new movie, “Sound of Freedom”, being released on July 4th, the day America celebrates its independence. We fought the Revolutionary War to gain that freedom from British rule. Less than a century later the country was embroiled in the Civil War to end race-based, chattel slavery in America. But sadly, the evil of slavery persists in every part of the world, and yes, here in America. It’s called human trafficking. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Caviezel, who also portrayed Jesus in the Mel Gibson blockbuster, “Passion of the Christ”, talks about his new film in which he plays real life Federal Agent Tim Ballard, who quit his job to rescue children caught in the web of human trafficking. It’s an action film with a heart. It’s also about redemption, something Caviezel, a devout Christian, looks for in his film projects, even if he may not always play the good guy. He says, “I don’t go to the devil to play the devil. I go to God to tell me who the devil is.” In “Sound of Freedom”, Caviezel is definitely the good guy… fighting against a lot of evil.
For theologian and Bible scholar Dr. Alex McFarland, there is no separating America’s Constitution from the Bible. Where does the right to life and liberty come from? From Buddha? No. From the pagan god of Ekron? No. How about from ourselves? No! The only worldview that provides a framework for those basic rights is in the Bible. There’s a lot of debate over whether America is a Christian nation. For McFarland, there is no question that our U.S. Constitution is founded on biblical principles. Lighthouse Faith podcast caught up with McFarland a few weeks ago at this year’s NRB (National Religious Broadcaster’s Convention) in Orlando. It’s the largest gathering of mostly Christian and Jewish media in the world. In typical McFarland style, his southern boy humility and charm offer a soothing delivery of a rather contentious conflict.\
Author Nancy Pearcey says the problem with our view of manhood today is that “There are two competing scripts for masculinity.” They are the God Man vs the Real Man. The Bible says men are made in God’s image, as are women. And that men’s unique masculine strengths are not given to them just to get whatever they want, but to provide, protect and take care of the people they love. So where did the idea infiltrate culture that masculinity is toxic? The irony is that the secular view of masculinity created the image of toxicity, or “The Real Man” image. Pearcey says, “Culture imposes this ‘real man’ script on men that contains a lot of the traits that, of course, we consider toxic: entitlement, dominance, control, and so on. When these traits are disconnected from the moral vision of the God man, it can slide into being toxic.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pearcey, a professor at Houston Baptist University, talks about the dichotomy of masculinity in today’s culture in her new book, “The Toxic War on Masculinity: How Christianity Reconciles the Sexes.” Her data, mined from social science research, shows how toxic masculinity comes from the secular culture. Says Pearcey, “The problem is that men are being accused of being toxic, and the solution actually turns out to be a Christian view of masculinity.”
As many prepare to celebrate their dads on Father’s Day (June 18), statistics show there’s a huge problem of fatherlessness in the country. According to a report, 39 percent of students in the United States, from the first grade to their senior year of high school, do not have a father at home. And fatherlessness is the cause of several other social issues like crime. 85 percent of youth who are currently in prison grew up in a fatherless home. But it can also lead to drug addiction, depression, high abortion rates, teen pregnancy, and even suicide is linked to fatherlessness. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Sean Teis says the solution can be found in the church. Teis’s ministry, God is My Dad, equips single mothers, fatherless children, grandparents raising grandchildren, and also fathers, with ways to combat the effects of Fatherlessness. Teis, who grew up without a father, gives churches practical resources to better minister to fatherless families. Teis says when a child grows up without a father, there’s a hole in his or her heart. And the only guaranteed source for repairing that hole is a relationship with God the Father. No parent is perfect, and even kids who live with their fathers can still experience a dysfunctional relationship that scars them for life. Fathers are vital to children’s emotional and spiritual health. Teis says today’s culture needs to embrace fathers.
Abraham Hamilton III, the General Consul and Public Policy Analyst for the American Family Association, homeschools his children. It’s not because of any recent objections, but because he says public schools were created for the purpose of evangelizing children into the church of humanism. When parents point to indoctrination by public schools today, Hamilton says the reason is far more foundational than most people understand. He says, “We did not just arrive here accidentally. It has been the product of an intentional plan using the school system, by and large as a primary mechanism to accomplish it.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast recorded at the National Religious Broadcasters convention (NRB) in Orlando, Hamilton unleashes a diatribe on the origins of public education. He cites former Dean of Education at Harvard University, Chester Pierce, saying, “He literally said children when they come to our schools at four or five years old, they come sick because they have this weird allegiance to a transcendent being known as God”. Secular Humanism, or Humanism, is legally considered a religion for Establishment Clause purposes. Yet it is the default faith of the public square, and public schools. According to a Loyola Law School Journal article, “Secular Humanism refers to a philosophy that ‘replaces a worship of the transcendent or supernatural deity with the deification of man and humankind.'” Hamilton has a plethora of things to say about many other issues and problems facing families today, all with the same cause: an absence of the knowledge of God.
FOX News Correspondent Benjamin Hall is grateful to be alive, grateful to have survived a bomb blast, while still mourning the deaths of the four others traveling in the vehicle with him covering the war in Ukraine. But there is something he’s sure of: he was saved by an angel, a messenger from God. Millions of people know the harrowing story of Hall’s recovery from the attack. His book “Saved: A War Reporter’s Mission to Make it Home,” recounts the details of the attack on March 14, 2022. And while he’s talked a lot about it and his long recovery in various interviews, he’s rarely delved into the spiritual aspects of the ordeal. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Hall talks about how he truly believes that an angel saved him. That a voice and clear presence of his six-year-old daughter telling him to get out of the car, is the reason he’s alive today. Angels are God’s messengers. On a previous Lighthouse Faith podcast, scientist Dr. Hugh Ross explains how and why these angelic beings come to us and why. For Hall, he doesn’t know why he was saved. But for whatever purpose, he’s grateful.
Recent polls showing how many Generation Z adults believe Jesus was NOT sinless, shows the chasm between real theological knowledge and what the secular culture is preaching. This is a problem. So, what’s a Christian supposed to do when faced with erroneous, and often heretical beliefs about their faith? Learn the core beliefs and learn them well. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Robert Jeffress, senior pastor of First Baptist Dallas Church, talks about how “Christians are refusing to embrace the most basic knowledge about their faith.” That is why he wrote the book, “What Every Christian Should Know”. The book encapsulates ten core beliefs for standing strong in a shifting world. It’s bad enough faithful Christians confront non-believers, but it’s worse when professed Christians get their doctrinal information from a culture that has no vested interest in the truth of Christianity. The Gospel of Jesus Christ is not a political ideology. It’s a faith that is simple to grasp, challenging to live out, but ultimately, existentially satisfying.
This is a rebroadcast of the last podcast I did with Dr Timothy Keller who passed away yesterday morning, Friday, May 19, 2023, after battling pancreatic cancer. He was 72. It is with such a heavy heart that I think of him this day and this last podcast. He was my pastor and my mentor. He influenced millions through the ministry at Redeemer Presbyterian Church and his books. He brought untold numbers of people to Christ. For me I know there would be no Lighthouse Faith podcast without Tim Keller, because there would be no Lighthouse Faith book… because Tim Keller taught me and countless others how to find a deeper level of faith in Jesus Christ that we never imagined was possible. Tim lived to glorify God through faith in Jesus Christ. We honor him by doing the same.
Original write up:
If you’re reading this there’s a one hundred percent chance you’ve been born. That’s the good news. But it also means that there is a one hundred percent chance you will one day die. In between those landmarks, the beginning and end of our life journey, many of us will marry and some of us will be responsible for the births of other human beings. It’s the circle of life. Theologian and author Dr. Timothy Keller, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, and his wife Kathy, have written three small books that give guidance for these events in our life where we experience our greatest joys and our deepest griefs. The titles of the small handbooks are simply Birth, Marriage, and Death. Tim Keller says, “These are key times in which you suddenly are jolted out of the kind of obliviousness to the big questions of life. We’re just so busy doing things, we never sit back and say, what am I living for and what is it all about? And why are we even here? You never ask those questions. You’re too busy, especially in New York.” And the Coronavirus has certainly made many people focus on not only delaying the inevitable and staying healthy, but also asking whether God has anything to say about a global pandemic like Covid-19? And the uncomfortable question about whether or not it’s God’s judgment on a corrupted world. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, the Keller’s give a very nuanced, biblical answer to all these queries.
It is the site where Moses first saw the burning bush, where God commanded him to tell Pharoah, “Let my people go!” It is where the Israelites traveled to after being freed from slavery in Egypt, by God’s Holy hand, and where He gave them His law, The Ten Commandments. Mount Sinai is a critical and monumental part of the redemptive narrative in the Bible. And yet archeologists have not definitively pinpointed its exact location. St. Catherine’s Eastern Orthodox Monastery is built in the Sinai Peninsula, where tradition holds Mt. Sinai sits, but yet there’s no archeological evidence that over a million people were there, or camped there, or created a Golden Calf to worship after growing tired of waiting for Moses who spent some 40 days atop the mountain receiving the law. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, documentary filmmaker Tim Mahoney talks about his new “Patterns of Evidence” documentary “Journey To Mount Sinai.” Mahoney says he’s uncovered evidence that points to Mt. Sinai being in a totally different location than archeologists have previously explored, which is why they’ve found few fragments of clues indicating the site. In fact, Mahoney’s film highlights five possible locations, the strongest one being in Saudia Arabia. The film will be released through Fathom Events May 15-17.
If you’re not exactly sure what Christian Nationalism is, just keep watching or reading mainstream media outlets and you’ll learn a lot of negative things about it, and by default, Christianity. What’s clear is that it’s a term meant to evoke fear and loathing. In fact, the majority of people who’ve heard of Christian Nationalism see it as something negative. Why is that? Because it’s primarily a term liberals wield in order to marginalize conservative Christians who are pro-life, support traditional marriage and gender roles and love America. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, author and radio host Kevin McCullough speaks frankly about how liberals and some left-leaning Christians are using the term to set up the proverbial political bogey man, in order to ‘cancel’ those who use their faith to defend life and family, and that they’re trying to change the narrative about what it means to be Christian. McCullough also has a lot to say about the need to push back against the transgender movement. The country is at a crossroads. Though it is still possible to raise a voice in opposition, McCullough warns that freedom is precariously unstable.
While Disney is embroiled in the culture wars and litigation with the state of Florida, another entertainment alternative is coming into its own; one that holds to the foundational faith values that built America, perhaps the values the Disney brand used to have. It’s called The Logos Theater. And it’s not just stage productions, but also a film studio and a conservatory that’s part of its umbrella organization, The Academy of the Arts based in Taylor, South Carolina. Logos is Greek for ‘Word’. Theologically its meaning is far richer and deeper. Logos is The “Principle of divine reason and creative order, identified in the gospel of John with the second person of the Trinity incarnate in Jesus Christ.” When John’s Gospel opens with, “In the beginning was the Word…” it’s actually the Logos. Not just God’s Word, but His “Created order”. The stage productions include larger than life puppets they create, like Aslan, the Lion from C.S. Lewis’ “The Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe.” There are horses that can be ridden for their production of “A Horse and His Boy”, which will be on stage at the Museum of the Bible in Washington. D.C. this summer. And a scary figure known as “Dark Despair” from “Pilgrim’s Progress”. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, listen to the theater’s artistic director Nicole Stratton and Master Puppeteer Justin Swain talk passionately about this ministry in the arts they believe God has raised for such a time as this.
No disrespect to the Pew organization, but Reverend Samuel Rodriguez insists its numbers don’t tell the whole story. Pew recently released its survey on the changing faith of Hispanics in the nation, the largest minority group in the United States. As of 2022, Pew shows that 43 percent of adults identify as Catholic, a drop of 24 percent from 2010. And the number of religiously unaffiliated rose to 30 percent, up from 10 percent in 2010. What’s going on here? Rodriguez, the president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, the world’s largest Christian Hispanic organization, says ‘unaffiliated’ in the Hispanic community does not mean not religious. The very opposite says Rodriguez: “We are a passionate Holy Spirit community, loving Jesus, either Catholic or evangelical or holding on to faith. And we don’t like the term affiliation! There it is”. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Rodriguez has a lot more to say about the Pew survey, and also immigration, how Hispanics are voting Republican by nearly 45 percent, that they are pro-life, pro-family, and pro-traditional values when it comes to gender. Rodriguez has advised Presidents Bush, Obama, and Trump, and frequently consults with Congress advancing immigration and criminal justice reform. He can fill in the blanks left open by many a survey about the Hispanic community in America.
The increased attacks on churches and Christians are just the latest chapters in a long narrative of Christian persecution. While the Roman Empire brutally tortured, maimed and slaughtered the first Christian believers, Christians today are being maligned and massacred for much the same reason, because they will not renounce their faith in Jesus Christ. Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world today, with a third of the 2.5 billion Christians living in dangerous conditions. Even in America the plight of strong believers is precarious as legal cases against those standing up for their faith mount. And, unbelievably, where a White House press secretary could not call the shooting at Covenant School in Nashville a hate crime, even if the shooter’s manifesto might reveal a hatred for Christians. But the Good News of the Gospel is that it’s a Church that grows not in spite of prosecution, but because of it. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Rev. Johnnie Moore talks about his book, “The New Book of Christian Martyrs,” which details the harrowing and gruesome attacks on Christians since the dawn of Christianity, while talking about the more recent cases that go unnoticed as persecution, like the Columbine High School shooting. Also, Moore says one of the main governmental forces against Christianity today is not in Muslim majority countries, but Communist regimes. And China is its most virulent opponent. Moore says President Xi hates Christianity and is persecuting believers. But the end result is that Christianity is growing in China, and Moore predicts its conversion in the next few decades.
Holy Week is the most sacred time in Christianity. Palm Sunday to the victory of Easter seven days later, is what defines the faith. There is no Christian religion without the resurrection of Jesus. And there is no resurrection without His crucifixion, and no crucifixion without understanding why, just a few days before his arrest, Jesus was hailed as a hero when he entered Jerusalem with throngs waving palms and shouting hosannahs. Biblical scholar Dr. Eugenia Scarvelis Constantinou, says what Jesus did just a few miles from Jerusalem is key to understanding Palm Sunday and the entirety of the week. When Jesus raised Lazarus from the dead, it thrust into high gear, the political forces that would have him Jesus executed. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Constantinou, who is an expert on ancient Jewish and Roman law, shares her insights from her book, “The Crucifixion of the King of Glory.” She says, “It says in the Scriptures, John tells us that it’s because of the raising of Lazarus that Jesus received this kind of welcome as he entered into Jerusalem. And when he gets hailed… as the Messiah, which had a lot of political overtones in those days, this is when the Jewish leaders said, ‘You see the whole world is going after him. We have to do something about it. We have to stop him.'” Constantinou is Greek Orthodox, what she says is the oldest continuous Christian church. Catholics make that claim too, but Catholicism has changed quite a bit over the centuries. The Orthodox, even in America, still hear New Testament Scripture chanted in Greek, its original language. That tie to the first century culture makes Constantinou’s take on Holy Week unique. She has six degrees including one in law. Her scholarly insights are scarcely found anywhere else.
The transgender phenomenon is fast becoming the concern of parents worldwide, and a big problem is that those who question its validity get labeled transphobic, especially if they’re a conservative Christian. The shooting in Nashville, TN has even furthered the debate, as the shooter identified as trans. The controversy has pitted supporters of puberty blockers and cross sex hormones against those who call those drugs dangerous and believe that gender is immutable. Now stepping into the fray, is Dr. Jeff Myers, head of Summit Ministries. His new book, co-authored by Brandon Showalter of The Christian Post, endeavors to expose the truth. On the Lighthouse Faith podcast, Myers talks about “Exposing The Gender Lie: How To Protect Children and Teens From The Transgender Industry’s False Ideology.” Myers says a growing number of teens are “finding their bodies irreversibly disfigured due to radically invasive and medically unnecessary surgeries.” He says the puberty blocker Lupron is not even approved by the FDA for treatment of Gender Dysphoria, which according to Abigail Shrier, author of “Irreversible Damage”, is a mental health problem that up until 2007 or so, affected about .01% of teens. The explosion of teen girls experiencing gender dysphoria has been called a social contagion, the same origin of the growth of anorexia and bulimia. Bottom line, says Myers, is Gender Dysphoria is a mental health problem that’s being treated with surgery, permanently disfiguring a perfectly healthy teenage body.
Even geniuses need nurturing; people who say the right thing at the right time to a developing mind, that brings about their incredible awe-inspiring insight. So it is with the theological wisdom and intellect of Dr. Timothy Keller, one of the most well-known Christian pastors and authors in the country and some would say in the world. He’s the retired senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, a congregation he founded in the late 1980’s when the Big Apple was known as one of the most secular -even pagan- cities in America. Under his guidance the church grew to mega-church size with four locations in Manhattan. Keller’s specialty was and is tackling the hard questions and objections that atheists, agnostics, and even nominal Christians ask about Jesus Christ and Christianity. So it’s fitting that the first real biography of Keller would focus mainly on the people who created him: the theologians, Bible scholars, teachers, pastors and deep thinkers. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, author Collin Hansen talks about his book, “Timothy Keller: His Spiritual and Intellectual Formation.” Hansen had an all-access pass to Keller’s inner circle, and Keller himself, as he talks about his early upbringing and spiritual polemics that brought him to see, believe and preach to thousands that, “The resurrection of Jesus Christ is intellectually credible and existentially satisfying.”
It has been well documented that Christianity is the most persecuted religion in the world. Open Doors International has all the statistics showing how the lives of Christians in countries like North Korea, Nigeria and several Muslim majority nations are under constant threat. However, in Western countries like here in the United States, there’s a different kind of persecution taking place. They’re the same “spiritual forces of evil” at work, but under the guise of political, legal and cultural challenges. Dr. James Spencer, President of the D.L. Moody Center, warns that we are now living out George Orwell’s 1984. That Christians in the West are being controlled not by external forces, but by being lulled into accepting ideas that are in fact counter to God, not by conscious choice but by the slow “reorientation of one’s beliefs”. Those that resist, like Jack Philips the cake baker, and the Mid-Vermont Christian School, or little Lydia Booth who just wanted to tell her classmates about Jesus, they’ve become the problem. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Spencer talks about his book “Christian Resistance: Learning to Defy the World and Follow Christ.” He brings up Orwell’s 1984 because a big part of the subversion of real Christianity in the culture is how Big Brother seeks to control language. And we certainly see this in the transgender movement’s obsession with pronouns. It also helps explain why a politician who calls himself a devout Catholic could advocate for abortion on demand. Resistance takes effort. But more than that, it takes knowledge of what you’re up against.
When it comes to the issue of gender, how do you talk to your young children? How do you push back against the tide of wokeness and indoctrination going on in public schools? Bethany Bomberger asserts that, “We as Christians don’t have the luxury of being silent.” She and husband Ryan have made it easier for Christian parents to reinforce their beliefs about what it means to be male or female. Their new book, “She Is She”, is an illustrated children’s book tackling the difficult subject of gender, in a simple and direct way. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, the Bombergers talks about how the book shows what the culture has taught for centuries about gender, what the Bible says about gender, and also what science says about gender, as it constantly reinforces biblical truths. The Bombergers are the creators of the Radiance Foundation, a faith-based pro-life organization working to educate the culture on life shaping issues. The conflict over gender has become one of the most pressing they’ve had to address. They’ve spent a lot of time in School Board meetings in Loudoun Country, Virginia, one of countless school districts in the country that see it their duty to hide a student’s gender status from parents. Bethany says, “We don’t have the luxury of just being bulldozed by an industry that is targeting our kids at younger and younger ages.”
No matter what your professed faith is, it has to be lived out through relationships. It’s unavoidable. Faith without interaction with other image bearers will inevitably be weak. But it’s in our most intimate and close relationships that we are tested and tried to our very limits. And the most intimate bond we have here on earth is marriage. But what happens when the person you promised to be with till death, reneges on so many of the assurances he or she vowed on that altar? When is divorce the only alternative? Best-selling Chrisitan author Lysa TerKeurst has bared her soul in her books, that bring to light our greatest wants and our greatest needs. She’s been frank and open about her divorce from the man who just a few years ago, she renewed vows with after the union of two decades went sour. TerKeurst learns from experience, which is why she is a valuable spiritual guide for both men and women. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, TerKeurst talks about her book, “Good Boundaries and Goodbyes: Loving Others Without Losing the Best of Who You Are”. Love is complicated. It’s the one lesson any spouse or parent learns, oftentimes, the hard way. And loving someone in a godly way is the most difficult. It’s also potentially the most painful. But it can also bring us closer to understanding who we are, while strengthening and loving who we are meant to be.
You may not like Mary Eberstadt’s conclusions. You may even vehemently disagree with them. But the data is solid; you can’t change facts. Her thesis, drawn from various scholarly studies, shows how the sexual revolution completely changed the world; like a Pandora’s Box, unleashing so many of the ills we see today in our culture: increased crime, drug abuse, sexual abuse, divorce, wokeness, cancel culture, and also deepening depression among the younger generation. She also blames it for creating what she describes as a “secular religion” that is in fact challenging Christianity’s moral foundations. It’s no wonder it took the Holy Spirit to inspire the spiritual awakening we’re now seeing in Asbury University and other schools. The so-called sexual liberation of the sixties and seventies brought catastrophic changes to the Western world, most of which were never foreseen except by a handful experts who no one listened to. Now, Eberstadt is sounding the alarm. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Eberstadt, Senior Research Fellow at the Faith and Reason Institute, talks about her book “Adam and Eve After the Pill Revisited.” She explains how contraception, while accepted today as normal and good, was once quite controversial. But the point is, when everyone was debating the morality of artificial contraception, it was thought that giving women the opportunity to better time their pregnancies, would make abortion obsolete and out of wedlock births a thing of the past. Children would be brought into loving homes, ready to give them all the nurturing they needed. But it turns out the opposite happened. Contraception, abortion, and out of wedlock births all increased exponentially. Pandora is still on the move today.
Maybe the White House Press Secretary makes fun of aliens being in our midst, but the Bible gives clear evidence that they’ve been operating in our world since time began. They’re called angels. For decades scientists have searched the cosmos looking for life on other planets. The SETI telescopes were created for that purpose. But what if those extraterrestrials were already here? Not launched in weather balloons or in UFO’s, but in the world in which we live. Astronomer and physicist Dr. Hugh Ross makes for a convincing case that angels are beings that have existed throughout eternity, as God’s messengers, and that they operate like any beings would who are not confined to our “space-time dimensions,” since scientists know there are more dimensions than humans can access. Ross writes in Salvo magazine, “According to the Bible, these creatures differ from humans in that they are not constrained by either the known laws of physics or the known space-time dimensions. Rather, they exist in a realm distinct from the universe, yet have been granted power to enter the human realm for brief episodes–either in physical or nonphysical form.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Ross, founder and director of “Reasons To Believe,” explains not only his take on the presence of angels, but also on whether there could be life on other planets, why we have yet to discover life, and what impact there would be on Christianity if other there were other earth-like planets out there with sentient beings like us.
Passionate about defending the life of the unborn, Fr. Frank Pavone, who founded Priests For Life, is now the center of a controversy as the Vatican thought his actions were so heinous, he deserved to be treated like some serial sexual abuse priests. Laicizing a priest and stripping him of his clerical office is essentially like a forced divorce. These are his present circumstances. Is the Catholic Church now in favor of abortion that it would treat its most vocal opponent of it in the most seemingly merciless way? Or is jealousy and revenge at the heart of it? Both are considered options by Pavone who vows to fight back to be reinstated as a priest. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pavone points fingers at Catholic bishops who are in bed with – figuratively speaking – high level democrats, the party that has no place in its platform for prolife politicians. Politicians like President Joe Biden and former House Speaker Nancy Pelosi are staunchly pro-abortion, even while Pope Francis, at least in his statements, is adamantly against abortion. Pavone may be a pawn in a much larger struggle between two warring factions in the Catholic Church: liberal and conservative. One is in power, the other is not. Listen to Pavone’s take on the issue.
The word ‘Synodality’ may make Protestant’s eyes glaze over, but inside the Catholic Church it is causing lots of controversy, as bishops around the globe spar over what Pope Francis expects from this new initiative. Is it a course correction for the Catholic Church? Is it a 21st Century version of Vatican II? Or is it Pope Francis creating the Church in his image? It’s easier to explain what “The Synodal Way” is not, than what it is, and that’s why Australia’s George Cardinal Pell, who died a few weeks ago, was one of its most vocal critics. He called it a ‘Toxic Nightmare’. Just before he died, he penned a scathing article in “The London Spectator” explaining why this move of ‘listening, dialogue and discernment,’ was more New Age metaphysics, than Church doctrine. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Cardinal Pell’s good friend Fr. Robert Sirico of the Acton Institute, explains his take on what “The Synodal Way” is, why the bishops are up in arms about it, and why it could bring further divisions within the Catholic Church. He also talks about why he believes the phony abuse charges against Pell in Australia – for which he spent more than a year in prison – were likely connected to his work overseeing reforms of the Vatican Bank.
In Western North Carolina, a middle school’s popular student group is called ‘The Sad Club.’ It’s not about preventing drunk driving as in ‘SADD.’ It’s about being sad. Young people today are facing rising incidents of depression, anxiety, and yes, suicide. Why? According to Dr. Alex McFarland, a lot of it is caused by breakdown in the family, a shunning of traditional values, and also a disparaging of the nuclear family by secular culture. He says, “Among the left, there is a real condescension and dismissive posture about mom, dad, husband, wife, family. And yet, uniformly, besides scripture, volumes of psychological literature and studies show that the best context for a young person to grow up in is in a stable, loving, two parent home with their biological mom and dad.” McFarland speaks to thousands of young people across the country through his ministry, ‘Truth for a New Generation.’ He not only talks to young people, he listens to them as well. When he hears them talk about how sad they are and how much despair they’re facing about the future, he knows the answer is a return to faith in the Living God. But instead of preaching to them, he walks beside them to better understand the pulse and heartbeat of their generation, and their search for identity. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, hear what McFarland has to say about Gen Z’s and younger, and some solutions to helping them find hope in a hurting world.
No doubt you’ve heard of Critical Race Theory, that form of social philosophy that’s become controversial in classrooms today because it tends to blame all society’s problems on race. There’s also Feminist Theory, Queer Theory and a whole host of what’s known as ‘high theories’. But Dr. Christopher Watkin, a professor of French studies and philosophy, wondered why there’s never been a “Biblical Critical Theory”. So, he took on the task of creating one. After all, the Bible is the most comprehensive book focused on the whole of humanity; body, mind and spirit, as well as the meaning and purpose of life. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Watkins explains more about his book, “Biblical Critical Theory: How the Bible’s Unfolding Story Makes Sense of Modern Life and Culture.” He explains that the problem with CRT and all other critical theory subsets is that they’re too narrow. They reduce humanity to one sliver of existence, while ignoring the panorama of life’s journey. This is the ‘So what?’ of the Bible that we all crave to understand. Why should we care about what the Bible has to say? Because if the Bible is truly the Word of God, and His plan for redemption and consequences of hell and damnation are realities, then ‘Biblical Critical Theory’ is much more than an academic treatise. It is an ominous warning.
Buffalo Bills safety Damar Hamlin is thankfully out of the hospital and on the road to a full recovery, hopefully. But the shock of seeing his 24-year-old, healthy body collapse on the field during a Monday Night Football game is still horrifying. And questions are still being asked, “how does a young athlete, in tip-top physical condition, go into cardiac arrest after a routine tackle?” While medical experts probe for answers, there’s something else that happened in that moment that people are talking about; something that was spontaneous and instinctive: Prayer. On the field, in the stands, in the announcer booth. When the tragic unknowns of life strike us, there’s a need to reach out to the One who is in control. That’s what Focus on the Family president, Jim Daly, wrote about in an article for Fox News digital; how no one even questioned that prayer was needed. It was a collective instinct drawing players, fans and commentators together. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Daly expands on this innate need we have for prayer, and talks about the foundations of success by Hamlin’s family background. How his father, a former drug dealer and inmate, stuck with the family and taught his son something no classroom or book could ever do. He taught his son the value of a father’s love. For whatever reason, God allowed Damar Hamlin to experience this nearly fatal episode on a national stage. But like Scripture says, “All things work together for good, for those who love God and are called according to His purpose.” Romans 8:28.
It can be an existential question: What is truth? We’re not talking about facts like two plus two equals four. This is about objective reality that can be proven. But in the world today, a great many people believe there’s no such thing as truth, that each person determines what’s true or false for themselves. It sounds magnanimous, even virtuous. But in fact it’s intellectual laziness. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Jeff Myers, President of Summit Ministries, talks about his new book, “Truth Changes Everything”, and how people of faith can transform the world when they understand that truth is not something we create, but instead it’s something we discover.
As we say goodbye to 2022 and hello to 2023, it’s a good time to reflect on the whole of eternity and the Bible’s clues as to when the end of the world will be. Saying farewell to a year gone by is nothing compared to looking at the entire world in the rearview mirror. It seems every generation reads Jesus’ words about the end of time believing they’re in the last days. But they weren’t right two hundred years ago. So are our predictions any better? Are there more wars and rumors of wars? More nations rising against nations? We’ve certainly seen a lot of that lately, especially in the last century. But Dr. Michael Youssef focuses on Jesus’s other words in the prophetic verse that say, these things are only birth pains. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Youssef, founder Of Leading The Way Ministry, explores his new book, “Is The End Near?” He looks at it from the perspective of what Jesus actually said, taking into account that even Jesus believed no one would know the exact day or time. Only God knows. The important thing to remember is how we are to be close to God, no matter the hour or the signs of the times.
For Christians who staunchly believe in traditional marriage and that gender is an immutable biological reality, a case now before the Supreme Court will be of great interest. And if you don’t believe in traditional marriage or that gender is a biological reality, the case is still of great importance. For the battle over religious freedom verses LGBTQ rights is the cultural civil war of our time. And so many other freedoms hang in the balance because of it. Attorney Kristen Waggoner on December 5th argued before the high court Justices on behalf of Lorie Smith, a Colorado-based web design artist, fighting for the right to create wedding websites, but only for opposite sex couples, because she believes that marriage is between one man and one woman. Many people thought the Supreme Court settled this dispute when they ruled in favor of Jack Phillips, the Colorado cake baker whose beliefs made him unable to create custom wedding cakes for same-sex couples. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Waggoner, CEO and General Consul of Alliance Defending Freedom, talks about why Lorie Smith’s case is so vital to the future of religious freedom, and why Jack Phillips’ battle with the state of Colorado wages on. She will also explain that while these two cases are most well-known, there are a plethora of people going through similar struggles, who’ve lost jobs and livelihoods because they stood by their faith. As we celebrate the birth of Jesus, it’s a reminder that Christmas brought us a Savior that is about more than love and warmth and joy. He’s also a God of justice and law. And while a secular world says to be on the right side of history, the God who created the world calls us to be on the right side of eternity.
The story surrounding the Jewish Festival of Lights, is filled with intrigue, fear, war, and then of course, victory. The celebration of that victory gives us the miracle now known as Hanukkah, when a one-day supply of sacred oil to light the Temple Menorah lasted eight days. And eight is significant number in the Jewish heritage because it is, as Moses directed, also the number of days old an infant must be for circumcision. It’s one of many signs that nothing happens without God’s knowledge or Divine direction. But Hanukkah has a lesson for us all: that God is working even when it seems He is not. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith Podcast, Rabbi Motti Seligson, with Chabad Lubavitch, explains how the leader of the Chabad Lubavitch, named the Rebbe, began a campaign in 1973 to elevate the celebration of Hanukkah, to educate not only Jews but the whole of America and the world about the Feast of Dedication. This conversation was recorded in 2021, when Hanukkah began extremely early, on November 28. This year it begins three weeks later on Sunday, December 18th. Rabbi Seligson’s explanation about why there are different dates still holds true today.
This time of year is always brings plenty of joy and hope. But it is also when the needs of those less fortunate are more keenly felt. Josiah Haken, CEO of City Relief in New York City, has a heart for the homeless… And a heart for those who have homes. Haken helps people like you and me understand that there’s nothing to fear about the homeless, that they are people, made in God’s image. People, who he describes as our “Neighbors With No Doors”, the title of his book. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith Podcast, Haken joyfully explains what a privilege it is to help people like Detra Thomas, who never ever expected to be homeless. But as Haken says, her story is more typical. Married for 32 years to a man she says was abusive. When she finally had the strength to leave, she found herself without a permanent home, grown children who had moved away, and a part-time job that didn’t pay the rent. Forced to seek a bed in one of the city’s shelters, she later found permanent housing thanks to City Relief. She is a face of homelessness that most people never see. Haken says most people think of the homeless as the panhandlers on the street, drug addicts or alcoholics sleeping on benches, but that the bulk of the homeless, who number about 40-60 thousand in New York alone, are families, working parents and children. Haken is hoping during this season of good will, peace and light, that people perform small acts of kindness to help their “neighbors with no doors,” to be the “Good Samaritan” that Jesus told of in His parable about the man helping the downtrodden stranger on the road.
How much do you know about the Christmas story? There’s the baby born in a manger in Bethlehem to a virgin named Mary, betrothed to a man named Joseph. There were shepherds in a field visited by angels heralding the child’s birth. There’s the star which led the wisemen to the child. These are all part of the Christmas story, but there’s so much more to tell. For instance, who were the wisemen? Theologian Rick Renner in his book, “Christmas: The Rest of the Story”, explains that the Magi were “an elite, powerful and staggeringly wealthy group of high-ranking priests devoted to interpreting dreams and studying the constellations.” It’s likely that Daniel in the Old Testament was thought to be one of the first. And those Magi likely traveled with a large entourage of servants when they saw that star that led them to the baby Jesus. And the shepherds. They were no ordinary shepherds. They were tasked with keeping watch over the lambs used for Temple sacrifice to atone of sins. The angels tell the shepherd of the birth of the Lamb of God, who’ll be the final sacrifice. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Renner talks about many other parts of the Christmas story that lend credence to the entire biblical redemptive narrative. The birth of Christ is not an isolated story, but the climax of God’s plan of salvation.
Maybe you’ve seen the cozy Christmas TV commercial featuring two young girls and their competing hot cocoa stands. It’s a feel-good moment when they learn to work together, and the message from Hobby Lobby is about the joy of Christmas. What you may not know is that David Green, founder and CEO of Hobby Lobby, began the business some 50 years ago with a $600 bank loan and one principle: “God owns the business.” That principle and prayer helped build the arts and crafts mom-and-pop operation into a national chain with 50,000 employees, nearly a thousand stores, and an annual gross income of eight billion dollars. Oh, and one other principle that would make a business executive faint… Hobby Lobby gives away 50 percent of its profits. This is a “Made in America” story you rarely hear. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, David Green (not related to the host), and his co-author Bill High, founder and executive chairman of The Signatry, talk about their book, “Leadership NOT by the Book,” explaining how a business can be based on faith and still be successful. Green is living proof. Hear how he also stood his ground in a culture war that went all the way to the United States Supreme Court.
The story of Daisy Strongin’s journey from normal 15-year-old to transgender male and then back to female, is a cautionary tale for Bible believing parents who hold that God created us to be male and female. The documentary “Dysconnected” tells Daisy’s heart-wrenching story of gender dysphoria and how the people around her – friends, medical experts and school officials – told her the solution was to alter her body permanently through surgery. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, filmmaker Don Johnson talks about Daisy’s journey, the transgender movement, and why it’s taken off like wildfire in the culture. Johnson’s film though, is part of a growing push back by people of faith and some medical professionals about the dangers of puberty blockers, hormone therapy and sex change surgeries. Although Diasy was a healthy teenager, she had an elective double-mastectomy that she regretted soon after. The testosterone she took permanently changed her voice. But Daisy’s story in the end is hopeful and triumphant. Johnson includes in this documentary the belief that all people of faith should first present compassion and love to young people experiencing gender dysphoria. And that loving them doesn’t always mean giving them what they think they want or believe they need.
The horrific fire that almost completely destroyed Notre Dame Cathedral in 2019 became for some, almost a symbol of the state of Catholicism in the world, fighting for its life in a culture uncommitted to religion. But the students of Architecture at Catholic University of America have something much more uplifting and powerful to add to this equation. They are not only becoming part of the famed Paris Cathedral’s ‘resurrection’ from the ashes but have also become a symbol of a new generation of Catholics, intent on strengthening their faith. The students hand built a life-size replica of one of truss number 6 in Notre Dame’s choir loft, using medieval techniques as would have been used on the original construction. Using the design of the architects that are in charge of the restoration of Notre Dame, the students raised the truss in Washington D.C a few weeks ago and talked with the French architects who checked out their work. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Tonya Ohnstad, Associate Dean for graduate studies in the Catholic University of America’s School of Architecture and Planning, talks about the tremendous opportunity these students had in being a part of Notre Dame’s restoration, and how they hope to travel to Paris to be hands on, for the work now being done to bring the French national symbol back to its former grandeur.
Ted Talks are 18-minute videos of influential speakers. So here’s a question: What would Jesus say if he gave a Ted Talk? Turns out, He already did some two-thousand years ago, and it’s probably one of the most, if not thee most influential and profound speeches of all time. It’s called the Sermon on the Mount, found in the book of Matthew. Many people may not know its name, but they know many of the golden nuggets of Jesus’s core teachings that come from it, like The Lord’s Prayer, “Our Father who art in heaven…” and the Beatitudes like, “Blessed are those who mourn for they shall be comforted.” Dr. Robert Jeffress, Senior Pastor at First Baptist Dallas, explores the philosophies and Divine guidance of the Sermon on the Mount in his book, “Eighteen Minutes with Jesus: Straight Talk from the Savior about the Things that Matter Most.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Jeffress does a deep dive into what is considered Jesus’s longest sermon in the Bible. Ironically, it’s short by today’s sermon standards. But Jesus addresses everything we need to know about the purpose of life. He talks about money, your sex life, how to deal with enemies, how should we treat people. It’s all there. And what’s even more profound, Jesus wasn’t speaking to a group of believers. His audience was a variety of people possessing a wide variety of religious beliefs or no beliefs. Sound familiar? Which is why the Ted Talk from two thousand years ago, still applies today.
As a medical resident, Dr. John Bruchalski thought that providing the best health care for women meant performing abortions, if that’s what his patients wanted. He performed around sixty of them. He, like many in medical schools today, was taught that the woman is the patient, and the fetus could be considered a disease, or a problem like a tumor, that needs to be ‘gotten rid of.’ He explains that his Catholic upbringing was strong, but that message of the culture was stronger, and so slid into what he calls “moral relativism”, a way of living that doesn’t see any action as intrinsically evil if it’s done in all good conscience. But then came the conversion. His faith conversion brought him closer to Jesus and his Mother Mary. A visit to Guadalupe, Mexico and then to Medjugori, and an encounter with the Living God. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Bruchalski talks about his book “Two Patients: My Conversion from Abortion to Life-Affirming Medicine,” explaining why he walked away from performing abortions, and now practices “Merciful Medicine” through his Tepeyac OB/GYN. Although he is now pro-life and passionately defends treating both mother and child, he has compassion for people who adamantly support abortion rights. He has heard their arguments, and at one time believed those same arguments. But then something greater than those arguments became the authority in his life. And that changed everything!
The last few years have seen some of the most contentious politicking of the modern era, where friends and members of the same family can’t talk to each other because of who they voted for, or what cause they support; even in some cases, disinviting family to weddings, or refusing to go to a family funeral, all because they can’t love each other enough to say ‘we agree to disagree’ and to engage in meaningful discussion instead of sparring on social media and canceling each other. Enter Pastors Patrick Miller and Keith Simon. They are answering the clarion call of a Christ centered way to navigate through these next few days leading up to the midterms, the next presidential election and beyond. Their book, “TRUTH OVER TRIBE: Pledging Allegiance to the Lamb, Not the Donkey or the Elephant”, is only for those people who want to step away from the precipice of making their politics their very identity. It is only for people who want to bow down to the authority of Christ first, instead of a particular party or position. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Miller and Simon talk about, sometimes humorously, the sadness that comes when we can’t reconcile and the isolation and anxiety when the tribe we belong carries more weight than God’s Truth. The idea is that are you intent on winning an argument, or winning a friend? Miller and Simon point the way to the truth and the Light.
It’s almost surreal that someone has to write a book about Christianity being a religion for all races for all time, and for women just as much as men. But considering the culture of today of Critical Race Theory, Black Lives Matter, the #MeToo era and a whole host of movements of vilifying Christianity as a tool of White male dominance, Christian apologist (meaning defender of the faith) Abdu Murray felt the need to set the record straight. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Murray, a convert from Islam, talks about his book, “More Than A White Man’s Religion: Why the Gospel Has Never Been Merely White, Male-Centered, or Just Another Religion.” Murray says, “The message itself and the prevailing way in which it’s impacted the world has actually been positive for people of color and women. And so when you look at the pages of scripture and I try to tackle some of the toughest.” Murray also talks about the elephant in the room for many Christians who admired and revered theologian Ravi Zacharias, who died in 2020. After his death it was revealed that he had abused several women. Zacharias founded Ravi Zacharias International Ministry (RZIM) where Murray worked and was one of Zacharias’ closest friends. In fact, much of the sordid details of the abuse came out while Murray wrote the book. He pulls no punches in defending Zacharias but uses it as a learning tool for himself and all of us who become blind to the sins of others in our closest circles, as well as our own.
Sixty years ago this week, on October 11, 1962, the Bishops of the Catholic Church gathered in Rome for a solemn ceremony to open what is known as Vatican II. Over four formal sessions during consecutive falls, they would discuss doctrine, and dialogue about how the Global Catholic Church should move forward. It was the most important gathering of the Holy See in half a millennium. What came out of it were sixteen documents that have had a tremendous effect on Catholicism; that Catholics would hear the mass in their own languages instead of only Latin, that there would be a new relationship fostered with non-Catholic religions, and a focus on religious freedom which “recognized that the altar-and-throne alliances of the past were not possible under modern political conditions.” Some critics though say Vatican II was prompted by an antiquated Church body responding to a broader culture moving forward through the sexual revolution, feminism, civil rights, and a whole host of other post-modern philosophies skeptical of tradition. Sorting it all out is Vaticanista George Weigel. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Weigel, a Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington’s Ethics and Public Policy Center and the author of several books on the Catholic Church including his biographies on Pope John Paul II, talks about his new book, “To Sanctify the World: The Legacy of Vatican II.” He expands on its historical context and what’s more, the intrigue behind the scenes of why this unexpected meeting was called by the most unexpected of Popes to do so, Pope John XXIII, who would not live to see its conclusion in 1965.
The Sistine Chapel, where Michelangelo’s masterpiece of the biblical narrative detailed in color and motion adorns the walls and ceiling, is part of the tour of the Vatican Museum in Rome. Why does the Roman Catholic Church have a museum filled with works of art that include not just Christian art, but also those that are of pagan, pre-Christian and Jewish origin and more? Because the history of art and how artists interpret the world, is the history of humanity and God’s relationship with His creation. And since the early 16th century, popes have strived to conserve these unique expressions of human existence. The museum itself has a separate entrance from the Vatican grounds, and thanks to Pope John Paul II who had it remodeled in the 1980’s, it’s a great deal more user friendly, accommodating some 35,000 visitors a day. Not just anyone can give tours of the museum; Dr. Elizabeth Lev is a professor of Art History and is one of the select few licensed to give tours in the museum. On a recent trip to Rome, I was privileged enough to take a tour with Dr Lev. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, we talked afterwards about how and why art is very much a central part of Christianity and how connected the works are to the central theme of the Holy See’s mission, which is saving souls.
The Vatican Observatory is located on a hill in Castel Gandolfo, Italy, the former summer residence of the popes. It’s a physical reminder of the Catholic Church’s commitment to science, and in particular the heavens – the universe, star formation, galaxies. Headquartered on the Apostolic Palaces fifth floor, it’s roots go back to the 16th century when Pope Gregory VII reformed the calendar, aligning it more closely with the motion of the planets, giving us the much more precise Gregorian calendar. Fr. Richard D’Souza is one of several astronomer priests doing research at the Observatory, whose main offices are now in a new facility and updated telescopes are at the edge of the papal gardens and also in Tuscon, Arizona (Vatican Advanced Technology Telescope -VATT). With degrees in physics and a doctorate in astronomy from the University of Munich, this man of the cloth is also a man of science. His area of research is studying the formation and evolution of galaxies. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, recorded at the former Apostolic Residence in Castel Gandolfo, Fr. D’Souza talks about why the Catholic Church embraces science, and why it sees no conflict between the Holy Scriptures and Scientific discoveries.
Let’s face it, most of us are a little bit sketchy when it comes to understanding who the Holy Spirit is and what He actually does. Yes, “He.” That’s one of the identifiers that trips people up these days, especially in this gender-bending, Star Wars influenced worldview culture. It’s much easier to think of this third member of the Holy Trinity as some ethereal spiritual force, “Let the Force be with you,” than a person with power. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Max Lucado explains who this person the Holy Spirit is, and how we can tap into His power. The Bible talks about how our bodies are the temple of the Holy Spirit. So that means this powerful being is close to us, as close as we want Him to be. Lucado preaches through his new book “Help Is Here” that this power has always been here. Like Dorothy in “The Wizard of Oz,” you don’t have to travel to some far-off land to find the refuge, strength and love you crave. It’s here and now, right where you are. That’s the power of the Holy Spirit.
It was one decision that made a world of difference in a plethora of lives. This is the underlying theme of the movie “Lifemark,” now out in theaters, and starring Kirk Cameron. Cameron, who came to fame in the 1980’s playing “Mike Seaver” on the sitcom “Growing Pains,” is now producing and developing Christian based content for television and film. He’s teamed up again with the Kendrick Brothers, who he first worked with on the movie “Fireproof,” which is about saving a marriage. Lifemark is about saving a life. In this case it’s about a young man who’s adopted, who journeys to meet his biological mother. The story of course is very pro-life, but it goes deeper, fleshing out the complex relationships created when a mother elects NOT to have an abortion, and the lives that are changed for the better because of that decision. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Cameron talks about why he was moved to make this film. His own experience as the father of four adopted children and his wife Chelsea, who is adopted herself. The Grand Narrative of the film is that God has a tremendous purpose through adoption, and that life is the most incredible gift, even if it comes in the most unexpected ways.
The unlikely pairing of faithful Christian and former television co-host Kathie Lee Gifford and Messianic Rabbi Jason Sobel seems almost like an act straight from the entertainment world. It’s either that or one by Divine design. And I prefer the latter scenario. Gifford and Sobel’s second book collaboration, “The God of the Way” is a companion to a new movie musical “The Way,” which Gifford calls an oratorio in film form. But it’s the content and purpose of their collaboration that flies in the face of what most people think about when it comes to Jews and Christians getting along. It’s not about making peace even though we disagree. These two agree. Sobel is a Messianic Rabbi believing that Jesus Christ is THE Messiah prophesied in the Old Testament. And there’s plenty he’s trying to teach Christians about the origins of their faith. One of the main themes is that there isn’t an Old and New Testament, it is one Holy Scripture, one continuous narrative. And that so much of what Christians understand as the New Testament, are far clearer and more impactful when absorbed through the lens of the Hebrew Scriptures. Gifford is Sobel’s mentee and student who’s absorbed a lot of his knowledge, and their relationship has made it safe for Christians to understand Judaism, and Jews to understand Christianity. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Gifford and Sobel show how exciting faith can be in a community of shared insights.
A patriot he certainly is. No one can question that. Lee Greenwood’s song celebrating the love of country is also now proclaiming his faith, exploring how the Scriptures are integral to America’s founding. Greenwod has created the “God Bless the USA” Bible, which is a King James translation of the Holy Scriptures with America’s founding documents in the addendum, showing how the two are related. Greenwood opened the Fox Summer Concert series this year on Memorial Day weekend, and I was privileged to sit down with him then to talk about The Good Book, how America’s foundations are tied to it, and why it’s important we never forget it. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Greenwood also talks about the Uvalde shooting, which had just occurred, and why he and many of his fellow musicians opted to cancel their appearances at the NRA conference. While he supports the Second Amendment, Greenwood says the tragedy made it a no brainer to bow out of the conference.
There are many people of faith that believe the Boy Scouts of America has lost its way. Where once the organization was almost a rite of passage for boys on the way to becoming men, today it is not just about boys or affirming their strengths. Girls are also invited to join, even though there’s such an organization called, “Girl Scouts”. And the BSA is not about character based on serving God and country, but about individual achievements. Then there’s the tragedy of thousands of boys who now claim they were sexually abused by troop leaders or older boys in authority positions, leading to hundreds of millions of dollars paid out to settle those claims. Whatever you think of the BSA, there has arisen an alternative to the 110-year-old organization. It’s called Trail Life USA. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Trail Life’s CEO Mark Hancock talks about how his organization is growing by leaps and bounds, while BSA’s membership is shrinking. Hancock has said that the Boy Scouts of America abandoned its ‘laser focus on boys’, it’s faith-based mission, and it’s moral compass. Trail Life has made all three parts of its core principles. It is unapologetically Christ centered in its mission to help boys cultivate their God-given strengths. And they’re making it clear that the phrase, ‘boys will be boys’ means something positive.
It’s a scientific argument in a video interview with a biologist who studied the research on the link between abortion and breast cancer. But fewer people than normal will see or hear about it because according to the conservative Christian organization The Ruth Institute which produced it, YouTube censored it, removing it from its page. YouTube stated that it “does not allow content about abortion that contradicts expert consensus from local health authorities or the World Health Organization (WHO) and poses a serious risk of bodily harm or death.” But The Ruth Institute claims there’s a “corrupt process… to create the ‘illusion of scientific consensus.” And since the Roe decision, YouTube has removed three episodes of RI’s weekly podcast featuring the Insitute’s president, Dr. Jennifer Roback Morse. According to the Heritage Foundation, which chronicled a long list of examples, Big Tech companies have become the gatekeepers of information, as “a handful of Big Tech corporations – like Google, YouTube, Apple, Facebook (Meta), Twitter -now manipulate the flow of information in such an expansive way as to fundamentally reshape the public discourse.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Morse talks about the content of the interviews that YouTube removed, and why conservative voices of Faith have become big targets for Big Tech.
The parents and children were active church members. They loved Jesus. They believed they were sinners saved by God’s grace. They also believed what the Bible says about gender, that God made us Male and Female, that we are born into as one of those two sexes. So, it was a gut-wrenching surprise when their twelve-year-old daughter decided one day that she was a boy and wanted to be called the pronouns ‘they/them’. What’s a Christian family supposed to do? The secular world celebrates the transgender ideology. At school “Grace” (not her real name) became popular, something she wasn’t before. But when she transitioned back to being a girl, there was only silence. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, journalist Sarah Zylstra talks about her article in “The Gospel Coalition” and her interview with the family about their long journey of walking with Grace through becoming a transgender boy, and then what they did, and didn’t do, that made Grace transition back to being their daughter. As more and more families face this situation, Zylstra’s words shed much needed light on the murky waters of “Rapid-onset Gender Dysphoria.” For this family, it was faith that gave them the strength to obey God, rather than the world.
In the wake of the Supreme Court decision overturning Roe vs. Wade, polls on abortion and how Americans support or don’t support the decision are rampant. Generally speaking, most polls say the majority of Americans did not support the justices ruling. But does that mean most citizens are pro-choice, or favor no restrictions on abortion? Daniel Darling, Director of the Land Center For Cultural Engagement at Southwestern Baptist Theological Seminary, says poll results that make it to mainstream media can be misleading. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dan talks about the fact that most Americans, whether Democrat or Republican, favor some kind of restrictions on abortion, and that also the younger generations are becoming more pro-life than their parents’ and grandparent’s generations. With photos of ultrasound pictures included in baby books and on refrigerator doors, it’s hard for anyone who favors abortion rights to say that this “clump of cells” growing in a woman’s womb is anything other than a human life. That has been the game changer. Advances in science concerning the unborn, have resulted in a growing pro-life sentiment.
Michelle Hord thought she had the perfect life and career. A producer for America’s Most Wanted and ABC’s Good Morning America, she was on a trajectory of certain success. Even a wedding in her late 30’s seemed like a fairytale, which later welcomed a beautiful little girl named Gabrielle. But her dream marriage turned into a nightmare when the man she thought was her soul mate, became the source of strife and discontent. An acrimonious separation finally ended in divorce when her husband grudgingly signed the papers. But that same day, he went back to his home and killed seven-year-old Gabrielle and attempted to kill himself. Michelle’s grief and trauma so great, her only recourse was to cry out to God. The verse that gave her strength was from the book of Job, “Though he slay me, YET will I trust him.” It is what happens after the “Yet” that Michelle is living in now. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Michelle Hord talks about her book, “The Other Side of Yet: Finding Light in the Midst of Darkness,” that tells her story of heartache and sorrow, but also of strength and healing.
America is 245 years old! Happy Birthday! We’ve come a long way and become a great nation and a great power. But with great power comes great responsibility. And America could be at a defining moment in history. According to historian Os Guinness, all our struggles and founding documents have as their fuel the covenant the Israelites made with God at Mt. Sinai. Freedom comes from God. Not from man. The only true freedom in this world has as its author, The Almighty. The signers of the Declaration of Independence at the Second Continental Congress of July 4th, 1776 knew that. But today, many of our citizens of this Republic do not know that, or if they do, are trying to re-write history in their own image. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, historian and best-selling author Os Guinness talks about his new book, The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai’s Revolutionary Faith and The Future of Freedom. He makes the claim that today’s Woke ideology, various forms of Critical Theory, and the tearing down of historic statues is not part of our 1776 roots and the American war of Independence from Great Britian, but on the French Revolution, whose foundation is the Enlightenment and secularism. But Guinness goes a step further and says God’s Law is the only source of true freedom. Because the paradox of freedom is that it must be ordered, otherwise freedom begets anarchy. If there are no rules to follow, laws to obey, then freedom itself becomes an oppressive cudgel, morphing into a ‘will to power.’ Are we there yet? Listen and find out. (This episode previously aired on July 4, 2021)
The Johnny Depp vs. Amber Heard trial may be over, but the strife and struggle of their relationship remains… not only for them but for countless other couples whose relationships will never make the front page of newspapers, nor their conflicts become court fodder. So on this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast we go back and ask two experts, a husband and wife team, Fr. Nicholas Louh and Dr. Roxanne Louh, about marriage. What is marriage? Why is faith important in a marriage? Is there a perfect person out there for everyone? What are some of the red flags in a relationship? How do you know if this is the right person to marry? Are some things unforgiveable in a marriage? And… what’s wrong with having sex before marriage? The Louh’s have a unique relationship to jointly explore all these questions and more. He is a Greek Orthodox priest. She is a psychologist. They’ve been married for 19 years. Together they look at relationships through the combined lens of faith and psychology; bringing them in tandem. Marrying them, you could say, and letting no man or woman separate them. This is the key to forming a marriage that truly will be forever. The Depp vs. Heard trial is used as a cautionary tale on this podcast. While neither Louh has met or knows either party, they do have some expert insight into how this relationship got on the rails in the first place.
Wherever you stand on the Roe v. Wade debate, it is clear that no matter how the Supreme Court rules, the conflict over abortion rights will not end. It will go into a new phase. Shawn Carney, who co-founded the pro-life group “40 Days for Life” and whose life was featured in the movie “Unplanned”, believes the High Court is set to topple the 1973 decision that made abortion legal. Carney’s organization was founded on prayer, and he believes prayer is what will get the country through the next phase, as the abortion fight becomes localized in each state. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Carney explains why he believes it’s the end of an era for Roe, but also how to spread the truth in love when it comes to the most contentious subject that has torn apart neighbors, family members and the country itself. In comparison, laws can be changed quickly. But it takes a great deal of time, effort, and patience to change hearts.
Wherever you stand on the controversy over denying Catholic politicians Holy Communion because of their stance on abortion, one conservative priest has a totally non-political take on this ever-growing dispute. Fr. Gerald Murray, who by all accounts is no close compadre of the Speaker of the House, says Nancy Pelosi is blessed. Why blessed? Because, he says, she has an Archbishop who cares enough about her eternal soul to decree that she should no longer receive the Holy Eucharist in her home Archdiocese of San Francisco. Not too long-ago Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone made public his ongoing, but private, spat with Pelosi over her staunch support of abortion rights. The Catholic Church considers abortion to be a grave sin for those who have one or for those who aid in its continuance. It’s a sin that jeopardizes a person’s promise of heaven. While many in the church have accused clergy like Cordileone of ‘weaponizing the Eucharist’, Murray says people should understand it from the point of view of a Shepherd caring for his flock. You can read the article here… Listen to Fr. Murray explain it, and also talk about how Pope Francis is molding the Catholic Church with 21 new Cardinals. Fr. Murray heads the United Nations parish, Church of the Holy Family in Manhattan.
Michael W. Smith’s greatest cheerleader in life was his father, Paul Smith. He supported him in his passion for music, even though his own talents were in sports. What a unique relationship that is. A father who not only lets his son find his passion in life, even if its different from his own.. but encourages him to pursue it wholeheartedly. But that was Paul Smith, who passed away in 2015, leaving the Grammy Award winning Christian artist with a huge hole in his heart. However, Paul Smith gave his son a legacy that death could not take away; a faith in his Heavenly Father, that will last into eternity. Fathers have an incredibly powerful influence on their children. Even their absence is felt as a profound loss in a child’s soul. And then there are fathers who are physically present but emotionally distant, unapproachable, or even abusive. They too have a profound influence on their children. Theological experts say, a child’s view and relationship with their earthly father has a correlation to how the child sees God. Authoritative or permissive, judgmental, or loving… all these have influence. Michael W. Smith, says his father, although not perfect, was the quintessential father, who sacrificed so much of himself to serve not only him but his mother and grandmother. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Smith talks about his father and the book he wrote that honors him called, ‘The Way Of The Father: Lessons From My Dad, Truths About God”. The truth is, we all need our fathers. They play a vital role in our lives, yet today’s society would have us believe they are unnecessary. But every study shows that when fathers are present, supportive, and loving, to their children, children thrive. The tragedy of course is, not all children have earthly fathers they can rely on. And that, says Michael W. Smith is why a Heavenly Father is all the more important. To know the Father is to be known down to the depths of your being, and at the same time, loved unconditionally. That is the Way of Thee Father.
There is no question that the mass shooting of 19 children and two teachers in a Uvalde, TX elementary school was anything other than pure evil. And so, the question becomes, “Why wouldn’t God prevent such evil?” And “Is He not all powerful? Or is He not all good?” Theologian and pastor Dr. Jeremiah Johnston is expert in mental health and spiritual evil, and he says what most Christians, and people of faith, haven’t understood is that God, in the Bible does make a distinction between having the blues, depression, mental illness… and spiritual evil. They can all be intertwined, even on a trajectory. But it’s possible to have one without the other. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Johnston addresses all, as well as the issue of God’s presence during tragedy and that the Church should be doing a lot more to deal with mental health within the ranks of its own pews.
“Mediating institutions, such as the family, churches, and Fraternal organizations, feed the life of the civic community. They stand between the individual and the state. And when they recede, the state fills the vacuum.” – Archbishop Charles Chaput That’s a quote from an article in “First Things” magazine written by the retired Archbishop of Philadelphia, Charles Chaput. If you’re not familiar with him, just know that he is student of political and American history, as well as a keen observer of political discourse, especially when it concerns the Catholic Church and Christianity as a whole. He knows his stuff. And for all his political involvement in calling out the hypocrisy of Catholic politicians and getting involved in the political fight over abortion and gender, he was pretty much shunned by Pope Francis, who Chaput was told didn’t want any more bishops like him. But even though retired, Chaput hasn’t stopped adding his voice to the public square. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Chaput talks about his article in “First Things,” called “Fire Upon the Earth“, and how America is at a critical precipice concerning her weakened religious foundations of which the state is taking advantage by inserting itself as the authority over theological beliefs. Issues like ‘conscience rights’ of medical professionals, ‘parental rights’ and the public schools, they’re all being attacked. And the irony is they’re being attacked by the very institution charged with protecting them… the government. So, what’s the solution? Chaput says, it’s what it has always been, faith in Jesus Christ; to know Him, His character, His love, His mercy, and to teach your children the same.
As the abortion battle grows to a fever pitch pending the expected Supreme Court ruling, a new pro-life documentary takes a broad look at abortion; its history, morality, philosophy, and its politics… And targets the church as part of the problem and the solution. “The Matter of Life” ads have been banned from Facebook for content. Filmmaker Tracy Robinson faults the far-left ideology of tech companies. But that hasn’t swayed Robinson, who less than a decade ago was a pro-choice Evangelical. And she knows there are many more like her. The film highlights that 4 in 10 women who had abortions were attending churches the month of their procedures. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Robinson explains how she came to be staunchly pro-life and that there are many Christians who were like her, getting their information from a secular point of view, not the Church. And that’s why the film says that Christians’ real abortion battle is in the pews, not in the public square. The film is set for a Fathom release this week (May 16th & 17th), as the country is reeling from the unprecedented leak of the High Court’s opinion signaling a possible downfall of Roe v. Wade. Robinson is compassionate and understanding of the pro-choice position having been in that camp for most of her life, but she says without a doubt that abortion “degrades the body of Christ.”
Summer blockbuster movie season is upon us, and for the next few months audiences will be mesmerized and dazzled by superheroes with superhuman powers, technological gadgetry, or otherworldly strength and moral fortitude. There’s also one other thing these characters have in common: they are willing to sacrifice themselves to save their friends, family, or the world. These multi-gazillion dollar movies have been telling this story repeatedly, mimicking the narrative of the greatest story ever told, the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Sometimes without knowing, sometimes by default. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Frank Turek talks about his new books, “Hollywood Heroes: How Your Favorite Movies Reveal God.” In the book he highlights movies like Star Wars, Harry Potter, Iron Man, Captain America, and more, showing how the theme of sacrifice for the good of others is the Christian narrative of Jesus sacrificing Himself on the cross to save us all from the forces of evil that exist in the world… and within ourselves.
Mitch Albom’s best-selling book Tuesdays With Morrie was an up close and personal look at the death of a dear friend and the learning wisdom from an older person’s wisdom of life. Albom’s other books also take a deep dive into the spiritual reality of life’s journey, like The Five People You Meet in Heaven and Stranger in the Lifeboat. But his recent book is much more personal, because it deals with the death of a child; his child… And the journey of trying to save her life. Finding Chika: A Little Girl, An Earthquake, and the Making of a Family, is Albom’s book about the little girl he and his wife adopted from their orphanage they founded in Haiti after an earthquake devastated the island country. Chika was vibrant, full of life, fun and laughter. Even at her young age she possessed incredible wisdom. For Albom, it was Chika’s death that brought a more poignant awareness of how precious life is. And in a way, Tuesdays With Morrie and Chika’s story are bookends; both dealing with what we all must face, death. But then there’s joy of focusing instead on being thankful for the time we had with a loved one, rather than mourning over their absence.
Millions of Orthodox Christians are celebrating Easter this weekend. They’ll hear the traditional chants and hymns, centuries old, always solemn, and reverent. But some would they are also distant and unconnected to the daily reality of the culture we live in. No one knows that better than Rev. Dr. Nicholas Louh, a Greek Orthodox priest who’s lighting a fire, you could say, to the Orthodox world with his motivational speaking around the country. In style, substance and easy to understand theological message, he sounds more like Billy Graham than Basil the Great, a fourth century Orthodox theologian. For the first millennia of Christianity there was only Orthodoxy. One Church. Then came the great Schism of 1054 separating East and West. Five hundred years later, the Protestant Reformation and more splintering. But Louh is true to the Orthodox roots of the faith. However, of the Orthodox world he admits, “We’ve had this beautiful what I call the deep end of the pool of faith… where what we’re challenged with is how do we share it in a way that’s practical, applicable and relevant to people’s lives?” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, I am on the road again, this time to Southampton, New York, at the Lenten Retreat at the Dormition of the Virgin Mary Greek Orthodox Church, where Fr. Louh was the keynote speaker for three seminars. His bio shows that he’s breaking the boundaries of the church building to build bridges with other religions, but also breaking down the separations between the more than thirty-thousand Christian denominations, the divisions of which have been the source of many a Holy war throughout the centuries, and even today in the Russian invasion of Ukraine. Both countries are majority Orthodox Christians. Louh is the senior priest at St. John the Divine Greek Orthodox Church in Jacksonville, Florida. He’s also the Adjunct Professor of World Religions at the Florida State College at Jacksonville and is the chaplain for the Jacksonville Sharks Arena Football Team. He’s all about interfaith dialogue and social justice… and helping people understand what God’s purpose is for their lives.
The new movie Father Stu tells the real-life story of Catholic priest Father Stuart Long. Mark Wahlberg stars as the main character, and Mel Gibson plays the role of Fr. Stu’s dad. It’s hard to encapsulate an entire life into a two-hour movie, but according to Fr. Bart Tolleson, a personal friend of Fr. Stu, the movie does an admirable job, although not perfect. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Fr. Bart, who consulted on the film, talks about the real Fr. Stu. His early life struggles, his searching for meaning, his rejection of faith, and then his passionate embrace of it despite the debilitating illness that would claim his life. In fact, it was through his pain and suffering that Fr. Stu’s faith became even more real. And his life is a modern-day example of why Easter is the cornerstone of Christianity, that there is purpose and power in suffering.
Cole Lyle, a Marine veteran who served in Afghanistan, once put a revolver to his head intending to kill himself. The depression and anxiety of post-traumatic stress had taken its emotional toll. He saw no other way out. But for some reason instead he put down the gun and took up a Bible, locked himself in a room telling himself he wouldn’t come out until God’s Word helped him figure out what his life was for. Mission Roll Call is the result of that crisis of faith. On this “On the Road” edition of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Lyle talks about how he created Mission Roll Call to help other veterans like himself. One of the top priorities is suicide prevention. Veterans are at much higher risk than the rest of the population. Another priority is helping vets get access to healthcare. Helping Lyle in that quest is a beautiful German Shepherd named Kaia, a specially trained service animal that senses his moods, bringing him back from the brink of an emotional episode like a post-traumatic nightmare. Lyle says, there’s a long waiting list for animals like Kaia, so the two lobby the halls of congress to get lawmakers attention to the needs of the men and women who put their lives on the line for the sake of Freedom.
Keith Stubbs tried the normal route in comedy to make his jokes a little bit saucy and sexy. In other words, not meant for the entire family. But now he’s a defender of the faith… faith in clean comedy. Dry Bar Comedy is an organization started by Neal and Jeffrey Harmon in 2017, devoted to keeping comedy clean. Stubbs and hundreds of other comedians are on a mission to show that you can still be funny without cussing, cursing, or relying on gratuitous sexualized jokes. Some of the comedians even performed at the National Religious Broadcasters Convention. Stubbs admits that in the entertainment world it’s an uphill battle as many comedians don’t want to be labeled “clean” for fear it’s synonymous with ‘not funny’. But he’s counseled many a comedian on how to slightly alter their shows to make them fit or the entire family, and the results surprise them. They get as many laughs, if not more, when the jokes are clean. Join the fun and enjoy the show.
To say appearances are deceiving just doesn’t describe the total persona of John Cooper, lead singer of the Rock group Skillet, a band that has performed with the likes of Aerosmith and Metallica. Cooper, a Grammy nominated, multi-platinum musician, looks more like a hardcore biker– tattoos, black leather et al– than a Bible thumping theologian. But there you have it. His book, “Awake and Alive to Truth” is a conviction of modern society that preaches truth is something you make up for yourself, instead of an objective standard that exists outside of any individual. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Cooper, a strong Christian with his own podcast called “Cooper Stuff,” talks about his pleas to the generations of today, growing up in a culture that is “Post-truth.” He laments, “We don’t believe there’s absolute truth. We believe that everything is fungible. Everything is built on your interpretation, her truth, my truth. It’s all based on the way I feel, the way that I interpret my reality. And then I demand that everyone else fall in line with my version of reality. And that is a recipe for chaos.”
Being a good citizen is everyone’s civic responsibility. But if you are a Christian, you are first a child of the Living God, made in His image. How can those two things work together? Because the Holy Bible and our Constitution are closely related, says Rick Green, founder of the Patriot Academy, who’s also known as the American Constitution Coach. He says, the founding fathers did more than just “breathe the atmosphere” of spirituality, “They were studying the Bible every year. There was a deep, deep heritage of understanding that if you want to have a society that works well, you’ve got to follow God’s rules and God’s laws to to do that. And so they created this whole system based on that.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast recorded at the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville, Green is joined by Lt. Colonel Allen West, a retired U.S. Army officer and former member of the U.S. Congress. Together they talk about the how the Patriot Academy is teaching regular citizens how to really understand the Constitution’s power and how that is crucial to fighting back against tyrannical forces emerging in our own legal system. For example, the often misunderstood and misapplied notion of separation of the Church and State. They also teach how important it is that to understand the Constitution you must understand the Bible. Many of the clauses in the Constitution are taken directly from the Old Testament. To be a good biblical citizen means to hold God’s truth as the standard on which much of the Constitution is based.
Is a Holy War over religion and politics the real impetus for Russia invading Ukraine? Former Ambassador for International Religious Freedom Sam Brownback believes it was probably a huge factor, largely downplayed or ignored by Western officials. Three years ago the Patriarch of Orthodox Churches in Istanbul granted the Ukraine Orthodox Church independence from the Russian Orthodox Church. Putin, who sees himself as the defender of the faith, was livid, and so was the Russian Church hierarchy which is closely aligned with him. Putin has a long memory, but a short fuse. And there’s more spiritual warfare going on in Ukraine than meets the eye or ears. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, we go to the National Religious Broadcasters convention in Nashville and talk with three faith experts about what’s happening in Ukraine: Ambassador Brownback, along with Dirk Smith of EEM (Eastern European Missions) which has a supplied millions of Bibles to Ukraine, and Dr. Jeff Myers, President of Summit Ministries.
As members of the National Religious Broadcasters meet this week in Nashville for their annual convention, they are doing so under a cloud of challenges the Church has not seen in centuries. The modern era has brought a full throttle assault on the Church from persecution of Christians in countries where it is most dangerous to be a believer in Jesus Christ, like North Korea, Afghanistan and China, to name a few. But then there are the attacks in the West with legal cases brought against believers for standing their ground when it comes to things like traditional views on marriage and gender. And also, there’s the effort to try to push back against indoctrination to a secular humanist world view in the public schools. Adding to all that a global pandemic and a war in Eastern Europe. The Church has its hands full. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, NRB top official, Troy Miller, takes a look at the big picture of all that’s on the line. But then knowing that the bottom line will always be a faith in a Sovereign God. The NRB convention is the largest gathering of Christian communicators, a “premier conference for Christians who work in radio, tv, film, church media or digital marketing.” What Miller says is that Christians have the modern weapons to take on the powers of evil in the world. The convention helps them tap into it.
Just like the famous Route 66 connects Chicago to Los Angeles in the United States, Route 60 in Israel connects the Bible’s most famous events and people. From Abraham to Moses, Jacob to King David, and David to Jesus Christ… this Biblical Heritage Highway is the original Bible Belt and is in the works to become a new pilgrimage for the biblically minded tourist. Yishai Fleisher is the impetus behind the move to make Route 60 more than a two-lane highway, but an historic site commemorating shared lineages. The four-thousand-year-old path stretches the length from the Samarian city of Shechem thru Shiloh and Beth El where Jacob saw a vision of a ladder connecting Heaven and Earth, and thru Jerusalem and Bethlehem the birthplace of Jesus… all the way to Be’er Sheva, the capitol of the Negev desert “where Abraham and Isaac found water and taught wayfarers about the One God.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Yishai Fleisher, the International Spokesperson for the Jewish Community of Hebron, talks about the importance to this highway as a shared culture between the three monotheistic religions, Judaism, Christianity and Islaam… and how Route 60 can be a true pathway to peace in the Middle East.
For Christians, the entirety of the Bible hinges on a short verse in the Gospel of John in the New Testament; John 3:16, “For God so loved the world that He gave His one and only Son, that whosoever believes in Him shall not perish, but have eternal life.” It pretty much sums up the narrative of God’s plan for redeeming the entire human race and the whole of creation, rescuing them from the Fall from Grace, and the evil now rampant in our world because of it. Pastor Max Lucado’s 2007 best-selling book on those 26 words has been re-released and updated with “new content for a new generation.” Called “3:16 The Numbers of Hope,” it is a deep, heart-probing explanation of why these words were so mind-boggling when Jesus imparted them to Nicodemus more than two thousand years ago, and how they are just as life-altering for us today. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Max Lucado, a master storyteller, and spirit-filled teacher of biblical truth, talks about the power of John 3:16 and the hope it offers. He says, “The heart of the human problem is the heart of the human. And God’s treatment is prescribed in John 3:16… Let John 3:16 become the banner of your life, so much so that the message of God’s unending and unbending love overflows from you to others.”
This week, closing arguments are scheduled in Finland at the trial of a Paivi Rasanen, a member of parliament, that may be a test case for whether quoting the Bible could be considered hate speech deserving of a crime. It all started in 2019 when Rasanen tweeted to her Lutheran minister questioning the church’s support of the Gay Pride parade, quoting verses from the Bible as her reasoning. The exchange ignited a national debate where all of Rasanen’s writings, including a 2004 pamphlet, became the focus behind five criminal complaints. She was eventually taken into custody where police questioned her for thirteen hours. Later she was charged with hate crimes against a minority. The real issue though has become, “How far can religious freedoms be protected?” And, “Whether or not people can be charged with a crime for what they believe?” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Rasanen talks about her ordeal, her faith. This podcast is not a debate about what the Bible says or does not say about homosexuality. There’s another podcast that debates that, between two evangelical ministers. Rasanen’s interview is about how she feels about possibly facing jail time and/or a fine, for believing something in the Bible.
She has the voice of an angel – an Irish angel that is. Actress Roma Downey grew to fame on the TV series “Touched by an Angel,” telling millions of viewers each week that “There is a God, that He loves you, and wants to be a part of your life.” It’s a message that’s now embedded in her work with husband/producer Mark Burnett. Their mini-series on The Bible a few years ago became a surprise hit; a surprise to the secular world of Hollywood elites that is, not to Roma and Mark. Their latest offering is on the cornerstone of Christianity, The Resurrection. It’s a film that would have been released in theaters, but because of the pandemic it could not be. So they had a choice to either hold it for a year or find another outlet. And they chose the latter. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Downey talks about how the COVID-19 shutdown became the impetus to bring the film to viewers as another message of hope in a world hungry for it. She also talks about what it was like shooting in Morocco, and the actors and actresses who bring to life the story of how the Apostles went from despair and fear at the crucifixion of Jesus to joy and triumph as they live out His Resurrection.
It’s a lawsuit that was bound to happen as Critical Race Theory and other social agenda curriculum make their way through schools across the country. The state of Virginia, in particular has seen its share of controversy as parents there have been riled up for months about what schools are teaching their children; an unforeseen byproduct of the pandemic as thousands of students stayed home taking their classes via zoom. Just a few weeks ago, a group of parents of different religious backgrounds filed a lawsuit against Albemarle School District in Virginia, accusing it of indoctrinating their children with Critical Race Theory, claiming that the doctrines conflict with their beliefs that all people are made in God’s image and should be treated equally. It’s a far cry from CRT’s teachings that people are either oppressed or are oppressors based on their ethnicity or race. And it’s also not what Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr. hoped for in his “I Have a Dream” speech, where he envisioned a world where people would be judged by “the content of their character and not the color of their skin.” Alliance Defending Freedom is the legal team representing the parents. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Emilie Kao, Senior Counsel with ADF, discusses the case, and what drove the parents to file the lawsuit. The school district has until Monday, January 31st to respond.
After U.S withdrawal, Afghanistan became the number one place on earth where it is most dangerous to be a Christian, for the first time ever. That’s according to Open Doors USA’s World Watch List 2022. The Taliban in Afghanistan is now engaged in a door-to-door campaign to rid the country of Christians, who are mostly converts from Islam. The penalty for conversion is death. The World Watch List is a definitive, comprehensive research-based report that ranks the top 50 countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian. Afghanistan has supplanted North Korea, which now ranks #2 on the list, after spending 20 years at #1. And it’s not that North Korea has gotten better; Afghanistan has gotten worse. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Open Doors president David Curry explains how bad things are; how every Christian in Afghanistan is now either in hiding or on the run. The Taliban’s interpretation of Islam considers Christians to be traitors, enemies of the state, enemies of the tribe and even the community; they are deemed to be “infidels.” Curry will also highlight another bad actor on the World Watch List: China. Its religious freedom abuses are more sinister and more cunning; using technology and Artificial Intelligence to control people of faith, keep watch on them, and judge whether they are good citizens or not based on what and who they worship. On the eve of the Winter Olympics in China, Curry wants the world to be aware what’s happening there, and that money and power should not determine how people are treated.
If you think of yourself more spiritual than religious, you may not want to even listen to this podcast with “Bible Answer Man” Hank Hanegraaff. Clearly the “spiritual but not religious” segment is growing; by last count, 29 percent of Americans. But on the other hand, if you consider yourself a champion of organized religion, you may find much to disagree with in this podcast. However, if your heart is searching for the answers to life’s most pressing questions, both spiritual and intellectual, then by all means click on the link and begin to understand what faith is and why it’s necessary. Hanegraaff answers some common objections to religion in general and Christianity specifically like, “Don’t we all have to find truth for ourselves?” or “Isn’t it incredibly narrow to say that Christianity is the only religion that offers salvation?” A few years ago, Hanegraaff converted from Protestantism’s evangelical Christianity to Orthodox Christianity. He took a lot of heat for it from leaders in the Evangelical community. As he explains it, his conversion was brought about by a heartfelt, as well as intellectual pursuit of God’s Truth – yes Truth capital with a capital T – as it is told by God’s Word through Jesus Christ, the Risen Savior. Hanegraaff says most of us in this pluralistic society like to live in the gray areas, believing that no one religion has cornered the market on Truth. And the only acceptable, and polite position in mixed company is to say that all religions lead to the same God. But Hanegraaff is one of great many sounding the alarm on that position explaining that believing in spiritual plurality may make you a lot of friends in liberal circles but will ultimately draw you away from God. Listen and see if you agree or disagree.
Archeology over the past few decades has continued to find evidence that the Bible speaks truth; that the people and places mentioned in the Old and New Testaments were not parts of some mythological creation, but evidence of historical facts unearthed through science. Author and journalist Michael Hesemann “connects the dots between the Gospels and the time Christ” through his book, Jesus of Nazareth: Archaeologists Retracing the Footsteps of Christ. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Hesemann presents the latest information from archeological findings over the past decade, since the first edition of his book was published… including more details of the Wedding at Cana, the account in the Gospel of John which describes Jesus’s first miracle of turning water into wine. Hesemann is the author of some forty-four books, including Mary of Nazareth, and co-author with Mgr. Georg Ratzginger, of the international best-seller on Pope Benedict XVI, My Brother the Pope. It was in fact that book that helped create my first meeting Michael in Rome, where we became friends. He invited me to Regensburg, Germany to meet Mgr. Ratzinger and to celebrate his 89th birthday. I brought my mom along who was also 89 at the time. It paved the way for me to perform for Pope Benedict XVI the very next year at the Vatican, and the famous picture of my mom hugging Pope Benedict. Listen to us reminisce of those times and more… as well as fascinating information on what archeologist have found in the Holy Land.
Lauren Green looks back at her January 2021 conversation with Open Doors USA President David Curry. Every year for the past few decades, Open Doors USA releases its World Watch List, a top 50 lineup of countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian. According to Open Doors president David Curry, there’s a growing trend of more and more people dying because they are Christian. It is one of the most under reported phenomenon, that despite what mainstream media say, Christianity is the most persecuted religion globally. The top 10 worst countries for Christians contains the usual cast of characters, mainly Muslim majority nations like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran. But the communist secular regime of North Korea leads the pack, as it has for 20 years. It’s secretive dictatorship makes it illegal to even own a Bible. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Curry talks about the new trends affecting Christians, that 1 in 8 are persecuted worldwide, that more people than ever before are suffering for their religious beliefs, and that countries like China, Iran, India, and Nigeria are using the COVID-19 pandemic to justify the use of common technology to create a dangerous world for religious minorities.
Whether or not you believe in Jolly Old St. Nick or not, you should learn about the real saint that inspired the larger-than-life version seen in movies and TV. Yes, Virginia, there is a Santa Claus! And William Federer, ace historian, and encyclopedia on everything Christmas explains why Christianity is behind pretty much every tradition celebrated around December the 25th. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Federer explains how the real St. Nicholas, the 3rd century bishop, influenced centuries of Christmas gift giving and gratitude surrounding the birth of Jesus Christ. He also explains how St. Nicholas got a makeover in every country where his story was told. Santa Claus, Kris Kringle, Father Christmas…. are all different personifications of St. Nicholas of Bari.
For centuries, both the faithful and science-based folks have wondered about the Star of Bethlehem. What was it? From where did it come? Is it a myth, a miracle, or was it natural occurring astronomical event? The Star, as told in the Gospel of Matthew, led the Magi to a little town called Bethlehem, about five miles south of Jerusalem. It was a sign in the heavens that told them a King was born, a King that would be in the line and lineage of King David. Many astronomers believed it was a conjunction of planets. German scientist Johannes Kepler believed it was the conjunction of three planets, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus. But while astronomers today use Kepler’s exact mathematical calculations to map the motion of the planets, lawyer and Star enthusiast Rick Larson has taken it many steps further, and has found the link between the Bible’s prophecies, the motion of the planets, and the signs in the sky. The heavens do indeed “declare the glory of God,” as Psalm 19 announces. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Larson gives a synopses of his findings, which are in his film Star of Bethlehem, and his website bethlehemstar.com, which gives even more details of tying God’s message to us, to the motion of the planets.
The ever witty and always keenly aware of what’s wrong and right in the world… syndicated columnist and former Fox News contributor Cal Thomas, has a lot to say about the state of America, the condition of the human heart… and the true meaning of Christmas. Cal’s latest book, America’s Expiration Date, gives him plenty of material to draw upon as he takes a sober look at the clues that signal America’s downfall. But then he also gives the Good News about the solution to which this season of joy points. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Cal gives a candid analysis of the three major precursors that have historically caused the downfall of great civilizations: massive debt, uncontrolled immigration without assimilation, and loss of shared values… and shows how America is on the path of all three. But then there’s the hope of Christmas and what it brings to all who believe…. and his quote at the end that says understanding the true meaning of Christmas, of a babe born in a manger, of a world hungry for hope… begins first in our hearts.
The mainstream media vilified him. The court of public opinion pronounced him guilty even before his trial. And then an Australian Court followed suit and convicted him of sexually abusing two choir boys in 1996, while he was the Archbishop of Melbourne, Australia. George Cardinal Pell was the highest-ranking clergyman in the Roman Catholic Church to be convicted of child sexual abuse. But after serving thirteen months of a six-year sentence, Australia’s highest court acquitted him of all charges by unanimous vote. Why the sudden turn around? Much of the evidence that would have found him innocent was ignored or never presented. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, the Vatican’s one-time high-ranking official talks about the journals he wrote while in prison, that are now books in three volumes. Volume three just released is subtitled “The High Court Frees an Innocent Man”. There is, however, more intrigue to the story. Pell’s predicament may not have been just the conjuring of a media firestorm wanting to find another priest guilty of abuse. There’s also speculation that the abuse allegations might have been trumped up as a smear campaign, secretively instigated by his enemies in Rome, upset over his financial reforms he was making to clean up the Vatican’s financial messes. He was brought in by Pope Francis and answered to him alone. Find out what His Eminence, Cardinal Pell has to say about his accusers and his alleged enemies in the Eternal City.
The story behind the Jewish Festival of Lights, is filled with intrigue, fear, war… and then of course, victory. The celebration of that victory gives us the miracle now known as Hanukkah, when a one day of sacred oil to light the Temple Menorah, last eight days. And eight days is significant because it as Moses directed, also the number of days old an infant must be for circumcision. It’s another sign that nothing happens without God’s knowledge or Divine direction. But Hanukkah has a lesson for us all: that God is working even when it seems He is not. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith Podcast, Rabbi Motti Seligson, with Chabad Lubavitch, explains how the leader of the Chabad Lubavitch, named the Rebbe, began a campaign in 1973 to elevate the celebration of Hanukkah, to educate not only Jews but the whole of America and the world about the Feast of Dedication. And find out why also, that Hanukkah is extremely early this year. Beginning today, Sunday, November 28th.
The British author, Clive Staples Lewis, aka C.S. Lewis had a keen, brilliant mind, whose conversion from staunch atheist to strong Christian is the narrative of a new film, The Most Reluctant Convert. The author of such books as “Mere Christianity” and “The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe”, which are heavily drenched in the Christian worldview… Lewis rejected Christianity early in his life after the death of his mother from cancer when he was just nine years of age. His experience of a cruel and meaningless world, brought him to the conclusion that “either there was no God behind the universe, a God indifferent to good and evil… or worse… an evil God.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, actor Max McLean, who wrote and stars the film, which was adapted from the stage play, talks about the filming of the movie at Oxford, England, the reason behind Lewis’s intellectual pathway to accepting the reality of an Omnipotent God and, the conversations that Lewis had with his friend J.R.R. Tolkien, who would later write, Lord of the Rings, that made his conversion complete. McLean is the founder and Artistic Director of the New York-based Fellowship of the Performing Arts.
Long gone are the days of three or four TV channels, where networks were the behemoth gate keepers of everyone’s entertainment content. Cable TV and now streaming has taken care of that. But there’s another model rising that is challenging even Netflix and Google play. Angel Studios. This small but powerful upstart is not just going after values-based audiences, but asking the audiences to create the content, as well as the community that will support it. The submitted ideas, once accepted, will be produced through crowd-funded budgets. Angel Studios already has a hit with the series, The Chosen, a Bible-based series on the life and legacy of Jesus Christ. But there’s other content in the wings. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Neal Harmon, CEO of Angel Studios, talks about how he and his brothers created the new model for “Light” based content, and how Hollywood, to its detriment, really abandoned audiences who value honor and virtue. https://omny.fm/shows/lighthouse-faith-fox-news-radio/netflix-beware-angel-studios-is-has-a-a-new-crowd
You’ve probably never heard of Adam Brickel, unless you live in New Rochelle, New York or attended New Rochelle High School. He was an affable 15-year-old who everyone liked and who brought a lot of happiness to the diverse community of friends he hung out with, and to his family. I know that because I knew Adam. His grandmother Kitty is one of my spiritual mentors who’s featured in my book, “Lighthouse Faith.” Adam was the fifth of six Brickel kids in an Irish Catholic, middle-class family. He was the one child his mother never had to worry about. No issues. And his mother, Naomi, was dealing with a lot of issues. Her husband was suffering from Parkinsons, one of her daughter’s is autistic and needed special care. Her life was one challenge after the next. But the greatest challenge came on November 12, 2017, when her second oldest son John Paul came to her room late at night and asked, “Where’s Adam?”. That began a frantic search, a call to 9-1-1, and then a blood curdling scream as John Paul discovered Adam’s body on the sidewalk a half block away. He’d gone to walk the dog. The dog came back, but Adam didn’t. The cause of death was a medical condition. In the months and years after Adam’s death, came an outpouring of blessings from young people Naomi never even realized Adam had in his circle of friends. A thousand plus came to the funeral at the Catholic Church; the New Rochelle Football team, hundreds of fellow classmates, Adam’s teachers. And then, the strangest of all, Adam. It was during the funeral that Naomi realized Adam was still with her, still comforting her, still sending her signs. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Naomi talks about the book she wrote in the years since Adam’s death called, “Not To Spoil The Ending… But Everything is Going to Be Ok: Insights from a Teenager in Heaven About Happiness Here.” It’s about Adam’s impact on so many lives, how he, through simple acts of kindness lived out the words of Jesus, to bring comfort and joy to a hurting world. And also, how Naomi found a deeper faith, a real faith… in the words of Dr. Seuss, “Don’t be sad it’s over, smile because it happened.”
The book of Esther is one of only two books in the Bible- Old or New Testament- that never mentions God, the Lord, Yahweh, or any other of His Names. In fact one theologian said the writer of Esther seems to go out of his or her way, to not mention God. And yet, the Almighty and His Divine providence are present throughout the entire narrative of one young Jewish woman’s act of incredible bravery. The subtext of the book of Esther is ‘the silent sovereignty of God.’ But the main point of the book is the fact that God’s glory reigns, and that perhaps, “You Were Made for This Moment”. That is the title of Pastor Max Lucado’s new book. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Lucado talks about his exegesis of the book of Esther, how the events surrounding her situation are so parallel to our own today. Esther’s story is about having faith in the face of incredible adversity. Like modern believers today, she had been acquiesced into a dominant culture that had watered down her faith and enjoyed many of the benefits it brought. But when the crisis came, her faith became fire, and she saved millions of her people from certain death. She was in fact, made for that moment. Pastor Lucado lets us see how Esther’s story is our own. That in fact we were, Made for This Moment.
It’s one of the most mysterious books in the Bible… Revelation, the last and final book of the Holy Scriptures. It’s believed to be written by the Apostle John while in exile on the Greek Island of Patmos. There the resurrected Jesus appeared to him and brought to him the words of the book. Filled with prophecy and cryptic predictions about the end times and the coming apocalypse, Revelation is often misunderstood or misinterpreted. But in its opening salvo, are Christ’s words to Seven Churches, seven Christian communities residing in towns in what today is Turkey. The churches are Ephesus, Smyrna, Pergamum, Thyatira, Sardis, Philadelphia, and Laodicea. Filmmaker Tim Mahoney and his Patterns of Evidence company, takes a look at the messages to the seven churches to see what secrets they hold. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Mahoney talks about his recently released documentary., The Seven Churches of Revelation: Times of Fire. It’s a deep dive into the warnings and words of hope to the early Christians living in a culture that has yet to accept them. They are struggling against the dominant political winds and it’s meant to help them stand strong, but also admonish them for their falling away. Mahoney says in that way Revelation is not just for the early Church, but for CHRISTIANs today, living under a dominant worldview of secular and pagan forces which they must strive to resist. What was true them is true today. And Revelation makes that clear.
Without a body, and without direct DNA evidence, J. Warner Wallace has solved cold case murder cases that were decades old. His expertise in cracking some of the most baffling crimes, made him one of the most sought-after detectives. But then this one-time atheist turned his skills to investigating Jesus Christ. And what he found turned his life around. The result was his first book Cold Case Christianity, and an entire teaching ministry and website devoted to helping others discover what he was able to untangle about the most influential man in the history. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Wallace talks about his new book Person of Interest: Why Jesus Still Matters in a World that Rejects the Bible. Once again, Wallace used his skills to discover how Jesus’ appearance at a certain time in history, seems likely to be some part of a divine grand historical narrative, that even without leaning on the New Testament, any researcher could piece together the gospel using only today’s art, music, literature, buildings, science and more. Wallace views each murder as an explosion. And just like every explosion there is a fuse of clues leading up to the blast. In the book, he weaves the investigation of a real, unsolved cold-case murder, with the investigation into the death of Jesus Christ. And for podcast listeners Wallace also turned his attention to the most talked about case today, the Gabby Petito murder. What should or shouldn’t have investigators done in the case? Is there any other scenario by which Brian Laundrie is not the prime suspect? What are the clues in the fuse leading up to the moment when Gabby lost her life? Whether a crime is two thousand years old, or a few weeks old, there are always clues. And Wallace can find them.
They started out as two pastors who just wanted to make movies about faith in Jesus Christ, because the greatest story ever told, needed to reach more people. Alex and Stephen Kendrick now are well-established filmmakers whose movies have made millions of dollars and their message of the Gospel has transformed millions of lives. And they did it all without compromising their belief that Jesus “is the way the Truth and the life…”. All that experience has helped them present their first documentary with all the pathos, passion, and power of seasoned professionals. Show Me the Father, takes a look at true stories of fatherhood that will leave audiences in gasped surprise. These stories have all the twists and turns of any fictional narrative, perhaps even more so. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Alex and Stephen talk about the making of documentary as well as the tenth-year anniversary of their film Courageous, which is also about fatherhood. The re-release of the film features a re-edit that includes updates of the stories in the film; sort of a ‘where are they now’, addition. The importance of fathers and fatherhood is foundational to the Kendrick’s lives, and, as they see it, to all our lives. Good fathers make a child’s life happy, while bad fathers can make a child’s life a living hell. But both films highlight that only God the Heavenly Father, offers the perfection and unconditional love that all hearts crave.
Even two podcasts with scientist Dr. Michael Guillen isn’t enough to explain the vastness of his discoveries involving Science and Christianity. Yes, science and Christianity. Not science and any other faith, but science and the religion founded by Jesus of Nazareth. When last I interviewed Guillen, who is a physicist, astronomer, and mathematician, he talked about how he came to faith in Jesus, and how the words of Jesus sounded a great deal like the uniqueness of quantum physics. His investigation into Christianity over a period of years forced him to shed his atheism and embrace the Risen Savior. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Guillen takes a deeper dive into his new book “Believing is Seeing” to explain how when he compared essential features of science, Christianity and Atheism, Science and Christianity lined up almost as one; Atheism nothing. For example, Guillen asked, “Does absolute truth exist?” Science says “Yes.” Christianity says, “Yes.” Atheism says, “No.” The scientific mind needs to know facts, yes. But then there are ways to understand those facts that require an SQ, a Spiritual Quotient. It’s the difference between knowing honey is sweet, and actually having tasted honey. Experience completes the knowledge. If God is the behind the entire created order, we can certainly know about his creation through science. However, there’s a wide chasm between knowing about God, and having an experience of His presence. Guillen takes us on that journey of discovery of God through science.
A brush with death nearly a decade ago convinced Chrisitan author Lee Strobel that he needed to find out about this thing called Heaven that his faith promised he would go to once life left his body. The one-time atheist journalist- turned Christian, is known for his investigative skills in researching Christian beliefs. It was because of his skeptical approach to ferreting out the facts of the faith that he became a believer in Jesus Christ. His book, “The Case for Christ,” is a best seller. Since then, he’s written several books on the same theme to explore Christianity’s claims. “The Case for a Creator,” and “The Case for Miracles” are a couple more. But now his latest offering is, “The Case for Heaven.” Strobel takes a hard look at this ethereal place asking, What is Heaven? Where is Heaven? Is Heaven a place or a state of mind? And what about Hell? The Bible talks about it being a place of fire and darkness where the Satan and his minions will suffer eternal damnation. However, many theologians believe this ‘fire and darkness’ is only metaphor for the inner turmoil of being separated from God. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Strobel talks about what he has uncovered in his interviews with experts. Plus, he searches for answers through science about the nature of the soul. What is the soul? Can it be separated from your body? What about reincarnation and cremation? Are they consistent with Jesus’s teachings or opposed to them. And finally, could Near Death Experiences (NDR’s) be the clue to telling us about heaven… and hell? Strobel explores how this heavily researched and documented phenomenon shows convincing proof that Heaven exists, and so does Hell.
Romans 8:28 says “all things work together for good to those who love God, to those who are called according to His purpose.” Twenty years after the 9/11 terror attacks that murdered nearly three thousand people we are beginning to see ‘the good’ that God brought on that day. That someone like Christina Stanton, a regular New Yorker who ran for her life after the second plane came within 500 feet of her apartment balcony… would find a deeper, more real faith in Jesus Christ. That Peter Johansen, the director of Ferry Operations, would become God’s agents in helping to rescue a half million people through a massive boat evacuation and how the two people who were strangers before 9/11, became friends. It was New York’s version of Dunkirk, the mass evacuation of people stranded in what became a war zone on 9-11. The Coast Guard estimates 500 thousand people were taken off the Island in Lower Manhattan. The only way to New Jersey, or Staten Island or the closest ports of land, was by boat. It was the largest marine evacuation in history, surpassing Dunkirk, the rescue of Allied soldiers from the coast of France during World War II. Sightseeing boats, catamarans, small boats, large boats, private boats. Johansen was the Senior Director of Ferry Operations for New York Waterway, when the attacks happened. The ferry boats normally handle 33,000 people a day. It wasn’t enough on 9/11. The Coast Guard sent out a plea, “All available boats!” And they responded. The tugboats in Staten Island, Fishing boats in Sheepshead Bay, every boat was full, every run. People waited in line three or four hours. Stanton, her husband, and dog were also rescued. As she writes in her story, “We collapsed onto a bench… It felt so good to sit down. A wave of relief washed over me as we chugged away from the shore. After three hours of terror, we were off the island. We were alive.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Stanton and Johansen talk about NYC’s boat evacuation, and their part in the testament to the power of the ‘good’ that is in our hearts. That evil will fail, that good will prevail.
There are about twelve thousand Christians in Afghanistan and most, if not all, fear for their safety now that U.S Forces have officially pulled out. But even though they’re a small minority, they are a brave lot, who even in the face if an impending Taliban takeover, changed the religion on their national identity cards to read, Christian, in a country where Islam is the only official religion. World Magazine’s Senior Editor Mindy Belz said it was because “They wanted something to pass on to their children and to other generations, they wanted not to just be secret people who disappeared when they died.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Belz talks about the dangers now faced by the Christians and religious minorities in Afghanistan. She has been in constant contact with the Afghan Church, whose members are mostly Muslim converts… some had even embraced Islamic extremist ideology. But now their standing up for Jesus could cost them dearly. Many tried and did escape before U.S. Forces left, but many did not. And now their act of fealty to their faith could prove tragic. Because now those government cards are in the hands of the Taliban, who’ve been systematically going door to door hunting down American allies… and Christians. Find out how these Christians may hold the key to a better Afghanistan. They are the seed of the Gospel, which Jesus said even the gates of hell could not destroy.
Historians agree, there was a dark side to Karl Marx, the German born founding father of Communism and Socialism. But did he actually worship the devil? Was he possessed? He wrote in a poem, “Thus Heaven I’ve forfeited, I know it full well… my soul, once true to God, is chosen for Hell.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, best-selling author Dr. Paul Kengor talks about his book, “The Devil and Karl Marx”. In it he uncovers the sinister soul of the man whose writings and economic philosophies, have helped formed totalitarian, atheist governments like Soviet Russia, Communist China and others… murderous regimes that are responsible for the deaths of over a 100 million people in the 20th century alone. And what should disturb us, is that Marxism is behind the philosophies of our modern-day cultural movements like Critical Race Theory, Critical Social Justice, and Black Lives Matter. Kengor quotes Marx’s biographer Robert Payne who wrote, “There were times when Marx seemed to be possessed by demons. He had the devil’s view of the world and the devil’s malignity. Sometimes Marx seemed to know that he was accomplishing works of evil.” Marx was certainly no angel, but Kengor says it’s odd that movements like BLM should look to a man who was a racist and misogynist for guidance; a man who wanted to destroy all norms like the family and personal property. He believes that if the founders of these movements understood Marx, they would really see how, “the Devil is in the details.”
Today, the city of Hebron in the Middle East is rife with modern day political conflicts between Arabs and Jews. But its ancient history should give us all pause to remember that we are brothers and sisters, one race… the human race. Nearly four thousand years ago the patriarch Abraham purchased a plot of land there to bury his beloved wife Sarah. Years later, his two sons, Isaac and Ishmael, who had once been estranged, buried their father in that same cave. The Bible tells us that Jews and Christians are descended from Isaac, while Arabs from Ishmael. Two thousand years ago, King Herod built over the burial cave a magnificent structure known as The Tomb of the Patriarchs and Matriarchs. It is still there today and holds many secrets and mysteries of kinship of all peoples. The Jewish mystical writings of Kabbalah, says the cave under the tomb is also the burial site of Adam and Eve, the parents of all humanity. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Yishai Fleisher, spokesperson for the Jewish Community in Hebron, unearths some of the secrets of the Tomb…. and why it is an important site for unity, in a city that has seen so much strife.
Those who serve our country protecting its freedoms, oftentimes sacrifice more than just their lives. They come home physically and emotionally wounded. Though heroics are often the battle cry of warfare, the hurting of the soul in the aftermath is a reality they face alone. Enter Chad Robichaux. He almost became a statistic of the high suicide rate among veterans suffering from Post Traumatic Stress. As a Force Recon Marine, he served eight deployments in Afghanistan. Although trained to take on the enemy using advanced battle tactics and brute strength, he was ill prepared to face an adversary he could not see, hear, or touch. His strength as a Martial Arts Champion and a black belt in Jui Jitsu, could not defeat the enemy that lie within: depression, anxiety, suicidal thoughts. He alienated his family, suffered depression, and nearly destroyed every relationship he had because he didn’t have the arsenal for spiritual warfare. But then he had hope. And that hope came not from strength but from weakness… from submitting himself to God’s power to heal. And that is the victory he shares with other veterans through his Mighty Oaks Foundation. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Robichaux talks about this journey with God and his book An Unfair Advantage: Victory in the Midst of Battle, soon to be made into a movie.. He’s dedicated the book to men, to “challenge and inspire them to rise up and be the warriors God created them to be.” Spiritual warriors, able to claim victory over the enemy within.
Diversity, equity, and inclusion, all sound like wonderful ideas, except that they have become tools to control schools, government, and businesses. It’s the kind of soft power that creeps up on a country, sort of the like the proverbial frog boiled in water. That is what best-selling author Rod Dreher says is happening to America. In his book, “Live Not By Lives: A Manual for Christian Dissidents,” he says history is telling us that the land of the free and home of the brave is moving slowly towards Totalitarianism… not from the government but from far-left elements that promote Woke ideology to indoctrinate generations. Think Soviet Union, Cuba, even Nazi Germany. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dreher give examples of his interviews with Christians who fled from oppressive regimes in Europe and came to America to find some of the same things happening here. Things like the pulling down of statues, erasing the past accomplishments of men once celebrated as heroes, controlling the content of news and entertainment. And anyone who disagrees – aka dissidents- is canceled. Dreher says the writing is on the walls, the question is, is anybody reading it? Listen now to understand how to respond to what’s happening in the world today.
Will Thompson, director of Fellowship of Christian Athletes in Tokyo, doesn’t personally know gymnast Simone Biles, but knows what a great problem for elite athletes like her can be, making your sport your identity. The pressure to succeed at all costs is one of the great dangers for anyone who sacrifices time, relationships, and money, in order to become the best of the best. Us normal folks only see their crowning glory, an Olympic gold medal, or multi-million-dollar endorsement contracts. But what we don’t see is the toll it takes on their souls. The secular version is called ‘mental health.’ But for Thompson, he knows that behind the clinical term is a spiritual longing. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Thompson talks about how FCA’s ministry’s outreach to athletes of all ilk, is to lead them to Jesus Christ, as the only love that can truly satisfy. Because for elite athletes, or elite anything… musician, actor, architect, finance genius… their craft becomes their fundamental trust and their identity. Biles’ pulling out of competition at the greatest athletic event in history, is an example of someone who was brave enough to say, ‘there’s something more important.’ It’s the cautionary tale so many athletes like Biles, Naomi Osaka and Michael Phelps are recognizing. For Thompson, it, “sheds light upon the need for spiritual fulfillment and also spiritual care for these athletes.”
There are many people of faith that believe the Boy Scouts of America has lost its way. Where once the organization was almost a rite of passage for boys on the way to becoming men, today it is not just about boys or affirming their strengths. Girls are also invited to join, even though there’s such an organization called, “Girl Scouts”. And the BSA is not about character based on serving God and country, but about individual achievements. Then there’s the tragedy of thousands of boys who now claim they were sexually abused by troop leaders or older boys in authority positions, leading to hundreds of millions of dollars paid out to settle those claims. Whatever you think of the BSA, there has arisen an alternative to the 110-year-old organization. It’s called Trail Life USA. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Trail Life’s CEO Mark Hancock talks about how his organization is growing by leaps and bounds, while BSA’s membership is shrinking. Hancock has said that the Boy Scouts of America abandoned its ‘laser focus on boys’, it’s faith-based mission, and it’s moral compass. Trail Life has made all three parts of its core principles. It is unapologetically Christ centered in its mission to help boys cultivate their God-given strengths. And they’re making it clear that the phrase, ‘boys will be boys’ means something positive.
Dr. Michael Guillen – physicist, astronomer and mathematician – lays to waste the old debate about whether science and religion get along. Not only are they compatible, but it is because of science that he became a Christian. In fact, it was the paradoxical words of Jesus, “Love your enemies,” “The meek shall inherit the world,” “The first shall be last,” that he saw the scientific concept of a Quantum Vacuum come to life. Guillen is the former science correspondent for ABC News and was a professor of physics at Harvard for eight years. Bottom line, he’s no slouch when it comes to understanding science. He lives and breathes it daily. He was once an atheist but began exploring the various forms of spirituality. He tried Transcendental Meditation, Buddhism, Hinduism, Islam, Judaism, and then finally found Christianity. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Guillen talks about his new book, “Believing Is Seeing: A Physicist Explains How Science Shattered His Atheism and Revealed the Necessity of Faith.” It is science that helped him find his faith, and it is his faith that lets him see science as God’s creation.
The question for all politicians– and the politically engaged– who also claim to be people of faith, is: Does your faith inform your politics, or does your politics inform your faith? It doesn’t matter from which side of the aisle you ponder your political positions; it is difficult to mix your faith with your political convictions. Our greatest example could probably be President Abraham Lincoln, who lived out the gospel of grace and forgiveness to its truest application in a sin-filled world, and it cost him his life. Bill Haslam, former two-term governor of Tennessee, is a strong advocate for staying true to your faith, though it may cause you to make unpopular decisions, even within your own party. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Governor Haslam talks about his new book, “Faithful Presence: The Promise and the Peril of Faith in the Public Square.” He also weighs in on the tumult around Hobby Lobby’s Independence Day newspaper ad that some critics claimed was a call for a Christian government, as well as on the IRS denying tax-exempt status to the Texas based, Christians Engaged, because their biblical values were a repeat of the Republican agenda. These two examples are how politics and faith are clashing in the civic arena. And it’s why people of faith need to be more involved, not less. Governor Haslam says for right now, he has no political ambitions, but he still wants to be a public servant, taking his faith boldly into the public square, and encouraging others to do the same.
America is 245 years old! Happy Birthday! We’ve come a long way and become a great nation and a great power. But with great power comes great responsibility. And America could be at a defining moment in history. According to historian Os Guinness, all our struggles and founding documents have as their fuel the covenant the Israelites made with God at Mt. Sinai. Freedom comes from God. Not from man. The only true freedom in this world has as its author, The Almighty. The signers of the Declaration of Independence at the Second Continental Congress of July 4th, 1776 knew that. But today, many of our citizens of this Republic do not know that, or if they do, are trying to re-write history in their own image. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, historian and best-selling author Os Guinness talks about his new book, The Magna Carta of Humanity: Sinai’s Revolutionary Faith and The Future of Freedom. He makes the claim that today’s Woke ideology, various forms of Critical Theory, and the tearing down of historic statues is not part of our 1776 roots and the American war of Independence from Great Britian, but on the French Revolution, whose foundation is the Enlightenment and secularism. But Guinness goes a step further and says God’s Law is the only source of true freedom. Because the paradox of freedom is that it must be ordered, otherwise freedom begets anarchy. If there are no rules to follow, laws to obey, then freedom itself becomes an oppressive cudgel, morphing into a ‘will to power.’ Are we there yet? Listen and find out.
The media have been in an uproar over the U.S. Bishops’ vote to create a document on Eucharistic consistency. That phrase basically means the faithful should be consistent concerning what they believe and how they conduct their lives. Sounds simple, but the underlying intent, which most articles focus on, is whether it’s a document that will give bishops nationwide the theological muscle to deny Catholic politicians like President Joe Biden and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi, Holy Communion for supporting abortion rights. But there’s a problem here. Most Catholics don’t believe, or are ignorant, of what the Church teaches about the Eucharist. In 2019, a Pew study revealed that only a third of Catholics believe that the bread and wine are transformed during the Mass into the actual Body and Blood of Jesus Christ, as the Church teaches. So clearly two thirds, believe what the Protestants teach, which is the elements represent the Body and Blood. So Bishops have to do more than create a document. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, San Francisco’s Archbishop Salvatore Cordileone, explains what the bishops did, and what they did not do. He also answers critics in Congress – about 60 Catholic Democrats, who issued a Statement of Issues lambasting the Bishops over their decision. As the saying goes, Religion and Politics make odd bedfellows. And nowhere has that become more apparent than this current divisiveness within Catholicism.
Michael W. Smith’s greatest cheerleader in life was his father, Paul Smith. He supported him in his passion for music, even though his own talents were in sports. What a unique relationship that is. A father who not only lets his son find his passion in life, even if its different from his own.. but encourages him to pursue it wholeheartedly. But that was Paul Smith, who passed away in 2015, leaving the Grammy Award winning Christian artist with a huge hole in his heart. However, Paul Smith gave his son a legacy that death could not take away; a faith in his Heavenly Father, that will last into eternity. Fathers have an incredibly powerful influence on their children. Even their absence is felt as a profound loss in a child’s soul. And then there are fathers who are physically present but emotionally distant, unapproachable, or even abusive. They too have a profound influence on their children. Theological experts say, a child’s view and relationship with their earthly father has a correlation to how the child sees God. Authoritative or permissive, judgmental, or loving… all these have influence. Michael W. Smith, says his father, although not perfect, was the quintessential father, who sacrificed so much of himself to serve not only him but his mother and grandmother. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Smith talks about his father and the book he just wrote that honors him called, ‘The Way Of The Father: Lessons From My Dad, Truths About God”. The truth is, we all need our fathers. They play a vital role in our lives, yet today’s society would have us believe they are unnecessary. But every study shows that when fathers are present, supportive, and loving, to their children, children thrive. The tragedy of course is, not all children have earthly fathers they can rely on. And that, says Michael W. Smith is why a Heavenly Father is all the more important. To know the Father is to be known down to the depths of your being, and at the same time, loved unconditionally. That is the Way of Thee Father.
Before our Constitution, or the Declaration of Independence… and before any Bill of Rights… there was the Mayflower Compact. It was a covenant between a group of religious castaways from Europe and an Almighty God, the God of the Judeo-Christian Bible. The group had no power or influence, and when they arrived on the shores of New England more than 400 years ago, before leaving the vessel they’d lived in for months, they wrote a pact, a covenant…with God. Historian Dr. Marshall Foster says, “the covenant is between themselves and God to obey His word…to obey God and to love one another and to build a constitutional republic. That’s actually what they built.” In today’s society there’s heated debate about America’s roots, about whether it is a Christian nation or one that is primarily secular and pluralistic when it comes to religious beliefs. But, if covenants have power, like that of Noah’s, Abraham’s, Moses’s and Jesus’s…. we should think soberly about the real cause of this country’s prosperity. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Foster talks about his book “The American Covenant: The Untold Story”, that explores America’s religious beginnings that students will not learn in today’s public schools. It’s a narrative that says our “Economic prosperity, and individual liberty can only be attributed to the hand of God and the covenant between our founders and their creator.” And that every founding document had in its core the belief that God ultimately would be leading this nation. As Benjamin Franklin wrote to George Washington as the Constitutional Convention of 1787 hit snag after snag, “God governs the affairs of men. And if a sparrow cannot fall to the ground without His notice, is it probable that an empire can rise without His aid? We have been assured, Sir, in the sacred writings that ‘except the Lord build the house, they labor in vain that build it.’… I firmly believe this.” Dr. Foster writes, “The Convention went on to complete its task.”
As “woke ideology” makes its way through the secular culture, one author Noelle Mering says it’s actually on a collision course with Christianity. In the fall of 2020, at Loyola Academy, a tony Catholic prep school outside of Chicago, parents began whispering to one another about the loud and swiftly escalating political ideology pressing into all corners of their kids’ education. High-paid diversity consultants were brought in for the sake of training faculty and students on Critical Race Theory and Woke ideology. But many of the parents, some very progressive, realized the consultants’ message preached an agenda that is in direct conflict with that of the Gospel. Mering writes about the dilemma in an article in the National Catholic Register. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast Mering dissects the disease of Woke ideology and its infiltration into all communities, as an evangelization of a doctrine at odds with Christianity. She said after the article appeared she got calls from several parents around the country saying the same thing was happening in their Catholic schools. Mering, the author of the book “Awake Not Woke,” outlines three ways the Woke ideology assaults Church teaching: it rejects the individual person, even putting its ideology over parents’ authority; it rejects reason, by squashing honest dialogue in a quest for power; and it rejects reverence for the authority of God. Mering writes: “What is rejected–reason, the person, and authority–the three characteristics of the Logos, which is the mind of God, communicated in the person of Jesus Christ, who is the author of, and authority over, all. Whether explicitly or not, he is the ultimate target of the woke revolt.”
It may seem like two totally different topics, Memorial Day and scientific discoveries. And for the most part they are. But for Memorial Day it’s good to remember what this holiday really means. And also, when Historian William Federer writes a book about humanity’s scientific discoveries and the faith of those who discovered them, it’s good to talk about that too. So, on this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Federer gives us a two-fer: Memorial Day and the Miraculous Milestones of science. Federer is a walking, talking encyclopedia of history and faith. He knows about how faith has brought us this far and how faith continues to be the foundational stronghold of this country and the historical faith that compelled people to honor the men and women who lost their lives fighting for the freedoms we enjoy in this Republic called the United States of America. But the larger picture is that we live in world, a universe, a created order that is not of our making. And it’s precisely that ordered nature that gives us a clue to who God is. The Psalmist writes, “The heavens declare the glory of God.” What better motivation to explore how the heavens work? That is what brought Copernicus, Galileo and Kepler to their greatest discoveries. Listen and find out how faith played a part in man’s greatest scientific achievements.
On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Voddie Baucham talks about the ‘critical’ challenges now facing the Christian Church in its quest to be racially compassionate, and that evangelicals are teetering close to denying the authority of Scripture. Being a Black male who grew up in the gang-infested area of Los Angeles, Baucham has a unique perspective on this current cultural moment of Critical Race Theory, Critical Social Justice, and the Woke ideology. In his new book, “Fault Lines: The Social Justice Movement and Evangelicalism’s Looming Catastrophe”, Baucham does more than ruffle a few feathers. He plucks the fowl of all its plumage, exposing the false narratives of the movement that is fast encroaching on the Church. For example, the oft repeated statistic that Black men are killed by police 2.5x more than White men is statistically unfounded. Baucham sites two studies, one by a Harvard professor and another by the National Institute of Sciences, which found it to be false. But Baucham’s real point is that these false narratives conflict with the Bible. He says in “Fault Lines”, “I believe the current concept of social justice is incompatible with biblical Christianity,” and warns that “the current cultural movement is at best precarious.” Baucham could almost be considered a walking and talking enigma, whose life today is in stark contrast to his early upbringing. Raised by a single mother in the gang and drug ladened world of Los Angeles’ Watts neighborhood, Baucham was steeped in his identity of being Black. He played college football and considered an NFL career. Malcolm X was his hero, until he met Jesus Christ. Now the conservative Christian, father of nine children, who is the Dean of Theology at African Christian University in Lusaka, Zambia, is on the verge of becoming a household name. His new book lays out a scenario by which all will be challenged to check their prejudices at the door, and that racial reconciliation is not just about White’s making reparations for the past crime of slavery, but a collective effort of all of God’s children, made in His image.
There’s a crisis in the world today; the rise of angry protests and the primal scream of politics are evidence. Yet, while it’s easy to identify the problem, it’s difficult to find a solution. Ah, but the solution has always been with us. It’s God’s truth and God’s love perfectly bound together in the Gospel of Jesus Christ. Many theologians say Christianity is what built America, and its truths are what has sustained it. However, today’s culture has let the passions of self, dictate its laws. Identity politics is where we are today. As one great theologian said, “fire makes a great servant, but a bad master.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Dr. Michael Youssef talks about what is lacking in this world, faith in God’s authority. He offers a solution in his new book, “Hope for This Present Crisis.” He makes the bold statement that America’s turning from the Christian faith has been its undoing. And one of the main causes is happening right in the Church. Pastors themselves are watering down the Gospel to make it more user friendly to a secular society that is clamoring against its truths about gender, family and marriage. Listen to Dr. Youssef, founder and senior pastor of The Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, talk about the problem of cancel culture, indoctrination of students, and finally, the “Seven-step Path to Restoring a World Gone Mad.”
Boston College philosophy professor Dr. Peter Kreeft, is well known for his candid approach to Christianity and culture. He’s an octogenarian who has his hand on the pulse of today’s younger generations. That’s because he’s been teaching them for decades. This conservative, Catholic convert, speaks openly about what’s wrong with the world. And his latest book zeros in on the foundational cause of our dilemma, that is the cause after the Fall from Grace. It’s the fact that we’re not having children. And it IS a fact because census figures show the birth rate is at its lowest since the Great Depression. But that’s not the only issue Kreeft is griping about. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Kreeft talks about his newest book , “How To Destroy Western Civilization: And Other ideas from the Cultural Abyss”. It’s a sober look at how we in the West are destroying ourselves through abortion, yes, but also by ignoring God’s truth about why we’re here and our purpose in life. But not to dwell on the negative, he then takes a look at some of the most beautiful and heartfelt poetry in the Bible, the book of Psalms. In his book, “Wisdom of the Psalms,” Kreeft takes a deep dive into ten of the 150 Psalms that have the greatest meaning to him. For the second half of the podcast he talks about how these ancient writings that both Jews and Christians use for worship, can be understood more fully by today’s modern minds.
So you’ll have to wait to the latter part of the podcast to get the answers to “Who Made God?” and whether aliens have anything to do with the origins of life. But it’s well worth hearing anything Hank Hanegraaff has to say in the meantime. Hanegraaff is the Bible Answer Man who caused a minor quake within Evangelical circles a few years ago when he converted to Orthodox Christianity. It exposed two Millenia of growing fissures within the Church that Jesus Christ bled and died for. So, it’s good to talk about why there are these divisions within Christianity. And a blatant one is the date of Easter. Most years the Western and Eastern churches celebrate Easter within a week or two of each other, but this year, Orthodox Easter is May 2nd, four weeks after Roman Catholics and Protestants celebrated it. And it’s not what the Church Fathers wanted. If there’s one thing that should unite all Christians, it’s their worshipping of the Risen Savior together on Easter Sunday. The Resurrection defines Christianity, and while the date of Easter may seem like a small difference (as long as we’re all living in the transforming power of the event) it is one of many divergences that together has cut a wider chasm. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Hanegraaff explains why people who worship the same God, could have such different views of that same God and still call themselves by the same name. And yes, he will tell you, “Who made God?”
When you think of victorious women in the Bible, the one that’s usually NOT brought to mind is Eve, as in Adam and Eve in the Garden, as in the one responsible for the Fall from Grace and all the tumult that that unleashed on the world. Well, despite Eve’s one mistake (and it was a huge one) Sarah Jakes Roberts has “fallen in love” with her. It wasn’t always so. Three years ago, she began to focus on Eve after vilifying her saying, “You had one job!” and complaining that she should have known better than to be seduced by Satan into eating the forbidden fruit. But then Jakes Roberts began to look at her own life; pregnant at 13, married then divorced she realized, she should have known better. After all, her father is the well-known mega-church pastor and mega businessman, Bishop T.D. Jakes. Only through God’s grace could Eve become the hero. And she did. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Sarah Jakes Roberts talks about her new book, “Women Evolve: Break Up with Your Fears & Revolutionize Your Life” and how Eve’s story is the narrative of victory for all women whose pasts have crippled their view of the future. Jakes Roberts unearths an exegesis of Eve’s Divine role in the narrative of redemption, and how it is a battle cry of triumph for all women. Jakes Roberts herself now co-pastors two churches with her husband Toure’ Roberts, founded the new Women Evolve Lifestyle Movement, and explains that the Bible’s mandate “to be fruitful and multiply” doesn’t just apply to bearing children, but to the cultivating of talents and the gifts God has given you for the flourishing of family and community.
Christianity and Judaism share a great deal of history and faith. Just look at how many times the dates of Passover and Easter coincide. It’s because Jesus’s Last Supper in the upper room, was in fact the Jewish Passover meal in which He makes a new covenant, through His anticipated sacrifice. Instead of the lamb’s blood on the doorframes, it is Jesus’s blood shed on the Cross. But there’s far more that Christians and learn by unlocking the numerical code that’s all through the Bible and particularly the Old Testament. Rabbi Jason Sobel, a Messianic Jewish Rabbi, has explored and rolled away the stones of this mathematical mystery in his new book Mysteries of the Messiah: The Rock, The Road, The Rabbi. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Rabbi Sobel talks about how the Hebrew alphabet is key to understanding the numeric code (For example the number is of great significance as the number of new beginnings), that the five books of Moses– the Pentateuch– is immersed in figures of faith, knowledge and prophetic wisdom. He also talks about his spiritual mentorship of iconic actress, singer, author and talk show host Kathie Lee Gifford, and how he himself, a Jewish boy from New Jersey, came to be a follower of Yeshua, aka, Joshua, aka… Jesus Christ, The Messiah.
We are living in some of the most fractured and contentious times where religion has morphed into politics and politics has become a religion. And this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, is a living reality of that fact. Let me explain. On Easter Sunday, the newly elected Georgia Senator Raphael Warnock’s tweeted a greeting that caused a storm of criticism because it trampled on the core tenet of Christianity, the resurrection of Jesus Christ. It might be forgiven if Warnock were a run of the mill politician unschooled in theological doctrine. But Warnock is also an ordained minister who leads Ebenezer Baptist Church, the iconic house of worship where Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr preached. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, two ministers were supposed to discuss the tweet: one Black the other White. And not just any two. Odell Cleveland and Alex McFarland have a podcast called “I Hear Ya!” where any and all controversial subjects about race, religion and culture could be discussed in a faithful way, true to the Gospel. But apparently there are some subjects too controversial or perhaps too close to offending racial strongholds. Only Alex (who is White) came on to discuss the situation. Listen to the podcast, and understand how deep the divide is between race, politics and the Christian faith.
Easter celebrates the Resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead; it is the cornerstone of Christianity. But what’s more, it’s what gives Christianity its power, ‘incomparably great power.’ For too long many Christian churches have treated the miracle of the Resurrection as something akin to the frosting on the cake or a high-five in the end-zone. It’s celebrated once a year, but pastor and theologian Dr. Timothy Keller says the Resurrection is something we can and should live out daily. For if the Resurrection happened, it changes everything, “how we conduct relationship, our attitudes toward wealth and power, how we work in our vocations, our understanding and practice of sexuality, race relations, and justice.” On this special Easter episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Keller, a best-selling author, talks about his new book, “Hope in Times of Fear: The Resurrection and the Meaning of Easter.” In it, he explores why the Resurrection gives the world still suffering from a pandemic, a hope for the past, present and future; that it makes Christianity “a historical, reasonable, and gracious faith; and that it is Heaven come to earth to begin the ‘restoration of the natural order,’ the world that God intended. Keller writes, “The Bible’s startling message is that when Jesus rose, he brought the future kingdom of God into the present. It is not here fully but it is here substantially.” Listen and learn how Easter is cause for a tremendous, Hallelujah! The Lord is Risen!
March is Women’s History Month, so what better time to talk about the women of Bible. Popular culture would have us believe that the Good Book treats women as second-or third-class spiritual partners of their male counterparts. But the truth is women play pivotal roles in the redemptive narrative of the Holy Scriptures. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Fox News Anchor Shannon Bream talks about her new book, “Women of the Bible Speak: The Wisdom Of 16 Women and Their Lessons for Today. Bream shares her insights and new discoveries about women like Sarah and Hagar, Leah and Rachel, and of course, Mary, the mother of Jesus. But what’s more, these women and the others she writes about, have something vital for women of today to learn from. Throughout their struggles and sufferings, joys and triumphs, these women showed incredible faith, patience and sometimes boldness. God so often chose women to be at the center of His work to bring salvation to a hurting world. And it’s no different today.
She has the voice of an angel – an Irish angel that is. Actress Roma Downey grew to fame on the TV series “Touched by an Angel,” telling millions of viewers each week that “There is a God, that He loves you, and wants to be a part of your life.” It’s a message that’s now embedded in her work with husband/producer Mark Burnett. Their mini-series on The Bible a few years ago became a surprise hit; a surprise to the secular world of Hollywood elites that is, not to Roma and Mark. Their latest offering is on the cornerstone of Christianity, The Resurrection. It’s a film that would have been released in theaters, but because of the pandemic it could not be. So they had a choice to either hold it for a year or find another outlet. And they chose the latter. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Downey talks about how the COVID-19 shutdown became the impetus to bring the film to viewers as another message of hope in a world hungry for it. She also talks about what it was like shooting in Morocco, and the actors and actresses who bring to life the story of how the Apostles went from despair and fear at the crucifixion of Jesus to joy and triumph as they live out His Resurrection.
Author Jonathan Cahn has written a string of novels based on biblical prophecy, and has yet another warning for America: we are doomed unless we return to God. Cahn, whose sequel book “Harbinger II: The Return,” speaks at a frenetic pace detailing what he believes the Bible says about God’s judgment; both the past concerning the Old Testament’s nation of Israel, and future justice concerning America. Cahn makes the point that while we can debate whether America is a Christian nation, the fact is that George Washington, the first president of the United States, dedicated the country to God just a stone’s throw from Ground Zero, the site of the 9/11 attacks. For Cahn that is no coincidence. Just like the year of 2020 with its pandemic, uprisings and protests are part of his predictions. For Cahn the words of 2 Chronicles says it all: “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways, then I will hear from heaven, and I will forgive their sin and heal their land.” Now the choice we have: believe it or not.
A new left-leaning Christianity helped Joe Biden win the White House for the Democrats. And now some Christian leaders like Dr. Frank Turek are accusing the Democratic Party of trying to mold the faith into its image, in the likeness of the Democratic platform. How else could supporters make the case that Biden is a “good Catholic” while advocating for the most extreme laws in favor of abortion? It just proves the culture wars are still alive and well and heading into overdrive as Turek, president of CrossExamined.org makes clear on this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast. Many may not like what he has to say, especially since he is a white, heterosexual male, the cancel culture’s poster boy for oppression. But Turek is fighting for Dr. Martin Luther King’s vision of not being judged by the color of his skin, but by the content of his character. You be the judge.
George Weigel is one of those intellectual giants whose brain bandwidth gives him the prowess to say something profound on just about every topic. However, his specialty is the Catholic Church, Christian Doctrine, The Vatican, The Popes (any of them), culture, politics and politicians. Plus, commentary on where we’ve come as a society and where we’re going. So his new book that pays homage to people who’ve influenced him, is well worth the read. And to hear him talk about it, is well-worth listening to. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Weigel, New York Times best-selling author and Senior Fellow at Washington’s Ethics and Public Policy Center, discusses his new book, “Not Forgotten: Elegies For, And Reminiscences Of, A Diverse Cast of Characters, Most of Them Admirable.” It’s a departure from his usual one-topic projects in that there are 68 topics, people, actually, (although one of them isn’t really a person). People like Fouad Ajami, a Middle East scholar; Vaclav Havel, former Czech president; Lindy Boggs, former U.S. Ambassador to the Holy See, and her daughter, TV journalist Cokie Roberts; and of course, Saint John Paul II, whom Weigel knew well and of whom wrote biographies. But beyond the book, Weigel gives his assessment of the newly elected President Joe Biden, who is only the second Catholic in history to be Commander in Chief. So, the discussion delves into the quagmire of abortion politics, and how Biden is getting heat from Catholic bishops over his promotion of something that is staunchly against Catholic teaching. What does Pope Francis think about Biden’s eschewing Church teaching? How will the bishops control what Catholics believe while the president journeys down quite a different path? These are all things in Weigel’s wheelhouse.
The Black Church is unique to America. Born in the tumultuous years of slavery, nurtured in the fight for freedom and civil rights; it is a political and spiritual powerhouse of shared cultural experiences of a community that has suffer the weight of injustice. But things are changing in the Black Church. A new Pew study found that while sixty percent of Black Americans attend churches where the majority of the congregation and the ministers are Black, there’s a large percentage that says race doesn’t matter, and that if they were looking for a new church, the race of the congregation or the ministers wouldn’t matter. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, lead Pew researcher, Dr. Besheer Mohamed breaks down the survey’s stats and explains what it means for the Black Church and what it means as the country moves forward tackling its most salient conflicts. Will the Black Church diversify and become more multicultural? Or will it maintain is distinctive style of cultural engagement?
She’s a native of Saudi Arabia, raised in a conservative Muslim home. But Nouf, who prefers not to say her last name for security reasons, has lost nearly everything she holds dear, because she converted to Christianity. She lost custody of her two sons, her wealthy family has disowned her, and she’s barely making ends meet. But she is also risking losing her life. In Saudi Arabia, converting from Islam is not only illegal, it is deserving of a death sentence. Still, Nouf counts herself lucky and blessed, because she is free here in America to live out her faith, and now wants to fight for other countless women she says are suffering in silence, fearing for their lives because they’ve converted from Islam to another religion. Nouf’s story is one of intrigue as she confronted the Saudi government; betrayal, because she battled her own family under threat of death. According to the founders of Unchartered Ministries, she is one of a growing number of women from Muslim majority countries who have converted to Christianity or other religions, either online or from underground missionary work. But Nouf says because she comes from a prominent family in Saudi Arabia, she can make a tremendous impact by speaking out, which she is eager to do in order to help other women who may think there’s no one who shares their fate. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, meet the woman who risked everything for the sake of Jesus Christ.
The COVID-19 pandemic still shrouds our world, darkening hopes for a brighter future. For many people it’s hard to see any light at the end of the proverbial tunnel, after having lost so much in the past year: loved ones, jobs, homes. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Max Lucado gives more than just hope for new beginnings, he gives concrete ways to be sure they’re on the horizon: trust in the light of God’s Truth. Scripture says, “In your light we see light.” (Psalm 36:9) and that, “Even the darkness is as light” to God (Psalm 139:12). Pastor Max talks about how he taught his young daughters an important lesson about how to walk in darkness. He blindfolded them and told them to walk towards what they knew was a source of safety, his voice. It was a spiritual exercise to learn the often-scary experience of listening to the light of God’s voice, while your world is in darkness. Lucado says it’s how he now counsels’ people today as the clouds of the pandemic and the upheavals of 2020 are still hanging over us. In his book “Begin Again,” Pastor Max says that because God is creator, He’s also the source of all new beginnings. So, it’s important to listen to His voice that says, “All things work together for good for those who love Him and are called according to his purpose.”
Every year for the past few decades, Open Doors USA releases its World Watch List, a top 50 lineup of countries where it is most dangerous to be a Christian. According to Open Doors president David Curry, there’s a growing trend of more and more people dying because they are Christian. It is one of the most under reported phenomenon, that despite what mainstream media say, Christianity is the most persecuted religion globally. The top 10 worst countries for Christians contains the usual cast of characters, mainly Muslim majority nations like Afghanistan, Pakistan, Iran. But the communist secular regime of North Korea leads the pack, as it has for 20 years. It’s secretive dictatorship makes it illegal to even own a Bible. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Curry talks about the new trends affecting Christians, that 1 in 8 are persecuted worldwide, that more people than ever before are suffering for their religious beliefs, and that countries like China, Iran, India, and Nigeria are using the COVID-19 pandemic to justify the use of common technology to create a dangerous world for religious minorities.
As of January 20th, Pastor Brian Gibson, a Kentucky mega church founder, was still in hiding and moving multiple times a day under protection from former Special Forces agents because of numerous death threats. It’s all because months ago at a Trump rally in Arizona, he had a photo taken with a man in Viking horns who ended up being arrested and becoming ‘the face’ of those who stormed the Capitol. On January 5th, Gibson prayed with Trump supporters in Washington, DC. The next day he listened to Trump give his speech. Then he returned to his hotel. From there he learned what everyone else saw unfold, as Trump supporters stormed the Capitol. But Gibson was never there. However, social media married the Arizona photo and the Capitol photo of “The Viking,” and now, the pastor who fought for religious freedom during the coronavirus shutdown, is fighting to keep his family safe. But beyond that, now some faith leaders worry that the mere association of being a conservative Evangelical will be reason enough to put you on a watch list. Media have called the attack, a Christian uprising. An article in The Dispatch that “a violent Christian insurrection.” The Atlantic also called the riots a “Christian Insurrection,” while Religion News Service reported that rioters were “Christian Nationalists.” Patheos, meanwhile, has claimed riots were the work of “White Christian Nationalists.” The Gospel of Jesus Christ belongs to no one race, country or creed. But Gibson sees that the Cancel Culture is like a dog with a bone. It won’t let go. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Gibson talks about what happened to him, and the mood that’s growing in the country that has made secular humanism the default religion of the nation.
The New Year is here, and the old is better left squarely in the rear-view mirror. Very few of us thought the pandemic shutdown would last this long; nor did we imagine the subsequent political and social unrest that brought levels of angst and acrimony rarely seen outside of times of war. But in reality, the pandemic’s Pandora’s Box, just exposed what was already present; a deep-seeded quarrel we have not just with our fellow human beings, but ultimately, with our Maker, God. And being aware of that breach will not only help us survive but thrive in any cultural climate. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Reverend Samuel Rodriguez, president of the National Hispanic Christian Leadership Conference, spells out how to live faithful and victorious lives. He talks about his book, “From Survive to Thrive,” and how the impetus to write it came as he watched his eldest daughter battle the coronavirus in a hospital ICU. He says, “Have you ever found yourself in a place where you say, Lord, I trust you, I believe in you. I know you’re real. I can’t explain everything, but I have truly no idea what to do next. And I reached that point, yeah, I reached a point, and a lot of people reached that point too.” Listen to the podcast and find out what happened, and how thriving can be your testimony of God’s sovereignty.
Today unmarried ‘parenthood’ is so passe it barely raises an eyebrow. In fact, it is oftentimes more celebrated than censured. And it’s not just single motherhood, but divorce, serial monogamy, and various other forms of lifestyles that create instability for impressionable young souls that crave love and acceptance. But in the rush to ‘cancel’ and malign the culture or traditional family values, many people ignore the truths about how children thrive. Enter Mary Eberstadt, a Senior Research Fellow at The Faith and Reason Institute. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, she talks about her article in First Things magazine titled, “The Fury of Fatherlessness,” and how she believes it is behind the rage erupting against established institutions like the Church, the Police Force, and the political protests witnessed over the last few months. In the article she says,”The riots amount to social dysfunction on parade.” Eberstadt doesn’t mitigate the causes behind the protests and is quick to agree they were legitimate reasons to protest. It’s only the level of rage that seems off the charts. This dysfunction tied to fatherlessness has manifestations on the political left and right; behind Black Lives Matter and White Supremacy. And it’s also linked to the growing separation from God, the One in whose image we are made.
Freedom of religion and freedom of speech are having a hard time pushing back against the Cancel Culture these days. Aided by social media behemoths like Google and Twitter, the Cancel Culture has become the new way to keep certain voices from being heard in the public square. In all its vagaries and impulses, it is essentially an alternative religion. It stands up as the voice of objective morality and truth but is itself subject to the political winds of group think. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Jeff Myers, president of Summit Ministries, talks about how he works with 16-to-25-year old’s, teaching them to live out their lives in defense of a biblical world view. The bottom line for him, is that the Cancel Culture is not just differences of opinions in a heated clash, no, this spirit of evil says emphatically, “You don’t have a right to think that way if it offends me. Therefore, your voice must be silenced. It must not be heard.” And Myer says, although the Cancel Culture is known to go after many different positions, religious voices are the most maligned and most attacked.
There’s plenty of snowmen, candy canes and elves to go around to help celebrate Christmas. But this year that’s been darkened by a pandemic, there’s a greater need to dive deeper into the true meaning of Christmas; to know that Light truly has come into the world. And we’re not talking about vague hopes for peace on Earth or joy filled greetings. It’s about the truth of Immanuel, “God with us,” and what that actually means. Christmas is the celebration of the birth of Jesus. As one pastor put it, Jesus didn’t come to give us good advice, to show us the way to God. His being born was “Good News,” of what has happened, that God has come to us. It is the sign that the Creator of the universe, who is outside of time and outside of space, wrote himself into the story of humanity, becoming ‘one of us’, in order to save us. On this Episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Jim Denison, founder of The Denison Forum, talks about Christmas during hard times. That, “Even amidst the pain and tragedies of the pandemic and the uncertainties of our political future, the essential truth of Christmas remains unchanged. Jesus is still Immanuel, ‘God with us.'”
For centuries, both the faithful and science-based folks have wondered about the Star of Bethlehem. What was it? From where did it come? Is it a myth, a miracle, or was it natural occurring astronomical event? The Star, as told in the Gospel of Matthew, led the Magi to a little town called Bethlehem, about five miles south of Jerusalem. It was a sign in the heavens that told them a King was born, a King that would be in the line and lineage of King David. Many astronomers believed it was a conjunction of planets. German scientist Johannes Kepler believed it was the conjunction of three planets, Jupiter, Saturn and Venus. But while astronomers today use Kepler’s exact mathematical calculations to map the motion of the planets, lawyer and Star enthusiast Rick Larson has taken it many steps further, and has found the link between the Bible’s prophecies, the motion of the planets, and the signs in the sky. The heavens do indeed “declare the glory of God,” as Psalm 19 announces. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Larson gives a synopses of his findings, which are in his film Star of Bethlehem, and his website bethlehemstar.com, which gives even more details of tying God’s message to us, to the motion of the planets.
“Is suffering the price we pay for loving?” It’s a question author Amy Orr-Ewing explored from personal grief, as she tried to understand, “Why, if there’s a loving God, would we experience misery and misfortune? Are love and pain forever woven together in an eternal fabric?” Ewing says, that when believers in God go through pain and suffering it causes them to doubt that God really loves them, that God cares. The question is, “How could God let this happen?” Many people are asking that question today in the midst of a pandemic that has taken millions of lives. Ewing is the President of Oxford Centre for Christian Apologetics, and is the author of, “Where is God in all the suffering?” She wrote the book after a close friend, a young mother of three, died of the coronavirus. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Ewing explains that hardship is not an interruption, but a reality in life; and that we only have two choices in how to react to it; we can either run away from God, or towards God. She contends that only a loving God can make sense of the suffering and the brokenness in this world. She says, “It’s only with love as part of our mindset that we actually even really ask the question at all, ‘how can this be happening?’ The question itself actually points us towards God, not away from him.”
It’s not about reinventing yourself, because you already have within you all the gifts and talents you need. What you need is faith to develop them, nurture them, and watch them grow. That is the message of Kathie Lee Gifford: talk show host, singer, composer, actress, author, and theologian. She is a one-woman whirlwind of possibilities and accomplishments. But it’s her life-long faith in Jesus Christ that stands out as the real fuel igniting her boundless energy. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, the iconic, Kathie Lee talks about her just-released book, “It’s Never Too Late,” and the next phase of her life: after Regis, after Frank, after NBC and so on. Now living in Nashville, she reflects on the great times in her life and also the moments of darkness, but the light is always with her. And she has advice on how even when life seems over, you can begin again and thrive!
The Christian Church is built on the foundation of forgiveness; of Jesus Christ’s death on the Cross to atone for the world’s sins. Yet many Christians are not really schooled in the mechanics of forgiveness. It is quite vital not only for health and mental stability, but also as a tenet of the faith. It is the Lord’s Prayer that asks God, “Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those…” While we say the prayer often, we still harbor un-forgiveness to those who have hurt us, maligned us, divorced us, the list is seemingly endless. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, best-selling author and President of Proverbs 31 Ministries, Lysa TerKeurst talks about her new book, “Forgiving What You Can’t Forget,” just in time for Holiday gatherings and the old family conflicts that may flare up. Lysa speaks from experience. Hurt by her husband’s infidelity, she had to learn what it really meant to forgive. She answers the questions, “What do you do about the people who never say they are sorry?” and, “Is there anything that is unforgiveable?” Lysa helps people understand that “Forgiveness is more satisfying than revenge,” and that “Your offender is also suffering from pain.” It is time to be grateful for the power to Forgive.
He used to hustle his way through life. Had his first drink at 8 years of age and it was downhill from there for the next decade and a half. Jim Wahlberg is not nearly as famous as his actor brothers, Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights, Deepwater Horizon) and Donnie Wahlberg (Blue Bloods), but he is just as driven. And his zeal has taken him from the very depths of life’s darkest moments in jail, to the heights of the light of faith. The Boston native is one of nine children of an Irish Catholic family; but didn’t know what real faith in Jesus Christ meant until he met a priest while in prison. Jim thought he could con the priest, turns out the priest conned him. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Wahlberg talks about his new book, “The Big Hustle,” and his path from drugs and jail to his work now as a filmmaker, writing and producing short films about drug addiction and how faith in God is truly the only way to a drug-free life.
Theodore McCarrick was one of the most powerful priests in American Catholicism, rising to the rank of Cardinal and Archbishop of Washington, D.C. But now in the wake of the Vatican’s two-year investigation into his sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable Seminarians, it’s clear that this darling of the Church was really a demon. He was a ‘predator and pathological liar”, to quote eminent scholar George Weigel. But what’s also clear from the report, is that McCarrick did not rise in a vacuum. He had help, unwitting partners in his quest for prestige and position. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Matthew Bunson, executive editor or EWTN News, dissects the Vatican report and unravels the painful truths about how McCarrick’s charm and good nature, masked a more sinister, and really sinful part of his personality. But now that McCarrick’s deadly deeds have been exposed, what now for the Catholic Church? How do bishops move forward? Bunson breaks it all down, as well as wraps up a post-election analysis on the second Catholic ever elected President of the United States; but one who is advancing agendas that are against Church teachings.
You might call him the Billy Graham of the Catholic world. Fr. Patrick Peyton coined the phrase, “The family that prays together, stays together;” a dynamic message that energized Catholics and other Christians in the mid 20th Century. Fr. Peyton drew tens of thousands to his prayer crusades around the globe. Hollywood also, believe it or not, bowed to his calling. His radio show guest lineup was A listers of Tinsel Town’s elite like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Joan Crawford. It’s certainly not bad for a poor, uneducated Irish immigrant who began life in America working as a janitor at a Cathedral in Pennsylvania. Fr. Peyton experienced his own miraculous healing from Tuberculosis, through the power of prayer to the Lady of the Rosary. It ignited in him a passion for prayer and its power to heal the wounds of a person and a nation. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Fr. David Guffey will talk about this charismatic figure and the new documentary film he produced called, “Pray: The Story of Fr. Patrick Peyton.”
Halloween is one of the most fun childhood events; dressing up and trick-or-treating is a yearly ritual. But lost in the festivities is the possibility of real evil, real ghosts and yes, even real demon possession and infestations. Billy Hallowell takes a modern look at all three in his book, “Playing with Fire.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Hallowell talks about the real-life demon possession of a teenage boy in 1949 that was the inspiration behind the 1973 movie “The Exorcist,” as well as more recent accounts of possessions and exorcisms. While all of it is spine tingling and alarming, what should give us hope and strength is what the Bible has to say about spiritual evil and how it is to be dealt with. Hallowell says modern people may scoff at religion, but still believe in ghosts and the paranormal. And certainly, Hollywood is cashing in on our obsession with the occult. But the Scriptures never take such beliefs lightly and warns about assigning the devil too much power, or too little. In the end, the solution is to “Put on the full armor of God so that you can take your stand against the devil’s schemes.”
On November 11th, 1620 Christian Pilgrims from Europe landed on Plymouth Rock. They were fleeing religious persecution and the tyranny of “might is right.” They believed in the hope of self-government and the freedom to worship as they saw fit. It was outlandish and without precedent. The DNA of the freedoms we enjoy in America today, was conceived by those 102 souls tired of political/religious wars where the victor dictated how the victimized would serve their God. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Historian William Federer charts the prequel of the Pilgrims voyage on the Mayflower; the Protestant Reformation, King Henry VIII decreeing himself head of the Christian Church in England, the conquests of Islam and the Ottoman Turks, and the treaties and alliances forged to gain economic control and/or thwart an invasion. All of these parts of history coalesced paving the way for those handful of settlers to seek new land; finding it and forging new friendships with the Natives that would help them survive the harsh conditions. Then as it is today, the choice for Christians was greed versus the Gospel. They fled greed and brought a more just understanding of the Gospel of Jesus Christ to the New World, where it flourishes. Whether or not it continues to flourish may depend on its citizens not forgetting the past.
“Has America reached its expiration date?” That is a question Dr. Alex McFarland asks in his new book, “The Assault on America: How to Defend Our Nation Before It’s Too Late.” It’s an alarm, and it’s coming from someone who normally isn’t prone to sounding them. McFarland is a genteel Southerner; a theologian, historian, national speaker, Radio host, and founder of Truth for A New Generation. He’s traveled the country extensively and sees disturbing trends assaulting America’s foundational values, the first of which is belief in God and adherence to God’s laws. McFarland is no prude. He came to faith after many years of youthful indulgence in booze and music, culminating in a drunken stupor and waking up in a dumpster. He speaks from whence he knows and lends his experiential knowledge to young people on campuses all over America, understanding the pressures they face and the indoctrination they have been subject to in public institutions. But now those students of liberalism are adults working in the world, voting, becoming elected officials, and America is changing because of it. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, McFarland talks about how life is a privilege, that the family is foundational to a strong America, and fealty to a loving God essential. He also talks about Article VI of the Constitution that says there should be no ‘religious test’ to hold office. Alex emphatically asserts that, “objective morality is not the same thing as religion.” Because, “the founders of the country and the thinkers from which they drew believed in something called natural law.” Self-evident truths that he says America has forgotten.
“We’re Momming Today” with Jovina Young and Erica Martin, both girl moms, Ford executives, and participants in the first all-female off-road rally raid “The Rebelle Rally.” They’ll drive 1,200 miles in the deserts of Nevada and California without GPS in a Ford Bronco Sport. The race kicked off on October 8th, 2020, and over the course of 8 days these rad moms will not only prove their driving, navigational and daredevil skills, but also prove to be an inspiration to girls and women everywhere.
This is the second of two podcasts on the Catholic Vote. The phrase “So goes the Catholic, so goes the election” has been tried and true for the last few decades. Since 1972 Catholics have picked the winner of the presidential election all but one time. The Catholic Vote Part I featured Brian Burch, President of Catholicvote.org, an organization working to re-elect Donald Trump. Part II’s featured guest is John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at Georgetown University. Even though Carr is pro-life he is supporting the Democratic nominee and former Vice President, Joe Biden for reasons that are much more nuanced than most would expect. He expressed that view on a story I did about the Catholic Vote for Fox News Channel’s Special Report that aired October 2nd. As a consequence, he was lambasted with hate mail and phone calls. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, we talk about the reaction to his views and how they are examples of the divisiveness rampant in the country today. You may not agree with Carr’s view, but like Arthur Brooks said at this year’s National Prayer Breakfast, I will defend his right to say it. The discussion about respectful debate and discourse dovetails nicely into Pope Francis’ newest encyclical, Fratelli Tutti (All Brothers). We are all part of the human race; we are all made in the image of God and as such deserve to be treated with dignity. This is a lesson for both sides of the political aisle. It’s not a question of whether we’re a Republican or Democrat, but whether we see God’s hand at work in us all.
The phrase “So goes the Catholic, so goes the election” has been tried and true for the last few decades. Since 1976 Catholics have picked the winner of the presidential election all but one time. But this election has been hard to read. Experts will tell you, Catholics are not a monolithic. They are White, Hispanic, Black and Brown; Poor, wealthy, and middle class; all ages and sizes; and various intensities of beliefs in the faith’s core values. Also, Catholics are not prone to voting for a Catholic just because he or she is Catholic. That could be bad news for Joe Biden. But Catholics are also very concerned about racism, care for the poor and the immigrant, and the perceived character of their leaders. That could be bad for Donald Trump. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Brian Burch, founder of CatholicVote.org will explain why he’s campaigning to make sure President Trump gets a second term, and why he sees a Biden presidency as an existential threat to all that is dear to people of faith but particularly Catholics. This is Part One of a two-part podcast. Next week Part Two will continue with a pro-Biden Catholic.
The new accord recently signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain is a glimmer of light at the end of a long tunnel toward peace in the Middle East. Since the partition in 1948 which created the modern Jewish state, Israel has been in bloody conflict with its Muslim majority neighbors. But the irony of this new relationship between these more moderate Muslim countries, is that it comes at a time when Israel is seeing increased conflict within its borders, between Ultra-Orthodox Jews and secular or non-orthodox Jews. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Journalist and author Paul Alster expands on his Op-ed in Foxnews.com, which puts the new “peace deal” in perspective, seeing the odd reality that the country is fragile, not because of the forces from outside but from within. Religious freedom is always a delicate balance between personal autonomy and offensive actions, as the forces of human nature and sin often direct it towards unintended goals. There are those calling for the Jewish State to adopt a U.S. Constitution separating Church and State. But the forces against are gaining in numbers for the sheer mathematical fact that they -Ultra-Orthodox- beget more children, as many as ten children per family is not uncommon. Alster says by 2050 Israel’s population is expected to grow by 66 percent. This fact provides the backdrop and the jumping off point for his novel, “Kin and Country,” which predicts a possible outcome of the current clash, and how it could culminate in 2048 as Israel celebrates its centenary.
Believing in the power of prayer means believing that America can be saved from the many sins that plague her and divide her; past, present, and future. The Pilgrims who first stepped onto the soil of the New World 400 years ago were faithful that God had brought them safe from England across treacherous waters and their only task was to glorify Him as they journeyed forth seeking the freedom to worship and live out their faith. Such is the spiritual roots of America. But many today, like Times Square Church Pastor Carter Conlon, believe America has drifted far from her original purpose, as well as her fealty to an Almighty that has blessed this land with abundance. So, Pastor Conlon is returning to Plymouth, Massachusetts, to where those pilgrims first prayed for guidance, to offer prayers once again to God, to have mercy on us and heal our wounded and divided land. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast Pastor Conlon talks about the Divine revelation that lead him to call for this Worldwide Prayer Meeting on October 6, 2020, and why he believes the coincidence that brought him first to Plymouth was nothing short of a miracle.
In this nineteenth year since terrorists attacked America, the nation is reeling from another form of evil called the Coronavirus. Christina Stanton is a living, breathing embodiment of surviving both. She survived the yellow dust that engulfed her and her husband while running from the collapsing twin towers, and in the process grew in faith and learned to trust in God. She built a foundation on which she would face yet another evil, COVID-19, and more than two weeks in the ICU. Nearly a generation separates the two catastrophes, but Stanton sees her pain and suffering as a gift. Yes, a gift. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Stanton, an author and speaker, reflects on the faith that came about only because of 9/11, and how it confirms to her that God will make good come out of whatever evil comes our way. Now with lingering health issues from both events, Stanton writes of God in an op-ed saying, “…through these experiences, I discovered that while we can’t escape suffering, there is comfort and hope in his presence in the midst of pain, God can use suffering to accomplish good, and we can trust in our sovereign God.”
In 1917 three children from the village of Fatima in Portugal, witnessed what they said was a visitation of the Virgin Mary. The story of nine-year-old Lucia and her two younger cousins, Francisco, 7, and Jacinta, 6, has been the subject of intense investigations by the Catholic Church, faith-driven historians, and curious skeptics. The children were believed to have had the visitation once a month for several months culminating in the Miracle of the Sun witnessed by thousands in October of 1917. But before that, the apparition prophesied to the children about the coming end of World War I, of future wars and events, and even perhaps the attempt on the life of Pope John Paul II. The 1952 movie, The Miracle of Our Lady of Fatima, came out just a few years after Pope Pius XII venerated the image enshrined at the chapel of the Apparitions of Fatima. Just last week, a new film version was released. It’s called simply, Fatima. Rose Ganguzza, of Rose Pictures, is the film’s producer. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Ganguzza, a veteran filmmaker, explains how this film is made for 21st Century audiences; ones who have the perspective of hindsight, unlike the earlier version. The film begins with a scholarly figure played by Harvey Keitel, who goes to the cloistered order where an elderly Sister Lucia lives. He questions her about the actual events to see if she still believes in the veracity of what she saw as a child. The film then is a series of flashbacks to 1917 to Lucia as a child, the challenges to religious believers who face a crossroad between a comfortable faith, and one that demands sacrifice. Listen to Ganguzza talk about the actors who played the parts, why she made the film, and why this new version leaves out documented traumatic events the children encountered.
If there’s one thing Phil Robertson isn’t shy about, it’s telling people about Jesus, and that they need Jesus; that we all do. Robertson’s new book, “Jesus Politics: How to Win Back the Soul of America,” is a candid and blunt take on where the country has come from and where it’s headed. The “Duck Dynasty” star chastises his own generation of some 60 years back, that took prayer out of the schools, took God out of public discourse and relegated Jesus to the corner of ‘a nice teacher of love,’ instead of Divine, Creator of the universe. We’re only a few weeks away from the general election in which both presidential candidates declare they are out to win the soul of America. But to Robertson, that’s an evil claim, for there is only One Being that has a right to assert ownership over the human soul. On this episode of “Lighthouse Faith” podcast, listen to Robertson boldly assert, who is “The way, the Truth, and the Life.”
The recent deaths of Rep. John Lewis and Herman Cain represents something larger than the loss of two prominent Black politicians, although that is significant. The two men represent diverging paths of the Black vote. Lewis a Democrat, Cain a Republican. Both men are sons of the South and faithful believers in Jesus Christ; benefiting from the political power wielded by the Black Church, which historically favored the Democratic party. But in 2020, African Americans are benefitting from the hard-fought Civil Rights battles of the generations before, that of Lewis’s and Cain’s. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Tony Evans, author, radio and TV broadcaster and megachurch pastor, reflects on the roles these two men have played in several years of politics and civil discourse. But looking forward, Evans is also a prominent voice for “Our Church Votes,” a movement aimed at Evangelical churches to register members to vote their biblical values; to know the issues and each party’s platform. Evans wants Christians to know that, “God created government. So, if you leave God out of government, not only does it demean God’s name, it demeans God’s policies. And that will always lead to chaos.” And that, he says, is what appears to be happening in our world today.
A Father’s role in today’s culture has been more or less sidelined at worst, or undefined at best. But Author Tyler Rowley says a Father’s faith is critical to a child developing his or her own faith. A father’s faith that is lived out not just in words but in deeds in everyday life, has a tremendous impact on his children. Even when a mother’s faith in Jesus is strong, if the father’s faith is weak or non-existent, the child will drift from the faith. In his book “Because of Our Fathers,” Rowley has collected the testimonies of 23 devoted Catholics who draw a straight line from their faith to that of their fathers; like St. John Paul II, the first Polish pope, who as a young boy, watched his widowed father on his knees in prayer daily; or John Castillo, whose son lost his life confronting two shooters at his high school. His faith strong because of not only his father’s but his grandfather’s faith. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, we shine a light on the power and purpose of father’s with strong faith. We also look at what happens when a father has no faith, and the sometimes tragic results that follow for the lives of his children. Father’s have a crucial role in rearing children. Rowley wants them to know they must take their stand and be defenders of the faith. Their children’s lives depend on it.
Michelle Kim appears to be a normal, twenty-something year old, first generation American, living the American dream in California. But over the last few months the dream is starting to become a nightmare because of her membership in the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. The church has been labeled a cult, accused of brainwashing its members into submission, and claim its founder called himself Jesus. The church, with its 300,000 members, is based in South Korea but has branches in 20 countries including the United States. Kim attends the church in California where she was born. The South Korean church became the focus of the government’s blame for the Coronavirus spreading in the country. “Patient number 31,” as the 61-year-old woman is called, was a member in the Daegu branch. In mid-February she was diagnosed with COVID-19, a diagnosis made after she attended services. She thought she had a cold, but it turned out to be the deadly virus. It spread to 4,000 members. The government demanded the church hand over its list of members, including those outside of South Korea. According to the United States Commission on International Religious Freedom, “The government of Seoul locked down Shincheonji churches in the capital, and some mainline Protestant groups have accused the church of deliberately spreading the disease.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Michelle Kim tells her side of the Shincheonji controversy, and how being a member has made her fear that once people know her church association, she could be ostracized, lose friends, or worse yet, her job.
“God is eternal,” and everything else is temporary. That includes the Coronavirus, loss of jobs, relationships, even our homes. None of us want to be tested in losing those vitally important things in our lives. But the Bible assures us that putting our faith in God will help us navigate those stormy waters and come out stronger and better for it. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. David Jeremiah, author and founder of Turning point, an international Christian ministry, talks about his heartfelt thoughts on “Sheltering in God,” a book he was compelled to write as the world grapples with the COVID-19 shutdown, and millions of people dealt with (and are still dealing with) the loss of so many routine activities. Dr. Jeremiah says that although he can’t explain why God has allowed a pandemic to wreak havoc throughout the globe, he does remind us of what God has done; that the Bible is filled with God’s victories over difficult times. And ultimately, that the “Battle belongs to the Lord.”
One of the hardest lessons in the Bible we face is the reality that we are all sinners and “fall short of the glory of God.” Intellectually we get it; praise it, and preach it. But if we all know it’s true, then why is there a Black Lives Matter movement? Why is it necessary? Why is it so hard to see someone of a different race as fellow image bearers? It’s because all of us are prone to sins we aren’t event aware of or even recognize as sin; it’s the “crouching tiger,” concealed from even our peripheral vision. And one of the biggest sins that remains hidden to us as bot individuals and as a society is racism. The political phrase today is “systemic racism,” but that doesn’t begin to explain its origins. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Jim Denison, author, biblical scholar, pastor and founder of the online platform “The Denison Forum,” talks about the Bible and racism, and how Jesus’s teachings, if we really take them to heart, would end this scourge that has become a gaping wound in America’s soul. Both Dr. Denison and I reveal personal experiences about racial encounters we’ve both had, and how some have been scarring while others have brought healing. We both agree that the Gospel is the only source of wisdom for a world battling this sin of the heart.
Musician, Broadcaster, radio host, Journalist; John Tesh has a long list of accolades and accomplishments. He became a household name as co-host of the television show “Entertainment Tonight” for a decade starting in the mid-80’s. His classic good looks; tall, blond hair, blue eyes and affable personality plus that velvety voice gave him staying power in an industry that is fickle at best. But while his career seemed heaven-sent, underneath all his successes loomed a host of failures, missteps and doubts. His faith at first nominal, grew over the years with the help of his wife, actress Connie Sellecca. But in recent years bloomed with intensity as he faced the greatest challenge of his life, cancer. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Tesh talks about his life of struggles and triumphs, and his victory over one of the most dreaded diseases, which he recounts in his book, Relentless: Unleashing a Life of Purpose, Grit and Faith. Tesh is a shining example of how God’s power works with us, through us, and for us.
Faith begins in the home. It’s a legacy that Yael Eckstein, a young Jewish mother, believes is essential to moving forward in life. It’s her father’s faith that lives through her today. That father, the late Rabbi Yachiel Eckstein, began a legacy of bringing Jews and Christians together, not in spite of their faith, but because of it. Rabbi Eckstein was the founder of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, “the largest charitable organization helping Israel and the Jewish people.” He understood that the two (of three) Abrahamic branches, are bound together inextricably through their Holy books, the Hebrew Scriptures. What Christians call the Old Testament, Jews call the Torah and the Tanach. Now Yael has taken over the IFCJ after her father’s untimely death more than a year ago. But she says, only because her father taught her his faith in both words and deeds, could she be prepared to take the reigns of an international organization at such a young age. On this episode of the Lighthouse Faith podcast, Yael talks about how the faith of her father lives in her only because it lived in him first. That may sound simple, but Yael says giving children a faith foundation on which to build their lives, is the most important task of parenting. Yael writes about the importance of passing on one’s faith to the next generation in her book, “Generation to Generation: Passing on Our Faith to Our Children.” It is not just a ‘how-to’ book, but a mea culpa of her own grief at losing her mentor and best friend, and then moving forward with a new foundation of faith that had been slowly, over time, grafted onto his.
For a lot of people, myself included, the sum total of what they knew about Alexander Hamilton was that he was the face on the ten-dollar bill. That is until his life as one of America’s Founding Fathers, and the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, was made into a Tony Award-winning musical called Hamilton, that many people who’ve seen it call a religious experience. Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also stars as Hamilton, it is a rap and hip-hop retelling of Hamilton’s legacy as one of the architects of the U.S. Constitution; his beginnings as a poor orphan in the Caribbean, to his meteoric rise to political power; his nearly equally fast plunge to political pariah and his tragic untimely death in a duel with a political rival. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Kansas Pastor Kevin Cloud talks about the ‘religious experience’ audiences are feeling watching the show. He was so moved by its spiritual power of grace, forgiveness and mercy that he wrote a book about it called, “God And Hamilton: Spiritual Themes From the Life of Alexander Hamilton and the Broadway Musical He Inspired.” For five years Hamilton has been the hottest ticket on Broadway. It’s been sold out for months even before the COVID-19 pandemic forced the lights to go dark on the Great White Way. However, just in time for the Fourth of July, Disney will stream the show on July 3rd with the original cast. Listen to the podcast, then watch the show. Happy Birthday America!
You can either be comforted by the biblical prophecies that Jonathan Cahn writes and speaks about, or you could become extremely fearful. Lately there has been an almost laser focus on whether the Coronavirus is a sign that the end of the world is near. Cahn is world known as a “pastor and rabbi,” who “caused an international stir with the release of his first book “The Harbinger,” which became an instant New York Times best seller. He has written several books since and each one takes modern events and weaves them into divine providence. He is called the prophetic voice of this generation, known “for opening the deep mysteries of Scripture.” In this episode of Lighthouse Faith Podcast, Cahn divulges whether the COVID-19 pandemic was predicted in the Bible, and whether it is God’s judgment on a sinful world. That being said, there is a growing movement that believes our problems in the world are caused by us turning away from God, and Cahn is part of that movement that is now organized to convince people to Return to God. The Return, as its called, is a national and global movement to give us quote, “chance to humble ourselves before the Lord,” and will culminate in ten days of prayer in September and a gathering on the Washington Mall on September 26th. It is based on the Old Testament Scripture that says, “If my people, which are called by my name, shall humble themselves, and pray, and seek my face, and turn from their wicked ways; then will I hear from heaven, and will forgive their sin, and will heal their land.” (2 Chronicles 7:14)
The man at the forefront of finding a vaccine for the COVID-19 pandemic, is man of science AND faith. Dr. Francis Collins is the head of the National Institutes of Health which is racing to develop treatment options and a vaccine for the Coronavirus. He is also this year’s winner of the prestigious Templeton Prize, awarded to those making great strides in the area of science and faith. And Collins is in fact a walking embodiment that faith and science are a good team. He says while science has the tools to be able to dissect and observe the working of a cell or the age of the universe, it is not so good at answering questions that start with “why?” like “why am I here?” Dr. Collins is the author of several books including the best-seller “The Language of God: A Scientist Presents Evidence for God. (2006)” He also led the team of the National Genome Project, that 20 years ago mapped out the human genetic code, a 3 billion letter DNA sequence living in each human cell. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Collins talks about the urgency of finding a vaccine for the Coronavirus, as a second wave of cases emerge and spike. But Collins has good news. He says, “We now have a number of those that look pretty promising” in early phase one trials with a small number of people, and “we’re ready to start in July, the large scale trials to find out whether these really are protective and safe.” And he says he would like to offer people hope about the pandemic: “God is still in charge. And we’re going to get through this.”
We’ve not eradicated “Sin”. It’s very much still with us; events of the past couple of weeks should make that obvious. But the problem is to not recognize sin’s destructive powers is the reason we’re in this mess. It was sin that compelled a white Minneapolis Police officer to brutally restrain an African American man, killing him. It was sin that compelled protesters to morph into an angry mob bent on looting and destroying. It is a sin to not see that all life is valuable and sacred, that all of us are made in God’s image. Sin is a disease common to all of humanity from the beginning time, and yet, while we tend to see it in others we rarely see in ourselves. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Sam Rohrer, head of the American Pastors Network, expands on his OpEd, “In The Absence of Moral Restraint, Sin Begets Sin.” In today’s modern, technology-heavy world, sin is rarely talked about, it’s even laughed at. Yet there’s no better way to explain the evil of what has unfolded in America and around the world. Sin isn’t just breaking the rules, although it is that. It is putting ourselves in the place of God; of believing we have the right to determine right or wrong for ourselves instead of acknowledging an objective standard of right and wrong, of justice and morality existing outside of each individual. Laws can only do so much. It may give you the absence of violence but not necessarily the presence of peace. Moral restraint comes from fealty to a Higher Calling. Sin isn’t just breaking God’s commandments, it’s breaking God’s heart.
Last week, the world lost one of the greatest theological minds, Ravi Zacharias, after a battle with cancer. In Ravi’s last Lighthouse Faith interview from June of 2019, he talks about his book, “The Logic of God.” In so many ways this title typifies how Ravi defended the Christian faith. He based his beliefs in revelation, but also on reason and knowledge, taking on the most difficult questions because he knew that behind each question was a questioner seeking to understand the world and its meaning. His goal was not to win an argument, but to draw people to the saving grace of Jesus Christ. This podcast is a tribute to Ravi. Original post: Listening to Ravi Zacharias will make you see a whole different way of looking at faith. First and foremost he helps people understand that everyone, even an atheist, has faith. Ravi is the founder of the international ministry, RZIM. His latest book, The Logic of God, is a 52 week devotional that asks the question, “is it logical to even believe in God?” And then he answers it by revealing what is in us, who are made in God’s image. Ravi points out that while there is a coherence to God, that there are no contradictions in Him, there is plenty of contradiction in us. And there lies the quandary for humanity. Ravi challenges people of all different faiths on what they actually believe. To me he was one of those people who is wickedly ( in a good way) smart. In a room full of great minds, Ravi could be considered today, the greatest among equals. He understands humanity through science, sociology, psychology, physiology, and just about any other -ology you can name. Can we live without God? It’s not about whether God exists, but rather to what do we look to find our purpose and meaning in life.
It was a clash of cultures, bound to cause friction despite the overarching need to save lives. Samaritan’s Purse set up a field hospital in New York City’s iconic Central Park to help treat victims of the coronavirus. It was the first time the humanitarian aid organization set up one of its field hospitals on the U.S. mainland. You got the feeling that any other aid organization would have been heralded as heroic. But because Samaritan’s Purse is run by the very conservative Rev. Franklin Graham, the son of evangelist Billy Graham, its presence in one of the most liberal cities in the country and the world, was for the most part just tolerated. The governor of the state refused to waive state taxes for the medical staff’s meager salaries. There were protests from civil rights groups. And the City Commission on Human Rights launched an investigation to make sure all people were treated equally; spurred by the fact that the Christian-run organization requires all its staff operate on biblical principles. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Rev. Graham speaks to the controversy, and answers his critics.
A very wise woman once said, “You can become bitter or better from the things that happen to you.” It’s your choice. Pastor Keion Henderson chose the latter. His dreams of an NBA contract were snapped in a few seconds during a college basketball game after a career ending injury. At age 11 he learned that the man who fathered him turned out to to be a respected Pastor of the church he attended. He was raised by a single mother who worked at Taco Bell for $7 an hour. These are not the tools of success, and many times become an arsenal of anger. And yet, Keion has made the proverbial lemonade out of lemons. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Henderson, founder of the ten thousand member Lighthouse Church in Houston, TX talks about the cathartic process of writing his new book “The Shift,” about the unexpected shifts and interruptions in our life. It’s a book that took more than a decade to write. In that tome, Henderson vents all of his pent up adolescent anger saying, “I tried to figure out where in the world do you put this pain?” But by God’s grace he grew to become the man his father could not be, and also the Pastor his father should have been. Henderson says, “To resolve our problems and deal with our mistakes, we must be willing to be transformed by God’s process of healing and strengthening. The beauty of a gracious and merciful God is that He will use our mistakes as an opportunity to help us unlearn some bad behaviors, gain some new insights, and shift us into our destiny.” Henderson’s mentor is the well known Bishop T.D. Jakes, and like Jakes, he educates his flock on how to be fiscally successful as well as spiritually faithful. His book and words are for anyone who’s felt sidelined or hurt by life’s left turns and unexpected challenges.
Combining End Times biblical prophecy and current events is a precarious endeavor. But Dr. Mark Hitchcock has been reading the biblical tea leaves for decades now and written thirty books on the subject. He will tell you that coming up with precise dates and times of the Last Days and Jesus’s return, is not only irresponsible, it is not even accurate. Jesus Himself said no one “but the Father knows.” Still, one of the looming questions for many people around the world is whether or not the Coronavirus pandemic is a sign the end is near. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Hitchcock, a pastor and professor at Dallas Theological Seminary, explains how the Covid-19 pandemic fits into the Bible’s prophecies, or whether it does at all. He’ll explain the difference between The Rapture, The Tribulation, and what are the key verses in the Bible that prophecy what God has in store for His creation. All of it is explored as well in his latest book, “Corona Crisis: Plagues, Pandemics, and the Coming Apocalypse.” It is getting top billing over his other timely book about the Iranian nuclear threat, “Showdown with Iran: Nuclear Iran and the Future of Israel, the Middle East, and the United States in Bible Prophecy.” Both Covid-19 and Iran’s nuclear ambitions present perilous warnings for us and our mindsets and beliefs about God.
Christianity is a global religion. It is a faith for all races, languages and cultures. Yet it is viewed as a religion of the West, of Europe and America. However, its roots are in the East. And so much about its nuances of meaning are lost when the Eastern and Middle Eastern mind-set is not properly understood. So says, Abdu Murray, a former Muslim turned Christian apologist (defender), who has co-written a book with internationally renowned theologian Ravi Zacharias called, “Seeing Jesus From The East: A Fresh Look At History’s Most Influential Figure.” Both men were raised in Eastern cultures; Ravi in India, and Abdu in the Middle East. Both understand Jesus through the lens of their cultural heritage, which is closer in fact to the one in which Jesus lived out His ministry. For instance the East is a shame and honor culture while the West is mainly a guilty or innocent culture. The first is more communal, the second is more individualistic. What that means for how one views Scripture, the parables of Jesus, and all the beloved Bible stories, is huge! On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Abdu breaks it down and reveals realities that were hiding in plain site.
What might be surprising to know is that viruses are essential to life. However, about 1% at most, are what’s called ‘pathogenic’, they are harmful; they can cause everything from the common cold to the Coronavirus. So why did God make a world in which what can be so good for us, can also potentially bring our death? On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, noted Mathematician and Christian apologist Dr. John Lennox, talks about that very question. He has written a small but powerful (and timely) book, called “Where is God in a Coronavirus World?” Lennox says that things like Covid-19 are what’s known as ‘natural evil’. They are part of the brokenness in this natural world, like tsunamis and tornadoes. There is no human agent, as with ‘moral evil’. There’s no one to blame or judge. But what these natural evils force us to do is to come to terms with death; our own as well as those whom we love. But it’s not just about doom and gloom. God has, and always did, have a plan for the world He created. Dr. Lennox looks to the joy and the hope that God has promised as well.
There are two varieties of evil in this world, say Theologians. One is “moral evil”, like the 9/11 terror attacks, caused by a human agent. The other is “natural evil”, the kind with no human intent, but the sort of plagues like the Coronavirus existing in the world since the original fall of Creation. Christina Stanton has the unique experience of surviving them both. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Christina talks about her relationship with God during 9/11, and compares it to today nearly 20 years later, as she battled the Coronavirus in a Florida Hospital for seventeen days. In both cases she nearly died, but she faced them in totally different ways because of her relationship with God then, and now. She was originally a guest on the podcast last September when she released her memoirs of surviving the terror attacks, of how she and her husband fled their Lower Manhattan apartment with the clothes on their backs. Then she felt utterly alone, that she really had not known God, and did not understand the tumult he was allowing her to face. But today, as she lay in her ICU bed physically alone, she didn’t feel alone. That God was with her, that His promises are real. As she says in her diary, “The name of Jesus is powerful, and I know that. I invoked that power in a way I never have in the past. I really feel God is answering all the prayers that have gone up for me and my prayers to Him.”
Western Christians have just celebrated Easter, but the Orthodox and Eastern Christians will celebrate this weekend. They’re on two different calendars, but still worship the same Risen Savior, Jesus Christ. Pastor Steven Khoury lives in the Cradle of Christianity, Jerusalem and Bethlehem; The latter where Jesus was born, the former where He was crucified, buried and resurrected. The region is also the epicenter of the other two major religions; Judaism and Islam, and as such has a unique spiritual challenge to the Coronavirus pandemic. Khoury is an Arab Christian, one of a few thousand, perhaps even as much as 30,000 born again Christians living in Israel made up of Arabs, former Muslims and Jews seeking a relationship with Christ. Khoury founded and runs Holy Land Missions, in a land divided by religious and political conflict. And yet he says, all three faiths should be asking God the same question about the COVID-19 pandemic. “The question shouldn’t be why? But, God, what are you trying to tell us?” And the answer is most definitely that God doesn’t just want us to do right things and be good people, but to turn to Him as our foundational trust. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Pastor Khoury explores the spiritual impact of COVID-19 and power of faith in the land of God’s promises and covenants.
The Coronavirus shutdown of churches is now several weeks old, but the question of whether they should be shut and the controversy over the challenges to government authority in the matter persist. Dr. Russell Moore, President of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention, spoke on Lighthouse Faith podcast recently on the issue. Moore heads the public policy arm of the SBC and is urging churches to comply with government mandates on social distancing to stop the spread of the virus. But what about The Bible’s mandate to “not forsake the assembling of ourselves together.” (Hebrews 10:25)? It must also be weighed with Romans 13:1-2, “Let everyone be subject to the governing authorities, for there is no authority except that which God has established.” It’s in navigating these two verses that Moore speaks to as well as the issue of helping churches stay financially solvent while parishioners meet virtually, even during the highest Holy Day of the Christian calendar, Easter Sunday.
Easter is the Christian celebration of the resurrection of Jesus following his death and burial. The Bible quite clearly says in all four Gospels that Jesus died on a cross. He was crucified. (The majority of Historians have consensus on this fact well). What the Bible does not explain, is the process by which His body shut down; in other words, a medical examiner’s detailed description of cause of death. Many scientists over the years though have. Their findings usually point to asphyxiation, because the stress on the body having the arms extended and all the body weight not being supported, or another conclusion was cardiac rupture. But Dr. Joseph Bergeron believes it was something else. He explains his findings in his book, “The Crucifixion of Jesus: A Medical Doctor Examines the Death and Resurrection of Christ.” In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Bergeron talks about Jesus’s death, and also the theological background and historical context of His life, death, and resurrection; and that it should be vitally important to the entire scope of humanity. Dr. Bergeron is a doctor of faith who not only examines the “How” of Jesus’ death, but the far more important question of “Why?”
You might call the Coronavirus an expected and uninvited guest. That’s the mild version. You could also describe it as a devastating disaster striking the very heart of humanity’s trusted safeguards like the economy, for one. But Pastor Allen Jackson, Senior Pastor of World Outreach Church in Murfreesboro, Tennessee says, while we may be realizing that we’re more fragile than we thought, we should also have confidence in the fact that God is stronger and more powerful than we ever gave Him credit for. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Jackson talks about his new book “Intentional Faith,” and how being proactive about reading Scripture, regularly praying, and reaching out to other friends and family will give us new encouragement and hope. And we all will discover that “we are more blessed than we ever knew.”
The Coronavirus has altered life as we know it. This pandemic has brought us a staunch reality that we are not in total control and that there are other forces, evil forces, if you will, that can change the path we thought we were on. Does God have an answer for us? Pastor Max Lucado, always a voice of faith and spiritual strength, is offering these words of wisdom, “I’ve been telling people, feed your faith and your fears will starve. But if you feed your fears, your faith will starve.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Max Lucado, who’s authored several books on God’s promises, offers people hope as they deal with the global spread of the virus. He says getting news and information is good but saturating yourself with it is not. It feeds your fears. He recommends we counterbalance with Scripture reading, prayer, and finding an online community to connect with. We are venturing into uncharted waters. But the questions about God are similar to other times of great upheaval and uncertainty: “Is God angry with us? Are we living in the End-times? Will God prevail?” Listen to Pastor Max and the spiritual fortitude we can all benefit from. And especially listen to Pastor Max’s prayer at the conclusion of the podcast. It will bring you much hope and comfort.
If you’re reading this there’s a one hundred percent chance you’ve been born. That’s the good news. But it also means that there is a one hundred percent chance you will one day die. In between those landmarks, the beginning and end of our life journey, many of us will marry and some of us will be responsible for the births of other human beings. It’s the circle of life. Theologian and author Dr. Timothy Keller, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City, and his wife Kathy, have written three small books that give guidance for these events in our life where we experience our greatest joys and our deepest griefs. The titles of the small handbooks are simply Birth, Marriage, and Death. Tim Keller says, “These are key times in which you suddenly are jolted out of the kind of obliviousness to the big questions of life. We’re just so busy doing things, we never sit back and say, what am I living for and what is it all about? And why are we even here? You never ask those questions. You’re too busy, especially in New York.” And the Coronavirus has certainly made many people focus on not only delaying the inevitable and staying healthy, but also asking whether God has anything to say about a global pandemic like Covid-19? And the uncomfortable question about whether or not it’s God’s judgment on a corrupted world. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, the Keller’s give a very nuanced, biblical answer to all these queries.
As the world becomes more and more divided over religion and politics, it’s vitally important for people of faith to be courageous about sticking to the foundations of their beliefs. So says Dr. Robert Jeffress, Senior Pastor of First Baptist Dallas and a Fox News Contributor. His new book “Courageous” is a ten-step guide to helping Christians develop strategies for not just ‘living’ but ‘striving’ in a world that has become more hostile to faith. For example, to “bend, but don’t break,” “learn from the past,” and number one, “don’t panic.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith Podcast, Dr. Jeffress also talks politics. He’s one of President Donald Trump’s close spiritual advisors and supporters. He discusses the President’s mood right after he was acquitted in the impeachment trial, and also how to forgive those who persecute you. While many believe religion and politics live in two separate worlds, Jeffress makes it clear that faith is the fuel for any political position.
The Lenten season has begun and that means millions of Christians will be giving up something as part of the 40-day pilgrimage to Holy Week and Easter. It also means that millions will also be fasting, doing without food, as part of a Spiritual sacrifice. But according to Dr. Jay Richards, author of “Eat, Fast, Feast: Heal Your Body While Feeding Your Soul,” there are tremendous health benefits to fasting that ancient philosophers and Holy people have known for centuries, and that modern medicine is starting to discover. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Richards builds on, and reinforces, a recent New York Times article that said animal studies showed the benefit of intermittent fasting on “a wide range of chronic disorders, including obesity, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, cancers and neurodegenerative brain diseases.” And that “human studies of intermittent fasting found that it improved such disease indicators as insulin resistance, blood fat abnormalities, high blood pressure and inflammation, even independently of weight loss.” All the major religions require fasting as part of their faith journey. Richards says it makes perfect sense that there would be a duel benefit of fasting, “because God designed humans to be this unique hybrid of both physical and spiritual.” We should have faith that there would be a health benefit to the spiritual requirement of fasting.
Does America have an expiration date? And is the nation’s dwindling faith contributing to it? It’s a pretty depressing prediction but one with historic precedent. Syndicated Columnist and best-selling author Cal Thomas brings his wit and wisdom to this episode of Lighthouse Faith Podcast. His new book “America’s Expiration Date” is packed with expert historians’ observations about how empires rise and fall, and about their average shelf life. One of the growing comparisons is why they fall; not from outside forces, but because of a crumbling from within. And lack of moral standards and faith are two of the big building blocks that when tumbled, can bring down the house. Thomas is not talking about End Times predictions, but how history has written the expected future of Superpowers like the United States of America.
It’s considered one of the biggest miracle spectacles of the Bible, and yet archaeologists have strongly disagreed as to whether it actually happened. The parting of the Red Sea in the Old Testament allowed the Israelite’s to flee a pursuing Egyptian army and escape to freedom while Pharaoh’s soldiers drowned. It’s the stuff of blockbuster movies like Cecil B. Demille’s “The Ten Commandments.” Documentary filmmaker Tim Mahoney took 20 years investigating the biblical story. The two-part documentary will have a one-time showing as a Fathom Events selected theaters on February 18th and May 5th. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Mahoney talks about his film, “The Red Sea Miracle”, and his interviews with archaeologists and scientists on both sides of the debates, to bring both the Hebrew and Egyptian perspectives on the Red Sea parting, to uncover a range of evidence concerning the event described in Exodus 14. The Israelite’s freedom comes after what is now commemorated as Passover. It’s the last and final plague that God sends, the death of every first born. Only the blood of a lamb over the door posts saves them from death.
The Presidential Election season has officially begun. And amidst the mudslinging and vitriol that are sure to be constant companions of the political discourse, one author would like us to take a different approach. Pastor Robert J. Morgan is bent on helping people remember the foundations of faith that made America. His new book is a biblical American history lesson, called, “100 Bible Verses That Made America”. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith Podcast, Morgan explains that his reason for writing such a book, is to remind people that the Bible is woven in and through America’s conception and birth, and throughout its life.Starting in the 16th century with the arrival to the New World of the Spanish Conquistadors, a missionary named Antonio de Montesinos, quotes Mathew 3:3 to those who would treat the native inhabitants cruelly, recognizing that they too are made in God’s image. And in the prologue, reminds us that America’s first president, George Washington, kissed the sacred Scriptures at his inauguration. There are 98 more defining moments in America’s history where the Bible is quoted as a source strength, compassion, mercy and light. There’s so much debate today about whether or not America is a Christian nation. But for Morgan, there is no debate that the Holy Bible formed the basis of our Republic’s beliefs about freedom and liberty.
The Iowa Caucus is February 3rd. It kicks off the official start of the 2020 Presidential election campaign season. While a field of Democratic candidates will try to convince American voters that they should replace the current White House occupant, journalist and best-selling author Stephen E. Strang is making the case that Donald Trump is the best hope for people of faith, and especially Christians. In his new book, “God, Trump, and the 2020 Election,” Strang lays out what is at stake for Christians if Trump loses; mainly that a Trump presidency is the strongest bulwark against a far-left liberalism infecting the Democratic party and fueling a radical agenda; an agenda that marginalizes people of faith. He also has some unconventional advice for the President; one, that he has an untapped constituency among African American voters. This group, once viewed as firmly in the Dem camp, Strang is convinced they could be a vital part of ensuring a Trump victory in November. Strang is not looking through rose-colored glasses. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, he says he knows that Trump is an imperfect man; but that God has frequently worked through imperfect leaders.
Global tensions are once again giving way to talk of military conflicts and even war. No one wants that. But just like the years that led up to World War I, the great minds of the time believed humanity was far too civilized to engage in a long drawn out military engagement. They were wrong. The war lasted more than four years and left more than 20 million dead and at least that number wounded. It tested the faith of millions of soldiers and civilians alike. Some lost their faith, others found a deeper more vital version than what they had been taught as children. Among those were two great Christian writers who had a tremendous influence on 20th century culture. Their works are still read today as well as watched because some of their greatest writings were made into major motion pictures. J.R.R. Tolkien and C.S. Lewis. Tolkien wrote “The Hobbit” and “The Lord of the Rings.” C.S. Lewis gave us “The Chronicles of Narnia: The Lion, The Witch and The Wardrobe,” as well as a host of non-fiction books like “Mere Christianity.” Now, Kings College Professor Joe Loconte is producing a film about Tolkien’s and Lewis’s lifelong friendship. It’s based on his book, “A Hobbit, A Wardrobe, and a Great War”. Check out the trailer. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Loconte talks about the mythical stories these men created, about how their critics charged them with escapism for not facing the reality of war, but also, how they actually understood not just war but man’s penchant for evil. Dragons, Witches and Hobbits, are not mere metaphors, but provide incredible insight into the human condition.
For brain surgeon Dr. W. Lee Warren, the crossroads of science and faith is his greatest challenge. What his Christian faith tells him, that God can heal our diseases, and what his medical knowledge tells him about a fatal cancerous tumor, forces him to navigate a constant struggle. His greatest nemesis is the most common brain tumor in adults. It’s called Gliobastoma Multiforme or GBM. And it’s 100 percent fatal. After decades of research there has been no clue as to a cause. And yet, Dr. Warren must give patients some kind of hope that miracles do happen and they could kick this thing. But what he has learned in this struggle, is that he doesn’t have all the answers. And humbly accepting that gives him strength that he can still be positive that God could intervene. After all, sometimes God heals miraculously, and sometimes God heals through the minds of medical professionals like himself. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, hear Dr. Warren explain why his book, called “I’ve Seen the End of You,” is a message of hope, when faith and doubt are equal partners.
The New Year is full of hope and blessings abound. That is how Joel Osteen lives life to the fullest. It’s not that he believes he is one of God’s favorite people. Of course he certainly would be within his rights to believe it since he’s credited as being the fuel and fire behind Lakewood Church in Houston, Texas becoming the largest Christian congregation in the country. Osteen believes we all have favored status with the Big Guy, but many of us stop our own blessings by failing to tap into our greatest resource, God Almighty, the maker of heaven and earth. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith Podcast, Osteen talks about his new book, “The Power Of Favor: The Force That Will Take You Where You Can’t Go On Your Own.” He also talks about the miracles still happening today if we would only open our eyes to see them. And one event that could be construed as a miracle, his new found friendship with Superstar rapper Kanye West and West’s faith conversion that paved the way for their collaboration at Lakewood last November, and their upcoming second act at famed Yankee Stadium in May. Osteen says, “I believe when you honor God, God can open doors that you would never you couldn’t open. And I call it his favor, his blessing on your life.” Start the New Year with a resolution to see the possibilities of miracles happening in your own life.
If you ask the average person about the Ukraine, their reference point will probably be the country that sparked the controversy over the impeachment hearings. But what most folks are unaware of is the global shakeup from Ukraine’s Orthodox Church. And it may prove to be an even bigger deal historically. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Ukraine’s Archbishop, the Metropolitan Epiphanius of Kiev, explains (through an interpreter) the religious quake of the church gaining its independence from the Russian Orthodox Church.There’s politics aplenty in the landmark ruling called ‘autocephaly’, because religion and politics are so intertwined. Russia’s president Vladimir Putin saw the Russian Orthodox Church as his ‘soft power’. And what gave it great strength is the Ukraine Orthodox Church. Now that it’s no longer under his power things are getting tense. Is there corruption in Ukraine? Absolutely. But first, the church has its hands full, keeping Russia from reclaiming them.
A lot of Christmas Carol singing happens this time of year. And the old favorites like “O Come all Ye Faithful” and “Hark the Herald” are so well known we could probably sing them in our sleep. But these carols, while warming our hearts and bringing joy to the Christmas season, have far more theological weight and truths to them than meets the eye, or ear. Keith and Kristyn Getty, hymn writers and musicians extraordinaire, bring their sold out “Sing! An Irish Christmas” tour through New York City and stopped by to be my special guests on Lighthouse Faith podcast. You can also catch their performance on Fox and Friends this week. They’re educating churches in the power of music and hymn singing as a way to increase the faithful’s understanding of their beliefs. Through the incredible power of music, Hymns don’t just sit on the tongue, they burrow their way into the far reaches of the minds. And Christmas Carols are hymns celebrating the birth of Jesus.
Around the world, millions of Christians are celebrating the birth of Jesus this Christmas. It’s a time of light shining in a darkened world, of a star, of a tiny baby swaddled in a manger, and of a promise of hope that the world will become a better place. In this Fox News Radio Christmas special, Chief Religion Correspondent Lauren Green takes you on a slightly different journey of Christmas in order to look at the origin stories of some of the holiday’s most beloved traditions. The Christmas story itself and its beginnings in the first book of the Bible, Genesis, for instance. Also our tradition of Christmas Trees, Santa Claus, The Star of Bethlehem, carols and singing… What started them? Plus, a look at the faith foundations of Charles Dickens’ classic story, ‘A Christmas Carol.’ It is a special that will captivate and inform, and will help you celebrate the true meaning of Christmas, with Rev. Cheryl Kincaid, theologian Tim Keller, best-selling author William Federer, and director of I.S.M.I.L.E. New York Renae Baker.
The poem The Night Before Christmas‘, by Clement Clarke Moor, is one of the most read, most published and most memorized books of all Christmas literature. So say reports about its popularity. Although a runaway best seller, the children’s narrative that talks of a visit from St. Nicholas, has little to do with explaining the birth of Jesus, which is what many Christians are quick to say is, the “reason for the season”. Enter journalist and theologian Dr. Thomas Williams, a former priest, but still a devout Catholic, who’s written a religious version of the Night Before Christmas. It’s called “The First Christmas“. And it has all of the lilting and innocent narration of its more secular counterpart. It begins, “Long, long ago in a land we call holy… Was born a great King, In a manner most lowly.” However, Williams is not confined to writing Children’s books. He’s also hard at work covering the Vatican for Breitbart. And on this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, we talk about his not too hidden criticisms of Pope Francis. Here’s a programming note: you might consider pairing this podcast with an earlier one with Austen Ivereigh, a much more pro Francis Vatican watcher. But stay tuned to the very end, when Dr. Williams reads from beginning to end, “The First Christmas.” It may just become a Christmas classic.
How much do we really know about the birth of Jesus? While today’s Christmas celebrations are more about glitzy gifts and glamorous lights on evergreens, the real story of Christmas is gritty and even dangerous. And while most people are familiar with the main characters of the Christmas Story; Mary and Joseph, the Wise men and the angels. How many of us know about Zechariah and Elizabeth, Simeon and Anna, and Jesus’s own surprising lineage which begins early in the Old Testament? On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, author Dan Darling sheds light on these unlikely characters who fill out the Christmas Story. Two things are very important about the biblical narrative: one is that everything within the story has a purpose, so these characters, even though they are not the most prominent, have a particular part to play in how we understand the story. And second, lineage in the Bible is like today’s equivalent of a resume. Who your ancestors and relatives are, and what happened around your birth is tantamount to modern day networking, of helping others understand who you are and why it’s important. Darling takes a deep dive into the people of the Christmas story and talks about his new book, “The Characters of Christmas.”
JJ Wright brings to audiences a new vision of religious music. No longer is glorifying God confined to specific lanes of either hymns or popular praise music, or even Gregorian Chant. Wright, a native of Buffalo, NY and a music professor at Notre Dame, has combined them all including jazz, to create his new work called Vespers for the Immaculate Conception. It’s the kind of work the Advent Season has yet to see. And on this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, you can get a sample of some of the sounds of the work. Vespers will get a New York Premiere tonight, December 5th, 2019, at the famous and iconic St. Patrick’s Cathedral on 5th Avenue under the baton of Dr. Jennifer Pascual, the music director of St. Patrick’s, who has directed the Cathedral music in front of two Popes. Before you listen to the podcast, check out the trailer for the creation of this new piece.
As a journalist I’ve written a lot about Pope Francis, the Shepherd of the Catholic Church. But like hundreds, if not thousands like me, I have never interviewed him, much less met him. But author Austen Ivereigh has had the privilege of spending some quality time with the Bishop of Rome, and so his new book, Wounded Shepherd: Pope Francis and His Struggle to Convert the Catholic Church, takes on more meaning and purpose. Ivereigh understands the man, Jorge Bergoglio, the first Latin American pope. What’s more, he understands what Francis wants for Catholicism and Christianity. Francis, according to Ivereigh, is singularly focused on putting Christ first in the Church; that means converting its members to know and understand the “man of sorrows, wounded for our transgressions” as the prophet Isaiah said. While media and armchair Catholic watchers focus on whether divorce Catholics or pro-abortion politicians should receive Communion, or priests should be allowed to marry. Francis is trying to put Christ back in Christianity, of making Jesus the head of the Church in people’s hearts. But it’s taken a toll on him. Grumblings that he’s at odds with the American bishops, or that he’s far too liberal for the conservative wing have made him a lonely figure. Hence, the wounding of the shepherd. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Austen Ivereigh talks about his time with Pope Francis; about what he wants, what he knows and where he’s trying to take the Catholic Church.
The New Testament in the Bible is relatively short compared to the Old Testament; it’s about half or less its length. Yet its where the whole of Christianity is based. And if you’re confused, don’t be. N.T. Wright, British scholar and Anglican bishop, has written a nearly thousand page book on the New Testament, that will tell you about everything you need to know about it. However, in this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Wright highlights some of the bullet points of how the Old and New Testament relate; why Christmas — the birth of Jesus– was such an earth shattering and life-altering event for humanity, and why the claims of Christianity are embedded not just in faith but in history. His book, “The New Testament in Its World” takes us back to first century culture, to Jewish culture under Roman rule, to see how impossible it was for Jews with their worldview of centuries of Mosaic law –the Law presented to them through Moses– could suddenly start worshipping a person, Jesus. This is a must hear and must read for any armchair theologian as well as for those who just want to know more about the Christian faith.
A lot of women when asked about their relationship with their mother will answer: “It’s Complicated.” That’s because mothers and daughters have a special bond that also makes their conflicts that much more hard to work through. To say Sarah Mae’s relationship with her mother is beyond the normal complexities is putting it mildly. But that’s just the beginning. She’s a best-selling Christian author whose new book, “The Complicated Heart”, shares her personal experience growing up with an alcoholic mother, whose own insecurities, anger and dysfunction became Sarah’s. But that’s not the end of the story; because as Sarah says, “dysfunction does not have to be your destiny.” On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Sarah takes the listener through her healing and restoration that she says could only be possible because of the redemptive sacrifice of Jesus Christ. Faith is what makes her whole, and light always finds a way to dispel darkness.
The greatest generation as they’re called, has given us many heroes. But not every heroic story of World War II has been told. One though, is now finally being heard to its fullest: that of Roddie Edmonds. He served as a master sergeant in the U.S. Army and fought with the 422 regiment of the 106th infantry division. He was a prisoner of war, captured sometime during the Battle of the Bulge. A man of faith, a Christian, whose defining moment came when as the senior officer of the American POW’s in the German camp, he refused to give up the Jewish soldiers among his regiment. Even when the Nazi commandant threatened to shoot him point blank. He told him, “We’re all Jews”. Even his son Chris, a minister, didn’t know the story until after his father died. Searching for clues he Googled his name and it popped up in a New York Times article about real estate. A very grateful New York lawyer named Lester Tanner said a man named Roddie Edmonds was the reason he was even alive today. Tanner was one of the Jewish soldiers saved that day. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Chris Edmonds tells his father’s story as it is now in a new book called, “No Surrender.” He became close friends with Tanner, who’s 96 and lives on Manhattan’s Upper East Side. Roddie Edmonds was declared one of the “Righteous Among the Nations” by Yad Vashem, the World Holocaust Remembrance Center.
A father is not only needed in a child’s life, he’s a crucial part of a child’s mental and emotional well-being. Statistics show some disturbing facts when children don’t have a father. Eighty-five percent of prison inmates grew up fatherless. That’s also the case of 71 percent of high school dropouts and 90 percent of runaways. Pastor Louie Giglio founder of Passion City Church is talking and writing about why a child craves and yearns for a father’s love and affirmation. But there’s good news. Giglio says when earthly fathers are absent or have a dysfunctional relationship with their children, there is a heavenly Father who will always be there. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Giglio talks about his book “Not Forsaken’, and our fundamental longing for a father’s closeness, and to “understand the character of God in a life-changing way: as a perfect Father who wants you to live under the waterfall of His blessing.”
Our world today is not short on spiritual gurus who want to help you discover a hope and a purpose for your life. But what about a 4th century African priest? Would he have anything pertinent to say to you, to today’s people of the digital age or millennials about how to find your reason for being? Well, if the person is St. Augustine of Hippo, then the answer is a resounding, Yes! Philosopher and author James K. A Smith, takes a more contemporary look at Augustine and his famous tome, Confessions, in his book, ‘On The Road With Saint Augustine’. James calls it, “an invitation to journey with an ancient African who will surprise you by the extent to which he knows you.” While Augustine is one of the pillars and fathers of the Catholic Church, Smith actually compares him to modern day, pop culture icons like Jay Z, as the priest takes a raw look at who he is and who we strive to be in the reality of who God is. Smith says Augustine is less judge and more AA sponsor. He’s the kind of priest who wants to walk with us through our struggles to do what is right, because whatever it is we’ve done, he’s done it as well. He knows what it means to want, to strive for success, to work towards a higher goal, only to see it become an unsatisfying achievement that leaves us wanting more. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Smith explores St. Augustine’s take on sex, justice, freedom and Death. In the eyes of Augustine, we are all prodigals, searching for a way to come home into the Father’s embrace.
Few films today deal with the Second Amendment from a sympathetic or positive point of view, but that’s exactly what actor Kevin Sorbo’s new film, Reliant is about. Sorbo, who starred as Hercules in the syndicated TV show, and a host of faith-based films including God’s Not Dead and Let There Be Light, is now taking on one of the most controversial topics in our culture today: the right to bear arms, from a faith point of view. This independent film will have a one-day showing in theaters on October 24th. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Kevin is joined by his actress wife Sam Sorbo and they talk about the studio film industry which is dominated by big budget blockbusters, Hollywood’s uncomfortable but cordial relationship with faith-based audiences,and how independent filmmakers will be the best source for films that appeal to them.
Foremost expert on the Catholic Church, George Weigel, is an acclaimed scholar and Church analyst. Right after recording this podcast he took off for Rome to cover the controversial three-week Amazon Synod, or meeting of Bishops, going on at the Vatican. Although we briefly discuss the synod, George has bigger things on his agenda, like the past 250 years of Catholic Church history and why we should look at four very important events in those years that have had a profound influence on the Church today. First, in 1849 a Pope’s first step on U.S Sovereign soil; Next, the resulting document of the Second Vatican Council in 1965; Third, John Paul II’s return to Poland in 1979 giving a fiery sermon in an in-your-face moment to Communist leaders; and finally, in 2007, a little known document coming from a gathering of Church leaders in Brazil… one of the chief signatories, Archbishop Jorge Bergoglio, who would in a few years become Pope Francis. George lays it all out in his new book, “The Irony of Modern Catholic History: How the Church Rediscovered Itself & Challenged the Modern World to Reform.” Just listening to George speak will make you feel smarter and much more well informed about what’s happening in the Catholic Church, and why it matters.
She is the daughter of the most famous evangelist America, and probably the modern world has ever known. Anne Graham Lotz, the daughter of Billy Graham, has made a ministry of her own, for the generations who perhaps didn’t know the man who was once called America’s Pastor. Anne’s faith is not inherited per se. But it is in her DNA. It is definitely her own; bought and paid for through a life of enduring prayer, trust, and humility. Now in her early 70’s she has several life altering tragedies in her rear view mirror. Traumas that would crush the average person: the death of her father, the death of her husband of almost 50 years, and now the fight against breast cancer. But through it all she still has joy. And she credits the Holy Spirit with getting her through. Her latest book, Jesus In Me, takes a deeper dive into that mysterious member of Christianity’s Holy Trinity of Father, Son, Holy Spirit. It is Anne’s candidness about struggle and pain that is so heartwarming… and in the end, a wonderful positive voice in a world that has so few places to turn for real comfort and caring.
India is one of the most religiously diverse countries in the world. Although it is majority Hindu, it has some 200 million Muslims, as well as Sikhs, Jews…. and a native Christian population dating back 2000 years. In fact, Christianity in India has deeper roots than in America. Which is why it is an extremely disturbing fact to Bishop Joseph D’Souza of Good Shepherd church that his country has just entered the top ten list of nations where Christians are most persecuted. He blames a small band of extremist Hindus, who’ve painted Christians as an enemy of the state and have marketed the lie that Christians are involved in forced conversions. As President Trump this week sounded the alarm at the United Nations for countries to rally together in a shared value of religious freedom, Bishop D’Souza has the detailed forensics of why religious persecution has grown, and continues to be a threat to global peace.
If you’ve walked through a shopping mall or an airport terminal, you’ve probably whiffed the savory and sweet scents of Auntie Anne’s Pretzels. They are some of the most popular franchise eats around. But what you probably don’t know is story of the woman who started it all: Anne Beiler. Her rise from sheltered Amish girl to high powered businesswoman, is a unique journey filled with the pain of a toddler daughter’s tragic death, to years of sexual abuse from the very person she reached out to for help in dealing with the pain. But to talk to her today, she is happy and hopeful, because she says her Christian faith has given her a joy ‘that surpasses all understanding.’ On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Anne Beiler talks about her life story is told in her new book, “The Secret Lies Within: An Inside Out Look At Overcoming Trauma And Finding Purpose In The Pain.” The ‘Secret Lies’ is a double entendre. It’s about the secrecy of lies we tell ourselves that let abuse and pain fester. And, that the solution to that same pain from abuse, is exposing the secrets to the light of faith.
It’s sometimes hard to tell the difference between truth and fiction when reading Jonathan Cahn’s books. So much of what he writes about is based on real people, real events, and predictions for the future, that one commentator called him a modern-day Nostradamus. His new book The Oracle, is in line with his previous offers, “The Harbinger” and “The Paradigm”. Cahn says the story is merely the vehicle through which he delivers his message of biblical truth. He’s Jewish, but was an atheist until he researched some of the biblical prophecies tied to the Jewish tradition of the reading of the scrolls. “They’re appointed words that are read every week on the Sabbath in the synagogues.” This latest book draws on a biblical prophecy, from the words of Moses that predicted a foreigner’s visit to the Land of Israel and sees its desolation. Cahn says that victor came 150 years ago, and that it was Mark Twain, whose famous book “The Innocents Abroad”, described the desolation of the Holy Land. What’s more, the reading of the Jewish scrolls during the same week, read the words of Moses predicting the visit. You can choose to not believe all that Cahn ties together, but regardless, it’s a fascinating way to view today’s events, and even today’s politicians, like President Donald Trump, whose coming to power, is also featured in the book as predicted in biblical prophecy.
We’ve heard the harrowing details of the planes crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, of how the First Responders risked their lives -and hundreds of them died- to save people trapped inside. More than three thousand people died on September 11, 2001 after terrorists hijacked planes and flew them into the towers, the Pentagon and a field in Pennsylvania. But there were thousands of regular folks who fled their apartments, homes and offices not knowing if they would live out the day. One of them was Christina Ray Stanton. She and her husband were living the dream as New Yorkers climbing the corporate ladder of success. They lived in lower Manhattan a few blocks from the World Trade Center. When the first plane hit, they could see the smoke coming from the tower from their balcony. When the second plane approached, it flew within 500 feet of that balcony over Christina’s head. The sound rendered her temporarily deaf and knocked her to the floor. They grabbed the dog and fled the apartment with whatever they had on. In a matter of seconds they became refugees fleeing what seemed like a war zone. It took Christina a decade to talk about that day… and another near decade to write the book that tells the story of how 9-11 made her faith a reality. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Christina gives voice to her book, “Out of the Shadow of 9-11”, which tells an inspiring true story of a faith transformed.
Imagine you were ten months old when your missionary father is killed by the very tribe members he had come to bring the Gospel. Then imagine that his wife, your mother, took you as a toddler to that very same tribe to continue your father’s work. That’s either insanity, a love that surpasses all understanding, or a faith that can move mountains. But that is in fact the early life of Valerie Elliot Shepard, the daughter of one of the most influential Christian women of the 20th Century, Elisabeth Elliot. Valerie has published a book of her parents’ love letters called, ‘Devotedly, The Personal Letters and Love Story of Jim and Elisabeth Elliot’. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Valerie shares how her parents’ faith in Jesus Christ created in them a deep desire to serve Him, and also transformed their friendship into a deep love and eventual marriage, that is so different from today’s relationships. She is their only child, but they were able to fuel a faith foundation in some of the most prominent pastors of today, including Dr. Tim Keller, founder of Redeemer Presbyterian Church in New York City.
Alex and Stephen Kendrick emerged on the scene in 2003 with a small film called Flywheel. They were two ministers from Albany, Georgia, with a passion for telling the Gospel narrative through film. Flywheel, shot on a shoestring budget which wouldn’t even pay for catering on most productions… ended up getting picked up by Sony. The rest, as they say, is history. They soon followed with Facing the Giants, Fireproof, War Room and Courageous. Each film takes on the different challenges we all face; in our work, in our marriages and in the trials of being a father. Overcomer is about identity, and who defines that. Today the Kendricks are known for blazing a path in the faith-based movie industry, which has become a lucrative niche market. They talk about the battles and blessings, of keeping their brand focused on its foundational principle, which is to be a messenger of Jesus Christ.
The latest mass shootings in El Paso, Texas and Dayton, Ohio pose a quandary for pundits who want to blame right wing or left wing political views for the shootings that left scores dead. Political Science professor Paul Kengor, says it’s time to put blame where blame is due: the presence of evil. During this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, we talk about his recent article in Crisis Magazine called, “Giving the Devil His Due,” and how our modern culture is so adverse to the idea of a devil, or Satan, or just plain spiritual evil. But with the last two shootings having no common political factor, or no common sociological/psychological factors, it’s time to talk about a proposed real culprit, the Devil.
If your college-bound student is taking philosophy this fall semester, beware that they are in danger of losing what religious faith they have. That’s because some 70 percent of college philosophy professors are atheists, and they have no problem challenging impressionable minds on why they believe there is no God. But, and here’s the good news if you’re a person of faith, some philosophers are coming back to religion. In a new book called, Faith & Reason, editors Brian Besong and Jonathan Fuqua chart this new trend emerging in philosophy. In the book, eleven well-known philosophy professors divulge their conversion stories of why they found faith a suitable companion to reason. It’s mainly, for the simple fact that faith answered questions about why things happened, that reason alone could not make sense of. Questions like, ‘why is there anything at all?’ are queries that are out of the realm of science. Why atheism grew so much among intellectuals in the past century is a question that Besong and Fuqua can answer as well. But the reason for the growth of atheism is also quite simple.
It’s difficult to think of death as being a happy ending, especially when the person dying is a beautiful young wife, and mother of four children. But the story of Kara Tippetts– pastor’s wife, mommy blogger and best-selling author– becomes one of triumph in the hands of filmmakers Jay and Sofia Lyons. Their documentary film, The Long Goodbye: The Kara Tippetts Story, has just been released, and follows Kara through her last few years as she battles stage-four breast cancer. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, the Lyons’ talk about how Kara, in dying, taught them a lot about how to live. Kara says in the trailer, “Why is it so many people withhold love?” It’s a line that is at once convicting and uplifting. Love is the answer. It always has been; even for someone, “leaving the party early,” as Sofia says. Death is something everyone will face. In watching Kara, we all get to thumb our nose at death and say, “You don’t have the final word!”
Social media mania, computer crazed, smart phone savvy and oh yeah, more spiritual than religious. The Millennial generation may have an affinity for avocado toast and taking selfies, but they shun organized religion having been raised on the internet and individual freedoms, aka ‘determining right and wrong for themselves.’ But something happened to a few of those Millennials who are now searching for something beyond a surface spirituality. They craved a foundational faith that transcends theirs, and their parents’ generation. That’s who Lauren and Michael McAffee represent. Their book, “Not What You Think: Why The Bible Might Be Nothing We expected Yet Everything We Need,” is a commentary on the state of their generation’s spiritual mindset, but also a candid prescription of what it actually needs and hungers for. Their own spiritual genealogy shows a strong religious background. Lauren is the daughter of Stephen Green, head of the Hobby Lobby franchise, and major benefactor of the Museum of the Bible. But that disclaimer allows her to be honest about her own spiritual questions. She and Michael have made their faith their own. They’ve looked at the evidence, and now want to tell their contemporaries what they concluded.
With Pope Francis taking the helm of the Catholic Church six years ago, there’s been a decided divide between the conservative and liberal wings of the Church body. Early on Francis was a media darling. Liberals love him for his more personal, humble approach to Christian doctrine. While conservatives still long for the good ole days of Pope Benedict XVI, the now retired pontiff who was more comfortable in the world of theological academics than in the vast splendor of the Vatican’s top spot. Enter into this fray, Father Joseph Fessio, the “founder and editor of Ignatius Press, which is the primary English-language publisher of Pope Emeritus Benedict XVI’s writings and the publisher of Catholic World Report.” Fr. Fessio joins Lighthouse Faith Podcast to talk about all things Catholic: the sex abuse crisis, the draining membership of the Catholic faithful, and of course the philosophical fissure that has grown larger since Francis became the Bishop of Rome. How can the Church move forward comfortably when there seems to be more that divides it than unites it? It can be done. But requires a return of true faith, not one mired in politics and secular group think. Here’s Fr. Fessio’s vision of the future.
A wise woman of faith once said to me, “You can become bitter or better from the things that happen to you. It’s your choice.” Well Chris and Emily Norton have not only made their life better, but they’ve made other young lives better in the process. When Chris was an 18 year old college freshman football player, he was severely injured in a game. One tackle, one split second, changed his life forever. He became paralyzed from the neck down. But though his body couldn’t move, his spirit soared. His faith in God made him stronger, and he was determined to walk again. He questioned whether he would ever marry or have children; then he met Emily and they are now the parents of five adopted daughters. But his story went viral when, with Emily’s help, he walked across the stage to receive his diploma. And then three years later, walked down the aisle at their wedding. The aisle, a mere seven yards. But it represents a miraculous journey that is inspiring millions. Their new book, “The Seven Longest Yards” chronicles their journey of faith and fortitude.
Some historians have tried to recast the Founding Fathers as more secular than spiritually passionate about the Christian faith. And there’s been much written about whether George Washington, the first president of the United States, was really a Christian or just a deist, a person who believes in God but more as a Creator who got things started and stood back to watch. But Newcombe begs to differ, and has done extensive research from Washington’s own letters, speeches and actions that prove his deep faith in the founder of Christianity, Jesus. But more than that, Newcombe talks about how America, this grand experiment in representative government, was based on one great truth that only come from a Divine Being, that the rights framing and forming the Declaration of Independence, rise and fall on the basis of a belief in a God from whom those rights are ‘self-evident.’ Happy Birthday, America!
Listening to Ravi Zacharias will make you see a whole different way of looking at faith. First and foremost he helps people understand that everyone, even an atheist, has faith. Ravi is the founder of the international ministry, RZIM. His latest book, The Logic of God, is a 52 week devotional that asks the question, “is it logical to even believe in God?” And then he answers it by revealing what is in us, who are made in God’s image. Ravi points out that while there is a coherence to God, that there are no contradictions in Him, there is plenty of contradiction in us. And there lies the quandary for humanity. Ravi challenges people of all different faiths on what they actually believe. To me he was one of those people who is wickedly ( in a good way) smart. In a room full of great minds, Ravi could be considered today, the greatest among equals. He understands humanity through science, sociology, psychology, physiology, and just about any other –ology you can name. Can we live without God? It’s not about whether God exists, but rather to what do we look to find our purpose and meaning in life.
If you don’t believe that Satan and his spiritual band of evil malcontents are on the prowl, don’t bother reading best-selling author Taylor Marshall’s latest book; per his request. In his new book Infiltration, The Plot to Destroy the Church from Within, Marshall, also a popular podcast host, attempts to get at the spiritual roots of the clergy abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, as well as other “evil” assaults on the Christianity in general. He posits, that for two thousand years the Church withstood barrages from the outside, from Nero to Napoleon, Modernism and Secularism. But now he says, the decay is coming from within. And the devil is in the details. Marshall says, “We have to remember from the Christian point of view going back from well before the beginning of time, there is the fall of the angels. Lucifer and a third of the angels fell. And then all the way up to the time of Christ, there was all of these betrayals that were spiritual in nature.” Marshall’s book also comes with controversy, as he claims that the “root of the problem extends back to an agenda put in play more than one hundred years before Vatican II,” with secret societies like the Free Masons, and a coordinated agenda that would seduce the youths over time through the corruption of families, books, poems, colleges, universities and seminaries. And the Catholic clergy would be “seduced and corrupted” as well. Marshall’s biblical verse he leans on is Ephesians 6:12 which says ‘For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” Conspiracy theories are always popular. But this one, if true, is a cosmic game changer.
It’s not easy being a religiously conservative school in a community of liberal politics. But that’s where Colorado Christian University finds itself. However, CCU is not backing down, and certainly not watering down its beliefs to suit the cultural climate. It is the institutional version of Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop, who won a Supreme Court victory for his right to religious freedom in not baking a cake for a same sex wedding. Like Phillips, CCU is standing its ground, ramping up the conservative rhetoric, and in so doing, trying to steer young minds to a culturally counter-intuitive way to of thinking and seeing the world. On this installment of Lighthouse Faith Podcast, I talk with Dr. Donald Sweeting, president of Colorado Christian University, and Jeff Hunt, a close friend of Jack Phillips by the way, and the Vice President of Public Policy at CCU’s Centennial Institute, a conservative think-tank and political activist arm of the school. The two talk about the challenges of influencing students who’ve been programmed by a secular, liberal culture. It’s a lesson for us all.
While the U.S. is engaged in a trade war with China, watchdog groups are warning of China’s religious persecution, and enemy number one is Christianity. David Curry is the founder and CEO of Open Doors USA, which monitors religious persecution around the world. China, he says is a growing concern. In the thirty years since the Tiananmen Square massacre, Christianity has grown by leaps and bounds, with some experts saying until the latest government crackdown, was on pace to become the largest Christian population in the world. And that’s why the Communist Government is running scared, trying to keep the followers of Jesus under Communist control by monitoring, making lists and using technology to watch their every movement. Meanwhile the persecution is rampant elsewhere too; in India, Nigeria, and all parts of the Middle East. David Curry gives an update on the dire human reality of religious persecution. Despite it not being in the headlines every day, millions suffer its effects continually, wanting only for the rest of the world to hear their cries.
Bill Donohue is not known for being passive and compliant. As President of the Catholic League, he has staunchly defended the Catholic Church with the delicacy of a pit-bull. And many on the left have felt his bite. Whether it’s in the newspapers, television, movies, radio or any other platform, Bill Donohue’s roar can be heard sniping at the powers that be who malign Catholicism and/or Catholics. His newest book, “Common Sense Catholicism: How to Resolve Our Cultural Crisis,” “analyzes how the three key elements of a democratic society—freedom, equality, and fraternity—have been misconstrued by intellectuals and policy makers who do not respect the limitations of the human condition.” I’ve known Bill for a decade or more. And what I found is many people underestimate his knowledge and intellect. He’s has a doctorate in sociology and has written eight books. He has what seems boundless energy, which is good because there are many who attack him and want to bring him down, including Scienceblogs.com which once called him “an evil little man”. Our conversation on Lighthouse Faith podcast focuses on the latest cultural controversies including the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church and Pennsylvania State lawmaker Brian Sims’ verbal attack on a pro-life woman praying in front of a Planned Parenthood clinic. It’s never a dull moment when talking with Bill Donohue!
They made a reality show around their Duck calling business, but the Duck Dynasty clan is more about Faith than fowl. Phil Robertson, the patriarch, and his sons Al and Jase, now have their own podcast, but came to Lighthouse Faith podcast to also talk about Phil’s new book, “The Theft of America’s Soul: Blowing the Lid off the Lies that are Destroying Our Country”. They also exposed some of the conflicts over their faith values they had with the show’s producers at A&E. Phil talks about how the producers wanted to make them seem more vulgar and so inserted bleeps, where there was no obscene language. The producers also took out part of his daily prayer when Phil says, “in Jesus’s name,” without their knowing, but we learn how he got them to put it back in. The Robertson’s Christian faith is the foundation of their business and their lives. Now, two years after the show stopped filming, they are taking their popularity on the road with speaking engagements and appearances to preach the Gospel.
Science and religion are not odd bedfellows, even though that’s how many people view them. There’s an impression that they are at best at opposite ends of a spectrum, and at worst in two different universes altogether. But 2019 Templeton Prize winner Dr. Marcelo Gleiser dispels the notion that science and faith can’t get along. In fact he says they not only get along, but belong together as the only way to make sense of our world. Gleiser is Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy and a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The native of Brazil, has won the honor for being, “a prominent voice among scientists, past and present, who reject the notion that science alone can lead to ultimate truths about the nature of reality.”
Mother’s Day, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July have become quite commercialized today; retail sales and bargains are aplenty. But there’s a foundation of faith that started all of these well-known celebrations, even though advertisers have all but ignored their religious pasts. Bill Federer, Historian and best-selling author, breaks down the plethora of faith facts surrounding our nation’s biggest defining moments. The Revolutionary War and the Mother that nursed the wounded before field hospitals became the norm; the laying of crosses on the graves of Confederate Civil War Soldiers by Southern women to honor the war dead no matter enemy or friend. And the laws that formed America’s Birthday, the Founding Fathers knew, could only be upheld if each person in the Republic bowed down first to an Almighty God. America’s faith foundations formed the Greatest country in the world. Federer says, it’s future depends on that same strength of faith.
Today there is a lot of debate about the environment and its political implications. But Matthew Sleeth shows how the Bible is filled with references to trees and their part in increasing faith. Sleeth is a former Emergency Room physician and atheist, whose own trials and traumas led him to pick up a Bible. There, he says, he met Jesus and saw the presence of trees and things that grow mingled throughout the Scripture’s narrative of redemption. From the Garden of Eden’s Tree of Life and the fruit of the tree responsible for man’s fall from Grace, to the tree used for Jesus’s crucifixion, and to Revelation when the Tree of Life is present again at the end of time and the redemption of the world. Trees figure prominently in the Christian theology. In his book, “Reforesting Faith: What Trees Teach Us About the Nature of God and His Love for Us”, Sleeth is opening up a new understanding of how God has directed his followers to be good stewards of nature as a way to draw closer to him and all of creation.
From the Sri Lanka Easter attacks, to the rise of militant Islam, to the rise of the number of people who claim no religious identity… Dr. Michael Youssef has something to say about it all, and politics too. The Egyptian born, Christian pastor and theologian, also has a PhD in social anthropology, which means he understands who people are from a scientific and spiritual point of view. He is the founder of Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, Georgia and Leading the Way International Ministry. He pulls no punches when talking about what he believes is the Big Lie in today’s world of entertainment, politics and even in Christian Churches. Among the questions he takes in this podcast, “What is sin?” “Is hell a place or a state of Mind?” and “Why would a good God send someone to hell just for not believing in Jesus?” These are hard topics to discuss in today’s ‘Can’t we all get along’ environment. But Dr. Youssef always delivers with a smile.
What will it take to rebuild Notre Dame? What caused the devastating fire in the first place? Randall Ott, the Dean of Architecture at Catholic University of America, has lectured on the famed cathedral as an architectural masterpiece. But he also explains how the 850 year old Gothic style cathedral, was so vulnerable, particularly during attempts to renovate and rehabilitate. Ironically the two greatest dangers… the fire of course… but then the water used to douse the fire. Ott explains what the next steps will be in restoring the jewel of Paris.. and the soul of France… and whether it can even be done in the five years President Macron has vowed.
There are still many Christians for whom Easter is about baskets, spring flowers and bonnets. But for former Muslim, Abdu Murray, Easter has become a revelation of God’s Truth. Abdu set out to research the Resurrection to find its flaws, but instead found enough evidence to convince him to convert to Christianity, and now he is a staunch defender of the faith. We talk about the four pillars of the Resurrection called CASE, 1. Crucifixion 2. Appearance 3. Skeptics and 4. Empty tomb. And on top of proof of the Resurrection, Abdu talks about why Jesus had to die in the first place. This is a conversation for anyone who wants to strengthen their faith, or those who have any doubts.
Many stories of Muslim converts to Christianity are of people who already pose a devout faith in their native religion. But Sohrab Ahmari, the op-ed editor for the New York Post, has a much different story. Born in Iran just six years after the Islamic Revolution, he grew up with parents who were more influenced by the sixties and its secular questioning of authority, than the imposed order of the Khomeini regime. So Sohrab’s nominal Muslim faith left him privately questioning Islam, while publicly professing belief just to guard against Iran’s morality police. He moved to the U.S. as a teen and thoroughly embraced atheism. But over the next decade and a half found a spiritual path that lead to Catholicism. His new book, “From Fire By Water: My Journey to the Catholic Faith,” is a compelling story in its candid understanding of a universal need existing in all human souls. Listen to our talk and find out the unexpected way his conversion became known internationally, and why this book became necessary to set the record straight.
This season of Lent leading up to Easter always brings questions about Christianity specifically, but religion in general. Is there proof of the existence of God? Can science prove God exists? What about morality, does that point us to an Omnipotent Being? Dr. Frank Turek, co-author of “I Don’t Have Enough Faith to be an Atheist,” talks about the highlights of his book and answers some of the probing objections to belief in God. You will find, as I have, that few of us ever ponder the real core philosophical questions to why we believe or don’t believe certain things; that more times than not we prefer living in the gray areas. But Dr. Turek makes the case that most of the objections to God are not intellectual… they are emotional. And he states there is enough proof of God’s existence to satisfying our minds, but it’s a harder task to convince our hearts.
Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cake shop in Colorado, has become the face of Religious Freedom after last year’s Supreme Court ruling in his favor. He’d declined to make a wedding cake for a same sex couple and the case went all the way to the highest court in the land. But a second case was launched against him, one not as well known, but could have been just as devastating. A transgender woman filed a suit against Phillips because he refused to bake a cake celebrating the seventh anniversary of her transition from male to female. This time the Colorado Civil Rights Commission decided to drop the case. But some legal watchers believe this case was a set-up, launched only to make an example of Phillips. Hear what Jack and his attorney, Kristen Waggoner of Alliance Defending Freedom, have to say about this latest victory and the future of these kinds of cases.
Abby Johnson worked for Planned Parenthood for eight years, rising to the ranks of a clinic director. But something happened in the clinic one day that turned her life around– she witnessed an abortion through the lens of an ultrasound machine. The sight was so traumatic that within a few days she became a Pro-life Advocate and wound up on the sharp end of a Planned Parenthood legal battle. In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Abby talks about her faith and the new feature length movie about her life that will be released at the end of March. The abortion debate has become an incendiary political topic, especially in the wake of more aggressive abortion bills being passed and debated nationwide. But Abby’s story makes abortion personal. She understands the pain of women who choose to end a pregnancy, but she’s even more aware of the God who has a purpose for every life.
Some might call him candid while others would say cantankerous, but the intellectually sublime and cerebral Fr. George Rutler will always say what he thinks when it comes to politics, politicians, and the Pope. Fr. Rutler is the pastor of St. Michael’s Church in New York City, has written several books, and is a lifelong student of history. He gives his take on the sexual abuse crisis, the pontificate of Pope Francis and New York’s new abortion law. Even though the Catholic Church is undergoing an intense trial by fire, Rutler believes it will be stronger and better. But he saves most of his criticism for New York’s Governor Andrew Cuomo and the state’s new abortion law.
Critics say it was a show of appeasement to the Islamic world. But make no mistake, Pope Francis’s trip to the Arabian Peninsula was a monumental game changer in Christian-Muslim relations. Johnnie Moore, head of the U.S. Commission on International Religious Freedom and a member of President Trump’s Evangelical Advisory Board, was on the ground in Abu Dhabi, The United Arab Emirates, and spells out exactly how historical this moment was for the leader of the world’s Catholic Church, the Bishop of Rome, the Vicar of Christ to say a public Mass in a region considered to be the cradle of Islam. So what will be the impact moving forward? What will be the overall effect on Islamic extremism and the Middle Eastern countries propping up extremists through funding and tacit approval? Moore states that the UAE has sent a powerful message to its neighbors, “Get on the right side of history. Religious tolerance is the future!”
The power of politics and religion is front and center as many Catholic religious leaders call for the excommunication of New York Governor Andrew Cuomo, over his signing and celebrating the state’s new more aggressive abortion law. His actions have pitted the governor against New York’s Archbishop, Timothy Cardinal Dolan, who says he’s received tons of emails calling for the governor’s ouster from the Church. David Gibson, Fordham University’s director of Religion and Culture, breaks down the controversy, and explains the political and religious ramifications of what it means to be excommunicated from the Catholic Church.
In the 46 years since the Roe v. Wade Supreme Court case that made abortion legal, the most vocal opposition has come from the Catholic Church. But in the last few years Evangelicals have begun to widen the ranks of the pro-life movement. Why is this so odd? Traditionally Catholics and Evangelicals, although both are Christians, have historically been at odds doctrinally, and that’s putting it mildly. But now they have found common ground, the Southern Baptist Convention has officially created their own pro-life wing. Daniel Darling is the Vice President of the SBC’s public policy arm and now heads its ‘Evangelicals for Life’ movement.
He was once known as America’s Pastor, but to Will Graham he was ‘Daddy Bill’. Billy Graham’s grandson, has followed in his father Franklin Graham and his grandfather’s footsteps, to take up the mantel of Christian ministry. His first book, Redeemed, is a devotional containing loving anecdotes of growing up with a world-famous grandfather. Will also talks about what it was like playing his grandfather in the movie “Unbroken: Path to Redemption,” the follow-up to the Louis Zamperini story which tells the story of Zamperini’s conversion to Christianity, after attending a Billy Graham tent revival in Los Angeles. Will says even though his grandfather died almost a year ago, he finds almost daily inspiration from listening to his sermons.
Children all over the world hang their stockings up in wild anticipation of Santa’s visit on Christmas eve. Whether you call him St. Nick, Kris Kringle, or Santa Claus, there was a real St. Nicholas that started it all. He was a Greek Orthodox priest who was born in 280 AD, in the early days of Christianity. He was present at, and participated in the Council of Nicaea, where Christian bishops debated the tenets of the faith from which came the Nicaean creed, which Christians still recite today. So how did we go from St. Nicholas to Jolly Old St. Nick in a red suit, black belt and shoes and a snowy white beard? Bestselling Author, William Federer has the fascinating answers.
Christmas is a time for caroling, and there’s hardly a more known writer of Christian music than Keith and Kristyn Getty. Each year they have a Christmas Concert tour, “Sing! An Irish Christmas” that has grown to be one of the largest and most popular Christmas concerts in the country. This year’s concert is part of his larger movement called ‘Sing’ to bring caroling and hymn singing back to churches. Music has the power to heal the wounds of the soul like no other salve there is. Keith will take you to the depths of music’s power and give you a new understanding to the sounds of music.
A miserly old man who hates Christmas is Charles Dicken’s classic story that has been made into a myriad of film, stage and TV adaptations. But the narrative of Ebenezer Scrooge’s redemption is filled with Christian symbolism that most versions miss or just cut out. Pastor Cheryl Kincaid shares the details of her research for her book, “Hearing the Gospel Through Charles Dickens’s ‘A Christmas Carol” showing the biblical meaning of Scrooge’s first name, Tiny Tim’s illness as a social commentary, and how the three ghosts who visit Scrooge on Christmas Eve animate the Church’s Advent Lessons about the true meaning of Christmas. Scholars have debated whether Charles Dickens was really a Christian, but Kincaid lays that controversy to rest. She also talks about how it was Tiny Tim’s words that helped her after a car accident rendered her partially paralyzed. She says, “He thought it might be pleasant if people saw him in church, that they might remember who made the lame people walk and blind people see. And it touched my heart because he wasn’t asking to be healed. He was asking for God to use him where he was at.” It was those words that sent her on a journey to discovering the hidden meaning of “A Christmas Carol.”
Renowned theologian and pastor Dr. Timothy Keller takes a look at the well-known story of Jonah and the Whale in his new book, The Prodigal Prophet. The narrative of Jonah in the Old Testament is an account of a the prophet who was swallowed whole by a great fish. The story seems improbable, until its deeper spiritual meaning is exposed. Jonah’s running from God, according to Keller, is a universal understanding of rebellious anger at God, lessons about racism, nationalism, self-righteousness, and political power. This is not your Sunday School take.
The Catholic Church is in crisis mode as it looks to solve the clergy sex abuse scandals. It’s become a global problem. But art historian Elizabeth Lev, a provocative and intellectually gifted academic professor based in Rome, has a solution: Art. It’s what helped keep the faith alive following the Protestant Reformation more than 500 years ago. And many experts are drawing parallels between then and now. We discuss her amazing book, “How Catholic Art Saved the Faith: The Triumph of Beauty and Truth in Counter Reformation Art.” The title is a mouthful, but Lev breaks it down for the untrained mind, and makes art history sound like an action film. Some of the incredible works Lev discusses and includes in her book are:
No matter our religious beliefs, we can all celebrate the Thanksgiving holiday. But there’s far more benefit to giving thanks than we ever imagined. Even scientists have discovered the good that being grateful brings to our minds, our bodies and our spirit. Diana Butler Bass, the author of “Grateful: The Transformative Power of Giving Thanks”, talks about the healing we can have personally when we give thanks, but also, how we can heal a divided world by becoming a “thankful society.”
This week I covered the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Fall General Meeting in Baltimore. In this podcast, hear my reflections on the abrupt change of plans, when Pope Francis told the Bishops not to take action on two crucial issues concerning the clergy abuse crisis. It was frustrating for Bishops because they wanted to at least appear to be taking charge and moving forward on finding solutions. Many felt the pope had essentially hog tied them, crippling their efforts to take decisive action. But now all eyes will focus on Rome, when the heads of all the bishops’ conference around the world will meet with the Holy Father, to find global solutions to what has become a global problem.
It seems that if there’s a word that describes the mood of modern times, it’s anxiety. If you’ve got a job, you’re worried about keeping it or moving forward in it. If you’re single you worry about whether you’ll ever find the right mate. If you’re married, some of you are unhappy or worried about keeping him or her. And if you have children, you may be anxious about their struggles. It really doesn’t matter what it is, there’s a level of anxiety that seems to be creeping into our lives more and more, and is there any relief? Pastor Max Lucado is a master at breaking down our problems and giving them a spiritual solution. His book, “Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World,” shows how what we believe about God is directly tied to our level of anxiety. If God is real, then the answer to ‘finding calm’ is found in Him.
It doesn’t matter if you’re Christian, Jewish, Muslim, Buddhist or any other religion; having a working knowledge of the Bible stories is a must when studying English Literature and many other subjects like European History, the American Civil war, the list goes on. From Shakespeare to Chaucer, Jane Austen and Robert Louis Stevenson, many, if not all have as their cultural spark an understanding of biblical thought. Studies show a great swath of people are sorely lacking in biblical literacy. So a new global program aims to change that. It’s called Teaching the Bible Academically. Chuck Stetson is the brains behind the effort. We talk about the necessity and the struggles of such a project.
Why would a millionaire businessman want to promote the Holy Bible, even help fund a billion dollar museum about it? Well, if you’re Steve and Jackie Green, it’s because their belief in the Bible’s instructions about life, family and money is what gave them the spiritual strength to create a national retail chain called Hobby Lobby. They write about their faith journey in the tome, “This Dangerous Book: How the Bible Has Shaped Our World and Why It Still Matters Today.” Although the podcast was recorded just before the Museum of the Bible opened in November of 2017, the Green’s (no relation to Fox’s Lauren Green) words of wisdom, are timeless.
Depression is the leading cause of disability for people ages 15 to 44. Sadly, it’s a condition that people of faith have long ignored believing that it’s strictly a spiritual problem, not a medical condition. But Pastor Tommy Nelson, senior pastor of Denton Bible Church, a mega church near Dallas, is on a campaign to enlighten people that mental health is a real problem. He’s brutally honest about his own dark times of severe depression and anxiety. In this podcast Pastor Nelson talks about a conference he’s leading this week in Washington, D.C. on faith and mental health, called “Journey Through Depression.” He wants to dispel the stigma of seeking help through science. But also to show that God’s hand is still in the mix.
The 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation probably went by for most people without notice last October 2017. Not too many breaking news headlines covered this event. And while most people would have learned of the Protestant Reformation in a day or two of study in public school classrooms, this event that happened five centuries ago really laid the groundwork for America as we know it today. Democracy, Freedom of Religion, Freedom to assemble, Freedom of Speech, all of these freedoms we take for granted can be traced back to a lowly German priest’s fight with the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and his subsequent excommunication. Best-selling author and Speaker Eric Metaxas talks about his lengthy book that delves into why Martin Luther should matter to us today. And also, how perhaps the Protestant Reformation’s purpose has taken a few left turns.
It’s not politics as usual for Dr. Russell Moore, president of the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission for the Southern Baptist Convention. Although the ERLC is the policy arm of the nation’s more than 16 million Southern Baptists, Moore is a man of deep faith and has written a book about how that faith can shape family and home. But we also talked about the current political fight over the confirmation hearings of Judge Brett Kavanaugh and the accusations against him by Dr. Christine Blasey Ford. The podcast recorded before each testified before the Senate Judiciary Committee, but Moore’s comments shed light on how people of faith should respond.
One of the age old debates is whether or not God exists. And the other debate is whether or not you can prove it. Very few, if any of us approach the question of God with an open mind, or as Professor Edward Feser says, a blank mind. Even the atheist can’t prove definitively there’s no God. He or she can believe there’s no God, but God’s existence is not dependent on your belief. But Feser, a writer and philosopher, is one of the powerful minds in the world today who have looked at the arguments about the existence of God. In his book, “Five Proofs of the Existence of God,” the young professor reaches back to the ancients to make his point that there is far more proof that God exists than not.
She was born with a severe club foot, a common, but debilitating birth defect. But Chloe Howard’s parents told her it made her special. Her pride though turned to despair when at 14 years old and a freshman in high school, classmates bullied and assaulted her because of the deformity. All of a sudden she felt ashamed of the part of her that made her feel exceptional. A legal fight ensued against the perpetrators, but ultimately Chloe’s faith was stronger than her fears, and it helped her heal the brokenness. Now she works to make sure other young people are never made to feel isolated and alone. Inspired also by meeting U2’s front man Bono, Chloe created a movement called Stand Beautiful.
Twenty years ago airline pilot Steve Scheibner wrote a life objective. It begins with the words, “To seek trust, and glorify God…” Three years later on September 11, 2001 he was scheduled to co-pilot American Airlines flight 11, but a more senior pilot bumped him from the assignment. That plane flew into the World Trade Center in the worst terrorist attack on U.S. soil. Scheibner now lives his life with a sense of urgency, knowing that somebody died in his place. With the 17th observation of 9/11 just a week away, Scheibner joined forces with the American Pastors Network (APN) to help tell the stories that show how God’s hand was indeed present that fateful day, even in the midst of incredible turmoil and tragedy. Hear his story on this very special Lighthouse Faith Podcast.
It’s been more than sixty years since that racially charged day when nine black students, protected by several national guardsmen, integrated the all-white Central High School. Most of us have only seen pictures and archive video of this iconic event in 1957, but Melba Pattillo Beals lived it. At just fifteen she was one of nine African American students to integrate Central High School in segregated Little Rock, Arkansas. Only her faith saw her through the hatred, anger and death threats she endured. Beals remembers that day with clarity. She writes about the journey of faith that gave her strength and courage to take on what must have seemed like the whole world. “I Will Not Fear,” is her book that lives out for us all, Psalm 23.
A wealthy Texas oil man, a controversial Pope, and a female archaeologist should have had nothing in common, but when it came to discovering the site of the tomb of St. Peter the Apostle, it took all three. Best-selling author, John O’Neill, tells one of the greatest theological stories of the century of one of the most significant finds since the Dead Sea Scrolls: Peter’s crucified bones. It is the same Peter whom Jesus told, “Upon this rock, I will build my Church.” In 2013 Pope Francis confirmed that Peter’s crucified bones were buried underneath the altar of the Vatican’s St. Peter’s Basilica in Rome. But the intrigue and drama of how they were discovered has never been told… until now. Listen to the interview and be sure to check out John’s book here.
From the destruction of drug addiction and hopelessness, to the triumph of redemption, Christian artist Joseph Rojas credits music with helping him see the light of salvation. He’s on the road most of the year, performing hundreds of concerts in front of thousands of people. More than 100,000 people have made decisions for Christ at his concerts. His group, Seventh Day Slumber is, as he says, about “being real, and connecting with people where they’re at.” He talks openly and frankly about his struggle with weight, and as a keynote speaker inspires audiences at concerts, conferences, youth groups, festivals, and various events. Sharing with others his message of hope and restoration, which he has experienced firsthand.
There’s no profession that has captured the imagination more than the entertainment world. It has a huge influence on culture, attitudes, worldview. Success in Hollywood is what a lot of young people dream about, but if you’re a person of strong faith, how can you make it in an industry that’s more known for its decadence than decency? DeVon Franklin knows. He’s a successful film producer and is a faithful Christian. Franklin talks frankly about how he may have learned his professional skills in Hollywood, it didn’t take away his faith. His book, “The Hollywood Commandments: A Spiritual Guide To Secular Success,” is a how-to guide to keeping your faith while climbing the ladder of success.
Are we closer to the End Times? Fascinating, yet scary if true. Biblical prophecy of the End Times and warnings of a coming judgment are a big part of what draws people to and away from the Bible. It’s one of the most questioned parts of the Judeo-Christian Holy Scriptures. Some of the signs are wars, terror, murder, general tumult. But how bad does lawlessness and disorder have to be to signal that we are living in the End Times? Phil Hotsenpiller is a noted theologian whose specialty has been talking about End Times. We talk about his recent book that takes a look at whether or not these are the worst days.
With the recent celebrity suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, Lauren takes a look at suicide from a religious point of view with College of Holy Cross religion professor, Mathew Schmalz. He wrote an article called, “Why the Religions of the World Condemn Suicide”, which basically explains why the vast majority of faiths, even with their differences in doctrine, agree on this subject that your life is not your own. But then the question remains, why the increase in suicides? Is it because of a corresponding rise in the number of people with no faith? We take a look at the issue of how our fractured, fast-paced and goal-oriented lives have contributed to the rise in suicides, which has become epidemic, and why faith communities can help turn the tide.
What people believe is a powerful part of being human, beliefs shape our thoughts and our actions. But what if those beliefs are not based on what’s true and good? Christian author Abdu Murray says we actually live in what’s called a “post-truth” world, one that puts feelings ahead of facts. In his new book, “Saving Truth,” Murray says that because we’ve lost sight of truth, we actually live in a culture of confusion. He says, “What happens if my preferences conflict with someone else’s preferences? And if truth doesn’t decide who’s right and who’s wrong, what decides who’s right and who’s wrong won’t be truth, it will be power.”
The future of religious freedom around the world weighs heavily on U.S. Ambassador Sam Brownback. Since February of this year the former Kansas Governor, U.S. Senator and congressman has been the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Thousands of people in the world today are being persecuted for their faith, and much of it is done legally through government anti-blasphemy and anti-conversion laws; case in point, the trial of American Pastor Matthew Brunson. The ambassador talks about the latest on him as well as the upcoming Ministerial on Religious Freedom, which he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will lead. It’s the first of its kind in the world; an international gathering of leaders from around the globe in Washington, D.C. that will promote religious freedom as a path to economic empowerment.
We live in tempestuous political times where respectful discourse has been replaced by virulent name-calling. Enter George Weigel, Distinguished Senior Fellow of Washington’s Ethics and Public Policy Center, who talks about his most recent book, “The Fragility of Order: Catholic Reflections on Turbulent Times. Today, says Weigel, “order is especially vulnerable under the cultural conditions of a postmodern world unsure about its grasp on the truth of anything.” Weigel, one of the foremost experts on Catholicism today in the world, looks at Pope Francis’ challenges as well as looking back on the heroic actions of Pope John Paul II.
Mother and daughter Jackie Green and Lauren Green McAfee, draw on the legacy of generations of Green family women, women in the Bible and throughout history. In their first book, “Only One Life,” they push back against feminist opinions of the Bible as misogynistic, and responsible for suppressing women. The Green’s paint a bold picture of the Bible’s women like Esther, Mary Magdalene, and of course Mary the mother of Jesus for their courage, wisdom, and boldness. They explain how their faith is reflected in women through the ages including today, giving an example like Queen Elizabeth II, one of Jackie’s distant cousins. The Hobby Lobby store chain has become an empire, but the Green’s say it was the power of the faith of the women that took the family from literal rags…. to riches.
Following the landmark 7 to 2 Supreme Court ruling in his favor, 62-year-old Jack Phillips is probably the most famous cake baker in the world. In 2012 he declined for religious reasons, to make one of his artistic wedding cakes for a same-sex couple. Now five years later, the nation’s highest court says he has the right. Hear from Jack himself, exactly what happened that day that set off a nationwide debate and court battle.
“Don’t stop, believin!” And with that fatherly advice, songwriter and keyboardist Jonathan Cain, went on to pen some the rock band Journey’s biggest hits like “Open Arms” and “Faithfully.” In this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, the Hall of Famer talks about his new book, “Don’t Stop Believin’; about how a childhood tragedy shaped his faith life; and about being married to Pastor Paula White, spiritual advisor to President Trump. And, surprise! Pastor White joins the conversation and gives details about their relationship and their faith life.
Why the mass shootings? Columbine, Virginia Tech, Las Vegas, and most recently the Waffle House, this is a short version of an extensive list that seems to keep growing. Family physician, psychologist, and author Dr. Leonard Sax talks with me about a rarely discussed reason behind the violence, the spiritual. We unpack his First Things magazine article, “The Unspeakable Pleasure.” While mainstream media focuses on social causes like bullying, family dysfunction, gun control or even mental illness – Dr. Sax explores what the Bible always knew, and what we all knew until just a generation ago, that we are not born good. We are born inherently bad, and we must learn to control our violent impulses, especially, he says, young men.
How does the game of golf relate to real life struggles? One Gold Star family member credits her training in golf to getting her through one of the most harrowing and heartbreaking times in her life. Wesley Bauguess, an amateur golfer and military wife, tells her story of faith as she recounts the moment officers arrived at her door to inform her that her husband had been killed in action; how she told her small children; how her grief consumed her, and how her training in golf drove her to a higher faith in God, all become part of an inspiring story.
Ever since Pope Francis uttered those famous words, “Who am I to judge?”, concerning homosexuality, the Catholic Church has been hotly debating the issue of how to respond to the LGBT community. This podcast is a conversation with two men, both with same sex attraction, who have taken opposite points of view. One has embraced being gay as a member of a gay friendly Parrish in NYC, the other believes that this is not God’s plan for his life. Please listen to this heartfelt discussion as the two men sitting side by side open their souls to each other and to me.
You can help persecuted Christians. Christian persecution in the Middle East may not make the front pages as much these days, but it doesn’t mean things are going well. Fr. Benedict Kiely provides the eyes and ears for us to learn about how displaced Christians are still fearing for their lives and their numbers continue to dwindle in a land they’ve lived in since the time of the apostles. Father Kiely is a Catholic priest and founder of Nasarean.org, an organization helping persecuted Christians in the Middle East.
It is a death sentence to convert from Islam to Christianity in certain Middle East countries. But yet, there are hundreds, if not thousands, who are taking this journey. Missionary Tom Doyle and his wife Joanne, recount first hand their stories of the “courage and faith through unthinkable confrontations with radical Islam,” that these people have taken. Not only are they embracing Christianity, but their passion for the faith has made them take on the very dangerous task of converting others as well. They are almost literally “Standing in the Fire.” It is the name of Tom Doyle’s new book where the stories are documented.
From Playboy mansion to Church pews, actress Andrea Logan White share her journey from the dark side of Hollywood to the light of faith. At one time she seemed to have it all: Beauty, wealth and opportunity. But beneath the surface there was a very different woman, one who felt at times worthless, useless and insignificant. But then she says through God’s grace she realized that God could use her imperfections as an example to others to help transform their lives. Her movie credits include ‘Mom’s Night Out’ and ‘Do You Believe.’
Dr. Timothy Keller talks about his new book, his first ever devotional, based on the book of Proverbs. Keller, the now retired senior pastor of Redeemer Presbyterian in New York City, is one of the most powerful theological minds today. Some have called him a modern day C.S. Lewis. His book, God’s Wisdom for Navigating Life,” he co-wrote with wife Kathy. She joins him in the podcast…a rare interview with both Kellers together.
The Museum of the Bible is now open to the public in Washington, DC. The gala launch event and the ribbon cutting are now in the past, and people have begun filtering through the giant portal, a nearly forty foot replica of the Bible’s opening words in the book of Genesis. Right up until opening day there were still exhibits being installed, walls needing touch up paint, and construction dust wiped away. A few months ago while the sounds of welding and hammering were going on I sat down and talked with Cary Summers, President of the Museum, and charged with shepherding the half billion dollar project to completion. Take a listen to what it took to create a 430 thousand square foot museum dedicated to the biggest selling book of all time, The Bible.
Inside the Vatican. Pope John Paul the Second was probably the most beloved pontiff in the modern era… He died in 2005. Author and Catholic intellectual George Weigel knew him personally, and was asked by the pontiff himself to write his biography. Weigel now believes his whole life may have been in Providential preparation for the undertaking. In this Lighthouse Faith Podcast, Weigel talks about this third installment of chronicling John Paul’s life; about how it’s much more personal for him. In ‘Lessons in Hope: My Unexpected Life with St. John Paul the Second, ” he recounts conversations over meals with John Paul, historic events and the Pope’s inner circle of extraordinary characters…one of those he recalls as the brilliant Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger, who later became Pope Benedict the Sixteenth.
He is a powerhouse of inspiration and wisdom. Bishop T.D. Jakes is known worldwide through his successful ministry out of his Dallas based church The Potter’s House, which also includes a weekly television ministry program called The Potter’s Touch viewed by more than three million people. He’s also written more than forty books. We discuss his latest book “Soar: Build your vision from the ground up.” The book, like the church itself, is a testament to Jakes’ entrepreneurial skills in balancing faith with economic empowerment. Even if you don’t go to church, or crack open a Bible, you’ve probably heard of Bishop T.D. Jakes: pastor, movie producer, businessman. Find out how he’s faithfully carrying out God’s mission.
Kirk Cameron talks ‘Revive Us 2,’ his faith-filled national family meeting offering an inspiring night of hope, courage and unity, and what it was like growing up in Hollywood as a child actor.
Kevin and Sam Sorbo take on Hollywood, entertainment and faith in this podcast. A perfect foundation for the eternal battle of darkness verses light as their new faith based movie called, “Let There Be Light”, hits theaters. Kevin Sorbo, aka Hercules, plays an atheist who has a near death experience, and has a dramatic change in his world view. The movie’s Executive Producer is Fox’s own Sean Hannity. Sam & Kevin joined me in studio to talk about the movie, why it was made, and all things Hollywood, faith and our eternal destiny.
In the first week of December the case of the Christian baker Jack Phillips, who refused to make a wedding cake for a gay couple, will be argued before the United States Supreme Court. It will be one of the most highly anticipated religious liberty cases to come before the high court. But, it also reflects one of the most highly debated issues within Christian churches: “What does the Bible have to say about homosexuality? Is it condemned as a sin? Is it part of the human condition that was never properly understood? Or, is the Bible just not up to date? I asked two pastors who hold different views on the issue to join me in studio in New York City to talk about this. Stan Mitchell, senior pastor of Gracepointe Church in Nashville, TN… and Shane Idleman, lead pastor of Westside Christian Fellowship in Lancaster, California. Pastor Idleman has received death threats over his traditional preaching on marriage. While Pastor Mitchell has seen his congregation dwindle in size once he began performing same sex marriages. Each is firm in their beliefs of what constitutes the Truth. However, each expressed a loving kindness towards the other despite having different views on how to interpret their Holy Scripture on the topic of homosexuality.
In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, we fight to understand a murderer’s motive. And many times we hear the words ‘pure evil’ to describe the act of lone gunman Stephen Paddock. What is evil? Where does it come from? Why if God is good does he allow it? Theologian and author Dr. John Rankin, founder of Theological Education Institute International, explores with Lauren, the nature of evil, including his own personal encounters with a real demonic presence. Part 2 of 2
In the wake of the Las Vegas shooting, we fight to understand a murderer’s motive. And many times we hear the words ‘pure evil’ to describe the act of lone gunman Stephen Paddock. What is evil? Where does it come from? Why if God is good does he allow it? Theologian and author Dr. John Rankin, founder of Theological Education Institute International, explores with Lauren, the nature of evil, including his own personal encounters with a real demonic presence. Part 1 of 2
Life is worth living, no matter how hard it can get. And one who knows is Joni Eareckson Tada, a quadriplegic since a diving accident fifty years ago. Today in the aftermath of hurricanes Harvey and Irma, Joni is raising awareness of the help the disabled need now, and in the future. But she and her Christian ministry, Joni & Friends, are also fighting against the growing trend sweeping across the nation, to legalize doctor assisted suicide. It’s a divinely ordained battle she is waging.
Faith, politics and baseball… Three seemingly unrelated areas, but my colleague, Ed Henry explores all three in his new book 42 faith: The Rest of the Jackie Robinson Story You’ve seen Ed often on air, expertly dissecting all the goings on in Washington, D.C., and beyond in the world of politics. But in his book he looks a particular period of baseball history, when the color barrier was broken Major League Baseball by a young African American, now legend, Jackie Robinson. Ed explores not only Jackie Robinson’s faith journey, but that of Branch Rickey, the Dodger’s General Manager who signed Robinson… And brought him up from the minors to play first base on Ebbets Field.
Surveys show a rising number of people do not adhere to any organized faith tradition. And while it’s easy to point blame at technology or secular individualism… Dr. Peter Kreeft, a feisty philosophy professor and author.. blames an historical event that began five centuries ago next month: The Protestant Reformation. Kreeft say, “Even from a secular point of view the single most defining feature of Modern Western civilization is the decline of religion. And Christianity used to define Western Civilization. And the reformation is the most tragic event and split in the history of Christianity.” The Reformation did pave the way a separation of church and state, but it also put Christianity on a splintering course to where today there are thousands of different denominations. Kreeft and I discuss his book ‘Catholics and Protestants, What Can We Learn From Each Other.’ While he offer hope, he also gives Christians a warning, saying, “If the Bible is right and the Church is Christ’s body, invisible mystical body then we’re tearing his flesh from his bones.”
Can science prove humans have souls? Can it give us proof of life after death? And can science peer into the meaning of life and of divinity? In short, are science and faith two parts of a whole? Neurologist Dr. Jay Lombard explores and explains to me these concepts from his new book, “The Mind of God: Neuroscience, Faith, and a Search for the Soul.” He says for far too long science and faith have operated as polar opposites, but that they actually need each. For instance he says, our souls are the immaterial, non-physical part of who we are, and scientists can indeed confirm its existence. Dr. Lombard says, “We see the movement of the soul, meaning that we’re able to actually assess the effects of things in the brain that are fluid through new technologies. So yes, the answer is, we don’t call it the soul, and in science we don’t say, ‘ oh there’s the soul there,’ but we do understand that we can see the effects of emotion and non- physical experiences on the shape of our brains, absolutely. “
Very excited as Fox News’ Chief Religion Correspondent to launch this podcast based on my book, Lighthouse Faith: God as a Living Reality in a World Immersed in Fog. I’ve called this podcast, Lighthouse Faith: Moving Forward in Truth and Love…. to see if we can understand the real foundational causes behind the news stories we here.. and understand how each story has a spiritual element. .. A spiritual core. It’s an opportunity to explore the universal spirit of faith, beliefs, science & religion, religion & politics in a setting that allows for long and deep discussions. This introduction podcast includes my take on religion and beliefs… and joining me in the latter half is a longtime friend Pastor Don Davidson from First Baptist Church in Alexandria, VA.. who talks about the challenges of ministering to a congregation steeped in a secular world view.