Do you enjoy people-watching when you are at the local park or waiting for your flight at the airport? You can definitely find some interesting ones! In today’s message, Pastor Chris teaches that while you may ascribe fictional backstories to those around you, there’s no way to know their salvation until you engage in dialogue. The single mother down the street… the old married couple around the corner… the kids with the lemonade stand… they are all souls that long to see Jesus face-to-face.

Managing your teen’s phone use starts with recognizing that phones aren’t just distractions — they’re a primary way teens connect, feel entertained and stay tied to their world. While excessive phone use can interrupt attention, reduce face-to-face relationships and fuel dopamine-driven habits, the technology isn’t going away. So, parents must lead intentionally. Setting age-appropriate boundaries, creating phone-free family times and clearly defining expectations help keep phones from replacing real relationships. Most importantly, parents must model healthy phone habits themselves and create meaningful, engaging connections that teens don’t feel the need to escape from.

Do you have a parenting question for Mark? You can send it to us at markgregston.com.

Parenting Today's Teens is a part of the Christian Parenting Podcast Network. To find practical and spiritual advice to help you grow into the parent you want to be, visit parentingtodayteens.org. 

Best-selling books and popular movies tell sensational stories of people who claim to have crossed the threshold between this life and the next. Could these shocking tales actually be true? Or is it all a hoax? Dr. Robert Jeffress looks at the Bible’s answer to this important question: “Have some people already visited Heaven?”

To support Pathway to Victory, go to ptv.org/donate.

Banking isn’t usually the first place we think about living out our faith. Yet for many believers, where we bank is becoming an important part of faithful stewardship. Financial institutions don’t just hold our money—they decide how it’s used, invested, and leveraged for impact.

That’s why faith-based banking is gaining attention. It offers Christians an opportunity to align everyday financial decisions with deeper convictions about money, integrity, and service.

Today, we sat down with Aaron Caid, Chief Marketing Officer at Christian Community Credit Union (CCCU) and AdelFi, to talk about why believers may want to reconsider where they bank—and what truly matters when evaluating a financial institution.

Before talking about faith alignment, there’s a practical reality we can’t ignore: a bank still needs to do its job well.

Good stewardship requires systems that are secure, efficient, and reliable. Strong digital tools, responsive customer service, and clear processes aren’t luxuries—they’re necessities. A banking partner should simplify your financial life, not complicate it with friction, confusion, or outdated technology. In other words, expecting excellence from your bank isn’t selfish. It’s wise.

Once the basics are covered, a deeper question emerges: Does this institution share your values?

Every bank makes decisions about how money is used and where it’s invested. Those choices reflect a worldview—whether explicit or not. Faith-aligned banking starts from a biblical understanding of stewardship, integrity, and service, recognizing that money is a tool entrusted by God, not an end in itself.

Where we bank, then, quietly reflects what we believe about the purpose of money.

One of the distinctives of organizations like Christian Community Credit Union (CCCU) and AdelFi is that faith doesn’t remain a mission statement—it’s lived out through tangible generosity.

Collectively, these organizations have more than 125 years of supporting Christian ministries, missionaries, church-planting efforts, and disaster relief. Together, they’ve given millions of dollars toward Christ-centered work around the world.

Their impact goes beyond large-scale initiatives. Recent efforts include:

• Supporting financial discipleship resources for married couples, addressing one of the leading contributors to marital stress and divorce.
• Partnering with members to contribute over $10,000 to Operation Christmas Child, serving children in need, and sharing the love of Christ.
• Investing earnings back into members through better rates and lower fees—while also tithing corporately to support gospel work.

This is what it looks like when banking becomes a shared mission rather than a purely transactional relationship.

Regardless of where you bank today, there are warning signs that may indicate your institution isn’t serving you—or your values—well:

• Unclear or high fees that quietly erode your savings
• Outdated technology that complicates everyday money management
• Poor access to real people when problems arise
• Business practices or investments that conflict with your Christian convictions
• Feeling like a number, rather than a valued customer

These issues don’t just affect convenience—they affect stewardship.

With the

Marriage is about learning to love your spouse in the way they best understand love—their unique love language. Marriage experts Dr. Gary Chapman and Drs. Les and Leslie Parrott join forces to help you identify your spouse’s love language and become fluent in expressing love in meaningful, personalized ways. Together, they explore the subtle “dialects” within each love language and encourage you to be more intentional and authentic in how you love your spouse.

Receive a copy of The Love Language That Matters Most and an audio download of "How to Speak the Love Language Your Spouse Needs Most" for your donation of any amount! Plus, receive member-exclusive benefits when you make a recurring gift today. Your monthly support helps families thrive.

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How do you feel when you’ve tried everything you know, and your attempts to show love to your spouse just don’t seem to be making any difference at all? Or maybe you’re on the flip-side and you’re waiting for the day when your spouse finally does something that makes you feel like they really care. In this program, Chip talks about how to love in a way that actually connects.

How do you keep love alive?

• Ephesians 5:25-33
• Very rarely, do we take how Jesus loves the Church and use that as our model for how we are to love one another in marriage.
• Your marriage is not just about your PERSONAL fulfillment. -John 13:1-17, 33-35
• Other than the Church of Jesus Christ, your relationship with your mate is the single most powerful testimony of the reality of God.

Principles:

1. Love is not a FEELING.
2. Love is SERVING. -Philippians 2:3-4
3. Love must be RECEIVED.
4. Love is UNCONDITIONAL.

Practical Implications:

1. Love is a CHOICE.
2. Love MEETS the NEEDS of the one loved.
3. Love requires extreme HUMILITY and SECURITY.

Learn the five languages of love

• Words of affirmation
• Quality time
• Receiving gifts
• Acts of service
• Physical touch

Two clues as to what your love language is:

• What bothers you the most?
• What do you ask for the most?

Broadcast Resource

• Download MP3
• Message Notes

Additional Resource Mentions

• I Choose Love Book

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Hope in the Night - Marriage