Lighthouse Faith

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?"

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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."

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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