Lighthouse Faith

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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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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.

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