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.

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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 Meyers, President of Summit Ministries.

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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.

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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.

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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.”

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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. 

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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.

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