Lighthouse Faith

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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."

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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.

Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices