Lighthouse Faith

Listening to Ravi Zacharias will make you see a whole different way of looking at faith. First and foremost he helps people understand that everyone, even an atheist, has faith. Ravi is the founder of the international ministry, RZIM. His latest book, The Logic of God, is a 52 week devotional that asks the question, "is it logical to even believe in God?" And then he answers it by revealing what is in us, who are made in God's image. Ravi points out that while there is a coherence to God, that there are no contradictions in Him, there is plenty of contradiction in us. And there lies the quandary for humanity.  Ravi challenges people of all different faiths on what they actually believe. To me he was one of those people who is wickedly ( in a good way) smart.  In a room full of great minds, Ravi could be considered today, the greatest among equals. He understands humanity through science, sociology, psychology, physiology, and just about any other -ology you can name. Can we live without God? It's not about whether God exists, but rather to what do we look to find our purpose and meaning in life.

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If you don't believe that Satan and his spiritual band of evil malcontents are on the prowl, don't bother reading best-selling author Taylor Marshall's latest book; per his request.  In his new book Infiltration, The Plot to Destroy the Church from Within,  Marshall, also a popular podcast host, attempts to get at the spiritual roots of the clergy abuse crisis in the Catholic Church, as well as other "evil" assaults on the Christianity in general. He posits, that for two thousand years the Church withstood barrages from the outside, from Nero to Napoleon, Modernism and  Secularism. But now he says,  the decay is coming from within. And the devil is in the details.  Marshall says, "We have to remember from the Christian point of view going back from well before the beginning of time, there is the fall of the angels. Lucifer and a third of the angels fell. And then all the way up to the time of Christ, there was all of these betrayals that were spiritual in nature." Marshall's book also comes with controversy, as he claims that the "root of the problem extends back to an agenda put in play more than one hundred years before Vatican II," with secret societies like the Free Masons,  and a coordinated agenda that would seduce the youths over time through the corruption of families, books, poems, colleges, universities and seminaries. And the Catholic clergy would be "seduced and corrupted" as well. Marshall's biblical verse he leans on is Ephesians 6:12 which says 'For we are not contending against flesh and blood, but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this present darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places."  Conspiracy theories are always popular. But this one, if true, is a cosmic game changer.

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It's not easy being a religiously conservative school in a community of liberal politics. But that's where Colorado Christian University finds itself. However, CCU is not backing down, and certainly not watering down its beliefs to suit the cultural climate. It is the institutional version of Jack Phillips, the owner of Masterpiece Cake Shop, who won a Supreme Court victory for his right to religious freedom in not baking a cake for a same sex wedding.  Like Phillips, CCU is standing its ground,  ramping up the conservative rhetoric, and in so doing, trying to steer young minds to a culturally counter-intuitive way to of thinking and seeing the world. On this installment of Lighthouse Faith Podcast, I talk with Dr. Donald Sweeting, president of Colorado Christian University,  and Jeff Hunt, a close friend of Jack Phillips by the way, and the Vice President of Public Policy at CCU's Centennial Institute, a conservative think-tank and political activist arm of the school. The two talk about the challenges of influencing students who've been programmed by a secular, liberal culture. It's a lesson for us all.

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While the U.S. is engaged in a trade war with China, watchdog groups are warning of China's religious persecution, and enemy number one is Christianity. David Curry is the founder and CEO of Open Doors USA, which monitors religious persecution around the world. China, he says is a growing concern. In the thirty years since the Tiananmen Square massacre, Christianity has grown by leaps and bounds, with some experts saying until the latest government crackdown, was on pace to become the largest Christian population in the world.  And that's why the Communist Government is running scared, trying to keep the followers of Jesus under Communist control by monitoring, making lists and using technology to watch their every movement. Meanwhile the persecution is rampant elsewhere too; in India, Nigeria, and all parts of the Middle East. David Curry gives an update on the dire human reality of religious persecution. Despite it not being in the headlines every day, millions suffer its effects continually, wanting only for the rest of the world to hear their cries.

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Bill Donohue is not known for being passive and compliant. As President of the Catholic League, he has staunchly defended the Catholic Church with the delicacy of a pit-bull. And many on the left have felt his bite. Whether it's in the newspapers, television, movies, radio or any other platform, Bill Donohue's roar can be heard sniping at the powers that be who malign Catholicism and/or Catholics.  His newest book, "Common Sense Catholicism: How to Resolve Our Cultural Crisis," "analyzes how the three key elements of a democratic society--freedom, equality, and fraternity--have been misconstrued by intellectuals and policy makers who do not respect the limitations of the human condition."  I've known Bill for a decade or more. And what I found is many people underestimate his knowledge and intellect. He's has a doctorate in sociology and has written eight books. He has what seems boundless energy, which is good because there are many who attack him and want to bring him down, including Scienceblogs.com which once called him "an evil little man".  Our conversation on Lighthouse Faith podcast focuses on the latest cultural controversies including the sex abuse crisis in the Catholic Church and Pennsylvania State lawmaker Brian Sims' verbal attack on a pro-life woman praying in front of a Planned Parenthood clinic. It's never a dull moment when talking with Bill Donohue!

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They made a reality show around their Duck calling business, but the Duck Dynasty clan is more about Faith than fowl. Phil Robertson, the patriarch, and his sons Al and Jase, now have their own podcast, but came to Lighthouse Faith podcast to also talk about Phil's new book, "The Theft of America's Soul: Blowing the Lid off the Lies that are Destroying Our Country".  They also exposed some of the conflicts over their faith values they had with the show's producers at A&E. Phil talks about how the producers wanted to make them seem more vulgar and so inserted bleeps, where there was no obscene language. The producers also took out part of his daily prayer when Phil says,  "in Jesus's name," without their knowing, but we learn how he got them to put it back in. The Robertson's Christian faith is the foundation of their business and their lives. Now, two years after the show stopped filming, they are taking their popularity on the road with speaking engagements and appearances to preach the Gospel.

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Science and religion are not odd bedfellows, even though that's how many people view them. There's an impression that they are at best at opposite ends of  a spectrum, and at worst in two different universes altogether. But 2019 Templeton Prize winner Dr. Marcelo Gleiser dispels the notion that science and faith can't get along. In fact he says they not only get along, but belong together as the only way to make sense of our world. Gleiser is Appleton Professor of Natural Philosophy and a professor of physics and astronomy at Dartmouth College in Hanover, New Hampshire. The native of Brazil,  has won the honor for being, "a prominent voice among scientists, past and present, who reject the notion that science alone can lead to ultimate truths about the nature of reality."

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Mother's Day, Memorial Day and the Fourth of July have become quite commercialized today; retail sales and bargains are aplenty. But there's a foundation of faith that started all of these well-known celebrations, even though advertisers have all but ignored their religious pasts. Bill Federer, Historian and best-selling author, breaks down the plethora of faith facts surrounding our nation's biggest defining moments. The Revolutionary War and the Mother that nursed the wounded before field hospitals became the norm; the laying of crosses on the graves of Confederate Civil War Soldiers by Southern women to honor the war dead no matter enemy or friend. And the laws that formed America's Birthday, the Founding Fathers knew, could only be upheld if each person in the Republic bowed down first to an Almighty God. America's faith foundations formed the Greatest country in the world. Federer says, it's future depends on that same strength of faith.

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Today there is a lot of debate about the environment and its political implications. But Matthew Sleeth shows how the Bible is filled with references to trees and their part in increasing faith. Sleeth is a former Emergency Room physician and atheist, whose own trials and traumas led him to pick up a Bible. There, he says, he met Jesus and saw the presence of trees and things that grow mingled throughout the Scripture's narrative of redemption. From the Garden of Eden's Tree of Life and the fruit of the tree responsible for man's fall from Grace, to the tree used for Jesus's crucifixion, and to Revelation when the Tree of Life is present again at the end of time and the redemption of the world. Trees figure prominently in the Christian theology. In his book, "Reforesting Faith: What Trees Teach Us About the Nature of God and His Love for Us", Sleeth is opening up a new understanding of how God has directed his followers to be good stewards of nature as a way to draw closer to him and all of creation.

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From the Sri Lanka Easter attacks, to the rise of militant Islam, to the rise of the number of people who claim no religious identity... Dr. Michael Youssef has something to say about it all, and politics too. The Egyptian born, Christian pastor and theologian, also has a PhD in social anthropology, which means he understands who people are from a scientific and spiritual point of view. He is the founder of Church of the Apostles in Atlanta, Georgia and Leading the Way International Ministry. He pulls no punches when talking about what he believes is the Big Lie in today's world of entertainment, politics and even in Christian Churches. Among the questions he takes in this podcast, "What is sin?" "Is hell a place or a state of Mind?" and "Why would a good God send someone to hell just for not believing in Jesus?" These are hard topics to discuss in today's 'Can't we all get along' environment. But Dr. Youssef always delivers with a smile.

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