It's a heart-wrenching film that recounts the beheadings ten years ago this week of 21 Coptic Christians at the hands of ISIS, Islamic radicals. And yet, the film also tells the poignant story of the incredible faith these martyrs had, diligent to the end, never once denying their Savior, even unto death. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, producer Mandi Hart, talks about the making of "The 21" and the transformative power of learning about what these men endured for their faith. They were laborers from Egypt, working in Libia, when ISIS members kidnapped them and demanded they denounce their faith in Jesus Christ, the only condition to secure their freedom. The men refused. For a month and half the men were tortured and abused. Then they were put in orange jumpsuits and paraded to a sandy hill where masked, knife-wielding radicals lined them up and beheaded them. All of it was filmed by ISIS for the purpose of propaganda and power. But there were other supernatural forces also at work on that sandy hill, and those forces struck fear in the hearts of many of the radicals. The 21, although only 13 minutes in length, makes a power statement as it is animated using the imagery and style of Orthodox Christian iconography, intercut with the actual film ISIS shot.

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Now that Roe v. Wade is securely in the rear-view window, the pro-life movement has entered a new phase... and yes, a new battleground. The annual March For Life, now in its 52nd year, just wrapped up in Washington, D.C., and while it's clear pro-lifers are celebrating major victories with many states outlawing abortion altogether, it's also apparent there are new battles arising as some states expanded abortion access and others grapple with what their access should be. In the year after the Supreme Court overturned Roe, abortions actually increased. Fr. Frank Pavone says it's because chemical abortions have become a growing "choice" among those who want to end a pregnancy. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pavone, founder and CEO of Priests For Life, talks about where the pro-life movement is headed under President Donald Trump and how it's not only important to change laws, but also hearts, in the fight for the sanctity of life.

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The National Cathedral's Prayer service the day after President Donald Trump's inauguration has stirred up a controversy that's been brewing in Christianity for decades, if not more. It's the divisiveness over how the Body of Christ should respond to the LGBTQ community. Forget how the Right Rev. Mariann Budde, the Episcopal Bishop of the Diocese of Washington D.C., chose to use her pulpit to scold the newly re-minted President of the United States; that's actually a side bar to the real concern. The underlying dispute is Mainline Protestantism's schism over gender and sexuality. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, culture expert and theologian Dr. Alex McFarland, a frequent podcast guest, uncovers the long-simmering discord in Christianity that simply can't be ignored any longer. Much of what Dr. McFarland says may be unsettling to many people, if not downright offensive. But he says, if The Bible is indeed God's Word, and faith in Jesus Christ is the only way to salvation, then he is called to speak the truth in love.

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Actor John Schneider is best known for his role as Bo Duke on iconic 1980's TV show "The Dukes of Hazzard," but his talents go much deeper than playing a good ol' boy, and the resumè shows it. Originally from Mt. Kisco, NY, he's a singer who's recorded some 20 albums. He played Superman's father on the show "Smallville" and starred on Broadway. He's currently (through February 2nd) in the longest running show on the Great White Way, "The Perfect Crime," but his personal life took a tragic and traumatic turn a couple of years ago with the cancer death of his wife Alicia Allain. It was a time where he truly learned, 'God has a plan'. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith, Schneider and his new wife Dee Dee Benkie, talk about how their life together now can only be Divine will. Benkie, a former Fox News contributor, had also suffered the trauma of the death of her husband, actor Paul Sorvino. Together they have a powerful testimony about faith, family... and trusting in God.

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Christian persecution is growing globally, and the biggest reasons are radical Islam, Communist regimes, and Secular forces in the West. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Jeff King, President of the watchdog non-profit International Christian Concern, delves into its most recent Global Persecution Index. One of the most dangerous places to be a Christian is Nigeria, where in the last 20 years nearly 100,000 Christians were murdered and about 3.5 million Christian farmers have had their land stolen by the extremist Muslim group Boko Haram. King says, "It's slow-motion genocide and stealth Jihad."  While in Communist China, face-recognition AI technology monitors more than a billion people for the purpose of assigning a social credit score determining where they can work or go to school. And going to Church or reading a Bible assigns a much lower score. But in the West persecution is happening as well where the legal system has been weaponized to malign or marginalize certain believers. In one state, conservative Christians weren't allowed on a jury because of their religious views. King says he has hope that the incoming Trump administration will turn the tide and strengthen religious freedom around the world.

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For former cold-case murder detective J. Warner Wallace, the horrific New Year's Day terror attack in New Orleans followed an age-old pattern of why people kill. He says of all the homicides he's worked, there are only three reasons why people commit crimes: sex, money, power. There's no fourth reason. And those three reasons fall into the larger bucket of Pride. Authorities say the suspect, 42-year-old Shamsud Din-Jabbar, had been radicalized into a distorted view of Islam, and was inspired by the terror group Isis, a power obsessed group. But Wallace, a former atheist who used his forensic skills to try to debunk Christianity and came away a believer in Jesus, has a much more nuanced view on the nature of religion. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Wallace talks about his book, "The Truth In True Crime: What Investigating Death Teaches Us About The Meaning Of Life." Wallace says most religions, except for Christianity, are performance based; perform these rituals and services and God -or the world- will bless you. Even an atheistic worldview does this. However, that form of religion or belief falls prey to the greatest of deadly sins, pride. The only antidote to pride is humility, and humility is nothing anyone can achieve by works. And studies show, says Wallace, that humility leads not to the taking of life, but to human flourishing and the giving of life.

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The Chosen is the widely popular television drama about the beginnings of Christianity. It is now in its fourth season, and no one is as surprised at its success than Amanda and Dallas Jenkins, the show's creators. They were skeptical of Angel Studio's crowd-funding business plan and thought they could raise at best $800; They ended up raising $10 million. But the career success has been accompanied by personal sadness with a chronically ill child. However, Amanda says, this has kept life and all its ups and downs in perspective- and that's God's plan.

On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Amanda Jenkins talks about her book, "God's Goodness For The Chosen", and explains how they learned that God allows success in our lives but that He allows struggles also to help us stay close to Him. For her, the bottom line is that "God is doing a new thing." That He is "drawing people around the world back to Himself." And that The Chosen is all part and parcel of that grand plan.

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More than two thousand years ago God broke through the barrier separating sinful humanity from a Holy God and took on human flesh in the form of a tiny baby. Christianity says all of human history had been building to that monumental event that separated time. Why did God, the creator of the universe, decide to enter our world, not as an avenging angel, but as a vulnerable and innocent baby? It's because of love. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Pastor Max Lucado, best-selling author and preacher, talks about the true meaning of Christmas. That Christmas set into motion the life-altering cosmos calamity that closed the chasm between God and sinful man." Christmas, says Lucado, "begins what Easter celebrates." The two highest holy days of the Christian calendar are eternally linked. While Christmas has become much more commercialized with shopping and Santa taking center stage, it hasn't changed the reality that the peace and joy we talk about on Christmas cards and ad slogans, flows only from this one event, the birth of Jesus: "For God so loved the world!"

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While religions of the world have some similarities, like the

importance of family or mercy, Christianity makes a claim no other religion

makes; that the founder of the faith is God in human form, Jesus. Every other

religion tells followers, "this is the way to God." But Jesus says, "I

am the way." Christianity says God has come to us. That means Christmas is

all about the doctrine of the Incarnation, God taking on human flesh, born of a

woman, entering into our world and the conditions under which we live, in order

to save us from ourselves.

The secular culture is very eager to have Christians

pay more attention to superfluous trappings of the season, the glitz and

glamour, rather than the real meaning of Christmas. On this episode of

Lighthouse Faith podcast, Hank Hanegraaff, the Bible Answer Man, explores what

the Incarnation should mean to us, and why the Virgin Mary should be understood

in the fullness of the gift she gave the world in saying "Yes" to

God's invitation to be the mother of the Savior.

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The Martin Scorsese production of "The Saints", now streaming on Fox Nation, is wrapping up its first four episodes this week with Maximillian Kolbe, a Polish priest who sacrificed his life in a Nazi concentration camp so that another prisoner could be spared. The series will continue in the Spring, during the Lenton season, with four more stories of extraordinary people of faith: Francis Of Assisi, Thomas Becket, Mary Magdalene and Moses the Black. And after that, the creator of the project Matti Leshem, wants audience input about who they want to see next. The Catholic Church recognizes more than ten-thousand saints, so there's a lot to choose from for future episodes. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Leshem, who is Jewish, talks about working with Academy Award-winning director Scorsese, and how even people who aren't Catholic or Christian can be inspired by these stories of regular men and women, whose faith compelled them to unimaginable heights of bravery and courage.

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