Spotlight

Jo McGuire joins Monte Larrick and Dave Smith to hold another conversation on the broad topic of commercial marijuana and the ramifications Colorado is experiencing. Jo is the chairman of the National Drug and Alcohol Screening Association, NDASA.com.

In the podcast they mention the old Illinois recreational marijuana proposal included 5-6 plants per house. The proposed bill is HB 902, which includes: "...possessing, growing, processing, or transporting on one's own premises no more than 24 mature cannabis plants and possession of the cannabis produced by the plants on the premises where the plants were grown; (3) possessing outside one's premises no more than 224 grams of cannabis..." this synopsis allows an massive amount of marijuana on one's property.

Take action: please contact your state lawmaker and respectfully request they oppose this disastrous public policy. The Illinois Capitol switchboard number is (217) 782-2000.

In this week's Spotlight is Angela Camp, a drug addiction specialist with Bradford Health Services in Birmingham, Alabama. Angela joins Monte Larrick to consider the raging heroin epidemic here in the United States, and it's relation to opioid and marijuana addiction.

They examine drug abuse making in-roads in middle-class America, marijuana's link to the use of opioids and hard drugs, the role of social media in this rampant drug scourge, some apps that are tell-tale signs of sketchy events in a young one's life, what parents can do to keep their kids safe and alive, and what the community of faith can do.

The second half of the podcast features Peter Bensinger, former administrator of the US Drug Enforcement Administration. Peter weighs in on the push to legalize commercial high-potency pot.

They explore the weaponization of marijuana in communities, why the Illinois claim that we can legalize pot better than California and Colorado is a fantasy, and the information Illinois lawmakers must know before attempting legalization.

Please contact your state lawmaker respectfully requesting them to oppose this bad public policy. The Illinois Capitol switchboard number is (217) 782-2000.

This week's episode spotlights Mary Kate Knorr, the executive director of Illinois Right to Life.

Mary Knorr joins Monte Larrick to take a hard look at the planned attack of Illinois' parental notification of abortion law, how to stem the overwhelming assault on this critical law, what Illinois could look like if parental notification of abortion is repealed, and holding anti-life lawmakers accountable.

They also take an over-arching view of what Planned Parenthood and anti-life activists are attempting to accomplish in Illinois, why cultivating strong relationships with your children (grandchildren), especially daughters, is so vital to slow the consistent emergence of crisis pregnancies, and finally a proposal in Springfield to legalize physician assisted suicide.

This episode Spotlights the marijuana debate, specifically in Illinois. Dr. Karen Randall joins Monte Larrick and David Smith to discuss the problems that Colorado is experiencing resulting from commercializing marijuana.

This episode features a discussion on a divided humanity, and a divided Church. Dr. Eric Wallace from the Freedom's Journal Institute joins Monte Larrick and David Smith to converse on the apparent stifling of black residents in Illinois, and two new FJI projects: Racism in America and the Role of the Church, and Repent Chicago.

They also touch on what the Bible says about racism, the origin of man, how faith affects politics, and the history of addressing the problem of slavery.

Dr. Wallace is the president and co-founder of the Freedom’s Journal Institute, a former pastor, adjunct professor, author, military, and political candidate are descriptors used by others to describe Dr. Wallace. However, he prefers to be recognized first and foremost as a believer in Jesus Christ and a servant of God.

This episode spotlights a previous edition of Illinois Family Spotlight. An episode which featured a Monte Larrick interview with Alliance Defending Freedom’s (ADF) Regional Director J.D. Mesnard. This interview took place at IFI’s fourth annual worldview conference in early May. In the first half of the podcast, J.D. identifies the importance of ADF’s Church Alliance program, which supports the legal needs of churches across the nation during a time in which attacks on religious liberty are increasing.

During the second half of the podcast, in his capacity as Speaker of the Arizona House of Representatives J.D. answers questions about how the business community, pro-family forces, and various churches defeated a 2016 ballot initiative to legalize “recreational” marijuana.

Monte Larrick and David Smith sit down with Kevin Grillot, the vice-president of the March for Life Chicago, and the executive director of WeDignify, formerly known as Students for Life of Illinois, to discuss the 2019 March for Life Chicago.

They also discuss the use of science to knock down pro-abortion arguments, the impact of putting a face to the child in the womb, Illinois quickly becoming an abortion battleground, what WeDignify does, the best way to reach people for life, and the encouraging fact that young people are gravitating towards the pro-life worldview.

This edition spotlights the nativity in the state capitol with Thomas Brejcha from the Thomas More Society.

Tom and Monte Larrick discuss free speech, bringing nativity scenes to state capitols nationwide, religious freedom at risk in Illinois with democratic supermajorities and governor, what the Thomas More Society does over the country, sidewalk counseling and the bubble-zone lawsuit, an update on lawsuits combating taxpayer funding of abortion and Illinois' abortion referral law, a threat to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act, the importance of retaining Illinois' parental notification of abortion, and legalizing assisted suicide and euthanasia.

Please contact your state lawmakers requesting them to support pro-life pro-family values and oppose anti-life proposals in Springfield. Call (217) 782-2000.

Tom Brejcha has been litigating cases in federal and state courts over the last four and a half decades.  For the last 17 years, he has served as president and chief counsel of the Thomas More Society, defending the sanctity of life, religious liberty, and family values.

On this special edition of Spotlight, we highlight an interview the Executive Director David Smith did with Stephanie Trussell of the Stephanie Trussell Show on WLS 890 AM.

They discuss a controversy at a local church where a member desired to attend as a cross-dresser--a man attempting to dress as a woman, leading the pastor to confront him; the recent midterms; what both host and guest are thankful for; the hypocrisy of addressing Chicago's violence problem, yet ignoring Chicago's abortion problem; and the prospects of the 2020 elections.

Today's episode spotlights a forum about Islam at AM 560's Freedom Summit last November. Dr. Bill Warner and Usama Dakdok discuss the errant label Radical Islam, why Mohammed was the greatest warrior ever, and why we (as a Western Civilization) can win a civilizational war with Islam.

The second half features the question and answer period where the distinguished speakers conversed with the audience on sharia (Islamic Law) and the American Left, sharia's growing influence in America, Islamic rape gangs in European countries and it's legality under sharia, sharia finance, why it is imperative to get out and demonstrate, is Europe too far gone, what happens to a Muslim convert, why there is no such thing as a moderate Muslim, the difference between believing and submission in Islam, how to engage Muslim candidates, and Islam in our government schools.

Dr. Bill Warner is a prominent and highly respected expert on Political Islam. Realizing that the Islamic texts had been made deliberately difficult to read and comprehend, he set out to organize the doctrine in a manner that would be easily understood by the average person. He has written fifteen books that teach about Political Islam and make the Islamic doctrine understandable. He also developed the first self-study course on Political Islam.

Usama Dakdok was born in Egypt and grew up in a Christian home. While in government schools in Egypt, he learned about Islam just as every other student does in a Muslim country. Usama also studied for a university degree in Egypt which included the study of Sharia, which is Islamic Law. He came to America in 1992, and with all of his knowledge about Islam, he felt he could reach out to Muslim people in America with the Gospel of Jesus Christ, thus beginning The Straight Way of Grace Ministry.