Bishop Joseph D'Souza: the Global Concern of Religious Persecution

$All Religions Condemn Suicide, and Yet Suicide Continues To Grow: With the recent celebrity suicides of Kate Spade and Anthony Bourdain, Lauren takes a look at suicide from a religious point of view with College of Holy Cross religion professor, Mathew Schmalz. He wrote an article called, "Why the Religions of the World Condemn Suicide", which basically explains why the vast majority of faiths, even with their differences in doctrine, agree on this subject that your life is not your own. But then the question remains, why the increase in suicides? Is it because of a corresponding rise in the number of people with no faith? We take a look at the issue of how our fractured, fast-paced and goal-oriented lives have contributed to the rise in suicides, which has become epidemic, and why faith communities can help turn the tide.$

Chris Edmonds: War, Friendship and His Father's Heroism, a Story for the Ages: The greatest generation as they're called, has given us many heroes. But not every heroic story of World War II has been told. One though, is now finally being heard to its fullest: that of Roddie Edmonds. He served as a master sergeant in the U.S. Army and fought with the 422 regiment of the 106th infantry division. He was a prisoner of war, captured sometime during the Battle of the Bulge. A man of faith, a Christian, whose defining moment came when as the senior officer of the American POW's in the German camp, he refused to give up the Jewish soldiers among his regiment. Even when the Nazi commandant threatened to shoot him point blank. He told him, "We're all Jews". Even his son Chris, a minister, didn't know the story until after his father died. Searching for clues he Googled his name and it popped up in a New York Times article about real estate. A very grateful New York lawyer named Lester Tanner s by Lighthouse Faith

38 min listen

Amb. Sam Brownback: Governments Don’t Have A Right To Interfere With Religious Freedom: The future of religious freedom around the world weighs heavily on U.S. Ambassador Sam Brownback. Since February of this year the former Kansas Governor, U.S. Senator and congressman has been the Ambassador-at-Large for International Religious Freedom. Thousands of people in the world today are being persecuted for their faith, and much of it is done legally through government anti-blasphemy and anti-conversion laws; case in point, the trial of American Pastor Matthew Brunson. The ambassador talks about the latest on him as well as the upcoming Ministerial on Religious Freedom, which he and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will lead. It's the first of its kind in the world; an international gathering of leaders from around the globe in Washington, D.C. that will promote religious freedom as a path to economic empowerment. by Lighthouse Faith

19 min listen

NT Wright: A User-Friendly Theological Genius, and Everything You Want to Know on the New Testament: The New Testament in the Bible is relatively short compared to the Old Testament; it's about half or less its length. Yet its where the whole of Christianity is based. And if you're confused, don't be. N.T. Wright, British scholar and Anglican bishop, has written a nearly thousand page book on the New Testament, that will tell you about everything you need to know about it. However, in this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. Wright highlights some of the bullet points of how the Old and New Testament relate; why Christmas -- the birth of Jesus-- was such an earth shattering and life-altering event for humanity, and why the claims of Christianity are embedded not just in faith but in history. His book, "The New Testament in Its World" takes us back to first century culture, to Jewish culture under Roman rule, to see how impossible it was for Jews with their worldview of centurie by Lighthouse Faith

45 min listen

Max Lucado – A Calming Voice in an Age of Anxiety: It seems that if there's a word that describes the mood of modern times, it's anxiety. If you've got a job, you're worried about keeping it or moving forward in it. If you're single you worry about whether you'll ever find the right mate. If you're married, some of you are unhappy or worried about keeping him or her. And if you have children, you may be anxious about their struggles. It really doesn't matter what it is, there's a level of anxiety that seems to be creeping into our lives more and more, and is there any relief? Pastor Max Lucado is a master at breaking down our problems and giving them a spiritual solution. His book, "Anxious for Nothing: Finding Calm in a Chaotic World," shows how what we believe about God is directly tied to our level of anxiety. If God is real, then the answer to 'finding calm' is found in Him. by Lighthouse Faith

23 min listen

A 9-11 Anniversary Story Filled With Transforming Faith: We've heard the harrowing details of the planes crashing into the twin towers of the World Trade Center, of how the First Responders risked their lives -and hundreds of them died- to save people trapped inside. More than three thousand people died on Sept by Lighthouse Faith

40 min listen

Eric Metaxas – Without Martin Luther, No U.S. Constitution As We Know It: The 500th Anniversary of the Protestant Reformation probably went by for most people without notice last October 2017. Not too many breaking news headlines covered this event. And while most people would have learned of the Protestant Reformation in a day or two of study in public school classrooms, this event that happened five centuries ago really laid the groundwork for America as we know it today. Democracy, Freedom of Religion, Freedom to assemble, Freedom of Speech, all of these freedoms we take for granted can be traced back to a lowly German priest's fight with the hierarchy of the Roman Catholic Church and his subsequent excommunication. Best-selling author and Speaker Eric Metaxas talks about his lengthy book that delves into why Martin Luther should matter to us today. And also, how perhaps the Protestant Reformation's purpose has taken a few left turns. by Lighthouse Faith

40 min listen