It's not about reinventing yourself, because you already have within you all the gifts and talents you need. What you need is faith to develop them, nurture them, and watch them grow. That is the message of Kathie Lee Gifford: talk show host, singer, composer, actress, author, and theologian. She is a one-woman whirlwind of possibilities and accomplishments. But it's her life-long faith in Jesus Christ that stands out as the real fuel igniting her boundless energy. On this episode of Lighthouse ...
Dec 03, 2020•34 min
The Christian Church is built on the foundation of forgiveness; of Jesus Christ's death on the Cross to atone for the world's sins. Yet many Christians are not really schooled in the mechanics of forgiveness. It is quite vital not only for health and mental stability, but also as a tenet of the faith. It is the Lord's Prayer that asks God, "Forgive us our trespasses, as we forgive those..." While we say the prayer often, we still harbor un-forgiveness to those who have hurt us, maligned us, divo...
Nov 26, 2020•36 min
He used to hustle his way through life. Had his first drink at 8 years of age and it was downhill from there for the next decade and a half. Jim Wahlberg is not nearly as famous as his actor brothers, Mark Wahlberg (Boogie Nights, Deepwater Horizon) and Donnie Wahlberg (Blue Bloods), but he is just as driven. And his zeal has taken him from the very depths of life's darkest moments in jail, to the heights of the light of faith. The Boston native is one of nine children of an Irish Catholic famil...
Nov 19, 2020•38 min
Theodore McCarrick was one of the most powerful priests in American Catholicism, rising to the rank of Cardinal and Archbishop of Washington, D.C. But now in the wake of the Vatican's two-year investigation into his sexual abuse of minors and vulnerable Seminarians, it's clear that this darling of the Church was really a demon. He was a 'predator and pathological liar", to quote eminent scholar George Weigel. But what's also clear from the report, is that McCarrick did not rise in a vacuum. He h...
Nov 12, 2020•42 min
You might call him the Billy Graham of the Catholic world. Fr. Patrick Peyton coined the phrase, "The family that prays together, stays together;" a dynamic message that energized Catholics and other Christians in the mid 20th Century. Fr. Peyton drew tens of thousands to his prayer crusades around the globe. Hollywood also, believe it or not, bowed to his calling. His radio show guest lineup was A listers of Tinsel Town's elite like Bing Crosby, Frank Sinatra, and Joan Crawford. It's certainly ...
Nov 05, 2020•33 min
Halloween is one of the most fun childhood events; dressing up and trick-or-treating is a yearly ritual. But lost in the festivities is the possibility of real evil, real ghosts and yes, even real demon possession and infestations. Billy Hallowell takes a modern look at all three in his book, "Playing with Fire." On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Hallowell talks about the real-life demon possession of a teenage boy in 1949 that was the inspiration behind the 1973 movie "The Exorcist,"...
Oct 29, 2020•34 min
On November 11th, 1620 Christian Pilgrims from Europe landed on Plymouth Rock. They were fleeing religious persecution and the tyranny of "might is right." They believed in the hope of self-government and the freedom to worship as they saw fit. It was outlandish and without precedent. The DNA of the freedoms we enjoy in America today, was conceived by those 102 souls tired of political/religious wars where the victor dictated how the victimized would serve their God. On this episode of Lighthous...
Oct 22, 2020•39 min
"Has America reached its expiration date?" That is a question Dr. Alex McFarland asks in his new book, "The Assault on America: How to Defend Our Nation Before It's Too Late." It's an alarm, and it's coming from someone who normally isn't prone to sounding them. McFarland is a genteel Southerner; a theologian, historian, national speaker, Radio host, and founder of Truth for A New Generation. He's traveled the country extensively and sees disturbing trends assaulting America's foundational value...
Oct 15, 2020•46 min
This is the second of two podcasts on the Catholic Vote. The phrase "So goes the Catholic, so goes the election" has been tried and true for the last few decades. Since 1972 Catholics have picked the winner of the presidential election all but one time. The Catholic Vote Part I featured Brian Burch, President of Catholicvote.org, an organization working to re-elect Donald Trump. Part II's featured guest is John Carr, director of the Initiative on Catholic Social Thought and Public Life at George...
Oct 08, 2020•36 min
The phrase "So goes the Catholic, so goes the election" has been tried and true for the last few decades. Since 1976 Catholics have picked the winner of the presidential election all but one time. But this election has been hard to read. Experts will tell you, Catholics are not a monolithic. They are White, Hispanic, Black and Brown; Poor, wealthy, and middle class; all ages and sizes; and various intensities of beliefs in the faith's core values. Also, Catholics are not prone to voting for a Ca...
Oct 01, 2020•32 min
The new accord recently signed between Israel and the United Arab Emirates and Bahrain is a glimmer of light at the end of a long tunnel toward peace in the Middle East. Since the partition in 1948 which created the modern Jewish state, Israel has been in bloody conflict with its Muslim majority neighbors. But the irony of this new relationship between these more moderate Muslim countries, is that it comes at a time when Israel is seeing increased conflict within its borders, between Ultra-Ortho...
Sep 24, 2020•37 min
Believing in the power of prayer means believing that America can be saved from the many sins that plague her and divide her; past, present, and future. The Pilgrims who first stepped onto the soil of the New World 400 years ago were faithful that God had brought them safe from England across treacherous waters and their only task was to glorify Him as they journeyed forth seeking the freedom to worship and live out their faith. Such is the spiritual roots of America. But many today, like Times ...
Sep 17, 2020•33 min
In this nineteenth year since terrorists attacked America, the nation is reeling from another form of evil called the Coronavirus. Christina Stanton is a living, breathing embodiment of surviving both. She survived the yellow dust that engulfed her and her husband while running from the collapsing twin towers, and in the process grew in faith and learned to trust in God. She built a foundation on which she would face yet another evil, COVID-19, and more than two weeks in the ICU. Nearly a genera...
Sep 10, 2020•32 min
In 1917 three children from the village of Fatima in Portugal, witnessed what they said was a visitation of the Virgin Mary. The story of nine-year-old Lucia and her two younger cousins, Francisco, 7, and Jacinta, 6, has been the subject of intense investigations by the Catholic Church, faith-driven historians, and curious skeptics. The children were believed to have had the visitation once a month for several months culminating in the Miracle of the Sun witnessed by thousands in October of 1917...
Sep 03, 2020•30 min
If there's one thing Phil Robertson isn't shy about, it's telling people about Jesus, and that they need Jesus; that we all do. Robertson's new book, "Jesus Politics: How to Win Back the Soul of America," is a candid and blunt take on where the country has come from and where it's headed. The "Duck Dynasty" star chastises his own generation of some 60 years back, that took prayer out of the schools, took God out of public discourse and relegated Jesus to the corner of 'a nice teacher of love,' i...
Aug 27, 2020•28 min
The recent deaths of Rep. John Lewis and Herman Cain represents something larger than the loss of two prominent Black politicians, although that is significant. The two men represent diverging paths of the Black vote. Lewis a Democrat, Cain a Republican. Both men are sons of the South and faithful believers in Jesus Christ; benefiting from the political power wielded by the Black Church, which historically favored the Democratic party. But in 2020, African Americans are benefitting from the hard...
Aug 20, 2020•23 min
A Father's role in today's culture has been more or less sidelined at worst, or undefined at best. But Author Tyler Rowley says a Father's faith is critical to a child developing his or her own faith. A father's faith that is lived out not just in words but in deeds in everyday life, has a tremendous impact on his children. Even when a mother's faith in Jesus is strong, if the father's faith is weak or non-existent, the child will drift from the faith. In his book "Because of Our Fathers," Rowle...
Aug 13, 2020•36 min
Michelle Kim appears to be a normal, twenty-something year old, first generation American, living the American dream in California. But over the last few months the dream is starting to become a nightmare because of her membership in the Shincheonji Church of Jesus. The church has been labeled a cult, accused of brainwashing its members into submission, and claim its founder called himself Jesus. The church, with its 300,000 members, is based in South Korea but has branches in 20 countries inclu...
Aug 06, 2020•39 min
"God is eternal," and everything else is temporary. That includes the Coronavirus, loss of jobs, relationships, even our homes. None of us want to be tested in losing those vitally important things in our lives. But the Bible assures us that putting our faith in God will help us navigate those stormy waters and come out stronger and better for it. On this episode of Lighthouse Faith podcast, Dr. David Jeremiah, author and founder of Turning point, an international Christian ministry, talks about...
Jul 30, 2020•29 min
One of the hardest lessons in the Bible we face is the reality that we are all sinners and "fall short of the glory of God." Intellectually we get it; praise it, and preach it. But if we all know it's true, then why is there a Black Lives Matter movement? Why is it necessary? Why is it so hard to see someone of a different race as fellow image bearers? It's because all of us are prone to sins we aren't event aware of or even recognize as sin; it's the "crouching tiger," concealed from even our p...
Jul 23, 2020•34 min
Musician, Broadcaster, radio host, Journalist; John Tesh has a long list of accolades and accomplishments. He became a household name as co-host of the television show "Entertainment Tonight" for a decade starting in the mid-80's. His classic good looks; tall, blond hair, blue eyes and affable personality plus that velvety voice gave him staying power in an industry that is fickle at best. But while his career seemed heaven-sent, underneath all his successes loomed a host of failures, missteps a...
Jul 16, 2020•41 min
Faith begins in the home. It's a legacy that Yael Eckstein, a young Jewish mother, believes is essential to moving forward in life. It's her father's faith that lives through her today. That father, the late Rabbi Yachiel Eckstein, began a legacy of bringing Jews and Christians together, not in spite of their faith, but because of it. Rabbi Eckstein was the founder of The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, "the largest charitable organization helping Israel and the Jewish people." ...
Jul 09, 2020•34 min
For a lot of people, myself included, the sum total of what they knew about Alexander Hamilton was that he was the face on the ten-dollar bill. That is until his life as one of America's Founding Fathers, and the first U.S. Treasury Secretary, was made into a Tony Award-winning musical called Hamilton, that many people who've seen it call a religious experience. Written by Lin-Manuel Miranda, who also stars as Hamilton, it is a rap and hip-hop retelling of Hamilton's legacy as one of the archite...
Jul 02, 2020•37 min
You can either be comforted by the biblical prophecies that Jonathan Cahn writes and speaks about, or you could become extremely fearful. Lately there has been an almost laser focus on whether the Coronavirus is a sign that the end of the world is near. Cahn is world known as a "pastor and rabbi," who "caused an international stir with the release of his first book "The Harbinger," which became an instant New York Times best seller. He has written several books since and each one takes modern ev...
Jun 25, 2020•30 min
The man at the forefront of finding a vaccine for the COVID-19 pandemic, is man of science AND faith. Dr. Francis Collins is the head of the National Institutes of Health which is racing to develop treatment options and a vaccine for the Coronavirus. He is also this year's winner of the prestigious Templeton Prize, awarded to those making great strides in the area of science and faith. And Collins is in fact a walking embodiment that faith and science are a good team. He says while science has t...
Jun 18, 2020•30 min
The protests and riots following the killing of George Floyd at the hands of a Minneapolis police officer have made many people question, why is it we have a hard time getting along with people who are different from ourselves? What is the driving force behind the conflicts we've seen these last few weeks? Theologians will say that at the root of all our problems is sin. But surely there's more to it than that. Nearly 30 years ago Dr. Miroslav Volf wrote a book that explored the vagaries of our ...
Jun 11, 2020•36 min
We've not eradicated "Sin". It's very much still with us; events of the past couple of weeks should make that obvious. But the problem is to not recognize sin's destructive powers is the reason we're in this mess. It was sin that compelled a white Minneapolis Police officer to brutally restrain an African American man, killing him. It was sin that compelled protesters to morph into an angry mob bent on looting and destroying. It is a sin to not see that all life is valuable and sacred, that all ...
Jun 04, 2020•34 min
Last week, the world lost one of the greatest theological minds, Ravi Zacharias, after a battle with cancer. In Ravi's last Lighthouse Faith interview from June of 2019, he talks about his book, "The Logic of God." In so many ways this title typifies how Ravi defended the Christian faith. He based his beliefs in revelation, but also on reason and knowledge, taking on the most difficult questions because he knew that behind each question was a questioner seeking to understand the world and its me...
May 30, 2020•44 min
It was a clash of cultures, bound to cause friction despite the overarching need to save lives. Samaritan's Purse set up a field hospital in New York City's iconic Central Park to help treat victims of the coronavirus. It was the first time the humanitarian aid organization set up one of its field hospitals on the U.S. mainland. You got the feeling that any other aid organization would have been heralded as heroic. But because Samaritan's Purse is run by the very conservative Rev. Franklin Graha...
May 28, 2020•27 min
A very wise woman once said, "You can become bitter or better from the things that happen to you." It's your choice. Pastor Keion Henderson chose the latter. His dreams of an NBA contract were snapped in a few seconds during a college basketball game after a career ending injury. At age 11 he learned that the man who fathered him turned out to to be a respected Pastor of the church he attended. He was raised by a single mother who worked at Taco Bell for $7 an hour. These are not the tools of su...
May 21, 2020•33 min