PODCASTS

Tag: #evangelization

Hometown Heroes – more on Ukrainian mission with Jeff Seigworth – 09/26/23

Hometown Heroes – more on Ukrainian mission with Jeff Seigworth – 09/26/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:09 — 7.1MB)

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Family Life’s “Hometown Heroes“

This is part 2 of our conversation with Jeff Seigworth about his recent — and upcoming — mission work in western Ukraine.

Today’s segment focuses on how his experiences with people whose nation is at war influenced his own faith — and what he saw about faith and evangelization for the people in the cities and villages he visited.

Seigworth’s first overseas trip ever was his participation with the mission trip created by A-1-8, a mission organization which takes its name from scripture: Acts 1:8, the Biblical mandate to take Jesus’ Gospel to nearby places and to the whole world. A18 had been active in Ukraine multiple years before the current war.

The first part of Mark Webster’s interview of Jeff Seigworth is available here, among all of our “Hometown Heroes” podcasts.

 

Family Life Interview – Christian comedian Jeff Allen – part 2 – 08/29/23

Family Life Interview – Christian comedian Jeff Allen – part 2 – 08/29/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:11 — 7.1MB)

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Comedian Jeff Allen‘s comedy videos have amassed 400 million views online. The humor on stage was accompanied by desperation and a search for meaning and value in the rest of his life.

In this second segment of our conversation, the 40-year veteran performer tells of the sadness and desperation which led to his Christian conversion.

 

Here are some of Jeff’s comedy highlights: 

Listen for more from Jeff Allen this coming Tuesday, September 5, during the Family Life Noon Report, on our live stream and on the radio.

The full conversation with Family Life’s Mark Webster is here for listening, downloading or sharing.

Hear the full Family Life Interview with Jeff Allen:

From our News Podcasts page, you can listen, download, share or subscribe to any of your favorite Family Life features, podcasts, the Noon Report, and the 5 O’Clock Report.

Inside Out – Finding Unity, We are Agents of Grace – 08/23/23

Inside Out – Finding Unity, We are Agents of Grace – 08/23/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 13:45 — 18.9MB)

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Bridging divides — and loving as Jesus loved — amid this era of conflict, in the church and in the culture:

“Strive actively for peace”

Conflict over presidential politics and pandemic precautions revealed the substantial divisions between Christians that we live with today. “The divisions that we’re seeing in the American church—the conversations—are not different than the ones that are happening in the world. Every institution is going through this,” says pastor and author Daniel Darling. “But as Christians we have an opportunity to model something different. That Jesus said that the world would know that we are His by the way we love each other.”  

Darling writes about which things should divide us — and which things should not — in his new book Agents of Grace.  

“I think part of that is understanding the things that we need to contend for, right?” he asks. “Paul says to Timothy ‘fight the good fight.’ And then there are other things that are important but not ultimate, right? He also tells Timothy, later in 2 Timothy, to avoid stupid and foolish questions.” We should be able to live in unity with believers who differ with us on the less important choices that are part of living as a Christian. If there’s going to be division, it should only be to defend what’s essential to the Gospel.   

“I think we have that upside down a little bit,” Darling says, “and we’ve succumbed to the sort of divisiveness of the spirit of the age.” 

So how do we learn to bridge divides and love as Jesus loved? One way, Darling suggests, is to choose not to assume bad motives on the part of believers we disagree with. Another way is to faithfully hold on to our friends, even when we disagree with them.  “These are hard and tumultuous times, and the more that we hang on to our friendships, the more that we love our brothers and sisters, the more we can do together. I think the Enemy—Satan—really wants to divide Christians and get us distracted so that we can’t fulfill the mission of God,” Darling says. 

That said, Darling sees many reasons to hold onto hope for the Church.  “God is active and alive today. We should ask ourselves, ‘What is God up to? What is God doing? What is He about to do in the world? And how do we join Him?’” 

Learn more about Daniel Darling here and here. 

Missions Pulse – Friends in Action – 08/21/23

Missions Pulse – Friends in Action – 08/21/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:15 — 7.2MB)

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Blue collar workers are putting their God-given talents to work, in God-inspired service.

Friends in Action International makes that kind of life-changing activity happen in many places. Executive Director Matt Durkee gives Family Life insights into how Friends in Action makes construction work happen in places where infrastructure needs are significant. This, he says, brings stability to places which have been unstable. Durkee also tells how FIA supports long-term global mission workers.

Friends in Action, a Pennsylvania-based global ministry, describes its front-line mission work as “moving earth to reveal heaven”.

Faith Under Fire – Coach Joe is back with his football team – 08/17/23

Faith Under Fire – Coach Joe is back with his football team – 08/17/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:32 — 7.6MB)

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“Faith Under Fire”

Joe Kennedy became a high school assistant football coach at Bremerton High School, as a part of a strengthening Christian faith and a deep sense of calling. After personal prayers on the field after games, later some students and fans would join him at the 50-yard-line.

After he was suspended and eventually fired because the school did not want him promoting religion, an eight-year legal battle followed. This spring, the U.S. Supreme Court ruled that his First Amendment rights to “free exercise of religion” superceded the school’s contention that a school employee could not promote a specific religion (the First Amendment’s “establishment” clause).

This week as the fall football season begins, “Coach Joe” and his faith and his team are drawing new coverage from Seattle-area and national media, Family Life revisits an interview we had with Kennedy when he came to New York State on a speaking tour. 

More about Joe Kennedy’s life, faith, ministry and sense of calling is available here.

Inside Out – How to Find a Congregation – 08/09/23

Inside Out – How to Find a Congregation – 08/09/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 11:37 — 16.0MB)

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Inside Out: The Search for a Church that Feels Like Home

We’re called to be part of a church, but looking for one is difficult. Writer and speaker Michelle Morin talks about why it’s hard, what to keep in mind, and why it matters that we’re part of one. 

Searching for a congregation is difficult for many people. “I think it’s hard because it takes us out of our comfort zone,” says writer and speaker Michele Morin. “Something has happened to jostle us and make us take the risk of moving somewhere else where we don’t know the routine, we don’t know how things are done. We want to get our needs met, we want fulfilling worship, we want all these things, and we need to look to God for those things rather than expecting a quote-unquote perfect church to swoop in and make us happy,” she says. 

She feels she has learned from her own church search decades ago. “One thing that I wished we had done is just dialed back the perfect-ometer a little bit. We were looking for the perfect church,” she says.  

For those on that search, she suggests making a short list of non-negotiables before you start visiting. “And then make peace with the fact that you’re going into an imperfect situation,” she says. “The truth is that all we have available to attend worship and sit in pews is imperfect, sinful people. And we’re part of that problem ourselves.”  But it’s that sandpaper of our imperfection that helps reshape us.  And those already at home in a congregation have the chance to make the experience better for those who visit.     “I don’t think we have to be at our own dining room table to exercise hospitality. There’s a pew hospitality that we need to be aware of as believers and to just be the welcome. “Church is like practice for someday when we’re with the Lord and all of our longings are fulfilled. Well, that’s certainly not going to happen on this planet, and so we experience a tiny little taste of that in our home church, and I want to be that welcoming person,” Morin says.  

No church is perfect. But we’re called to it, and being part of one gives us a chance to love others the way God loves us.  

Learn more about Michele Morin here and here. 

 

Hometown Heroes – NY Child Evangelism Fellowship – 08/01/23

Hometown Heroes – NY Child Evangelism Fellowship – 08/01/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:40 — 7.8MB)

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Child Evangelism Fellowship brings the Bible — and Biblical hope — to 19 million children around the world.  There are new and expanding New York outreaches of CEF to Genesee, Wyoming, Monroe and Orleans counties.

Mary Hooker and Beth Russell tells us about the Good News Club and the Five Day Clubs which reach out into local communities. They talk about the spiritual battle for the souls of young people. These leaders say that too many of today’s children (even in this nation) do not have faith backgrounds, knowledge of Bible truths, or experience with church people.  Child Evangelism Fellowship needs volunteers to help with shaping the hearts of the next generation.

Faith Under Fire – Craig DeRoche – Which are Problems, Which are Solutions? – 07/27/23

Faith Under Fire – Craig DeRoche – Which are Problems, Which are Solutions? – 07/27/23

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 6:07 — 8.4MB)

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“Faith Under Fire”

When people of faith look at the realities of abuse, violence, addictions and so many more social issues, a lot of the analysis describes these as the culture’s “problems”. Craig DeRoche told a New York pro-family, pro-faith conference — and now tells Family Life listeners — that the vocabulary and perspective on “problems” and “solutions” need to change…if we are to bring a resolution and hope to all these circumstances around us.

DeRoche is the president of the Family Policy Alliance. He says we need to reverse the terms “problems” and “solutions”. The troubles around us are less about problems to be solved, but can be better understood as inadequate and unhelpful solutions to the deeper problems people have. As a follower of Christ, he says lives of faith and discipleship are the only solutions that work. He tells his first-person story about how Jesus resolved his own inner problems, and thereby his marriage, family and vocation became better than they ever were before.

DeRoche, in his own work with the national organization, also advocates for this understanding of problems and solutions as he advocates for public policy in his interactions with lawmakers. He calls on people who have discovered the True Solution to be active in their households, local communities, regional and statewide groups, and other ways of faith-sharing and solution-solving.

 

The Family Policy Alliance has partnerships with organizations in 40 states, including New York and Pennsylvania. Craig DeRoche also spoke at the 2023 Legislative Day in Albany. He hosts a weekly podcast on with stories on culture and faith.

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