PODCASTS

Tag: #FAMILYLIFENEWS
Ministry to Dads, and Other Men – “Dad Tired” Men’s Ministry – 4/03/24

Ministry to Dads, and Other Men – “Dad Tired” Men’s Ministry – 4/03/24

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:56 — 8.2MB)

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Many men are tired, feeling guilty, and beat down — because of the challenge of meeting expectations, and (often) because they don’t feel the presence of a support system around them.

Into those realities, comes a national men’s ministry named Dad Tired.  It’s founder, Christian pastor Jerrad Lopes, tells Family Life’s Greg Gillispie about the unexpectedly profound rationale behind the group’s name. He talks about why most men today feel like they struggle, about the one common theme he senses from men across the country (and how guys can resolve that #1 dilemma).

In this conversation, he also talks very personally about his own crisis which led to the beginning of the Dad Tired Ministry eight years ago, how he helps dads (and all men) discover hope and healing, and ways that wives and churches and friends can help encourage the men in their lives.

Lopes also previews his upcoming conference on Saturday April 13 at Batavia, New York. Details, registration and ticket information are available from www.FamilyLife.org/events.

Jerrad Lopes is also a podcaster and author on these matters. DadTired.com has an online community where thousands of men have connected and found mutual encouragement.

Hometown Heroes – Samuel Girod (2) – Family Life – 4/02/24

Hometown Heroes – Samuel Girod (2) – Family Life – 4/02/24

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A group called MAP — Mission to Amish People — seeks to provide encouragement and discipleship resources to anyone who leaves an Amish lifestyle and seeks to live out their faith differently than they were raised. Many of those who turn away from the faith of their early lives find that they need practical assistance too — education, housing, lifeskills training and more — and MAP provides those as well.

This “Hometown Heroes” podcast is the second of our two conversations with Samuel Girod, a missionary with MAP. He previews an upcoming workshop in Friendship, New York, on April 19-20 (2024). Mission to Amish People hope to train potential new missionaries that conference at Bible Baptist Church.

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This webpage [ www.mapministry.org] tells the first-person story of Samuel and his wife Polly. From that site, you can further explore MAP’s efforts, upcoming conferences, and recording of previous presentations by numerous speakers.

The state of today’s News Business – Sarah Stonbely

The state of today’s News Business – Sarah Stonbely

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 5:43 — 7.9MB)

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The journalism school at Northwestern University released a study about the state of news coverage in the United States. The study’s director, researcher Sarah Stonbely, joined Family Life News for a conversation about how the media landscape has changed, and how the biases of many national media outlets makes local news coverage that much more important.

However, she says, local news is hurting too. As traditional sources for news are hurting, many more Americans are living in what is described as a “news desert” — a local region where people have only one sources (or zero!) for local news. Newspapers are drying up at a rate of two per week, fewer and fewer broadcasters focus on news, and much of the public now goes to social media to stay informed.

Included in this interview:

  • What troubles have arisen due to changes in news media, plus what are some current bright spots?
  • When national outlets have skewed toward a single viewpoint (one side or the other the cultural or political spectrum), what role must local newswriters and newscasters take for their local audience?
  • How should news organizations “fix” these dilemmas?
  • What is essential for the consumers of news and information, as they seek balance, truth and insights?

Dr. Sarah Stonbely is the director of the Local News Project from the Medill School of Journalism and Media at Northwestern University. 

Their latest report is available here: localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/projects/state-of-local-news/2023/

Medill’s News Initiative also has additional articles, research and analysis of what the news landscape is like these days, plus a data-based “MRI” of what is happening in news media — with expectations of what trends will be next: localnewsinitiative.northwestern.edu/
An Insider’s Perspective on Haiti – Faith Under Fire – 3/28/24

An Insider’s Perspective on Haiti – Faith Under Fire – 3/28/24

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 8:22 — 11.5MB)

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An Insider’s Perspective on Haiti – Faith Under Fire

When gangs burst into prisons throughout the island nation of Haiti, it launched a cascade of violence and brutality which shook the residents, toppled the standing of government, and opened the doors to crime and murder.

Family Life News offers you a perspective on what it has been like to live in Haiti and offer Christian ministry and hands-on development there.  Darren Hercyk is a native of New York’s Southern Tier, a current resident of Harrisburg PA, and has directed global development programs for Liberty University.

Based on his three year’s experience in Haiti, he says the current civil unrest is one event in a long trend of disasters for Haitians — earthquakes, political upheaval, and hurricanes.

This conversation includes the need for immediate relief efforts, as well as the extensive Christian mission trips and longer range efforts. Hercyk says the most effective assistance would have two vital aspects:

  • A focus on long-term infrastructure: housing, schools, hospitals and other public services
  • Is centered on building up the ministries of the local churches in Haiti (or, for that matter, any troubled region)

Hercyk also gives us insights on the effectiveness that Haitian churches have had, when so many others entities have failed or collapsed. Even amid the disasters there, he says there is hope for Haiti — from its Christians.

Darren Hercyk has led global relief efforts and Christian humanitarian work, of his own as well as mentoring future mission workers. He has lived in ten nations doing such work, and directed programs for Messiah University and  Liberty University.
Inside Out – Hope for Widows – 3/27/24

Inside Out – Hope for Widows – 3/27/24

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Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 16:23 — 22.5MB)

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Hope for Widows (and their friends)

“I rest in who God is to get me though my day. And that, I think, is what the hope for widows is.”  — Marilyn Nutter

 Twenty-eight hundred women a day are widowed in the US. For those women, everything changes. 

 “A widow has not only lost her husband, but she has lost the life that she knew,” says Marilyn Nutter. “And life looks dramatically different.”

 Nutter knows there are better and worse ways to comfort the widows in our lives. A widow herself since 2011, her new book is Hope for Widows: Reflections on Mourning, Living, and Change.

 “If we can’t say something that can be encouraging and not judgmental, then just be present,” Nutter says. “Put your arm around that person.”

 While more than half of the women in the US over the age of 75 are widows, the average age a woman becomes a widow is 59 years old. No matter the age, there’s grief, loneliness, anger, and disappointment.

 “I don’t think we can ever prepare emotionally for losing your spouse,” Nutter says. But there are some nuts-and-bolts things people with a living spouse can do now to make life more manageable if they’re widowed someday. We can learn, right now, the essential tasks our spouses usually shoulder, whether it’s changing the household air filters, paying the bills, or making travel arrangements. 

 “You need to be prepared, practically,” Nutter says. “It’s still not going to be easy. But if you can have some practical things in place, that would make it more manageable when your body is exhausted, and your brain can’t think.”

 Randy Nutter died while on the couple’s cross-country Christmas visit to their children. Through Marilyn Nutter’s loneliness and discouragement, she hung onto God and who she knew Him to be. She knows that God is not only her hope, but the hope for widows. 

 “God is faithful to keep His promises. He hasn’t made a promise that He hasn’t kept. And so, when I think of hope, I think of hope as a person. Biblical hope rests in who God is and who He says He is. And that is where I have found Him to be faithful.”

 We invite you to listen to our 16-minute podcast.

 Learn more about Marilyn Nutter here.

 

 

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