Family Life 5 O’Clock Report – 1/29/24
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Christian Culture, Pop Culture, and navigating the world where Taylor Swift is “everywhere” – 1/29/24
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Keeping Pop Culture in check,
Spiritual truths, amid Taylor Swift’s popularity,
And helping children and teens to prioritize their faith, even using lessons from celebrities.
We have an exclusive interview with Paul Asay of the PLUGGED IN entertainment reviews, a Family Life Interview from the January 29 Noon Report.
Paul Asay is the supervising editor of PLUGGED IN, which offers family-friendly reviews of movies, television, streamed programs, social media, music, video games, and other entertainment content. An outreach of Focus on the Family, PLUGGED IN provides short reviews (with an eye and ear toward Christian parents and their children), expanded conversations about media and culture, and blog posts to help mindful parents guide their children’s choices — and insightful household discussions about the media surrounding us.
PLUGGED IN also regularly features their recommendations on the best entertainment options for young audiences. 
Family Life 5 O’Clock Report – 1/26/24
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Capital Connection – Life Issues (at the beginning & the end), Free to choose a better school? – 1/26/24
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“Capital Connection” on Family Life
Abortion Politics Reign in Albany and Harrisburg
Another Pro-Life Issue: Is this the year for Assisted Suicide?
School Choice Debate
Christian watchdogs and political activists Jason McGuire and Michael Geer take a deep dive into the issues you care about each Friday on “Capital Connection”. Listen to this analysis of this week’s biggest cultural and governmental issues in Pennsylvania and New York.
For follow-up on stories discussed in this edition:
- Pennsylvania Family Institute: PAFamily.org
- New Yorkers for Constitutional Freedoms: AlbanyUpdate.com
Family Life 5 O’Clock Report – 1/25/24
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Faith Under Fire – A local take on pro-life/pro-abortion debates – 1/25/24
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As the abortion industry and many politicians look to put abortion into state constitutions, many in the pro-life movement seek to redefine the debate.
Christina Fadden is president of Syracuse Right to Life. The day after the National March for Life in DC, that group and its partners held a local rally and March for the Onandaga County region. The Syracuse March (held Saturday, January 20) is the longest-running march in New York State.
In this Family Life interview leading up to that event, Fadden talks about the “right” to have an abortion, and how that belief system has become embedded in many people’s thoughts and much of the media coverage. Local groups are working to clarify and correct the terms, so that people go beyond a “right to choose” and more toward “human rights” for everyone, including unborn children.
Additional information:
- Video of the 2024 Syracuse March
- Syracuse Right to Life on Facebook
Inside Out – Children’s emotions ….and the Psalms – 1/24/24
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Living your faith, from the “Inside Out”
If you’re having trouble helping your kids negotiate their emotions, you’re not alone.
“We always fall into kind of two ends of a spectrum,” says writer and Bible teacher Courtney Reissig. “We either want to protect them too much from experiencing hard things, or we don’t want them to feel or express those hard things when life happens. And we all probably know which one we fall into.”
Reissig recommends parents turn to the Psalms for help. She’s the author of the recent Gospel Coalition article “Use the Psalms to Teach Kids About Feelings.”
“Psalms speak to very real feelings and very real emotions,” she says, “and that’s helpful to us because God created us to feel things, and then He’s given us a whole book of the Bible that teaches us how to navigate those feelings and to express those feeling back to God. Many of them are prayers or songs that we sing back to God. And so we take all of our feelings and all of our emotions and then we move them towards the only one who can do anything with what we’re feeling.”
Learn more about how the Psalms can help children express and understand their emotions by listening to our 14-minute podcast. Read what Courtney Reissig is writing here.
Family Life 5 O’Clock Report – 1/23/24
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Hometown Heroes – Allegany Hope WNY – Casey Jones – 1/23/24
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It’s “Hometown Heroes” on Family Life
Today’s guest on “Hometown Heroes” is Casey Jones of Allegany Hope, a Christian organization focused on building healthy communities through healthy families.
Allegany Hope has, for 15 years now, brought together local congregations and other Christian organizations to streamline and multiply their efforts to change lives. As you will hear in this podcast, Jones says the goal is to bring about holistic health to their neighbors — physical, emotional, mental and spiritual. Jones has seen positive results in bringing church leaders together to move beyond discussion of community issues and needs into actions which bring these benefits to life.
One of the visible, ongoing projects is a Facebook page which publicizes what God is doing among the people of their town. They also have become a hub for posting community news, church events, a workshop on emergency preparedness for households (February 8), and other activities to connect with the local region. The Allegany Hope Community Calendar publicizes events such as Bible studies, Autism workshops and more.
Allegany Hope is centered in Friendship, New York. You can find out more online from their Facebook and website.
Issues in Education – School’s spending, Students’ spending – 1/22/24
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Family Life’s “Issues in Education”
Dr. Ralph Kerr, a longtime school administrator and the founder of the Teaching and Learning Institute talks about key issues happening now among classrooms, school boards, and communities. These conversations are important for parents, extended families and taxpayers.
Among the topics this week:
- Education Spending In NY Budget
- Financial Literacy Course in PA
- Changes to Bus-Driver Training
Ralph Kerr and other public school administrators founded the Teaching and Learning Institute in 2005. It serves families and communities as an advocacy organization to encourage people of faith to be actively involved in their local schools and school boards.
