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Election Night Coverage – 11/05/24 – Family Life News
11pm/12midnight
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Election Night Coverage – 11/05/24 – Family Life News
8pm/9pm/10pm
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a Family Life News Feature
As two candidates race toward the end of this year’s campaign for the White House, what can we learn from all the Chief Executives who came before?
In this podcast from Family Life News, you’ll hear from a best-selling author and presidential historian. David M. Rubenstein has compiled stories, records and reflections on all 46 presidents so far, and says the American presidency is “The Highest Calling” in the world.
Rubenstein tells interviewer Greg Gillispie about how the presidency has been reshaped across U.S. history, the uniqueness of Americans choosing their own leaders, and how his broad scope across history provides insights into the 2024 election. He is concerned that 80 million citizens who are eligible to vote and shape their governance choose not to take part.
David M. Rubenstein is a lawyer, businessman, philanthropist, author and host of a history program on television. He has served as a government official, and is a co-owner of the Baltimore Orioles of Major League Baseball.
His book The Highest Calling: Conversations on the American Presidency includes interviews with most of the living presidents, essays by other commentators and journalists, and anecdotes about the people who were chosen to lead their nation.
10/31/2024
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The developer of a web-based tool to evaluate action plans based on political polls and populations says control of Congress runs through Pennsylvania and New York again this year:
Dr. Sam Wang and his team created the “Vote Maximizer” website which shows statewide and national trends to measure how and where individuals and groups have the largest influence on government through their votes and other political activities.
VoteMaximizer.org shows several Pennsylvania counties where an individual voter has the most influence on their state government: Centre, Erie, Mercer, Luzerne, Lackawanna and Allegheny. The biggest influence this year for New York voters is on some Congressional seats from Syracuse and Utica toward New York City, including Districts 19 and 22.
Sam Wang is an Ivy League professor, as well as the founding director of the Electoral Innovation Lab. Princeton University’s Neuroscience Lab is named after him.
Their website is VoteMaximizer.org. An introductory video is here.
He has an interest in improving the government through the ways voting districts are mapped. He gave a TED Talk this fall on “Using Math to Repair Democracy”.
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Read: Details of this latest research — and its implications.
Related:
Here is a Family Life Newsmaker Interview on the question of why so many people of faith sit out, letting others determine the directions of their government and their culture:
A Christian leader, named Chris Leader, is on a 100-day countdown to encourage evangelical Christians to register to vote this fall.
The “separation of church and state” isn’t in the U.S. Constitution, not in that form anyway. But Chris Leader says many people of faith separate themselves from political and social involvement. His effort “Vote Your Faith” is trying to change that.
In this conversation with Family Life’s Greg Gillispie, Leader explains how some Christians are being intimidated, so they avoid voting, politicking, or even speaking out on the issues in the nation and in the local community. He points to Biblical motivation to get registered, plus how a better turnout of Christian voters could quickly solve many of the current problems in our culture.
Vote Your Faith offers inspiration, resources and tools to help improve the ratio of faithful Christians who participate in campaigns and elections. (Some surveys show that 25 to 33 percent of evangelicals stay away from the polls on Election Day).
As of the date of this Family Life Newsmaker Interview (9/05/2024), Chris Leader was about one-third of the way through his 100 Day Countdown to November 5th . He posts a new commentary each day.
Here are links to those (soon to be) 100 commentaries and the Vote Your Faith website.
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Patterns of congregational youth ministry which were emphasized 20 and 30 years ago are not as effective these days to engage with teens, children and young adults now. Research has shown what church leaders and volunteers ought to emphasize now. The measurement they used: what was distinctive in churches where students were still active in a congregation five to ten years later, long after they “graduated” from youth ministry.
The Rev. Mark Kiessling is director for the national Youth Ministry Office of the Lutheran Church Missouri Synod. He tells Family Life News that ministry with young people which are geared mostly toward events and programs are not having the same impact with the current young generation. What is especially strong to influence
He says many smaller and midsized churches fret over not having much of a traditional “youth program”, if they even have one at all. However, smaller congregations actually have an advantage they can leverage: they are already good at relationships and personal connections.
Listen to this conversation from the podcast player here, and consider sharing it with decision-makers in your congregation or regional network.
– – – –
Their research and recommendations are contained in “Seven Practices of Healthy Youth Ministry” which includes these priorities:
+ Every congregation offers Warmth, Challenge, and Grace
+ Every young person should be intentionally connected with 5 Supportive Adults
+ Every parent is supported, so they can engage effectively with these daughters and sons
+ Every young person is helped to discover their identity in Jesus Christ, as well as their unique calling and vocation
For further information:
* Website * Handout * Video * Book
The LCMS is partnered with 194 congregations in New York, 81 in Pennsylvania, and about 6,000 across the nation.
This is a podcast in our new series “Inspiration for Congregations” with insights from local, regional and national experts, to provide information and motivations for leaders and members of local churches. Today’s host is Family Life news producer Greg Gillispie.
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It’s “Staycation Destinations” on Family Life
Keystone Elk Country Visitors Center – the PA Wilds
North Central Pennsylvania is gearing up for a massive influx of tourism, as we move past Labor Day Weekend.
The Elk Country Visitors Center at Benezette, Pennsylvania, sees 400,000 guests annually. Add in the people who go elk watching each fall in the public lands without stopping by the visitors center, and you’ll know why this interaction with nature’s unique wildlife is such a big deal.
Ben Porkolab is the Conservation Education Coordinator for the Keystone Elk Country Alliance. In this Family Life News Feature, he offers our listeners a radio tour of the Pennsylvania Wilds, one of only two regions in the U.S. where Elk are this numerous.
You will hear about the Pennsylvania elk herd, plus what makes these huge animals so unique. He talks about why Elk County and the surrounding regions captures the imaginations of so many people. It draws crowds from through the local area and throughout the world. (Porkolab gives the example of one couple who came half way around the world, with three specific tourism goals.)
Porkolab also gives insights into how this kind of Wildlife Tourism is so significant to the region.
Check out the Elk Country website for full details, recommendations for your visit, and live cameras and recorded videos to “take you there” (even if you can’t visit in person).
In addition to this Staycation podcast, we also have web-only BONUS CONTENT with elk viewing and elk-viewing safety tips for you and your family. Check it out as well.
Staycation Destinations is a weekly summer feature presented by Family Life News. Even as we arrive at the end of Summer 2024, your radio travels don’t have to end. All of Greg Gillispie’s features are available from your “Family Life News” podcast feed or through the NEWS tab at www.FamilyLife.org. You can visit — or revisit — these unique places in New York State and Pennsylvania by listening to or downloading our audio.You can also scroll through our Staycation archives from previous summers.
You can also share these interviews with friends and family, or choose to subscribe to receive notifications each time your favorite Family Life podcast posts a new episode. Find all our podcasts on our website or through the Family Life Now mobile app.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:51 — 14.9MB)
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Churches and Political Actions
A Family Life Interview with Kim Roberts
Many churches and denominations can be labeled as supportive of one side of the political spectrum or the other. Others avoid politics at all costs.
Part of the reason congregations avoid actions and speech related to electoral politics is fear of risking their non-profit status. However, federal law and IRS regulations do not silence Christian entities which want to promote voting and motivate their people into political action.
Family Life News asked reporter Kim Roberts to detail her research into what is and isn’t allowed when churches and campaigns overlap. Christian individuals can always be active with promoting or opposing a candidate, but when it comes to 501(c)3 organizations, they have to stay non-partisan about candidates. Yet churches and other religious ministries are free to speak out on public issues that weigh on the ballot box. There are no IRS consequences for churches to hold candidate forums, carry out voter registration or get-out-the-vote efforts, or offer rides to the polls. In fact, as you will hear in this conversation, the Church throughout history has been vibrant and vocal in the political and social issues around them.
Kim Roberts, a reporter for the Christian journalism organization Ministry Watch, also discusses how local, state and national candidates reach out to churches, in order to influence their members to vote a certain way. Also, political and culture-fight organizations are finding ways to motivate people of faith to elect certain candidates or stand for particular political issues.
Kim Robert’s detailed article “Church and Politics: What’s Allowed?” is available from www.MinistryWatch.com. She also has other reporting on many faith-based events and issues.
Among the resources for congregations and church leaders — and other groups — she mentions in this podcast:
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Many Christian colleges — like their secular counterparts — are facing financial and enrollment pressures which threaten their futures.
Christian journalist Warren Smith, today’s guest on Family Life’s “Faith Under Fire”, analyzes the issues which have led to numerous faith-based schools retrenching, with some forced to merge or close their doors. He says decisions need to be made — by college administrators, by families with college-bound students, and by churches and denominations. If there is value to higher education with a Christian centering, there are ways to make that more feasible.
In addition to identifying problems with tuition costs and college debts, Smith has some success stories too: Christian universities which have “doubled down” on their unique identities, and some who have focused on degrees which reward graduates with high salaries and numerous career opportunities.
Warren Smith is president of MinistryWatch.com, a Christian news organization which covers national and global ministry organizations, transparency for Christian donors, and religious news across the spectrum. Ministry Watch has done extended coverage on Christian higher education, inspiring trends, and college closures (such as the recent one at Clarks Summit University in the Family Life listening area).
“Faith Under Fire” with Greg Gillispie is a Thursday news feature on the Family Life radio network, on the air and through our live streams. Expanded versions of those interviews are also available from our website and many podcast feed apps. Search for “Family Life News”.
Podcast: Play in new window | Download (Duration: 10:11 — 14.0MB)
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“Doing Church” — “Being Church” — in the Aftermath of an Assassination Attempt
A Family Life Interview
For much of the nation, so much has happened in a two-week period, that the news-cycle has moved on from the assassination attempt in Butler County, Pennsylvania.
However, for the people of that immediate region an hour north of Pittsburgh, the trauma and the questions that started a mere two Saturdays ago will continue for quite some time.
Local churches there are responding — and will, into the long term.
Our Greg Gillispie talked with regional pastor Tom Harmon, asking about Christians’ local response, to an internationally-famous incident. Theirs is among many local congregations of multiple traditions and denominations reaching out in faithful responses in the aftermath of this shooting.
The Rev. Dr. Tom Harmon is executive presbyter for Beaver-Butler Presbytery, a network of 60 congregations in western Pennsylvania.
The organization to which Dr. Harmon refers is “Search for Common Ground”. The USA component of this worldwide movement released a public statement regarding the shooting of Donald Trump and three attendees at the Butler rally. The organization’s website is www.SFCG.org
Family Life News seeks to bring a Christian Worldview to what’s happening in New York, Pennsylvania, across the country, and around the world with 12 daily newscasts, special features, podcasts, and extended interviews like this one.
