PODCASTS

Tag: #pastors

140 Rise Up: Pastor Appreciation

140 Rise Up: Pastor Appreciation

October is Pastor Appreciation Month! Steve and Tim share some of the most memorable lessons learned from the pastors in their lives.

Then: The real reason we can’t agree on mature divisive vases.

Rise Up is a morning radio show hosted by Steve & Tim on Family Life, a network of stations across New York and Pennsylvania. Our podcast is a weekly conversation designed to help you think, laugh, and keep your eyes on Jesus. If you haven’t already, subscribe today, so you don’t miss a single episode! Listen online and find out more about our show at familylife.org.   

Churches and Political Actions – Kim Roberts – 8/29/24

Churches and Political Actions – Kim Roberts – 8/29/24

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 Roberts, MinistryWatch.com

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:

  • An IRS document, detailing the distinctions for 501(c)3 organizations on partisan politicking (not allowed) and lobbying (allowed)
  • Election guides for congregational planning from the NAACP and the Alliance Defending Freedom
  • Turning Point USA’s TPFaith efforts to motivate political and cultural action by conservative and mid-spectrum Christians
  • Black Church PAC’s plans to carry out a massive voter mobilization effort this fall
  • A political science professor’s observation that it is extremely rare that the IRS revokes a church’s charitable status, even if they carry out activities that lean solidly toward one candidate or one political party

The Calling_Episode 20: Dr. Richard Blackaby

The Calling_Episode 20: Dr. Richard Blackaby

The Calling is a Family Life original podcast for pastors that focuses on the personal and professional challenges they face in their mission to serve the Lord. In Episode 20, Steve Smith speaks with Dr. Richard Blackaby, President of Blackaby Ministries, International about his father’s legacy, social media’s influence on ministry, and the responsibilities of Christians living in divisive times.

 

The Calling_Episode 19: Mark Bane

The Calling_Episode 19: Mark Bane

The Calling is a Family Life original podcast for pastors that focuses on the personal and professional challenges they face in their mission to serve the Lord. In Episode 19, Steve’s guest is Mark Bane, a retired pastor with 40 years of experience leading congregations.  Mark, who is also Steve’s longtime friend, talks about the difference between being a pastor and sitting in the congregation, how to biblically address sin in a friend.

Faith Under Fire – Hostility Toward Churches: Implications – 4/18/24

Faith Under Fire – Hostility Toward Churches: Implications – 4/18/24

Hostility Toward Churches: Causes & Implications

Faith Under Fire – 4/18/24

A six-year national study of threats, violence and vandalism aimed at churches and religious organization shows the danger spiked in 2023. This edition of Family Life’s “Faith Under Fire” feature invites back Arielle Del Turco for a second conversation. Today, we recap the results of that survey, but then go beyond the statistics to the causes and implications.

  • How do the current cultural perceptions of Christians affect how faith institutions see more threats and violence?
  • What trends are seen in what types of churches and entities are more likely to become targets, and should all religious groups band together to denounce anti-Christian hostility?
  • What advice does she have for Christians to make a positive influence on the surrounding culture?
  • Going to worship is safe, considering the 900+ incidents in six years compared to the millions of religious gatherings in that time. Still, what should leaders of congregations and faith-based networks learn from this study?

We also encourage you to listen to, share or download our earlier conversation with Del Turco (Faith Under Fire 4/04/24) when she talked about the numbers and trends which she compiled with this annual report. Other resources are also linked from that podcast at FamilyLife.org/newspodcasts.

 

Arielle Del Turco is the director of the Center for Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council.

The Calling – Episode 18: Steve Baley – Dean of Students at Clarks Summit University

The Calling – Episode 18: Steve Baley – Dean of Students at Clarks Summit University

The Calling is a Family Life original podcast for pastors that focuses on the personal and professional challenges they face in their mission to serve the Lord. In Episode 18, Steve’s guest is Steve Baley, Dean of Students at Clarks Summit University who talks about youth, sports, and faith, and how God has used all of it in his life.

The Calling – Episode 16: Pastor Christopher Powers and Pastor Sean Powers from Kingstree Church in Ohio

The Calling – Episode 16: Pastor Christopher Powers and Pastor Sean Powers from Kingstree Church in Ohio

The Calling is a Family Life original podcast for pastors that focuses on the personal and professional challenges they face in their mission to serve the Lord. In Episode 16, Steve’s guests are pastors Christopher and Sean Powers from Kingstree Church in Ohio. Christopher and Sean are not only pastors at the same church, they, along with Tim Powers of the Rise Up Morning Show, are brothers.  In this episode, they talk about the importance of family and the role their parents played in their lives.

The Calling – Episode 15: Ray Bartholomew – McClure United Methodist Church in Deposit, NY

The Calling – Episode 15: Ray Bartholomew – McClure United Methodist Church in Deposit, NY

The Calling is a Family Life original podcast for pastors that focuses on the personal and professional challenges they face in their mission to serve the Lord. In Episode 15, Steve’s guest is Pastor Ray Bartholomew from McClure United Methodist Church in Deposit, NY who talks about how the church can (at times) be too judgemental.

The Calling – Episode 14: Tyler Schutt – Youth Pastor at Crossroads Family Ministry

The Calling – Episode 14: Tyler Schutt – Youth Pastor at Crossroads Family Ministry

The Calling is a Family Life original podcast for pastors that focuses on the personal and professional challenges they face in their mission to serve the Lord. In Episode 14, Steve’s guest is Tyler Schutt, a youth pastor for Crossroads Family Ministry in Sayre, PA who talks about ministering to young hearts.

A Family Life Interview – Ron Hutchcraft on Church-Leader Burnout – 11/27/23

A Family Life Interview – Ron Hutchcraft on Church-Leader Burnout – 11/27/23

Ron Hutchcraft has spent decades as a Christian broadcaster, a ministry leader, a mission worker, and a sought-after speaker at religious conferences.

In October, he was featured at the Family Life Pastor’s Conference, providing inspiration to well over 200 pastors from Pennsylvania and New York. In conjunction with his visit to our listening area, he was interviewed by Family Life News, seeking his recommendations for clergy and for congregations.

In light of today’s difficult trends where 42 percent of congregational pastors are ready to quit, there is much which needs done to strengthen the church and reverse that reality.

In our conversation, Hutchcraft looks at the Big Three challenges identified by that research, offers practical steps to reduce stresses and loneliness, and warns that church fights over politics or social issues are against the Bible’s calling. He points to the impact of Covid shutdowns and mandates and disagreements, and gives a movie-plot parallel. You also will hear reminders that the church’s shepherds also hold responsibility to address their own misguided motivations and unhelpful mission drift.

Ron Hutchcraft leads Ron Hutchcraft Ministries, which works to provide spiritual rescue, bringing hope to unchurched people in the language of the listener. RHM also operates “On Eagles Wings”, an evagelistic and training outreach to Indigenous young people.

His daily radio story, “A Word With You”, airs multiple times each weekday on Family Life broadcasting, plus our online streams.

 

A parallel Family Life Podcast is also available:  Check our pastors’ first-person stories on “The Calling” with Steve Smith. Episodes can be found here.

 

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