Tear All The Statues Down?

Written by Dr. Paul Kengor

Last weekend I overheard two recent grads (both musicians) discussing America’s greatest composers. The usual names were raised: Copland, Gershwin, Bernstein, Sousa … Foster.

“Who?” said one.

“Stephen Foster,” replied the other.

Only one knew who Foster was, and neither knew he was from Pittsburgh. Both, ironically, recently spent a lot of time in Oakland, where the Stephen Foster statue once stood outside the Carnegie.

That statue, depicting Foster above a banjo-strumming Black man, representative of his song “Uncle Ned,” was removed in April 2018 after a contentious debate.… Continue Reading

Welcome to the neo-Marxist ‘Church of Holy Wokeness’

Written by Dr. Everett Piper

At a Black Lives Matter protest in Cary, North Carolina, a white woman takes to her megaphone. “We repent on behalf of, uh, Caucasian people,” she shouts, as she calls upon the crowd to kneel before two Black pastors seated before them on a park bench. Several audibly weep as they bow in obeisance.

At a church in Atlanta, Dan Cathy, CEO of Chick-fil-A, genuflects before a Black colleague while shining his shoes in a ritual atoning for the collective “shame” of being White.… Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: John Stonestreet On Our Cultural Moment

Written by David E. Smith

Home education and private schooling, specifically Christian schooling, are becoming first-choice options for many families as parents realize that their educational goals and priorities for their children don’t match up with those of government schools. John Stonestreet joins Monte Larrick to discuss the responsibility sphere; proactive education of discernment; the LGBT history mandate in Illinois and other states; and convictions, conscience rights and consequences.

Switching gears, the discussion moves to the Equality Act and increasing pressure on the U.S.… Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: Pastor Dan Haas’ Perspective on COVID Lock-Down

Written by David E. Smith

Our final Spotlight for the month of May features a recent conversation between Monte Larrick and Pastor Dan Haas, a well-known Aurora community activist. In the midst of the coronavirus pandemic, Haas wonders what is God’s message to believers in Christ and what is the Church’s task. Dan stresses the opportunity the pandemic presents to re-evaluate and prepare for what ministry could look like inside and outside of the physical church facility in the months to come.… Continue Reading

What’s in Your Governor’s Fireplace?

Written by Paul Hurst

People of faith are sensing something is very wrong with our government right now. In Illinois, the newspapers might as well publish Jeremiah Chapter 36 as their front page cover story. After all, his Biblical account sounds like it’s taken directly from today’s headlines.

Pending disaster, dire warnings, arrogant leaders, cowardly representatives, people of faith banned from their place of worship, untrustworthy people turning each other in and an increasingly godless society, tempting God’s wrath every step of the way.… Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: Dr. Michael Brown and the “Spirit of Jezebel”

Written by David E. Smith

According to Dr. Michael L. Brown, whether you realize it or not, war is raging in our nation. This war is not with a flesh and blood opponent, but rather with what he terms the “spirit of Jezebel” – demonic forces that are at work in individuals today, just as those same spirits were at work in individuals in biblical times. In his address to attendees of IFI’s 2020 Worldview Conference, Dr.… Continue Reading

Our Hope in Christ’s Victory Over Death

Written by David Limbaugh

Many things about Christianity are counterintuitive but none more than this: God the perfect Father sent Jesus the perfect Son to Earth as a human being to suffer and die for the sins of imperfect human beings so that those who believe in the Son would receive the perfect Holy Spirit and live in eternal love with God.

Scripture makes all this clear.

“For God so loved the world that he gave his one and only Son, that whoever believes in him shall not perish but have eternal life.”

Psalm 91: Protection Through Life’s Storms

Written by Joseph Parker

He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High shall abide under the shadow of the Almighty.   I will say of the Lord, “He is my refuge and my fortress; My God, in Him I will trust (Psalm 91:1-2). 

In a perilous world filled with diseases such as the flu and now the Coronavirus (COVID–19) many are very fearful.  Inner cities and many other communities are simply dangerous places to be – with drug and human trafficking, muggings, murders, physical and sexual abuse, etc.  … Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: Parental Rights, Religious Liberty and American History

Written by Benjamin Smith

Latasha Fields, founder and director of CHESS – Christian Home Educators Support System, joins IFI executive director David Smith on this edition of Spotlight. In the first half of the podcast, David and Latasha discuss egregious legislation pending in the Illinois General Assembly that aims to eviscerate parental rights and eliminate religious liberty.

State Representative Robyn Gabel (D-Evanston) recently introduced HB 4870 would mandate the HPV vaccination for ALL Illinois students at the 6^th grade level.… Continue Reading

SPOTLIGHT: Pastor Ron Citlau “You Must Be Born Again”

Written by Benjamin Smith

David Smith and Monte Larrick welcome Pastor Ron Citlau, lead pastor of Calvary Church in Orland Park, to this edition of Spotlight. Pastor Citlau shares how a 1997 encounter with the Lord transformed him and freed him from a life marked by sexual abuse, addiction to alcohol, drugs and pornography, and same-sex attraction.

In the second half of the podcast, our guest and hosts discuss Illinois’ gender-related legislation that misleads and corrupts public school students.… Continue Reading