This episode of Illinois Family Spotlight is highlighting remarks made in August 2023, by Riley Gaines during a Will County Republican organization banquet, where she recounts her personal experience of having to compete against a biological male and the dismantlement of Title IX.

Riley Gaines made headlines when, in 2022, during an NCAA competition for the University of Kentucky, she was forced to share a swimming pool and locker room with male competitor, Will Thomas, who self-identifies as a female – Lia Thomas.… Continue Reading

This episode of Illinois Family Spotlight features Peter Breen’s speech at the Will County Republican Banquet in the first half and a Q&A session with Scott Klusendorf, President of the Life Training Institute, in the second half.

Peter Breen is a former state representative and currently is the executive vice president & head of litigation for the Chicago based Thomas More Society.

Breen speaks on the unconstitutional nature of Senate Bill 1909, which causes pro-life pregnancy centers to undergo litigation and fines.… Continue Reading

This Spotlight episode features Shannon Adcock’s speech that she presented at Foundations of Faith and Family Conference.

Shannon Adcock is the founder of Awake Illinois, a grassroots organization that was founded to expose the public schools’ sexualization of children.

In her speech Shannon highlights the Due Process Clause of the 14th Amendment, which protects the “fundamental right of parents to direct the care, upbringing, and education to their children.” She comments,

This [parental right] is fundamental.

The first segment of this episode of Spotlight features remarks made by IFI’s Executive Director David Smith at the annual banquet. The second segment features a Q & A time with Eric Metaxas. You will love how he answers some pressing questions from notable Illinois pastors.

Though our present situation in Illinois celebrates radical abortion policies, an “untenable” immigration crisis, foolish gender confusion and sex-education in our government schools, Dave has encouraging words for his audience:

“Be encouraged.

This episode of Spotlight features a conversation between Monte Larrick and Eric Metaxas on how Christians should live in present-day America.

Eric Metaxas is a broadcaster and a New York Times Bestselling author of prominent books with his recent being “Letter to the American Church.”

In this book, Metaxas calls on the American church to wake up and be the church. This is an interview you won’t want to miss.… Continue Reading

This week’s episode of the Illinois Family Spotlight podcast features a message from Reverend Stephen Broden that he gave at the Foundations of Faith and Family conference.

Stephen Broden is the senior pastor of Fair Park Bible Fellowship in Texas and is the chairman of the Gone Too Far movement.

In his message, Pastor Broden speaks on the spiritual conflict that is in America and how to heal a nation in decline.… Continue Reading

This Spotlight episode features Scott Phelps, executive director of Abstinence and Marriage Partnership, and his speech on The Success Sequence– the three steps to a successful life.

The first step to a successful life is to complete a high school level of education. The second step is to get a stable job.

Finally, the biggest indication for a successful life is to keep sex and children in the context of marriage alone.… Continue Reading

16 years ago, Planned Parenthood opened an abortion facility in Aurora, Illinois. On the anniversary of this opening, pro-life activists held a prayer vigil outside of the building featuring Pastor Randy Schoof of Warehouse Church and Eric Scheidler, Executive Director of Pro-Life Action League.

In his speech, Pastor Schoof encouraged those in attendance to continue to pray for the end of abortion, to plead for God’s mercy, and to continue the work of sidewalk counseling outside of abortion sites.… Continue Reading

In this episode of Spotlight, Monte Larrick interviews Phil Price and Catharine Walker outside the Aurora Planned Parenthood clinic, where more than 400 surgical abortions are performed every single month.

Price and Walker are two of the leaders of 40 Days For Life Aurora. 40 Days For Life is a powerful Christian prayer campaign that brings 24-hour prayer vigils outside abortion centers in Illinois, across the nation, and around the world.… Continue Reading

In this episode of Spotlight, we are featuring Part 2 of David Smith and Monte Larrick’s conversation with Dr. Mark Zumhagen, MD.

As noted last week, Dr. Zumhagen has been practicing family medicine since 1986. In 2009, he opened his private, holistic practice in Orland Park called Fearfully and Wonderfully Made with the mission of re-activating “the body’s own healing ability that God put in there.”

In this segment, Dr. Zumhagen goes back to the basics– the foundation of science.… Continue Reading

In this episode of Spotlight, Monte Larrick and David Smith sit down with Dr. Mark Zumhagen, MD, to discuss the resurgence of COVID-19.

Dr. Zumhagen has been practicing family medicine since 1986. In 2009, he opened his private, holistic practice in Orland Park called Fearfully and Wonderfully Made with the mission of re-activating “the body’s own healing ability that God put in there.”

In this episode, Dr. Zumhagen discusses the banning of Ivermectin, the outlawed use of Hydroxychloroquine, the emergency use of the vaccine, and the side effects of this experimental vaccine.… Continue Reading

In this episode of Illinois Family Spotlight, Dave Smith and Monte Larrick sit down with Evelyn Stenzel.

Evelyn works with the Southside Pregnancy Center and travels throughout the greater Chicago area for the purpose of equipping Christians with the pro-life message.

Part of Evelyn’s ministry, “Equipped!”, includes informing pro-life advocates of abortion procedures and the impact abortion has on both the unborn baby and the mother. In the interview, she comments,

Many people that are pro-life honestly are unfamiliar with abortion procedures, the impact of abortion– of course on the unborn but also on the mother…

Mentioned in the podcast is Evelyn’s Equipped!… Continue Reading

In this episode of Illinois Family Spotlight, we are featuring the second part of Scott Klusendorf’s speech at the 2023 Worldview Conference.

Scott Klusendorf is the founder and president of the Life Training Institute, which is an organization that is dedicated to equipping pro-life advocates to effectively defend Life in the public square. He is the author of The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture.

In this portion, Klusendorf tackles the topic of how one’s church can effectively engage the culture with pro-life apologetics.… Continue Reading

This episode of Illinois Family Spotlight features Scott Klusendorf at the IFI 2023 Worldview Conference.

Scott Klusendorf is the founder and president of the Life Training Institute, which is dedicated to equipping pro-life advocates to effectively defend their view of life in the public square. He has taught pro-life apologetics at over 80 colleges and universities, and he is the author of The Case for Life: Equipping Christians to Engage the Culture.… Continue Reading

If we fear God, we fear nothing else. If we don’t fear God, we fear everything, and everyone else.

~Pastor Stephen Lee

This special episode of Illinois Family Spotlight features an interview with Attorney David Shestokas and the charges that have been brought against his client, Pastor Stephen Lee.

Pastor Lee is the interim pastor of the Living Word Church in Orland Park, is a former police officer, and a former police chaplain.… Continue Reading

In this special episode of Illinois Family Spotlight, Monte Larrick sits down with award-winning swimmer and speaker, Riley Gaines.

Riley Gaines was a member of the University of Kentucky’s NCAA swim team and the 2022 Southeastern Conference Women’s Swimming and Diving Scholar of the Year.

In March of 2022, Riley Gaines, along with her teammates, was forced to share a locker room and swim alongside a biological male, Will Thomas.… Continue Reading

This episode of Illinois Family Spotlight features remarks from Ariella Del Turco on the topic of religious liberty in the first half, along with a question and answer segment with Ambassador Sam Brownback during the second half.

Arielle Del Turco is the director of Religious Liberty at the Family Research Council (FRC) and is the co-author of FRC’s “Hostility Against Churches” report.

Sam Brownback is the former governor of Kansas, formerly representing Kansas in the U.S.… Continue Reading

In this episode, Illinois Family Spotlight features remarks and insights made by the honorable Sam Brownback that took place during an IFI Forum on religious liberty.

Sam Brownback served as governor of Kansas, represented the people of Kansas in the U.S. House & Senate during President Trump’s administration, served as the U.S. Ambassador at Large for International Religious Freedom, and is currently the chairman for the National Committee for Religious Freedom.… Continue Reading

This episode of Illinois Family Spotlight features remarks made by Kevin Sorbo during IFI’s 2022 Faith, Family & Freedom Banquet.

Kevin Sorbo is an actor, director, author, and is best known for his role in Hercules: The Legendary Journey, Andromeda, and God’s Not Dead, to name a few. He has also become an outspoken and witty conservative pundit with 1.7 million Twitter followers. We recommend that you follow him @ksorbs.… Continue Reading

Should a thief be allowed to become a police officer? How about someone who sells drugs on the streets? Any sane person would answer both of these questions with a resounding “no.” It shouldn’t need an explanation, but there are a few main reasons why those who break the law shouldn’t be in law enforcement. The first is that they are either immoral or even worse, they know what they’re doing is wrong and simply don’t care.… Continue Reading

This episode of Illinois Family Spotlight features remarks given by Sam Sorbo at Illinois Family Institute’s 2022 Faith, Family, and Freedom Banquet.

Sam Sorbo is an actress, filmmaker, radio host, and a staunch advocate for educational freedom. Her book, They’re Your Kids: An Inspirational Journey from Self-Doubter to Home School Advocate, chronicles her family’s experience with homeschooling.

In her speech, Sam insightfully notes the lies of the educational framework in America, what true education is, and how parents can fight for their child’s education.… Continue Reading

Not too long ago, to be a politician or a member of the government, one needed to follow certain customs and social norms. These unspoken rules weren’t complicated, nor were they overly restrictive. Politicians could joke around now and again, and they could even act casually at times, but they still worked to keep an image of professionalism and respectability.

Evidently, the days of trying to act normal and respectable as a public figure—or, let’s be honest, as a private citizen—are a thing of the past.… Continue Reading

In this episode of Illinois Family Spotlight, we are featuring remarks made by Dr. Jonathan Diggs during Illinois Family Institute’s 2023 Worldview Conference.

Dr. Jonathan Diggs has been practicing medicine for over thirty-five years, is an American Board of Internal Medicine diplomat, is a motivational speaker, and is a guest on national television and radio programs.

In his speaking segment, Dr. Diggs outlines three consequences of sexual immortality, which include the following:

1) unwanted pregnancies,
2) sexually transmitted diseases (STIs),
3) and the disruption of social cohesion.… Continue Reading

In this episode of Illinois Family Spotlight, Monte Larrick discusses the pro-life movement with Eric Scheidler, who is the executive director of Chicago’s Pro-Life Action League. During their annual “Face the Truth” tour, dozens of volunteers line sidewalks adjacent to streets near busy intersections in Chicago and the suburbs, silently and often prayerfully holding photographs of aborted babies.

When asked about the public reaction to these photographs, Scheidler notes,

We expected to see more hostility and anger and we’ve had some incidents… But, what I’ve found more notable is kind of a lack of curiosity… it seems more difficult to get people to take a piece of literature from you… That’s troubling.

With June 1^st marking the start of Pride month, numerous woke corporations and government institutions wasted no time in raising pride flags and rolling out social media profile pictures to match the occasion.

However, many companies are beginning to think twice before pledging their allegiance to the LGBTQ lobby.

After Bud Light and Target suffered significant losses from boycotts for pushing gender ideology nonsense, many companies seem to be a bit more cautious and hesitant, and rightly so.… Continue Reading

In this podcast episode of Illinois Family Spotlight, Monte Larrick interviews Dr. Voddie Baucham regarding the issues of education, worldview, and critical race theory. The latter threatening to divide the Church and nation. There is an agenda to push a “false divide” between black and white people. In an interview with Christianity Daily, Dr. Baucham points out:

“So the Jew-Gentile divide that Paul talks about in the latter half of Ephesians 2, that is a real divide that God established.… Continue Reading

In this edition of Illinois Family Spotlight, Monte Larrick has an interesting conversation with Kirk Smith, executive director of the Illinois Christian Home Educators (ICHE). Over the weekend of May 20th, ICHE hosted their annual homeschool conference at Olivet Nazarene University where families were not only encouraged to educate their children academically, but educate them spiritually.

When asked about the difference between public school and home school, Smith points out that children in government systems are often being taught anti-Christian morals and deceptive worldly philosophies.… Continue Reading

The Left often whines about religion being shoved in their faces, claiming that religious beliefs are being forced upon them by Christian conservatives. If you try and talk to a liberal about abortion, gay marriage, or the indoctrination occurring in the public school system, you’ll be bombarded with demands to keep religion out of government, even if you never brought your religious beliefs into the conversation in the first place. They claim to take a firm stance against having religious talk forced on people who don’t want it.… Continue Reading