Inside Out - Family Life News

When we’re lonely, we not only feel terrible, but our health suffers. Loneliness has been connected with a greater risk of heart disease, dementia, stroke, depression, anxiety, and premature death. In 2023 the former Surgeon General of the United States compared the health impact of loneliness to the physical impact of smoking up to 15 cigarettes a day. We spoke with Glenn Lutjens ( Lutch-en...

Church scandals and political infighting are rocking the American Church. Theologian, pastor, musician, and author Glenn Packiam believes we can find unity and correction the same way the early church did—by using the Nicene Creed as a guide. Packiam’s new book is What’s a Christian, Anyway? Finding Our Way in an Age of Confusion and Corruption.

One way to look at how the US influences other countries is to look at how it uses power—both hard power and soft power.   “We can attempt to use military power to get countries to do what we want, or we can also use economic power to get countries to do what we want,” says Dr. Peter Meilaender. “So things like tariffs or sanctions would be thought of usually as hard p...

A special news feature from Family Life focusing on how God changes us from the inside, out. Americans feel detached and Isolated. Florida pastor Doug Hankins believes we have a neighborliness problem.  On this edition of Inside Out, Hankins talks with Martha about Jesus' call to be good neighbors, the topic of the Gospel Coalition article "Benefits of Being a Good Neighbor". 

The number of ways we receive news has multiplied, and it can be difficult to know what's true.  But there are ways to sift through the stories - and the sources - to get closer to a balanced view of what's happening in the world. "The one thing having many different sources has done, is it gives us lots of different voices, and different points of view, and sometimes points of view that you...

Current hurdles for Christian ministries which resettle legal refugees The Inside Out podcast with Martha Manikas-Foster  Government funding for refugee resettlement in the US has stopped for at least 90 days. This leaves America’s often faith-based resettlement agencies like World Relief scrambling to make up for the money the government contributes as a partner in the resettlement pro...

Single at Valentine's Day The Inside Out podcast with Martha Manikas-Foster Author, radio host, and podcaster Lisa Anderson joins Inside Out to talk about how single people can reframe the way they look at Valentine’s Day, and what their friends can do to make it more enjoyable.  “I say, don’t let Valentine’s Day hit you like the flu,” Anderson says. “Yeah,...

Refugee Agencies Scramble to Fill the Gap A special edition of the Inside Out podcast with Martha Manikas-Foster  Government funding for refugee resettlement in the US has stopped for at least 90 days. This leaves America’s often faith-based resettlement agencies like World Relief scrambling to make up for the money the government contributes as a partner in the resettlement process. Wh...

Inside Out: The Ethics of Sports Gambling A Family Life Wednesday News Feature Pastor and professor Dr. RaShan Frost joins Inside Out to talk about sports gambling’s many dangers. A former Auburn football player and coach, Dr. Frost now serves as a senior fellow and director of research for the Ethics and Religious Liberty Commission of the Southern Baptist Convention. “ Unfortunately,...

Christmas All Year An "Inside Out" podcast from Family Life News   If you’re feeling the post-Christmas blues, this may encourage you: Christmas is too important to put away when we pack up the Nativity set. Journalist Lauren Dunn joins Martha for this Inside Out conversation inspired by Dunn’s “Boundless” article titled “Feeling the Post-Christmas Blues?&rd...

Christmas Momentum The Inside Out  podcast with Martha Manikas-Foster We can ride the momentum of Christmas into the new year by loving Jesus in a way He’s asked us to: by serving others, no matter their nationality, citizenship, or beliefs. Mercy ministries veteran Dr. Darren Hercyk joins Martha for this Inside Out conversation.    We don’t need to leave Jesus in the ma...

Offline Gifts that Help You Connect   The "Inside Out" Podcast from Family Life News  Dr. Kathy Koch joins Martha Manikas-Foster for an Inside Out conversation on the kinds of gifts that can help children and teens connect with others offline.    Kids are focused on their screens and it’s limiting their development. But caring adults can make a difference. “They don...

Longing for Christmas A special pre-Christmas edition of Family Life's "Inside Out" podcast In a fractured world where teenagers often feel isolated, the weeks of Advent can open up the big picture of God’s continuing connection with His creation and highlight the hope of the Gospel.  “What we want is for our teenagers, for our young children, eventually to come to a place where t...

A challenging but important topic, on the " Inside Out " podcast Domestic violence increases during the holidays. How can you help a friend  trapped in domestic violence, or, if you are the person being hurt, how can you get help ? Martha’s guests on Inside Out are Scott DeBruycker Safe Journey and Deb Kuehner of The Potter’s Hands.   Unsafe at Home for the Holidays The seaso...

One in ten older Americans lives with dementia. Maybe this includes people you love. If so, being flexible and even making a few changes to the way you celebrate the holidays could help everyone feel more comfortable around the table this year. “We have to realize that due to the changes in the brain, the person is trying to interpret their environment. So, being part of a social event may b...

Navigating Election Season The “Inside Out” Podcast from Family Life News   How can Christians show Jesus’ radical love in the social, religious, and political climate? Martha’s guest Jeff Jones reminds Christians that our primary allegiance is to King Jesus, and He’s not up for reelection. Jones is lead pastor of Chase Oaks Church in … Read More Read More

The “Inside Out” podcast, from Family Life Making friends at church can be hard, but it’s both important and possible, and we can grow in the process. We want to find community at church, but it can be hard. One of the challenges, according to writer and blogger Paige Pippin, is that many of us … Read More Read More

“Loving Christian Nationalists” The “Inside Out” Podcast from Family Life News What are the best ways to love our Christian nationalist friends? Martha talks with pastor Caleb E. Campbell about the topic Disarming Leviathan: Loving Your Christian Nationalist Neighbor   Christian nationalism promises both security at a time when many Americans feel insecure and powerles...

Is Getting Even Getting It Right? The theme of seeking revenge weaves through entertainment and politics. It seems baked into the culture. In this Inside Out podcast, Martha talks with therapist Paula Rinehart. Her recent article in The Gospel Coalition is titled Gospel Hope for a Culture Fixated on Getting Even. #InsideOut  The theme of revenge … Read More Read More

“Elder Isolation” Family Life’s “Inside Out” News Feature Nearly a quarter of adults 65 and older are socially isolated. In today’s Inside Out podcast, author and speaker Jen Pollock Michel talks about some of the causes of elder isolation, and encourages Christians to help prevent elderly friends and loved ones from feeling alone.    Martha talks … Read More Re...

“Inside Out” : Come Ready to Worship Ever find you’ve gotten to church, but your mind is someplace else? “We want to urge people: get your heart and your mind ready before worship so that you can be spiritually engaged when you get there,” says the Rev. Alex Mark. He’s the senior pastor of First … Read More Read More

What do people mean when they say “Christian Nationalism”?   Christian nationalism is in the news, but what is it? Nationalism is different from feeling patriotic or making sure to vote every November. Part of what defines nationalism in general is its goal to reserve privileges for only one group in a country that has … Read More Read More

Cancel Culture A Christ-centered vantage point, from the “Inside Out” podcast In a culture without agreed-upon standards, people across the faith and political spectrum sometimes hold others accountable by “cancelling” them. Christian attorney and apologist Abdu Murray believes the impulse to correct a wrong is natural and biblical. “What Cancel Culture has become is the–I think...

God Uses Long-Lasting Friendships “Inside Out” with Martha Manikas-Foster We need long-lasting friendships. But political divisions, our self-reliance, and the failure to prioritize time with friends all work against sustained relationships.   “Intimacy, trust, and vulnerability–which at least to me are all really important factors in friendships—take time. Like years,” says phot...

Hope for Widows (and their friends) “I rest in who God is to get me though my day. And that, I think, is what the hope for widows is.”  — Marilyn Nutter  Twenty-eight hundred women a day are widowed in the US. For those women, everything changes.   “A widow has not only lost her husband, … Read More Read More