Marie Stroughter (Westside Church of Christ, Killeen, Texas) is an all-star "church mom" and "church wife," raising three kids (two adopted), supporting her elder/deacon husband, and volunteering in the life and programs of the church. And she does all of that while living with mental health challenges like obsessive-compulsive disorder and panic attacks.

As many as one in four Americans deals with mental illness on some level at some time. As Marie says in this episode, that means that in a congregation with 100 members, there could be 25 members who are going through some mental health struggle at any given time.

Living with mental illness gives Marie the compassion, empathy and understanding to come alongside other Christians who are living with mental illness challenges of their own. She started the MoMo ("Motivational Moments") 634 (as in Matthew 6:34) Podcast, a daily dose of affirmation and inspiration from Scripture for those who live with mental illness.

Link to MoMo634 Podcast

Link to 9-8-8 suicide crisis hotline

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On March 7, 2025, eleven men from Gamma Sigma Phi (Abilene Christian University, Abilene, Texas) will push off on a cycling relay that will take them 1,400 miles across deserts, mountains, unpaved trails and Death Valley. Riding day and night, they plan to reach Pepperdine University in Malibu, California, in just five days. They're riding to raise money for Greater Than Three and the Pepperdine Strong Fund. In this episode, Gamma Sigma Phi Jackson Kulp and Carter Young explain why they're doing this and how.

Link to the Bike to Pepperdine website. Click here to learn about the relay team and route, how they're preparing for the ride and their progress once they push off. You can also donate to their cause here. www.bikeridetopepperdine.org

Link to Greater Than Three, one of the causes that the bike ride supports.

Link to the Pepperdine Strong Fund, the other cause the bike ride supports.

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The clips at the top of this episode are from (in order) the preaching of Andrew Hairston and James Maxwell, two "giants" who worked for decades to build for the kingdom of God.

Andrew Hairston stood in the pulpit at Simpson Street Church of Christ in Atlanta, Georgia, for more than 50 years. Not only did he preach, he was a practicing attorney and judge and a lieutenant colonel in the U.S. Army Reserve. Hairston worked alongside Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., in his peaceful campaign for equal rights for all Americans. Hairston went to his rest on January 14, 2025, at the age of 92.

James Maxwell was a preacher's preacher and professor's professor, who served for half a century in the administration and faculty at Southwestern Christian College, the only HBCU with roots and ties in the Church of Christ. While leading and teaching at Southwestern Christian, Maxwell stood in the pulpit every week in Church of Christ congregations in Kansas, Mississippi, Ohio and Texas. Maxwell also went to his rest on January 14, 2025, at the age of 86.

In this episode, their fellow minister and friend, Billy Curl (Crenshaw Church of Christ, Los Angeles, California) talks about why every Christian needs to know Hairston and Maxwell because their work contributed to building the Christian community and culture in which we live and minister today.

Link to Christian Chronicle coverage of Andrew Hairston's life, work and celebration of life

Link to Christian Chronicle coverage of James Maxwell's life, work and celebration of life

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Lauren and Owen Mitchell drop in to talk about what they've learned about building a great marriage -- from being Marriage Dynamics Institute facilitators for more than 25 years and by practicing marriage together for more than 28 years. In this conversation, they focus on how the small things often make the biggest difference in how partners experience marriage. This one is full of practical pointers that even the busiest and most stressed-out couples can start using today.

Click here for a link of upcoming ReConnect Weekend marriage retreats (referenced in the interview)

Link to article about Owen Mitchell's recent national championship win on the senior pickleball circuit

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Jonathan Skrmetti (Harpeth Hills Church of Christ), attorney general for the state of Tennessee, is the defendant in what the national media argue is the biggest case of the term for the United States Supreme Court: United States v. Skrmetti.

In question is a 2023 Tennessee state law that prevents healthcare professionals from providing gender transition procedures to minors. The American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and the Biden administration brought suit against Tennessee for violating the 14th Amendment rights of three teens who seek gender transition procedures.

In this episode, Abilene Christian University professor (and practicing attorney) Dr. Kenneth Pybus asks Skrmetti to explain the "what," the "how," and the "why" of his defense of the Tennessee state law.

Skrmetti also talks about how practicing the law is a ministry, the best way (and not best way) to go about that ministry and how he uses his office to protect the rights of ordinary citizens (such as when he takes big companies to court for making products that harm their users).

Skrmetti shares how he came to become a member of the Church of Christ and why he still prioritizes taking his entire family to Wednesday night Bible class every week.

Link to Bobby Ross Jr.'s The Christian Chronicle article about United States v. Skrmetti (December 2024)

Link to Bostock v. Clayton County (2020) case referenced in the interview

Link to the Cass Review (2020) referenced in the interview

Link to news report on the United Kingdom's ban on puberty blockers for minors (referenced in the interview)

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The way Christians think about and use sex is changing. For example, a recent study by Barna Group and Pure Desire Ministries shows that Christian porn use is almost equal to porn use by the general public. And an increasing number of Christians believe that it is OK to look at porn. At the same time, fewer and fewer congregations are addressing the issue from the pulpit, in recovery groups or in small groups.

Meanwhile, Adventures in Missions (AIM), a popular missionary training program at Sunset International Bible Institute discovered that is missionaries-in-training needed to talk about sex. Not only because of how sex often becomes an issue on the mission field, but because too many future missionaries are themselves victims of sexual trauma.

In this episode, Holly and Steve Holladay of Ultimate Escape talk about why sexual dysfunction and sexual sin are so prevalent in the church today...and how churches can (and should) address this head-on (instead of avoiding it or pretending it's not there).

Link to Bobby Ross Jr.'s Christian Chronicle report on "sex education" at Adventures in Missions

Link to Barna Group / Pure Desire study on porn use among Christians

Link to Ultimate Escape

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The way Christians think about and use sex is changing. For example, a recent study by Barna Group and Pure Desire Ministries shows that Christian porn use is almost equal to porn use by the general public. And an increasing number of Christians believe that it is OK to look at porn. At the same time, fewer and fewer congregations are addressing the issue from the pulpit, in recovery groups or in small groups.

In this episode, Rodney Wright talks about the reasons that Christian attitudes about sex are changing, why the church seems to be retreating from the subject and what Christians and congregations can (and should) do.

Link to Barna Group / Pure Desire study on porn use among Christians

Link to Pure Desire Ministries

Link to How to Talk with Your Kids About Sex

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Donate to support this ministry of "information and inspiration" at christianchronicle.org/donate

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Explore a degree in pastoral counseling from Freed-Hardeman University. Learn more at fhu.edu/chronicle.

Attend the Fourth Annual Be1 Experience for Christian women. Learn more and sign up at be1experience.org.

The new film, Bonhoeffer: Pastor. Spy. Assassin (Angel Studios) is drawing Christian audiences around the world, but does it get the depiction of its title character right?

Dr. Myles Werntz (professor of theology at Abilene Christian University) says it does not...and that Christians should view the movie with caution. In this interview, Werntz talks about the critical review he published about the film (perhaps the most widely read and quoted review out there).

He also talks about the real Dietrich Bonhoeffer and where Christians can look for the most accurate and insightful information about him.

Link to the Marc LiVecche film review (and critique of Werntz's review) from World Magazine (quoted in the interview)

Links to Bonhoeffer resources that Dr. Werntz recommends:

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: A Biography by Eberhard Bethge

From Isolation to Community: A Renewed Vision for Christian Life Together by Dr. Myles Werntz

The Bonhoeffer Phenomenon: Portraits of a Protestant Saint by Stephen R. Haynes

Strange Glory: A Life of Dietrich Bonhoeffer by Charles Marsh

Dietrich Bonhoeffer 1906 - 1945: Martyr, Thinker, Man of Resistance by Ferdinand Schlingensiepen

Dietrich Bonhoeffer: An Introduction to His Thought by Sabine Dramm and Thomas Rice

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