The Life Challenges Podcast
Modern-day issues from a Biblical perspective.
Episodes
264 episodes
The Christian Medical Directive
Join us as we break down why every adult needs an advance medical directive and how it protects your family from conflict while keeping medical decisions rooted in Christian convictions. We also explain how HIPAA, state laws, and end-of-life ch...
Postpartum Psychosis, Justice, and the Value of Children
Today we respond to the Clancy case. Three children are dead, a jury is stuck, and the internet is loud. We slow it all down and ask the question that should never get buried: does anything about a case like this change the worth of the victims...
What’s Trending? Massachusetts Legalizes Abortion Until Birth, Rejected Surrogate Baby Must Get Treatment, and More
We unpack a headline-making surrogacy dispute where a contract pressures a pregnancy termination, then trace how state-by-state abortion law creates conflict and confusion. We also weigh late-term abortion policy, organ transplant preservation,...
Trusting God Through Infertility and Childlessness
A negative pregnancy test can feel like more than a private disappointment. It can feel like a verdict on your future, your marriage, even your place in the church. We sit down with Pastors Bob Fleischmann and Jeff Samelson for an honest, pasto...
What if Your Worst Day Becomes Provision
We walk through Joseph’s long, unfair road and ask what it looks like to trust God when doing the right thing still brings consequences. We hold Genesis 50:20 up to real life so we can name evil honestly while still expecting God’s good purpose...
Setting Healthy Biblical Boundaries Without Guilt
We talk honestly about why boundaries can feel unloving to Christians and why that guilt often comes from misplaced standards, pressure from others, and a conscience that is not well informed. We anchor boundaries in Scripture by looking at God...
What’s Trending? Assisted Suicide for Children, Human Life Maxed at 156, Self-Cloning, and More
We track a month of headlines that force one big question: what makes a human life worth protecting? Along the way, we weigh euthanasia for children, the push for longer lives, and the temptation to treat AI and biotech as substitutes for moral...
Revisiting Building Bridges Within the Community
Join us as we revisit this episode from 2024. We will look at how Christians can build bridges in our communities.
What Envy Does to Faith and Joy
Join us as we dig into Cain and Abel as a story about what happens when resentment grows unchecked, and correction feels like an attack. We also wrestle with God’s justice and God’s mercy side by side, and why that gives real hope for families ...
Finding Rest in Christ’s Humanity and Deity
We talk with Pastor Jeremy Husby about why Jesus being fully God and fully human changes how we face suffering, fear, and loneliness. We find comfort in a Savior who plans every detail with divine power and still walks beside us with real human...
What's Trending? Ridgeway Abortion, IVF and Christians, Biotech Barbie, and More
We walk through July’s biggest life and bioethics stories and ask how Christians can speak with clarity when the culture treats some lives as disposable. We keep returning to one anchor: every human life bears God’s image, so neither disability...
America at 250: What Does It Mean to Be a Christian Citizen?
As America approaches its 250th anniversary, we explore what it means to be both a Christian and an American citizen. We discuss the blessings of living in a representative democracy, the importance of honoring governing authorities, and how fa...
How The Ten Commandments Guide Life and Family Topics
The Ten Commandments aren’t ten isolated rules—they reveal one heart problem behind countless issues. We explore the “Ten Words” as God’s guide for human life, connecting them to today’s questions about family, sexuality, medical ethics, truth,...
Faithful Politics with Rick Gundrum
We talk with former Wisconsin State Assembly member Rick Gundrum about what faithful civic engagement looks like when you have to represent a true melting pot of beliefs and still answer to your conscience. We trade stories about pressure, medi...
Faithfulness in Relationships
June’s Fidelity Month serves as a timely reminder of the importance of faithfulness in our relationships with God, family, friends, and community. In this episode, we explore the biblical meaning of fidelity, why it matters in a culture that of...
What’s Trending? Newborn Vitamin K Shots, AI Brain Implants, and Religious Illiteracy
Join us as we weigh the month’s biggest bioethics and culture headlines, from AI hype to IVF lab practices, and ask what responsible limits look like when money and power are involved. We connect technology, medicine, and education to a grounde...
Peace That Outlasts the Storm with Shelli Jo
We talk with Shelli Jo about peace that holds steady in a broken world, especially when anxiety, divorce, or relationship conflict makes it feel hard to breathe. We lean on Philippians 4 and practical prayer habits to trust God again when outco...
Healing and Protection: How Churches Can Respond to Abuse with Victor Vieth | Part Two
This episode continues an important conversation with former child abuse prosecutor Victor Vieth about how churches, schools, and Christian communities can better respond to abuse and trauma. Victor discusses the importance of education, person...
Healing and Protection: How Churches Can Respond to Abuse with Victor Vieth | Part One
Former child abuse prosecutor Victor Vieth joins the podcast for a sobering conversation about child abuse within churches and faith communities. Drawing from decades of experience, Victor explains the prevalence of abuse, how offenders weaponi...
What's Trending? Organ Transplant Laws, Death Doulas, Loneliness, and More
We move through a stack of headlines that force hard questions about death, dignity, and what modern medicine can get wrong when speed and demand take over. We also look at how loneliness and fertility research intersect with real-life choices,...
Putting Children First: The Consequences of Adult-Centered Choices
A parenting dilemma sparks a deeper conversation about family structure and what children truly need to thrive. In this episode, we examine how cultural shifts—especially around marriage, parenting, and identity—impact kids, often in ways that ...
Pro-Life Voting in a Complicated World
Is voting for the pro-life candidate always the right choice? In this episode, the conversation tackles one of the most challenging questions Christians face in the political arena. We explore the tension between single-issue voting and evaluat...
Living in Sodom: The Slow Drift of Faith and the Story of Lot
In this episode, we take a deeper look at the biblical account of Sodom and Gomorrah—not just its shocking wickedness, but the subtle spiritual drift seen in Lot and his family. Rather than using the story for comparison or self-righteousness, ...
What’s Trending? 50th Anniversary of Karen Ann Quinlan Case, Brewed Vaccine, and Hospice Fraud
Fifty years after the landmark case of Karen Ann Quinlan, this episode explores how one family’s decision reshaped modern bioethics, patient rights, and end-of-life care. Christa, Bob, and Jeff reflect on the lasting impact of the case—from the...
This Will Not End in Death: Finding Hope in the Raising of Lazarus
In this episode, Christa, Bob, and Jeff explore John 11 and the powerful account of Lazarus. They unpack why Jesus delayed, the significance of a four-day death, and the unmistakable evidence of His authority over death. Through the honest grie...
