Inside Out - Family Life News

#InsideOut   Gen Z is sometimes caricatured for spending considerable time on the internet. But what if while online, these teens and young adults are making significant connections and sharing their Christian faith in the medium they and their peers know best?   Barry Meguiar is encouraged that they are. In fact, he believes that Gen Z believers are the best hope for spreading God’s Good News.   “Our only hope is Gen Zers. I believe that,” he says. “They have the fervency; they just don’t have the truth. It’s our job to give them the truth. And when we do that, man they’re off and running. I tell you, that’s exciting.”   A new part of Meguiar’s Ignite America ministry is focused on supporting Gen Z believers with the Ignite Next Gen’s ministry tool “From Scroll to Soul.” In addition to Ignite America ministries, Meguiar is known for the Meguiar’s family’s car care products business and his Car Crazy radio and television shows.   Learn more about the “From Scroll to Soul” ministry tool here.

#InsideOut   Church hurt is a deep hurt, like betrayal.   “There’s these layers and these waves of pain that come, not only from the direct wound from being sinned against, but the fact that it’s not addressed, and in the end you end up really losing your community. And you’re in a place of, honestly, deep despair and confusion,” says church counseling pastor Timothy St. John.   St. John serves as counseling pastor at Lighthouse Community Church in Torrance, California and is the author of the new book After Church Hurt: Healing in the Care of the Good Shepherd.   “The way I define ‘church hurt’ is any unrepentant sin that is minimized, normalized, or promoted by a church culture and its leadership,” he says. “And I say, ‘church culture and its leadership’ because if the leader or the church body was willing to address the wrong, there could be a path of healing within the church.”   An avenue of that healing, St. John says, is through believers who authentically represent Jesus Christ.   “It’s really going to have to start with someone who does represent Christ well coming alongside that person, and showing them--embodying the love of Christ, the heart of Christ,” St. John says. “It’s going to involve someone, really, who can reverse the impression, over time. Slowly give them a new impression of this is who Christ truly is: ‘I can give you a dynamic where you are honored and where your feet are washed and where you are loved.’”  

#InsideOut In a world of competing messages, how do we distinguish God’s voice? Book author, former pastor, and freelance writer Ezra Byer shares with Martha the three filters he uses to discern if what he’s hearing is coming from God. He and his wife Janan are the founders of The MondayChristian.com, which uses the tag line Turning Sunday Belief Into Monday Action.

#InsideOut When it comes to financial confidence, we’ve got a gender gap: women, on the whole, feel less certain about money matters. Today’s Inside Out guest believes that our general sense of confidence grows when we know that we are valued by God, and that confidence can lead to financial confidence and financial wisdom. We need the right budgeting tools, of course, but Bethany Frymire says we make strides in stewarding God’s good gifts when we first know that we are of great worth. Frymire is a financial advisor and author of Women of Worth: a Faith-Based Guide to Financial Wisdom.  

#InsideOut Pornography is predatory, increasingly more violent, and focused on getting into the hands of girls as well as boys. It’s accessible, anonymous, affordable, and addictive. Today on Family Life’s Inside Out, Martha talks with author Kristen Jenson about the dangers and some of the long-term effects of pornography. Jenson shares strategies that can help parents give their daughters tools to avoid pornography--and process what they’ve seen when they encounter it.   Jensen’s newest book in her Good Pictures Bad Pictures series is the read-aloud book Good Pictures Bad Pictures Guide for Girls: How I Stay Safe, Smart & Confident.   Learn more about the book here.

#InsideOut Almost every other adult 18 and older is single, according to the most recent US Census numbers. So here’s the question: if you’re married, how are you connecting with the singles in your life?   Writer and Inside Out guest Melissa Huston wants the married among us to keep in mind that our single friends are not lacking. But they may feel isolated.   “You may be the only person to ask a single person how their day was,” she says. “They’re not coming home to someone who (we joke) is paid to ask that, or what they might need. Or to check and see if they made it home safely when they leave a function. Or to make sure they have somewhere to be for the holidays and offer to pick them up from the airport.”    Huston is recently married. She gleaned lessons from her single years to write the March 2026 Gospel Coalition article: "What Singles Need from Married Friends."   “The Psalms tell us we lack no good thing with Christ as our shepherd. And Paul speaks of singleness as a gift and a calling, and God certainly wouldn’t ordain that if that meant that a person would forever be lacking,” says Huston. “And so, I think just remembering that singleness, just as much as marriage, is a reflection of God’s goodness toward us.”   After listening to our Inside Out conversation, you can read Huston’s Gospel Coalition article here. 

On this edition of Family Life’s Inside Out, Martha Manikas-Foster talks with author Michelle Van Loon who suggests that it’s time to downsize the Evangelical Church so that it more closely resembles the Body Jesus called it to be.    Van Loon’s newest book is titled Downsizing: Letting Go of Evangelicalism’s Nonessentials.   ###     Inside Out/Blog TOPIC: Time to Downsize the Church? Broadcast date: October 1, 2025   #InsideOut Nothing--nothing--is strong enough to defeat God’s Church. Jesus said so. But what parts of how we “do church” are essential, and what parts have we added on, burdening, burning out, or  hurting brothers and sisters with things that are not essential to Jesus’ call on His people in the world?   On this edition of Inside Out, Manikas-Foster talks with author Michelle Van Loon, who suggests it’s time to downsize so that the Evangelical Church again resembles the Body Jesus called it to be.    Michelle Van Loon’s newest book is titled Downsizing: Letting Go of Evangelicalism’s Nonessentials.