What do you do when the world’s most famous atheist mocks you internationally on television and throughout social media? What consolation can you find when you’ve become known worldwide as atheism’s celebrity idiot?

You look to the Scriptures and take consolation in how Joseph was humiliated before the time came when God opened a big door of opportunity for him, and how Moses was abased before God opened a big sea for him. You take comfort in knowing the principle of humiliation before promotion—that God often takes someone low before raising him up for His use.

And that’s what happened when Ray Comfort was christened “Banana Man” by Professor Richard Dawkins. Millions heard the everlasting gospel, all because of that humiliating name: Banana Man. So if you’re afraid of looking foolish, this true story not only will encourage you and bring your fears into perspective, it will increase your faith in God and help you to see His wonderful hand in your own life.

ACTION: Join Illinois Family Institute for a screening of Ray Comfort’s latest production and a fascinating look at how God has used him to confound the dominant thinking of our day. (Please watch the trailer HERE.)

Click HERE for a flyer

IFI will be hosting free screenings on the following dates and locations. Click on the link for more information:

Friday, May 11th at 7:00 PM
Parkwood Baptist Church (map)
11355 S. Central Park Ave
Chicago, Illinois  60655

Monday, May 14th at  7:00 PM
Trail’s Edge Restaurant (map)
20 Kansas Street
Frankfort, Illinois  60423 
(10% off your meal with flyer)

 

Friday, May 18th at 7:00 PM
Church of Christian Liberty (map)
502 Euclid Avenue
Arlington Heights, Illinois  60004

Please invite neighbors, friends, and family members!

Every day the established media and pop culture assault traditional Christian beliefs and values with messages in direct opposition to the precepts conservative Christians hold dear.

But even less overtly hostile people and organizations in our modern world seek to mold minds with messages which contradict biblical principles.

How can you, your children and grandchildren identify and challenge the false ideologies and agendas dominating the day? How do we respond to politically correct claims with gracious, unequivocal and sound argument? Are we prepared to filter out wrong thinking and courageously and respectfully engage the culture with the truth?

John Stonestreet, president of the Colson Center for Worldview, offers this description of culture:

[C]ulture is the sum of everything we as human beings create, write, say, do, and think—the marks we leave on our world. In that sense, “engaging the culture” isn’t really optional. It’s human. It’s as much a part of being alive as breathing is. We don’t decide whether we’ll engage the culture. Just how.

Illinois Family Institute’s mission is “to bring a biblical perspective to public policy.” If we truly believe that every square inch of human existence belongs to Christ, the public square is included. As Christ followers, we are called not just to care about our fellow churchgoer but also to love our neighbors as ourselves (Matthew 22:26-40).  We are to care about the lies and injustices being promoted in our local neighborhoods as well as the lies and injustices being promoted in the state and national legislatures, government schools, the media, in the arts, the corporate world, sports and throughout Illinois.

Romans 8 tells us that all of “creation groans and suffers” because of the fall. Yet Christians are called to spread the gospel truth to all the nations, “teaching them to observe all things” commanded by God (Matthew 28:19-20).  How do we do this in a culture that is hellbent on revolution and rebellion? After all, not only are we calling evil good and good evil, but we are also now calling boys girls and girls boys.

The Apostle Peter admonished us:

But in your hearts revere Christ as Lord. Always be prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks you to give the reason for the hope that you have. But do this with gentleness and respect. (1 Peter 3:15)

To that end, we want to encourage you to join us for our Fourth Annual Worldview Conference featuring the aforementioned John Stonestreet.  And please, bring your older children and grandchildren.

Mr. Stonestreet has a passion “to illuminate a biblical worldview for today’s culture.” He’s an amazing speaker, writer, cultural commentator, and collaborator of worldview initiatives.This event is a rare opportunity to hone your skills of both defending the faith and fending off false teaching.

Consider Francis Schaeffer, one the the twentieth century’s great apologists. Todd Kappelman writes this about Francis Schaeffer, one of the 20th Century’s great apologists:

Schaeffer’s greatest gift, like that of C.S. Lewis, was his concern for the average Christian. He believed philosophy, theology, and ethics should not be reserved for the conversation of learned academics; rather they should be the daily concern of the man on the street. The price for ignorance of the subjects could be our life, or more importantly, our very souls. The Scriptures are very clear concerning the price of ignorance. The prophet Hosea said that God’s people perish for lack of knowledge.

. . .

Schaeffer believed that man has a natural inclination to desire the reasonable. Schaeffer argued that the Christian faith is not only true, but that it is the most plausible account for the existence of man and his place in the universe. He contended that an irrational faith is not what God intended to communicate to man. (emphasis added)

IFI is excited to offer this opportunity for you to become better prepared to follow the admonition of the prophet Hosea by augmenting your knowledge in the service of being prepared to give an answer to everyone who asks.

Please sign up now to join us for one day that we believe and pray will dramatically change your approach to education, news, entertainment and interactions with family members, friends, neighbors, colleagues, teachers, and lawmakers.

One short day could prepare you to be salt and light, to touch hearts and minds with the truth in a world that desperately needs the truth, the life and the way.

Saturday, May 5, 2018

Medinah Baptist Church
900 Foster Ave, Medinah, IL 60157 (map)

Click here for flyer

Group pricing available!
Call the IFI office for details: (708) 781-9328

Deerfield, Illinois, an affluent suburb on Chicago’s North Shore, is making national headlines for passing an amendment to a 2013 village ordinance that regulates the storage of guns. The amendment mandates a ban on “certain types of assault weapons and high-capacity magazines,” and grants to the “police chief or his or her designee” the authority to “confiscate” any of the banned weapons if they are not “removed, sold, or transferred.” In addition to gun confiscation, failure to comply will result in fines of $250-1,000 per day. Deerfield residents have until June 13 to get rid of the banned guns.

The trustees added an exemption for retired law enforcement officers, who evidently have a right to own the now-banned guns that ordinary citizens don’t. Mayor Harriet Rosenthal claims that “There is no place here for assault weapons,”—well, except in the homes of retired law enforcement personnel.

The banned weapons include “semiautomatic rifles,” “semiautomatic pistols,” and semiautomatic shotguns” with certain features.

Oddly, according to the Chicago Tribune, on Monday night when the vote was taken, “the trustees did not discuss their reasons for supporting the ordinance.”

One trustee who voted for the ordinance expressed her concern that opponents of the ordinance were afraid to speak out publicly:

Trustee Barbara Struthers said she knew of people who were opposed but chose not to come and speak because it would subject them to ridicule in the community.

One resident who wasn’t too intimidated to oppose the amendment was Andy Rogers who spoke at previous board meetings. Rogers challenged the need for such a ban, saying that he “wasn’t aware that Deerfield had an assault weapons problem” and that “assault weapons have essentially been outlawed since the National Firearms Act of 1934.” In response to a community member who claimed that a “well regulated militia meant that firearms could be banned,” Rogers explained that “the meaning of regulated is ‘to make regular’—meaning that everyone had the same training, same weapons, etc.”

Attorney Daniel J. Schultz elaborates on this understanding of the Second Amendment:

The overriding purpose of the Framers in guaranteeing the right of the people to keep and bear arms was as a check on the standing army…. [A]s to the term “well regulated,” it would make no sense to suggest this referred to a grant of “regulation” power to the government (national or state), when the entire purpose of the Bill of Rights was to both declare individual rights and tell the national government where the scope of its enumerated powers ended…. George Mason, one of the Virginians who refused to sign the Constitution because it lacked a Bill of Rights, said: “Who are the Militia? They consist now of the whole people.”

…

[T]he right to keep and bear arms is expressly retained by “the people,” not the states. Recently the U.S. Supreme Court confirmed this view, finding that the right to keep and bear arms was an individual right held by the “people,” — a “term of art employed in select parts of the Constitution,” specifically the Preamble and the First, Second, Fourth, Ninth and Tenth Amendments. Thus, the term “well regulated” ought to be considered in the context of the noun it modifies, the people themselves, the militia(s)…. Since the fundamental purpose of the militia was to serve as a check upon a standing army, it would seem the words “well regulated” referred to the necessity that the armed citizens making up the militia(s) have the level of equipment and training necessary to be an effective and formidable check upon the national government’s standing army.

Village resident Larry Nordal predicted what will be next for Deerfield:

“The [2013] ordinance to store firearms was only passed for one reason…. That was to have an amendatory vehicle that could be used in the future for just this purpose so you could banish assorted firearms in the future. First it’s going to be assault rifles. (There will be) new bans in the future. It’s just a matter of time.”

And this is how “progressives” use incrementalism and the cowardice of conservatives to rip out threads from the fabric that holds our republic together: the Constitution.

https://staging.illinoisfamily.org/wp-content/uploads/2018/04/Banning-and-Confiscating-Guns-in-Deerfield-Illinois.mp3

A bold voice for pro-family values in Illinois! 

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

I truly hope you had a great Christmas weekend and were able to enjoy quality time with family and friends as you celebrated the birthday of our Lord and Savior and His indescribable gift of eternal life.

You and I know that Jesus belongs at the center of our celebrations this time of year — and in the center of our families. Not everyone believes that though, and some are adamantly opposed to all that our faith means. That’s why Illinois Family Institute exists: to boldly bring biblical perspectives to the public square.

Right now we’re promoting our end-of-year matching challenge, believing that our subscribers will step up to partner with us as we charge ahead into the New Year. Every contribution between now and midnight on December 31st will be doubled — up to $80,000!

Please consider IFI in your year-end giving. Every donation — small, medium or large small — brings us closer to our goal. In addition, new monthly pledges will have the entire first-year amount doubled. I am hoping that you will be able to donate toward this goal by the December 31 deadline.

Your gift means IFI will hit the ground running in 2018. It’s a crucial year, and we’re “all in” to fight the Left’s agenda. Raising these important resources this month means we will be able engage in the battle of ideas and work to see Judeo-Christian principles championed in the public square. But we need your help.

You can make your tax-deductible, year-end donation here:

Please don’t miss this great opportunity to get us off to a great start in 2018!

Sincerely,

David E. Smith, Executive Director
Illinois Family Institute

P.S. Help us reach our goal of raising $80,000 to meet the challenge and raise a total of $160,000 for our work and ministry in 2018! Donate today! If you would like to become a monthly supporter, it is easy to set up a recurring contribution by credit card or electronic funds transfer by completing this mail-in form or by calling the office at (708) 781-9328.

To make a credit card donation over the phone, call the IFI office at (708) 781-9328. You can also send a gift to P.O. Box 876, Tinley Park, IL  60477.

We have been blessed with an opportunity like never before.

For twenty-five years, IFI has stood side-by-side with you on the front lines of the culture war. Together, we have boldly proclaimed God’s design for Family, Faith and Freedom. We have worked to strengthen God’s principles in churches, civic groups, communities throughout the state, at the Capitol, and in the culture in general.

Regardless of the condition of our state and nation, judicial activism in the courts, bias in the media, apostate preachers in the pulpit, Left-wing ideology in government schools, or frustrating election cycles, we will never give up.

Understanding and upholding the sanctity of human life, the Biblical definition of marriage and family, robust religious liberty, and freedom of conscience is vital to our form of government.  If we hope to see America as a beacon of hope and a blessing to the world, Christians must intentionally engage our culture to defend these precious values.  They are not just worth defending, but it is imperative that we champion them!

You and I know now is not the time to give up or give in. The journey before us will require tenacity, resilience, vision, and perseverance to rebuild the culture and restore our Republic.

Can you imagine where we would be in Illinois if we weren’t leading the pro-family resistance in Springfield?  Can you imagine silence in the face of Leftist ideology and intolerance?  Can you imagine a state without the work of IFI to alert, equip, and encourage Christians?

2018 will be pivotal, so we need you more than ever.
And this month we have been blessed with a special opportunity!

This month, your gift of will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $80,000. Your $25 becomes $50, $100 is $200, and $250 becomes $500. Thanks to some generous friends who believe in our mission, this is our largest matching gift ever!

Cultural revival won’t happen overnight, but we are committed to occupying until He returns. By God’s grace and through your consistent prayers and financial support, we can and will continue to be salt and light in our state.  We can lead the way in all that God has commanded us in His Word.

Please give today!

As we partner together, God is moving in Illinois. That which is TRUE and GOOD is worth fighting for — all across the Prairie State.

I sincerely hope you agree.

Thank you so very much,

David E. Smith
Executive Director

P.S. We have a HUGE task and a wonderful OPPORTUNITY in front of us. IFI cannot succeed in our mission to “boldly bring biblical perspectives to public policy” in Illinois without your help.  Together, we are salt and light! 

Please click HERE to send your most generous year-end donation by December 31st. Remember, your gift will be matched, dollar for dollar, up to $80,000! Thank you for your support of Faith, Family and Freedom.

I am pleased to announce that in an effort to help us raise $160,000 by the end of this month, a number of generous donors have offered to match donations to IFI all the way up to $80,000! So between now and the end of the year, you can double the impact of your giving!

Yes, you read that right! Every donation to IFI through the end of the year is DOUBLED upon receipt.

So if you give $50 it becomes $100.

If you give $100 it becomes $200.

If you give $500 it becomes $1,000!

If you donate $1,000, it is the same as giving $2,000, etc.

Despite the Left’s relentless attacks on the natural family, the sanctity of life and religious liberty, the Illinois Family Institute refuses to back down. There is too much at stake. We want  our children and grandchildren to enjoy the freedoms most of us enjoyed as we grew up. We want our children and grandchildren to have the freedom of religion to live their lives each day in accordance with the convictions that guide their thoughts and conduct.

Will you join the cultural battle in the public square by supporting the one organization in Illinois that is willing to expose the deception of the Left and offer a Christian lens through which to view, understand and respond to the culture?

Even Christians have become confused by Leftist lies about the nature of the relationship between the church and the state. The Left has convinced many Christians that the U.S. Constitution forbids them from allowing their religious beliefs to inform their political decisions. One of IFI’s goals is to expose that lie. Conservative Christians have as much right to have their religious beliefs inform their political decisions as abolitionists and Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. did. And conservatives have as much right to have their religious beliefs shape their political decisions as liberal Christians do.

For twenty-five years now, IFI has worked to counter the Left’s aggressive efforts to advance oppressive and pernicious legislation at the Capitol and to exploit public schools for the purpose of transforming the hearts and minds of other people’s children. The fact that we are always vastly out-spent and out-manned doesn’t dissuade us from fighting for what is true and good. We are accustomed  to battling against great odds and have been able to stop or forestall many of their plans.

While it may appear that good work bears little fruit in Illinois, appearances can be deceiving.

What cannot be measured is where Illinois would be without resistance.

What would Illinois look like without the Illinois Family Institute pushing back hard against the ideology and efforts of Leftists?

What would the state look like if IFI were not here to alert, equip, and encourage Illinoisans?

IFI battles tirelessly for children, families and religious liberty because we know that our responsibility is to our Creator and the good works He has for us. We know our duty is to stand boldly and unequivocally for the dignity and rights of every person from birth to natural death no matter how challenging that task may be. We seek to please God over fallen man and in so doing uphold human flourishing.

Every year we face an onslaught from the Left: relentless attempts to maintain and fund the so-called “right” to destroy unborn lives; to erode conscience rights and religious liberty; to enlist  government schools in the effort to normalize the “trans” ideology and homosexuality; to expand marijuana use and increase gambling locations; and to eliminate all public recognition of sex differences–including by drafting our daughters into military service and sexually integrating all sex-specific private spaces and activities.

The stakes in 2018 will remain high. The Left doesn’t give up on their godless worldview or walk away from the battle. They are already planning marches, forming coalitions and devising strategies. They are preparing to redouble their efforts in the 2018 election cycle to push their agenda in the media, through pop culture, in our government schools, and in our legislatures and courts.

If we can learn anything from the Left, it’s to be tenacious, persevering, fearless, and bold.

We must be prepared to counter their message with our message of hope and truth! Will you stand with us in 2018 and double the impact of your donation today? Donate online today!

Please join us to make sure we can start next year strong by making a special tax-deductible gift before December 31st. Every dollar up to $160,000 will be matched!

Next year, there will be tremendous opportunities for effecting positive cultural change. It is only through your support that we are able to work tirelessly to promote pro-family views.

With your prayers and support, IFI will continue to speak unashamedly and unequivocally about the fundamental truths concerning life, marriage, faith, freedom, decency and the natural family.

Illinois Family Institute is needed now more than ever.

We are your voice in the public square!

Please DONATE ONLINE or call the IFI office
at (708) 781-9328 to support our work.

Thank you for your support! We look forward to partnering with you in 2018 to stand courageously and winsomely for the values we share.

May God bless you during this Advent and Christmas season.

Sincerely,

David E. Smith
Executive Director

P.S. Help us reach our goal of raising a total of $160,000 by the end of the month — Donate today! To make a credit card donation over the phone, call the IFI office at (708) 781-9328. You can also send a gift to:

Illinois Family Institute
P.O. Box 876
Tinley Park, IL  60477

P.P.S. It is important to mention that next year we’ll be turning our attention to ensuring that pro-family incumbent state legislators remain in office and that more are elected. That will happen with your help in getting the 2018 IFI Voter Guide in the hands of more Illinois values voters, particularly those in districts where there are key races. But we need the funding to complete this important project. Click HERE to make a online donation today.

We sincerely hope you had a great (and hearty) Thanksgiving weekend with your family, friends and neighbors.

We’re back in action at Illinois Family Institute after enjoying a restful holiday break. There are many reasons to take advantage of this annual opportunity to thank God Almighty for His many blessings. But our gratefulness certainly shouldn’t end (or begin) with the fourth Thursday in November!

As we resume our work, I don’t have to tell you that there’s an all-out war on traditional family values taking place right now in America. And when I look at the latest political headlines, I get concerned about what 2018 will hold for the pro-life, pro-family, pro-freedom movement. But I’m also hopeful with some of the candidates that will be on the ballot in 2018.

Both in Illinois and nationally we will have an uphill climb. But together, we can accomplish much!

Let’s be clear: our concern isn’t centrally about politics. Like you, we care about the issues:

>>>Sanctity of Life: the 40,000 abortions that take place annually in Illinois is both outrageous and heartbreaking.

>>>Religious Intolerance/Christian Bigotry: the ongoing battle to ensure Christians are free to live by their conscience and share their faith.

>>>Identity Politics and Sexual Anarchy: the Leftists have gone too far. For example, no clear-thinking person believes there are 63 genders. This, however, has created an opportunity for those of us defending marriage and family to gain back ground in the culture.

>>>Big government on the backs of working families: the increase in taxes lawmakers think will fix their reckless and irresponsible spending is never the answer.

Today,  I invite you to take part in this effort by supporting the Illinois Family Institute, which works  diligently to defend traditional values and politically-incorrect truth. It is a wonderful opportunity to help protect children, families, and religious freedom.

As we wrap up the 2017 Thanksgiving weekend, I ask you to prayerfully consider giving #4Families on #GivingTuesday.

Maybe it $25, maybe its $50, maybe it’s $100 or even more. Whatever the amount, we are thankful for your support and encouragement.

Click here to make a donation

IFI is the leading organization in Illinois advocating for your family, for your faith and for our collective and individual freedoms at the Capitol in Springfield and in the public square. And without your partnership in this mission, we can’t get the job done.

Thank you for standing with us!

The evidence against the far Left-wing agenda of the Southern Poverty Law Center (SPLC) is overwhelmingly plain. Yet, this sinister agenda is ignored by many corporations, politicians, academics and the so-called “news” media. With their assistance, the SPLC regularly maligns conservative voices, especially Christian organizations that promote traditional sexual morality.  Illinois Family Institute has been targeted by the SPLC since 2008.

As I point out in the video interview below, the SPLC’s designation of IFI as a hate group is laughable and an outright lie. Yet it continues to be used by partisan activists.

To  put it plainly: the SPLC is a far Left organization of liberal lawyers who raise millions of dollars annually by resorting to name calling. In recent years, their primary goal has been to label organizations that affirm theologically orthodox views of homosexuality (and now gender dysphoria) as “hate groups” in order to advance the radical LGBTQIA (more to come) agenda.

If the Left were honest, they wouldn’t hesitate to identify SPLC’s bigotry against groups that hold to 2000 plus years of a traditional Christian understanding of God’s design for sex.  But they are not honest.

Moreover, the Left isn’t content with redefining sexual morality and the institution of marriage. They are desperately trying to redefine what it means to be a Christ-follower. This is nothing new, of course. There have always been false teachers who sought to add to the Word of God, create their own standards of righteousness, and to diminish God’s view of sin (1 John 5:17) – as merely minor problems with which we that we all deal (Rom: 1:32). Think “white lies.”

Those who mix humanism with a dollop of Christian flavor want to claim the title of “Christianity” but fail to see that they supplant the Gospel truth with feckless human thinking and flawed understanding of compassion. Scripture isn’t silent on this: Isaiah 55:8; Proverbs 3:5-7; Jeremiah 17:9; and Matthew 15:19.

The Christian faith is defined by the Word of God. Once it is mixed with other human philosophies, it ceases being “Christian.”

It’s time for conservatives to fight back!

Take ACTION:  Click HERE to sign the petition now asking corporations to stop funding SPLC.

The Left is working overtime to silence and/or marginalize conservative voices in America
The time to support IFI is now!

Illinois Family Institute and local ACT for America Citizen leaders are hosting a panel of experts to answer your questions about radical Islam in two locations next month.

This panel includes:

Philip Haney, former Department of Homeland Security (DHS) whistleblower and counter-terrorism expert. Haney studied Arabic culture and language while working as a scientist in the Middle East before becoming a founding member of the DHS in 2002. He has specialized in Islamic theology and the strategy and tactics of the global Islamic movement. He retired in July 2015 and is the author of “See Something, Say Nothing.”

Anni Cyrus of the Glazof Gang. A child bride in her home country of Iran, abused and imprisoned as a teen, she escaped to America and now advocates for women and girls, suffering under Sharia. Her mission is to bring hope and healing to women and girls who have been unfortunate enough to be exposed to the plague of Islamic ideology. She experienced, first hand, the horrors of living under Islamic theocracy in Iran.

Usama Dakdok, an Egyptian-born Christian who learned about Islam in school because it was, and still is, a mandatory subject. To further his knowledge of Islam, he studied Islamic law in college. Usama is now working to warn American Christians about the dangers of Islam and the rise of Sharia law in America. Usama worked for four years to translate the Koran into perfect English. Usama’s English translation reveals the accurate and dangerous worldview of Islam.

This is an extremely rare opportunity to hear and get answers from an expert panel with knowledge and experience.   Come and learn from these front-line experts about the battle being waged against our freedoms and way of life.

RSVP — Please reserve your spot to secure your seats.

Two Locations!

Orland Park

WHEN:        Sunday, October 8th — Click here for the flyer.
TIME:           7:30 to 9 PM
WHERE:      Stone Church (map)
RSVP:           Click HERE to reserve your seat(s)

Arlington Heights

WHEN:        Monday, October 9th —  Click here for the flyer.
TIME:           6:30 to 8 PM
WHERE:      Christian Liberty Academy (map)
RSVP:           Send an email to illinoisact@reagan.com to reserve your seat(s)

BRING FRIENDS! Come prepared to learn, purchase some materials and if you can, support their work!

If you have questions, please call us at (708) 781-9371.

Download the IFI App!

We now have an IFI mobile app that enables us to deliver great content based on the “Tracks” you choose, including timely legislative alerts, cultural commentaries, upcoming event notifications, links to our podcasts, video reports, and even daily Bible verses to encourage you. This great app is available for Android and iPhones.

Key Features:

• It’s FREE!
• Specific content for serious Christians
• Performs a spiritual assessment
• Sends you daily Scriptures to encourage and equip you
• You determine when and how much content you get

Illinois Family Institute is proud to be welcoming Lt. Col. West to our fall banquet to share his faith, military and political experience and vision for our country. He truly inspires hope for this generation and his leadership has been, and continues to be, critically important for our faith and families. His service to our country and fearless approach to voicing conservative principles distinctively equips him to communicate in a powerful and persuasive way.

Illinois Family Institute
Faith, Family and Freedom Banquet

Friday, October 27, 2017
Stonegate Conference Center
2401 W. Higgins Road
Hoffman Estates, IL  60169

7:00 PM – 9:30 PM

Secure your tickets now – click here or call (708) 781-9328.

Program advertisements & banquet sponsorships available.

Early Bird Specials Expire on Sept. 29th!

Your attendance and support is essential to our success!

Click HERE for a banquet flyer.

Don’t miss this opportunity to hear from one of the nation’s leading conservative icons.

Read more:

Colonel Allen West on The Military, Foreign Affairs and School Choice

The Oxymoronic Left…Emphasis on Moron

Who’s in Charge Here…Ain’t You?

Can General John Kelly bring Function to a Dysfunctional White House?

We are just two weeks away from our special forum with apologist Ray Comfort. He is an amazing pro-life warrior and the best-selling author of more than 70 books, including “You Can Lead an Atheist to Evidence But You Can’t Make Him Think,” “Hell’s Best Kept Secret,” and, “The Evidence Bible.” He also co-hosts the award-winning television program “The Way of the Master” (with actor Kirk Cameron), which is seen in over 140 countries, and has produced the films “180,” Genius, and Evolution vs. God. Ray and his wife Sue live in Southern California, where they have three grown children.

Ray is also bringing with him Emeal (“E.Z.”) Zwayne who will tell his story conversion to Christ after getting involved with the infamous street gang known as the Crips at the age of fifteen. E.Z. was born in Lebanon but now resides in Southern California with his wife Rachel and their five children.

DATE:       Saturday, September 30th
TIME:        7 to 9 PM
WHERE:  Medinah Baptist Church (map)

Tickets are just $10 each. Call the IFI office today to secure your seats today: (708) 781-9328 or purchase tickets below.

Click here for flyer.

P.S. We also highly recommend that you watch Ray Comfort in this powerful pro-life documentary titled “180 Movie.“

Illinois Family Institute is excited to be celebrating our 25th Anniversary as an organization this year!  To commemorate this milestone, we have been hosting a number of great educational forums across the state of Illinois. We hope you, your family, and friends will join us at one or more!

To learn more, or to register, please click on the graphic or title. Click HERE for a flyer with a complete listing.

Sponsorship opportunities are needed and welcome!

Please contact Kathy or Mary at (708) 781-9328
www.illinoisfamily.org/ifi-events/

If you cannot attend any of these events, we covet your prayers and financial support.
Please consider making a donation today:

Click HERE to learn about supporting IFI on a monthly basis.

Tragedy often brings people together and that is certainly the case with Hurricane Harvey, which has now weakened to a tropical storm. The storm is still pounding Texas and Louisiana and made a second landfall early Wednesday morning in western Louisiana, with rain pummeling much of the Gulf Coast. The danger from flooding is still life threatening in Texas.

The death toll from #HurricaneHarvey is now confirmed to be at least 30 people, likely more. Over the next few hours and days that number will rise. Now, more than ever, the people of #Houston need your prayers.

Reservoirs are above capacity in Houston. According to the New York Times live updates:

Over the past few days, more than a trillion gallons of rain have fallen in Harris County alone – reportedly enough to “run Niagara Falls for 15 days,” or fill the Houston Astrodome 3,200 times. The rainfall is so heavy that parts of the Houston area set a record for rainfall from a single storm anywhere in the continental United States, with a top reading on Tuesday afternoon, since the storm began of 51.88 inches.This eclipses the previous mark of 48 inches that was measured in Medina, TX during Amelia, a tropical storm in 1978. The numbers may surpass the overall United States record for total rainfall from a single cyclone. In Hawaii, during Hurricane Hiki in 1950, 52.00 inches of rain were recorded at a ranger station on Kauai.

Hurricane Harvey is also expected to leave about $40 billion dollars in lost revenue or property damages. The last hurricane that hit the coast of Texas, Hurricane Ike, was only a category 2 storm and it cost $30 billion in damages and the loss of 37 lives. The death toll for Hurricane Harvey is expected to be much higher after the waters eventually recede and the now tropical storm abates.

Despite the ongoing tragedy, heroes and good Samaritans have risen to the occasion. The support for Houston has surpassed all political stripes, religions, and ethnic backgrounds.

According to Rolling Stone,  National Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster President and CEO Gregory A. Forrester articulated that focusing on relief efforts can bring everyone together, which is exactly what needs to happen.

“I would encourage [any volunteers] even if they’re not faith-related, we’re all in this together at this point,” he says. “And don’t anticipate that anybody is going to try and push faith on you anyways, even if you do go and volunteer at the local church to assist with putting together the care kits that are going to be needed … It’s about helping.”

There are thousands of volunteers from multiple charity organizations such as the Red Cross, Samaritan’s Purse, etc., engaging in relief efforts.

According to ABC News:

FEMA Administrator Brock Long said at a press conference Wednesday that there are more than 12,000 emergency staffers on the ground in Texas and Louisiana, spread across 50 counties. The agency is operating more than 230 shelters in Texas, housing more than 30,000 people.

The Air Force said it was providing aircraft assistance in response to Harvey, including two HC-130J Combat King IIs, three HH-60G Pave Hawks, air crews and other support personnel to College Station, Texas. Two C-17 Globemaster IIIs are carrying more than 30 tons of relief supplies to Louisiana’s Alexandria International Airport.

The Louisiana Cajun Navy, first formed in 2005 in the wake of Hurricane Katrina, composed entirely of thousands of volunteers, reassembled and headed into Houston in pickup trucks and small motorized fishing boats on Sunday and worked at pulling people from their homes, parking garages, or even flooded shelters.

ABC News reports:

“It’s a mix of emotions,” a member of the Cajun Navy named Jeff told KTRK. “You hate to see people lose all they have. All we can do is get them to dry land.”

Another heartwarming incident occurred as a Weather Channel reporter interupted a live broadcast from the site of a totally demolished school and rescued a tattered American flag. Rare reports that “Paul Goodloe is on the ground in Texas to cover the impact of Hurricane Harvey on communities across the state.” In the video, Goodloe notices the flag, “I’m gonna have to pick that up,” he began. “I can’t let Old Glory just sit there like that. The school, yeah, it’s battered — so is the flag. We’ve got to fold this up, make sure it isn’t a casualty to Hurricane Harvey.”

Goodloe then proceeded to fold the flag in the proper manner, in 13 folds. This is especially touching, given the significance of each fold in a symbolic flag folding ceremony. Fold 1 represents life, fold 4 is symbolic of our weaker human nature, and our reliance on God in times of distress, and the 13th and final fold leaves the flag with the stars facing upward reminding us that we put our trust in God.

https://twitter.com/B911Nature/status/901622388865069056

ABC News reports several other incidents where lives were saved though heroism:

A local Houston doctor, Dr. Stephen Kimmel, braved the Hurricane Harvey floodwaters in a canoe to make it to the hospital so he could perform surgery on a teen who needed immediate surgery.

Neighbors banded together, literally, to help a woman in labor receive assistance from Houston Fire Department emergency workers. Residents in a Houston complex made a human chain to help the woman and her husband get into a rescue truck.

Houston Texans star JJ Watt has put together a massive fundraiser to help the victims of Hurricane Harvey. In a video posted to Instagram 5 hours ago, Watt announced that the fundraiser has raised $5.1 million, but at the time of writing this article, the $6 million goal has almost been reached. It is likely that Watts will increase the new goal, as donations keep pouring in (so far from roughly 61,000 donors).

Some of the heroes unsurprisingly are even teens.

15 yr old Declan and friends have been picking people up in Meyerland since late morning @HoustonChron #houstonflood pic.twitter.com/fOh8lwXBzm

— Mark Mulligan (@mrkmully) August 27, 2017

Others with giant trucks helped in the rescue efforts.

They say they called 911 and the coast guard – no answer. But @8thWonderBrew stepped up. #abc13 #Meyerland pic.twitter.com/3pv20byqRH

— Pooja Lodhia (@PoojaOnTV) August 27, 2017

These three deputies helped rescue a disabled woman and carry her and her wheelchair to safety.

Executive Director of the Illinois Family Institute, David E. Smith stated:

The media hypes up racial tensions all the time, trying to divide us along various social, economic and political lines.  But they highlight the fringe elements of a tiny fraction of America.

Most Americans are willing to help each other out, even risk their lives to save another human being.  We are seeing that in Houston.