You can feel it in the air right now: a lot of people are exhausted, cynical, and tempted to believe nothing good is happening. We refuse to live there. This Good News Friday brings stories that are concrete, surprising, and worth sharing, especially with the friend who’s been hit with the “America is the bad guy” narrative and can’t see past the headlines.

We start with a remarkable update from one of the last places you’d expect: Iran. There’s credible reporting on a rapidly growing underground Christian church, and we point you to specific resources on the Back to Jerusalem movement and the strategy of Chinese believers entering closed nations as workers on major projects. If you’ve been looking for real leads instead of vague optimism, we name books, documentaries, and places to begin reading.

Then we turn to the United States, where a Gallup poll shows many Americans still believe a more religious society would be a positive thing, even as the numbers shift over time and across political groups. We talk honestly about why government policy shapes moral values, why that matters for culture, and how these trends connect to the choices we make in public life.

We also cover major legal and political developments: a Texas judge finally resolves a long fight tied to conscience and religious liberty, leaders push back on International Criminal Court overreach and threats to U.S. sovereignty, and we highlight a practical proposal to fast-track commercial driver’s licenses for military veterans. If you care about faith and culture, constitutional boundaries, and hopeful news you can act on, you’ll want to hear this one. Subscribe, share this episode, and leave a review to help more people find the show.

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