While many high-end houses are being built at a steady pace, millions of Americans are struggling. Many low-income families spend more than half of their paycheck on rent, leaving them barely able to afford even the most basic housing.

“This rent is ridiculous, I don’t know what’s going on in the world,” said one renter in Norfolk, Virginia.

Experts blame a number of reasons behind this and expect it to get worse.

“We are in a housing crisis,” said Will Fish with the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities. “There are hundreds of thousands of people in this country who have no home at all.”

He went on to say a record 653,000 Americans experience homelessness any given night – a stark reminder of people living on the margins.

“There are many more millions who are paying very high shares to their income for rent, and are often, you know, just one step back away from being evicted and losing their home,” Fish said.

For others like Cherise Ryan, a student juggling school and a part-time job, the burden of rising rent is a bit overwhelming.

“It’s affecting me because I’m in school right now and I’m not working,” said Ryan. “So, you know, (I’m) trying to be in school and doing a little Ubering to pay the bills.”

Vanessa Brown Calder from the CATO Institute highlights how the transformation of many cities into luxury hubs – where the average home now costs $1 million or more – is driving rent prices to outpace income growth. For instance, studies indicate that since 2000, rents have surged by over 50%, while average incomes have only increased by about a third of that rate.

She also notes construction costs and zoning restrictions complicate the affordable housing puzzle.

“What’s happening here is we are just not able to build enough housing, even with higher construction levels, we are not able to build enough housing to make up for the big hole that we are in,” Calder said.

That hole she references is a shortage of nearly 20 million homes, widening the gap between available homes and potential buyers.

“I do think that the private market is the solution to housing affordability issues,” said Calder. “The private market can only be unleashed to solve those problems if the government gets out of the way and removes some of this unnecessary red tape and restrictive regulation. We need policymakers leading the charge to reform government regulations.”

Certain states are taking the lead, making significant changes in reforming housing policies. Legislators in both red and blue states have moved to modernize zoning laws, streamline the residential planning process, and update standards for home building and design.

Progress is being made in Virginia Beach, with a move toward ‘workforce housing’ designed to help blue-collar families, including police officers and firefighters, afford a place to live in this competitive market. Despite criticism, this approach exceeds city zoning regulations and removes land once zoned for farming.

There are also private efforts like the Kingdom Builder Group in Phoenix, stepping up in faith to help.

“We want people to know that we’re different,” said Patrick Smythe, President of Kingdom Builder Group. “We’re trying to build the kingdom through providing housing – and really just showing people the love of Christ in all that we do; how we treat our customers, how we treat our subcontractor partners.”

Partnering with Boxabl, a group designing prefabricated homes, the group focuses on affordable construction for low-income families and veterans. They also collaborate with churches and veteran organizations to create sustainable projects that support the city’s spiritual and social needs.

“The current zoning ordinances in all municipalities across the country are kind of antiquated,” Smythe said. “You know, I could build 20 units in six months, if the government would do the zoning and get out of the way.”

As housing costs likely continue to rise, so will the need for affordable, working-class housing. The hope is reforms will expand beyond the state-level and private market to bring Americans-in-need closer to the dream of stable, affordable homes.

Scott told CBN News that his sister’s “life and legacy” has “impacted millions of people.” Rachel, who was 17 when she was killed, was a strong Christian who kept her thoughts documented through powerful journals that have since been shared by the Scott family. These writings have left behind inspirational and faith-inspired messages and have inspired books as well as a feature film titled, “I’m Not Ashamed.”

But it was her death that also captured attention, as she was reportedly taunted by the killers for her Christian faith and yet stood firm in it until the end. Scott, too, has his own harrowing journey from April 20. He was in the school library where most of the carnage took place. His two friends were killed next to him and he fully expected he would be next. “I watched as the shooters went around the room, taunting students and treated it like it was a game,” Scott said. “And they came over to where I was. I saw my friend, Isaiah, they called him racial slurs. They tried to pull him out from underneath the table. They killed him, then they killed my friend, Matt.” He continued, “They left me underneath that table. I thought I was going to die.”

What happened next, though, was quite shocking. Scott said he heard the Lord deliver a message in the midst of shock and chaos. “I heard God speak to me,” he said. “And I am careful even with that phrase, ‘God told me to do something.’ … But I felt very strongly [that He] told me to, ‘Get out of there.'” At that point, Scott had no idea where the shooters were, but he stood up, looked around the room, and yelled for his peers to also stand up, repeating what that voice had said. “Let’s get out of here,” Scott said.” Everyone ran out of the room and outside the school to safety. Tragically, 10 kids were killed inside the library.

Scott has spent the past two and a half decades sharing what unfolded in an effort to help others discover hope amid the chaos of their own lives. “From early on, I had this belief that God had a plan and a purpose for the worst tragedy in my life,” Scott said. “And that belief … has been one of the biggest, helpful things in my journey the last 25 years, this belief that God has a plan and a purpose for even the worst stuff.”

Through sharing his and Rachel’s stories, Scott said his family has been able to help prevent shootings and suicides. Watch Craig explain how he has navigated faith, hope, and forgiveness in the wake of tragedy.

Prophecy expert Jeff Kinley, author of “God’s Grand Finale” and the coming book, “The End of the World According to Jesus of Nazareth,” weighed in on these dynamics, offering an explainer about what the Bible actually says — and why it matters. “Jesus and Matthew 24 list a ton of signs that will precursor [Christ’s] Second Coming, and it basically mirrors the Book of Revelation — the first half of Revelation,” Kinley said. “And in those signs you have … things like wars, you have rumors of wars, you have famines … earthquakes, and then Jesus said, ‘All these things are merely the beginnings of birth pangs.'”

The author went on to say he believes Christ is talking about the Tribulation period, a time during the end of days some Christians believe will be characterized by God’s judgment. As far as what’s happening in the world today, Kinley believes its a “ramping up to Revelation.” “It’s like when you’re watching a baseball game or a football game,” he said. “You’re watching the quarterback, you’re watching the pitcher, you’re watching where the ball is, essentially.”

Kinley continued, “Well, where the ball is prophetically is Israel, and, so, if you want to know really kind of put your finger on the pulse of what’s going on prophetically, you need to look at Israel.” Anyone looking at Israel right now can see the nation is locked in a great battle against Hamas, Hezbollah, and, more broadly, Iran. Kinley said focusing on this dispute — and region — is essential if Christians want to truly understand what’s happening.

“All eyes should be on Israel, because the Bible says that God is going to bring … the global narrative in the end times back to Israel, back to Jerusalem,” he said. “And all the things that are taking place were prophesied — these foreshadows were prophesied many thousands of years ago.” Kinley said the Bible predicts that nations will come against Israel in the last days, and pondered whether what’s unfolding right now is the “preseason to the actual events that Christ and others” predicted would one day take form.

Long before their A&E glory days, the Robertsons struggled in their marriage, with Phil finding himself lost, aloof, disconnected from his wife and children, womanizing, and dependent on alcohol. Phil’s journey of leaving the mess behind and embracing Jesus — and Kay’s quest to forgive — are at the center of “The Blind,” which opened in theaters nationwide Sept. 28.

Willie told CBN Digital the film was difficult to watch at moments, but is an essential story of redemption. And Korie noted the importance of telling their family’s imperfect and redemptive story. “You look in Scripture and over and over again, the people that God uses are not the perfect people, is not the perfect family,” she said. “It’s in our weakness that God’s glory is revealed and that we are made strong … God can use you and your story, even if your past looks like this, even if … there’s things in your story that [were] really horrible.”

Willie and Korie also discussed how Phil and Miss Kay’s early years shaped them and helped craft the story underpinning the film “The Blind.” Forgiveness, love, and the Gospel are other themes explored in the movie and elevated in the conversation. Phil’s story of finding the Lord is the centerpiece of it all, though. “Unfortunately for Phil — or, perhaps fortunately, his life continued to spin out of control, especially then when he was in the loneliness and depths of despair and everything else he was doing that actually pushed him to the Lord,” Willie said. “And sometimes that’s what it takes for a bunch of people, it was just a hit rock bottom … that’s where he was.”

David Curry, president and CEO of Global Christian Relief, an organization devoted to uncovering Christian persecution and advocating for believers across the globe, spoke with CBN’s Faithwire about the concerning ways repressive regimes, terrorists, and others might utilize the technology to cause further harm.

“The example that pops out that is a clear and present danger is China and their use of artificial intelligence to monitor the movement of their population,” Curry said. “They have a social scoring system which tracks church attendance and can prohibit children under the age of 18 from going to church or, if it can’t prohibit it, it will certainly punish you in your social score.”

He said this dynamic is already underway inside China, but added he’s also worried about what could come next.

“What we’re trying to raise the alarm on is the effects that will grow as more and more of these artificial intelligence technologies come online — the way in which the biases and assumptions that are built into this predictive modeling could affect religious faith,” Curry said. “We’re focused right now on the persecution of Christians, the monitoring of Christian activity, the censorship of worship services, pastors posting of videos — all the various implications of artificial intelligence.”

Among Curry’s concerns are the use of “deep fakes,” or videos that purport to show actions or infractions that never actually unfolded. He said he’s worried such videos — increasingly made to look believable with AI — could create new threats for the persecuted church.

Christians in many areas across the world already face retribution simply over stated claims; deep fakes could up the ante on their suffering and the associated threats underpinning such claims. Watch Curry describe a number of other concerns as well.

Article and video via CBN News.