CrossCurrent Podcasts

From their foundational era in 1097 to Saladin's conquest of Jerusalem almost a century later, the Crusader States transformed the Middle Eastern world. In an era shaped by many conflicts, this was not simply a war between Christianity and Islam, but an epic contest among multiple rival empires, dynasties, and cultures. Nicholas Morton's The Crusader Storm: A Global History of the Wars for the Middle East (Pegasus, 2026) unfolds through a kaleidoscope of perspectives: a Byzantine renegade, a crusader princess, a Turkish matriarch, a young Arab nobleman, a Syriac archbishop, Saladin's leading commander, and the vizier of Egypt. Between them, information, technologies, and ideas—as well as weapons—crossed borders at astonishing speed as their societies fought, allied, and traded. Their entangled fates reshaped not only the Middle East, but the medieval world itself. Drawing on sources from Arabic, Greek, Syriac, Armenian, Latin, and Hebrew traditions, Nicholas Morton's enthralling panorama transforms our understanding of the Crusades, revealing these wars not as a single clash of faiths, but as a dynamic era of war, commerce, innovation, and exchange that defined the course of history.

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Joe Dallas shares his testimony of being repeatedly molested as a boy and pursuing homosexual encounters as a teenager. After becoming a Christian, Joe struggled to reconcile the gospel with his promiscuous lifestyle, to the point of joining a pro-homosexual church in his quest for peace. Joe explains how the combination of misleading, ‘pro-gay’ theology and the conviction of the Holy Spirit propelled him into becoming a very angry gay activist. Eventually, God’s truth penetrated Joe’s armor, and his whole life was transformed.

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Loving People Through the Truth -- Is it possible to hold on to your biblical convictions without alienating those who don’t share them? Join author and speaker Rosaria Butterfield and Daly as they discuss the art of speaking the truth with love and conviction.

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Do you have a story or comment on how Focus on the Family impacted you or your family? Leave a message for Jim Daly!

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How can post-Dobbs laws be blamed for what happened before Dobbs was decided?

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For more resources visit breakpoint.org.  

A planned hijacking is thwarted over the skies of Saudi Arabia; President Trump floats a plan for a national school choice program. And the mainstream media misses the real reason behind the growing ectopic pregnancy deaths.

Segment 1 – Attempted Hijacking; School Choice Program

• Fox News article on attempted highjacking

• US Treasury press release on school choice plan

• Article on scholarship plan

Segment 2 – Ectopic Pregnancy Deaths

• Probulica article on ectopic pregnancies

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What are successful indie authors doing differently in 2026? The publishing landscape is changing fast. Algorithms shift, AI is changing how readers discover books, advertising is becoming more complicated, and authors have more publishing options than ever. But the authors who are growing aren't necessarily waiting for everything to settle down. They're focusing on what they can control, building stronger relationships with readers, and finding new ways to get more mileage from the books they've already written. In this episode of the Christian Indie Writers Podcast, we're looking at what the latest 2026 indie author data reveals about authors who are building momentum. 

Written Word Media surveyed 582 authors, and its “growing authors” group was defined by current growth, positive business sentiment, and expected income growth. (Written Word Media) https://www.writtenwordmedia.com/2026-mid-year-indie-author-survey/amp/

What causes believers to feel distant from God? In this conversation, Pastor Gary Thomas continues to unmask the lies that keep us striving, doubting, and disconnected. Sharing from his new book, The Life You Were Reborn to Live, Gary invites us to exchange falsehoods for the rich, soul-satisfying relationship God designed us to enjoy.

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Learn how to connect with God every day! -- Pastor John Burke, author of Soul Revolution, will show you how to remember God’s presence throughout the day and pursue His will in each moment. It’s simple, doesn’t take much time, and it could change your life.

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Do you have a story or comment on how Focus on the Family impacted you or your family? Leave a message for Jim Daly!

If you enjoyed listening to Focus on the Family with Jim Daly, please give us your feedback.

Christian worldview formation is not limited to correcting ideas.

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For more resources visit breakpoint.org.  

Is something just not working in your homeschool?

Maybe the schedule feels chaotic. A curriculum isn’t clicking. Your days aren’t unfolding the way you pictured them—or you’re already wondering whether you need to scrap the plan and start over.

Before you change anything, David and Leslie Nunnery want you to work through a simple framework: Believe. Think. Feel. Do.

Too often, homeschool parents jump straight from a problem to action: buy a new curriculum, create another schedule, join a co-op, leave a co-op, or try the latest solution someone recommended. But lasting change starts further upstream.

In this episode, you’ll learn how to reconnect what you do each day with what you believe God has called you to do, realign your thinking with that mission, understand the emotions influencing your decisions, and build homeschool rhythms that actually serve your family.

You’ll also hear how Leslie used this framework to structure their family’s homeschool days around discipleship, relationship, meaningful conversation, and learning—and why getting the foundation right made everything else work better.

Before you change what you’re doing, go back to what you believe.

Before you can align your homeschool with your mission, you need to know what that mission is.

Download the Homeschool Mission Worksheet from our Heart School Master Class to prayerfully work through what God has called your family to do—and begin using that mission as a filter for the decisions you make.

Teach Them Diligently 365 gives Christian homeschool parents ongoing biblical teaching, practical help, mentorship, and a community of families committed to living out what they believe.

And because the Heart School Master Class and Heart School Parenting Intensive are included in 365, this episode is an unusually natural invitation.