Crosstalk America

Here's a look at some of the headlines that made the cut for this final edition of the News Round-Up for 2023:--Yesterday Maine's Democratic Secretary of State removed former President Trump from the state's presidential primary ballot under the Constitution's insurrection clause. --The Michigan Supreme Court has rejected an attempt to remove former President Trump from their 2024 ballot. --California's election chief yesterday approved former President Trump to be on the state's primary ballot.Louisiana is considering removing former President Trump from their state's primary ballot. --A poll indicates that 50% of Americans have said that the national media intended to mislead, misinform and persuade the public. --A Christmas message from Israel's Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Jim provided the audio.--Iranian state TV announced Sunday that Iran's navy had enhanced its weaponry with the integration of advanced, locally manufactured cruise missiles. --A senior official in Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps was killed Monday in an alleged Israeli air strike in the Syrian capital of Damascus.--Tehran claimed the October 7th massacre in Israel was a response to the 2020 killing of Iranian Commander Qasem Soleimani by the U.S. Hamas has denied the claim, insisting that the massacre was a response to alleged Israeli crimes at the Al-Aqsa mosque in Jerusalem.--Anti-Israel protesters wreaked havoc on unsuspecting shoppers and travelers in an effort to spread their cease-fire and "Israel is guilty of genocide" messages near JFK Airport in New York City and at Los Angeles International Airport.

From massive demonstrations that have been shutting down traffic and blocking access to other forms of transportation to Christmas events that were interrupted, sadly, anti-Semitism is running rampant at levels in the U.S. and it's growing around the world.One of the significant breeding grounds for this anti-Semitism has been college and university campuses. To help listeners sort through this issue, Crosstalk welcomed Brad Dacus. Brad is president and founder of the Pacific Justice Institute. Their mission is to defend, without charge, the religious freedoms, parental rights, and other civil liberties of individuals who cannot defend themselves. Brad previously served as Legislative Assistant to U.S. Senator Phil Gramm and received his Juris Doctor from the University of Texas, School of Law.Earlier this month, the Anti-Defamation League reported that from October 7th to December 7th, a recorded 2,031 anti-Semitic incidents took place. That's up from 465 recorded incidents recorded in the same period in 2022, a 337% increase year over year.What's going on here? Have people just suddenly become anti-Semitic? After all, Brad reminded listeners that the massacre of Jews by Hamas on October 7th was the catalyst. He indicated that while a small amount of this might be young people just looking for a cause, he believes that this is anti-Semitism coming to the surface that was there even before October 7th and that's what should be very alarming.Brad also noted that these deep issues of anti-Semitism are coming from Muslim students who are here in the U.S. through visas, as well as a large percentage of first, second, third and fourth generation Muslims.

The Bible tells us in 2 Peter 3:18, "But grow in grace, and in the knowledge of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ." So while you may be growing in other aspects of your life, are you growing in your spiritual life? If not, what changes are you willing to make as we approach the new year?You may answer by asking, "How can I do that? What resources are available that can help in my quest to obey 2 Peter 3:18?Joining Jim to answer that question was Randy Melchert. Randy is a school administrator, a researcher, a consultant and a member of the VCY America Board of Directors.Randy began by presenting some statistics that show just how critical the need is for resources and tools to help people in their spiritual growth and development. This is important because in spite of all the Bibles available in print form as well as through internet sources and apps, in America there's actually a spiritual famine taking place.He cited futurechristianity.com where it's said that 80% of young millennials reject the idea that there are clear standards for right and wrong. The American Bible Society's annual survey says that just since COVID, 26 million people have stopped reading the Bible. Also, the Guttmacher Institute, the research arm of Planned Parenthood, claims that this past year, 100,000 self-described evangelical protestant women had an abortion. Such statistics are why VCY America offers resources to help you become acquainted with God's word so that 2 Peter 3:18 is not only a reality for you, but a joy and something you look forward to daily as you seek a deeper relationship with your Creator!

Colorful lights, family gatherings, the baking, the presents, the special candy, the programs, and all the music of the season...you can become engulfed in all of these things and more, and still not understand the meaning of what's being celebrated.From Paul in Galatians 4 to 1 John 4 and other related Scriptures, it's our hope that in the busyness of these days you will recognize the fact that at the precise moment in history, Jesus Christ came into this world, born as a baby yet fully God and fully man.It's with that thought in mind that Jim opened the phone lines, encouraging listeners to express their Christmas thoughts. From testimonies of praise to God, favorite Christmas verses or stories, what people were doing to keep the focus on Jesus; all such expressions and more were welcome. Merry Christmas from Jim and the Crosstalk team!

Due to a special Christmas edition of Crosstalk tomorrow, Jim moved up the News Round-Up broadcast. Here's a selection of stories from the program:--The Colorado Republican Party is planning to withdraw from the state's primary election and move to a caucus system if the ruling against having President Trump on the ballot stands.--The California Lieutenant Governor is calling for former President Trump to be barred from their primary ballot. --Texas Lieutenant Governor Dan Patrick suggested that the chaos on the border could be grounds to remove President Biden from the state's 2024 ballot. --Senator Marco Rubio posted on "X" that the U.S. has put sanctions on other nations for doing exactly what the Colorado Supreme Court did against President Trump.--The Satanic Temple now has a display at the Michigan State Capitol.--A Pennsylvania school attempted to execute damage control after issuing a memo instructing bus drivers to remove Christmas decorations from their vehicles, to stop wearing anything related to the holiday and to avoid playing Christmas music.--The Israel Defense Forces are reportedly close to completing their ground offensive in the northern part of the Gaza Strip, having significantly dismantled the presence of Hamas battalions in the region.--The head of a Gaza hospital has admitted to Israeli forces that Hamas used his hospital to advance its military operations since the hospital is a safe place.--Israeli Defense Forces soldiers in Gaza managed to reach the home of the leader of Hamas, shortly after he fled the scene.--The steps leading up to the Lincoln Memorial were vandalized with red colored graffiti reading, "Free Gaza."

As we look at poverty around the world, some individuals are forced into some very desperate situations just to provide the basic needs of life. Sometimes prostitution appears to be the only way out. With that comes exploitation and sex-trafficking.Fortunately, someone's engaged in a ministry designed to break that cycle. That person is Alex Kuhlow. Alex is the founder & executive director for Threads of Hope, Inc.While growing up, becoming a missionary was simply not a part of Alex's vocational plans. As the son of a plumber, Alex grew up in the affluence of Neenah, Wisconsin, where he eventually became a machinist. Working long hours, he reasoned that he wanted to retire and live a comfortable life.One day as he was reading about the rich young ruler, the idea of selling everything, giving it to the poor and following Christ hit Alex hard. He wondered what his response would be if Christ was giving these instructions to him personally.As Alex noted, he wasn't a pilot, a church planter or a Bible translator. He was just a blue-collar machinist so he didn't think he had anything to offer the mission field.But God had other plans...One day a missionary came to to his church who happened to be a journeyman plumber. He was sharing with youth that whatever skills and abilities you have, the Lord can use them on the mission field. After the presentation, Alex asked the missionary what the greatest obstacle was in getting to the mission field. The missionary told him it was financial debt. That was the very week Alex and his wife had become financially debt free. There went that excuse!

California will disallow the sale of new cars powered by gasoline in 2035. That radical move, along with other environmental policies combined with the state's sky-high taxes, and it's no wonder so many are leaving California. Looking elsewhere, there was a new bill introduced December 5th in the state of Washington (House Bill 1868) aimed at making gas powered lawn mowers and other lawn equipment illegal, with heavy fines and even jail time for violators.The push for electric vehicles continues by the federal government despite their deficiencies, especially their cold weather performance. In addition, they're slow sellers on new car lots.So why is all of this going on? Returning to Crosstalk to answer that question was Tom DeWeese. Tom is president of American Policy Center. He is one of the nation's leading advocates of individual liberty, free enterprise, private property rights, personal privacy, back-to-basics education and American sovereignty and independence and protecting our constitutionally-guaranteed rights. He is also the grassroots coordinator for CFACT.As Tom explained, "net-zero" is the target, despite the fact that C02 is not a pollutant. So much of what exists on our planet needs C02 to survive. Yet in spite of that, a new study claims humans are contributing to global warming by breathing, and if you're female and over 30 years old, you're the biggest culprit!To place blame on people just for breathing sure sounds like an excuse for lowering the human population does it not? Tom believes that's the contention.

There are those who insist that believers in Christ should have nothing to do with Christmas or its observance. The guest on this edition of Crosstalk, and his fellow workers in ministry, have put together a book to address this important matter.Frank Figueroa Jr. is a speaker and presenter for Reasons For Hope, a ministry dedicated to presenting, proclaiming and defending the biblical worldview. He has a Science Education degree from the University of Hawaii. He formerly served as pastor in Hawaii and now speaks to numerous youth camps, youth assemblies and private schools. He's a contributor to the book, Glad You Asked! Answers to 12 Tough Questions About Christmas That You Need Answers For.Is Christmas, as some would say, a pagan holiday? Frank said that the answer is both yes and no. He noted that there are some things used from past pagan traditions. However, the reason we celebrate Christmas is not due to any of those things. It's because of the birth of Christ and ultimately so that he would die for our sins. He used an example from the book, Glad You Asked. Imagine if Christians took the month of June, which is currently known as Pride Month, and began calling it Prayer Month, using it as a springboard to witness to the lost, especially those who are pro-pride. Then, if over time, Pride Month instead became known nationally as Prayer Month, 100 years from now would Christians feel as though we shouldn't have taken a secular idea and turned it into something that we can use to serve the Lord's purposes? No, of course not.Listen to the discussion as Jim has Frank tackle tough questions that Christians sometimes debate concerning Christmas.

Finish the week with Crosstalk and get caught up on news from around the world. Here's a sample of what Jim presented to listeners this week:--At the U.N.'s COP 28 gathering, governments from around the world agreed to a global transition from fossil fuel, greater limits on energy use, and a new fund to compensate governments of poor nations for alleged damages caused by C02 emissions from wealthier nations.--The U.S. Supreme Court will take up a January 6th defendants appeal of the Department of Justice's novel use of evidence tampering law to prosecute hundreds of defendants for obstruction of Congress. --In October of 2021, Joe Biden called on the Department of Justice to prosecute people who defy congressional subpoenas. Now President Biden's son Hunter skipped out on a deposition before Congress this past Wednesday. --Hunter Biden claimed the investigation into his business dealings is a move to undermine his father's tenure as president. Jim provided audio from his public statement.--Jim also provided audio of Republican Congressman Jim Jordan speaking out on Hunter Biden being a "no-show." --The House narrowly approved opening an impeachment probe into President Biden Wednesday, hours after his son Hunter defied a congressional demand to testify on Capitol Hill. --A Christian veteran tore down the satanic shrine at the Iowa capitol and beheaded it.--An after-school Satan club is coming to a Tennessee elementary school.

Becki Dudley is a children's author who has written titles such as When You See a Rainbow, When You see a Cloud, and When You a Star, Noah's Ark for Kids and more. She's written and recently released God's Story: From the Beginning to the Promised Return.Becki is a mother as well as a grandmother of seven. She communicated that because of the things we're seeing that are happening in the world, the most important thing we can do is to teach children the truth that's given to us in God's word.The result is God's Story, a collection of 125 illustrated stories from the Bible that takes a child from Genesis to Revelation. Her hope in writing this was to connect the dots of the "big picture" for children, to reinforce that these were real people and that they're not fiction or fairy tales. In other words, God's word is real history and children can learn from it.During the two year process of writing the book she used the scarlet thread of redemption as a general outline beginning with the Garden of Eden and culminating on the Cross. She definitely wanted to include those stories that foreshadowed Christ's ultimate sacrifice and what that means. The book is illustrated with wonderful pictures by Bill Looney. Becki feels his pictures themselves tell stories and help to bring those in the book to life.As the broadcast moves along you'll hear why this isn't just a "feel good" book, why there's an emphasis on the holiness of God, what the "thread of hope" sections are all about, the colorful maps that allow you to compare the land in Bible times to the land today, some key points from Christ's ministry, and much more including calls from listeners!