VCY America

The sermon contrasts the saving power of the gospel with the insufficiency of human religion, emphasizing that salvation comes through God reaching down to humanity rather than people reaching up. It highlights the historical reality of Jesus' virgin birth, vicarious death, and literal resurrection as the unique foundation of Christian faith. The speaker illustrates this truth through a personal missionary anecdote comparing Buddhist relics to the living Christ who conquered death. The message then returns to the parable in Matthew 21, defining the work of missions as reaching people with the gospel and teaching them to do the same. This process involves committing the unchanging content of the faith to faithful men who will disciple others and continue the cycle of evangelism.

So many news stories are part of the news cycle. Jim delivers those that are important from a Christian perspective. Here's a sample from the broadcast: --Tehran has dragged it's Persian Gulf neighbors back into the U.S./Iran war by firing a volley of drones and missiles at American partners across the region as part of a major flare-up in violence that upended peace talks. --According to NATO Secretary Mark Rutte, the fresh U.S. attacks on Iran were absolutely necessary. --The communication's office of Hamas' government in Gaza announced Monday that the head of the terrorist organization's government committee has submitted their resignation as part of a preparation to transfer administration of the Gaza strip to a technocratic committee affiliated with the Palestinian Authority. --Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said Tuesday that Iran "definitely" possesses chemical weapons and would "not care a wit about murdering hundreds of thousands of Americans if they could." --Israel and Lebanon have moved to the implementation stage of the U.S. brokered framework agreement that was reached last month. --Both Republicans and Democrats are opposing President Trump's plan to sell F-35 fighter jets to Turkey. --President Trump told reporters on Air Force One that Spain came back all the way and has agreed to boost NATO payments after he ordered a U.S. trade embargo with the country over its reluctance to contribute more to the organization. --Graham Platner, the Maine Democratic nominee for the U.S. Senate, has withdrawn his name from the race against Susan Collins. --Don't miss this edition of Crosstalk!

The funeral procession for the former Iranian Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei has been underway today. Fox News reported that as the procession approached the Shrine of Imam Reza today, mourners carried revolutionary placards and a massive banner threatening President Donald Trump. Khamenei's body was carried by a slow moving drunk as mourners chanted revenge slogans against Pres. Trump while placards reading "Kill Trump" appeared in the crowd. In violation of the ceasefire, Iran attacked ships travelling through the Strait of Hormuz while the U.S. has launched retaliatory strikes against Iran. Pres. Trump has called the Iranian negotiators "liars" and has said the ceasefire is dead. Joining us with the latest developments and analysis today is Shahram Hadian. Shahram is Founder of Truth in Love Ministry. He is a Christian Pastor and a former Muslim. Shahram was born in Iran and came to America in 1978 to escape an oppressive Islamic regime and committed his life to Jesus Christ in 1999. He has an extensive background not only as a Pastor, but also as a former police officer, teacher, coach and servant leader in his community.

Glenna Marshall is a Pastor's wife and mother of two sons. She's the author of: The Promise of His Presence, Everyday Faithfulness, and other books. She appeared on Crosstalk to discuss her newest release: "Praying in Pain: How to Know You're Heard When You Haven't Been Healed." Have you ever gone to bed at night dreading the next multiple hours where sleep eludes you due to pain? Perhaps this isn't a single night but night after night. You try the usual things, shifting your position in bed multiple times, trying different pillow positions, perhaps using some sort of over-the-counter pain-reliever, perhaps applying heat or cold, or moving from your bed to the couch to the recliner and then back to your bed again with no lasting relief. Glenna writes, "I've spent many nights treading water in an ocean of pain. And yet, I can think of no other place or time when God has most faithfully met me in the dark. In the night. In the crucible of my deepest and hardest physical suffering. I have learned that though it feels impossibly hard to pray in the grip of crushing pain, prayer is how we survive it. It's how we endure." What about when your pain is so great you cannot pray? Is it normal to feel like God is ignoring us when we're in pain? What about those who say prayer for pain is merely complaining to God? What help can the Psalms bring to such situations? What part does gratitude play when suffering? These are just a number of questions Glenna answers as she explains, from experience, how to handle pain from a biblical perspective.

Twila Brase is President and Co-founder of Citizens' Council for Health Freedom, a national patient-centered, privacy-focused, free-market policy organization to support health care choices, individualized patient care and medical and genetic privacy. Twila is a certified public health nurse, and author of the eight-time award-winning book Big Brother in the Exam Room: The Dangerous Truth About Electronic Health Records. She is the speaker on the daily Health Freedom Minute heard on stations across the nation. There was an article in the BizTimes which covers Milwaukee Business news. It was dealing with the springing up of data centers all over the country. Here's how the article began, "Every time you ask an AI assistant a question, stream a video, transfer money, or pull up a patient's medical record, something physical happens. Somewhere in a building full of servers and cooling systems and fiber cables and backup generators, a machine processes that request. That building is a data center. And right now, the United States does not have nearly enough of them." We've done multiple programs on these AI data centers and have told you that virtually your every social media post, medical records, financial records, emails etc are all contained in these data centers. But are you aware that AI has also entered the medical exam room with recording devices that are capturing your visit including what you believe to be a very private conversation with your doctor? More information: CCHFreedom.org

Our nation has just come through a celebration weekend. There was the Great American State Fair, parades, speeches, military flyovers, re-enactments, and fireworks displays which surpassed all previous 4th of July celebrations. All of this was done in celebration of 250 years of Independence. Now let's step back and take a look at the opening sentence to the Preamble of the Declaration of Independence. "We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness." Tragically, while we have crossed this 250th anniversary celebration, there are many babies in the womb who are being denied the right to their life, their liberty and their pursuit of happiness. Their lives are being snatched away by the hands of the abortionist, by the hands of a mother popping abortion pills into her system, or of a rapist or pedophile trying to destroy the evidence of their actions. So while we have just celebrated freedom, who's concerned about the freedom of a child conceived in the womb? Rev. James Harden answers this question as he comments on the restoration of funding for Planned Parenthood that had been pulled from the One, Big, Beautiful Bill. Additionally, he discusses fabricated rights vs. unalienable rights, a lawsuit against CompassCare Pregnancy Services, drinking water concerns due to abortion drugs, and much more, including comments from listeners. More Information: CompassCareCommunity.com

The sermon emphasizes that every Christian serves as God's ambassador in the task of world evangelism, extending beyond just traveling to foreign fields. Drawing from Matthew 21 and Luke 14, it clarifies that the divine command is not merely to go, but to work by reaching people with the message of salvation. The speaker illustrates this through personal experiences in Vietnam, highlighting the necessity of learning local languages and utilizing various methods like medical ministry to effectively connect with others. The central argument asserts that cultural change is not the primary goal; rather, the focus remains on preaching the gospel so individuals may repent and trust in Jesus Christ. Ultimately, believers are urged to engage fully in this work, whether by going personally or supporting through prayer and provision, to ensure the message reaches every creature.

Leading up to the 4th of July holiday, Jim brought many news stories to the attention of listeners. Here's a sample from the broadcast: --A divided U.S. Supreme Court ruled on Monday that election officials can count mail-in ballots that arrive after election day as long as they are postmarked by or before that date. --A federal judge blocked the President's bid to federalize mail-in voting. --President Trump has called for the Save America Act to be passed after the Supreme Court upheld Mississippi's policy to count mail-in ballots that arrive after election day. --A South Dakota Republican Party's Resolutions Committee approved a censure resolution against Senate Majority Leader John Thune, who represents the state. --The Supreme Court ruled that Title IX allows schools to provide separate sports teams for men and women defined by their gender assigned at birth. --The Supreme Court has also upheld that the executive order restricting automatic birthright citizenship violates the 14th Amendment. --Secretary of Homeland Security Markwayne Mullin clashed last Sunday with State of the Union host Jake Tapper over temporary, protected status for Haitian and Syrian immigrants. --Amy Curtis of Townhall.com described one of the main planks of the platform of the Democratic Socialists of America as including, "...the dismantling of police and the abolition of prisons. That means every violent criminal will be free to roam society where they can rob, assault, rape, and murder without consequences." --The U.S. and Iran have indirect, technical talks in Doha as they seek to agree on the flow of shipping through the Strait of Hormuz

If you have ever put up a building, you know the importance of a good foundation. A faulty foundation is going to lead to multiple problems and even to the demise or collapse of a building. Our guest has written that a subtle shift compromises the integrity of the entire structure. These subtle shifts are impacting our nation, the church, the home and this generation. Psalm 11:3 says, "If the foundations be destroyed, what can the righteous do?" In these critical times upon us, we're going to be taking a look at the need of our nation. But we're not going to stop there, because we also will be taking a look at the need of the church and the need of this generation. Dr. Scott Pauley is a full-time evangelist with a passion for preaching the Gospel and a burden to see this generation reached for Christ. He leads a ministry named "Enjoying the Journey" which is engaged in evangelizing the lost, equipping believers and encouraging Pastors and Churches. He is the author of Revival Praying, New Testament Marriage and a devotional commentary on the Psalms and he joins us on this edition of Crosstalk! More Information: enjoyingthejourney.org

America is celebrating 250 years of Independence. While there are those within our borders who are trying to change it, we recognize that people all over the world desire to come here. To mark this momentous anniversary, Jim read the preamble of our Declaration of Independence and also the Preamble to our Constitution: Declaration of Independence (1776): We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable rights, that among these are life, liberty and the pursuit of happiness.–That to secure these rights, governments are instituted among men, deriving their just powers from the consent of the governed, –That whenever any form of government becomes destructive of these ends, it is the right of the people to alter or to abolish it, and to institute new government, laying its foundation on such principles and organizing its powers in such form, as to them shall seem most likely to effect their safety and happiness. Preamble to the Constitution (1787): We the people of the United States, in order to form a more perfect Union, establish justice, insure domestic tranquility, provide for the common defense, promote the general Welfare, and secure the blessings of liberty to ourselves and our posterity, do ordain and establish this constitution for the United States of America. These two paragraphs, outlining the foundational principles for our nation, also point to the secret of America's greatness. Joining Jim to expound more on this was Randy Melchert. Randy is a college debate national champion who earned a Master's Degree in Church History from Trinity Evangelical Divinity School ...