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Pastor Ken Keltner is Senior pastor of Brookside Baptist Church, Brookfield, WI. He's the speaker on The Word for Life radio broadcast which airs on WVCY. In James 1:2-3 it says, "My brethren, count it all joy when ye fall into divers temptations; Knowing this, that the trying of your faith worketh patience." The word "temptations" in this context is referring to testing or trials. It's a word we really don't like to hear. This passage indicates that the trying of our faith builds patience or endurance in us. Many times we read this quickly and we may talk about its meaning in application to others, but what about when the trials and tests hit you? What is your response when these trials all of a sudden seem to come from nowhere? You wonder, why is this happening to me? What have I done wrong? Do we really count it all joy when we go through such times? How do we respond? It's often said such trials can turn us bitter or better. So listen to this Crosstalk and find out how Pastor Keltner responded as he walks listeners through what occurred during events leading up to and beyond March 16, 2026. That's the day that Pastor Ken's wife Kathy went home to be with the Lord after battling Glioblastoma, an aggressive type of brain cancer. They were married over 42 years and amidst the extreme heartache, the Lord has shown himself faithful and is very much at work. More Information: brooksidebc.org [email protected] 262-783-6180

From coast to coast there is a massive expansion underway of AI (artificial intelligence) data centers being constructed. This expansion is happening simultaneously across the states. Farmland once used to grow our nation's food supply is being destroyed. Green spaces that caused individuals to move to a particular location are now being overrun with dirt, concrete and non-stop construction. The demand for electricity and resources is staggering. What's going on here? Joining us to answer that question was Tom DeWeese. Tom is president of American Policy Center. He's one of the nation's leading advocates for individual liberty, free enterprise, private property rights, personal privacy, back-to-basics education, American sovereignty and independence, and protecting our Constitutionally-guaranteed rights. According to Tom, the purpose of data centers is to collect and store every single piece of information that makes up human society including your biometrics, your daily actions, even your bank account transactions. Is there any "grassroots" opposition to this? Hear the details, discover what listeners had to say, and find out what you can do on this edition of Crosstalk.

From the very beginning, the authority of God's Word has been under attack. God gave clear instruction in the Garden of Eden as recorded in Genesis 2:16 and following: "And the LORD God commanded the man, saying, 'Of every tree of the garden thou mayest freely eat; But of the tree of the knowledge of good and evil, thou shalt not eat of it: for in the day that thou eatest thereof thou shalt surely die.'" In Genesis chapter 3, the serpent spoke to Eve, "Yea, hath God said, Ye shall not eat of every tree of the garden?" The serpent put this question in her mind to cause doubt and later countered what God said, "Ye shall not surely die." Tragically, Eve took of the fruit and ate it. She gave it to Adam, who also ate it, and thus sin entered into the world. We often look back and ask how could they do such a thing. Yet, in our secular world and in pulpits across the country, the same challenge is happening day after day, questioning the authority of the Scriptures. Returning to Crosstalk to answer this concern was Ken Ham. Ken is founder of Answers in Genesis and its life-changing attractions: the highly acclaimed Creation Museum and the world-renowned Ark Encounter. Ken is a biblical apologist and author of multiple books, including Divine Dilemma (understanding death, disease, and suffering); Divided Nation (about today's culture wars); Creation to Babel (a devotional commentary); The Lie: Unraveling the Myth: Evolution/Millions of Years and Miraculous: The Ken Ham and Answers in Genesis Story.

The sermon emphasizes the Bible as a divine standard and weapon against spiritual opposition, drawing primarily from Ephesians 6:17. It warns against the danger of misquoting or omitting Scripture, using Satan's temptation of Jesus in Luke 4 as a cautionary example. The speaker illustrates how God's Word acts as light that dispels darkness, enabling believers to navigate life and share the gospel effectively. By correctly handling the text, Christians can stand firm like a sword of the Spirit when facing trials. The message concludes with an affirmation of the Bible's authority and the necessity of preaching its truth to a lost world.

From war news regarding Iran to people posting about their wish for harm to befall President Trump, all that and much more is dealt with on this broadcast. Here's a selection of stories from the first quarter hour: --A federal judge decried the position treatment of President Trump's alleged would-be assassin and actually apologized to him for restrictive confinement imposed by jail staff. --Judge Zia Faruqui, the far-left magistrate who apologized to President Trump's alleged assassin, is a Pakistani Muslim. --Democratic California Representative Ted Lieu posted "8647" on his "X" account on Sunday, mimicking the alleged threat to assassinate President Trump that former FBI Director James Comey was indicted for posting previously. --A 35 year old federal aviation employee based in New Hampshire stands accused of threatening to take out President Trump. --A woman was fired after expressing sadness that President Trump was not assassinated at the White House Correspondence Dinner last month. She's now making new videos complaining about being doxxed due to sudden national attention on her. --A West Virginia prosecutor dismissed charges against a librarian who allegedly tried to recruit assassins to target President Trump. --A Pennsylvania man who declared himself a Democratic U.S. Senate hopeful for 2028 was arrested by Secret Service agents after allegedly sending violent threats targeting President Trump and a senator's daughter. --House Minority Leader Hakeem Jeffries has repeatedly attacked President Trump and his supporters with blunt condemnation of the president and his agenda.

As this is the National Day of Prayer, we remind you, as we so often do, to pray for our country, our nation's leaders, our President, his cabinet, your members of the House of Representatives; your senators; your governor; your state leaders and representatives. We must also remember to pray for city and town mayors and local officials along with our courts at all levels. We need to pray that each of them will realize they have an accountability before God, and that they would make decisions in the best interest of the nation, rather than their own personal interest or what will advance them or their party in the next election. Pray that they would recognize what Scripture says: "It is righteousness that exalts a nation, but sin is a reproach to any people." We must humble ourselves as a nation before God, confessing our sin, and look to Him for guidance. While we are thankful for a day which our nation recognizes by proclamation, at Crosstalk these are things we regularly urge all listeners to do. This coming Sunday is Mother's Day. It's a time our nation sets aside to honor mothers. Moms have a great deal of influence upon their children, a fact that we see all throughout Scripture. That's why we offer this broadcast each year--a time to give listeners an opportunity to honor their mother.

In Jim's hands today is a Press Release from the office of Senator Ron Johnson of Wisconsin. Senator Johnson is chairman of the Permanent Subcommittee on Investigations. Last Wednesday he held a hearing titled, "Unmasked: How Biden Health Officials Purposely Turned a Blind Eye Toward COVID-19 Vaccine Safety Signals." It's a hearing that drew little media attention. Along with this hearing, Senator Johnson released a report of approximately 600 pages of records that detailed how beginning in early 2021, FDA officials became aware of a new "state of the art" data mining method that could better detect statistically significant safety signals for adverse events associated with the COVID-19 shots. Rather than adopt this method, Biden health officials continued to employ their older data mining method with known limitations that prevented the FDA from detecting adverse events. Senator Johnson indicates that Peter Marks, head of the FDA's Center for Biologics Evaluation and Research, was treating vaccine injuries that were life-threatening and people were pleading with the FDA and NIH to make this pubic, but never did so. Senator Johnson indicated, "We've got a real big problem in this country about vaccine-injury deniers." Again, these vaccine injuries are real, but it's being denied. While this hearing was far longer than a Crosstalk program, listen to Senator Johnson's opening remarks, Ranking Member Senator Blumenthal, the lead Democrat of the Committee, and the witnesses.

Islam is proliferating across the United States. This is due in part to immigration from other nations. According to ChatGPT, it's believed that between 55-60% of Muslims in the United States are immigrants. Around 1970, the number of mosques in the U.S. was estimated to be around 100. By the year 2000 that jumped to around 1200 mosques and by 2020 that jumped to around 2,800 mosques, a 25-fold increase since 1970. A broader inclusive estimate for 2026 put that number between 3,700 and 4,000 mosques and Islamic centers and growing. Could this be a sign of the Islamizing of America? To answer that question, Crosstalk welcomed back Usama Dakdok. Usama is founder of the Straight Way of Grace Ministry. He is the speaker on Revealing the Truth About Islam and founder of The Straight Way of Grace Ministry. Usama speaks fluent Arabic and has translated the Qur'an into English. He is the author of Exposing the Truth about the Qur'an, Exposing the Truth About Jihad and the booklets, The Violent Truth about Islam and The Straight Way to Eternal Life. There have been massive public relations campaigns put on using libraries across the country in special outreaches known as "Know Your Muslim Neighbor." Following up with that effort, the Council on American/Islamic Relations (CAIR) joined forces with the U.S. Council of Muslim Organizations to promote what they call "National Open Mosque Day," which began this past Sunday. It's an attempt to open doors to the wider community as they invite people of all faiths and backgrounds to explore and learn about Islam. Listen as Usama communicates a timely warning about Islam!

Dr. Tim Sigler is CEO of Ariel Ministries. His Jewish background and passion for studying Hebrew led him to teaching at Moody Bible Institute for nearly two decades. He taught multiple courses including Hebrew Exegesis, Hebrew Grammar, Old Testament Historical Literature, Life in Bible Times and much more. He also served as Provost and Dean at Shepherds Theological Seminary in Cary, NC. He has served as pastor at a Messianic Jewish congregation in Israel. He has been studying and teaching about the land and people of Israel for 35 years. He has written numerous articles and is a contributor to a forthcoming Zondervan publication, "The Messianic Jewish Study Bible."

The sermon emphasizes the necessity of relying on the shield of faith to withstand spiritual attacks, drawing primarily from Ephesians 6 and Hebrews 11. It strongly critiques the prosperity gospel by highlighting that biblical heroes of faith often endured suffering, persecution, and illness rather than material blessing or physical healing. The speaker clarifies that Jesus' earthly healings fulfilled prophecy but do not guarantee immediate physical cure for believers today. True faith is defined not as a mechanism to control circumstances but as trust in God's Word despite adverse conditions. The central message encourages Christians to stand firm against the flood of evil through unwavering trust in divine promises rather than visible outcomes.