Crosstalk America from VCY America

Yesterday mainstream media outlets began reporting that the current Roman Catholic Pope, Pope Benedict XVI, would be retiring at the end of this month, something that hasn't been done in nearly 600 years. Mike comments on numerous aspects of this decision including: The cardinals that meet in a secret conclave to chose the new Pope; the leading candidates to become the new Pope; why Matthew 16:18 does not reveal the Apostle Peter as the first Pope; man-made unity vs. biblical unity and more.

It's unfortunate that President Obama added to the pool of false information recently when he mentioned global climate change in his inaugural address and Al Gore resurfaced recently when he commented on coal pollution. Dr. Beisner analyzes those remarks and brings a balanced, biblical perspective to this controversial issue.

Jim Schneider cleared the news desk for another news round-up edition of Crosstalk. Headlines mentioned included: Time Magazine describes Florida Senator Marco Rubio as the Republican "savior" Chinese family planning officials ran over a 13 month old boy with a mini-bus after feuding with the Chinese resident over fines related to the birth of the child, born outside of China’s one-child policy. Entitlements and Obamacare spending will comprise 53% of all federal spending over the coming decade. Obamacare will push 7 million people out of their job based health insurance coverage.

Scouting has not gone unnoticed by the homosexual movement and in late January, the Boy Scouts announced that they were reconsidering their decision whether or not they should lift their ban on homosexual members/leaders. They indicated that they will prepare a resolution for the 1,400 voting members of the national council to consider at their annual meeting in Grapevine, Texas, in May of this year.

Close to 600 churches from 13 different countries will be celebrating Evolution Weekend. As part of this celebration, nearly 13,000 pastors have signed on to a document denouncing the literal 6 day Genesis creation account. As part of this Crosstalk, Jim read the letter that some pastors are signing and Jay explained some of the weaknesses of evolution which included exposing two fallacious statements often touted by evolution proponents.

Senator Feinstein of California has proposed gun ban legislation (S. 150). This legislation would ban up to 50% of all long guns currently in circulation, 80% of handguns in circulation and possibly ban every magazine. Michael Hammond feels it won't pass because it's just too extreme. Actually, this legislation may be a type of distraction designed to make universal background checks and the eventual creation of a national gun registry look like a sensible, bipartisan solution. Get the latest information from the front lines of the gun control debate and find out what listeners had to say when you review this edition of Crosstalk.

As Dr. Stevens noted, the Obama administration has moved away from the idea of freedom of religion and instead is touting freedom of worship. What you do in your church is your business. However, as soon as you walk outside your church, there is no exemption available for religious liberty or right of conscience. In other words, what you do in your church has no application to how you live your life in the public square.

The results of recent elections in the Israel are in and Benjamin Netanyahu will continue as Prime Minister. In light of this victory, David Rubin comments on the Israeli draft; the Palestinian peace process; the Iranian nuclear program; President Obama's late congratulations to Netanyahu after his re-election and the President's desire to press Israel into land-for-peace negotiations.

The Boy Scouts are planning to make a decision in the very near future about possibly overturning their policy that for the first time would allow homosexuals to be involved in the scouting program. Peter feels the Boy Scouts have been harassed by liberals and homosexual activists ever since they won in the Supreme Court in 2000 to live by their own moral creed. Jim pointed out that this is astounding because the scouts just conducted a two-year study on this and just 7 months ago they came forth and made a statement basically saying that they won't allow homosexual leaders and that no further action would be taken on the matter.

Does the desire for equal combat opportunity by some women comport with what the Bible says is God's desire for them? In other words, is it possible that having women serve in combat is demeaning to the general calling of God for women? Listeners weigh in on this controversial topic on this Monday edition of Crosstalk.

Does the desire for equal combat opportunity by some women comport with what the Bible says is God's desire for them? In other words, is it possible that having women serve in combat is demeaning to the general calling of God for women? Listeners weigh in on this controversial topic on this Monday edition of Crosstalk.

Last September 11th in Benghazi, our consulate came under attack by a fundamentalist Islamic assault. According to Ben, not only was security denied, it was withdrawn. In the wake of it all, Christopher Stevens, who for some reason went to the compound days before, ended up dying along with IT Manager Sean Smith and two former Navy Seals. Jim noted that in subsequent days the line that we kept hearing from Susan Rice was that this was spontaneous activity due to an anti-Muslim You Tube video.

The strategy employed by Islamists, particularly the Muslim Brotherhood, involves a patient, long-term effort known as "gradualism". This is a bottom-up approach to achieving the objective of governance within a nation. In the short-term this involves converting people to the religion of Islam, destroying church support for Israel and interfaith engagement with churches and Christian organizations.

This Crosstalk began with some history as Sam Rohrer explained that the 2nd Amendment on the federal level mirrors amendments that were already contained within the constitutions from our 13 colonies; the idea that life has intrinsic value as coming from God and that this life is to be protected not only by the government, but by the people as well. As you review this program you'll learn the biblical instructions for self-defense at the personal and collective levels, the root cause of our violence problem today, and whether or not we are replacing God with government in the United States.

Listen to today's episode as we mark the 40th anniversary of the tragedy of Roe v. Wade. Listen for the Bell toll every 14 seconds as each toll marks the death of 250,000 innocent children. Listen as Matt Trewhella describes his trip to the president's 2nd inauguration to display pictures of aborted babies to the man who voted no to a bill that would require giving medical care to a child after a botched abortion has left it alive, but in need of medical assistance to survive.