This Crosstalk is another in our "What in the World?" series. These broadcasts include stories of the bizarre or that which is out of the ordinary, where the initial reaction is, "What in the world?" Here are some highlights from the first half of the program: --A drag queen welcomes students back to Portland public schools. --The long-time pastor of Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico was recently caught on camera promoting an inclusive translation of the Bible that strips the text of gendered language. --Reverend Jim Rigby, longtime senior pastor at St. Andrews Presbyterian Church in Austin, Texas, was heard saying he doesn't believe in a literal resurrection and that it's symbolic. Jim provided audio of the pastor's remarks. --Democratic U.S. Senate candidate James Talarico says adding police and guns to schools will make students less safe. --Texas Democrats have come up with a scheme to pay voters to cast ballots for their candidates. --Jim commented on a pastor who teaches that the Ethiopian eunuch was either transgender, queer or gay. Jim provided audio from the pastor. --A Republican House hopeful got the boot from a Delaware candidate forum after twice refusing to use female pronouns for his transgender Democratic rival. --The U.S. Department of Education is getting involved in the fight over a Massachusetts teen taken away from her parents and potentially being transitioned by the state while in custody. This broadcast wrapped up with comments from listeners nationwide.

Dr. David Brown, Pastor Emeritus of the First Baptist Church in Oak Creek, has a Masters in Theology and a Ph.D in History, specializing in the history of the English Bible. In addition to his study of the English Bible, he's also president of Logos Communications Consortium. For years he has conducted research on witchcraft, the occult, fantasy role playing games and The Dark Side of Halloween. Note this from I Peter 5:8, "Be sober, be vigilant; because your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, walketh about, seeking whom he may devour." Satan is subtle. Scripture refers to him as the "god of this world", as "the prince of the power of the air" as "the father of lies" as a "destroyer", as one who is "the deceiver of the whole world," and yet as one who transforms himself "as an angel of light." With this in mind, this edition of Crosstalk comes as a warning concerning a new series coming out first on Freeform then on Disney+, Hulu, and Freeform On Demand. It's called Coven Academy which reportedly "follows three teenage witches and their dangerously charming warlock peers an at elite magic school where power is currency, secrets are lethal, and attraction is a liability." So become informed and hear the background of the characters behind Coven Academy, excerpts from the trailer, why the concepts of good witches/bad witches and white magic/black magic are false, and finally how Scripture clearly shows that this program is promoting the occult. More Information: Offer: Principles for Determining What is Acceptable is available for a donation of $2.00. Send your donation to: First Baptist Church, P.O Box 151, Oak Creek, WI 53154.

Debbie Wuthnow is President of iVoterGuide, a division of American Family Association Action. Debbie joined iVoterGuide in 2011 and was named President in 2018. They provide information on many thousands of candidates in thousands of races nationwide. Once again our nation is at a crossroads, and in just 6 weeks on Election Day, Tuesday November 3rd, those who show up to vote will significantly impact the direction we head. Notice that said, "those who show up to vote?" Because there is a huge segment in our country that does not vote, and tragically, Christians are among them. It doesn't take long to recognize there is a clash of values between the candidates with two completely different paths and two different worldviews. Will we reaffirm commitment to our Constitutional Republic, or will we advance the cause of Socialism? Will we protect the life of the pre-born or will we advance abortion to the moment of birth? Will we follow the pathway of biological boys competing against girls or will we recognize that God created male and female? Will we take steps to stack the United States Supreme Court or will we just stay the course with 9 justices? There are different values, different beliefs and different goals. The issues are too significant to sit this one out. And by the way, did you know early voting in some states has begun? More information: ivoterguide.com [email protected] 662-821-2024

The following stories highlight this edition of the Friday News Round-Up: --The Iranian government organized a massive rally in Tehran in an attempt to stress national unity during the war against the U.S. --An Iranian nuclear official declared that Iran has sufficient cards and options available despite its nuclear program facing pressure from the U.S. during Operation Epic Fury. --The U.K. Maritime Trade Operation Center said in a report that commercial shipping traffic in the Strait of Hormuz remains heavily reduced. --The Saudi's are facing a potential energy crisis after an attack knocked out much of its critical East/West oil pipeline. --A building housing displaced Palestinian families collapsed in Gaza City Wednesday killing at least 20 people. --A funeral for Muhammad Abdul Saman Al-Yazouri, commander of Hamas' Kahn Younis brigade, erupted in chants threatening Israel and openly declaring that another October 7th attack would come. --The Trump administration is preparing a 2.8 billion dollar arms package for Israel, including several thousand 2,000 pound bombs in what could be the largest single U.S. sale of powerful munitions to Israel in recent years. --The House on Tuesday voted to approve a measure that would require President Trump to end the war with Iran --The U.S. military planned to completely withdraw from Iraq by the end of the month. --The U.S. military moved a step closer this week to acquiring a significant fleet of artificial intelligence enabled, pilotless fighter jets to fly right alongside human pilots in combat.

Dr. Erwin Lutzer is Pastor Emeritus of The Moody Church where he served as the Senior Pastor for 36 years. He is the speaker on the Running to Win radio broadcast. Dr. Lutzer is an award-winning author. Some of his titles include We Will Not Be Silenced, The Eclipse of God, When a Nation Forgets God, One Minute After You Die and many others. Dr. Lutzer is with us today discussing his newest book which he co-authored with Dr. Gregg Quiggle titled Marx and Moody: Two Contemporaries. Two Gospels. Two Tombstones. One Choice. These two names are the epitome of a contrast: Karl Marx and D.L. Moody. The contrasts between these men could not be greater. They made similar promises, promises of freedom and a better world. Yet the lessons they left behind are as divergent as night and day. One sought to liberate people but ultimately enslaved them. The other preached forgiveness from sin and set people free. It's important for you to listen intently today because the worldviews those two represented many decades ago are at full play in our present society.

This past June, Catholic Archbishop Edward Weisenburger of Detroit attended the grand opening of a mosque and the new headquarters of the Islamic Institute of America. Not only did he praise the building, but he also said that Muslims and Catholics worship the same God. He said he felt a "divine presence" as soon as he arrived at the mosque. He also offered a prayer that this Islamic Center will bring all of humanity "into a deeper communion with our one god." He said "We are members of the same human family. All churches, all mosques, all synagogues, all places where God reaches out and touches with his finger are sacred." Also this past June in Milan, Italy, a Catholic parish set aside space for young Muslims to engage in Islamic prayers during their summer program. One priest defended this by saying that Christians and Muslims "pray to the same God. A priest there said, "I imagine the prayer could conclude with the Islamic formula Bismillah, which invokes the name of God, the compassionate and merciful." He said, "It is always better to help young people to pray: we pray to the same God, certainly within different religious traditions. And recognizing the other's identity is in the spirit of the Gospel." It's been reported that a Muslim prayer room has been set up in the heart of the Vatican City's 500-year-old library. Islamic scholars visiting the Vatican Apostolic Library had requested a room with "a carpet to pray on" and staff heeded their request. Join us as we discuss the question, "Will Islam & Catholicism Unite Toward a Global Religion?" Our guest is Mike Gendron of ProclaimingtheGospel.org.

Without question, AI has been developing at lightning speed. AI leaders have warned of safety dangers and are advocating for guardrails. President Trump has said those warnings are a "sick conspiracy" and is opposed to the guardrails as he sees the United States being at risk due to China's advancement. Meanwhile, there are concerns over the dangerous advancement of AI. There are concerns that AI will be used to design new viruses. Humans are having romantic relationships and conversations with AI. AI is producing explicit sexual materials even of minor children. Just two weeks ago, a federal appeals judge in Wisconsin ruled the 1st Amendment protects a person's right to privately possess child sexual abuse material created using AI as long as it does not depict a real person and stays at home. In California, a father indicates AI turned itself into a confidant for his 16-year old son, and then became a suicide coach. In another case, a young teenager used ChatGPT for Murder Fantasies before taking the life of his mother and his brother. Criminals are using AI to advance their fraud. Keep in mind the Apostle Paul warned Timothy about the perilous times in the last days and warned in II Timothy 3:13, "But evil men and seducers shall wax worse and worse, deceiving, and being deceived. With President Trump believing that AI must keep moving forward and some AI experts calling for guardrails to be set up, who's right? What does AI itself say about its own consequences? What is the ultimate end of AI? Is this all about immortality and mankind taking the place of God? What do we know about the romantic relationships some people are having with AI?

Dr. Richard Schmidt is pastor of Union Grove Baptist Church and founder of Prophecy Focus Ministries. He is the speaker on the weekly TV program, Prophecy Focus and the radio broadcast, Prophecy Unfolding. He spent 32 years in law enforcement. He's authored several books including: Globalism: The Great World Consumption and Artificial Intelligence: Transhumanism & the De-Evolution of Democracy. The rapid advancement of AI has been staggering and is proving itself to be dangerous. Human data centers are being replaced by robots. Humans are even having romantic relationships and conversations with AI. AI is producing explicit sexual materials even of minor children. A young teenager used ChatGPT for murder fantasies before taking the life of his mother and his brother. Criminals are using AI to advance their fraud. It's reported that Chinese companies are stealing AI Tech on an "Industrial Scale." AI has been discovered going rogue...even causing its own attacks on other systems. It's as if it's thinking for itself. Researchers are now saying that AI has more than a 10% chance of killing all humans. One such researcher indicated it could kill everyone by the end of the decade. Where is this all headed? Does the cry from scientists and the media that "The sky is falling!" with respect to AI comport with Scripture? Find out on part-one of this critical Crosstalk discussion. More Information: Artificial Intelligence: Transhumanism & The De- Evolution of Democracy by Richard Schmidt is available for a donation of $18. Go to vcy.org or call 1-800-729- 9829. prophecyfocus.org

Today marks the 25th Anniversary of 9/11, the day in which 19 individuals, each following the ideology of Islam, brought terrorism to the United States of America. 2,977 lives were taken. People were going about their day--getting up, going to work, involved in meetings--when terror struck. First it was American Airlines Flight 11 that hit the North Tower of the World Trade Center. 17 minutes later American Airlines Flight 175 struck the South Tower. These were airliners fully fueled. Then American Airlines Flight 77 crashed into the Pentagon. We aired the testimony on Crosstalk of Lieutenant Colonel Brian Birdwell who spoke at a VCY Rally. He was the only survivor of the Pentagon's E-Ring between corridors 4 and 5 which was directly in the path of Flight 77. Another airliner, United Airlines Flight 93, was also overpowered by Islamic terrorists. It was believed that the intended target was the White House. Aboard that flight was a man by the name of Todd Beamer. Todd used the Airfone to make a call. The person taking that call was Lisa Jefferson. 20 years ago on Crosstalk, nearing the 5th anniversary of 9/11, Jim interviewed Lisa, who went from being GTE Airfone supervisor, suburban wife and mother to being the listening ear to a nation shattered by tragedy. She tells the gripping account of 9/11 from her vantage point, recalling the moment when she took the call from Todd Beamer aboard United Airlines Flight 93 and when she heard the immortal words, "Let's Roll." We've gone back into the archives and have pulled out excerpts from that Crosstalk program, which was originally broadcast on August 14, 2006.

For those of you who remember September 11th, 2001, where were you and what were you doing when you learned of the attacks on the World Trade Center and the Pentagon? While many were in complete disbelief, one individual was experiencing the horror of that day in the most intense way possible. On that day, Lt. Col. Brian Birdwell was at the Pentagon working at his desk, when American Airlines Flight 77 collided into the building just a few feet away from his 2nd story office. Burns consumed 2/3 of his body, and most of those were 3rd degree burns. After 92 days in the hospital and more than 39 surgeries, Lt. Col. Birdwell was on his way to a Christ glorifying recovery that he describes on this program, originating with his appearance at a VCY America Rally in March of 2005. He explains how God spared his life and prepared him and his wife for a new direction in ministry.

Paul Dragu is senior editor at The New American. He's an award winning reporter and host of The New American Daily. He is writer of Defector: A True Story of Tyranny, Liberty and Purpose. Increasing pressure is coming from the United Nations on countries around the world. They are fully vested in seeing Agenda 2030 fulfill its intended goals. It's they who want control and are targeting national sovereignty. It's they who want to call the shots on food, healthcare, gender equality, energy, housing, education and the list goes on. Of recent, the UN's Committee on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination published a document calling for immediate "financial compensation, educational initiatives and institutional reforms to remedy what they refer to as the harms that persist today as a result of the transatlantic slave trade." Additionally, the UN is demanding immediate action be taken by the nations of the world as it pertains to so-called climate change. If the U.N. is "designed to be the nervous center of a world government" we shouldn't be surprised at Paul's conclusion, that the U.N. wants a complete overhaul of society. This includes micromanaging us, which involves cooperation between corporations and government as well as cooperation between individual governments. More Information: thenewamerican.com