Filling in for Jim Schneider, Dalton Windsor hosted this edition of the 'Round-Up' as he presented the latest news stories of interest to Christians worldwide. Stories included:--House Republicans working to negotiate a tentative agreement in hopes of averting a government shutdown by the end of the business day today. --Amidst the talks over the spending bill, Senator Mike Lee of Utah has suggested that Republicans should replace Speaker of the House Mike Johnson of Louisiana with either Elon Musk or Vivek Ramaswamy.--The U.S. Senate passed the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act, sending the 895 billion appropriations bill to President Biden's desk with overwhelming support from Democrats, despite Republican language that would restrict kids and military families from assessing gender affirming care.--Donald Trump formally won the electoral college this week, officially securing the presidency. --Senate Democrats propose a constitutional amendment to abolish the electoral college.--ABC News and it's top anchor George Stephanopoulos have reached a settlement with Donald Trump in Trump's defamation suit which will result in ABC News paying the president elect 15 million dollars. --Trump filed an amicus brief yesterday in support of a legal effort by Texas and Missouri to immediately stop the Biden administration's current auctioning of border wall materials, believing such action may be criminal.--President Joe Biden announced an aggressive new climate goal Thursday to reduce U.S. carbon emissions by two-thirds by 2035. --35% of new car sales must be electric in California and 11 other states next year under a new mandate.

The global community, and not just many in America, were stunned after the definitive win by Donald Trump in the recent election. This has resulted in a lot of scrambling going on with world leaders lining up to get face-time with the President-elect.While there will be many changes nationally with the turn-over in the White House, can we say that the globalist agenda will be put on hold just because Trump will be leading America for the next four years? Returning to Crosstalk to bring his unique insight into this was Gary Kah. Gary is the founder and director of Hope for the World.Certainly the re-election of Donald Trump was not on the wish list of globalists. Gary described Trump as a "disruptor to the new world order." He views Trump as a nationalist who seeks to maintain U.S. sovereignty and that's not part of the globalist plan at all. They want to strengthen the United Nations and turn it into a type of global government while diminishing U.S. sovereignty or have it taken away altogether. Gary doesn't see the globalists 'playing dead.' He already sees them doing damage control and they can do that when you consider that over 93% of residents living in Washington, DC, voted for the Harris/Walz ultra-left ticket. Included in that are a lot of federal workers including the CIA, FBI, the Justice Department and the military industrial complex, as well as a growing segment of the Department of Defense. There's also the Federal Reserve and the big bank allies. While not everyone within these groups agree, Gary believes many of them want to see the U.S. come under the authority of the U.N.

Andy Ferrier is Representative of the Midwest Messianic Center. Andy is burdened with reaching Jewish people with the good news that Jesus (Yeshua) is the Jewish Messiah. Andy served on the staff of a small Christian College in Israel while living and working on a kibbutz, an Israeli farm. He previously served 25 years with the Friends of Israel Gospel Ministry.As we read the narrative in Scripture regarding the events leading up to the birth of Jesus Christ, we do so through our Western eyes without considering Jewish culture. Today our guest unfolds some of these matters to help us better understand the goings on at the time of the birth of Jesus Christ.

Jim Schneider - VCY Today

Yesterday, tragedy unfolded at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. A phone call to 9-1-1 was placed by a 2nd grade teacher to report a shooting taking place after school. After officers arrived, the shooter was located as well as the weapon that was also used to administer a self-inflicted gunshot wound. A teacher and another student were pronounced dead at the scene while six others were injured.Joining Jim to discuss this rising trend was Dr. Richard Schmidt. Dr. Schmidt is pastor of Union Grove Baptist Church, and founder of Prophecy Focus Ministries. He's the speaker on the weekly TV program, Prophecy Focus and the radio broadcast, Prophecy Unfolding. He spent 32 years in law enforcement.Dr. Schmidt began by noting something he learned from working with former Sheriff David Clarke. It's the idea that first facts are usually no facts at all. In other words, the things that first come through the media are often wrong. For example, it was originally reported that a second grade student was the one who called 9-1-1 when as noted earlier, it was a teacher that made the call. Dr. Schmidt indicated that a house has already been searched and everything that can be gleaned about the alleged shooter will be looked into. Interviews with students, parents and teachers will need to take place along with other duties that make up a very time consuming investigation. The idea is to avoid speculation and the spreading of false information.There've been 320 school shootings this year, so this broadcast looks not only at the public safety aspects but also the spiritual aspects.

This edition of Crosstalk dealt with breaking news that this morning, at approximately 10:57am, police responded to an active shooting incident at Abundant Life Christian School in Madison, Wisconsin. As of broadcast time, 3 people were said to be deceased, including the shooter, who was a student at the school.The broadcast began with audio from a press conference held by Madison Police Chief Shon Barnes. Randy followed up with more details as well as words of biblical encouragement and prayer from President Bob Loggans of the Wisconsin Association of Christian Schools. This was followed up by commentary on safety and security from Jamison Coppola, Legislative Director at the American Association of Christian Schools, as well as another brief update from a live press conference.

News stories come at us these days seemingly without end. Crosstalk sorts through them to bring you up-to-date on what's happening in our nation and around the world from a Christian perspective. Here's a sample of what was presented:--President Joe Biden released a list of 39 pardons and 1,499 commutations of sentences Thursday, setting the record for presidential clemencies in a single day.--Clemency was also given by President Biden to a former Ohio Democratic official who was convicted on charges related to taking bribes for nearly a decade. --FBI Chief Christopher Wray, who oversaw the weaponization of the federal agency against now President-elect Trump, is voluntarily leaving. --Luigi Mangione, the person of interest in the New York City slaying of United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson, is facing additional charges in Manhattan according to an online court docket filed by city prosecutors. --A Florida woman was arrested Tuesday after allegedly threatening an insurance company representative by using the same words written on the shell casings left behind in the Manhattan murder of United Health Care CEO Brian Thompson.--A Manhattan jury acquitted Daniel Penny on December 9th of criminally negligent homicide over the death of Jordan Neely, a mentally ill homeless man.--Black Lives Matter leader, Hawk Newsome, has called for black vigilantes to descend on major cities to retaliate against 26 year old former Marine Daniel Penny's acquittal over the death of Jordan Neely. --Eagle Forum's Ed Martin, will serve as Donald Trump's next Chief of Staff at the Office of Management and Budget.

Robert Knight is a former Los Angeles Times news editor and columnist for the Washington Times as well as other publications. Robert has had senior positions in a number of pro-family organizations. He's written several books including, The Coming Communist Wave: What Happens if the Left Captures All Three Branches of Government, Liberty on the Brink and Crooked: What Really Happened in the 2020 Election and How to Stop the Fraud.Bob began by noting that we've seen gender dysphoria harnessed to school policies to the point of pushing such dysphoria. He went on to describe this as wrong as it goes against nature and nature's God and it's made up because there are only two sexes. To deny that is to deny truth and reality. Other than the children who are victims of this, Bob views this as an assault on truth as we see people who tell the truth on this issue being labeled as haters and deniers.Young victims of this movement are dealing with peer-pressure and all of us are subjected to phrases such as 'gender affirming care' and 'sex assigned at birth.' Add in women's sports being affected and it's no wonder we have gender insanity. Through points brought up in his latest article, Transgender Delusion Must End, Robert has more to offer as he explains what he believes is taking place and where this is headed. Jim also poses questions of concern and callers present their views to wrap up this edition of Crosstalk.

Dr. Jimmy DeYoung Jr. is speaker, teacher, Mideast guide, videographer and speaker on Prophecy Today. He lived and worked in Jerusalem for many years before he returned to the States for continued ministry. He is a fully credentialed journalist and has led numerous tours to Israel. There are numerous players in the drama taking place with the deposing of dictator Bashar al-Assad in Syria. Israel decimated the Syrian Air Force. There's Russia losing their deep water port on the Mediterranean Sea. Iran was another loser because they were using Syria to prop up their proxies, Hezbollah and Hamas. Finally, what should the response of the U.S. be?Listen to this edition of Crosstalk and you'll get caught up on other Middle East related news as well including corruption cases in Israel and allegations against Benjamin Netanyahu, the latest on the cease-fire with Hamas, possible Iranian drones over America, anti-semitism on the rise, how all this plays out in terms of Bible prophecy and more.

Some Christians today are concerned about the direction of the church. There seems to be a lot of activities going on but exactly how much emphasis is really there concerning Jesus? Scripture gives us a picture of just such a church. It's the Laodicean church which is caught up in itself with little regard for an all-out commitment to Christ.Helping us return to that theme and reminding us of the solution was Rich Christiano. Rich is a film writer, director & producer. In 2002 he along with his brother Dave formed Five & Two pictures, reminiscent of the lad who shared what he had--5 loaves and two fish. Rich is a writer, director and producer of multiple films such as Time Changer, Unidentified, The Secrets of Jonathan Sperry, A Matter of Faith, Play the Flute and Mind Reader.This edition of Crosstalk reexamines Time Changer, a movie that combines time travel with a message honoring the importance of the authority of Scripture. Through explanations from Rich and audio clips presented by Jim, you'll discover what happens when Bible Professor Russell Carlisle is transported into the future (from the year 1890) and how he discovers what happens when morals are separated from Christ. As you'll see, this movie, originally released in 2002, is now more relevant than ever. This is an exciting, God honoring film for every member of the family, and great for non-believers too!

As Jim noted at the beginning of the broadcast, "The abortion express train was headed down the track at lightning speed. Vice President Kamala Harris had kicked off her so-called 'Reproductive Rights Tour' right here in Wisconsin on the anniversary of Roe v. Wade. Legacy media did their part to be sure that the tracks were clear, that the gates were open and nothing better try and stop this locomotive. She made it very clear that it was her goal to implement Roe v. Wade on a federal level and force medical doctors and institutions to participate in the killing of the pre-born, even if it violated their own conscience with moral and religious objections. She didn't care, but the American people did, hitting the emergency brake on her express, thus giving another opportunity for the protection of human life."Returning with a current look at the pro-life movement and agenda, Crosstalk welcomed back Brad Mattes. Brad is president of Life Issues Institute which was founded in 1991 to serve the educational needs of the pro-life movement. Brad is president of the International Right to Life Federation and a frequent international speaker and lecturer on abortion and related life issues. Brad is the host of Life Issues, a daily radio commentary, also the weekly Straight Talk on Life Issues and has produced numerous radio specials standing for life.It's been five weeks since the election and the pro-abortion lobby has to be shocked because of the re-election of Donald Trump. This is certainly not the result Planned Parenthood expected because their 'seat at the table' has been pulled out from underneath them.