Crosstalk: August 30, 2016

This Crosstalk program is one of contrasts—-telling of the taking of physical life in California, but also the offer of spiritual life through Christian literature.

The program began with a tragic update on 2-year-old Israel Stinson, who was declared brain dead after an unusual event: a heart attack on April 1, 2016, which deprived his body of oxygen due to 40 minutes of CPR.  The family did not want to give up and fought to keep Israel on the ventilator that provided him with oxygen while obtaining opinions from neurologists both in the United States and in Guatemala, stating that he was not in fact “brain dead”.  A court order was obtained barring the hospital in Los Angeles from disconnecting the ventilator until early September to give time for further medical analysis.  But then, in an abrupt, unexpected, and surprise decision, a Los Angeles Superior Court judge on Thursday, August 25, 2016, dissolved that injunction, the ventilator was promptly turned off, and shortly afterwards Israel Stinson died—-and his family was chased from his bedside at that traumatic moment.

Rick Bach is Manager of the VCY Bookstore & Outreach Center, a branch of VCY America in Milwaukee.  This month the VCY Bookstore is celebrating 20 years of ministry. It is unlike the most bookstores across the country in that it is truly ministry focused.  Unlike the tragedy to physical life we spoke of in the first section, our bookstore provides help to the spiritual life.

Rick says their goal is to make the bookstore an “oasis”, providing materials and training, that point to the new life found in Jesus Christ, and that feed the new spiritual life with biblical information and inspiration.  Because Jesus Christ is life, He gives hope beyond the tragedies of this world.  The bookstore does not replace, but augments the preaching and teaching of God's Word in faithful local churches.  It is vital that believers feed on God's Word every day of the week, while looking forward to the high point of the week when they gather together each Sunday.

This kind of daily “feeding” on God's Word enables Christians to celebrate and rejoice in their life in Christ, despite the fact that the many tragic and ungodly events continue to take place around them.

Among the resources mentioned were the Thompson Chain Reference Bible as a valuable resource to connect thousands of subjects by providing links to verses throughout the Bible that provide additional information.  It facilitates allowing Scripture to interpret Scripture.  It is not, and does not contain, a Bible commentary.  Rather it is Scripture interconnected to assist in Bible study.  Other features include summaries of each book of the Bible, a harmony of the gospels, archeology as it supports facts in Scripture, Messianic prophecies, portraits of various Bible characters, including an extensive portrait of Jesus Christ as He is presented in Scripture, and much more.

Also mentioned is the Rose Book of Bible Charts, with fold-out folders including a Bible Time Line, and of the Genealogy of Jesus.  Many other charts organize information relating to Bible characters, Bible stories, and much more. The user has the right to copy these charts to use as hand-outs in Sunday School or Bible Studies.