232 Pentecost 7: Doubt is Not a Virtue
“Wait on the Lord; be of good courage and He shall strengthen your heart; Wait, I say, on the Lord!” ~ Psalm 27
Doubt is Not a Virtue
A demoralized enemy will not fight back. The quality of your ideas is a direct result of the quality of your inputs. Christians don’t need to be worried about other people and what they’re doing. Christians need to spend more time studying what the Bible actually says. You’ve got to stand somewhere. But it is predetermined failure to establish goals outside of capability and competence. Gnostics always think it is their body that is the problem and their mind that is the answer. If we argue about everything, we’ll never get anywhere. That’s how they steal your heart and waste your time. They dupe you. Fear corrodes the will. Don’t wait for inspiration. Do it. Talk with those who will listen. Walk at liberty. Pray to Jesus.
Till angel cry and trumpet sound,
R.J.M.F
Crime and Punishment
The Supreme Court is finishing up this term with a bang. The much-anticipated decision regarding presidential immunity was handed down last week, with a 6-3 ruling. The majority ruled that presidents have immunity for “official acts” and have left lower courts to hammer out definitions. Court commentators believe the case is likely to end back up at SCOTUS one day. Reactions to the ruling were quite something with some [mostly progressives] asking if a President could drone strike his opponents or sic the military on conservatives. One legal expert lamented that presidential conduct is now “beyond the reach of accountability.” One New York Times journalist warned that citizens really need to be careful about who they choose to elect to give this kind of power to. (Wait, don’t voters already do that?) At The Federalist, Eddie Scarry said setting a high bar for coming after a President was “more or less implied and accepted for the last 230 years.” He blames Democrats for not being able to leave well enough alone, since 2016. The ruling will impact or at least delay two remaining legal cases for Donald Trump.
In City Of Grants Pass, Oregon V. Johnson, the Supreme Court ruled that city ordinances banning camping in public “do not violate the Constitution’s ban on cruel and unusual punishment.” City councils have been uncertain about how to deal with homeless encampments, in part due to a 1962 decision which ruled that the Eighth Amendment meant no one should be punished for being a drug addict. However, this decision seems to have clarified some of that, with one New Hampshire city moving to clean up homeless encampments days after the ruling. The more liberal Justices claimed it was cruel to ban homeless folks from camping in parks and the like when there are no beds available. While homelessness is a complex problem, the Becket Foundation noted that the Court refused to acknowledge that the plaintiffs had more options for shelter if faith-based shelters had not been excluded in their consideration. (Scotus Blog, The Blaze, Becket Foundation)
The SCOTUS has returned two cases examining social media censorship back to lower courts. The cases challenged laws in Texas and Florida that prohibit political or viewpoint censorship by social media platforms. (Reclaim the Net)
Donald Trump’s sentencing in the so-called “hush money” trial will be delayed until September. (WNG)
Will Congress step up to the plate, now that Chevron is overturned? (The New Atlantis)
Light fingered: An Italian NGO is suing two men for poaching rare cacti out of Chile and sending them to Europe and Asia. (EuroNews)
Births, Deaths and Marriages
Officials from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services and Medicare and Medicaid Services have written an open “dear Colleague” letter, reminding doctors that they must abort babies when a mother’s life is in danger. The letter comes on the back of the Supreme Court’s decision to turn away Idaho’s appeal to restrict emergency abortions. (WNG)
Kansas’ Supreme Court has overturned two laws protecting the unborn. The Court ruled that women had a right to “bodily autonomy” according to the state’s constitution. It also ruled that a law prohibiting “dilation and evacuation” abortions was also unconstitutional. Dilation and evacuation is another way of describing partial birth abortion, a brutal procedure performed during second trimester pregnancies. (The Hill)
A federal district court in Kansas has granted an injunction against President Biden’s expansion of Title IX to include trans-identified individuals. The ruling will apply to public schools Alaska, Kansas, Utah, and Wyoming that would have been forced to allow males into females sports and locker rooms. (WNG)
Coming to America
While the White House says its newfound interest in enforcing the southern border has resulted in a 40% reduction in illegal entries, the northern border is busier than ever. (New York Post)
Howard Buffet (son of Warren Buffet) might be the “Bruce Wayne of illegal immigration.” (Not the Bee)
The Digital Age
With much attention on TikTok, Chinese-owned everything store ,Temu, is getting a pass. “Once downloaded, Temu can access almost anything on your phone — the camera, internet, audio recordings, etc” potentially giving Chinese officials the ability to surveil Americans and steal sensitive data. (The Federalist)
Japan wins its “war on floppy disks”. (ArsTechnica)
New York-dwelling journalist Tara Isabella Burton has some excellent thoughts about how to spend less time on your phone. Realizing that her phone was at the heart of so many aspects of her “frictionless” life, she decided to “volunteer regularly, cook at least two meals a day at home, walk everywhere I can…waste money as little as possible, always carry a book with me, and do my work primarily at the..library.” Confronting her phone addiction required “active, constant refusal to participate in a culture that wanted to pervert my desires for friendship, community, beauty, and fulfillment into a desire for stuff and ease and looking good in social-media photos.” (Plough)
Religion and the Church
The Presbyterian Church USA has voted to amend its constitution to add LGBTQ as protected identities. (WNG)
Archaeologists believe they have discovered the site of siege camps built by Sennacherib, for his conquest of Judah. (Biblical Archaeology)
The land of Lot. (Biblical Archaeology)
A good use for A.I! The AI Bible Official Instagram account has some magnificent visual interpretations of Bible scenes:
Health, Medicine and Food
The Biden administration has awarded Moderna a $176 million contract to develop mRNA bird flu vax. (WNG)
Wells Fargo say that their investigation showed that portion sizes at Chipotle vary as much as 87%. (CBS)
Exercise comes with the territory when you’re a chicken wrangler. (NPR)
What’s the least amount of sleep you need? (Time)
Science
An inflatable space station? Probably only as outlandish as a flying in the air or going under the sea in a metal or tube, when we think about it. (Robb Report)
Are blue-eyed people all related? Do blue eyes even exist? (IFL Science)
John Michell was the little-known British clergyman who predicted the existence of black holes. Michell built his own telescope and using Newtonian physics, predicted that light escaping from a dense star would “would be made to return towards it, by its own proper gravity". (BBC)
Arts, History and Sport
Generic is flexible but expressiveness requires specificity. An interesting post about creativity, standardization, marketing and self-expression. “The story goes that a Spanish official commissioned 500 priests to draw maps of their localities…Each amateur cartographer injected their own methodology and process, resulting in incompatible maps.” While they weren’t always helpful for navigation, each map revealed much about localities and human experience. (Escape the Algorithm)
Theodore Roosevelt’s pocket watch has been returned ,37 years after it was stolen. (NPS)
The many allegories you can draw from Jaws. (LitHub)
An amazing collection of old maps. (Old Maps Online)
It’s nice to see a pro-life theme at Hampton Beach sand sculpting comp!
Last week in history:
1200 Sunglasses invented in China. (Wikipedia)
1698 Thomas Savery patents a steam engine. (APS)
1964 The American Civil Rights Act was signed into law. (Britannica)
1997 Hong Kong handed back to China. (Wikipedia)
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Hearts and Minds
More pain for a short time, or mild annoyance for a long time? It’s called the “region-beta paradox”. Sometimes the path of least resistance can give you more grief, so it may be time to overcome the “decision inertia” and make a call! (Psyche)
Walking in a forest is good for you! (Futurity)
“Dopamine decorating”: Homes are about the people but sunlight, pleasantly shaped objects, color and “no phone zones” can lift your mood. (Nice News)
How to be alone but not lonely. (Mr Porter)
God’s Green Earth
Tropical storm Beryl has intensified into a hurricane and is expected to make landfall on the Texas coast any time. The storm has already wreaked havoc in the Caribbean, claiming 10 lives, then crossing into Mexico. (The Weather Channel, The Guardian)
California wildfires continue to threaten homes including Michael Jackson’s Neverland ranch. Thirty thousand residents of Oroville in Butte County were warned to evacuate earlier in the week as hot and dry conditions persist. (ABC News)
Ants can treat each other’s leg injuries, or even perform amputations when necessary. (NPR)
War and Rumors of War
Hezbollah has launched hundreds of projectiles into Israel after the IDF killed one of its senior commanders. (WNG)
The Norwegian government has called off a sale of a parcel of land in a remote archipelago, after Chinese buyers showed interest. (The Guardian)
Foreign companies with Taiwanese employees based in China are considering relocation as the Chinese government announces death penalty for “diehard” support of Taiwan’s independence. (Reuters)
Stories from Far Away
A small summary of elections in the United Kingdom, France and the Netherlands:
🇹🇷 Money-laundering watchdog has approved Turkey moving out of the “grey zone” after crack downs on corruption. (AP)
🇭🇹 Gang violence in Haiti has displaced more than 300,000 children according to the United Nations. (WNG)
🇮🇷 Iranians have voted for a new president to replace Ibrahim Raisi, who died in a helicopter crash. Former heart surgeon Masoud Pezeshkian, who is seen as a “reformist” won against “hardliner” Saeed Jalili. (ABC)
🇯🇵 Japan’s Supreme Court has ruled that the forced sterilization of mentally-disabled people between 1948 and 1996 was unconstitutional. The government has been ordered to compensate victims. (WNG)
🇵🇪 Peru’s longest bridge goes nowhere, for now. Indigenous tribes say they were not consulted about the highway project which they worry will ruin their way of life. (AP)
🇫🇷 “Act of terrorism or the fulfillment of some great prophecy?” asks Not the Bee. France’s Durandal sword, mentioned in 11th century poem The Song of Roland, has been stolen from where it was wedged into a rock. (Not the Bee, Daily Mail)
🎆 Blue fireworks are the trickiest
🇺🇸 America celebrates Independence Day
🚂 Some Boston subway trains are now sporting googly eyes
🧯 Products that were rubbish until they changed what they were made from
🧶 Somerville teen goes viral after crocheting a prom dress for herself
🧲 That’s cool: magnet and wood design-a-bird kit for kids
🌞 Astrophotographer captures the International Space Station crossing in front of the sun.
🎳 The origin of the bowling shirt
🇦🇩 Young man invents a Lego prosthesis
🇪🇸 A very old post box
🦅 The fastest bird in the world
🥫 Heinz triggers the internet
Jonathan and Meridith debuted the new show, Starfall2029 last week with some fancy changes on the way! Asteroids, diet, horses and blasphemy of the Holy Spirit? You might just have to tune in! Watch on YouTube or Rumble, or listen here. Show links:
Psalm 18 - power in a bucket, right there.
Carnivore Diet by Shawn Baker
Thai salt crystal deodorant
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Our disclaimer: These are some resources the Fisks have found edifying, but when dealing with human-authored texts, apply discernment liberally!
This Week Preached:
Podcast Release:
Let us pray. O God, Your almighty power is made known chiefly in showing mercy. Grant us the fullness of Your grace that we may be called to repentance and made partakers of Your heavenly treasures; through Your Son, Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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Could you explain what your intent was for the creation of the above painting?
Thank you,
Carl