218 Resurrection: Rejoice! Fear not!
“The stone which the builders rejected has become the chief cornerstone. This was the Lord’s doing; it is marvelous in our eyes.” ~ Psalm 118
Rejoice! Fear not!
“Keep walking! In this you greatly rejoice knowing you have a God who's over you, who's going to make it good in the end, though now, for a little while, you have been grieved by various trials. As need be, you will find trouble, you will find sorrow, hell is going to hound your heels but the name of Jesus Christ is salve in the midst of that battle.
So, though you are grieved by these trials, at the end the genuineness of your faith will be found to the praise, honor and glory of Jesus at his revelation. The purpose of suffering – write this one down because it's hard to believe – is to make you stronger. Since Jesus intends for your faith to be in invincible, expect him to give you a few punches here and there:
But God, I thought you loved me! why didn't I have everything work the way I wanted it?
The answer is so you'll learn to trust that sometimes, what you want is wrong but what you get from him is always good..and that's a fact.”
An excerpt from Easter Sunday’s sermon.
Till angel cry and trumpet sound,
The Mad Christian
Crime and Punishment
A young man has killed four people and injured several more in an apparently random stabbing attack in Rockford, Illinois. The man blamed drug-induced psychosis for his actions, saying he believes someone laced his marijuana. Although marijuana is touted by decriminalization advocates to be perfectly safe, studies show it is capable of inducing or worsening psychosis in heavy users. (ABC7, BBC, Scientific American)
The Supreme Court of the United States has heard oral arguments in a case concerning access to the abortion drug, mifepristone. A group of pro-life doctors is suing to have regulations which barred the drug being mail ordered reinstated. The Justices’ questions homed in on whether the plaintiffs had legal standing to bring the complaint at all. Justice Alito noted that if the Biden administration removed the restrictions but no one has standing to question its regulations, then the FDA is above scrutiny. The suit maintains that pro-life doctors do have standing since they have to treat abortion pill recipients who “end up in their emergency rooms.” The majority of abortions (over 60%) in the USA are now drug-induced. (LifeSite, Time)
Sam Bankman-Fried, the founder of FTX crypto exchange has been sentenced to 25 years in prison for defrauding customers of almost $8bn. (The Epoch Times)
Lego has asked California police to refrain from using Lego heads to cover up the faces of perps on social media posts. (Post Millennial)
Births, Deaths and Marriages
Findings in a new study have refuted presuppositions used by the International Olympic Committee to formulate its policies on transgender athletes. The Committee subscribes to the notion that suppressing testosterone in men will level the field when they compete in women’s events. However, the study shows that men have many advantages: “Testosterone suppression does not change attributes like height, bone length, or hip and shoulder width”, nor size and strength. (The Federalist)
You probably don’t despise corporate media enough..Dagney Benedict, the trans-identified Oklahoma teen who took her own life the day after a fight in a school bathroom, had been serially sexually abused by her father. While mainstream reporting was quick to blame Benedict’s suicide on conservative bathroom policies and social media account Libs of TikTok, they glossed over the traumatic history of abuse which is far too common in the childhoods of people who identify as LGBTQ. Advocates will insist that LGBTQ identification brings abuse, but it’s pretty clear that the pattern is often just the opposite. (Red State, Vanderbilt University, X)
Men are giving themselves over to darkness to exploit the most vulnerable, so we must pray against the work of the evil one. This is incredibly disturbing: A homosexual man used a surrogate to acquire a baby boy, but was arrested after posting his intention to abuse and pimp his son out to his friends. Surrogacy is largely unregulated in America and gay men, both well-meaning and nefarious, are taking advantage of that fact. (USA Today, MadPxMondays)
A new study says pregnancy advances “biological” age but giving birth turns it back. (Nature)
Pastors Jason Braaten and Daniel Merz discussed Walter A. Maier’s For Better, Not For Worse: A Manual of Christian Marriage recently, highlighting WAM’s evergreen advice on marriage, divorce, contraception and more. Pastor Merz says Maier’s wisdom is as relevant today as when the Manual was written and should be on every pastor’s bookshelf.. Probably every layman’s too! *adds to cart* (Gottesdienst Crowd)
The Boat and the Bridge
A large container ship, the Dali, struck the Francis Scott Key Bridge in Baltimore in the early morning last Tuesday. Built in 1977, the bridge was a steel arch truss design which is “fracture critical” with “no redundancy” built in, causing it to completely collapse when hit by the enormous vessel. Eight people were reportedly on the bridge at the time of the collision. We understand that two have been rescued, two bodies recovered from the river with four people still unaccounted for. (Daily Wire, Baltimore Banner)
Police acted incredibly quickly, halting traffic across the bridge after the ship issued a mayday. (AP via YouTube)
The impact of the accident on supply chains and business is yet to be quantified. (Al Jazeera)
In our low-trust society, it did not take long for speculation to arise that diversity hiring practices had lead to the tragedy, especially since the ship had clipped a pier previously. Some even went so far as to say that the ship intentionally rammed the bridge for any number of purposes. It may be that poor maintenance of fuel filters lead to the motor cutting out, however maneuvering it away from the bridge would have required “more space and time than the Dali had.” (The Blaze, Front Page, Fast Company)
Some containers on the ship hold hazardous materials. Salvaging of the Dali may be complicated by the presence of a high-pressure gas pipeline under the bay. Two rapid response warships are reportedly stuck in the Baltimore harbor which is blocked by the fallen bridge. (The Blaze, ZeroHedge, ZeroHedge)
Health, Medicine and Food
“Question your doctor, save your life.” A frank discussion about the state of our healthcare system and why you may have to advocate for yourself. Dr Casey Means is a surgeon who realized after her mother’s death that although modern medicine is fantastically good at handling trauma and acute care, it does a less stellar job at dealing with chronic illness. Since last mid-century, chronic illness has been on the rise, with at least half of the population now suffering from diabetes, heart disease, cancer or another debilitating condition. Dr Means suggests that the medical establishment’s tendency to push physicians to more and more specialization leaves few doctors who consider a range of symptoms holistically. Team that with the constant press of funding from pharmaceutical companies, and she says, specialists will default to allopathic treatments, which can compound problems. Whatever your take on the validity of “functional medicine”, Dr Means encourages her listeners to improve their health through diet and movement, while limiting exposure to stress and toxins. She also believes that by keeping tabs on simple metabolic factors at your annual check up, you can drastically reduce your risk of chronic illness. (Relatable podcast)
A group of senators has written a letter, urging the USDA against its plan to reclassify potatoes as grains, not vegetables. Spud critics say they may as well be a grain since they “almost behave like a refined carbohydrate”, encouraging people to increase their greens instead. But the senators insist you can’t judge a tuber by its skin, arguing that America’s favorite vegetable is more nutritious than any grain. The reclassification would upset restauranteurs and supply changes and confuse customers, the letter said. But administrations like to do this sort of thing. Several presidents have tried to convince Americans that ketchup is as good as a vegetable. (Times of India, Mental Floss, Eater)
Eggs may not be so bad according to new data. (Semafor)
A new report by Indiana’s state Attorney General Todd Rokita says covid death tallies were inflated and cases overreported by factor of 6. Faulty data was used to impose lockdowns, which proved “even more destructive than the havoc wreaked by the public health crisis itself.” (The Federalist)
Religion and the Church
Donald Trump has expressed his desire to “make America pray again”. Sure. But a God Bless America Bible containing the Pledge of Allegiance and other founding documents? That’s a bit on the nose. (RNS, Hans Fiene via X)
An Iron-Age site for making Tyrian purple (the dye associated with the Phoenician city-state of Tyre) has been discovered in Israel. (Biblical Archaeology)
“Life by Drowning”, an essay by Bo Giertz. (Lutheran Church UK)
The Digital Age
Florida governor Ron DeSantis has signed legislation requiring that teens aged under 14 not be allowed a social media account. Parental permission will also be required for 14 and 15 year olds to open an account. Critics say the law is too extreme and will make people hate conservatives, but considering social media companies are not supposed to allow children under 13 on their apps already, this might be the nudge needed to keep most middle-schoolers off social media. (HotAir, X)
Meta cannot please all the people all the time. After announcing they would not promote “political content” to avoid censorship tussles, the social media giant is now being accused of “muzzling civic action”. “Unless users opt in, the topic of politics is now automatically limited from suggested posts in Explore, Reels, Feed Recommendations, and Suggested Users.” Users can still follow political accounts. (The Week)
Newly-released documents show that Facebook intercepted and decrypted messages on competitor platforms such as Snapchat in an attempt to gain a competitive advantage in the market. (TechCrunch)
TikTok is paying a group of 15 teens to advise on “issues affecting youth”. (Engadget)
Google’s newest office is frustrating employees who say the unique roof design “swallows broadband like the Bermuda Triangle.” (Reuters)
A chat bot for creating music is here. (Gadgets360)
A collection of PDF tools. (I Love PDF)
God’s Green Earth
A large field of solar panels has been severely damaged by hail, prompting concerns that toxic chemicals from the units could leach into ground water. Green energy groups blame the placement of solar farms in hail-prone areas as well as manufacturer’s cost cutting measures through larger modules with thinner glass. Moving panels into hail stow also reduces energy production and therefore, revenue. (Renewable Energy World)
Energy-hungry datacenters are eyeing vacant land near nuclear power plants. (The Register)
The amazing array of bird sleep habits. Some sleep with one eye open, or in thousands of micronaps, or even while flying. (Mental Floss)
Crazy new critters found on the deep sea floor. (IFL Science)
Ranchers face up to the problem of toxic tall fescue grass. (The Fern)
From the Mad☧Tank
Mad☧Mondays is your reliable white noise filtration system. If you like reading news that matters, then please support Mad☧Mondays! Get early access to Mad☧Tank articles and join the chat by signing up through Substack. Or support Frisby’s efforts with any amount here.
Coming up this week:
And more…!
Recent stuff from our archive:
Thunderdome 2024
RFK has named his running mate, Nicole Shanahan, a California attorney who “runs a foundation dedicated to left-wing causes like abortion rights, criminal justice reform, and fighting climate change.” She is also California royalty, having once been married to Google co-founder, Sergey Brin. (PJ Media)
The parent company of Donald Trump’s Truth Social has completed a merger, increasing his wealth (on paper, at least) by billions. Analysts have been puzzled about how Trump Media & Technology Group which made losses last year could have such a high valuation. But it appears people who like Trump are buying the stock. “I think it's a way to speculate on his political viability,” one expert said. (The Blaze, Yahoo)
A Texas teacher has legally “changed his name to Literally Anybody Else and announced he is running for US president” since he doesn’t like either President Biden or Donald Trump. (The Guardian)
Politics
Disney has entered settlements with Florida over administration of its Reedy Creek district, effectively ending lawsuits against the state. The House of Mouse was trying to stop moves by the state to have government-appointed members on its oversight body. Disney may have bigger fish to fry, with investor Nelson Peltz who is angling for a seat at the table, criticized its preachy content: “Why do I need an all-black cast? People go to watch a movie or a show to be entertained. They don’t go to get a message.” (Hot Air, Daily Mail, Variety)
A Federal judge has ordered a January 6th prisoner to be released, describing the Department of Justice’s argument for detaining him as “fact-free”. (The Blaze)
Money, Markets and Jobs
Visa and Mastercard have agreed to lower swipe fees which merchants incur when customers use their credit cards. The settlement has yet to be approved by a district court but may be the end to an antitrust lawsuit waging since 2005. It remains to be seen whether this will change anything for card holders, since critics say the saving amounts to “to pennies on the dollar.” (CNN)
Major League Baseball’s biggest star, Japanese hitter and pitcher Shohei Ohtani has become the center of a federal investigation. Ohtani paid massive bills incurred by his [now fired] interpreter’s illegal bets or perhaps were stolen from his account, we’re not clear. Ohtani claims to have had no knowledge of his friend’s gambling addiction, however, his involvement is being investigated. One Democrat Representative “predicted that the unchecked proliferation of sports betting would ‘make this type of incident more common moving forward.’” (The Week)
Google search can now index Bitcoin’s blockchain to show wallet balances. (9to5 Google)
Science
A new study of mice concludes that memories are made by breaking DNA and then fixing it. “When a long-term memory forms, some brain cells experience a rush of electrical activity so strong that it snaps their DNA. Then, an inflammatory response kicks in, repairing this damage and helping to cement the memory.” (Nature)
Debris from Space X’s exploded spacecraft have been sold online by collectors. One man said he offered to return pieces he found to Space X but was told he could keep them if he liked. (Jalopnik)
A prototype supersonic jet has made a successful first flight. Boom Supersonic aims “to learn the lessons of supersonic flight with a lower-cost vehicle and incorporate these findings” into future designs. (ArsTechnica)
NASA is looking for volutneers to use their smart phones to help measure the sun’s “oblateness” during the upcoming solar eclipse. (PopSci)
Scientists have worked out a new way to detect pharmaceutical toxins in water. (Interesting Engineering)
Human brains are getting bigger. (Futurism)
Robots are learning how (and when) to smile by mimicking humans. (Interesting Engineering)
Second Amendment
The Biden administration recently announced a new National Extreme Risk Protection Order Resource Center which will aim to “support the effective implementation of state red flag laws”. Red flag laws allow judges to confiscate guns based on any written complaint claiming that a person is a potential danger to themselves or others. (The Federalist, Not the Bee)
Arts, History and Sport
Barcelona’s iconic Sagrada Familia cathedral will be finished in 2026, 140 years after construction began on Antoni Gaudí’s biggest project. (Robb Report, Sagrada Familia)
WWII ordnance is still causing troubles. Unexploded bombs across Europe are becoming more fragile and more likely to detonate. (Gizmodo)
Lego has collaborated with Wizards of the Coast to make a Dungeons and Dragons set. (The Verge)
This week in history:
1856 : The Treaty of Paris was signed, ending the Crimean War. “It was meant to strengthen the security of the Ottoman (Turkish) empire and limit the power of Russia.” (Oxford Reference)
1905: The first murder to be solved using fingerprint evidence. (History)
1974: Farmers drilling for water in China discovered an army of terracotta soldiers in underground cavern. (Britannica)
Hearts and Minds
The convenience of streaming services means Christians must be extra vigilant about what is beamed into their homes: “If consumers see one or two “diversity” ads, anti-family messages, or anti-Christian statements, they probably wouldn’t budge on their own values. But if they see these messages 20 times a day? For years? In their own homes?” (Intellectual Takeout)
War and Rumors of war
Israel has cancelled ceasefire negotiations with Hamas in Qatar, saying the discussion is a dead end. During the week, Tel Aviv said it would no longer send a delegation to Washington to discuss its planned incursion into Rafah as a protest against the US’ refusal to block a UN ceasefire resolution. However, Prime Minister Netanyahu appears to have mended the relationship a little, agreeing to a video meeting between top US and Israeli officials. (ABC, Times of Israel)
Russian oil companies are facing delayed payments from China, the UAE and Turkey as those countries “become more wary of U.S. secondary sanctions.” (Reuters)
Stories from Far Away
🇷🇺 🇫🇷 One attacker in the horrific Moscow theatre terrorist attack has said he was paid to carry out the attack. France has raised its terror alert level in the wake of the attack, as Olympics Games in Paris are just a few months away. (ZeroHedge, BBC, Politico)
🇳🇬 Almost 300 kidnapped school children have been released in Nigeria. Authorities have not said whether a ransom was paid, but “arrests are rare in Nigeria's mass kidnappings, as victims are usually released only after desperate families pay ransoms or through deals with government and security officials.” (Africa News)
🇹🇭 Thailand’s House of Representatives has voted to legalize same-sex marriage. The bill still needs to pass the upper House and be approved by the king, but is expected to be approved within a few months. (CNN)
🇨🇳 China is phasing out American-made chips in government computers, including those from Intel and AMD. (Reuters)
🇰🇪 Kenyan authorities have begun exhuming bodies of members of an end times “starvation cult”. Leader Paul Nthenge Mackenzie warned his followers against the education system, medical professionals and vaccination, encouraging them to fast in order to meet Jesus. Mackenzie and several others are charged with torture and forcing his followers to starve. So far, over 400 bodies have been removed from forest graves, including those of 191 children. One follower said, “It was a normal church at first.” (News 18, WNG)
🇵🇰 Five Chinese engineers have been killed in Pakistan by a suicide bomber. The workers were on their way to the site of a Chinese-funded hydro project in the country’s northwest. (CNN)
🇭🇹 What people will do for likes.. American YouTuber has been kidnapped after going to Haiti to meet gang leader, Barbecue. (RedState)
🇿🇦 Forty-five people have died after the bus they were travelling in crashed over a ravine in South Africa. The passengers were travelling from Botswana to an Easter service. Pray for the sole survivor, an 8 year-old girl. (BBC)
🇮🇳 How a small Indian airport handled traffic for a billionaire’s wedding. (Reuters)
🇸🇦 Saudi Arabia is planning a Dragon Ball theme park. (BBC)
🗣️The fastest language
🪙 The Royal Mint has released a Millennium Falcon coin
🛻 A little guy wishing he was smaller
🛰️ A GPS jamming map
🐖The word “piggyback” probably has nothing to do with pigs
🐦 One of the world’s rarest hummingbirds
☀️ 105 year-old man is hoping to witness his 13th eclipse on April 8th
🚒 That’s rough: real estate agent burns clients’ house down after trying to tidy up
❤️ A little bit of kindness goes a long way
🌬️ Woah, that Helmholtz Resonance when you roll down the back window!
⚭ “What God has Joined Together - A Lutheran Conference on Marriage” May 3-5, 2024, Ontario, Canada. Featuring keynote speaker, Dr Adam Koontz. Details here.
✝️ Join us on Memorial Day in Rockford IL to learn how you can start your local men's group and nurture Christian brotherhood. Come check out the Hebron Collegium, share your experience with praying the scriptures, and participate in the mutual consolation of the brothers. Bring a tent or bedroll if you'd like to camp out, or else reach out for more info on lodging opportunities. Wives and children are welcome to attend, but lodging options are more limited. To RSVP or for more info, send an email to sos.113.487@gmail.com or reach out via the SoS contact page.
Sardines and sensible shoes! Stop the White Noise last week (you can catch it on YouTube or Rumble) was heavier going than usual, with Jonathan laying out the reasons he believes Christians should consider being prepared for various emergencies. The recklessness of many governments is revealing how fragile our way of life can be and storing enough for your family and your neighbor is a prudent thing to do. We are not those who fear what the future may bring – God is for us! – but Pastor Fisk’s advice was to make your mind up for yourself. Does your neighborhood have plans for evacuation? Could a microgrid be set up? A foodbank to get through a few days? Men, will your family follow you in a crisis? This may not be a concern where you are, but it bears prayerful consideration.
The show also covered discussion of Old Testament resources, especially when looking at the life of King David:
Halley’s Bible Handbook by Henry H. Halley
From Abraham to Paul: A Biblical Chronology by Andrew Steinmann
Holman Bible Atlas: A Complete Guide to the Expansive Geography of Biblical History by Thomas Brisco
Where God Came Down by Joel Kramer
Oxford Bible Atlas by Adrian Curtis
If you missed it, Meridith put out a call for anyone who would like to make a quilt for men who stay at the Hebron Collegium. If that is something you would be interested in helping out with, please reply to this email or send a message through madpxm.com/contact.
This Week Preached:
Podcast Release:
Let us pray. Almighty God the Father, through Your only-begotten Son, Jesus Christ, You have overcome death and opened the gate of everlasting life to us. Grant that we, who celebrate with joy the day of our Lord’s resurrection, may be raised from the death of sin by Your life-giving Spirit; through Jesus Christ, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
You can also make a one-off or recurring donation here. Thank you!