245 Pentecost 20: Watch the Thorns
“Blessed is every one who fears the Lord, who walks in His ways.” ~ Psalm 128
Watch the Thorns
Rebellion is as the sin of witchcraft, and stubbornness as idolatry. Today’s world doesn’t just tolerate rebellion — it celebrates it. From school boards to political stages, the rejection of God’s authority is everywhere. Pastor John Amanchukwu was handcuffed and removed from a North Carolina school board meeting after defending a child’s innocence from explicit material forced on her in school. What kind of justice is this? It’s what happens when rebellion becomes the law, and justice is twisted to fit the world’s rejection of truth.
But rebellion never leads to freedom. It chains the heart to lies and convinces the mind it’s free when it’s enslaved. It calls itself progress, but its path is toward collapse. This is the natural consequence of rejecting God’s authority.
There is no equality in the herd. The world promises that everyone can be their own god, but it only creates division and conflict. This rebellion isn’t just against anthropocentric systems—it’s against the order God established. When the heart rebels, it worships itself.
It’s a lie that leads to death. The heart that rejects God’s truth cannot stand. It’s severed from the vine, dying even as it calls itself strong. When the blind lead the blind….
Our battle isn’t fought on the world’s terms. The real victory lies in Christ. The Cross is our armor, our strength. The world will keep dividing, chasing false causes and rebellion against God. But we are to stand firm. As the world fractures, we scatter the seed of truth, unshaken by the lies of this age. Our King reigns. No rebellion can overthrow Him.
Till angel cry and trumpet sound,
R.J.M.F
God’s Green Earth
The death toll from Hurricane Helene has reached 227 across 6 states. (AP) Here’s an outline of the news from recent days, as well as places to donate:
To other creation news:
Britain’s last remaining coal power station has shut up shop, ending the long use of coal for energy in that country. “The UK was the birthplace of coal power, and from tomorrow it becomes the first major economy to give it up.” (BBC)
Chew Crew: Cities are looking to use grazing sheep to help keep the grass down. (AP)
Births, Deaths and Marriages
Georgia Judge Robert McBurney has struck down the state’s on-again, off-again pro-life law, concluding that Governor Kemp’s six-week heartbeat bill is unconstitutional. Judge McBurney ruled that the “bundle of rights” which form Georgian’s guarantee of liberty also furnish a woman with the power “to control her own body, to decide what happens to it and in it, and to reject state interference with her healthcare choices.” (Epoch Times)
California has redefined infertility to include homosexuality. A new law means that insurers will be required to cover the cost of same-sex couples incur while acquiring children. As we have written previously, that means renting a surrogate’s womb, or buying eggs or sperm to create children who, by design, do not have access to both their parents. (WNG, MadPxMondays)
Melania Trump may be continuing in the grand tradition of Republican First Ladies, indicating she might be less pro-life than thought. (WNG)
A lead psychologist at London’s Tavistock clinic has not been barred from treating children despite pleading guilty to grooming [what he thought was] a teenage boy for sex. You may remember Tavistock was in the news some time back after its child gender clinic was shut down. (European Conservative)
Four women’s college volleyball teams have forfeited matches against San Jose State, because it allows a trans-identifying man to compete. (Not the Bee)
Know your enemies arguments:
Crime and Punishment
Ryan Routh, the man accused of trying to kill Donald Trump has pleaded not guilty to all charges, with his defense requesting trial by jury. (BBC)
A U.S. District judge in Tennessee has handed down sentences for pro-lifers who were convicted of “conspiracy against rights”, with the harshest judgement a 16-month prison term. (WNG)
Coming to America
Muckraker, an independent news organization, attempted to find what happened to some of the 320,000 children that the Biden administration says it has lost track of since they illegally entered the U.S. What they found is disturbing and yet predictable. (Muckraker via X)
Money, Markets and Jobs
Members of the International Longshoremen’s Association, who were striking for higher pay and restrictions on automation have returned to work after reaching a temporary agreement with a representatives of shipping companies and port authorities. Florida governor Ron DeSantis threatened to send National Guard to man the ports in his next of the woods, scolding the longshoremen for walking off the job, when so many are affected by Hurricane Helene. However he needn’t have worried, because Mayor Pete Buttigieg strong-armed them into an agreement. But critics say it’s a bad deal. Union reps secured a hefty pay raise over the next few years, promising to hammer out details after January 15 next year. But is there any leverage left? (CNN, Time, CBS, New York Post)
Costco has added platinum bullion and coins to its very popular precious metals line up. (Platinum Investment)
Thunderdome 2024
Vice presidential hopefuls debated last week, with J.D Vance delivering clear-headed civility to Governor Tim Walz’ slightly befuddled performance. Left-wing media couldn’t find a lot of good to say about their folksy favorite and so resorted to noting Governor Walz’ “passionate” eye-popping and wondering if Senator Vance’s beard (the first White House “wannabe” in 80 years to wear facial hair, apparently) might be off-putting to women. Vance gave a command performance, with many haters surprised that they found lots to like about his manner and presence. He articulated Republican policies better than his running mate, Donald Trump, while Walz worked with whatever V.P. Harris has laid down (which is not a great deal). As with the presidential debate, the moderators were uneven in their treatment of the candidates, throwing softballs to Walz and dodging the tricky business of challenging stolen valor and other tall tales. Vance disappointed pro-lifers, taking the line that Republicans are the pro-family party, but stopping short of any condemnation of abortion. (National Review, Washington Examiner)
Donald Trump has returned to the site in Butler where he was shot, to hold a campaign rally. Elon Musk joined him on the stage, urging attendees to vote and fight. (Just the News)
First Amendment
A federal judge has blocked California’s new ban on A.I.-generated “deepfakes”. Angry about an online video that “manipulated real footage of Vice President Kamala Harris”, Governor Gavin Newsom quickly signed the bill into law. The Babylon Bee is one of those suing, saying they are not going to put warning labels on their jokes. Alliance Defending Freedom is representing the Bee in its lawsuit and Kristen Waggoner, the president and CEO of ADF said, “The California laws are nothing more than a roadmap for massive government censorship.” At its heart, the law bans people from posting (and reposting too) “digitally modified content that the government considers untrue in some respect, if the content might hurt a candidate's election chances.” There’s no crime for altering images that improve a candidate’s chances, though and the government will be the one who decides what’s what. “When you make ideas illegal, you're also sending a message to the public that they're wrong, that they're morally wrong, and that increases the sense of or potential for violence.” (Fox, Higher Ground Times, Federalist Radio Hour)
Mark Hemingway noted that during the vice president candidate’s debate, Governor Tim Walz’ blithe dismissal of free speech rights was a jarring confession that was overlooked by most. (The Federalist)
Hilary Clinton has also called on social media platforms to censor speech more strictly, saying “we lose control” if there is no moderation and monitoring. You can decide who the “we” is.. (Reclaim the Net)
“Fact-checking used to be how journalists policed themselves. Now it’s how they police everyone else.” (New Atlantis)
Fact check?
Politics
Prosecutor Jack Smith has asked for Judge Tanya Chutkan, who is presiding over Donald Trump’s election interference case, to unseal one of the case documents. Presumably, Smith believes this information to be in the public interest as the presidential election draws close. Critics described the filing as “error-ridden” and a “trial by paper” which aims to portray Trump as “desperate and dishonest”. Smith’s team argue that Trump’s actions on January 6th were “private” and do not fall under the immunity granted by Supreme Court ruling earlier this year. (Washington Examiner)
Jennifer Gavito, a veteran U.S. diplomat has asked to withdraw her nomination as ambassador to Libya. Gavito cited the glacial pace of confirming her to the position, due to partisan wrangling: “My children were in 7th and 8th grades when they learned they would *soon* be returning overseas. They are now in 10th and 11th grades,” she wrote. During an address earlier this year, Gavito noted that a “failure to appoint a US ambassador to Libya for two years had given Russia and China the opportunity to exploit Washington's absence.” (LinkedIn, Libya Observer)
A former Mesa County (AZ) clerk, Tina Peters has been sentenced to almost 9 years in prison after being found guilty of accessing voting machines using stolen credentials. (The Hill)
An MSNBC producer has been secretly taped by James O’Keefe’s media agents, admiting the network is doing “all it can” to help message for Democrats. “This news network is indistinguishable from the party,” he says, noting that the cable station has “made their viewers dumber over the years.” (The Federalist)
The Digital Age
Harvard students have demonstrated a creepy use for smart glasses. (The Hustle)
A new Google blog post says the company is stepping up its efforts to detect North Korean operatives who are posing as remote tech workers. A long explanation of how the DRNK infiltrates tech companies, especially cryptocurrency businesses, is given here. (Google)
Mega-YouTuber Mr Beast has acquired Vouch, the ”LinkedIn” of content creators. Vouch’s founder said finding the best people for “specialized roles like thumbnail designers, retention editors, and content strategists” is difficult in “the creator economy.” The purchase was settled for an undisclosed price but one report dryly concluded, “like all influencer-related deals, one can only assume the primary currency was souls.” (WebWire)
The Internet Archive’s Wayback Machine will be integrated into Google search results. But you might have to look for them. (Boing Boing)
Technology That Honors Tradition
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Let’s talk. Reach out to me directly—email or call—and we’ll create something that's distinctly Lutheran, easy to manage, and affordable: triglotta.org
Religion and the Church
It’s been a long time coming, but the day faithful Aussie Lutherans hoped would never arrive is here: “We join with faithful people the world over in lamenting the recent decision of the Lutheran Church of Australia and New Zealand (LCANZ) to abandon the clear teaching of the Scriptures and embrace the unbiblical practice of the ordination of women.” Pray for brothers and sisters as the difficult days of rearranging their lives and churches begin. (Lutheran Mission Australia)
Strangers in a strange land…We know that as pilgrims here in this world, we are assailed by the sin, the world and the devil, so we can expect that not all persecution of Christians looks the same. Whether outright martyrdom or the constant disdain towards things of God we encounter daily, suffering for Jesus’ name makes us yearn for the time when we will be truly free. (Grain of Sand)
Health, Medicine and Food
A study about covid and asthma from June has been dusted off by science watchers, and it concludes that covid-vaccinated children were almost 6 times more likely to die than their unvaccinated peers. (PJ Media)
Just brains on a stick? “We have, especially in the western world, come to understand ourselves as our brains.” But one author argues in a new book that for much of human history, it was our stomachs that were viewed as most significant for health, mood, personality, and also for diagnosing other maladies. (Atlas Obscura)
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Science
Veteran brain researcher Eliezer Masliah who heads the U.S. National Institute on Aging (NIA) has reportedly been stood down after accusations of fraudulent research, particularly into Alzheimer’s disease and Parkinson’s disease. Sleuths have detected massive amounts of image manipulation in studies authored by Masliah, stretching back years, seemingly to make certain drugs appear more effective. “The volume of papers and resources involved are enormous—as is Dr. Masliah’s leadership and influence on the field, including drug development pipelines.That makes it a very influential example of possible misconduct,” said Vanderbilt University neuroscientist Matthew Schrag. (Science)
Space X has brought two stranded NASA astronauts back to earth. (NASA via X)
MIT engineers have developed “chip-based optical tweezers”, which are a lot smaller than previously successful “tractor beams”. (MIT News)
Scientists have detected gamma radiation in storms which may be linked to “certain thunderstorm processes responsible for starting lightning flashes”. (PopSci)
A 3-D printed resort has begun construction in the Texas desert. (New Atlas)
Arts, History and Sport
Goes around comes around? A man who won an art competition with an image he generated using A.I. is now finding it hard to copyright his work. “U.S. Copyright Office ruled that work derived from AI platforms ‘contained no human authorship”’ and therefore could not be extended copyright protections.” (Gizmodo)
A Spanish mother-daughter team is training bacteria to help restore artworks. (Reuters)
As Brits debate what is meant by “Englishness”, a James Bond bar has opened in London (Robb Report)
Hearts and Minds
Parenting trends come and go, it’s true. We’ve had helicopters, bulldozers, gentle parents and snowplows.. Now the buzz word is “lighthouse” parents. (CBC)
Words to use that are more likely to persuade people. (Please might help too…) (Good)
War and Rumors of War
Iran has fired over 200 ballistic missiles at Israel. (Daily Wire)
A Russian fighter plane has almost clipped a U.S. jet over Alaskan waters. (Not the Bee)
Ukrainian fighters have withdrawn from the strategic town of Vuhledar in the Donetsk region after Russian troops almost circled them. (AP)
The. U.S. has launched strikes against Houthi rebels. (AP)
Stories from Far Away
🇬🇧 Britain’s prime minister, Keir Starmer has drawn criticism for handing the Indian Ocean archipelago or Chagos Islands over to Mauritius. The Chagos are strategically situated, with British and American air bases hosted there. The islands have been in British control for over a century and were purchased by Britain for a princely sum in the 60s. Now, the U.K. and U.S. will pay Mauritius rent. (Reuters, The Critic)
🇦🇱 Albania’s Prime Minister Edi Rama has announced a plan to create a Vatican-style sovereign Muslim “micro state”, in the capital city of Triana. (Die Welt)
🇰🇷South Korea has announced its plan to introduce “artificial intelligence-powered textbooks” in a bid to move towards a “digital education”. The system would collect data to tailor learning to individual students, resulting in better outcomes, or so the plan goes. One expert warned of getting too excited: “The current excitement around AI in education could be just another tech bubble, similar to past trends like the metaverse or massive open online courses, which failed to live up to their transformative promises,” he said. (Korea Herald)
🇮🇹 What makes an espresso Italian? The recession of 2008 saw Chinese nationals take buy out many coffee bars in Italy, leading Italians to feel that this cultural institution is being lost. (Pekingology)
🇷🇺 Russian leader Vlad Putin is reportedly working on a bill which would ban the promotion of a “child-free” life in a bid to shore up the country’s flagging birth rate. (Reuters)
🇺🇳 United Nations media says that dozens of people are dead and many more missing after human smugglers forced them off a boat into the open sea. The migrants were being taken from East Africa to Yemen. (International Organization for Migration)
🇮🇹 A Pompeii pawn dealer discovers the painting he has had on his wall for 50 years is a genuine Picasso. (Yahoo)
🇳🇵 Trash on Mount Everest will soon be picked up by drone. (Nice News)
🇯🇵 A World War II bomb has exploded beneath a Tokyo airport runway. No one was injured but the cause of the bomb triggering is still unknown. (Gizmodo)
🚗 The fifty greatest sports cars of all time
🥩 A guide to cuts of beef
👟 Sneakers that stretch as you grow? That might save a bit on kid’s shoes
🚢 What becomes of shipping containers lost at sea?
💐 Victorians took their bouquets seriously, with flowers conveying messages to the recipient
🐍 How venomous animals don’t poison themselves
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This Week Preached:
Podcast Release:
Let us pray. Merciful Father, Your patience and loving-kindness toward us have no end. Grant that by Your Holy Spirit we may always think and do those things that are pleasing in Your sight; through Jesus Christ, Your Son, our Lord, who lives and reigns with You and the Holy Spirit, one God, now and forever. Amen.
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