The Daily Briefing highlights the news of the day and research that reveals the spirit of the day.
The Daily Briefing is a newsletter sent straight to your inbox every morning that provides biblical insight on today's news.
Top News
6. Trump defends war with Iran as conflict widens (CBS News)
“President Trump is defending his decision to launch the war with Iran, saying in the Oval Office Tuesday there would have been a nuclear war without intervention, and that Iran "would have taken out many countries."
“Israel sent troops into Lebanon as the war widened, and some of Iran's Gulf neighbors warned that Iran's retaliatory fire could draw them into the spreading conflict. The U.S. consulate in Dubai was hit by a drone. Israel announced new strikes on Tehran, as the Iranian regime said Ayatollah Ali Khamenei's three-day funeral would begin Wednesday evening. There were reports Khamenei's son could be tapped as his replacement — and that he is already being targeted by U.S. or Israeli strikes.
“Americans are being urged to leave 14 countries in the region because of "serious safety risks," and the U.S. embassies in Beirut, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia are closed due to the conflict. Six U.S. troops have been killed. The Human Rights Activists News Agency (HRANA), a U.S.-based group that relies on a network of activists in Iran for its reporting, said in a statement Tuesday night that it has so far documented the deaths of 912 civilians and the injuries of 211 civilians in Iran, as a result of the ongoing U.S.-Israeli military operation.”
Are we attacking China or Iran? According to Haviv Rettig Gur, there are 2 chessboards currently, and more attention is being paid to the Iranian boad than the China one. “There's a regional chess board in which Israel plays, Iran plays, Saudi plays, the UAE, Qatar, and then there's a global chess board. It's a whole another level. And that's a chess board in which the US plays, China plays, and then some secondary characters like Russia or the EU on its best days. Israel is operating on the smaller chessboard. America is operating on the larger one.”
We attacked Iran… to get to China. “Iran matters to both, but in very different ways… Israel is taking advantage of this moment to serve its own existential overwhelming interest. But everything is happening tangential marginal on the sidelines of a great American war. China was investing in turning Iran into a state that could disrupt American military activities at a strategic scale… Iran was explicitly becoming a Chinese forward base, a second front in any future confrontation between America and China.”
This is a rescue mission, not a war… This is how a Christian in Iran described their outlook on recent events. Speaking to Premier, she notes that it’s a “historic moment” that will unfold “in God’s time." Citing Zeph. 3:17, she highlighted how the Lord is a brave warrior, mighty to save. “I believe this speaks with the heart of thousands and thousands of Iranians who are in exile and also inside Iran, who have suffered oppression, who have suffered shame… We walk with God, and we trust to God’s plan.” While opinions vary on whether the US is really attacking China through Iran, we can all agree that God can work through all of this to accomplish his good plan. (Job. 42, Rom. 8)
5. Nasty GOP primary in Texas heads to a runoff, and other takeaways from a big primary night (WaPo)
“The 2026 midterm election season kicked off Tuesday with primaries in Arkansas, North Carolina and Texas, featuring several high-profile contests. A heated and intensely personal Republican primary for a U.S. Senate seat in Texas won’t be over until May 26: Sen. John Cornyn, a four-term incumbent and GOP stalwart, will head to a runoff against the state’s firebrand attorney general, Ken Paxton, who has sought to frame Cornyn as a relic of the George W. Bush era. More than 2.3 million Texans voted, similar to turnout in the 2024 Republican presidential primary and slightly up from the 2020 totals, when 2 million voted in the Republican primary contest. Whoever wins will face off against state Rep. James Talarico, a Presbyterian seminarian preaching a blend of Christianity and economic populism who is trying to appeal to moderate voters. Republicans are the favorites, but that edge could shrink if Paxton is the nominee.
“Tuesday’s results confirmed the November matchup for the U.S. Senate in North Carolina that many expected: Michael Whatley, a former Republican National Committee chairman, will face off against the state’s former governor, Roy Cooper, after both were projected to defeat their primary opponents.
“Several contests seemed to test how Trump’s support — or lack thereof — can sway races even when the president is not on the ballot. The most striking answer came in Houston’s northern suburbs, where Rep. Dan Crenshaw was projected to lose a tight battle against state Rep. Steve Toth.”
This morning, did you wake up with post-election stress disorder? This refers to experiencing anxiety and depression related to — or worsened by — the onslaught of news relative to electoral outcomes. This disappointment you may be feeling is described as the “messy, friction-filled, and unsatisfying gap between lived experiences and expectations that have not come to pass.”
The closer you follow, the more distorted the view… The Perception Gap reveals how little we understand of the other side. Americans who closely follow the news misjudge the other side by 30 percent. Americans who rarely follow the news misjudge by 10 percent. How can that be? In this fragmented media age, we often see the other side through the lens of our side, which isn't always flattering or accurate of the majority of the gruop.
Appearances can be deceiving… It may appear that you lost last night, but take heart, you have already won… primarily because God still remains on his throne. Our victory is rooted in his resurrection, not in last night’s results. If you are disappointed, you join the likes of Moses, Ruth, Joseph, and David, who have experienced God allowing a setback to make way for a comeback. The sting of temporal defeat is real; the assurance of resurrected victory should be sweet. (2 Cor. 2, Acts 7, Gen. 37, Ps. 27)
4. Supreme Court sides with Christian parents in battle over school trans policies (WaPo)
“The Supreme Court blocked enforcement for now of California policies that discourage educators from telling parents about a student’s sexual orientation or gender identity without the student’s consent, a win for parents who said it violated their freedom of religion and “parental rights.”
“The parents who assert a free exercise claim have sincere religious beliefs about sex and gender, and they feel a religious obligation to raise their children in accordance with those beliefs,” the court wrote in an unsigned opinion.
“The court said the parents were likely to succeed on their constitutional claims and blocked the law as the case continues to play out in lower courts. The legal battle is the latest clash over transgender issues to reach the high court. The proponents of the law say it protected students’ safety and privacy while allowing them time to broach a sensitive subject with their families. Critics say it forced educators to exclude parents from information about their child’s upbringing.”
Let’s Give Them Something To Talk About? Not so fast, Bonnie Raitt. Interestingly enough, new data shows that LGBT identification among 18–24-year-olds has fallen by 21 percent in the last 3 years. This trend is overwhelmingly driven by fewer young women identifying as bisexual. Another survey found that just 3.6 percent of 18-24-year-olds identified as a gender other than male or female. By comparison, the figure was 5.2 percent in 2024 and 6.8 percent in both 2022 and 2023.
What accounts for this? Writing over at The Unherd, Eric Kaufman compared the drop to mental health and fashion. “The fall of trans and queer seems most similar to the fading of a fashion or trend. It happened largely independently of shifts in political beliefs and social media use, though improved mental health played a role.” He went on: “Trans and queer identification have declined among young Americans even as levels of wokeness and irreligion have not. For young people, gender and sexual identity are now independent fashions that rise and fall separately from other cultural and political currents.”
Teach them to swim… Drawing on the story of Jacob and Esau, rabbinic commentators identified 6 components in the curriculum for a parent to a child, one of them being teaching children to swim. Although they were twins, Jacob and Esau had vastly different temperaments: Jacob was a "quiet man," and Esau was a "man of the field." Teaching them to swim meant recognizing that you can’t parent children the same way. You have to take different approaches to help them learn how to tread and thrive in the open waters of life. With this ruling, the Supreme Court is allowing parents to remain in the water with their children rather than being outside the pool complex. (Gen. 25)
Cultural News
3. How to tell if you have AQ, the new ‘non-negotiable’ skill of highly successful people—it comes down to how you handle stress (CNBC)
“More than 100 years ago, IQ (intelligence quotient) established what it means to be intelligent. Then came along EQ, which broadened the meaning with emotional intelligence. Both were helpful frameworks for the time and context which they emerged, but now our world in-flux demands something new: AQ (agility quotient), which I define as the ability to handle change, uncertainty, and the unknown.
“As an executive coach to founders and CEOs, I’ve found that AQ is no longer a nice-to-have. It’s a non-negotiable orientation toward life. In my new book, “AQ: A New Kind of Intelligence for a World That’s Always Changing,” There are four AQ Archetypes. Identifying yours can help you understand the skills you have at your disposal for handling stress, solving problems, and tackling crises.”
Foreigner Wants to Know What Love Is and I just want to know who I am... Research has pointed to 3 major motives for self-evaluation: self-assessment (procuring accurate self-knowledge), self-enhancement (hearing vague compliments and being flattered), and self-verification (checking to see if others see you the way you see yourself).
Iris Murdoch noted: “Man is a creature who makes pictures of himself and then comes to resemble the picture.” W.E.B. Du Bois called it our “double-consciousness.” We see ourselves through the eyes of others. These tests allow us to compare our internal thoughts with external judgments. They put words to the unspoken tendencies and quirks that make up our lives.
In the biblical narrative, we read about a God who knows us intimately, fashioned us uniquely, and calls us to deploy our gifts generously (Ps. 139:1-3, Eph. 2:10, 1 Pet. 4:10). We should know ourselves but we should also show ourselves approved (2 Tim. 2:15). Life is short, God is good, and the world needs what you have to offer.
News You Can Use
2. Helping my dad with his iPad the way he helped me with homework
Watch it here. “Let your gentleness be evident to all…” (Phil. 4:5)
1. Students go viral after heartwarming surprise for classmate feeling down
Watch it here. “But love your enemies, and do good, and lend, expecting nothing in return, and your reward will be great…” (Lk. 6:35)
