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. Kennedy Center votes to put Trump’s name back on building and close for renovations (NY Times)
“The board of the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts voted on Thursday to inscribe President Trump’s name on the building beneath the main signage, according to two people with direct knowledge of the proceedings, aggressively testing a federal judge’s order.
“According to the resolution approved by the Trump-allied board, the inscription underneath the institution’s name would read: “Restored and Renovated by President Donald J. Trump.” The board’s decision, which directs officials to act by “all legal means,” came shortly after it voted to move forward with Mr. Trump’s plan to shutter the building for renovations.
“The president’s name was added to the building last year, but the judge ordered the letters taken down, finding that only Congress had the authority to change the institution’s name. The center removed Mr. Trump’s name in June but is appealing the ruling. The move appeared to attempt to find a creative workaround to a provision in the federal law governing the Kennedy Center that says “no additional memorials or plaques in the nature of memorials shall be designated or installed in the public areas.”
Was this a worthy goal to achieve? In his book Measure What Matters, John Doerr writes that objectives, goals, and key results, when properly designed and deployed, can be a “vaccine against fuzzy thinking and fuzzy execution.” He notes: “Objectives are the stuff of inspiration and far horizons. Key results are more earth-bound and metric-driven...In other words: Key results are the levers you pull, the marks you hit to achieve the goal.”
Objectives and key results have 4 superpowers: focus your priorities, align for teamwork, track accountability, and they allow you to stretch for amazing. Relative to focus, they allow you put “more wood behind fewer arrows,” discerning what is actually worth doing. They also align a team, which is a great need since one study suggested only 7 percent of employees understood their employer’s strategy. With accountability, Doerr observed: “Without frequent status updates, goals slide into irrelevance; the gap between plan and reality widens by the day.” Finally there is the stretch for the amazing, which positions you to have “a healthy disregard for the impossible.”
Nehemiah or Nimrod? Some will say this is like Nehemiah, honoring the restorative work done to a valuable asset. Others will say this is like Nimrod at Babel, simply making a name for yourself. I’m less concerned about the work and more interested in our goals in this chaotic moment. Stephen Covey put it well: “If the ladder is not leaning against the right wall, every step we take just gets us to the wrong place faster.” (Gen. 10, Neh. 1-2)
5. Three inmates are executed on same day in US for first time since 2010 (USA Today)
“Three states each executed death row inmates on Thursday, Aug. 13, marking the first triple execution in the nation in 16 years. Oklahoma executed Carlos Cuesta-Rodriguez by lethal injection for the 2003 murder of his common-law wife, and Tennessee put Anthony Hines to death, also by lethal injection, for the 1985 murder of a mother of four. They were pronounced dead 30 minutes apart at 10:13 a.m. and 10:43 CT, respectively. Later in the day, Alabama executed Jeremy Williams by lethal injection for the 2021 rape and murder of a 5-year-old girl. He was pronounced dead at 6:16 p.m. CT.
“The last time three states carried out executions on the same day was in 2010, according to a USA TODAY analysis of data kept by the nonprofit Death Penalty Information Center. That year the executions were in Ohio, Texas and Louisiana.”
Executions across the US have increased over the past several years, primarily pushed by a handful of active states. However, since 1973, at least 200 people have been exonerated from death row in the US. A 2014 study estimated that at least 4 percent of those sentenced to death are innocent.
From old abolitionism to new… Elizabeth Bruenig traces the evolution of capital punishment in the United States, detailing how the legal strategy has shifted over time. Bruenig outlines how the "old abolitionism," which focused on "moral terms—mounting arguments about human worth and dignity," gradually gave way to a "new abolitionism" centered on procedural failures, racial bias, and "horrific mishaps." She concludes: "Capital punishment operates according to an emotional logic. Vengeance is elemental. Injustice cries out for redress. Murder is the most horrifying of crimes, and it seems only fitting to pair it with the most horrifying of punishments."
“Beware of the person who can talk about hell without a tear in their eye.” I think this advice from DL Moody is also applicable to the death penalty. Paul, writing to the church at Rome, was acutely aware of those who wanted to end his life. Despite their threats and desires to end his ministry, he was still able to say that he would rather be separated from Christ, accursed, for the sake of them (Rom. 9:3-4). I know opinions vary on the death penalty, but this quote from Abraham Lincoln stands out: “You do not know how hard it is to let a human being die, when you feel that a stroke of your pen will save him.”
4. White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt to step down (NBC News)
“White House press secretary Karoline Leavitt will leave the administration at the end of the month after having served in the role since the beginning of President Donald Trump’s second term. Trump announced that Leavitt, 28, the youngest White House press secretary in history, is set to step down to “spend more time with her beautiful young children and family.”
“Leavitt, who gave birth to her second child in May, making her the first White House press secretary to have a child while serving in the role, confirmed her departure in a statement on X. She said being called “press secretary” has been “the honor and adventure of a lifetime,” adding that since she had her second child, she “felt in my heart that I cannot be the best mom my two young children deserve while devoting the constant time, energy, and attention required of the White House Press Secretary.”
Lenny Kravitz isn’t the only one Flying Away… Interestingly enough, one study focused on White House press secretaries since 1929. While nearly all of them have served a year, the average term is just short of 3 years.
Have the costs ever been higher? More specifically, the opportunity cost, according to a fascinating analysis from the Institute of Family Studies… Consider this: nearly 60 percent of married moms have a college degree and 70 percent of Americans say that raising a kid is unaffordable (20 percent jump over the last decade). Labor force participation among mothers rose from 63 percent in 2000 to 69 percent in 2025. Leaving the workforce to care for children carries a much higher opportunity cost for them than for women without a college degree – especially since roughly 30 percent of them carry college debt (more than any generation).
But there are other costs and riches besides a paycheck… For some families, they have a different cost-benefit analysis. Research has found that experience impacts our determination of valuations. So in this instance, some have decided that they prefer to stay at home rather than work outside the home.
Kids are a significant investment, but they are like buying shares of Microsoft in the early 1990s. As Christians, we know it is better to give than to receive, that somehow the satisfaction of receiving pales in comparison to the joy rooted in giving. And with kids, you are giving… a lot, but the joy of seeing dreams become a reality is priceless. Ted Tripp is right: “Moms and dads tell the children what to do. Kids tell their parents their wishes and dreams.” (Ps. 127)
Cultural News
3. Some parents turn to gambling to afford back-to-school supplies for their kids: survey (NY Post)
“The survey of 2,000 parents of school-aged children revealed that nearly one in 10 (8%) have gambled in order to have money for their kids’ school supplies. Others admitted to pawning their belongings (12%), taking out personal or payday loans (15%), selling possessions (16%), accumulating credit card debt (20%), and using buy-now, pay-later options (23%) to buy their kids what they need for the school year... The survey was conducted by Talker Research on behalf of Beyond Finance to explore the harsh financial realities of back-to-school season as parents navigate tighter-than-ever budgets, a bleak economic climate and the “back-to-school parent trap.”
Apparently Kenny Rogers isn’t the only Gambler… An illuminating survey found that roughly 48 percent of Americans said their financial situation was worse in May than a year ago, the highest share since January 2023. Credit card delinquencies across the US have also reached their highest level since 2011.
Consider this: more Americans will gamble than read a book this year. There are at least 2 cognitive distortions associated with gambling: it’s the answer and you’ll eventually win. Experts have found that people with gambling disorders often view their behavior as a solution to life’s problems. It’s not seen as a way to have fun but as a way to cope with anxiety and stress. And relative to you’ll eventually win, most gamblers think that their odds will eventually turn around. In reality, 89 percent of gamblers lose money.
Is winning losing? In the Scriptures, we read how the root of all evil is the love of money. When you win in gambling, so many of our neighbors and friends are potentially losing. They are further tempted to either win more than they can imagine or try to dig themselves out of a sinking hole. The writer of Proverbs was right: “Keep falsehood and lies far from me; give me neither poverty nor riches, but give me only my daily bread.” (Pro. 30:8, 1 Tim. 6:10)
News You Can Use
2. Shake Shack customer claims kiosk adds surcharge after adding no tip
Watch it here. “Unequal weights are an abomination to the Lord, and false scales are not good.” (Pro. 20:23)
1. Dancing for gas discount
Watch it here. “...a time to weep and a time to laugh, a time to mourn and a time to dance.” (Ecc. 3:4)
