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. U.S. and Iranian negotiators meet as Trump threatens to "hit Iran very hard again" over Hezbollah (CBS News)
“JD Vance and other U.S. negotiators were in the same room as Iranian officials at a resort in Switzerland on Sunday, a rare face-to-face meeting as the two countries launched a 60-day sprint to negotiate over the fate of Iran's nuclear program.
“An emergency session on the fighting in Lebanon was added to the agenda for the Swiss talks, a diplomat told CBS News, as the conflict between Israel and Iran-backed Hezbollah endangers the U.S.-Iran ceasefire. More than a dozen people were killed in Lebanon by Israeli strikes overnight Saturday, hours after three diplomats briefed on the matter told CBS News that Israel and Hezbollah had reached a ceasefire agreement to end the fighting.
“The Strait of Hormuz will be closed again, Iran said Saturday, after accusing the U.S. and Israel of violating the memorandum of understanding by Israeli troops not withdrawing from southern Lebanon.”
There is nothing new under the sun, including when a country violates its end of an agreement. Writing at the Hudson Institute, Douglas J. Feith describes how this pattern is structural, not merely naive. From the Treaty of Versailles to arms control agreements with the Soviets, Feith notes how “leaders of democracies who sign such agreements make a political investment in them that becomes more important than taking enforcement action when the other side fails to comply.” So to a certain degree, the presence of an agreement trumps adherence to the agreement.
If the past is any indication, there are 3 escalating responses to a violation: the first is to say it’s unclear whether a violation has occurred. If it becomes undeniable, the second response is that the violation is not serious. And when the violation’s seriousness cannot be denied, the third response is that there is no good option for enforcing compliance.
The God of the hills… King Ben-Hadad of Syria and 32 other kings launched an attack against King Ahab of Israel. When the people of Samaria beat them in the hills, the Syrian king and his crew retreated to the valley, thinking the God of Israel was limited in his reach. However, Ben-Hadad was eventually cornered in the valley and pleaded for his life. He offered a hasty political compromise, which Ahab unwisely agreed to and let him go free. The peace treaty was shortly violated, forcing Ahab back into battle. As he was fighting to enforce his end of the bargain, Ahab was struck by a random arrow. In this instance, there are consequences for breaking an agreement, but there are also consequences for failing to enforce the agreement. (1 Kings 20)
5. Trump blames ‘radical left lunatics’ and an ABC reporter for reflecting pool issues (ABC News)
“President Donald Trump said law enforcement is investigating vandalism at the Lincoln Memorial Reflecting Pool and suggested that “radical left lunatics” were behind some of the structure’s issues. Almost immediately after the completion of a $14 million renovation that was carried out at Trump’s behest, the reflecting pool has run into a myriad of issues. The water turned green from an algae bloom and the new blue paint has been peeling off the bottom.
“He added that vandals were trying to “destroy and demean our beautiful work.” The president also accused ABC News correspondent Jonathan Karl of “sticking his hand into the Pool, and trying to rip the rubber off of the surface.” Karl showed the peeling blue rubber from the bottom of the pool in a news segment that aired Thursday….A pair of protesters were also marching alongside the pool’s perimeter with a “Team Algae” sign pointing out the seemingly unnoticeable differences made by the cleanup work.”
Like Michael Jackson, some are blaming this on the boogie… and protesters. Known as the amplified blame hypothesis, this refers to how we assign greater blame for negative outcomes than praise for positive ones. This is fueled by the self-serving bias, which describes our propensity to quickly take credit for the good things, but lay the blame on others when things go bad… like a green pool.
Smoke On The Water? More like algae, Deep Purple, which is why some are happy? While some blame, others experience what the Germans call schadenfreude: a compound of the words schaden, meaning harm, and freude, meaning joy. We feel schadenfreude when we feel pleasure at another’s pain. In this instance, some are delighted by the fact that this renovation didn’t go well – despite it being a monument for all of us, not just one side of us.
Searching for Elijah… When the prophet Elijah was taken up to heaven in a whirlwind and a chariot of fire, a group of 50 young prophets from Jericho went to Elisha asking for permission to go search for him. Elisha told them not to go, being a witness to the actual ascension event, yet they persisted until he finally allowed them to go. The 50 men spent 3 days combing the mountains looking for a body. Predictably, they found absolutely nothing. When they returned to Jericho, Elisha remarked, "Did I not tell you, 'Do not go'?" The lack of trust resulted in a poor stewardship of time, which, perhaps, could be applicable to this moment… (2 Kings 2)
4. Minor league baseball team cancels Pride Night game after players refuse to wear rainbows (NBC News)
“Minor league baseball’s York Revolution in Pennsylvania declined to play its Pride Night game Thursday after players refused to wear uniforms that featured a rainbow design, team officials said. The Revolution’s game against the Southern Maryland Blue Crabs was to have marked the team’s 11th annual Pride Night, but players refused to don special jerseys that had rainbow sleeves. The game will go down as a forfeit, the Revolution said.
“This decision was not reached lightly,” the team said in a statement. President and GM Ben Shipley said his manager told him that fewer than nine players on the 28-man roster — the minimum needed to fill out a lineup card — were willing to play in Thursday night’s uniforms. Shipley said the discussion led to an unprecedented team meeting at which he was unable to talk players into wearing the rainbow sleeves. “I’m disappointed that we’re at this point, and I recognize the players’ plight and their unwillingness to cross their line. I also think tolerance is not acceptance,” Shipley told NBC News.”
Put Me In Coach, I’m Ready To Play – John Fogerty sings it, but some players weren’t saying it… and that was a good thing, according to Jason Page. Writing at MS Now, Page, who identifies as gay, noted: “The fact that a select few players are unwilling or are resistant to wearing pride-themed ball caps or jerseys doesn’t bother me. What does bother me is the idea that we need to pretend that everyone agrees, that everyone supports the progress and rights of LGBTQ+ people like myself… Some people see these things as failures. I don’t. I see them as reminders that the fight for acceptance isn’t over.”
Is this an acceptance thing or an overbearing thing? Andrew Sullivan, a pioneer in the LGBT movement, writing in The New York Magazine, warns against the movement going too far. “No one seems to notice the profound shift in the tone and substance of advocacy for gay equality in recent years, and the radicalization of the movement’s ideology and rhetoric… The movement risks turning gay equality from being about a win-win process for gays and straights into a war between “LGBT” people and the rest. That’s a battle none of us need to fight. Especially after the real war was won.”
There is a time and a place for everything… There is a time to sleep, but not in the garden when Jesus had asked you to stay up and keep watch. There is a time to enjoy a rooftop patio, but not when your fellow soldiers are away at war. There is a time to drink, but not after you have struck the very rock from which water would flow. In this instance, there is a time to make statements about gay rights. But maybe statements should be limited to the extraordinary achievements on the field, not divisive social causes off it. (Num. 20, 1 Sam. 13, 2 Sam. 11)
3. UK Prime Minister Keir Starmer announces resignation with 'good grace' (ABC News)
“Prime Minister Keir Starmer announced on Monday he would resign as the leader of his party and as prime minister, setting the stage for the United Kingdom's seventh prime minister within a decade. Starmer, who said he spoke on Monday with King Charles, said he expected to remain in office until a successor was chosen from within his Labour Party.
"The question my party is asking now is whether I am best placed to lead us into the next general election," he said outside 10 Downing Street. "I have heard the answer of my parliamentary party to that question, and I accept that answer with good grace." The resignation announcement followed months of turmoil for Starmer, with some members of his own party criticizing his leadership, saying he had not been able to deliver the rapid change needed after taking office following 14 years of Conservative Party rule in Britain.”
You Gotta Know When To Hold’em and Know When To Fold’em, and it appears the prime minister is backing away from leadership… and he isn’t alone. Alberto Carvalho, the superintendent of the Los Angeles Unified School District, resigned on Sunday, months after the F.B.I. raided his home and office in February in connection with a criminal inquiry into the district’s dealings with an A.I. start-up.
In her book Quit, Annie Duke writes: “Success does not lie in sticking to things. It lies in picking the right thing to stick to and quitting the rest.” The key to know when to quit is developing “kill criteria,” according to Duke. You identify benchmarks and signals, and when you see them in the future, you know it’s time to walk away.
Quitting is a lot of like monkeys and pedestals, according to Duke. Knowing when to quit is a problem to solve, like training a monkey to juggle flaming torches on a pedestal in the town square. “Buliding the pedestal is the part of the problem you know you can already solve but the hardest component is training the monkey. Tackling the monkey first gets you to “no” faster, limiting the time, effort, and money that you sink into a project and making it easier to walk away.”
Jonah eventually gave up, Balaam changed his plans, and Paul quit to pursue other options. There are times when we need to persist despite the odds, and there are other times when we need to modify our plans in light of the situation. Both leaders have decided to step away, perhaps believing, like Duke, that success isn’t connected to persistence through situations but discernment in situations. (Jonah 3, Num. 22, Phil. 3)
News You Can Use
2. An Aussie discovers Texas Road House for the first time.
Watch it here. “Finally, brothers, whatever is true, whatever is honorable, whatever is just, whatever is pure, whatever is lovely, whatever is commendable, if there is any excellence, if there is anything worthy of praise, think about these things.” (Phil. 4:8)
1. Even after a brain tumor altered this artist's sight, he crafted his greatest work yet
Watch it here. “Give thanks in all circumstances; for this is God’s will for you in Christ Jesus.” (1 Thess. 5:18)
