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POLITICS

The Biden Campaign

Pressure on the Biden campaign isn’t dissipating. 

George Clooney, ER doctor actor and long-time Democratic fundraiser, called on top Democrats to ask President Biden “to voluntarily step aside.” In his NYT opinion piece, Clooney claimed that the Biden he saw while co-hosting a recent fundraiser “was the same man we all witnessed at the debate” and is “not the Joe Biden of 2020.”

Wednesday, Peter Welch (D-VA) became the first Democratic Senator to call for Biden’s withdrawal in his own op-ed. Former Speaker Pelosi stopped short of supporting Biden’s withdrawal or candidacy, encouraging him to simply “make that decision because time is running short.”

Yesterday, after the NATO Summit, the President held a rare, solo press conference that lasted 59 minutes. He took questions, mistakenly called his #2 “Vice President Trump,” and repeatedly reaffirmed his commitment to reelection.

Hoping to regain confidence, the President held a rare, solo press conference last night, during which he reaffirmed his commitment to reelection.

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CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Whatever the outcome of 2024’s election, the hope of Christians won’t be shaken. Our truest home is God’s kingdom, and he is our ultimate king. Live as exiles here, serving as Christ’s winsome, peace-making ambassadors with your eyes fixed on your heavenly home.

“For the love of Christ compels us, since we have reached this conclusion, that one died for all, and therefore all died.… He has committed the message of reconciliation to us. Therefore, we are ambassadors for Christ, since God is making his appeal through us.”
2 Corinthians 5:14, 19-20 (CSB) (read full passage)

POLITICS

What is Project 2025?

Project 2025 is making more headlines every day. 

It is a 900-page playbook for how Republicans should overhaul the government drawn up by the Heritage Foundation, a conservative think-tank. It includes:

• A conservative policy agenda

• A playbook for a Republican president’s first 180 days

• Plans to remake the federal workforce (a database of vetted conservatives to hire and an online course to train them)

While some advisors and staffers from the Trump Administration contributed to its creation, former President Trump himself says he “knows nothing” about Project 2025 and called some of the proposals “ridiculous and abysmal.” 

Democrats are sounding the alarm over what they call extreme positions in Project 2025, and the Biden Campaign began running ads highlighting the project’s connections to former President Trump, saying it would give him “limitless power over our daily lives.”

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Verse to consider when two groups of people fight about how our nation should be run (so, like, every day) … “Nations rage, kingdoms topple; the earth melts when he lifts his voice… ‘Stop fighting, and know that I am God, exalted among the nations, exalted on the earth.’ The Lord of Armies is with us; the God of Jacob is our stronghold.”  
Psalm 46:6, 10-11 (CSB) (read full passage)

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WEATHER

I’m Hot, You’re Hot

Americans are feeling hot hot hot.

Over 160 million people are under excessive heat alerts as temperatures break records across the Southeast, Mid-Atlantic, southern New England, and the Northwest. Temps are up to 30 degrees above average, and heat is the suspected culprit in more than 30 deaths across six states. 

Las Vegas is smoking its own record for consecutive days above 115 degrees, and its hospitals have seen a massive spike in third-degree burns from contact with 170-degree pavement. In Houston, more than a million have been sweating without A/C since Hurricane Beryl knocked out power earlier this week.

A swing bridge in New York was stuck open due to heat-expanded steel and was closed for hours as firefighters hosed down the bridge’s hydraulics.

Stay hydrated—cooler temps aren’t in the forecast.

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CHRISTIAN PERSPECTIVE
Massive weather events and natural disasters remind us that all of the world has been broken by sin. But Christians can look forward to an eternity where there’s redemption not just for people but for creation itself. 
 
“For the creation was subjected to futility—not willingly, but because of him who subjected it—in the hope that the creation itself will also be set free from the bondage to decay into the glorious freedom of God’s children.” 
Romans 8:20-21 (CSB) (read full passage)

Lawmakers are pushing some longshot legislation. Rep. Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY) introduced articles of impeachment against SCOTUS Justices Thomas and Alito over their failure to disclose “gifts from individuals with business before the court.” Meanwhile, a bipartisan group of senators drafted a(nother) bill banning lawmaker stock trading; the effort has repeatedly failed in Congress despite 80% voter support. 
 

Team USA will sparkle in Paris this year, with or without the gold. The designs for the women’s gymnastics team leotards have been released ahead of the Olympics, and some of their looks are bedazzled with a record-breaking 10,000 hand-placed Swarovski crystals (see picture). The leos, inspired by Parisian high-fashion runways, would cost about $5,000 retail. Work it. 
 

Inflation update… better than expected. Falling to 3% in June, inflation gave economists’ predictions a run for their (dwindling in value) money. A decline in gas prices helped balance out increases in food and shelter prices. The positive report boosts the odds that the Fed will cut interest rates at least once this year.
 

Turns out, Anxiety didn’t have to worry. Inside Out 2 has become the highest-grossing Pixar movie of all time, surpassing Incredibles 2, at $1.25B worldwide and rising. Currently the 4th-highest grossing animated movie ever, it just needs a cool $200M more to pass #1, Frozen. With more global premiere dates coming up, Elsa may have to...let #1 go. 
 

Gollum is quaking.  Now, anyone can own a ring to rule them all track their health. Samsung’s new Galaxy Ring can track heart rate, sleep patterns, and menstrual cycles (mostly) around the clock with its seven-day battery life. The ring costs $399.99 and will be available July 24 in three colors.

WHIPPED CREAM ON TOP

Gone hikin’…

What We’re Learning
Spanish, with Babbel*

My wife is Puerto Rican, and yeah… I just smile and nod along when the Spanish starts flowing at family get-togethers.

Enter Babbel. After a brief questionnaire, I have a tailored plan based on my time (I chose just 5 mins/day… I’m a busy newsletter operator) and the poco bit of Spanish I already know. As the top language learning platform, the options are flexible and endless: live online classes with native-speaking teachers, app-based exercises, games, and more, all in a customized curriculum for me.

So… join me! If you don’t start speaking a new language in just three weeks, they’ll give you your money back. Check out Babbel today and get 55% off with their summer sale.

Señor Nate Wells | Head of Business

What We’re Doing
Praying for Peace in Israel*

War and the evil it exposes are a terrible reminder that the world is not as it should be. While we long for the perfect resolution and peace of eternity in heaven, it can be hard to know how to pray today.

This free resource from the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association provides helpful verses to pray through when we’re confronted with war—verses for comfort, strength, anxiety, wisdom, and so much more.

Learn how to pray for lasting peace in Israel and around the world with this great resource.