The World and Everything in It - August 12, 2021

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Good morning!

The Biden administration again stops landlords from evicting tenants who don’t pay rent. And that’s created a slew of other problems.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Also how Beirut, Lebanon is faring a year after massive explosions destroyed parts of it.

Plus more highlights from the past—including a visit to Sutherland Springs, Texas.

And this podcast has been going for 10 years now! We have more reflections on that journey.

REICHARD: It’s Thursday, August 12th. This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Mary Reichard.

BROWN: And I’m Myrna Brown. Good morning!

REICHARD: Time for the news. Here’s Kent Covington.

KENT COVINGTON, NEWS ANCHOR: Biden pitches ‘Build Back Better’ spending plans » Speaking from the East Room of the White House, President Biden Wednesday made another pitch for what he calls his ‘Build Back Better’ agenda.

That, he said, starts with the roughly $1 trillion dollar infrastructure bill that the Senate just passed.

BIDEN: This is the ultimate blue collar blueprint to rebuild America. And we’re going to do it without raising taxes 1 cent on anyone making less than $400,000 a year. That’s why I wouldn’t even support a gas—increase gas tax.

Some Republicans holdouts argued that all Americans will pay a price as the bill adds to the deficit and they say more spending could fuel more inflation.

The Labor Department reported Wednesday that consumer prices are up more than 5 percent from this time last year. But the president said Americans should not worry.

BIDEN: We will keep a careful eye on inflation each month and trust the Fed to take appropriate action if and when it’s needed.

As for the infrastructure bill, House Speaker Nancy Pelosi again suggested the House will not consider it right now.

PELOSI: I’m glad it passed. I’m glad it’s bipartisan, strongly so. But it is not the totality of the vision of Joe Biden and the congressional Democrats.

Senate Democrats are now working on a separate $3.5 trillion dollar spending bill. Pelosi wants to wait and consider both measures together.

Taliban complete northeast Afghan blitz as more cities fall » The Taliban on Wednesday raised its flag in three more provincial capitals in Afghanistan and captured a local army headquarters.

That gives the extremist group control of two-thirds of the nation as U.S. and NATO troops complete their withdrawal.

President Biden said U.S. forces are still providing limited support to the Afghan military, but nothing more.

BIDEN: I think they’re beginning to realize they've got to come together politically at the top, but we’re going to continue to keep our commitment. But I do not regret my decision.

Afghan President Ashraf Ghani on Wednesday replaced his army chief of staff.

Pakistan’s Foreign Minister Shah Mahmood Qureshi said his country is doing all it can to broker peace in Afghanistan.

QURESHI: We have an enlightened self-interest in a peaceful, stable Afghanistan, and we have done everything possible to facilitate that. And we will continue to do that.

But the Taliban is showing little interest in negotiating peace.

Texas GOP signs arrest warrants to end Democrats' holdout » Republican leaders in the Texas House signed arrest warrants for 52 Democrats who fled the state to block new voting legislation.

A group of Democrats took private jets to Washington last month in a dramatic display of protest. Their absence denies the state House the quorum it needs to conduct business.

Some of those Democrats are now holding out from home.

Texas House Speaker Dade Phelan announced arrest warrants for all members not present at the second special session.

PHELAN: The sergeant at arms and any officers appointed by him are directed to send for all absentees whose attendance is not excused for the purpose of securing and maintaining their attendance under warrant of arrest if necessary.

Refusing to attend the legislative sessions is a violation of House rules, but not a criminal offense. Republican state Rep. Mayes Middleton explained, “People aren't going to jail, but they got to come back to work."

Democrats claim GOP-authored election legislation is voter suppression. Republicans say it’s designed to better secure future elections.

Another stifling heat wave slams the Pacific Northwest » Another stifling heat wave is slamming the Pacific Northwest.

Areas that usually enjoy mild summers will likely once again hit triple digits, including Portland, Oregon. Daniel Hartsock with the National Weather Service …

HARTSOCK: Thursday and Friday we’re looking at temperatures most likely between 100 and 105.

The average high temperature in Portland in August is 80 degrees.

The heat wave comes just over a month after another record-shattering heat wave.

It’s a big safety concern as many residents in that region don’t have air conditioning.

Oregon Gov. Kate Brown has declared a state of emergency. She’s activated an emergency operations center to watch for any problems with the power grid.

Russian government files new charges against Navalny » The Russian government Wednesday hit opposition leader Alexei Navalny with new criminal charges. WORLD’s Sarah Schweinsberg reports.

SARAH SCHWEINSBERG, REPORTER: Russian authorities are charging Navalny with creating a non-profit organization that the government claims infringes on people’s rights. That’s a criminal offense punishable by up to three years in prison.

Navalny's Foundation for Fighting Corruption launched 10 years ago. It has since published dozens of widely watched videos exposing the alleged corruption of senior government officials.

The government alleges the group incited Russians to “perform unlawful actions" by urging them to join unauthorized protests in January.

The 45-year-old Navalny is President Vladimir Putin’s most outspoken political critic. In February, a court ordered Navalny to serve 2½ years in prison on charges the U.S. State Dept. says were trumped up.

His arrest and jailing sparked a wave of mass protests in Russia.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Sarah Schweinsberg.

I’m Kent Covington.

Straight ahead: legal questions about the new eviction ban.

Plus, iron sharpening iron.

This is The World and Everything in It.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: It’s Thursday, the 12th of August, 2021.

Thanks for listening to today’s edition of The World and Everything in It. Good morning! I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

First up, the eviction moratorium.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention banned landlords from expelling tenants about a year ago. Then Congress extended the ban at the end of 2020. The Biden administration extended it three more times this year. As the July 31st deadline approached, President Biden announced he would give another extension.

BROWN: Any hesitation he may have had likely stemmed from the Supreme Court’s doubts about its legality. The justices didn’t strike down the ban in June. But that was mostly because it was about to expire anyway. A majority of the justices said any further extensions needed to come from Congress.

REICHARD: For a few days, that seemed to be the end of the story. But on August 3rd, the CDC issued a new eviction moratorium. The Biden administration says the new order solves the old order’s legal issues. Many people aren’t convinced.

WORLD’s Josh Schumacher reports.

JOSH SCHUMACHER, REPORTER: Like its predecessor, the new eviction moratorium prevents landlords from kicking out tenants who don’t pay their rent.

It only applies to counties experiencing “high” or “substantial” COVID-19 transmission. But right now, that includes about 85 percent of the country, according to the CDC. In other words, there’s little practical difference between this new moratorium and the previous one.

The new moratorium also faces some of the same legal problems as the old one. Devin Watkins is an attorney with the Competitive Enterprise Institute.

WATKINS: The CDC has claimed a rather expansive view of their power. They claim that they can basically do anything that they wish that can reduce disease, and they claim that's what Congress gave them.

The CDC justifies the ban as a way to help prevent the spread of COVID-19. Renters removed from their homes could be at higher risk of contracting and spreading the virus if they end up in homeless shelters or crowding in with friends or family. And since the CDC exists to prevent the spread of diseases like COVID, agency leaders say they have the ability to block evictions.

But Watkins disagrees.

WATKINS: You read the actual statute. It's a lot more limited than that.

Watkins says Congress only gave the CDC authority to prevent the spread of diseases using certain measures. Those include disinfecting, sanitizing, and destroying infected property or animals that pose the risk of infecting humans.

WATKINS: But that doesn't mean that everything that reduces disease is within the power of the CDC, and it is a matter of dispute among the circuits right now. A majority of the Supreme Court said they don't believe it's lawful. So on that basis I would say it's not lawful.

But criticism of the ban doesn’t end at legal questions. Michael Hendrix is the director of state and local policy at the Manhattan Institute.

HENDRIX: Certainly the eviction moratoria have not helped at all, they made the problem worse. They've not helped the now over $20 billion that renters now owe to the landlords. These moratoria just let debt spiral out of control. And because government is not getting the money out the door to help them, that's just more debt that they have.

The CDC says the new eviction moratorium will give the government more time to get financial aid to renters in need. But it doesn’t appear that two more months will make much difference.

HENDRIX: The real problem is this: Congress, whether we like it or not, said yes to sending 10s of billions of dollars to renters in need, but only $3 billion is actually gone to renters and been disbursed.

CEI’s Devin Watkins says that’s because the money has to flow through two major layers of bureaucracy before it can get to renters.

WATKINS: The federal government isn't directly giving the money. The federal government is kind of giving the money to the states, then, are trying to give the money to the renters. And so there's a tremendous number of levels of bureaucracy going on here between the feds and the states, and trying to figure out what's going on.

When the eviction moratorium finally ends, Watkins says the negative spiral will only get worse.

WATKINS: The policy doesn't actually eliminate any of the rent that they would be required to pay; it just delays when they're having to pay it. So it creates a situation when they may not have much money because they're out of work or something, and they don't have to pay the rent yet but they will have to pay it eventually when the policy ends. And if they don't pay they may get kicked out of their house, the landlord may seek garnishment of their wages, it can be a real pain for them for years.

And renters aren’t the only ones suffering.

WATKINS: And so it really hurts the landlords because they aren't able to get the rent, while they're still required to pay maintenance, they're still required to pay taxes, they have a lot of other expenses, they're expected to pay, but they aren't getting the income that they would be using to pay those expenses. So, it hurts landlords, it hurts renters, it's really just a bad policy all around.

Reporting for WORLD, I’m Josh Schumacher.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Coming up next on The World and Everything in It:

Beirut, a year later.

A year ago a series of massive explosions rocked the seaport in Beirut.

SOUND: EXPLOSION

People living in Lebanon’s capital looked on at the first explosion from what they thought was a safe distance. Then, a more powerful blast occurred, shooting a giant mushroom cloud into the sky.

SOUND: EXPLOSION

MARY REICHARD, HOST: That blast overturned cars and blew out windows for miles.

The explosions on August 4th killed more than 200 people and injured thousands of others.

It caused billions of dollars in damage. It devastated a country already struggling to manage the pandemic and the economic fallout from that.

So what’s been learned? And where do things stand in Beirut today?

Joining us now with more insight is WORLD Senior Editor Mindy Belz. Mindy, good morning!

BELZ: Good morning, Mary!

REICHARD: There have been multiple investigations, both internal and from outside groups, over the past year. What have we learned about what caused the explosions?

BELZ: Well, we know that it was from a warehouse at the port that was full of ammonium nitrate. We know that had been offloaded from a confiscated ship back way back in 2014, that it had been stored haphazardly there for all that time, you know, right next to the country's grain silos, right next to one of the largest ports in the Middle East. The blast itself has been measured and tested and reviewed by experts over this past year. They compare it to the force of a nuclear device. It was that powerful. And so we know that it was one of the largest non-nuclear explosions in history. I'll say this, Mary: I arrived there just a few days after the explosion to cover the aftermath, and I was taken to a quarantine hotel. And it was six miles from the blast site, and when I arrived at the hotel, this wall of glass in the lobby had been completely blown out. And I think that gives you kind of a graphic picture, six miles away from the port, this city was still facing devastation.

REICHARD: And what do we know about how something like this could happen and what led up those explosions?

BELZ: Well, I'll quote the prime minister who I think said it best. He called it a system of corruption, bigger than the state. We really are looking at a tragedy and at a disaster and at a crisis that came about because of government mismanagement, and just a corruption at an incredible level. Beirut, people refer to as the Paris of the Middle East. It made this incredible comeback from civil war in the 80s. And they had rebuilt the seafront and businesses are flocking there. Just a remarkable, remarkable city in that part of the world. But over the last decade, we've seen Hezbollah grow in power and to gain respectability—because remember, this is a terror organization. It has linked hands with crony elites in the government. And what we've had is a government that was essentially being run as a mafia type organization. They knew the explosives were there in the warehouse. They knew that they weren't properly stored. And, you know, at a minimum, they were criminally negligent. One eyewitness, a Lebanese Mom, you know, I think said it best. She said, essentially, they killed us from the inside.

REICHARD: You alluded to this a little bit earlier about how the country, and how Beirut in particular, used to be. Since these explosions last year, how has the country changed?

BELZ: Well, many people were hoping that this would be a wake up call. It was this incredible, startling orange explosion that blew across the city. And world officials were all calling for a massive effort to help Lebanon to recover from this. And people thought it would be a good wake up call that the government would maybe come down, that things would happen. Remarkably, not much has happened. We haven't seen the international response come together like we thought it would. I will say that it's been remarkable to watch the homegrown effort that has come up in its place. There were these broom brigades that people just put together on their own. People were literally cleaning glass and rubble out of their own streets in their own houses. Restaurants were setting up in the streets to serve those workers. And that has continued to be sort of the way that Beirut is recovering. It's very spotty. It's not very good, but it is what they've had.

REICHARD: What are you hearing from people living there? What are they talking about?

BELZ: I think sadly, as much as people have come together to help one another to recover, that what they're seeing, especially at this moment, at this one year anniversary moment is that they are worse off in almost every way than they were before the explosion. The economic crisis that preceded the explosion has only deepened. One of the other things that's really developed since the explosion, that's been incredibly worrisome is the increase of power outages. The major utilities were, you know, not surprisingly, located along that waterfront. Some of them received extensive damage. So that is where things are right now. It's not a good scene.

REICHARD: Final question, Mindy. How have Christians and ministries responded over the past year to this disaster?

BELZ: That really is a powerful part of the story. Many of the churches and Christian ministries were located near the port because that's where the old Christian neighborhoods of Beirut are. And they had to get busy, first of all, repairing their churches and rebuilding their own neighborhoods. But then they just continued. And keep in mind these churches have been a very important part of helping to support Iraqi refugees and Syrian refugees who have been in the country inside Lebanon, more than a million of them, for the past decade. And so now they've turned their attention—these churches are sort of—you could say their muscles are exercised. And so now they've turned their attention to helping fellow Lebanese, and they're doing amazing work. One group that I know is working with 1,200 Lebanese families to help repair their homes to help give them food parcels and the kinds of things they need to get by. One group told me overall, when you look at the big picture, things have gotten worse. But when you focus on the opportunities God is presenting to reach new people with good news, things are incredible right now.

REICHARD: WORLD Senior Editor Mindy Belz has been our guest. Mindy, always a pleasure!

BELZ: Thank you, Mary.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: A rocket carrying critical cargo should dock at the International Space Station today.

It blasted off from Virginia’s eastern shore on Tuesday.

NATS: 3, 2, 1 . We have engine ignition.

The cargo ship is hauling vital supplies for the space station crew, namely, pizza kits!

The station is currently home to three Americans, two Russians, one French and one Japanese. And all of them, presumably, love pizza. Who doesn’t?!

Enough pepperoni and cheese for seven astronauts isn’t the only thing aboard the rocket. It’s also delivering fresh produce, hardware for solar panels, and scientific equipment.

But Myrna, guess what the crew says is the highlight?!

MYRNA BROWN: Deep dish or thin and crispy?

Don’t know! But sounds good!

It’s The World and Everything in It.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: Today is Thursday, August 12th.

Thank you for turning to WORLD Radio to help start your day.

Good morning. I’m Mary Reichard.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: And I’m Myrna Brown.

Coming next on The World and Everything in It: more highlights from the last decade of this program.

All week we’ve featured some of our most memorable profiles and stories as nominated by our reporters and staff.

Today, three stories. We start with a somber anniversary.

REICHARD: In 2018, then World intern Anna Johansen visited Sutherland Springs, Texas, one year after a gunman killed 26 parishioners, and wounded more than 20 others. Every family in the church lost someone they loved. Here’s Anna with their story of healing.

AUDIO: [List of survivors]

ANNA JOHANSEN, REPORTER: Some of the survivors are here tonight. In one corner, Julie Workman. She watched from under a pew as the gunman shot her son—paralyzing him from the waist down. Gunny Macias sits near the front, a cane propped beside him. He was shot five times. Off to the side sits Jenni Holcombe. She lost her husband and her young daughter.

HOLCOMBE: I had a 17-month-old. Everything was about taking care of her and doing things. Now it’s just me.

Holcombe’s sister-in-law, Sarah Slavin, was running late to church that day. She lost her brother and parents—plus five nieces and nephews.

Both women have had to figure out how to navigate daily life.

SLAVIN: Even just you know figuring out how to mow the lawn because we’d never—you know we weren’t the ones that did stuff like that.

Many survivors suffer nightmares, sleeplessness, or depression. Some still won’t set foot in the old church’s little white sanctuary.

AUDIO: [Unlocking the memorial]

The church is a memorial now: white walls, white floors. White chairs mark the spot each victim died, and a red rose sits on each. Contact paper covers the window panes once punctured by bullets. An armed safety team patrols the property.

WILLEFORD: A visual presence makes a difference. Security cameras. Radios. An active team that’s actually training together.

Stephen Willeford lives across the street from First Baptist. He confronted the killer outside the church last November—but he doesn’t want to be called a hero.

WILLEFORD: If I’ve got to be considered a survivor or a hero—I want to be with my community. I’m hurting as bad as they are. I’m a survivor.

AUDIO: [Sound of crowd greeting]

This Sunday morning, the sanctuary brims with talk and laughter. The worship is a cappella because the lead guitarist is sick. But that doesn’t keep them from singing.

SINGING: [Then Jesus came like a stranger in the night. Praise the Lord, I saw the light. I saw the light, I saw the light]

For Slavin and the rest of First Baptist, the last year has only begun to heal their scars. But through it all, they’ve seen God at work.

SLAVIN: On my worst moments, when I feel like I’m hanging on by a thread, that thread is Jesus Christ. There’s been a lot of support and help and stuff, but when you actually get down to it, no one can get us through this. Only God can do that.

For WORLD Radio, I’m Anna Johansen reporting from Sutherland Springs, Texas.

REICHARD: Next, we return to Brooklyn, New York. In 2019, WORLD reporter Sarah Schwiensberg profiled Brian Bigger—by day a phone technician, and by night caretaker of pipe organ in a church. As a child, he heard the grandeur of a particular organ —and it captured his imagination. Years later, he learned it had fallen into disrepair. So he made it his life goal to bring that organ back to life. Here’s his story.

BIGGER: When I started counting out all the pipes that were strewn all over the place, I found out of the 986 pipes in that room, 525 of them were missing. But you see once you have a vision, things like that don’t stop you.

SARAH SCHWEINSBERG, REPORTER: After working at the phone company all day, Bigger would travel from Queens down to Brooklyn each night to work on the organ. It was four years before it even played.

BIGGER: When I got here the console was in pieces.

BIGGER: So I spent a good year or more restoring the console.

But Bigger wasn’t done yet. He wanted the organ to be perfect. So he spent 17 more years fine-tuning every part of the organ’s pipes, valves, wiring and knobs—all without pay.

Bigger never married, and decided it was easier to sleep at the church in a side room than travel all the way home each night.

BIGGER: I said to the administrator, in the choir room there’s a mattress somebody left there. Can I sleep over? I started sleeping over for six nights a week. It’s extended into 21 years.

Bigger says those years were very rewarding.The organ was featured in dozens of concerts. But then in 2010, tragedy struck. On a hot summer day, an electric fire broke out in the church sanctuary walls. More than a third of the organ’s 2,500 pipes were damaged. Bigger says it was a devastating setback but that all along he knew the organ wasn’t his.

BIGGER: Okay, God, if you want to destroy what you gave me to do for a bunch of years that’s OK with me. I didn’t take it personally. I just learned to give everything to God.

And he started to work on the organ again. And got it playing.

The church owners may restore the sanctuary, or they may sell the building as is. That could mean the organ is removed and sold as well. But Bigger says that’s OK. He just hopes his work has taught a younger generation to love the organ.

BIGGER: I have extended my giftedness to others so they can benefit, and I just am thrilled with seeing the others have the joy of my labors.

For WORLD Radio, I’m Sarah Schweinsberg reporting from Brooklyn, New York.

BROWN: And finally today, one more story highlight from the last 10 years. Kent Covington has been a part of our radio team since practically the beginning. On August 31st, 2018, he filed this heart-felt tribute to one of radio journalism’s most significant pioneers.

KENT COVINGTON, REPORTER: The name I’m about to speak may not mean much to you at first, but you probably would recognize his voice if you heard it.

In 2005 P.H. Aurandt flashed a wide smile at a cluster of TV cameras at the White House as President George W. Bush fastened the Presidential Medal of Freedom around his neck. It was a remarkable honor for one of the most influential men in the history of broadcasting.

But that story began 73 years earlier, when a 14-year-old P.H. Aurandt landed his very first job in radio.He would later say he was thankful that God led him down the career path at such a young age. He often joked that he fell in love with words and ran away from home to join the radio.

P.H. Aurandt’s national news and commentary program hit the airwaves in 1951. And for more than half a century, tens of millions of Americans turned up their radios at the sound of his voice. And there was no mistaking it for another. It was one of a kind. His delivery was precise but warm.

He was a painter. His words the brushes, the minds of his listeners the canvas. And his portraits still hang in the memories of millions.

At the height of his Radio Hall of Fame career, reporting for ABC Radio, he spoke to some 24 million listeners on 1,600 radio stations and he became one of the most influential voices in American journalism.

We remember him today because Mr. Aurandt, Mr. Paul Harvey Aurandt, would have turned 100 years old just a few days from now. You know his name and his voice‚and now you know the rest of the story.

Kent Covington. Good day!

REICHARD: Tomorrow, our final three story selections as we celebrate 10 years of The World and Everything in It. If you’d like to hear any of the complete versions of these stories, we’ve included links to them in today’s transcript: wng.org.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Today is Thursday, August 12th. Good morning! This is The World and Everything in It from listener-supported WORLD Radio. I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

And now, more anniversary memories from our WORLD Radio Team. First, from our European correspondent.

JENNY LIND SCHMITT: This is Jenny Lind Schmitt. For most of my early life, I was an NPR junkie. But when my kids were small I stopped listening as much, because so many stories were inappropriate and from a worldview that conflicted with a biblical one. So we got WORLD magazine for our news, and when each issue arrived our kids fought over who got to read first.

In 2011, we were living in a small Swiss village, and my husband, Manu, had a long commute. One day he came home, eyes wide. He was so excited he could barely get the words out, “It’s like a Christian NPR!” He’d seen the advertisement for the new podcast in the magazine and listened on his drive home. So I listened and I remember thinking, “I have found my people!” Soon we all became The World and Everything In It junkies. My kids sang along with the jingle. And the podcast became an important link for the whole family to our American culture and our Christian worldview.

Even then, I began dreaming of WORLD reporting on stories of what God was doing beyond U.S. borders, the stories that I was seeing around me. I had no idea then that I would get to play a part in that, but it is such a privilege.

PAUL BUTLER: I’m Paul Butler. Before coming to WORLD, I’d been pretty autonomous. I didn’t really have someone looking closely over my work as I produced features for a national Christian network—so I thought that I was at the top of my game.

Then I started at WORLD as a freelancer in 2014.

The Presidential Library system began in 1939...

My first editor was Joseph Slife. He was always kind, but every script would come back with lines and lines of changes, suggestions, deletions. It used to drive me nuts. I’d stew, convinced that I didn’t need an editor—but as I wanted a more regular position with WORLD, I didn’t argue...at least not out loud.

My next editor was Susan Olasky. Each script for her seemed to have even more edits and suggestions. And I got even more defensive. I’m embarrassed now about how often at first I’d argue over some of those decisions. But as I really wanted a job with WORLD, I’d always give in...at least on the outside.

I was slowly learning what makes WORLD so unique. Every piece of copy, every script, every article is read by, and edited by at least one other person. And I freely admit that each piece my editors touched turned out to be a better piece...everytime.

That still holds true for me. Today I’m the features editor for The World and Everything in It, and I’m the executive producer of WORLD Radio. Yet, every script I write, I still send to another editor, Leigh Jones. And everytime, she makes it better. And I don't argue too much.

It reminds me of a couple verses from Proverbs 27. Verse 6: Faithful are the wounds of a friend. And verse 17: as iron sharpens iron, so one man sharpens another. I thank God for all the editors at WORLD. They are faithful friends, and I’m a better editor because of them.

MYRNA BROWN, HOST: Tomorrow: the value of remembering the past.

And, some final stories as we walk down memory lane in honor of the 10th anniversary of The World and Everything in It.

That and more tomorrow.

I’m Myrna Brown.

MARY REICHARD, HOST: And I’m Mary Reichard.

The World and Everything in It comes to you from WORLD Radio.

WORLD’s mission is Biblically objective journalism that informs, educates, and inspires.

The Apostle Paul greeted the Galatians this way: “Grace to you and peace from God our Father and the Lord Jesus Christ, who gave himself for our sins to deliver us from the present evil age…” (Galatians 1:3)

Go now in grace and peace.

WORLD Radio transcripts are created on a rush deadline. This text may not be in its final form and may be updated or revised in the future. Accuracy and availability may vary. The authoritative record of WORLD Radio programming is the audio record.